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Tooth and Nail, the Finale

After the release of 9th Edition, a lot of people were wondering how much the loss of Plow Under hurts the Green monster deck. Well, certainly, without Plow Under anymore, Medium Green has lost its strong position in Standard, which spells good news for TNN. But the bad news is TNN now has lost four essential spells against those annoying Blue decks, which is a huge drawback. Is this deck still playable in the current environment, and if so, what does the decklist look like?

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The Beautiful Struggle: Devil’s in the Details

Recently I began to wonder if the phenomenon of one-ofs in decklists is purely a Vintage-centric phenomenon, related to the absurd power level of the format? Does increasing a two-of to a three-of, or chopping it down to one copy, have an appreciable effect on a Standard or Block deck? To put it bluntly: just how important is one slot? I took some time exploring this question and I thought I would share the results.

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The Arcborn Virus

Less than a year ago, Mike Long released a deck dubbed The Suicide Virus. The immediate reaction to this deck was incredulity. Most readers dismissed the deck as “a pile.” A few players tinkered with it before moving onto something else. Regardless of what people thought at the time, no major structural improvements to the deck have been published since. Since then, I have been furiously working in my secret Vintage laboratory pouring creative energies into improving this deck and today I’m set to unveil my latest creation.

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My Grand Prix: Salt Lake City Report *T8*

In this whopper of a tournament report, Gadiel thoroughly recaps his Grand Prix: Salt Lake City T8 journey, answers some key strategy questions and speaks on a series of hotbutton issues that are sure to have people talking!

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Stream of Rife

“Look over the past ten years of Pro Tours, and you will see mono green in the final 8 significantly less than any other mono color. Mono Green will be a very distant fifth.”
– Jamie Wakefield

“Let’s look at the history of Green decks on the Pro Tour in order to show the viability, and even the dominance, of straight Green over the past five years.”
– Mike Flores, who also adds a quick section on which decks win and lose from the September bannings.

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Dissecting 9th Edition Limited

Rich Hoaen steps forward with a timely dissection of the new 9th Edition Limited format that just went live on Magic Online and is the addiction of choice for draft junkies awaiting the release of Ravnica.

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A Guide to Dutch Gifts

B/G/u Gifts Ungiven is the best deck in Kamigawa Block. What? You already knew this? I’m not going to write about why the Gifts deck is the best deck by far in this block format, as the results of every Grand Prix held in this format will tell you the same. What a lot of people don’t know is how to play the deck correctly. If you look at the PTQ results, you’ll see that there are a lot less Gifts control decks in the Top 8s than there are at Grand Prix, and we all know that the best players in the game don’t usually play PTQs. Why should you care about how to play the best block deck around? Because there’s a very strong chance that a version of this deck will also be a Standard powerhouse when Ravnica arrives.

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Legacy Prep: Vibrant Stagnation, Exposure, Even a Decklist!

Encouragement about the format, Oscar Tan the Revolutionary, the differences between Vintage and Legacy, a Legacy metagame overview, and even a spec decklist to try and push the envelope of creativity. The latest njx piece has a little something for everybody.

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Playing Gifts Ungiven in Vintage

The two biggest threats to Gifts Ungiven decks in Vintage are Control Slaver and Stax. Today Steve breaks down both of those matchups as well as dissecting some important changes in Gifts decklists that will let players better compete in a metagame that is prepared for them.

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Road to L.A. – End of the Road

After a very disappointing 1-2 finish at the first Gen Con PTQ with his deck of choice, Richard completely changes decks with surprising results. What deck did he choose and did he manage to take home a blue envelope? The answers to these questions and more are inside.

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Critical Mass

It took him a while, but Flores finally figured out the best deck in Kamigawa Block Constructed and it’s not just another Gifts Ungiven rehash. What deck is it and how did he win a PTQ with it this weekend? Check inside to find out.

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My First Nationals Part 2, Cak’d Out

After starting off the event 6-1, how did Cak end up out of the money? Details are inside.

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I’m Gon’ Japan part 3, blister Triumphant!

Alright, by this point you all know that he’s going to Japan, but where did our favorite Kiwi finish? How did he get there? Today is the final installment in this incredibly entertaining report.

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Magical Hack: A Tale Of Two Seasons

As we come up on the very last weekend of Kamigawa Block Constructed, we have also passed the first weekend of Standard after the Core Set rotation and the two combine to tell interesting tales. What should you be aware of as the Block Season wraps up and what new decks have been unveiled in the last couple of weeks? What do the latest foreign Nationals results tell us about where Standard is currently and where it will be once Mirrodin Block rotates out? The answers to these questions and more are only a click away.

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Transitional Objects

What secrets does the master hold for today’s article? The answer lies within. Go on, you know you want it…

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