CategoryMagic The Gathering
18,000 Words: R&D’s New Mistake
You’re going to hear a complaint aired here today that probably has never been aired before in Magic’s history. The upcoming discussion I’m foisting on you today is partly about the power level of a card. It’s partly about the mana cost of a card. It’s partly about the mechanic of a card. But mostly, it’s about You, the consumer.
What card am I talking about? Well, hold on just one second…
The Ultimate Prize: Evaluating the Magic Invitationalists’ Card Submissions
As a long-time player of the game, I have to admit to being particularly intrigued by the prize given away each year to the winner of the Magic Invitational. The opportunity for a player to make his or her mark on the game with a card based on your own design, and sporting your likeness, is quite a gift back to the Magic community by Wizards of the Coast. I mean, what true fan of the game wouldn’t love this opportunity? Since I’m not very likely to get to make my own card, I thought it would be entertaining to look at this year’s proposed cards and separate the wheat from the chaff.
Why Dave Price Goes Second
Price will forever be remembered for liking to attack. Which begs the question… If Dave, like Brian Hacker, taught us to beat down, if Dave himself chose simple, focused, attack decks and eschewed complex strategies, Why In The World Would He Choose To Go Second?
You CAN Play Type I #133: Are There Five Colors in Type I Again?
Since I publicly told Randy Buehler that Type I players still subscribe to the old joke about Green, designers have paid close attention to the color pie, and the popularity of each slice has changed quite a bit. Mono-Red, for example, has been reduced to the pseudo-combo Food Chain Goblins, with burn all but extinct (except Fire). Mono-Black has disappeared as well, with even its revitalized disruption unable to cope with real creatures, not to mention the hilarity of discard facing off against graveyard-intensive strategies. Somewhere in all this shifting lies the much-maligned Green…
Weak Among the Strong: What Are You Passing?
Last week, we looked at a three-part rookie mistake I made during the final Swiss draft of Grand Prix: Oakland, where quite possibly my first pick (and its implications for the rest of my draft) cost me a return trip to the Pro Tour. This week, we’ll take a more in-depth look at Booster draft, focusing instead on signaling.
Yawgmoth’s Whimsy #100: Self-indulgence
This is Whimsy number 100. Actually, I have published a lot more on StarCityGames.com, but some were unnumbered, and some were two-part pieces. Whatever. This is one of those arbitrary milestones — a big, round number — so I am going to do something self-indulgent. I am going to write about my one hundred favorite magic cards.
Ask Ken, 05/12/2004
As a pro, how would you prefer Wizards balance card design between casual and tournament-level power?
There Can Be Only One: Putting Aside Deck Variants in Type One
Like I’ve said before, cards don’t rotate out in Type One in the same way that they rotate out of Standard and Extended. If you want to get rid of a deck once and for all, you’ve gotta restrict something major in order to render it unworkable. And as much as people dislike admitting this, sometimes you’ve gotta put aside a deck because another comes out that – dare I say it – is strictly superior.
Ask Ken, 05/11/2004
Is Ravager Affinity really all that and a bag of chips, or are we just not ready for that jelly?
Ban Sheep
Ted Knutson makes the argument that because Skullclamp is nigh universal, it should be banned. Ban Skullclamp! My problem with his argument is threefold…
Food for Thought: The New Control
For the last month there have been only two things people want to talk about: the state of the Standard environment and the death of Rogue decks. This was all fine and dandy, since we were leading up to Regionals, and the Knut’s gotta give the people what they want to read. On the other hand, I’m sick of it. If you want a relaxing, post-Regionals cocktail of interesting decks, read on.
Building with Wicker #2: Introduction to Wicker Man Deck Theory
Aggro, Combo, and Control decks all function best against either bad decks or good decks that, for whatever reason, do badly in a game. That all of the top decks can also win against decks that do well is beside the point; what matters is that all three major deck archetypes are geared toward punishing bad play. In response to this, we will examine how to construct decks that perform at their peak against other decks that perform at their peak. For simplicity’s sake, this will be termed Wicker Man deck theory.
You CAN Play Type I #132 – The Control Player’s Bible, Part IV.4: Control at a Crossroads, April 2004
Thus, “The Deck” is getting left behind, to the point that some distinguished voices have been using it as the straw man for trumpeting “the real metagame.” Last month, for example, JP Meyer half-sarcastically called it “the best control deck in Type 1 as long as there isn’t another control deck that is more streamlined.” More recently, Phil Stanton called it “nothing but metagame customization” compared to Hulk. Are these pundits correct, and if they are, what building blocks exist to go about rebuilding”The Deck” for today’s Type One environment?