Premium Header

Premium

The Road To Worlds and Beyond, Part 1 – Vermillion University

Paul begins a two-part series today dealing with his preparation for Worlds and his eventual performance. The U.S. National Team, carrying the hopes of a nation, spent a lot of their pre-tournament time studying under professor Timothy Aten at the team-dubbed Vermillion University. Standard, Draft, Extended, and Team Rochester were all discussed and tested… and the results were mixed. This is an entertaining opening to what promises to be an illuminating series.

By

Lessons From Worlds, Part 2: Don’t Be Intimidated

Last time out, Craig “The Professor” Jones shared his thoughts and findings on the Worlds Standard format. After posting a creditable 4-2 performance with Dragonstorm, he took to the field on Draft Day with a heavy heart. After all, Limited is not his strength. The forty-card decks he produced were built out of the wreckage of his carefully laid plans. One was so bad it was banned from the official coverage! Intrigued? Then read on!

By

Drafting With Rich – Time Spiral #6

After a short hiatus, Rich Hoaen returns to continue his daily article series! Each day, the grumpy Canadian draft master takes us through a Magic Online draft, from pick 1 to pick 45, and shares his insight into the cards, the deck, and the games themselves. For more detailed analysis, Rich answers your questions in the forums!

By

The Stats of the JohnnyDraft – Triple Time Spiral with Finkel and Company

What better way to spend the holidays than drafting with one of the best players this game has ever seen? Indeed, the rest of the hallowed eight are no slouches… Paul Jordan shares some of his Drafting With Finkel experience, and brings us some interesting statistics regarding his personal performance in the format. All this, plus a full draft walkthrough!

By

Worlds 2006 – How It Happened, Part 1 *T8*

With his Level 5 status locked in before the event began, Tiago approached Worlds with a relaxed eye. Hours of pre-tournament testing was not for him – he knew his deck early on, and planned to run with the fun choice. Even so, his exceptional talent and dependable luck propelled him into the Top 8 after three gruelling days of play. Tiago shares the highs and the lows of the event today…

By

Drafting With Rich – Time Spiral #5

After a short hiatus, Rich Hoaen returns to continue his daily article series! Each day, the grumpy Canadian draft master takes us through a Magic Online draft, from pick 1 to pick 45, and shares his insight into the cards, the deck, and the games themselves. For more detailed analysis, Rich answers your questions in the forums!

By

A Vintage Chapin Vintage Article

Continuing today’s Vintage theme, Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin lives up to his name in style. He throws down the gauntlet to the Powers That Be, and proposes some sweeping changes to the Banned and Restricted list… and includes some interesting new cards especially for Vintage play! However, he’s not content with mere specuation and theorizing: read on for exciting news of proposed “Vintage-Ultra” Tournaments!

By

Creating and Exploiting Opportunities in Vintage: 9th Place at SCG Roanoke

Recently, Stephen has faced a Vintage dilemma. As the leading voice for Magic’s broken format, discovering that all you ever knew about the strategy and the metagame now lies in tatters after some shocking in-game revelation… well, let’s just say that he’s a little peturbed by this. Today’s article tackles the issues faced, and also contains an exacting tournament report in Stephen’s signature meticulous style.

By

Drafting With Rich – Time Spiral #4

After a short hiatus, Rich Hoaen returns to continue his daily article series! Each day, the grumpy Canadian draft master takes us through a Magic Online draft, from pick 1 to pick 45, and shares his insight into the cards, the deck, and the games themselves. For more detailed analysis, Rich answers your questions in the forums!

By

Worlds Standard – My Performance

Last week, Josh took a look at the Standard metagame both before and after Worlds 2006. Today, he expands on this theme and shares his own personal performance. Over six gruelling rounds, his Flores-designed deck took him to a 3-3 performance. What went wrong? What went right? Read on to find out…

By

Aggro in Extended: Part 1

Worlds Extended saw a plethora of interesting and innovative decks… and a shedload of Boros. In today’s Extended offering, Josh looks at some of the Aggro builds available to the old-school spellslinger, with an examination of successful goblin and Zoo builds. He also casts an eye over the dying Affinity archetype, lest we forget the horror and let it creep back into the metagame.

By

Drafting With Rich – Time Spiral #3

After a short hiatus, Rich Hoaen returns to continue his daily article series! Each day, the grumpy Canadian draft master takes us through a Magic Online draft, from pick 1 to pick 45, and shares his insight into the cards, the deck, and the games themselves. For more detailed analysis, Rich answers your questions in the forums!

By

Top 10 – The Best Standard Cards Before And After Worlds 2006

Mike often makes bold claims regarding the relative strength of cards. According to him, Skred was once the most powerful card in Standard. Worlds has come and gone, and many folk gambled on the metagame and packed their decks with backbreakers… but what were, and what are, the Top 10 cards in the format? Mike reveals all…

By

A Look at Standard – Worlds

As we all know, Dragonstorm took the top spot at Worlds this year. Of course, the top deck – or even a list of the Top 8 decks – doesn’t tell the whole story. There are many rounds of Magic at Worlds, and a fair few decks that posted 5-1 or better. Today, Josh looks at some of the more interesting ways to battle Dragonstorm, and shares his thoughts on the ideal build for Boros in Standard.

By

Drafting With Tim – Time Spiral #10

Tim Aten continues his role as a substitute for the grumpy Canadian in the Drafting With Rich series. As usual, he covers each of his picks in a triple Time Spiral draft, from pick one to pick forty-five, and supplies a brief commentary on the draft at the foot of the article. For more enlightened evaluation, visit the forums. Enjoy Tim while you can… Rich returns tomorrow!

By