SCG Talent Search – What I’ve Done: The Confessions
Thursday, December 9th – John Dale has some ‘fessing up to do! Why does he owe apologies to Kyle Sanchez, AJ Sacher, and Craig Wescoe? Find out inside…
AuthorJohn Dale Beety
John Dale Beety is the Copy Editor for Star City Games.
SCG Talent Search – Testing the Waters: Competitive Standard for Casual Players
Thursday, November 25th – So you’re a casual player who’s thought about trying competitive Standard. What’s the best way to win? John gives you a rundown of some good Standard decks to start.
SCG Talent Search – There Is More to Us Than Magic
Thursday, November 11th – He hadn’t expected to meet a doctor when he took his grandson to the Magic Grand Prix. I told him, “You’d be surprised who plays.”
SCG Talent Search – Flirting at Magic Tournaments: A Primer
Thursday, October 28th – Men plus women equals drama. The Magic Corollary states that writing an article about men and women in Magic equals Magic forum drama. One, two, three, four, I declare a flame war.
Food for Thought – The One-Hit Wonder: Using Oath of Druids in Budget Vintage
As Ben Bleiweiss mentioned in his recent article on Champions of Kamigawa and Vintage, Oath of Druids has been granted a very fun new toy in Champions of Kamigawa – Forbidden Orchard. After reading Mr. Bleiweiss’s article, my testing group and I decided that it was no longer a good idea to keep our pet project underground. Thus, here in all its glory, is an Oath of Druids deck for Vintage, designed to destroy the opponent in one attack. The build I have provided is for budget players, but this deck is easily adaptable for powered users as well.
Food for Thought – Creative Semi-Isolation: Five Cards for Extended
I spent this summer without an internet connection, a car, or friends who play Magic. Thankfully I had a copy of Apprentice and the latest Fifth Dawn update, so I spent the better part of my summer trying to break Extended, coming up with five decks that you probably haven’t seen before.
The Wrong Equation: Lessons Learned from a Failed Solution Deck
I had it. I had the solution to the entire metagame question. Ravager Affinity? Check. Goblins, any style, Patriarch’s Bidding or no? Check. Tooth and Nail? Check. Red/White? Check. All the testing I had done for the past few weeks was about to bear fruit. With none of the major matchups worse than 50% pre-board and none worse than 55% post-board, I was invincible. I would kick tail and take names for the tournament report I would invariably write after my stunning victory.
The Type Two (Tolarian) Academy Awards
Its red carpet may not be very glamorous, but here at the Type Two (Tolarian) Academy Awards, the mechanics are certainly divas this year. Brash and beautifully broken, they’re ready to strut their stuff and do their best to please you, the Type Two player. Hey, was that Madness that just walked by? Er… I, your red carpet rover, am here to announce this year’s nominees for Most Broken Mechanic.
That Deck Is Sick! – My Standard-Legal Infinite Life Deck, And How It Did At States
Getting a 4-3-1 record isn’t exactly a badge of pride…Unless you’re playing with a deck built as a joke.* My roommate had the idea of using a Daru Spiritualist, targeting it with some of the en-Kor gang, and making lots of clerics that were very hard to kill. As it turns out, en-Kors weren’t legal, but Lightning Greaves was, and we could routinely get a trillion life by turn 4.
My Almost All-Land Deck, And How It Did In Serious Play
When I read Pascal Schumacher’s article”Un-Seriously Casual: Searching for the All-Land Deck,” it brought back an amusing memory of a deck I came up with on a bet. A student bet me $50 that I couldn’t win a single match at an Extended tournament with my Seismic Assault deck, which won via twenty-eight cycling lands and Lightning Rift. And the results were surprising…