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…
Can’t make this stuff up, folks. Get a message from Dan Ackroyd – okay, Danny Ackroyd-Isales, but story value, people, story value – asking about Rock and Nail. Never really got a chance to write about that deck, but accusations of self-flattery and the reality of an irrelevant format made me think it’d stay that way. Come to find out Extended season’s almost here. Cute.
This week, Rich Hagon invites you to put your brain into high gear, let the scales drop from your eyes, and discover how you can beat the online Pros at their own Drafting game. If you can’t work out why they pick what they pick, why your good cards don’t seem good enough, and why the same players win time after time, Rich’s visualisation techniques can help. In a reversal of his normal articles, this week features a little humor and a lot of thought. So thinking caps (and Draft caps) at the ready. Good luck.
Welcome back to the series on Faeries. This should be the last or next to last article I need to write on the subject, since I’ll basically have covered the majority of matches in Standard after this. I blame this recreation of My Fires (My Faeries! Roofles) on my obsession with aggro decks once I tweak them enough. If anyone playing Vintage remembers my 20 page Food Chain Goblins primer you can understand the detail I’ll go into if I think the deck is worthwhile.
That’s right, folks: The “Drafting With…” series is back! Taking up where both Rich Hoaen and Kenji Tsumura left off, we have Level 6 Mage Tiago Chan. As before, Tiago takes us through a triple Lorwyn draft from pick 1 to pick 45, before sharing his insight on the draft and the games that followed. For more detailed draft debate, come to the forums!
Lorwyn drafting, both online and in real life, are now in full swing. We’ve had many a primer article here on StarCityGames.com, including a number of informative tribal articles. Today, Nick Eisel brings us a look at some of the overvalued and underappreciated cards on offer in triple Lorwyn… which of these cards do you rate too highly, and which should you be slamming into your pile?
Deckbuilding is difficult. Sure, it’s relatively easy to come up with a semi-competitive deck, one that could do some rocking in an 8-man queue of an FNM… but deckbuilding for a tournament like Worlds? From scratch? That’s a different kettle of fish. Adrian takes us through some of the pitfalls one can face when shuffling up a rogue sixty. He also presents a fresh Standard deck that jumps through the correct deckbuilding hoops…
I have tried to follow hunches and ideas in decks even when they are ludicrous or go against the conventional wisdom. The most frequent result is utter junk; it turns out that conventional wisdom can be pretty wise. Sometimes I get interesting results, or better yet I get some new and useful deck. The most recent and interesting experiments involved Faerie Stompy and Goblins, and I want to share some things I learned.
Seasoned players tend to talk about “sideboarding plans,” which is not a surprise since sideboarding well is really all about planning. Tom looks at some decks and asks you to think about how their sideboards do or do not fit with the decks’ game plans. He wants to convince you that you need to be aware of and take into account your deck’s plans to build the most effective sideboard you can.
That’s right, folks: The “Drafting With…” series is back! Taking up where both Rich Hoaen and Kenji Tsumura left off, we have Level 6 Mage Tiago Chan. As before, Tiago takes us through a triple Lorwyn draft from pick 1 to pick 45, before sharing his insight on the draft and the games that followed. For more detailed draft debate, come to the forums!
Grand Prix: Daytona Beach taught the world a thing or two about the nuances of Lorwyn Limited. Tribal concerns, color shenanigans, and card evaluation were all under the harsh glare of the major tournament spotlight. Today’s Innovations brings us Patrick Chapin’s version of events, as he powered up to a 34th-place finish.
Seven cards are better than six. This much we know. But how often can we be sure that the hand we’re keeping is stronger than a prospective six? Dan Paskins brings us an interesting look at the process of playtesting with regards to mulligan decisions. By examining those hands that win against those hands that lose, Dan helps us along the road to a greater understanding of mulligans in general.
For Thanksgiving, The Ferrett LARPed a classic computer game and drove all the way across the East Coast with a trunk full of food… Oh yeah, and played some Magic with a ludicrously strong U/W Lorwyn Sealed deck!
On today’s SCG Double Feature, Chris takes us through his time at Grand Prix: Daytona Beach, and Ben gives thanks for the things that mean a great deal to him.
Last week, we began looking at the most recent format of relevance to tournament play – Lorwyn Sealed Deck. It only makes sense to follow up on that subject the week after a North American Grand Prix in the format, especially with the PTQ season hitting its stride as we hit Thanksgiving weekend. Not being a turkey fan myself, I’m more interested in the Magic weekend that a few days off will provide…
