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Another episode of the Magic Show, the popular video article series by Evan Erwin. In his own words…

Today I’m going to talk about Magic Design. Specifically, the Great Designer Search contest going on over at MagictheGathering.com. Now you’ve already seen our own Ben Bleiweiss – a cool cat if there ever was one – take a shot at last week’s “Take Five” Challenge. Today I’m going to cover “Picture This,” where severe design constraints are given and the designer must find a way out of it.

Ten pictures and ten holes. This is what Wizards gave their contestants this week for the Great Designer Search. Ben takes his shot at this challenge, for great justice!

*Disclaimer* If you are a Wizards of the Coast Employee, you have full permission to use the cards and ideas contained in this article, without further obligation.

Let’s go ahead and take a look at the implicit assumptions that go into the “Split Second is Bad” argument. In order for that stance to be sound, it has to be true that the chance to respond immediately to a spell will, over the course of a large number of games, enable a more skilled player to win substantially more often than a less skilled player.

The initial intent of this article was that it would be composed absent flagrant namedropping and savage barning. This proved impossible, so be forewarned.

My plan is to talk about “playskill:” what it is, how it manifests itself throughout the course of the game, and how different aspects of skill (or lack thereof) can impact a person’s ability to do well at competitive Magic.

The Ferrett takes a look from the decks that managed to smash to the top of almost a thousand people at Grand Prix: New Jersey this weekend, analyzing what this might mean when it comes to building your Time Spiral Sealed deck!

Life is just full of surprises sometimes. For example, when some utter random builds a rogue budget (for Classic) deck with next to no knowledge of the metagame and still manages to finish in the Top 8 of a 112-person event. Just for further grins and giggles, let’s say said utter random has never even played the format casually before.

Well, I’ll be your utter random today. So how did I do it?

Sean takes us through not one, not two, but three triple Time Spiral drafts, each pick lovingly recreated for us readers! It’s clear that the newest set on the block has everyone talking… but will this practice be enough to take Sean to the top tables at Grand Prix: New Jersey?

The color pie has shifted over the five or six years of MTGO’s history; back when it started out, Invasion and Odyssey were the new kids on the block, and in that time, Blue was powerful. Blue had Fact or Fiction, twelve high-profile, playable counterspells ranging in multiple color combinations, and of course, all its raw power in the midsection. Green, on the other hand… not so much so.

In Five-Color Magic, White gives you Balance, Swords to Plowshares, and Armageddon. Distinguished company, distinguished indeed. All of them, powerful in control, combo, aggro, or midgame — who doesn’t love watching a team of Mongoose, Werebear, and Terravore plump up as you blow up the world?