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Insider Trading – Uncommonly Good (Part 2 of 2)

Read Ben Bleiweiss every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, February 27th – In part 2 of his trip through the most valuable Uncommons of all time, Ben takes a look at the Uncommons of Legacy. Which pre-Invasion Uncommons are Super Uncommons? Which fall short of this designation? Find out in this edition of Insider Trading!

Deep Analysis – Extended Metagame Update

Read Richard Feldman every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, February 26th – With Extended PTQs occurring around the world, Richard Feldman takes a lingering look at the current make-up of the metagame. Since the format arrived at Pro Tour: Berlin, the Decks to Beat have risen and fallen with alarming regularity. This handy breakdown of both the major and minor players will prove invaluable to anyone looking to snag a blue envelope in the coming weeks…

Reflecting Ruel – Playing to Win: Lessons From Grand Prix: Rotterdam

Read Olivier Ruel every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, February 26th – In the first of a new weekly column, Hall of Famer and Magic mainstay Olivier Ruel takes us step-by-step through his Sealed deckbuilding process, focusing on his card pool from Grand Prix: Rotterdam. He also talks us through some interesting games, and produces a few tips on how important it is to Play to Win…

Down And Dirty – Good Stuff GWUB

Read Kyle Sanchez every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Wednesday, February 25th – The eyes of the worlds are looking East to the approaching Pro Tour, with Standard and Alara-Conflux Limited on everyone’s mind. However, the Extended Pro Tour Qualifier season continues apace, and today’s Down And Dirty sees Kyle Sanchez bring us an exciting four-color Good Stuff deck that offers decent matchups against a number of the major players in the metagame.

Positive EV – Artifacts That Define Legacy, Stax Redux, and Grand Prix: Chicago

Play Legacy at Grand Prix: Chicago!
Wednesday, February 25th – The next stop on the Grand Prix trail sees the Magic populous descend on Chicago for a weekend of Hot Legacy Action. Manuel Bucher, currently living it large in Kyoto, brings us his White Stax deck, and talks about the four artifacts that he believes underpin the format. If you’re looking for a powerful deck for the coming GP, this is the article for you!

Black Magic – Kyoto Predictions

Read Sam Black every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, February 24th – Pro Tour: Kyoto is fast approaching, and our game’s top players are heading east. Today, Sam Black brings us his thoughts on Standard going into the tournament, breaking down the metagame with reference to recent tournaments, including the top decks from last weekend’s StarCityGames.com $5000 Standard Open!

Sullivan Library – Raising the Boat Brew to a New Standard

Read Adrian Sullivan every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, February 24th – The Standard metagame pre-Conflux had a number of interesting strategies at its cutting edge. Red/White Reveillark Aggro, or “Boat Brew,” was a particularly strong contender. Adrian believes that, at the coming Pro Tour, Boat Brew will be the strongest and most successful archetype… do you agree with this assertion?

So Many Insane Plays – A Bird’s Eye View of Legacy: The Engines of Legacy

Play Legacy at Grand Prix: Chicago!
Monday, February 23rd– In the second part of this excellent Legacy series, Stephen Menendian and Matthieu Durand take us through the Engines of Legacy. Counterbalance/Top, Life from the Loam, Ancient Tomb… all these and more come under scrutiny. Grand Prix: Chicago is drawing near… be prepared!

[Editor’s Note – This article was written by Stephen Menendian and Matthieu Durand.]

Innovations – Pre Pro Tour Ponderings

Read Patrick Chapin every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, February 23rd – It’s the week before Pro Tour: Kyoto, and the pro community is understandably being tight-lipped about their breakout technology. In today’s Innovations, Patrick Chapin outlines his own view on the likely makeup of the Pro Tour metagame, and shares a few strategies and lists he believes will be front-runners come Sunday…

Deep Analysis – A PTQ Tune-Up

Read Richard Feldman every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, February 20th – Richard Feldman piloted his Extended Gifts Loam deck in a recent PTQ, and while the results didn’t drop his way this time, he still believes his build has serious potential. He brings us up to date on his latest developments, and talks us through his tournament round by round. If you’re looking for an inevitability-based control deck for this weekend’s round of PTQs, look no further!

Insider Trading – Uncommonly Good (Part 1 of 2)

Read Ben Bleiweiss every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, February 20th – Over the past few weeks, Ben’s made several allusions to Super-Uncommons – Uncommons that rise to the value of chase rares. In this week’s article, Ben takes a look through the StarCityGames.com sales database to see which Uncommons fall under the Super-Uncommon designation, and why!

Black Magic – Three-Color Control in Standard

Richmond, Virginia hosts the first StarCityGames.com $5,000 Standard Open of 2009!
Thursday, February 19th – In the first edition of his new weekly column, Sam Black takes a look at a few underappreciated Control archetypes in Conflux Standard. He investigates both Grixis and Bant Control, sharing his thoughts during the build process. With the StarCityGames.com $5000 Standard Open mere days away, do these Control builds offer the key to Top 8 success? Read on to find out!

One Step Ahead – Extended Elves Revisited

Read Gerry Thompson every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, February 19th – Looking back at the Pro Tour: Berlin coverage, it would be fair to assume the sky was falling. Elves were everywhere, and people clamored for bannings. However, as the format mutated, the Green Machine became nothing more than another strong deck in the metagame ocean. Now, with TEPS being the combo deck of choice, and the Elves hate at an all time low, is the stage set for the glorious return of the pointy-eared tribe? Gerry Thompson investigates…

Luck Skill Victory – Blue/White Dreadstill in Legacy

Play Legacy at Grand Prix: Chicago!
Wednesday, February 18th – Grand Prix: Chicago is quietly looming into view, and Legacy fans around the world are honing their decks in anticipation. In today’s Luck Skill Victory, Luis Scott-Vargas shares his powerful Blue/White Dreadstill build, explaining the strategy and card choices in detail before examining some of the key role-players for the sideboard.

Sullivan Library – Sullivan Red and the State of the (Extended) Union

Read Adrian Sullivan every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, February 17th – The Extended metagame continues to mutate as PTQs are held across the globe. In today’s edition of the Sullivan Library, Adrian examines the impact of Conflux on the format, and brings us the most recent version (and sideboarding plans) of Sullivan Red…