Aside from mono-Blue, mono-Red/Ponza and (maybe) White Weenie and MBC, every Standard Tier 1 deck is running Forests. That’s over half the field! It’s apparent that, right now, Green is the best color in Magic. Call Kermit the Frog, this is a real Muppet News Flash! Why, this kind of news could get Jamie Wakefield back into the game!
Drafting with Pugg this week has been a very good time for all parties involved and the forums have been crackling with energy and feedback about each walkthrough. Of course, most of us keep waiting for the other shoe to drop – for Pugg to draft a really sweet deck for all of us to glory in. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse…
Also on the menu today is the latest from the Malaysian Sensation, Pro Tour: Nagoya semifinalist Terry Soh. In the past we’ve consistently featured articles that discuss taking cards that might be slightly lower in overall quality while passing your opponents multiples of cards in the same colors. Terry’s article today sets that theory on its head, as he explains exactly why you should always be taking the best card at the beginning of a draft. Once you’ve read both of the Premium articles today, tell us in the forums who you think got the better end of these two sometimes contradictory articles.
We’re trying something a little different today, as we bring you practical draft theory from two of the better drafters around. First on the menu today is the practical draft application section of Chad Ellis’s examination of Draft Archetypes, where Chad gives you a series of guidelines 99.9% guaranteed to improve your Limited game.
In the last three sections, I explained the basic principles I would use to construct an ideal Core set that would be better than what Wizards has done, and then I listed the cards and gave a brief synopsis of each. In these next two installments, I will try to explain and defend some of the more controversial choices, and some of the principles involved in their selection.
Yes this event is real, and Scott Johns, editor of MagictheGathering.com, is here today to clear up some misconceptions about the event and to answer some of the more frequently asked questions he’s seen on the forums.
If you play Magic Online, you are probably aware that the Vanguard release events are starting this week. But which avatars are the best and what decks do they belong in? Star Wars Kid’s got your back on this one, as he reviews the best of the avatars today as well as covering some of the major bugs you should be aware of before you participate in this new format.
The worst offense yesterday had to be in 303, where I took the Blademane Baku over Genju of the Falls. Forgive me for this transgression. Honestly, when I sat down and typed out that draft, even I felt like calling myself a moron in the forums. I came up with a lame excuse why I passed it, but hey, let’s just pretend I was on both crack and PCP when I did that. Except on June 3rd. That’s my court date.
JP chimes in with his thoughts on Interactivity, the changing applications of Force of Will and Mana Drain, plus some words of advice for those of you attending all these giant, rocking Vintage tournaments coming up.
I am blown away by the improvements to Green since I have been gone. For you youngsters out there, Green was the color of sharing. Anything it got that might have been good was made horrible by the fact that it shared the benefit with your opponent. These days Green positively rocks.
In any 250-card deck, the first issue is getting the mana. In real life 5-Color, dual lands and fetch lands make that easy. Online, the dual lands don’t exist and the fetchlands are out of my price range for now. I don’t own the Cities of Brass, Tendo Ice Bridges, and so forth to help. I will have to make do with commons. That means that I am going to have to play extra forests and play a lot of green mana fixers.
With today’s installment, Abe fills us in on the last of the cards in his grand scheme to do Wizards one better by creating a workable Core Set! Now that you have all the cards, you can debate his choices… and tomorrow, he’ll fill you in on his playtesting.
Hello once again. So much has happened since yesterday. How about that Pro Tour Player’s club, eh? What about the return of Family Guy, huh? Remember that last article of mine, do you? Me neither, so I’m stalling for time while I reread it. I learned a lot from yesterday’s draft, and especially the kind and not so kind forum responses from the article. Many thanks to all who wrote in and crushed my fragile spirits! In the spirit of the fine forum responses I received, I shall detail the lessons I learned yesterday and use them to guide me in today’s draft.
If you’ve been around Rich Hoaen for any period of time, you’ll understand that he’s probably better known for his powers of flatuence than he is for his Magic play. This is in spite of the fact that he’s consistently one of the top Limited players in the world. Today you get the story of how he finished second at Grand Prix: Detroit and while you’re reading, feel free to count the number of his opponents that actually had no idea who this “Rich Hoaen” guy is.
Today’s primary focus is the last deck I worked on before I called it a day: Five-color Green control, with White as the secondary color. The goal as I’ve said before is to get the most of the good cards in the format that you can and sling the big spells to the best of your ability. This is at the very least a noble attempt to achieve that objective.
