This time of transition gives writers a lot of options, and ironically, we can’t take them all. I thought when I started this, I’d have a lot of decks seriously hurt by the departure of Kamigawa block; I liked Kamigawa a lot, and I felt it got a far too knee-jerk reaction from your average Magic player. I hated Mirrodin far more than I hated Kamigawa, so hearing people saying Kamigawa was the worst block ever made my gut tighten.
Constructed Champs (fka States) is coming. Like the rest of the world, I’m devouring everything I can find, trying to guess the metagame. I watch websites, read the pundits, pros and wannabes, and scour the early tournaments. The result — I have no clue what the real metagame will be.
Let me explain…
Last week, we had a look at a lot of different viable options for the upcoming State Championships. One of the key contenders for “deck I would play at States” was discussed there in its non-final form; one of the key contenders for “best deck to play for States” was discussed there (I just don’t want to play it); and the second deck I would consider playing at States hadn’t even been born yet…
Abe Sargent, Casual Writer supreme, took on Pro Tour Champ Jeroen Remie… and nearly took the crown! Piloting a deck of Jeroen’s design, he put up a fair fight. Read his match report here!
Jeroen stood tall against an Abe-ified deck of his own design… and lived to tell the tale. The match was close, but the relentless march of the elephants proved too much for Abe in the end. Jeoren supplies a detailed match breakdown… congratulations Jeroen!
With the advent of Ravnica block, making a good multicolor deck has become a lot harder to me. Other, more fiscal writers can afford to start a decklist with Hand of Cruelty and Paladin En-Vec, knowing their manabase will support it. Without that reliance, you look for other, more readily available ways to improve your chances.
We are going to look at the control decks of the format today. I feel that these decks are going to have a huge part of the Champs environment (when has control been weak?). We get many solid cards from Time Spiral for the control strategies, and these decks are where I have spent the bulk of my testing time. I am a control player at heart, and I feel that I know this style a lot better than I know the aggressive decks or the tempo decks.
Evan Erwin was on-site when the new Solar Pox deck won the StarCityGames.com $1,500 Standard Open – and he got it all on video! Today’s article sees this incredible deck face off against opponents in Round 7, and both the quarter- and semi-finals! Thinking of playing this deck at Champs this weekend, and wanting to learn how to play the deck from first-hand successes? Come look and see!
It is in the mind of almost every single rogue (“bad”) deck designer to one day discover an archetype, to be the man with their name in lights, and the one who gets to bequeath a stupid name upon a deck and hear people recite it whenever they chat about matchups. It’s a pipe-dream, of course, since enthusiasm and a lust for glory only make up a small fraction of good deck design, with hard work, skill, and an ability to play the game as well as build for it make up the majority of the rest.
Not all Champs competitions are held this weekend… some have been and gone. Blisterguy, the winner of his 2005 Champs tournament, posted an incredibly similar result this year. The top 3 decklists are within, alongside the usual plethora of Magic Online Premier Event statistics and card ticket prices…
I recall the little debate that shook the forums here on StarCityGames after Evan Erwin wrote his Battle Royale Round 6: Live Nude Girls article. Geordie Tait, manly man that he is, leapt onto Erwin like Evan was a May bishop… All for the offence of misusing poker terminology in a Magic article. But despite that Evan was wrong, I still have a slight problem with Tait’s argument. It’s not that he’s made factual errors; it’s that he’s made theoretical ones.
Evan Erwin was on-site when the new Solar Pox deck won the StarCityGames.com $1,500 Standard Open – and he got it all on video! Watch interviews with Ken Adams, the deck’s creator, as well as a complete video of both games of the finals! You want to see how Solar Pox rebounds from having one of two Haakons Castigated out of the game, then having the rest of his hand Persecuted? Watch and see!
Split second’s not the only thing to get excited about in this set: Morph and Buyback, two of Type 4’s most sought-after mechanics, have returned. With over thirty cards for consideration, I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that Time Spiral may be the best Type 4 set ever.
Yesterday, I laid down the rules — of sifting through old decklists, seeing what goes missing, and seeing what can fill those holes — and started work on Snow Dad. Snow Dad lost its entire engine, so it becomes a very different deck in the exchange — other decks are far more subtle shifts. We lost a card advantage engine, so we’ll use a new one — the rebel toolkit.
Last week was another Lava Blister of a Quicken Hits column. Sorry about the fact that there wasn’t a lot of Super Secret Tech, what with States coming up. Give me an Honorable Passage, though; you don’t Peek at my column for Tek. You come here for the Cheap Ass decks. Like Zombies! 2k6, the deck that I Predict-ed that I would play at States. This Surprise Deployment really Outmaneuver-ed some folks. For many, there was a simple Wave of Indifference. Today’s column is for those with a Thirst for Knowledge, those who want to know what makes Zombies run like Clockwork Gnomes.
