Friday, November 13th – It’s an M10 draft. You’re solidly in Red-Blue with goodies like Air Elemental, Mind Control, Shivan Dragon, and Goblin Artillery, plus solid commons to give you around fifteen playables. Booster three comes along and, whoa baby, there she is, Baneslayer Angel in all her glory. What do you do?
Monday, November 9th – I’m still in my new set card accumulation phase, so I thought I’d indulge my spikier (okay, semi-spikier) side and go through a couple of draft games that threw up some interesting choices. It’s a slight gear change from the usual goofy decks side of things, so bear with me.
Friday, October 30th – Now that Zendikar is out, we’re in what I like to call my card accumulation phase. This is where I draft the new set like crazy in order to build up enough of a collection to fuel the silly decks I’m fond of building. This is also where I hope to open nice juicy rares like Lotus Cobra and as many fetch lands as I can lay my hands on.
Friday, October 23rd – MTGO is currently reading (for me) “downloading 1 of 574 files,†so I guess that means Zendikar has arrived. Before I get a chance to draft the new cards with a fervor (okay, slight interest), I thought I’d look back over the departing block…
Friday, October 16th – So here’s the scenario. There’s this cool game Magic: The Gathering. You’ve not played it before or are coming back after a break from the game. You want to pick up some cards, but funds are limited. What do you get, or rather which cards will give you more Bang for your Buck?
Friday, October 9th – Now that the Zendikar hype has died down a little, and it’s going to be some weeks before I actually get to see the cards online, I thought I’d go back to my workshop and dig out another casual concoction. This is another linear based off an Alara keyword mechanic.
Friday, October 2nd – After spending a couple of weeks hitting WotC with the beatdown stick over sneaking tournament utility cards into the Mythic rarity slot, it’s a pleasure to praise them when they actually do something that qualifies as a bona fide Crowing Moment of Awesome: Priceless Treasures.
Friday, September 25th – Last week I voiced some concerns over the Mythic status of a couple of the forthcoming cards from Zendikar. Then, in between me writing that article and it actually going up on this website, Mike Flores previews the most egregious offender of them all. Right on the main Magic: the Gathering site, of all places.
Friday, September 18th – We’re getting close to that time of year again. It’s the time of the year when Magic moves to another world and we get to see a brand new block. It’s also the time of year when we finally get to say goodbye to all the annoying nuisances of the past year.
Friday, September 11th – Everyone is getting excited about the forthcoming Zendikar set, so I will deliberately ignore it and talk about something else instead. Trust me, this is a good thing. I don’t exactly have good form for when it comes to rating new cards (aside from Greater Gargadon).
Friday, September 4th – Craig “Lightning Helix†Jones, currently exiled on Knutson Island, returns to a weekly column with fun stories and casual decklists galore! Today he talks about the ups and downs of Magic change, and shares a fun-looking Green deck. Welcome back, Prof!
Craig “The Professor” Jones was almost one of the Nearly Men at this year’s Magic Invitational. He nearly made it in via the Storyteller ballot. Then he nearly made it in via the Fan Favorite. To cap it all, he even nearly made it in as the R&D choice. After missing out three times, it seems that certain absentees have paved the way for his inclusion in the hallowed sixteen! Today, he shares a few Invitational card ideas… and asks for our help in honing the finished version.
Craig “The Professor” Jones is signing of his weekly column for a few months in order to complete his PhD… and he goes out with a proverbial bang. Today’s From The Lab sees Prof in a reflective mood, as he takes a trawl through his personal history books and highlights all the lessons he’s learnt thus far from high-level play. There’s definitely something in here for everyone… good luck with your PhD Prof, and come back soon!
Craig “The Professor” Jones takes us through his personal choices for this year’s Hall of Fame ballot, and questions the very nature of Magic play itself. Why do certain folk acquire a Bad Player nickname, even if their results would lead us to believe different? In answering this question, can we improve our own play?
This week, Craig “The Professor” Jones waxes lyrical on the upcoming Invitational. Does he beg for your vote? Of course he does. That said, this article is far more than self-promotion. Prof discusses the true nature of the Invitational, and posits the theory that the much-discussed Storyteller ballot is actually a complete masterstroke… read on to find out why!
