The Justice League – Deck? Decklist? (No) Problem!
Thursday, September 2 – Kevin discusses everything you need to know about deck checks – what judges look for, and how they penalize incorrect decks!
The Justice League – Players, Welcome to Your First Grand Prix
Thursday, August 19th – Grands Prix are amazing tournaments. One might even say that they’re… Magical. GPs are the largest tournaments around, and like the Pro Tour, a Grand Prix isn’t just a tournament: it’s an experience.
The Justice League – Getting What You Want
Thursday, July 8th – There are two basic steps toward getting anything you want out of the Judge program. The first step is to build enough of a reputation that suggests that you can handle whatever it is you want. Then you just have to find the right person and ask.
The Justice League – Local Liaison at Grand Prix: Houston
Thursday, May 6th – I was the Local Liaison (a.k.a. Local Leader a.k.a. Executive Office) at Grand Prix: Houston. This job, in addition to being one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to spell, was an incredibly interesting position. In fact, LL at the GP is one of the coolest experiences I can imagine, second only to head of the DCI Ninja Assassin Team.
The Justice League – Avoiding Misplays Outside Your Match
Friday, April 2nd – Judges watch a lot of Magic. That’s one of the main things we do at tournaments. At my last PTQ, there were 119 players playing 341 matches of Magic. So we also see a lot of mistakes. While you can make a misplay within a tournament and lose for it, you can also fall behind for mistakes made outside of a game of Magic. My goal here is to present the most obvious of these mistakes, so you can avoid ever making them again.
Why Bad Things Happened to Good People at the SCG Fort Worth Legacy Open
Thursday, January 14th – I’m sure by now everyone heard about the tumultuous Top 8 playoffs this past weekend in Dallas/Fort Worth at the StarCityGames.com Legacy Open. Not only was I there, but I was Head Judging the event. Ultimately this means that I had to assign both Game Losses that players received during those rounds. A lot of people are talking about those situations, and there is a lot of misinformation and vitriol, both to the players and toward the judges at the event. That’s why I asked SCG for the opportunity to set the record straight.
Unlocking Legacy – Putting the Grand into Grand Prix
Thursday, February 12th – Chicago will be much more than just a really big Legacy tournament. If you are not prepared, it is very easy to lose your mental or physical focus and end up with an underwhelming performance. Being prepared for a Grand Prix is its own task. I’ve put together some information on how to prepare for a GP, and I’m also passing along some tips I’ve gotten from players who have performed well at high-level Magic.
Unlocking Legacy – Scepter Landstill
Thursday, January 15th – Over a year ago, I wrote about a Scepter-Chant deck I had built after following up a hot tip from fellow Legacy writer Doug Linn. Between the time I built the deck and the time I was sufficiently finished with it to publish my list, a little creature called Tarmogoyf came out. At the time, I did not fully appreciate how difficult Tarmogoyf made it for traditional Blue-based control decks to compete.
Unlocking Legacy – In Depth on Demigod
Wednesday, December 3rd – Tarmogoyf. Counterbalance. Intuition. Life from the Loam. Pernicious Deed. Demigod of Revenge. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles. I didn’t intend much with the Demigod of Revenge deck but it became, I think, premier combo-control deck in Legacy because of the multiple avenues of both attack and defense.
Unlocking Legacy – Making More Playables: How to Design Cards Legacy Players Love
Wednesday, October 29th – A few months ago, Chris Coppola wrote an article entitled “Legacy and Alara Design”. I commented on the forums that I thought it was interesting and thought-provoking, but that it needed to become more concrete. In other words, tell us whether you think this is good or not and where design needs to go to make good Legacy cards. After some thought I decided that if he was not going to write that article, I would…
Unlocking Legacy – Seeking Stax
Wednesday, October 1st – Tezzeret the Seeker received a lot of hype for being a Blue, Legacy-playable Mythic rare that powers up one of the most controversial Legacy decks. Kevin has a brand new decklist and a new take on some old gems.
Unlocking Legacy – A Legacy Mixed Bag
Wednesday, September 3rd – Moving to this new Wednesday time slot was very exciting because it meant I got to check out the new Banned list update on Monday. I expected no changes in Legacy, and I was not disappointed…
Unlocking Legacy – The Case for Board Control
Monday, August 4th – When you have a gauntlet of ten decks, it’s pretty easy to test the ten against each other, make a metagame prediction, and pick a deck. When you have a wide open metagame, picking the right deck is important. But how do you approach a format in order to pick the right deck?
Unlocking Legacy – Deck Tweaking and Sideboarding
Monday, July 7th – Decks you get from the Internet are built and tweaked already. When you try to metagame them you may be doing more harm than good. Read on, and get some tips on making the deck better, not worse.
Unlocking Legacy – VoroshStill and the Philosophy of the Ban List
Monday, June 9th – The new banned and restricted list announcement shook up Vintage but left Legacy unscathed. Kevin looks at the philosophy of the banning arguments, and asks readers to take another look at a Legacy deck.