Positive EV – Turbofog vs. Naya Shaman: The Naya Shaman Perspective
Thursday, September 9th – Aggressive mulliganning is very important in this matchup. You won’t win if your first play is a Knight of the Reliquary on turn 3.
Positive EV – M11 Limited Evaluations
Wednesday, September 1st – When M11 arrived, Core Set Limited received a colossal shakeup. Today, Manuel Bucher re-evaluates some of his early thoughts on triple-M11.
Positive EV – UW Control versus Naya Shaman: The Naya Shaman Perspective
Thursday, August 19th – Manuel Bucher provides the flip-side to the recent UW versus Naya matchup analysis articles. He also shares his Ascension deck and sideboarding plans from his recent Nationals tournament.
Positive EV – Red Deck Wins versus Turboland: The Turboland Perspective
Tuesday, August 3rd – Hall of Famer Antoine Ruel packed the powerful Mono Red strategy in today’s Duel With Ruel. On the opposite side of the table sat Manuel Bucher, pitching the popular Turboland strategy into the fray. While the match is no cake-walk, there are percentage points to be gained by correct deck choice and sterling play. Manu leads the way…
Positive EV – Geopede Jund
Wednesday, July 21st – With M11 shaping the new Standard metagame, it can be wise to turn back to powerful decks and strategies and re-evaluate their position in the new format. Today, Manuel Bucher looks at the all-powerful Jund, and advocates the use of Plated Geopede. Does this midrange strategy still strike fear into the heart of the metagame?
Positive EV – Mythic Bant versus Turboland: The Mythic Bant Perspective
Friday, July 16th – Earlier this week, Antoine Ruel picked up the Turboland deck, and challenged Manuel Bucher and his Mythic Bant deck to a Standard face-off. Antoine shared the matchup from the land-heavy perspective… Now it’s the turn for Mythic to spread its considerable wings.
Positive EV – Draft Observations and Standard Snippets
Thursday, June 24th – In today’s Positive EV, Manuel Bucher looks at Rise of the Eldrazi Draft and modern Jund sideboard options in Standard. With the StarCityGames.com Standard Open in St. Louis this Saturday, those folk planning on playing the RGB Menace should take note… and if you fail in the main event, Manu has tips for the side drafts too!
Positive EV – Next Level Bant versus Jund: The Jund Perspective
Thursday, June 17th – Earlier this week, Antoine Ruel took us through the Next Level Bant side of the NLB versus Jund matchup. Today, his comrade Manuel Bucher shares his insights from the Jund side of the table. Can the new deck on the block take down the one-time king of the metagame? Read on to find out!
Positive EV – A Self-Serving Bias in San Juan
Friday, June 11th – Manuel Bucher believes that all Magic players fall prey to a self-serving bias that blinds them to the strength and weakness of their individual performance. By highlighting some of the mistakes he made at Pro Tour: San Juan, he hopes that we won’t make similar mistakes, and that we’ll come to recognize this bias within us all…
Positive EV – Planeswalkers versus Mythic Conscription: The Mythic Perspective
Friday, June 4th – Antoine Ruel brought us the Planeswalker Perspective above… Now it’s Manu’s turn, with Mythic Conscription. Antoine believes the Mythic deck is the perfect choice for your next Standard tournament. Will it do the business this weekend at the StarCityGames.com Open in Philadelphia?
Positive EV – Control, and Sarkhan the Mad
Thursday, May 27th – Control Mages appear to be on top of the heap in Standard, but Manuel Bucher believes that the New Control ain’t like the Old Control. He discusses the archetype today, and shares his thoughts on the under-appreciated Sarkhan the Mad, a card he feels is screaming to be built around.
Positive EV – A Look at Legacy: Two Matchups Redux
Friday, May 14th – Legacy is a format with a fan-base that’s expanding fast. Today, Manuel Bucher plays two Legacy matchups against playtest partner Antoine Ruel, throwing Survival Bant against Reanimator and Zoo against ANT. We’ve heard Antoine’s side of the story… now Manu has his say!
Positive EV – Mythic Online
Friday, May 7th – While the smart money is on Blue/White Tap Out and Jund as the two top contenders from Standard, the perennial Mythic deck continues to take home the bacon across the board. With no Rise of the Eldrazi on Magic Online, Manu pits the original build against a host of decks in the eight-man queues.
Positive EV – Grixis Discovery
Thursday, April 29th – This weekend sees the StarCityGames.com Open series hit Atlanta, and Manuel Bucher has a fun rogue option for Standard! His pre-Rise version of Grixis Discovery is serving him very well on MTGO… Today, he takes us through the matchups with the deck, and updates the build in two distinct directions.
Positive EV – Jund versus Allies: The Ally Perspective
Wednesday, April 21st – Manuel Bucher picked up a powerful Naya Allies list and took it to battle against Antoine Ruel’s Jund. He deconstructs their fifty-game battle today, before presenting an intriguing new Standard list called Grixis Discovery…