When a new set comes out – before it even comes out, just seeing the preview cards and the spoiler – I become a Frenzied Deckbuilding Goblin. There are many types of Magic players. I’m a deckbuilder. I wish I were a better player, but I know that if I spent half the time playing that I waste fooling around with my Filemaker Pro deck database, designing, dreaming, and tuning, I’d have made it on the Pro Tour years ago.
It’s Wednesday, it’s MTGO, it’s blisterguy! Fresh with a fun-filled article checking out the ups and downs of the MTGO metagame, plus handy hints on the price fluctuations in the online marketplace.
Wizards has databases full of wonderful information from thousands of Limited games. In the bottomless reservoir that is MTGO they hold draft pick orders, Sealed pools, maindecks, sideboarded decks, and tournament results. That just makes the little geek inside of me twitch with desire. Okay, he’s not that little… okay, he’s not inside of me… okay, I am that geek, just let me be.
Joe Black continues his excellent odyssey through his personal Pro Tour history. Feisty, fact-filled, and fun.
Regionals are just around the corner… and Chris has a new deck for you! Do you enjoy sending burn to the face? Would you like to drop permanents into play before the game begins? Are you a fan of the flame? Then look no further.
The drive back from the prerelease in Livonia, Michigan to my home in Rocky River, Ohio takes 2.5 hours…. Unless I’m so tired that I make three mistakes in driving home, at which point it takes four hours. And in that sleepy, error-prone haze, hopping on my keyboard to write my usual Monday essay on Dissension is not a wise choice, which is why today’s offering is a day late. But that said… What things did I learn at the Prerelease?
When I was asked to write a daily series this week I was hard pressed to come up with an idea that could top Billy Moreno’s insane ramblings. However, I’ve been feeling nostalgic lately and it seemed like a trip in the way-back machine could be interesting… Each day this week I’ll take a look at the past Pro Tour seasons, starting with my rookie year, the 2001-2002 season.
Today’s article title stems from one of the more creative pieces of spam I’ve found in my inbox. It seems that this particular e-mail stemmed from a company who specialised in telling people who may or may not have the appropriate need exactly how much money they could save investing in pills and a crème that, combined, would lead to the spontaneous coalescence of a lardge pebnis.
For the final article in this Daily Series, I’m going to respond to something my roommate wanted to see awhile back. He mentioned that he noticed the little things people will do in a game that aren’t necessarily related to the game state itself, but nevertheless can generate match wins out of thin air. In other words, he wanted to know what he could do to win a game in real life that couldn’t be done on Magic Online.
Sean turns his eye toward the spoilered cards of Dissension, giving us a thorough exploration of each guild and its place in the Limited game. Want the low-down on the cards to watch out for in the weekend’s prerelease tournaments? This article is for you…
There’s something about the jumble of colors that Ravnica brings that just makes mid-level players freeze in weird ways — and when faced with a near-infinite number of choices to make, often you just don’t see the obvious until it’s too late. This is the Sealed blackout. You go into a trance, and awake with the wrong cards registered in your deck. And if this can happen to people who are used to playing Sealed, what hope does the poor first-timer have at building his deck properly?
“When you play out a match, you should have some idea within the first few turns of what you want the end of the game to look like. Then you need to do everything you can to ensure that the game ends up that way.” – Matt Schmaltz
I find this quote from Schmaltz particularly insightful because, in my mind, it’s what separates the good players from the great ones. MS is a great player, and most of us are not, because he thinks of these types of things. I want to figure out how to do that.
Abe ventures into the Magic Online Casual Room, and comes out smelling of roses. Three new decks, all examined with his critical Casual eye… Want some fresh ideas? Look no further.
My Team Standard Pro Tour Qualifier didn’t turn out too well. I just found out that I won’t be doing Regionals because it’s on the exact same day as my sister’s wedding. Playing qualifiers in That Other Game tends to put me on full-blown, yelling-at-people-for-no-good-reason tilt. So how do I get enthusiastic about gaming again? Why, at a Grand Prix Trial for Toronto, of course!
Today I’m going to bring you immeasurable joy, like nothing you’ve seen before.
How’s that for a tagline? Read on, and soon you too will be a believer…
