Regionals is coming, so it’s time to knuckle down! Today’s Beautiful Struggle sees Mark in a reflective mood. In order to maximize our successes at the approaching National Qualifiers, we need to squeeze the most out of our prospective deck choices. By looking at some successful decks from tournaments past, Mark examines the strategies and thought-processes that propelled the winners to the final table…
Future Sight is coming, and the Block Constructed metagame will be all shook up when it arrives! Mark takes us through a number of interesting Block Constructed decks, each harnessing the power of the new cards. Green/Red, Mono-Red, Control strategies, and more wacky ideas… all come under the microscope.
I’d like to talk about a funny thing that has happened to me on Magic Online over the last two weeks. I have not won product at a rate such that I can sustain myself without buying more — as the kids say, I haven’t “gone infinite” — because my draft skill is still a work in progress. However, I haven’t had to pay for a whole lot of my draft practice either. The reason for this is Momir Basic.
I am (wisely) not the official set reviewer for StarCityGames.com. However, in one possible future, I might be. In another possible future, the MTGSalvation.com spoiler for Future Sight would be 100% accurate (I didn’t say it was a likely future, just a possible one). So, I think that my random observations about selected cards on the MTGSalvation.com spoiler can substitute for a Future Sight review, at least for those of you who do not have Premium accounts. WARNING! Contains spoilers!
It’s official — Wild Pair and Slivers are the Block Constructed Soup du Jour. The world and his mate, it seems, are on the lookout for the perfect way to pair these two strategies. We’ve heard from Nick Eisel, from Patrick Chapin, from Evan Erwin… Now it’s Mark Young’s turn. Still wondering how to get the most from this six-mana game-altering enchantment? Maybe Mark has the strategies for you!
Across the board sat a Merfolk Thaumaturgist, a Dream Stalker, and a recently played morph with UB open. My opponent had three cards in hand. It’s the start of the combat step, I’m at 10 from the Stalker / Thaumaturgist combo, and he’s at 17 from my Shaman attack last turn.
This article is all about the question: What’s the play for me?
Today’s Beautiful Struggle sees Mark go Math Crazy! With the aid of some high-level mathematics, Mr Young attempts to cure the Magic populace of one of its cardinal sins… the belief that a winning play is the correct play regardless of the probabilities behind it. We’ve all made mistakes such as these, but Mark suggests we let math be our guide.
Mark, fresh of a demoralizing Two-Headed Giant PTQ loss, turns to Constructed formats for sweet succor. He takes a look at a couple of interesting decks, one for Time Spiral Block and one for Standard, and brings us a breakdown of the upcoming tournaments that will impact the Constructed scenes.
Whenever I say that it’s easier for me to get to Neutral Ground in New York City for a PTQ than many locations that are geographically closer to Washington, it raises the usual set of eyebrows. It’s a non-trivial amount of money, and a mighty long trip, just to suffer through the crush of gamers and the mental pressure of seven or eight rounds of Magic. Why I would bother going all that way for competition that is some of the toughest in the country?
With the Magic Online Planar Chaos Release Events in full swing, Mark takes time out to run through some rookie tips in regards to the mulligan. He takes us through the math behind the mulligan, and investigates some of the more esoteric reasons behind keeping or ditching our opening seven.
There was a PTQ in Rockville, Maryland last Saturday. I went 0-2 and dropped to play a City Champs event (in which I finished second, so the day wasn’t a complete loss). You might think that there’s not much to be learned from an 0-2, and sometimes there certainly isn’t. This time, however, my lesson learned comes in two parts…
While Time Spiral Block Constructed is due to change with the inclusion of Planar Chaos, that doesn’t stop the MTGO wheels a-turning. Today, Mark shares a few Block decks that rely on everyone’s current favorite legend — Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir. Yes folks, he really IS that good.
Back in the Olden Days, Mark Young was quite a fan of Browbeat. Five damage or three cards, for a cut-price cost of three mana, seems quite the deal… however, as we’re all aware, things aren’t always how they seem. With Browbeat sat proudly in the Standard cardpool, fans of the card have once again started to make their voices heard. Today, Mark shows us why they’re wrong…
I take most games I play seriously; you should see me when I’m home for the holidays playing Pictionary with the family. However, I do try to have fun whenever I can, and one way I can is to play Momir Basic on Magic Online.
I am coming to you today with a shocking revelation: sometimes, Magic Online players do not draw enough lands. I know that this must be an unknown concept to you, since we all have drawn sufficient lands in every single game of paper Magic that we’ve ever played. However, I assure you that every time I log on to Magic Online, there are people who are complaining about this odd phenomenon, which has acquired the nickname “manascrew.”
