New Hall of Fame inductee Raphael Levy continues his excellent Magic Lifestyle series with a retrospective analysis of his subpar performance at GP: Athens. He presents his Sealed cardpool and draft decks (and choices), and peppers the narrative with sights, sounds and smells from behind the Pro Tour curtain. The qualifiers for Geneva are in full swing… can Raph help you take the Blue Envelope?
Maybe you’ve thought to yourself at some point, “Should I register on the StarCityGames forums and post my opinions on article XYZ?” Maybe you’ve discovered some incredible combo and you’d like to share it with everyone, or maybe some writer said something you disagree with to the point of religious zeal and by golly, you really want to chastise that writer! Perhaps you’ve got a burning desire to discuss the top decks in your favorite format right now and you want to add your thoughts to whatever discussion is present…
Rob McKenzie, a fellow judge, commented that Time Spiral was Fifth Edition all over again. It’s the kind of random discussion judges have while waiting and watching, but the thought kept recurring. We spent the rest of the tournament coming up with similarities. There are a lot. When I got home, I dug up a 5E list and saw even more. Now, I like Time Spiral and I never really liked 5E, but the two sets do feel similar…
For those who want an early jump on Extended season, now is one of the best time to start thinking about general archetypes to prepare for, and even specific decks in broad terms. Figuring out the general points the field may share is a great way to at least narrow the deck choices from a good fifteen or so. Besides it’s never too early to start testing against the “classic” decks like Tog, Boros Deck Wins, and U/G Desire.
A lot of recent Vintage debate has centered on the true nature of skill in Magic’s most broken format. Today’s excellent article sees Stephen, an undisputed Vintage powerhouse, lay down a number of intricate puzzles resolving around the combo applications of Gifts Ungiven. Looking to break your brain on this fine Monday morning? Then this is the article for you…
Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin takes a brief break from creating metagame-shifting decklists, and instead delves deep into his Magical past in order to share some of the lessons learnt from various defeats through the ages. Part history lesson, part gameplay tips, all told with a healthy dose of Chapin humor. Believe me, you’ll not look at Lego in the same light again…
Normally, I would leap at the chance to play Time Spiral Sealed with a friend, especially if it cost me no money whatsoever. But this was no normal game of cards — this was a game with my boss, Pete Hoefling, owner and CEO of StarCityGames.com. And the winner would decide the fate of all mankind.
We’re a few short days away from Champs, and everyone should be settling in on a deck choice, be it Flores hot new tech, one of the very good decks from the StarCityGames event, or a unique homebrew. I’ve had my deck for a few weeks now. I’ve been tuning it, trying to make it hum against what I expect the metagame to be in Kentucky. I’m excited for the event; after three tests on Friday, I get a weekend to relax and see if I can run my streak of top 8 finishes in the state to a fourth year…
Naoki Shimizu (the creator of Solar Flare), fresh from his excellent performance at Japanese Nationals, made the Top 8 of the recent Lord of Magic Championship (a Standard tournament in Japan) with an innovative Blue/Green deck of his own design. Today’s article examines Naoki’s take on the best builds for current popular decks, and it takes a brief look at the current Japanese metagame. Oh, and there’s the decklist from his Top 8 performance too. The best writers, the best players, only at StarCityGames.com!
This time of transition gives writers a lot of options, and ironically, we can’t take them all. I thought when I started this, I’d have a lot of decks seriously hurt by the departure of Kamigawa block; I liked Kamigawa a lot, and I felt it got a far too knee-jerk reaction from your average Magic player. I hated Mirrodin far more than I hated Kamigawa, so hearing people saying Kamigawa was the worst block ever made my gut tighten.
Constructed Champs (fka States) is coming. Like the rest of the world, I’m devouring everything I can find, trying to guess the metagame. I watch websites, read the pundits, pros and wannabes, and scour the early tournaments. The result — I have no clue what the real metagame will be.
Let me explain…
Last week, we had a look at a lot of different viable options for the upcoming State Championships. One of the key contenders for “deck I would play at States” was discussed there in its non-final form; one of the key contenders for “best deck to play for States” was discussed there (I just don’t want to play it); and the second deck I would consider playing at States hadn’t even been born yet…
The archetypal Red mage Dan Paskins takes a look at the agressive decks offered in the current Standard environment, and poses an interesting question: instead of “tweaking your deck to beat Zoo,” why not simply
Despite a number of high-profile events attempting to define the ongoing Standard metagame, the field is officially wide open. Josh takes a look at some of the myths and fallacies that are present in the respective tournament results. He looks at some of the stronger decks fielded thus far, and draws some interesting conclusions…
Standard Champs is this weekend, people! Why haven’t you settled on your final deck? For those of us still in the limbo of uncertainty, Mike reports from a Standard tournament held this past week at Neutral Ground. His sixteen-man tournament yesterday brought us a surprise winner… and believe me, the shock wins just keep on coming. If you’re still looking for last-minute tech, then this is the article for you!
