Premium Header

Premium

Lessons from Worlds, Part One: Don’t be Cocky

Craig “The Professor” Jones’s preparation for Worlds was not as exhaustive as one might expect. With mere hours to go before the start of play, he audibled from his pet Reb/Back Pact Husk deck into what is inarguably the most powerful deck in the format – Dragonstorm. His Day 1 performance, while hardly blistering, smoldered along merrily. He learnt a few important magical lessons on his way to a 4-2 record, lessons he shares with us today. Fancy playing Dragonstorm in the current Standard? Prof has the tricks for you!

By

The Quest For Level Five #5 – Worlds!

Going into Worlds, it’s safe to say that Raph was looking forward to the tournament. Of course, the Hall of Fame beckoned… Mr Levy would be joining the game’s uber-elite. As the only active player entering the Hall, Raph had a little more than nostalgia on his mind. A Top 48 performance here would cement a Level 5 Pro Player standing for the coming season. Could this particular ringbearer scale the mountain with the eyes of all bearing down upon him? Read on to find out!

By

Drafting With Tim – Time Spiral #9

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 later this week!

By

Boros Deck Wins in Extended – Examining the Numbers

If the coverage from Worlds is to be believed, almost half of the coming Extended field will comprise of Boros Deck Wins. Of course, whether that number is inflated due to the laziness of the players at Worlds remains to be seen (NB: I played BDW myself, and it wasn’t because I thought it was the best deck in the format). Josh brings us a detailed breakdown of the components present in the more successful BDW builds, and suggests his own composite build from the debris. BDW will be a force in the coming Extended season… are you ready for it?

By

Time Spiral Draft – Red

After a self-imposed break from writing, Benjamin Peebles-Mundy is back with a continuation of his excellent Time Spiral Draft series. Last time out he tackled the pick orders for Black, now acknowledged as the red-headed stepchild of the format. Today’s offering focuses on the Red cards. So, which fiery biscuits tickle Mr Mundy’s tastebuds? Read on to find out!

By

The Glass Cannon

Bringing a deck that packs to a commonly played archetype is something I’ve come to term “bringing the Glass Cannon Deck.” It’s where you launch yourself head-on at the tournament with a deck whose only chance is to avoid your few nightmare matchups the whole way through. Encountering that matchup more than once — a possibility you can neither avoid nor control — will likely end your tournament on the spot. But when do you bring a Glass Cannon on purpose?

By

Five Also-Rans

Behind the link are five decks that didn’t quite make it. They aren’t bad or anything; in fact, I think some of them have good ideas as jumping-off points, and one or more may even grow up to be great. But why did these decks fall short, and what can this tell us about Standard?

By

Lapses In Judgment

What follows are some situations I’ve encountered recently where I lost the game due to a poor judgment call on my part. All of my plays are justifiable, but in this format the smallest thing can cost you a game – and you need to constantly be re-examining your play if you want to do well. Let’s take a look at what I did wrong.

By

Lessons In Humility

The weekend past in Roanoke at the SCG Power Nine double-header was a humbling experience that left me questioning what I know and not knowing what to question. I ended up taking home a Timetwister by the end of the weekend by getting 9th Place on Day Two, but the experience has reshaped my view of Vintage and refined my understanding of Meandeck Gifts. So let me tell you what I learned in defeat.

By

The Unders and Overs of Time Spiral Limited

Josh takes aim at the sacred cows of Time Spiral Limited, telling you why the cards you love aren’t as good as you think. (Some of his picks? Controversial, to say the least.) And as an extra-special bonus, he’ll tell you what cards aren’t being picked high enough!

By

Drafting With Tim (Sorta) – Time Spiral #8

And for the final draft in the “Drafting with the Nationals Team” series, we have Luis “fob on Modo” Scott-Vargas, with commentary by Tim Aten and Paul Cheon.

By

Drafting With Tim (Sorta) – Time Spiral #7

Continuing with the “Drafting with the U.S. National Team” series, today we have National Champion Paul “Seven Bells” Cheon, with commentary by one Mister Tim Aten. How does the U.S. of A. fare today?

By

Against The Odds – Making Top 8 at Pro Tour: Kobe (Part 3)

Kenji dissects his final draft at Pro Tour: Kobe… But more importantly, he gives you his Top 10 common picks from every color! (He promised you just the top 5, but he couldn’t stop himself.)

By

Levelling Up: From Athens to Kobe, Part 3

The report from Day 2 of Pro Tour: Kobe arrives, and Tiago’s mad Time Spiral Limited skills come with it! Watch as Tiago shares the good times involved in running around Japan, then goes into phenomenal detail on each of his matches and talks about the drafts he wanted to have versus the drafts he got.

By

Drafting With Tim (Sorta) – Time Spiral #6

In the week before Worlds, the U.S. Nationals team stayed at my house and playtested. When they saw that I got assigned a stint as substitute drafter, the reaction was unanimous: “I wanna do one!!” Thus, for these, the first three days of Worlds, you can catch a glimpse of the drafting styles of the skilled magicians who are representing our country. Then, if you’re not impressed, you can call your bookie and put all your money on the Netherlands. First up, we have Ben “The Future of American Magic” Lundquist…

By