Over the next two weeks, Rich Hagon takes a long hard look at the shape of the Magic year ahead. This week, bold predictions abound, including all the formats and locations for PTQs and PTs alike, plucked God-like from the air, and an insight into the new world of four-expansion Magic. Plus the best accountancy joke in the world
This weekend I attended the first PTQ in Northern California of the season, because it literally wasn’t even scheduled until recently. To get the obvious out of the way, I lost. I went 3-0 then 0-2, drop, because I was so annoyed after round 5 that I most likely would’ve just played like garbage the next two rounds anyway. I played W/G Aggro heavily metagamed against U/G and Pickles. I’d been working on it for the past few weeks, tweaking for the expected metagame…
Last week, Nick asked the forum folk a question: would they like to see a Tenth Edition Draft walkthrough. The answer was a resounding yes, and today Nick makes good on his promise. He takes us through each difficult pick, and gives us some food for thought with intricate game scenarios. If you’re looking to improve your Limited game, this is the article for you!
When did the MTGO crash become so frequent? It seems like it happens every few hours, and it’s so pathetic. Think about the insane amount of income Wizards get from Magic Online. In the draft room alone, a some form of draft starts every 2-3 minutes. That’s twenty times an hour that Wizards made roughly $13, multiplied by eight for each draft. That’s $49,920 a day, from the draft room alone. It seems like they could afford a decent server, given how long Magic Online has been operational.
Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin, like so many other gamers, spent this past weekend at GenCon. Today he takes us through the experience from start to finish, including a crash and burn in the Legacy Championship, and a very creditable performance in the Vintage Championship. All the sights, sounds, and smells from the GenCon trenches… only a click away!
In the past, Constructed formats have been easy to define. Their metagames revolve around finding and tweaking the best deck, or simply positioning yourself to take advantage of a three-pronged rock/paper/scissors affair. With the policy of pushing Tier 2 cards and strategies, R&D have helped create a metagame packed with interesting choices and diverse decks. So what do you do at the eleventh hour, as the registration clock slowly ticks to zero? Dan reveals all…
Eighteen games, all of which ended in horrific face-beatings. And here’s where the sadomasochism kicks in: Honestly, I wanted to know how bad it could get. How long could I endure playing with this same set of cards before the universe broke down and handed me a win? It was Tenth Edition — would I go zero-for-ten on Tenth? The writer in me went, “Wow, that’s a pretty good title,” even as the player in me cringed….
Last weekend, Mike Flores helped two of his self-appointed “apprentices” make Top 8 at a Time Spiral Block Constructed PTQ. Asher Hecht came third, and Josh Ravitz won the whole thing. This was due, in no small part, to excellent deck choice and playskill… but also because of the excellent sideboarding strategy. Mike brings us the low-down today, plus an exhaustive response to Adrian Sullivan’s claims regarding the 4/1 “dogma” of card numbers in deck construction.
Say hello everybody to your 2007 Invitational Storyteller! Oh man, am I excited! I’ll be sure to share said excitement with you next week, but I still have a show to produce and this week is a goodie. I have a nice long chat with our own Richard Feldman and Zac Hill on getting better at Magic, the Invitational, Xth, Block Constructed, and more while I let you hear the worst Bad Beat story of all time.
Last year, I had a few choice words to say on the subject of the Hall of Fame voting… and rather than go on again about how Mike Long most emphatically does not, double-underscore exclamation-point, belong in the Hall of Fame, I would raise the one guideline that matters when it comes to voting for the Hall of Fame:
“…The Hall does not bestow the luminous shine of greatness to the Players, it is the Players who grant esteem to the Hall.”
Sean is currently taking a brief break from his column… so today’s Magical Hack comes from Phil Barker. He brings us a comprehensive breakdown of the Time Spiral Block Constructed metagame, before turning his eye to something a little different. What do you think of playing a little Core Set “Block” Constructed?
In this article, Doug looks at understanding in a post-Tarmogoyf metagame and suggests a deck featuring old favorites as a solution to the Jolly Green Giant. Can Pernicious Deed hang in Legacy or is it too slow? Are there times when selective discard is superior to random discard? As a bonus, see what uncommons are essential for a die-hard Legacy player’s collection!
Richie Hoaen, our resident draft expert for many a month, has decided to hang up his boots… and in his place we’re proud to announce Kenji Tsumura! As before, Kenji will take us through a Time Spiral draft from pick 1 to pick 45, before sharing his draft deck and commenting briefly on the games. Thanks for the great run, Rich, we’ll miss you… and hello Kenji!
Kai Budde, it seems, is a shoo-in for the coming Hall of Fame Class of 2007. If that’s not all, his signature card — Voidmage Prodigy — is ripe for Time Spiral Block Constructred play! From the Portuguese PTQ trenches, Tiago Chan brings us an exciting Blue Wizards deck that has a fine matchup against a number of the block’s top decks. Teferi’s a Wizard, Venser’s a Wizard, Shadowmage is a Wizard… and Kai’s card binds these powerhouses together! Intrigued? Then read on…
I was recently thinking that I wanted to do something special for my 200th article. After come consideration, I have decided to pull out 200 cards that I think are really keen and that you should be playing with and write them all up. As I search through my cards for the goods, I have come across some real stinkers. These are some of the worst cards of all time. What I thought I would do today is to share some of these classic bombs, and then build some decks around them…
