CategoryMagic The Gathering

What deck do you think will win the Standard portion of Worlds?

Mike Flores is a buffoon. I can say this because I know him better than most of you, and nearly anyone who hangs out with or talks to Flores for an extended period of time will come to this realization. Oh, don’t get me wrong… Flores is brilliant. But he also has innumerable flaws, many of which I will detail here in this very article.

Now with free Rogue Deck List! Recently Chad Ellis and others have published on a deck that I was working on (shh shh secretly) a while back. I will go into detail later as to why I disagree with a lot of what Chad thinks. First of all, here is my version…

In the past month of playing at least a draft a day, I’m fairly certain that I’ve broken the MD5 draft format wide open with a single archetype. I basically go into every draft with the idea of forcing this deck in some shape or form, since the deck is extremely flexible and maximizes the power level you can obtain, while still keeping up with the tempo of the format.

It’s now halfway through the Block Constructed PTQ season. So far, the block looks pretty solid. A lot of decks have game, and nothing — not even Ravager — is dominant. It’s time for an overview and some breakdowns.

Refusing to give in to the system, I decide to write today’s article. No Magic article has been in me longer than this one, yearning to breathe free. Writing this article is my greatest fear. And maybe my greatest joy as well.

More mulligan decisions with the master.

“I can’t believe I lost again.”
“Shucks, I just lost.”
“I thought I was going to win. I can’t believe I just lost.”
“Where are my pants?”

My thrill, when it came to pro competition, was the accomplishment and not the reward. When I won money at Pro Tour: Mainz, I was thrilled that I had finally finished in the money, more so than with the money I had won. Sure, the money was good, but the part I felt best about was having done so well. This attitude is what separates the true professional Magic players from the weekend warrior Pro Tour players. Gung-ho, must-win Pro players have their eyes on the prize.

Today’s question of:”Can you explain some of the nicknames some players on the Pro Tour have acquired? How did William Jensen get to be known as ‘Baby Huey?’ Why is Eric Taylor so ‘Danger’ous? Since when is ‘Beverly’ a nickname for ‘Nicolas?'” is answered by none other than the Dragon Master himself, Brian Kibler!

As a special thanks to Jay on the last day of this tremendous experiment, we are running Blog Elemental in the Strategy section. For those of you just catching up with Jay’s deckbuilding, we encourage you to relive the excitement by checking out the Blog Elemental archives. Here’s a snippet from today’s article:”It’s also interesting to note that since version 2.0 of the deck, I’ve had a very respectable 64-11 record in the Casual Constructed room of MTGO. That’s probably a higher winning percentage than I would expect from an evolved preconstructed deck built for casual play.”

Four PTQs have gone by in the Ohio Valley for Pro Tour: Columbus, and all four have featured at least one copy of the GFC Freshmaker in the Top 8. In the first PTQ of the season at Origins 2004, three people (including myself) made the final cut with the deck. There have been eight Top Eight appearances by teammates/partners of the GFC in those four PTQs, with more than twice as many top sixteen performances in the same PTQs. I only have one question for you: Why aren’t you playing this deck?

Here’s the updated Oracle text for Hammer of Bogardan as of August 1st, 2004:
Hammer of Bogardan deals 3 damage to target creature of player wayyyyyy slower than Barbed Lightning and a turn later than Volcanic Hammer.

RRR2: Skip the rest of your turn. Use this ability only during your upkeep.