When I say that you playtest to figure out how to play, it doesn’t simply mean that you’re preventing yourself from making mistakes. Playtesting also encompasses a broader element of figuring out what it is you’re trying to play for. I don’t mean the prizes or the packs or whatever; I mean what your deck is set up to do, and whether what it does is worth it.
Magic Online has become a huge part of my Magic playing. It is currently in something of a transition – or crisis, if you believe the naysayers. I want to look at where MTGO is, where it is going, and what needs to be done.
Yeah, I know, it sounds disgusting doesn’t it? Still, that’s the word that Craig the Editor used earlier this week to describe the act of playtesting Extended with Mind’s Desire, a.k.a. The Extended Perfect Storm, a.k.a. TEPS. Join your only-slightly-above-average-at-Magic host, Rich Hagon, as he explores all the fun of the Storm in an E cup.
Last week I talked about some of the decks that had been doing well online, and shared a few other tidbits on the Extended metagame. I also said I’d go over the PTQ deck results. Now we have all the information for the Week 1 PTQs in hand, we can go over some of the decklists and data. Although there was nothing mind-blowing (unless you count Flores Martyr deck) there was a nice platter of decks across the varying metagames.
Christopher Coppola continues his discussion of UGB Threshold, talks about the threshold mirror, and gives some sideboarding plans for a few common matchups.
Tom takes an introspective look at his experiences at the recent Extended double feature weekend at the Star City Game Center in Roanoke, and muses about how to give the universe no choice but to send you to Hollywood.
On New Year’s Eve, I made a promise to myself: I would follow four very simple rules. Those rules have already raised my Magic play – and in ways I didn’t expect. Of course, when you get an insane deck to go along with it, featuring everyone’s favorite Nameless Inversion recursion engine, what else could you learn from a weasel?
Eli tells us exactly what he wants to see from the Magic coverage establishment and throws down a gauntlet. Will you be the one who takes it up?
Often, I pride myself on my ability to figure out what is important to a Constructed format, and build around that in a complicated dance of design and re-design. I seek to find a deck that I am comfortable with that I believe will do well. Usually this works… often enough that, among other things, it got me a weekly column, back in the Stone Age of the Internet when our caveman forebears sent each other stone tablets carved with Uck Norris jokes.
Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This past week I was fortunate enough to spend a weekend in Roanoke, Virginia for the PTQ and $1K tournament. This means that, yes, the Morningtide content will be pushed to next week, but until then you can hear about Extended from the competitors themselves! This includes a deck tech from Top 4 competitor Mike Ward and match coverage of the finals of the $1K.
Hello folks, and welcome back to the column charged with the exploration of all things casual. I’m your continuing host, Abe Sargent. Today, I have a significant treat for all Five Color fans out there.
Dave tires of playing mere sixty-card decks. Dave struggles against the oppression of “four-of†deck construction. Dave yearns to take to the skies and lead his forces to victory! So barring playing with Form of the Dragon, how can Dave shed his meager mortal mage shell and fly, free from the constrictions of tournament Magic? By heading out for a little Elder Dragon Highlander, of course.
The Extended PTQ season is beginning. A lot of people will be writing about the techie new decks, and what won which PTQ. I’ll chip in with a couple of other thoughts: on metagaming and netdecking, on slow play, and on Morningtide – which will be part of the Extended metagame starting February first.
In the wake of Worlds, we have several new and revitalized decks to pore over. Doug takes a look at Welder Survival, long a deck sitting just beyond the horizon in the metagame, and brought to new attention by Worlds coverage. Find out how it ranks and tests and read Stuart Wright’s thoughts on the deck. Also, read about the importance of testing to learn and not to win and what makes a good testing partner!
As everyone knows, I don’t play a lot of Magic Online. Whenever I do, I have experiences like the one yesterday that make me loathe the anonymity of the Internet and the readiness with which people take advantage of it…
