When Scott Johns sent me the list of names on the Magic Writers Invitational, I winced. Never before had I seen such a wretched hive of scum and villainy. After much deliberation and more than a few shots of tequila, I finally settled on the five least repugnant invitees. Which five did I choose and what dirt do I dish on them? Find out inside!
Originally, I wanted to write something about reviewing Betrayers of Kamigawa and all the cards that are going to have an impact on the new format. I knew that my teammates Gadiel and Tim Aten were going to write something about the new set, along with Zvi and many others. Thus I needed to work on something else that was also important that involved Betrayers. What about the different archetypes in Champions block and how they are going to be affected with Betrayers now in? Are there going to be new archetypes? Which archetypes get better? Which ones get worse? All of these questions haven’t really been answered yet, and I’m here today to start doing exactly that.
Chad gives the quick and dirty reasons for his Invitational ballot, and some of the people in his Top 5 might just surprise you.
Magic is my foremost gaming passion, and it has been an integral part of my life for over a decade. It isn’t the only game I’ve ever tried – I’ll admit that I’ve openly cheated on my one true love with other brazen hussies in the gaming world. Today are some stories about the other collectible card games that I’ve played over the last years of my life.
Ben lays it all down as he gives the reasons why he thinks Competitive American Magic is on life support – and what can be done to resusitate it. Read about what is killing the community, why it’s killing the community, and how YOU can be a part of the solution instead of part of the problem. Learn why Chad Ellis could well be the savior of the entire competitive American Magic community in today’s installment of Blog Fanatic!
Hey boys and girls! It’s time for this year’s Magic Invitational! This year, they let me, Ben Bleiweiss, get a vote in the Internet Writer’s Vote category. It’s my solemn duty to uphold the traditions of voting from years past, in which thousands of the great unwashed would vote in players from years past who had not actually played a game of Magic for a full year! Seriously though, this is no Chris Pikula memorial vote – this is a vote for the best and the brightest players and personalities in the game of Magic.
As promised, we’re doing our best to ensure that our Premium members are getting their money’s worth. Here’s what a few of them have had to say…
Today’s Blog Fanatic contains three strange cases of the Bleiweiss kind. Each of these, while often unbelieveable, is completely true and it gives an indication of exactly why most members of the StarCityGames.com staff do not let Bleiweiss lead or give directions on a road trip.
SWK: Hey, I think I broke the format.
Knut: Oh really? What are you playing?
SWK: Well, it’s 60 different cards, so it’s tough to tell you.
Knut: Oh no – you got hooked on Singleton, didn’t you?
SWK: Yeah. All I wanted to do was make a Mind’s Desire deck because I figured it would be funny to try a combo deck with a bunch of one-of’s – I never expected it to be any good.
Knut: Ship it…
Tim Aten is on the Writer’s ballot for the Magic Invitational and today he provides his Top 5 list of players to send to Southern California, where they can oggle Playboy bunnies and see the coolest new computer games at E3.
It’s Extended season. An amazing number of decks are making PTQ T8s. Early results showed Twenty-two different archetypes have multiple T8 appearances. It’s a diverse field, and a diverse field rewards playing powerful decks that aren’t well known. Enchantress – the combo version – fits that definition. It won a PTQ last weekend and made T4 the week before, and Betrayers just became legal, meaning there may be some new tools available to help you abuse an already abusive combo deck.
Nobody, but nobody does lists like The Bleiweiss, and when Ben heard that Wizards was doing “Artifact Week” he had to reprise his old role as the master list maker, except this time we’re publishing it here at StarCityGames.com!
I love Spirits. As soon as Betrayers was released, I modified my casual Five-Color Spirit deck, and have been playing with it heavily. What Spirits and Arcane spells are the best? The absolute essentials? I have ranked the top Spirit and Arcane spells, and given you some tips on how to use them.
Osyp is the first StarCityGames.com writer to reveal his ballot for the Internet Writers Vote. Which big men of Magic made the list and why? Find out on… The Black Perspective!
Once upon a time, I offered you a peek into a new and exciting multiplayer format: Emperor Draft. Not that long ago, I continued the tale with some discussion of drafting as the Emperor, replete with card assessments and viable draft strategies. Since then, Betrayers has made its debut, threatening to wreak havoc on the current Emperor draft strategy and make obsolete any advice I could provide. Fortunately, with a few Champions-Champions-Betrayers drafts under my belt, I have met and tamed that growling tiger – and I am now ready to continue our adventure.
