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AuthorMike Mason

Having returned to the ranks of Magic players, Mike Mason is rediscovering the game through the eyes of a newcomer. A long-time Featured Writer known for delving into the philosophy behind Magic, he shares his experiences both in and out of the game.

Peace of Mind: The Questions

Zvi Mowshowitz once asked ten questions that every deck had to answer. Mike revamps those questions for Invasion Block, and goes Zvi one better.

Peace of Mind: Losing Time

Too many things in life are left undone. Do them. Untried. Try them. Unsaid. Say them. You will complete the walk across the room.

Peace of Mind: Reconstructing God

So the exit of Cursed Totem killed Mike’s up-and-coming”God” deck. Now, hot off the heels of Leeloo and Indian Summer comes… Demi-God!

Peace of Mind: Indian Summer

Necropotence created the Black Summer; this deck is a Necro-like deck, coming after the real Necro has gone away. Arena and Spiritmonger’ll do that, all right.

Peace of Mind: Audible Differences In Playtesting

Is playtesting useful? Can you just audible your way to a final finish? Mike asks StarCity writers what they think.

Peace of Mind: Crash And Burn

Foregoing my Crimson Tide deck, I settled on Dueling Grounds and Questing Phelddagrif, and overnight developed Leeloo.

Peace of Mind: Happy New Year

Farewell, 6th Edition. Good riddance. But what does 7th have to offer in the way of”Damn!”s,”Whoo-hoo!”s,”Hmmm…”s and”Shrug”s?

Peace of Mind: Integrity

What is honor? Whatever it is, it isn’t qualifying for Tokyo and then telling everyone to Bock themselves.

Peace of Mind – Paranoia

I create”God deck,” which has amazing success. Then Wizards comes along and rotates all of it out. Was Fires THAT weak, Wizards?

Peace of Mind: Moment Of Silence

I have fourteen different Survival of the Fittest builds in my Extended folder. And I was just getting started.

Peace of Mind: Distortion

The fog creeps in on little cat feet. The world feels gray. I’ve just discovered some IBC tech, and now I’m not sure if I wanna talk about it…

Peace of Mind – The Content Of Our Character

Partly a reaction to Rizzo’s”Bringing Out The Dead,” partly a tirade on culpability, this article deals with how you make yourself better.

Building God, Part 4: Playtesting, Tweaking, Conclusion

Glittering Lions and Cursed Totems, oh my! What did Mike learn from actually playtesting his”ideal on paper” deck?

Peace of Mind: Any Given Sunday, Part 3 – Building God

A long and involved deconstruction of how to design decks and how to choose cards for them. Can you build a deck around Cats and Totems?

Peace of Mind: Any Given Sunday, Part II

A definition of the three elements of strategy – Resources,Components, and Methodology – and how to use them for optimum effect.