Friday, March 7th – This week, Mike turns away from the vagaries of the seemingly endless Extended season. Instead of thrashing out metagame data, he turns to deeper theory. He tackles the concept of “never settling,” a fine adjunct to his popular article How To Win A PTQ. After that, he moves into practical tips on how to improve one’s mental and mechanical game, offering sage advice on a number of interesting topics…
Monday, March 3rd – In this rare Monday outing, Mike Flores performs an exhaustive SWOT analysis on a whopping twelve of the strongest Extended decks in the current metagame. He breaks down each archetype into Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, providing invaluable insight into the inner workings of these powerful builds. For anyone serious about the current PTQ season, this article is unmissable.
Friday, February 22nd – In case you’re unaware, Mike Flores is a fan of the mid-range strategy. However, at his last PTQ he found himself falling prey to the sin of merely playing cards. Determined to kick up a stink at this weekend’s Grand Prix, he turned away from his mid-range roots to pursue an altogether more flamboyant strategy…
Friday, February 15th – We’re all trying to improve our game in a myriad of different ways. Magic is a game of inches, and improvement comes in tiny increments. Today’s Flores Friday sees Mike turn from the world’s best 60-card game to the tables of a popular 52-card game, to see if there are lessons to be learned that transfer to the realm of the spellslinger.
Dueling in Magic can be described in countless ways. One of the more enduring metaphors sees our glorious game shrouded in the imagery of war. When setting up on the field of battle, it makes sense that, as generals, we choose to fight on our own terms. In this enlightening article, Mike waxes poetic on ways in which we can dictate the field of battle. If you’re looking for a subtle edge at your next tournament, let Mike lead the way!
Today’s Flores Friday is the first installment of our “Two-Headed†Morningtide Standard review. Mike, in collaboration with the Innovator, shares his thoughts on the new cards for Standard play. Sure, everyone wants four Mutavaults, and Countryside Crusher is making a splash… but what other cards should we be picking up while they’re cheap? Tune in on Monday for Patrick Chapin’s conclusion!
Morningtide is released at the end of the week, and all eyes turn to Constructed. Today’s MichaelJ Monday, held over from last week, sees Mike choose two of his favorite cards from the new set, building Standard decks that revolve around each. This is a great insight into the new card deckbuilding process… and later this week, Mike kicks off the Morningtide Standard Set Review (a “Two-Headed†pair of collaborative articles with Patrick Chapin). Watch this space!
With Extended PTQs continuing apace, it seems that Doran and pals are forcing the metagame to fight in the mid-game. How can we win this fight? Mike presents three ways in which to battle the latest incarnation of the ever-popular Rock decks. If you’re looking for an edge for your next PTQ, especially in the mirror match, this is the article for you!
Mike narrowly missed Top 8 this week with a deck that you simply have to see to believe. There is really nothing else to say, or can be said, than that.
It’s nearly the weekend, folks, and that means one thing… Extended PTQs! Mike weighs in with advice, featuring The Most Important Question You Will Have to Answer Tomorrow, Why Linear Sucks, Four-and-Two-Halves Rounds with the Prodigy, Two Ways to Get Free Wins, and More! Happy New Year!
Today’s Flores Friday sees Mike dissect the pertinent problems in the modern Extended environment, and offer some proactive thinking in order to combat them. It’s safe to say that, at the beginning of this fresh and exciting metagame, the more successful players will be those that’ve identified a hole in the format and attempted to drive a Buick through it. Let Mike show you how!
Today’s Flores Friday follows hot on the heels of Michaelj Monday’s “The Breakdown of Theory” article. Mike fleshes out his fresh and exciting Phases of Magic concept, looking back at various dominant strategies in an attempt to contextualize their success. What exactly where these meta-warping behemoths doing right? And can we recreate their success on the battlefield today?
Last week, Flores Friday made way for the return of Zvi Mowshowitz. In this Michaelj Monday, Flores presents a bold new framework to redefining and understanding Magic theory. Is everything we’ve read and learned to this point wrong? It’s not the Grand Unified Theory of Magic: The Gathering, but it’s the closest thing we’ve got.
Everyone makes mistakes. Even at the top level of play, people tap the wrong mana, make bad attacks, play too aggressively, or too timidly. Today’s Flores Friday sees Mike share his top eight tips to clean up our play. While playing the perfect game of Magic may be a pipe dream, producing a polished performance is of paramount importance to players that plan to place highly in the PTQs. Let Mike show you how!
Most of us know that we want, in the abstract, “to play the best deck†… But what exactly does that mean? What is the definition of the best deck? Is it mathematical? Is it philosophical? Does such a thing really exist? Mike has an idea… and shares his thoughts on the subject through quotes from some of the greatest minds in the game!
