Imagine having Teferi out, evoking Shriekmaw at instant speed, playing Grim Harvest getting Shriekmaw back, Evoking it again, Recovering Grim Harvest, playing Grim Harvest getting Shriekmaw back, Evoking Shriekmaw again, Recovering Grim Harvest, playing Grim Harvest getting Shriekmaw back, Evoking Shriekmaw, then Recovering Grim Harvest again.
Wet dream, my friend… wet dream.
I had been up late the night before importing all of the card information into Star City’s database, so you’d think I’d know all the cards… Right? Wrong. I actually like being spoiled. So showing up at the tournament, exhausted, run-down, and trying to sort through a new set? Not my greatest strategical moment.
In a format as wide open as Legacy, there is a lot of room to find a deck you love and stick with it. This week, Adam discusses why this is a bad idea, and shares some insight into how this folly contributed to some serious scrubbing out. Plus, decklists!
Standard always does an interesting dance this time of year. Old favorites from the past two years march off into the mists of time to be forgotten with the rest. Old problems disappear just as abruptly, showing that even the most aggressively dominant decks come with an expiration date… I’m looking at you, Arcbound Ravager.
Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re visiting Nashville, TN and Boston, MA to show you what real players think of the set, some thoughts from Magic artists Cyril Van Der Haegen and Rebecca Guay, and hopefully have some fun along the way.
I am writing today’s article about some issues that I have with recent changes that Wizards have made, or chosen not to make, in light of Tenth Edition, Master’s Edition, and more. That’s all and well and good… however, Wizards had to go and change the nature of this article between its writing and its publication. I wrote about topics that have a resolution already. Well, some of them at least. That’s okay, because I can highlight some changes n places where they matter, and you can read my false predictions…
Brian David-Marshall caught up to me on Magic Online about a month ago and sent me a message: “How would you like to come up to NYC on October 6 to play in the top8magic Mockvitational?” Competitors? Lebedowicz, Chapin, and other luminaries will be turning out. Formats? Hey, I’ve always wanted to build my own block. Prizes? Amongst this crowd, what better prize could there possibly be than… bragging rights.
Chris Romeo takes a thoughtful stroll through the garden of Lorwyn, pointing out the cards and the combos that have recently piqued his interest. All the colors are trawled for hidden gems, and the flotsam is ritually derided in the signature Romeo style. Looking for the budget bombs in the coming Standard format? Chris has the article for you!
Regular readers know I go nuts over every new set; I literally love each new Magic set, and for at least a little while, my favorite set of all time is the most recent Magic release. The reason why I’ve been a passionate fan of Magic year after year since I cracked open my first starter deck back in 1994 is the joy of discovering new cards, and brainstorming new card combinations and deckbuilding possibilities.
Ravnica, for all practical purposes, has rotated out of Standard. People are working on new-Standard decks for States, which is just a couple of weeks away. A few staple cards will be leaving — but the biggest change will be to manabases. Let’s look at what goes, and what stays…
I love everything about this set. It was odd at first, because I hated Onslaught. The misapplication of the Morph mechanic made games too swingy, and I hate formats where you have to play eighteen or nineteen lands without too much to do with a flood. Then there was the fun “Commando-Craghorn-Zombie Cutthroat” debate which left you all-too-eager to slit your own jugular and drain into blissful oblivion, and all told I drafted a whole lot of Eighth Edition during that time period.
Now that the Lorwyn Spoiler is in our grubby and impatient little hands, Rich Hagon revisits the techniques for Spoiler analysis he espoused last week and attempts to show how these touchstones can be useful in dissecting so much raw data. This episode also includes the largest font yet seen in a Magic article. (Mr. Hagon wishes to make it clear that this is not a challenge to a rapidly-escalating Font War with other writers. Thank you.)
Now the prerelease hype has died down, Josh takes an analytical eye to Lorwyn and shares his thoughts regarding its place in Limited and Standard. He highlights some key cards for Sealed and Draft, and brings us a decklist or two. He then moves onto Extended, and offers up four decklists for our attention…
The goal of every competitive deck is to win. Not losing is merely a means to that end, but not an end in itself. Each archetype takes a different approach to winning the game. Looking at each archetype in detail will provide insight into how each of them achieves its strategy. There is one particular archetype that will be very different in nature from the others and it deserves more consideration.
Kyle takes a look at the commons in Lorwyn, and evaluates them for Limited play. He breaks them down by color, and divides them further using his own unique categories: Premium, Average, and Snot. The prerelease has passed, and it’s time to get busy with the new cards. If you’re looking for a Limited leg-up, look no further!
