Select Header

Select

Yawgmoth’s Whimsy #216 – The SCG $5K Deck Breakdown

Read Peter Jahn... at StarCityGames.com!
Wednesday, March 5th – I got all the decklists from the StarCityGames.com $5K tournament two weeks ago. It’s taken some time, but I managed to read and classify them all. You have seen the Top 16 lists. Here’s a complete breakdown. I have total numbers, percent making the Top 16, etc. I also have a number of decklists that were just plain interesting. If you are planning on playing Standard in the next couple of months, there is sure to be something to think about.

By

Removed from Game – Weird

Read Rich Hagon every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, March 4th – Inside the Kuala Lumpur Tournament Center. Inside The Booth. Inside Rich Hagon’s head. Yes, Rich Hagon’s head is the odd one out, because plenty of Magic players want to get into the other two. Join Rich for the 100% true tale of a very strange week in Malaysia. This article also features zero Extended decklists, all as part of the service.

By

Deconstructing Constructed – PTQing with the Goblins

Read Josh Silvestri every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, March 4th – I ended up playing Goblins again for my local PTQ, to which even showing up was a bit of a hurdle since just two days before I was hacking my guts all over the room. Being sick, I had no time to go get new cards, even thought I wanted to switch decks to G/B/W Hateorade for the expected field of UG Tron, Goblins, and Red Deck Wins…

By

Unlocking Legacy – An Enchanted World

Read Legacy articles every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, March 3rd – Learn about a deck that’s ripe for beginners, rewarding for experienced gunslingers and endorsed by U.S. National Champion and brainiac Luis Scott-Vargas! Doug takes a look at Enchantress this week, exploring the ins and outs of the deck and presenting an inexpensive introductory deck for players who are new to the format. Learn general strategies and techy plays in this feature of Unlocking Legacy!

By

Feature Article – Mono-Black Control in Extended

Read Feature Articles every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, March 3rd – Like many players this Extended season, I’ve grown a bit frustrated with a format that allows so many variables to be relevant. Affinity, Dredge, Next Level Blue, Previous Level Blue, Goblins, Enduring Ideal, TEPS… the list of playable archetypes stretches on and on and on. With that in mind, I set out to sculpt an archetype that would focus on beating the most popular decks most of the time…

By

Insert Column Name Here – How Do You Draft When You Don’t Know The Cards?

Read The Ferrett every Monday... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, March 3rd – Drafting a new set is tough, but that’s not what I’m talking about. No, to make life interesting, my local store decided to hold the Lorwyn segment of my draft in Russian packs – not bad for the cards I know a lot, but what about those loopy rares? Plus, I learn a Very Important Lesson about a Morningtide card that I misunderestimated, and the first announcement of The Ferrett’s new (and sure to be overhyped) webcomic!

By

Feature Article – My Travels End, and Grand Prix: Vancouver

Read Feature Articles every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, February 29th – Grand Prix: Vancouver was an interesting event. It was nice to see some PT friends before heading back home, and I had some interesting conversations with all manner of people. On the topic of Ninjas, LSV had the following to say: “It seems like a good Tier 2 deck, if you play it perfectly and your opponent makes mistakes.”

By

Magical Hack – Goblin Lore

Read Sean McKeown every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!Friday, February 29th – The Goblin tribe in modern Extended is an unusual beast. Recent printings have given Goblin players new tools if they want to use them… but change is always a contentious thing for some, and thus we see decklists with numbers like “1x Frogtosser Banneret” or “2x Frogtosser Banneret.” People like what they are comfortable with, and tend to not respond well to change… even changes for the better.

By

The Magic Show #85 – From Charlotte, with Love

Watch Evan Erwin every Friday... on StarCityGames.com!Friday, February 29th – Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re going to see some highlights from my weekend in Charlotte, including some unseen footage from players there, talk about the statistical power of the StarCityGames deck database, review upcoming Banned and Restricted list revisions due on March 1st, enlighten you with some Jon Finkel facts and we reach a new Magic Show milestone. Let’s go!

By

The Kitchen Table #222 – Top Ten Lists

Read Abe Sargent every Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, February 28th – My name is Abe, and I’m your doctor with an MD in Casual, bringing healing to the casual masses. Today I want to do something that seems like a lot of fun. I want to bring to you a bunch of top ten lists, and then discuss my choices. Sounds simple enough, right?

By

Tribal Thriftiness #12 – Let The Rope-Shaking Commence

Read Dave Meeson every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, February 28th – Obsidian Battle-Axe has certainly gotten a lot of press and has been seeing play in Standard. Today, Dave explores how each of the races with Warriors can use Obsidian Battle-Axe to beef up into… the Ultimate Warrior! Or, at least, a pretty good Warrior.

By

Yawgmoth’s Whimsy #215 – SCG $5K and Extended PTQ

Read Peter Jahn... at StarCityGames.com!
Wednesday, February 27th – I spent the weekend in Charlotte, at the StarCityGames.com $5K on Saturday and the PTQ on Sunday. My plan was to work the $5K, then qualify for Hollywood the day after. If you know how I play, you may guess how that worked out… but you’d be wrong.

By

Chatter of the Squirrel – Focus

Read Zac Hill every week... at StarCityGames.com!Wednesday, February 27th – Magic skill, like the term “intelligence,” is fairly difficult to explain. It’s not hard to define; “ability at manipulating specific sets of operations” works for most cases. But that definition doesn’t really cast light on the number one question that follows from it: namely, “Why can some people manipulate more of those operations than others?”

By

Arcane Teachings – Grand Prix: Vancouver Postmortem

Read Tom LaPille every Monday... at StarCityGames.com!
Wednesday, February 27th – Going into the tournament, I suspected that the metagame was changing in a way that was bad for actual Counterbalance decks. The card Counterbalance itself is best against the mirror and against midrange decks that actually give you time to set up a lock, and quite bad against decks that are very fast, play spells that cost tons of mana that you can’t use Counterbalance to stop, or both.

By

You Lika The Juice? – Pivot to Extended

Read Bennie Smith every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, February 26th – Today I was supposed to tell you all how I did at the big $5K Star City Standard Open down in Charlotte, North Carolina. With any luck, I would have kicked ass and been featured in the Magic Show making my way to the Top 8. At least, that was the plan…

By