AuthorLaura Mills

Let’s envision a world where there is no such definition as luck and everyone understands and accepts the natural randomness of Magic. The local area hosts ten Magic players with skill levels that should assure a regular seat in the top 8 of any given PTQ that hosts approximately sixty people. If one were to trend the performance of these individuals over the course of several PTQs, the number of appearances of each individual in the top 8 should be approximately equal, with the occasional debut of a less talented player.

Compare this with what you see in your local community. You’ve ascertained ten players to be of top 8 caliber. However, only four of those ten seem to follow your assessment and regularly star in the top 8. The other six are only special guests. What differentiates these two groups of players if it isn’t skill?

In a previous article, I discussed the basics of building Mirrodin Sealed. This time, I would like to go one step further, into the realm of those rules we need to modify to fit the Mirrodin format. I’d like to talk about using synergy to build your Sealed deck, and walk you through two sample Sealed decks to show you how you can narrow down your options quickly when you’re dealing with forty playables.

Why isn’t there a dedicated group of Magic Online testers that are given the time to really test out the system? Each Magic expansion has a core set of testers that plays and practices with the product extensively to make sure none of the cards are too powerful or too weak such that it will ruin the enjoyment of the game. In fact, this is the hallmark of Magic that Wizards is proud to trumpet. So in light of the sad and unprofessional cancellation of Chuck’s Virtual Party this weekend, where is the core group of testers for the Online game to make sure that our enjoyment isn’t ruined?

In my last article, I built three sample Sealed decks – and I promised that I would playtest and offer any insights gleaned. I received two rebuilds of the third deck I presented… And so I went back and played ten games each against a God deck to see which builds were optimal!

Onslaught-Legions-Scourge threw away the typical spell-to-creature ratio in Sealed; bombs were aplenty, and sometimes ignored for a more solid deck. But just as Mirrodin has swung the design pendulum away from creatures towards artifacts, so has the pendulum of Sealed strategy swung back to the basics – with just the slightest bent towards artifacts. Having the experience of a few Limited tournaments to dirty my nails, I have determined the following basic principles should be applied when building a Sealed deck for Mirrodin…

StarCityGames’ latest Featured Writer returns to her old stomping grounds to talk about Mirrodin Limited! Specifically, Laura wants you to know that Passing around that equipment – or, as she calls it -“playing musical equipment” – opens a world of strategy that will help you take control of a game. SO let her show you some examples of plays that can be won with careful attention to your equipment…

Do you ever feel that your true potential is squandered because of silly procedural errors that cost you games? Do you find yourself blaming judges for preventing you from being a contender?
Time to face facts, my friend: Only you can prevent game losses.

I can’t believe I made it to the semi-finals for the four-way prize split in the OBC tourney; I have the actual crisp, green bill in my hands, and I still can’t believe it. But it wasn’t my amazing play skills that brought me to the peak.

“To treat a woman like Laura Mills, or any of the other women who play top-flight Magic, as some kind of circus sideshow – or, even worse, a selling point (‘NEW! Magic: the Gathering! Now With 66% More Women!’) would be to insult and cheapen them, and yet Wizards has no problem doing just that.”
Not surprisingly, I have something to say about that.

When did the bombs start mattering in Sealed more than anything else?

Yeah, yeah, yeah – the woman with the Viking helmet scrubbed out in the draft at Nations. You don’t care. But I bet you want the tourney report on the Live Action Magic game she played with Richard Garfield himself, using Alan Comer, Gary Wise, and Sol Malka as cards….

First off is the Lava Axe throwing competition. And once you’ve cauterized all your wounds from that, we head right into the Giant Strength round with two very Hungry, Hungry Heifers sit atop a teetering Sandstone Needle….