CategoryMagic The Gathering

Time Spiral in Constructed — Black

Teddy Card Game continues his overview of the Time Spiral cards for Constructed play. Monday was White, Tuesday was Blue… and Wednesday brings the Black cards under the spotlight. Is Sengir Nosferatu direct competition for Skeletal Vampire? Will Smallpox be big? And how do you pronounce Phthisis? Click here to find out!

SCG Daily – A Look At Time Spiral Sealed

A new week, a new Daily run.

“But it’s Tuesday!” I hear you cry. Well spotted. Have a lollipop.

I’ve a mixed bag planned. Today, some talk of Time Spiral Sealed. Tomorrow, some talk of Time Spiral Draft. Thursday, it’s Constructed’s turn. And something fun for Friday, which I think you’ll all enjoy. Those of you with souls, at least.

Yawgmoth’s Whimsy #151: Coldsnap Math

Coldsnap draft has been done. Draft walkthroughs, pick orders, archetype articles — you’ve probably seen them all. Still, I have faced some opponents who really don’t understand the mathematics the set, especially ripple and common distribution. I’ll talk about math, odds, archetypes – and then look at the entire card pool from a draft.

From Right Field: Whither Time Spiral?

Read Chris Romeo... every Tuesday at
StarCityGames.com!

Coldsnap is Constructed legal, and the DCI isn’t changing their minds. Ditto with the Timeshifted Time Spiral cards. I will embrace these unsavory ideas, and see what I can do with purple cards. The following are some ideas that I riffed on while in “the library.” Will any of them bear fruit? Who knows? It depends on what you do with them.

Initial Thoughts on Time Spiral

After a dose of draft and a slice of Sealed deck, Nick delivers his preliminary verdict on the highs and lows of the new set. He theorizes that play skill is currently more important than deckbuilding considerations, and gives us a brief lowdown of each color’s strength for triple Time Spiral draft. Nick is practicing hard for Pro Tour: Kobe… expect future articles to break the format wide open!

Time Spiral in Constructed — Blue

Ted continues his detailed examination of the Time Spiral cards, looking at their application for the coming Constructed metagame. After yesterday’s article on the old workhorse White, Mr Card Game turns his gimlet eye to the color of the pros: Blue. Time Spiral harks back to the glory days of old… is Blue broken beyond repair?

Time Spiral in Constructed — White

Teddy Card Game begins a ten-part review of Time Spiral for Constructed. Color breakdowns, deck ideas, theories, and strategy are promised along the way, with guest articles appearing from a number of big-name writers and players. Today’s installment begins where all set reviews should… with the White cards. Looking for the edge on the Time Spiral metagame? Look no further!

An Ode to Tallowisp – Snow Dad

I have found I am willing to pay 2-3 tix for a good card that goes in a lot of decks, and only about .5 tix for narrow cards. There are some good, fun, narrow cards — like, say, Heartbeat of Spring or Weird Harvest — that are only really good in one or two decks. Phyrexian Arena? Sure! Early Harvest? Get bent! Which is why when you find an uncommon that lets you build around it, you cherish that card. You cherish it with all of you that there is.

Tallowisp… I’m going to miss you, brotha.

Somewhere Lost in Time

Craig “The Professor” Jones takes us through his Time Spiral Prerelease experience in his signature comic style. He shares his views on the new Limited format, and spreads the love toward some of the unsung cards from Magic’s newest, yet oldest set…

Ben Bleiweiss’s Guide to Everything Time Spiral, Part 1 (White)

Tired of the traditional set review? Ben Bleiweiss’s Guide to Everything Time Spiral is a look not only at the strategic value of Time Spiral, but the relation of Time Spiral to the history of Magic, to the Magic community, and to the hot-topic issues of Magic.

The Weekly Timeshift Sift: When Old Friends Return

Read The Ferrett... every Monday at
StarCityGames.com!The new set is out, and it’s time y’all knew how I did at the Prerelease, futzing around with the glory of old cards… And the wonder of Time Shifted cards!

SCG Daily — Time Spiral Through the Lens of its Forebears #5

There is one of those stories that a certain type of person loves to hear, about Kai Budde, when he once got a game loss at a Pro Tour because he played a Whipgrass Entangler as a morph thinking it was a Daru Sanctifier (owing to the similar artwork). This sort of thing, surprisingly, didn’t happen too often in those days, even if it did happen to the best of them. But nowadays, oh boy… have things become more confusing!

The Great Champs Experiment: Part 5

In the fifth installment of his entertaining series, Joshua brings us a rundown of the Champions-free Ravnica Block Constructed decks that may see play in some form at the coming Standard Champs tournaments. Next week, JXC moves onto deck ideas and archetypes involving Time Spiral cards… stay tuned!

Magical Hack: Spiral, Spiral, Burning Bright

Read Sean McKeown... every Friday at
StarCityGames.com!

Sean takes a closer look at Time Spiral Sealed Deck, sharing a cardpool and taking us through his thought processes while analysing his deckbuilding options. He also spreads a bit of Constructed lovin’ for one of the lesser luminaries of the new set… Flagstones of Troikar.

Drafting With Rich – RGD #37

Rich continues his excellent Draft series. The Canadian maestro turns his back on the cooling Coldsnap, and heads for the balmy waters of sweeter formats. From now until the online release of Time Spiral, Rich will draft a number of formats, from RGD to 999 to CBS to CCC… whatever takes his fancy at the time. He’ll supply each pick, from pick one to pick forty-five, and pen a brief commentary on hs deck and performace. For more detailed comments, visit the forums!