Friday, October 2nd – While most judges have probably used the judge center at some stage to set up exams for themselves, there is nothing to stop you creating exams for other judges that you are actively mentoring. By generating the exams for the candidate, you automatically become ‘privy’ to the results and the answers they give.
Friday, October 2nd – Count me amongst the barbarian hordes who’re deeply disappointed at Lotus Cobra’s mythic rarity. I just traded two of the new fetchlands for one Cobra, and based on initial pricing it’s close to an even trade. That’s just ludicrous. Lotus Cobra is a good card, but it’s on par with one fetchland at the most.
Friday, October 2nd – After spending a couple of weeks hitting WotC with the beatdown stick over sneaking tournament utility cards into the Mythic rarity slot, it’s a pleasure to praise them when they actually do something that qualifies as a bona fide Crowing Moment of Awesome: Priceless Treasures.
Thursday, October 1st – I have heard a lot of very strange stuff on podcasts and comment boards – and even in articles – recently. Stuff about how cards should be free, and how making people want to buy cards is bad for Wizards and the game, and so forth. Time to review some very basic economics.
Thursday, October 1st – I had high hopes for Zendikar at the prerelease, and they panned out remarkably. I can’t remember being this excited for a Limited format in a long time. Zendikar has a lot of really interesting archetypes and dynamics, and between the different themes pushed in the set, solid fixing and acceleration, and aggressive creatures, there are a lot of ways you can take your deck.
Thursday, October 1st – Zendikar is chock-full of treasures for your EDH deck. In fact, I might say that it’s the single best set for EDH ever. There are so many crazy things to do, so many strategic nooks and crannies to explore, that it was tough to even get down to 20, and that’s not even counting the fetchlands…
Wednesday, September 30th – The Zendikar prerelease has come on and gone this weekend so we have all 249 cards with some discussion of our sealed pools, draft and more. Also, part of the hoopla was the absolute surprise from WoTC with the “Priceless Treasure” cards with a classic Vintage card (think like Black Lotus or Mox Sapphire) replacing the land in packs (likely ~1 in 750 packs) and caused an amazing ripple of news over the weekend.
Wednesday, September 30th – I’ve spent a lot of time, and a lot of effort, and a lot of pages writing five articles where I place what I consider the most criminally underplayed cards in casual circles into an Underused Hall of Fame. Today, I’m going to take some of those cards, and I’m going to build decks that use them.
Wednesday, September 30th – This has been a tumultuous week in Magic. First came the revelation of Lotus Cobra at Mythic, which many people are pointing to, along with Warren Instigator and Mindbreak Trap, as proof that Wizards is in fact a horrible, evil entity, replete with (Magic) Missiles aimed at our homes and children, and determined to run off their customers, but milking them for all their cash as fast as possible first!
Wednesday, September 30th – I’ll be the first to admit that Wizards has made their fair share of mistakes over the course of the last two decades, and even with Zendikar it’s apparent that they still have a lot to learn (Warren Instigator and Lotus Cobra at Mythic, for example). However, sometimes… they just get it right.
Tuesday, September 29th – With Zendikar ready to roll, it’s time to put the M10 Academy to bed, and start using the information, tips, tricks and techniques for analysing the game on a fresh set of deckbuilding and playing challenges. But before the doors close on the Academy, there’s the small matter of Artifacts and Lands to sort out.
Tuesday, September 29th – Zendikar is finally here and is quite literally the talk on everyone’s lips. But beyond the Priceless Treasures, what other strong cards are sitting in the common slots? Dave pulls together his top choices
Tuesday, September 29th – my initial impressions are that this seems to be a really tricky set. Alara Block seemed packed with mechanics that were powerful, but not particularly subtle — oh, you get more Exalted, you Unearth more creatures, you play more guys with five power! Whereas Zendikar feels like it’s just packed with very clever plays that reward very clever, alert players.
Monday, September 28th – The question I’m asked most often in relation to tournament Magic is simply, “What is the best deck?†This is commonly phrased as, “What is the best deck in [some specific format]?†For me personally, this question is usually in reference to Vintage and Legacy…
Monday, September 28th – This week, Doug considers new cards in Zendikar that scream for decks to be built around them. He also considers cards that recently came off the Legacy Banned List. While not new, these cards can also become the backbone of previously-unplayable decks, making them much stronger for Legacy. Get Doug’s take on Magosi, The Waterveil and Vampire Hexmage, as well as Bloodchief Ascension and Dream Halls. Find out if Entomb is the new busted Legacy card, all in this week’s Legacy’s Allure!
