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AuthorNate Heiss

Nate Heiss is a longstanding member of Team CMU, and although he may not be the most accomplished member of the group, he has an uncanny ability to somehow always spread his words over the entire Magic community.

Inside the Metagame: Blue Tooth in Mirrodin Block Constructed

This week I will talk about one of the decks that is sweeping the metagame. Tooth and Nail has been one of the most popular archetypes for some time, but now it has evolved into something better. No longer is the powerhouse confined to Mono-Green… it has allied with Blue and the fifth-best counterspell ever printed (contrary to my previous claim of fourth, I forgot about Forbid). Condescend is even more powerful when you are powering it off of the plentiful mana that Cloudpost provides.

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Inside the Metagame: Mirrodin Block Constructed – Affinity Impossible

So, to kick things off for the block metagame articles, I am going to start with Affinity. Yes, Affinity. The deck that is getting shot out of the sky… the former king of the hill. For those of you who just can’t get enough, look to the light — there is a way. It is not mission impossible… it’s Affinity Impossible.

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Inside the Metagame: Defining the Metagame in Block Constructed

It is about time for me to get back into the thick of another metagame – I held off this article until after the bannings because I had a hunch the Block Constructed environment was going to chance drastically. A single card got banned and now a whole slew of decks became potentially viable. The PTQ season is coming up soon, and there are a lot of hopeful people looking to qualify. The tricky part is that this is essentially a brand new metagame with the banning and the introduction of Fifth Dawn.

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Fifth Dawn: What to Trade For

Take this advice with a grain of salt. I might be 90% right, or I might be 20% right, the point is, first impressions are what gives cards their initial value, so if you trade for a lemon, you will still have a little time to jump ship and sell it. Remember, even Shared Fate was going for $5 for a good month and a half after Mirrodin was released.

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Inside the Metagame: What am I playing? Regionals 2004

I’ve never had this hard of a time deciding what to play for a tournament. There are so many good decks, and the format looks like it can be broken wide open since there are only two big decks – Affinity and Goblins, with the third deck TwelvePost on the rise. I have gone through many phases with this format, and I’ll detail most of them for you before revealing the deck I’ll be playing this weekend.

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Inside the Metagame: Regionals 2004 – Red Green Landkill

This week, I want to talk about a deck that is a part of the metagame, but I have been constantly advising you against it in just about every one of my past metagame articles. Even though I put the beats on this deck, I still think it is important to talk about for the sake of a more complete understanding of the metagame. That, and it isn’t actually as bad as I let on.

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The End of an Era

Something is about to happen that I have both expected and dreaded for many years. It is not a tragedy, yet it is a loss. It is not a catastrophe, but it is an event… Team CMU will be no longer.

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Oh America!

Three weeks ago, I did something that I had thought I had sworn off – slinging of the magical spells. Last year, at PT: Boston I laid down the cardboard and called it quits, but I came back, and just like everything else, it’s all Flores’s fault.

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Inside the Metagame: Regionals 2004 – Cemetery Cloud

I have been talking mostly about stock decks for this series, but as we are getting closer to Regionals I want to take some time to look at some of the more interesting contenders. While this deck should only represent a small portion of the metagame, it has a certain”rock-like” appeal that may draw some of the aggro-control players over, since aggro-control has pretty much been reduced to Green/Red. In a world full of blazingly fast aggressive decks and sluggish, but powerful control decks, the Aggro-Control deck sort of got lost in the shuffle. Luckily this deck has a lot of game against the respective decks in the Metagame, and it is a valid contender.

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Inside the Metagame: Regionals 2004 – Mono-White Control

Here is the thing: I’ve saved talking about this deck for awhile, mostly because I think it is one of the more powerful choices for Regionals and I like to save the better decks (and Rogue decks) for later, if possible. The thing is that I think people are severely underestimating this deck, and I would like to bring it back into the limelight.

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Inside the Metagame: Goblin Bidding

If anyone is interested in playing Goblins – first off, I hate you. Yeah that’s right, I hate you. Why? No, it isn’t because I’m some sort of nutty rogue deckbuilding elitist. It is not because you are a netdecker and netdecking is the devil. Those are all filthy lies distributed by the press. No, I hate because you are going to smash my face in. Over and over.

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Inside the Metagame: Clamp-Affinity

Unless you have been hiding under a rock for about four months, you will know that the new and upcoming net-deck is Affinity. Those of you who kept track of Kobe progress will undoubtedly notice the high Affinity concentration, and more important, Skullclamp in Affinity. If you thought Skullclamp was good before, watch what happens when you throw it in a deck that casts half of its creatures for free.

Of course, that is Block Constructed, and this is Standard. While there are similarities, there is one card that makes a world of difference.

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Inside the Metagame: Zombies!

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to present you with a new breed of zombie deck. Yeah, that’s right, count ’em. Thirty. Thirty glorious, rotting fleshbags that want to eat brains and wander about with arms outstretched! That’s what I call tribal. But I digress. Let’s step away from this madness to take a closer look at this deck.

Yes, those are four Maggot Carriers…

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Inside the Metagame – White Weenie

White Weenie is such a strange deck – it doesn’t try to mise. It doesn’t burn out players or use fancy tricks. It plays guys. Stand up guys that you can depend on, like Savannah Lions. They will arrive, swing, and get the job done. No frills, just beats. Somehow I always find myself writing about White Weenie every year. It is very stable – very White. It is always a contender even the harshest of environments.

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Inside the Metagame – Regionals 2004: W/R Slide

Well folks, Regionals is right around the corner. The Regionals metagame will look similar to the metagame for States with a few changes from Darksteel. The decks that Darksteel will yield will undoubtedly pop up soon after Pro Tour: Kobe shows us what the pros will do with the new cards, but until that time I will go over a few of the staple decks in the environment that wont be much affected by Darksteel. Each week I will bring you a standard deck that will be a factor in the metagame. The first of these decks is W/R Slide – a deck that has been strong since Onslaught was printed, and was cemented as a top deck at Pro Tour: Venice.

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