As I type this sentence, I’m getting married in 104 hours. There are a ton (literally) of things to move and a ton (figuratively) of little things to do. So, I’ll have to give you a form that you can fill in to write your own column.
[Congratulations to Chris Romeo, who either got hitched this weekend or was shot and killed as he tried to escape the bonds of holy matrimony. StarCityGames.com would like to wish him our very best. – Knut]
On Sunday, May 16th, the Star City Game Center will be hosting Ben’s Deck Challenge. What are the thirty-two decks and their prizes? Read inside to find out!
In this half, Steve covers Landstill and U/G Madness.
In part one, I reviewed decks A-F on the SCG gauntlet – tracing through each deck’s game plan, identifying their strengths and weaknesses, and describing the relevant matchups. The purpose of this effort is to assist readers trying to figure out what they might want to play and how to shore up archetype weaknesses by describing the decks of Type One in a candid light – free (hopefully) from the distortions you might see from someone promoting their pet deck. In this article we look at decks that start with the letter G-M. We begin with what is undoubtedly one of the best decks in Type One and yet is the most confounding, irritating, and mystifying:
You’re going to hear a complaint aired here today that probably has never been aired before in Magic’s history. The upcoming discussion I’m foisting on you today is partly about the power level of a card. It’s partly about the mana cost of a card. It’s partly about the mechanic of a card. But mostly, it’s about You, the consumer.
What card am I talking about? Well, hold on just one second…
As a long-time player of the game, I have to admit to being particularly intrigued by the prize given away each year to the winner of the Magic Invitational. The opportunity for a player to make his or her mark on the game with a card based on your own design, and sporting your likeness, is quite a gift back to the Magic community by Wizards of the Coast. I mean, what true fan of the game wouldn’t love this opportunity? Since I’m not very likely to get to make my own card, I thought it would be entertaining to look at this year’s proposed cards and separate the wheat from the chaff.
Price will forever be remembered for liking to attack. Which begs the question… If Dave, like Brian Hacker, taught us to beat down, if Dave himself chose simple, focused, attack decks and eschewed complex strategies, Why In The World Would He Choose To Go Second?
Since I publicly told Randy Buehler that Type I players still subscribe to the old joke about Green, designers have paid close attention to the color pie, and the popularity of each slice has changed quite a bit. Mono-Red, for example, has been reduced to the pseudo-combo Food Chain Goblins, with burn all but extinct (except Fire). Mono-Black has disappeared as well, with even its revitalized disruption unable to cope with real creatures, not to mention the hilarity of discard facing off against graveyard-intensive strategies. Somewhere in all this shifting lies the much-maligned Green…
Last week, we looked at a three-part rookie mistake I made during the final Swiss draft of Grand Prix: Oakland, where quite possibly my first pick (and its implications for the rest of my draft) cost me a return trip to the Pro Tour. This week, we’ll take a more in-depth look at Booster draft, focusing instead on signaling.
This is Whimsy number 100. Actually, I have published a lot more on StarCityGames.com, but some were unnumbered, and some were two-part pieces. Whatever. This is one of those arbitrary milestones — a big, round number — so I am going to do something self-indulgent. I am going to write about my one hundred favorite magic cards.
As a pro, how would you prefer Wizards balance card design between casual and tournament-level power?
Like I’ve said before, cards don’t rotate out in Type One in the same way that they rotate out of Standard and Extended. If you want to get rid of a deck once and for all, you’ve gotta restrict something major in order to render it unworkable. And as much as people dislike admitting this, sometimes you’ve gotta put aside a deck because another comes out that – dare I say it – is strictly superior.
Is Ravager Affinity really all that and a bag of chips, or are we just not ready for that jelly?
