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AuthorMike Flores

Mike has written for The Duelist, The Sideboard, and MagicTheGathering.com and has returned to StarCityGames.com to continue his legacy. He is a championship deck designer and Magic theory pioneer.

Flores Friday – The Innovator versus Resident Genius Dilemma: Resident Genius!

Yesterday’s Feature Article — to be found below today’s From The Lab — saw Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin don his Inquisitive Hat in order to grill Mike Flores about All Things Magical. Today’s Flores Friday sees the boot, or rather the Hat, on the other… erm… foot. Mike asks the questions, and Patrick reveals all! Who’s the greatest deck designer in the world? What’s the best card in Block? Do the Future Sight rare lands deserve our attention, and which is the strongest? If you liked Patrick’s article, you’ll love this…

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Flores Friday — Your Questions Answered

Today’s Flores Friday sees Mike rectifying an admitted omission — feedback response. He uses his column to respond to all the praise and condemnation he’s faced of late, and explains some of his more esoteric theories and beliefs. Why are small percentages important in modern Magic? How can we recognize cheaters who stack their decks? And, importantly — boxers or briefs?

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Flores Friday – Boros Update, Ghost Whatever Update, Zoo Update

Today’s Flores Friday sees Mike take three of the more popular decks in the current Standard environment and update them for the ever-evolving metagame. Boros, Orzhov, and the ultra-efficient Zoo all receive the Flores treatment, each with one eye on practicality and the other on the prize. If you were one of those players trying to port Raphael Levy’s Gaea’s Might Get There deck from Extended to Standard, then this is the article for you!

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Bits and Pieces — The Traits of a Great Deck Designer

Today’s Flores Friday sees Mike in a reflective mood. With copious reference to decks past and present, he lists the Top 8 Traits of Great Deck Designers, those pearls of wisdom that elevate the Great Ones high over the heads of us mere mortals. If you’re serious about deck design, or merely want to improve your design edge, then this is the article for you!

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Flores Friday michaelj Monday – Cutting off the End Game

Last week’s Flores Friday has mutated into a special michaelj Monday… and it’s a corker! Mike discusses that most elusive of skills: cohesive strategy. By fixing a blueprint of plays, one path to success involves cutting off the important end game of your opponent. Just how do we go about this? Plus, Mike brings us a Standard deck to throw against the field: White Wafo-Tapa, updated.

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Flores Friday – Number One, Number One, Number One

Today’s Flores Friday answers some of the questions posed by various writers this past week: namely, Richard Feldman and Zac Hill. In doing so, Mike tackles the nuances of linear card and deck design, noting where power in strategy can be a definite boon, and he touches on the idea of top-down and bottom-up deck design.

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Flores Friday – Lots of Topics, Works in Progress

Mike walks us through a variety of topics and decklists, from Standard to Extended, from cheaters to Mike’s apprentice. If you’re looking to rock the final Extended PTQ this weekend, you can’t miss this… and if you wanna know Mike’s take on foreign players and cheating, look no further!

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The Big Idea

Mike takes on classical Magic theory and expands an area that’s never gotten much press, walking through Extended seasons past and present to explore this new concept. You know Card Advantage. You Tempo. But do you know… Trump?

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Flores Friday – Rebuttal: An Alternate Rule of Engagement

Earlier this week, Richard Feldman offered his “Rules of Engagement” for the current complex Extended format. While his argument held weight, Mike Flores respectfully disagrees with his assertions. Indeed, Mike believes that the current Extended format, far from being an ornery bramble-patch of treachery, is actually one of the more simplistic formats we’ve ever faced. Intrigued? Then read on…

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Flores Friday – Three Perspectives: A New Deck for Extended

In this week’s Flores Friday, Mike takes a retrospective look at his origins as a deckbuilder. He also tips his hat to his own personal muse, and presents in intriguing five-color Extended deck that wins in a variety of entertaining ways. The current Extended format is packed with a myriad of known and popular decks… Maybe this rogue choice is the true path to success.

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Flores Friday – Get in Touch With Your Inner 4/4: Beats.dec

Mike Flores, Breaker of Metagames, brings us a fresh Extended deck that took him to within an inch of success of his last PTQ. Harnessing the heady power of 4/4 monsters — a trait that would make Jamie Wakefield proud — has Mike finally achieved his seasonal goal and broken the format? You’d better be prepared to face this deck, because folk will run it come PTQ time.

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Flores Friday – The Impact of Planar Chaos: Standard (32 Flavors)

Order Magic: the Gathering Planar Chaos!We’ve had Eisel on Limited. We’ve had Feldman on Extended. We’ve had Remie answering questions, and Chan sharing a pro perspective. Today we have Mike Flores looking at the impact that Planar Chaos will have on the coming Standard environment. The cards to watch, and the cards to avoid. The strategies that’ll work, and the strategies that’ll die. The best writers, and the best players, only at StarCityGames.com!

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Flores Friday – Oros and Teneb: Initial Extremes

In today’s Flores Friday, Mike takes a break from Extended testing to bring us an exciting deck primed for the fast-approaching Planar Chaos Standard. As the name suggests, the deck contains a pair of 6/6 three-color flying beatsticks. Drawing cards, killing guys, ramping mana, and destroying the world… and who doesn’t enjoy swinging with Dragons?

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Flores Friday – Re-positioning Linear Designs and Hybridizing Strategies: Two Ways to Cheat

The Extended metagame rumbles on, and many of us are looking for that elusive edge for our next PTQ tournament. As usual, Mike Flores may have the answers we seek. Today’s Flores Friday examines a fascinating tactic available to us, a tactic that could inform our deck-choices come Tournament Day. Is an exploration of linear card design the key to building a format-warping deck? Mike constantly redefines the metagame… maybe this view of Magic deck-building and design could see us do the same.

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Barriers and Opportunities – Ten (or so) Standard Challenges and Rediscoveries, Care of Planar Chaos

In the first of this week’s extra Premium articles, Mike Flores takes us through his preliminary thoughts on the impact of Planar Chaos in Constructed. What does the metagame gain from a fresh 165, and how will the dominant strategies compare when the new cards go live in tournament play? The color pie is truly smashed: White has pinpoint removal, Green draws cards, and Black has Wrath of God. This excellent article is the first step towards exploring a Brave New World…

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