Today’s Down And Dirty sees Kyle tackle ten points of Magic miscellany that have tickled he fancy this past week. He questions the validity of to amateur prizes in Grand Prix tournaments, brings us the truth about Kenji’s vicious powers of mental domination, and shares a Blue/Green deck that could make quite a splash in the new Standard metagame…
Kyle ain’t messing about this week… he takes a long hard look at some of the more exciting decks to come out of Krakow, including a few lists unseen by the Top 8 coverage, and offers his opinions on the new Standard metagame. He also analyses Paul Cheon’s winning 75, before diving into a revealing interview with the newly-minted Level 6 Mage himself!
Today’s Down and Dirty, fresh off a move from Monday to Thursday, concentrates on Lorwyn Sealed Deck. Kyle brings us a tricky cardpool packed with obvious power, but without a clear direction in which we should build. He shares a number of interesting builds, and packs his article with his usual brand of hi-jinks and hilarity.
Continuing our Spotlight on States series, Kyle Sanchez walks us through three distinct Standard strategies, two of which are currently fighting for final favor regarding his 75-select this weekend. He also takes the opportunity to say goodbye, as this is his final Monday article for StaCityGames.com… but don’t worry, Sanchez fans, I’m sure he won’t be gone for long…
I’m not sure how, but one of these days I’m going to put together an article called America’s Next Top Magician. It would take place at a GP, and I’d do interviews with the top 5 amateurs. Then I’d get seasoned pros and Magic veterans like LSCheonV, BDM, Aten, and Ant to help me pick out who is the best of the bunch. I was thinking about doing drafts or something to whittle them down… maybe making Constructed decks and having them face off against each other blindfolded.
Imagine having Teferi out, evoking Shriekmaw at instant speed, playing Grim Harvest getting Shriekmaw back, Evoking it again, Recovering Grim Harvest, playing Grim Harvest getting Shriekmaw back, Evoking Shriekmaw again, Recovering Grim Harvest, playing Grim Harvest getting Shriekmaw back, Evoking Shriekmaw, then Recovering Grim Harvest again.
Wet dream, my friend… wet dream.
Kyle takes a look at the commons in Lorwyn, and evaluates them for Limited play. He breaks them down by color, and divides them further using his own unique categories: Premium, Average, and Snot. The prerelease has passed, and it’s time to get busy with the new cards. If you’re looking for a Limited leg-up, look no further!
I think it was Craig “Lightning Helix” Jones who commented on all the quality burn spells in the current format. There are so many good ones that if you throw them all in a deck you can just win randomly, because all your burn gains synergy with all your other burn. This deck is very similar, because there are so many cards that produce several creatures that it makes all of your opponents’ spells less efficient.
I don’t know why, but I’ve been building Extended decks. I guess I just want a new format with which to experiment. I’ve been playing freaking Slivers at my past couple of FNMs, and while fun, I really want to play with some expensive cool-looking cards. As I said last week, I’ve been trying to graft the Counterbalance plus Sensei’s Divining Top combo on to a bunch of decks, so here are two more of my semi-successful attempts.
Have you ever seen Kenji play a match? Usually he will mount himself atop his left foot, or perch himself in the chair. This helps him not only see the board more clearly (he is a little guy after all), but it also gives him an uncomfortable position to sit in, which will hone his senses and enable him to make the best plays possible. Now take Gadiel’s posture…
How to win a PTQ… a conundrum that’s plagued some of the best Magic minds since Organized Play began. Strategy, mental focus, deck choice and construction… it all goes into creating that perfect formula of success. Today’s Down And Dirty sees Kyle interview a host of top-level pros (and me) and ask them that most pertinent of questions. Just hoe DO you win a PTQ?
When did the MTGO crash become so frequent? It seems like it happens every few hours, and it’s so pathetic. Think about the insane amount of income Wizards get from Magic Online. In the draft room alone, a some form of draft starts every 2-3 minutes. That’s twenty times an hour that Wizards made roughly $13, multiplied by eight for each draft. That’s $49,920 a day, from the draft room alone. It seems like they could afford a decent server, given how long Magic Online has been operational.
It has painfully come to my attention that many of my “readers” don’t know who I am, or what I’m about. I tend to write in similes and metaphors, and as such many of my true feelings about Magic, its players, and my true personality are lost in translation. It was several angry emails from several very serious detractors, early on Friday morning. that really opened my eyes. Many of the things that were written to me wouldn’t make it past the StarCityGames.com censors…
I really like Aethermage’s Touch. It won me several game 1s that I couldn’t have possibly won otherwise. That said, a lot of people don’t like it, and I don’t exactly know why. Sure, you will miss somewhere around 10-15% of the time, but it is such a blowout card that can be used to make their Remands much less efficent. There aren’t any instants that actually do something when you don’t have a creature in this deck, and Touch gives you more options to combat the various permission strategies.
Usually, I fill the beginnings of my articles with vivid stories of past nights or awkward occurrences. This time, however, I’m going to cut to the meat of the article… so, without further ado, I present a deck of my own creation: Touched by a Sanchez.
