In a change from the advertized schedule, Abe Sargent brings us his own brand of Casual Magic a day early this week! He looks at the Top 4 decks from the recent Paris Peasant Magic tournament, and shares a few ideas of his own…
I was playing Magic Online the other day, and trying to decide if I should do a 4-3-2-2 draft or an 8-4. I ended up picking a 4-3-2-2, just because it looked like the 8-4 would be a while before starting, but it got me thinking about the sort of conventional wisdom that people deliver about picking between the two…
This column will be comprised of two parts. First, I’ll be recounting my FNM run with my latest Galepowder Mage deck, sharing some thoughts on where to go from here; and second, I’ll going over my new Elder Dragon Highlander deck for the big EDH game up at Richmond Comix this Sunday.
During a draft, an argument about a play broke out, and my roommate flat out told me I was terrible and had no right to question any plays. I told him that once he fixed the holes in his game, he could talk to me about mine. He quipped about how he didn’t have any holes in his game. This clearly isn’t true… but was I being that blind? Was my own need to act like I was perfect actually hindering my ability to get better?
Worlds is almost upon us, and already in position to bring us all the action from the Big Apple is the audio maestro himself, Rich Hagon. He’ll be bringing you exclusive interviews, match reports, commentary and the best analysis of everything going on at the pinnacle of the Magic year. Get up to speed with all the inside info you need. It’s the best seat in the house, and it’s yours!
Today we’ll be taking a break from the endless amount of Faeries articles I’ve written, and instead focus on some of the other odder Standard decks floating around. A few of these have seen play in various 8-mans on MTGO, while others have merely been my side-projects after refining Faeries. The most interesting concept to utilize has come largely from the Makeshift Mannequin decks floating around since Grand Prix: Krakow.
The key to success in any competitive endeavor is the Will to Win. This is a disposition of the mind to overcome obstacles, maximize incremental advantage and prevail victorious in the face of unfavorable odds. It is, in essence, a psychological mindset. A positive attitude to win comes more naturally to some people than others, but everyone has bad days and winning in the long run requires a certain mental training in this area.
Finding the best deck in a format can be hard. However, there are often obvious signs that a deck is just not good enough to win a tournament. Tom shows us four of them, and also warns us about two reasons that we should not use as justification for rejecting decks. Also, Tom and Evan Erwin invite you to Saturday Night Cube Drafting at Worlds this weekend. Details inside!
I lost this week due to a grievous misunderstanding of my mana curve. And I have no one to blame but myself for that. It was a good deck; I was the one who let it down. What could I have done better?
The past two weeks I touched on “issues” and dipped into the mailbag… this week I thought I’d get back to what I find the most fun – tinkering with Magic decks! I’m going to be going to a Friday Night Magic this week up at Richmond Comix, and one thing I want to do for the tournament is further explore what I consider a sleeper power card from Lorwyn – Galepowder Mage!
Having looked at Standard last week at least through the lens of “something I would be happy playing,†this week I thought I’d take the opportunity to have a deeper look at Lorwyn Limited. I’d noted with some frustration while writing my article last week that the format I’d chosen, following up on the most recent Grand Prix, was choking on the limited information that is always a problem for a Grand Prix you do not yourself attend…
Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. You know, not so long ago I made a show while on location in Orlando, Florida. What you now know as The Magic Show #56 – Drafting With Evan I know as “That time I made a complete donkey of myself in front of the community.†But redemption comes in the form of Lorwyn pack winnings and ratings don’t lie. Come and explore the reason why I believe I’ve found my favorite Lorwyn draft archetype and have gained 150 Limited rating points in the process.
Hello folks and welcome back to series that explores the caverns of the casual. Today, we are going to be doing some serious spelunking. I have spent a lot of time and research preparing today’s article, and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you. The spark for today’s subject came from an old format I discovered at another site. I found this old, old format trying to turn Magic into an RPG.
I was curious about how the lag time and various MTGO problems have affected league play. I decided to join some leagues and check out the quality of the competition, how long I have to wait for games, how often new leagues spawn, the number of players, the payout, etc. I might even open some useful cards.
MTGO didn’t have “Nix Tix” drafting over Thanksgiving weekend as they have in the past; probably as a result of server stability concerns. However, I still had some product and tickets saved up, and some downtime when the family was off doing their own things. During that time it seemed like the fish-men were flowing freely, and bringing victories with them. On Sunday alone I won two drafts and split in the finals of a third, all with decks that had at least 75% Merfolk among their creature counts.
