Tuesday, March 18th – Tom finished Grand Prix: Philadelphia in twelfth place, and he did it with Domain Zoo – a far cry from the Next Level Blue variants he has been playing all season. He explains why he changed decks and the logic behind the decklist that he and Ben Wienburg played to the Top 16 and Top 8 respectively, then walks you through the matchups that he played in the tournament.
Tuesday, March 18th – In Standard Reveillark mirror matches, Benjamin Peebles-Mundy has a fantastic record of success of late: twelve wins, one loss. Today, he takes us through three mirror match games in exquisite detail, play by play and card by card. The deck is a definite contender in the modern metagame, and knowledge of the mirror is of paramount importance if you’re looking to succeed…
Monday, March 17th – At present, Vintage is full of entertaining and powerful options. The metagame is packed with great decks that run the gauntlet of Magical strategies. Today’s So Many Insane Plays sees Vintage World Champion Stephen Menendian break down the important Vintage results from January and February… so, exactly where is the metagame headed?
Monday, March 17th – Whenever a new set is added to a well-explored draft format, there are a number of things up for consideration. One of the most overlooked aspects of exploration is the need to re-evaluate the cards of the first set in context with the cards from the second. Today, Nick brings us some of the overrated and underrated hits and misses now that Morningtide is in the mix…
[Editor’s Note: Patrick Chapin will be appearing later in the week. Stay tuned!]
Friday, March 14th – This week, Adrian Sullivan shows us the inner workings of the winning deck from last week’s largest PTQ. Loam has been on the back-burner since Counterbalance’s ascendance – now that it’s enemy number one has largely disappeared from the metagame, is it time for Loam to make a comeback? This strange version of Loam has a unique take on how to attack the metagame, and Adrian walks us through what makes it tick!
Friday, March 14th – This weekend, thousands of players will descend upon the Grand Prix halls in Philadelphia and Vienna. Only eight will survive to the final table of each, and of those eight, only one will triumph. What skills, exactly, do you need to make it all the way to the GP top? Mike investigates that today, with input from some of the greats (Dan OMS, Mikey P, Osyp to name but three). If you’re looking to elevate yourself to the next level, here’s the place to start!
Thursday, March 13th – Kyle Sanchez rocked up to his latest Extended PTQ with a Blue/Green Tron deck and high hopes of qualification. Sadly, things weren’t to be for him that day. Nevertheless, his performance sheds some interesting light on the matchups involved, and he presents his personal pick for the deck to run at any approaching PTQ…
Thursday, March 13th – The Extended PTQ season is beginning to wind down… but there are still PTQs to attend, and slots to be won! This coming weekend, Richard Feldman gets to play in his first PTQ of the season. In preparation, today’s Deep Analysis contains detailed play-by-play matches that pitch his chosen deck – Dredge – against the great and good from Grand Prix: Vancouver.
Wednesday, March 12th – With the results from Gran Prix: Shizouka in the books, it appears that there’s a new king: Blue/Black Faeries. With a favorable matchup against the major players, including the old king Red/Green Big Mana, the entertaining Reveillark combo, and the popular Black/Green Elves, the flittering faeriefolk are a serious force. Today, BPM takes a look at the GP-winning build, and walks us through the pertinent matchups, including the important mirror…
Tuesday, March 11th – Magic Online: a blessing and a curse. Testing and drafting on MTGO can be a fantastic experience when flowing smoothly… but throw a server crash in there, and we have tears and tantrums galore. Today’s Arcane Teachings sees Tom look at the strengths and weaknesses to online play from a self-improvement perspective, and argues that although the benefits are there, they maybe aren’t as tangible as it appears…
Tuesday, March 11th – Drafting with Morningtide is now available on Magic Online, every other day at least. In celebration, Nick brings us a Lor/Lor/Mor Draft walkthrough, and demonstrates how remaining flexible in the early stages of the draft can reap considerable rewards later…
Monday, March 10th – Stephen has been working overtime this week… In today’s edition of So Many Insane Plays, the Vintage World Champion brings us the lowdown on every single playable deck in the format! From the top decks, to the Contenders, to the Marginal Players, to the Dark Horses, this article has it all. Brilliant stuff from the format’s finest…
Monday, March 10th – Patrick Chapin, it seems, is in love with Counterbalance. Not content with shaping the Extended metagame with Next Level Blue, or watching Threshold take the little Blue enchantment and run to the hills, The Innovator is determined to see it played in every format available. Today, he squeezes the Coldsnap control staple into Vintage Flash, with surprising and promising results…
Friday, March 7th – Last weekend, Adrian Sullivan took his powerful Miser’s Rock deck to a PTQ win and an invite to Hollywood! While this article does contain details on his victory, it focuses instead on what Adrian describes as the true story of the PTQ: an innovative aggro deck named Spirit Stompy. Two players sleeved up the cards, and both made Top 8. Intrigued? Read on!
Friday, March 7th – This week, Mike turns away from the vagaries of the seemingly endless Extended season. Instead of thrashing out metagame data, he turns to deeper theory. He tackles the concept of “never settling,” a fine adjunct to his popular article How To Win A PTQ. After that, he moves into practical tips on how to improve one’s mental and mechanical game, offering sage advice on a number of interesting topics…
