Thursday, February 14th – Last Friday, Mike Flores wrote an article on Dictating the Field of Battle. Towards the end, he stated that dictating the Field of Battle was the “Holy Grail of Magic.” Richard Feldman disagrees. In today’s Deep Analysis, he suggests that there are other potent approaches which must be considered when building your deck for a PTQ…
Last week’s Deep Analysis saw Richard Feldman breaking down the Extended goodies from Morningtide. Today’s article moves away from the color and card analysis and tackles the tribal goodies that could spawn new and exciting strategies. Goblins, of course, always make an impression… but is today the day of the Rogues? The Soldiers? The Wizards? Let Richard reveal all!
Here it is, folks! Our Morningtide set review, looking at the cards that’ll make a splash in the Extended metagame. Our host today is Richard Feldman, who’ll lead you through the runners and riders in the race to make an Extended splash. Early next week, Zac Hill takes over to bring us some deck applications with the new cards, before Richard returns to share his Tribal thoughts. As for a Standard set review… come back tomorrow.
Building decks is easy. Building competitive decks, on the other hand, is hard. We’ve all been there, sat with our sixty hand-chosen cards, thrashing away despite accumulating loss after loss after loss. In today’s Deep Analysis, Richard Feldman offers the opinion that the building itself if not the tricky part; it’s knowing when to walk away that’s the true key to success…
Playtesting in the current Extended metagame is a nightmare task. You sleeve your seventy-five select, and then face ten, twenty, thirty possible gauntlet decks with pedigree and power. It’s so difficult to cover all the bases that the sane player concentrates on those decks he feels likely to make up the upper tier of the field. Today’s Deep Analysis posits the idea that, in order to pick up valuable percentages, it may be wise to run with once-popular fringe strategies. After all, not many folk will have tested the matchup…
With the Week 1 Extended PTQ results now in Richard Feldman looks at the trends and patterns from the successful decklists across the world. It’s clear that there are four major contenders in the modern Extended metagame. Planning your next PTQ trip with these decks in mind is a surefire way to gain an advantage on the field.
At your next Extended PTQ, you’re sure to be taking a powerful deck. You may have broken plans up your sleeve, ready to smash face and win on turns three through five. However, what can you do if your Plan A fails? In fact, does your deck even have a Plan B? Richard investigates the importance of honing your deck to take advantage of the times when good ideas go bad…
Yup, you read the title right – it’s a Two-Headed article on Extended. However, this is not a foray into Two-Headed Giant Constructed… it’s an article on Extended delivered in a unique fashion by the legendary Two-Headed Giant of Foriys. Of course, this doesn’t mean that it’s here for humor alone. There’s a rundown of the Domain Zoo archetype too!
Extended is coming, and all eyes turn to the older cards. In today’s Deep Analysis, Richard debates the nature of power in the format, and defines what he believes are the twenty most powerful decks. If you’re looking to distil the metagame before your next PTQ, let Richard lead the way!
A truly massive amount of decisions are made in the course of a game of Magic. As a competitive player, the way you handle these decisions is the only influence you get over the outcome of the game. Plenty of articles talk about how to improve your knowledge as a player, some try to improve your intelligence, but very few discuss how to improve your focus. Today, Richard attempts to do just that…
Richard has done it. He’s programmed a computer that solves Magic. That’s right, you heard it here first, folks! Okay, so that may be a little overstatement… but we’re friends, so it’s cool. Today’s Deep Analysis sees Mr. Feldman share his thoughts on looking ahead in Magic. Planning one or two turns ahead is a vital skill… how do we go about acquiring it?
Aggressive mirror-matches are much maligned in Magic. While folk look on control versus control fights as the true Magical path, aggro versus aggro is often labeled as hugely luck based or draw dependant. Today’s Deep Analysis sees Richard throw monsters at other monsters in an attempt to ascertain the truth behind such myths…
Grand Prix: Krakow brought a resurgence of Islands to the Standard metagame. Indeed, if the Top 8 is any indication, times are good for the water-loving spellslinger. This week’s Deep Analysis sees Richard Feldman attempt to deflate the control mages, attacking them aggressively in a way that currently has no defense. Intrigued? Then read on!
Kavu Justice was a beatdown star in Time Spiral Block Constructed. Now we have the fresh meat that is Lorwyn to add to the mix, can we update the deck for a post-Krakow Standard metagame? Richard Feldman believes we can. He throws his deck against the best that the Grand Prix Top 8 had to offer, with surprising results…
We all know that Magic is packed with intangible, incremental gains and losses. Players show their true colors time and again, bluffing and counter-bluffing all the while, attempting to throw their opponent off their game. By highlighting the true level of complexity that is found in one single game, Richard shows us how we can charge those tiny credits to our accounts. This is one of the best articles I’ve read for a while… an instant classic. Enjoy!
