Thursday, May 28th – Sam Black, Faeries Player extraordinaire, rocked through Grand Prix: Barcelona and placed in the Top 4 with the ever-present Blue/Black menace. However, today’s article doesn’t rehash the old Fae material… Instead, Sam examines the fallout from Barcelona, and the effect it has on the metagame for the approaching Grand Prix: Seattle.
Tuesday, May 19th – The Regionals results continue to roll in, and Sam Black is ready with some innovation. While he never played Regionals himself, he did witness an interesting combo deck pick up a qualification in Chicago. Today, he presents the idea for those of us with Standard tournaments on the horizon, while also suggesting that the demise of the Fae is not as foregone as we may assume…
Tuesday, May 12th – In today’s edition of Black Magic, Sam Black examines the necessity to plan ahead if you want to make the most of your Magic matches. He touches on both Limited and Constructed, supplying play examples and tips on both drafting to your strengths and sideboarding. Sam also brings us a bonus section on Regionals to help us cement our deck choice before the big day…
Tuesday, May 5th – In the Magic Online Season 1 Championship, Sam Black placed 14th with the ever-popular Faeries. In today’s edition of Black Magic, Sam looks at the evolution of the archetype with Alara Reborn, before moving onto something a little fresher that makes good use of the new cards, alongside a few strong older spells that have seen no Constructed love… yet.
Tuesday, April 28th – With Alara Reborn on everyone’s mind, Sam Black brings us some fresh perspective on the Standard format when then new set hits the shelves. An all-gold set was sure to provide exciting new options, and Alara Reborn does not disappoint. Sam shares his thoughts, alongside a batch of fresh decklists…
Tuesday, April 21st – With the Alara Reborn prerelease mere days away, it’s time to examine those cards we’ve seen so far in order to gain a handle on their strengths and weaknesses. Sam Black takes us through a plethora of promising Alara Reborn goodies, and shares his thoughts and insights on the approaching Standard metagame…
Tuesday, April 14th – We’ve all seen those snaggle-toothed cards that only come out in draft picks 12 to 15… The Chimney Imps, the Accursed Centaurs, the Marble Chalices. However, when a late pick offers up a selection of stronger cards that aren’t in your colors, what do you do? Sam investigates some of the accepted wisdom regarding late picks in Limited…
Tuesday, April 7th – Sideboarding… it’s fair to say that this is one of the forgotten arts of Magic. Nobody pays enough attention to playing and perfecting their sideboard plans, and the number of articles on the subject can be counted on one hand. Sam shares his thoughts on the role of sideboarding, and sets out some interesting specifics on how to best utilize your time. By using examples from his Standard Faeries sideboard plans, he sheds a little light on this mysterious process…
Tuesday, March 31st – Last week, Hall of Famer Olivier Ruel outlined his triggers for success. He shaped the ten levels of Magic Player, and shared the important trigger points at which a player can move up from one level to the next. Today, Sam Black investigates exactly what’s required to take advantage of these trigger points, and gives us pointers on exactly how we need to approach our games in order to gain advantage over the competition.
Friday, March 27th – As you’re probably aware, Sam Black made Top 8 of the recent Grand Prix: Singapore. He piloted the popular Faeries deck drummed up by Martin Juza, Manuel Bucher, Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa, and Zac Hill. Of course, his secondary choice was the emergent Astral Slide deck. Today, he takes a look at both decks, as he believes that either strategy could lead a player to PTQ success.
Tuesday, March 17th – Extended Grand Prix and PTQ tournaments continue apace, and GP: Hanover this past weekend will surely inform the metagame in the days and weeks to come. Sam Black shares his preparation for Hanover, his thoughts on this weekend’s Grand Prix, and the Extended format in general…
Tuesday, March 10th – Last week, Sam Black brought us the first part of his Pro Tour: Kyoto tournament report. With Faeries in the Standard portion, and a confident draft strategy, Sam managed to propel himself into the Top 32. Today’s conclusion takes us through the second day of competition…
Wednesday, March 4th – With Pro Tour: Kyoto firmly behind us, Sam Black recounts his sterling performance while piloting the Faerie menace. Today’s Black Magic sees Sam provide a rundown of the highs and lows from the first day of competition…
Tuesday, February 24th – Pro Tour: Kyoto is fast approaching, and our game’s top players are heading east. Today, Sam Black brings us his thoughts on Standard going into the tournament, breaking down the metagame with reference to recent tournaments, including the top decks from last weekend’s StarCityGames.com $5000 Standard Open!
Thursday, February 19th – In the first edition of his new weekly column, Sam Black takes a look at a few underappreciated Control archetypes in Conflux Standard. He investigates both Grixis and Bant Control, sharing his thoughts during the build process. With the StarCityGames.com $5000 Standard Open mere days away, do these Control builds offer the key to Top 8 success? Read on to find out!
