Monday, August 3rd – In today’s edition of So Many Insane Plays, Vintage maestro Stephen Menendian takes the format’s true control option – Stax – for a spin in a seven-round Vintage tournament. While he didn’t quite make the final table, he learnt a lot about the strategy behind the deck, and he shares that knowledge today.
Monday, July 27th – At a recent Power 9 Vintage tournament, Stephen Menendian rocked a powerful Grow deck. Unfortunately, while his deck choice as solid, his technical play was lacking. In today’s exhaustive report, Stephen takes us through his mistakes piece by piece…
Monday, July 20th – Perhaps the biggest question for Vintage this summer will be this: what is the best way to design the Mana Drain Time Vault deck? Stephen Menendian, examines a plethora of exciting options for the deck, and suggests builds which he believes will be the stronger contenders in the emerging Vintage metagame.
Monday, July 13th – For his 250th article, Stephen Menendian composes an epic retrospective, chronicling his first fifty pieces for this very site. He also shares his thoughts and lists for 5c Stax. Congratulations on the milestone, Stephen… here’s to 500!
[Editor’s Note – Patrick Chapin will appear tomorrow, folks. Watch this space!]
Monday, July 6th – With the Magic 2010 prerelease only days away, Stephen Menendian brings us his anticipated M10 Vintage Set Review. He examines a selection of cards, and highlights those he believes can make a splash in Magic’s most powerful format. Do you agree with his assessments?
Monday, June 29th – With Vintage under the spotlight thanks to some interesting restrictions, Stephen Menendian examines the fallout. He also takes a long look at the results from the recent StarCityGames.com $5000 Legacy Open.
Monday, June 22nd – Last week, the regular update to the Banned and Restricted list threw a couple of irons into the Vintage fire. While Thirst For Knowledge was restricted, a host of cards came off the list to reenter competitive play. Stephen shares his thoughts on the changes, and wades in to the popular M10 debate.
Monday, June 15th – Stephen Menendian presents a double dose of goodness today. First, he previews the upcoming StarCityGames.com $5000 Legacy Open occurring this weekend, before moving on to a thorough examination of Dredge in Vintage. If you’re looking for the lowdown on Eternal formats, this is the article for you!
Monday, June 8th – In today’s article, Stephen takes a look at a fun Rotisserie draft format that is of interest to Eternal players, speculates on the implications of a potential major rules change, tries to break a Hidden Gem, and shares personal insights into what it means to play Magic…
Monday, May 25th – In this three-section Vintage article, Stephen Menendian talks us through a tournament in his usual meticulous fashion, shares his latest thoughts on Green/White Budget Beatdown, and answers a number of reader-posed questions!
Monday, May 18th – Last week, Vintage maestro Stephen Menendian explored the problem of a Vintage format dominated by Mana Drain strategies. Today, Stephen takes a look at some innovative solutions for answering the questions asked by this dominance. He analyses the Banned and Restricted list, and suggests that unrestriction may be a way to balance the teetering metagame…
Monday, May 11th – In today’s So Many Insane Plays, Stephen Menendian brings us another of his excellent bi-monthly Vintage Metagame Reports. He collates all the relevant results from March and April, displays it in funky graph form, and draws some surprising conclusions regarding Mana Drain…
Monday, May 4th – In this latest edition of Stephen Menendian’s Vintage on a Budget mini-series, the Vintage Maestro takes us through the options for a low-priced aggro build using the two most maligned colors in the format. If you’re looking for a low-cost and rogue strategy for your next Vintage tournament, look no further!
Monday, April 27th – Multicolor cards and Vintage are not always compatible; the chances of them hitting the board on turn 1 is slim. However, Alara Reborn does offer up a couple of exciting Vintage playables, and a host of cards that could cause a splash under the right conditions. Stephen shares his thoughts on the stronger Vintage contenders in the new set…
Monday, April 20th – Last week’s article on Proxies in Vintage caused a stir in the forums… today, Stephen Menendian clarifies and expands on his position. He also shares his latest in-depth play-by-play Legacy report, full of the usual intricacy we can expect from the master…
