Search Content

The Combat Phase – Adventures With Green: Dragon Force Z

Read Jamie Wakefield every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, May 24th – Jamie Wakefield continues his quest for a playable Green Standard deck in time for his first foray into the current PTQ season. Today he experiments with a two-color build, decries the state of the metagame, before returning to his good old Mono Green roots. And along the way, he gets very drunk.

Flow of Ideas – The Myth of Playtesting: Switching Decks, Playthinking, and Why Max McCall is Wrong

Read Gavin Verhey every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, May 24th – Playtesting is overrated. How many Magic writers have penned down that phrase? None come to mind. But if you’ve ever spent time at a high level event, there’s a reason why you can see hundreds of pro levels worth of players running around to find a deck with less than 24 hours before a tournament – and how they can still do well at the event despite a last minute switch.

Legacy’s Allure – Making The Upheaval Deck

Read Doug Linn every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, May 24th – This week, Doug brings an interesting, original and innovative deck running Upheaval alongside some very old and powerful cards. Find out how to exploit the Stronghold classic Horn of Greed and how a Zendikar uncommon is the key to this Blue-Green deck that aims to reset the board two or three times in a game. You’ll see how the engine works, get rules information regarding how to utilize parts of the deck effectively, and suggested avenues for developing the deck in the future. Don’t miss this chance to read about how to use Upheaval, one of the most powerful cards in Magic, in one of the game’s most popular formats!

Feature Article – The Masters of the Vintageverse

Read Feature Articles every Monday and Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, May 24th – The five individuals I chose to talk Vintage with in this article are clearly five of the most revered Vintage card-slingers ever to answer this metaphorical ‘call of the wild’: Luis Scott Vargas, Paul Mastriano, Rich Shay, Stephen Menendian, and Tommy Kolowith.

The Chump Block – A Sojourn into the Unknown

Read Feature Articles every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, May 21st – There have been a slew of new and intriguing decks that have recently come as a result of the various nationwide qualifiers from this past weekend. While I wouldn’t go so far as to say that any of them are new contenders, it’s always nice to see people sit down and come up with brand new decks as opposed to playing the same stale, old fare.

Pro Perspective – My Grand Prix: Lyon Report

Read Raphael Levy every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, May 21st – Raphael Levy has not made money at his last three high-profile tournaments. Of course, you can’t keep a good Hall of Famer down, and Grand Prix: Lyon saw him back to winning ways with a solid Top 32 result. He shares his insight on the Rise of the Eldrazi Limited formats, both Sealed and Draft!

Reflecting Ruel – Tips and Tricks in Rise of the Eldrazi Draft

Read Olivier Ruel every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, May 21st – Rise of the Eldrazi Draft is proving both incredibly popular and intensely skillful. Today’s edition of Reflecting Ruel sees Olivier serve up a selection of interesting tips and tricks that combine common cards and effects for cool and interactive results. And next week, Drafting with Oli returns!

At the Gathering – Bukowski

Read Jeff Phillips every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, May 21st – Can I really be that guy, the one who’s playing Jund? I recognize a desire to be different, to want someone to come look at my new Brew and laud me for my creativity, my creation. I want that. But I want to win more.

The Justice League – Goodbye Extended, Hello Standard

Read The Justice League every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, May 21st – If you’re like me, you’ve been drafting Rise of Eldrazi like there’s no tomorrow, or at least picking over the set for cards to give your Standard deck more umph! I’ve head judged a couple of Standard tournaments already and have seen some situations that are very likely to become staple judge calls for the summer.

The Magic Show #189 – Big Gun: Your Grand Prix DC Metagame

Watch Evan Erwin every week... on StarCityGames.com!
Friday, May 21st – Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re going to be talking about Grand Prix: Washington D.C. (that I’ll be attending, live and in person), and the decks I expect to be everywhere at the event. Let’s go!

Tribal Thriftiness #113 – Red Hot Regionals

Read Dave Meeson every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, May 21st – Inspired by his own article last week, Dave avoided the five-hundred-dollar decks and played a deck that cost under a hundred bucks at his Nationals Qualifier. How did he do? And is the deck viable going forward?

Insider Information – The Grand Prix: Washington D.C. Metagame

Read Cedric Phillips every week... At StarCityGames.com!
Friday, May 21st – The Grand Prix: Washington D.C. metagame is shaping up to be wide open, and Cedric Phillips is here to help! He believes there are eleven distinct archetypes that have a viable chance at winning the whole thing, and he shares optimal lists for each of these strategies today!

You Lika The Juice? – Good Beats at the Nats Q

Read Bennie Smith every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, May 21st – Some of us were trying pretty hard to get a solid list together for Warp World, a deck I wrote about some weeks back. A funny thing happened when we first tried it out—it curb-stomped Jund like nobody’s business, over and over and over again. That’s a pretty good start for a rogue strategy!

Sullivan Library – Three Decks For The Post Nationals Qualifier Metagame

Read Adrian Sullivan every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, May 21st – With Grand Prix: Washington D.C. this coming weekend, the hunt is on for the best Standard options available. Adrian Sullivan examines three such options: Mythic, Red, and a fresh take on Jund. Could one of these decks take home the main prize come Sunday? Read on to find out!

Yawgmoth’s Whimsy #326 – What Went Wrong at Nats Qualifiers?

Visit the StarCityGames.com booth at Grand Pris: Washington!
Thursday, May 20th – I was judging at the National Qualifying tournament in Wisconsin last weekend. I was – but only for the first few rounds. Ingrid and I were part of a six-judge crew, headed by Jason Lemahieu, which was a ridiculous judge staff for a 105-player tournament. Attendance was far below expected, and that was true across the country. Last fall, attendance at The2009s (a.k.a. States) was nuts – what has changed? What went wrong?