AuthorRichie Proffitt

Regionals is soon to be upon us all and with that fact comes the rush of preparation. What deck to play? What will the field look like? Players begin scrutinizing every aspect of their deck and fine tuning their builds to meet the most optimal standards they can come by. It’s an exciting time but it’s also one packed full of frustration for those who have yet to make the decision on what to take into battle. I’ve been there. Times were so bad once, that I took the advice of Brian Kibler and ran Thundercats (a deck utilizing the raw power of Scoria Cat). Don’t let that sort of thing happen to you…

Artifacts have slowly began to make my skin crawl – and for those out there who can’t take the it anymore, then prepare for sweet revenge. I’m talking seventeen pieces of good ol’ main deck artifact destruction. Not enough for you? Add seven more pieces from the sideboard to the mix and three maindecked Eternal Witnesses, and you’ve got enough artifact destruction to make Urza blush.

My first installment took a look at Tooth And Nail and Elf And Nail and looked at some cards that could be added to these decks from Fifth Dawn. I also discussed a bit about what benefits Affinity would gain from Fifth Dawn and how they might impact the matchups for the tooth decks. This round, I would like to talk about the three other important matchups for the Tooth decks – Goblins/Bidding, Mono-White Control, and Ponza.

Rather than rehash information about a deck most are already familiar with, I would like to examine Fifth Dawn’s impact on Tooth And Nail and what benefits other decks in the field could receive that might affect it. Regionals didn’t reveal much about Tooth And Nail that most of us didn’t already know. Elf And Nail has only now made an impact on the tournament scene, although it did make successful appearances at Regionals across the U.S. A series of strong showings and solid matchups seem to be causing an upswing in popularity of the deck, and many feel that Elf And Nail could be the answer to a field infested with Affinity decks. So it has proven to be a good deck, but that’s all about to change. Or is it?

I’ve begun to feel that all I’m capable of writing about is Lynch Mob, but deep down inside, I know that’s not all true. It’s just that this deck has consumed my every thought, and I spend so much time testing it and working with ways to improve it, that it’s hard for me to get outside of that particular mindset. I know I have so many more things I would like to discuss, so I decided to try and file them all together into one column.

Despite my hopes and wishes, Arcbound Ravager is just flooding the field. This is by no means breaking news to anyone who has played in a Type Two tournament lately. Regardless, it’s still upsetting. I don’t plan on whining about how this and that should be banned, because that accomplishes nothing. Instead, I would like to give everyone a quick update on Lynch Mob and let everyone know how the deck has evolved in light of the newest changes in the metagame. Oh, and I’d also like to fill you in on a competitive Darksteel Reactor deck. No, I’m not kidding, so click the link already…

Regionals is the buzz indeed. You can’t find a place on the internet that discusses Magic without hearing about it. That’s highly understandable though. One of the things I enjoy about not having to attend Regionals this year is that I don’t have to hold back any thoughts about Constructed. I can spill my guts and let every last drop of information I have, on that aspect of the game, spill out for anyone who can use it. It’s a brand new experience for me, but one I like a lot. At heart, I’m a type who enjoys helping people as much as I can.

Most of the e-mails I received asked for further information on the Lynch Mob deck I posted under the”You Gotta Have Blueberries” column, so today I’ll give you an updated decklist, a play guide, and discuss a rogue budget deck for those of you looking to play Regionals on the cheap.

So what does a kid with a 2019 Contructed rating who can’t PTQ do for fun? Well apparently he goes 17-1 last weekend, winning oodles of prizes with a beatdown deck running four Skullclamps. Then he riffs on how Limited is like Legos, gives you deck construction recipes to avoid, and tosses in a rogue Vedalken Archmage deck to boot.

After somehow managing to get myself placed on the surgical table, a nurse walks over with a huge syringe filled with some white liquid and pops it into my IV while smiling at me. I clearly ask what”that” was, and she looked at me as though she couldn’t hear me and said,”what?” I asked again and this time I made it about a quarter of the way through the sentence when I blacked out. Twenty something days later, I woke up…

[Editor’s Note: I had never cried when reading a Magic article before, but then again, I had never heard a tale like Richie Proffitt’s.]