Wandering teacher and errant writer Eli Kaplan shares his first day playing with Innistrad cards while musing on Prerelease ethics and other issues. Sharpen up your Sealed skills in preparation for Release Day with this article!
Wednesday, September 29th – Emerging from his hermitage, grizzled Sealed Deck veteran Eli Kaplan returns from the past, giving readers card evaluations, cheap jokes, and Limited analysis.
Thursday, April 22nd – Former Japan reporter Eli Kaplan sends a missive from Philly scoping out the new format, sharing his Sealed card evaluations, and letting us in on a vicious draft strategy for the next few months you won’t want to miss.
Monday, October 5th – Wizards may continue to insert some Priceless Treasures in Worldwake, the follow-up to Zendikar. If that’s true, you may want to bring earplugs to that tournament. Because if someone opens up a treasure next to you, you might end up with hurt eardrums. I did.
Wednesday, July 15th – Veteran Japan coverage writer and Sealed enthusiast Eli drops out of semi-retirement to tell a tale of 70 cards. Good old fashioned Sealed analysis just in time for M10’s release tournaments.
Wednesday, July 2nd – The times, they are a-changin’. With fall’s release of Shards of Alara, Wizards is taking major actions in both the way Magic is released and collected. The game’s really going to get shaken up…
Once again, Eli takes a stab at the newest Sealed format to come down the pike. Morningtide gets cut up and put under the lens. The Japan vet also shoots his mouth about how Lorwyn’s tribes are wrecking casual Constructed Standard. There’s something in this article for everyone.
Eli tells us exactly what he wants to see from the Magic coverage establishment and throws down a gauntlet. Will you be the one who takes it up?
The new PTQ season is coming. The road to Kuala Lumpur runs through Lorwyn Sealed. It’s time to sweep up the cobwebs and start practicing a new format. Eli steers us through a potent pool of 75 in search of the perfect build.
My initial reaction to seeing Lorwyn’s first preview was utter shock. Planeswalkers make a ton of sense. When I saw Liliana Vess, I figured that Wizards would take the incremental approach with Planeswalkers and keep them as a rare cycle. The new card type’s splashy, flavorful, and powerful, but at the same time it’s something that could potentially overpower the theme of a set. That’s fine with me.
I love Magic for many things, and one of those things is camaraderie. On the weekend, even if I’m sick as a dog and can’t keep my head straight, I’ll head off for the local cardboard center and shuffle up, or at least say hi to the locals. Getting out for a stretch and making social calls is important. In my personal case, there’s no more enjoyable opportunity to use my Japanese in a practical situation than inter-match banter.
When the word on Masters Edition finally broke out, I couldn’t believe it. An Online only expansion? Whoa. Masters Edition is an attempt by Wizards to give people a taste of the classics of yesteryear, but not too much of a taste so that it becomes an actual copy of the paper Legacy metagame.
It’s summer time for the majority of the world, and with Tenth Edition out and some of the most prominent Nationals wrapped up, most players are taking time hammering out the new Standard format or getting their Tenth Edition Limited on. Tenth Edition is a fine set to draft with, but it’s a little too straightforward for some. Box Draft is a fine way to break the tedium. It’s a great way to spend some time without dropping a ton of cash.
Don’t believe the title. Sealed maven and Japan watcher Eli captures a day in time with a very narrow Tenth Edition Sealed deck. Card analysis, Hall of Fame blather, play by play… this one’s got all the angles covered.
This article’s designed for the aid of players with moderate experience and aims to help them do well and enjoy the release tournaments at Magic Game Day. (Or whenever Tenth happens to hit Magic Online.) If you’re an old hand and are bringing a less experienced friend to Magic Game Day, print this out and hand it to them. I know the article’s long, but it’s important for newer players to grasp the idea of evaluating cards.
