Planar Chaos promises to inspire a modicum of format chaos for the Vintage player. After all, turmoil is a result of change and uncertainty… and the printing of new cards is a surefire way to shake things up. Planar Chaos offers some diamonds for the Vintage player. Today, Stephen polishes them up and dispays their beauty.
With the Prerelease weekend now officially behind us, Nick takes a look at how the new cards will change Time Spiral draft. Triple Time Spiral was a format with many flaws and virtues… Will the removal options present open up new tactics and strategies? Which color combinations promise to excel, when we consider that the third pack messes with the color pie? All this, and more, available within…
Ben is back again with the full lowdown for Planar Chaos, based on information gathered from the MTGSalvation.com spoiler. Do you want to know which cards will be hottest at your prerelease? Want to know which you should trade away, and which you should hoard like no tomorrow? Let the General Manager of StarCityGames.com fill you in on the key cards to keep, and those you can do without!
Craig “The Professor” Jones begins his weekly column with an examination of metagaming and deck choices. When preparing for a tournament, be it a Pro Tour or an FNM, how far down the slippery metagame slope are we willing to slide? As usual, Prof tackles his weighty subject with a deft touch and a humorous eye… this is an excellent start to his column, and one that promises great things to come!
With Week Two results from the Extended PTQ season slowly filtering in, Mike takes a long look at the Oklahoma City results. Their Top 8 featured a number of decks that were off the radar going into the event. Can such off the wall metagame-specific choices bring success across a wider field, now that the decklists are in the public domain?
In this enlightening article, Level 6 Mage Tiago Chan reveals his personal playtesting system, which has powered him from PTQ regular to (arguably) the strongest and most consistent player in the world. He shares his preparation techniques, plus advice and tips picked up from testing sessions with Frank Karsten. Playtesting is a skill at which we could all do with some pointers… Tiago shows us the path to PTQ success.
Rich continues his excellent series of Time Spiral Draft walkthroughs, presenting each pick as it happened and highlighting each card chosen. He shares his final decklist, and gives us a brief overview of his results and processes. As usual, for more detailed draft deconstruction, come visit us in the forums!
For his first article for StarCityGames.com, John Fiorillo takes a look at Extended’s most successful Combo deck – The Extended Perfect Storm, or TEPS for short. As a self-confessed Combo Junkie, John loves the deck… and his tips may be the link you need to gain success at your next Pro Tour Qualifier. Planning on running Boros Deck Wins? Never fear… John has some words of wisdom for you too.
Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin brings us a strange Vintage concoction… one that targets the expected metagame and smashes it to pieces. According to Patrick, the deck destroys anything ever created by our own Stephen Menendian. Whether Stephen agrees is, of course, up for debate, but with a matchup guide and sideboarding plans for matches against all the major players in the Vintage metagame, this is a deck you cannot ignore.
Rich continues his excellent series of Time Spiral Draft walkthroughs, presenting each pick as it happened and highlighting each card chosen. He shares his final decklist, and gives us a brief overview of his results and processes. As usual, for more detailed draft deconstruction, come visit us in the forums!
Jeroen’s back, with a new column title for the New Year! As before, he answers reader-posed questions with candor and fun. Today’s batch of posers include how to get the edge in the Extended metagame – just how do you beat the Boros deck that’s teched-out to beat Boros? Jeroen also lets fly with his opinions of Planar Chaos… and as usual, he pulls no punches. If you have a question for Jeroen, send them to [email protected]!
Raphael begins his weekly column with a detailed examination of how to improve our Magic play. His intricate theories look at how our mind works in relation to the World’s Greatest Game, and his conclusions may be surprising… in order to excel at Magic, is the key to play less than we do? This is a fantastic article, and one that all aspiring Pro Tour players should read.
Rich continues his excellent series of Time Spiral Draft walkthroughs, presenting each pick as it happened and highlighting each card chosen. He shares his final decklist, and gives us a brief overview of his results and processes. As usual, for more detailed draft deconstruction, come visit us in the forums!
Richard Feldman is here to make you a better player. Not by bringing you a teched-out decklist – although he’s done that before, and will do so again. And not by leading you by the hand through a tricky playskill minefield – again, something he excels at. Today, Richard Feldman is here to make you speed up your game. Such skills are invaluable to the tournament player looking to gain that elusive percentile edge over their worthy opponents…
Today sees the return of the incomparable Jamie Wakefield, in the first of his weekly columns here at StarCityGames.com. And what better way for Jamie to begin than with a long look at the state of Mono-Green Aggro in Standard? Jamie shares his latest Green beatdown machine, waxes lyrical about the health of the current Standard format, and shares stories with his usual wit and vigor. Mr Wakefield, it’s great to have you back!
