When a new set comes out, we all look for cards that’ll make a splash in our favorite format. Vintage players usually find this task a short one – Magic’s most powerful format isn’t easily impressed by fresh cardboard. However, the past few sets have shook the format with a slew of powerful effects. Does Morningtide continue the trend? The clue is in the title…
It’s amusing the expressions of horror I get from the surprising number of Magic players who view cellophane-wrapped booster box of product as several evenings of draft fodder instead of the wondrous trove of singles treasure that I see. I love cracking those packs, accumulating a small mountain of foil booster wrapping to the side as I stack rares, uncommons, and commons.
The Pre-Release is about cards. The Pre-Release is about players. But it’s about a lot more besides, and Rich Hagon brings you some unique perspectives on the celebration of Magic that sees us hurrying to our local tourney in search of fresh Magical produce. Xylophone, cacophony, and penicillin are just three of the words not appearing in this vibrant article.
Going into an Extended PTQ with a true plan in mind is one of the more daunting tasks I’ve seen in recent memory, thanks to the wide range of strategies and brokenness being employed. On some level this is ironic, since I remember a number of writers (including myself) whining about how difficult it was to metagame, as there were approximately more viable decks than Lasagna Cat videos last year. That said, there are some basic tenets you can follow, and certain assumptions you can make.
Tiago Chan, Portugal’s Magic dynamo, takes us by the hand and leads us through the choppy waters of a triple-Lorwyn draft on Magic Online. He shares each and every pick, from one to forty-five, and supplies expert commentary on the draft and the games. For more detailed information, visit the forums!
The Morningtide Prerelease has come and gone… I hope you all had fun! In today’s Limited Lessons, Nick shares his initial thoughts on the newest set. Kinship, Prowl, Reinforce… just how good are they for Limited play?
At first glance, it’s easy to spot the chase cards in Morningtide. There’s Mutavault, for example. And Murmuring Bosk. Another card that is warranting a lot of attention is the three mana beatstick Countryside Crusher. Today’s Sullivan Library sees Adrian examine some of the uses that this particular monster may have. Could he actually be… better than Tarmogoyf?!
I had my doubts about the venerable Red Deck Wins in this current Extended environment. It didn’t have a good showing in Valencia. Too much hate in the environment. From Counterbalance to Vedalken Shackles to Engineered Explosives to Doran to…
Well, you get the point.
At 2007 Worlds, Threshold claimed the title of “Best Deck in Legacy,” making the Threshold mirror match the most important and prevalent matchup for the deck. Kevin Binswanger has a guide to building, playing, and sideboarding for the mirror.
Most Extended decks are built with one goal in mind, and that makes them very good at doing what they do and strategically simple to play. When you play Red deck or Domain Zoo in Extended, every game you win will involve small creatures attacking and some burn. When you play Doran, every game you win will end when your large creatures finally get through for twenty…
Tiago Chan, Portugal’s Magic dynamo, takes us by the hand and leads us through the choppy waters of a triple-Lorwyn draft on Magic Online. He shares each and every pick, from one to forty-five, and supplies expert commentary on the draft and the games. For more detailed information, visit the forums!
Luis Scott-Vargas, America’s Level 7 Mage, isn’t a particular fan of beating down. That said, when offered the chance to drop a virtual 5/5 monster on turn 2, one that meddles with the opposition in incremental but significant ways, he found he was unable to refuse. Today he runs through his successful Doran Extended build, and shares wise words on the matchups that matter in the current metagame.
Morningtide is finally here (functionally), so it’s time to break out the hot new Constructed tech! Today’s Innovations does just that: Patrick Chapin brings us a Mono-Black Standard Rogue deck that has great game against the format’s front-runners. And, as it’s mainly comprised of Lorwyn Block goodies, it can port over into Block Constructed too!
Due to a gap in the schedule, we have a PTQ winner’s tournament report from Ty Dobbertin. Piloting the old favorite Aggro Loam, Ty carved his way through a field of 170 players and took home the blue envelope. The deck’s best matchup? Anything that runs Doran…
Lorwyn Sealed Deck and Lorwyn Booster Draft were seen by some as ‘too repetitive,’ ‘inbred,’ and ‘boring’ because they felt you always had to focus on one of the same eight archetypes with nary a thought slipped in edgewise to distract us from that hyper-attenuated focus of “Tribe Matters.†Sure, you could have your preferences… after all, who doesn’t like Faeries or Merfolk if they are plentiful?
