Seven cards are better than six. This much we know. But how often can we be sure that the hand we’re keeping is stronger than a prospective six? Dan Paskins brings us an interesting look at the process of playtesting with regards to mulligan decisions. By examining those hands that win against those hands that lose, Dan helps us along the road to a greater understanding of mulligans in general.
The final countdown has begun! States is mere days away, and today’s Feature Article begins a series of pieces intended to inform your final deck choice for the big day. First up, we have Dan Paskins with… yup, you’ve guessed it… the Red spells. Dan brings us four competitive decks, two revolving around pairing Red with Green (And the obligatory Tarmogoyfs), and two focusing on the tribal synergies available with the Goblins. If you’re a fan of the flame, then maybe these are the decks for you…
Lorwyn is coming, and it’s full of prime, juicy Elves. Our resident Red guru, Dan Paskins, takes us through a list of some of the more irritating little pointy-eared idiots, and shares his thoughts on how to dispatch them. He also brings us a couple of new aggressive decks for the upcoming Standard format, and rolls out an interesting Red Deck for Extended.
Nick Eisel is taking a well-earned vacation, so in his place we have an article by the King of the Blue Mages, Planeshifted Dan Paskins. He brings us his Time Spiral Block Constructed deck of choice — Blue Deck Wins — that he played in the recent Grand Prix: Florence. He also looks at some of the reasons that Tomoharu Saitou is almost certainly a better player than you.
In the past, Constructed formats have been easy to define. Their metagames revolve around finding and tweaking the best deck, or simply positioning yourself to take advantage of a three-pronged rock/paper/scissors affair. With the policy of pushing Tier 2 cards and strategies, R&D have helped create a metagame packed with interesting choices and diverse decks. So what do you do at the eleventh hour, as the registration clock slowly ticks to zero? Dan reveals all…
Craig “The Professor” Jones recently took the Great British National Championship with an aggressive base-Red deck. Behind the scenes of this success sits Dan Paskins, who helped Prof along the way. Today he shares his wisdom with us all. For your entertainment and delectation, here are ten short snippets of strategy or stories, from fire magic, to summoning Elves, to the strongest deck in Standard, to a new (and banned) deck for Legacy.
Block Constructed is upon us, and the Red Deck is proving popular. However, there’s a spanner in the works, in the shape of the Little Lhurgoyf That Could. Tarmogoyf Green/White decks kick seven bells out of Mono-Red builds… but never fear, Dan is here to help. By urging us to question each and every card in our builds, Dan leads us towards a Better Red Tomorrow…
This is a companion article to the classic article “Who’s The Beatdown?” by Mike Flores. It explores the different ways to play aggressive decks, and the ways to win more while doing so. It was inspired by Mike’s recent comment that there was no more strategy worth writing about for beatdown or burn decks. It is suitable for players and Goblins of all ages, though those with Elvish sympathies may find some scenes distressing.
Dan Paskins makes a timely return to StarCityGames.com… with Worlds just around the corner, the King of the Red Mages breaks down the Goblin Empty The Warrens deck for Standard. In fact, he’s so consumed by the flame that he touches on the Extended build too! Still undecided about what to play at your next Constructed tournament? Why not take the honorable path and beat down with the little Red men?
The archetypal Red mage Dan Paskins takes a look at the agressive decks offered in the current Standard environment, and poses an interesting question: instead of “tweaking your deck to beat Zoo,” why not simply
Dan Paskins, the Red mage personified, brings us an entertaining article on the noble art of swindling your opponent. Don’t worry, Dan hasn’t defected to the Dark Side… there’s no cheating here. Rather, Mr Paskins takes us step-by-step through the methods required to force your opponent into bad play.
As you may have heard, Wizards of the Coast are hiring a new designer. The first stage of this was an essay competition. Many of you may have entered it, or at least thought about what answers you would have given. Wizards of the Coast were swamped with the number of entries. To give some idea of the scale, there were over 1,000 entries, each of an average of 3,000 words — a total of 3 million words, or 0.68 of a John Rizzo article.
Dan Paskins returns to the pages of StarCityGames.com after a brief hiatus. His article today concerns a recent Coldsnap conundrum faced in a recent PTQ Top 8. Given the details Dan had, would you have made the right choice? He also shares his thoughts on the triple-Coldsnap draft format. A fine return from Mr Paskins… long may it continue.
After much cajoling, Dan Paskins (Red Mage Extraordinaire) returns to StarCityGames.com! Today he brings us some sound advice regarding Red spells… when to hold them back, and when to send them to the face. With solid analysis of Tomoharu Saito’s semi-final play at Pro Tour Charleston, he examines the plays and skills required in order to maximize our beatdown potential.
The Raging Goblin Rule states that there is always a better one-mana Goblin that you could put in your deck instead of Raging Goblin, and that if there isn’t, you need to find another deck. The reason for this is that a 1/1 haste creature with no other abilities is never the right threat, and as Mike told you recently, there are such things as wrong threats as well as wrong answers. The Raging Goblin knows this, which is one of the main causes of his general rage.
