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Constructed Criticism – Drafting With Todd

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Tuesday, May 18th – Hello everyone, and welcome back to “Drafting with Todd.” Today we’re going to do something a little different than usual, which I haven’t done in quite a while: a draft walkthrough. With so much Constructed upheaval over the last few days, I didn’t want to write more about The Super Friends or Jund, and figured this would be a nice change of pace.

Embracing The Chaos – Where Beasts Lurk

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Tuesday, May 18th – This week, I delivered on the promise of playing the Darigaaz-turned-Karrthus deck, and it was a smashing success. In stark contrast to the philosophy of Second Best which I espoused last week, I was a frontrunner for the entirety of the first game…

Feature Article – Rise of the Eldrazi Draft Archetypes

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Tuesday, May 18th – Triple Rise of the Eldrazi draft continues apace, and Quentin Martin has been very busy. Having played a selection of interesting and successful drafts, Quentin presents his thoughts on a selection of powerful archetypes that will surely see you marching to the final table!

The Long & Winding Road – A Tournament Report?

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Tuesday, May 18th – Saturday, May 8th I played in a the Vintage portion of the Philly Open VI. Coming off a tournament where I did well is always awkward for me. For some reason, I’ve really struggled to string together successful back-to-back Vintage tournaments in which I repeated my deck choice from the previous tournament.

The Nose Knows – Deck Design for Grand Prix: Washington

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Tuesday, May 18th – With Nationals Qualifier results beginning to crawl in, and Grand Prix: Washington DC on the horizon, Kyle Boggemes brings us a look at a selection of successful Standard strategies that are sure to be well represented in the weeks to come. Naya, Control, and Jund are all tackled here, in perfect time for the upcoming premier events!

So Many Insane Plays – I’m a Landlubber: The Land Deck in Legacy

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Monday, May 17th – The current Legacy metagame is brimming with playable options, as befits a format with an explosive card pool. Of course, there are some decks that rise to the top… One such deck is Lands, an uncommon strategy based around the most simple of resources. Stephen Menendian analyzes what’s needed to master the archetype.

Removed From Game – Limited Lessons From Lyon

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Monday, May 17th – The European Grand Prix circuit came to France last weekend, and Rich was on hand to collect the Limited Lessons from more than 1400 Sealed Decks, a Day Two of Drafts, and a winning deck that was about as old-fashioned as it’s possible to imagine.

Innovations – It’s Cool to Play Jund

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Monday, May 17th – While the current Deck to Beat may have shifted away from the Savage Lands, Jund is still a potent force. Patrick Chapin discusses possible directions for the strategy in the current metagame, and suggests that maybe there’s still time to say hi to this particular bad guy…

The Combat Phase – Rise of the Eldrazi in Standard

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Monday, May 17th – Now that Rise of the Eldrazi has appeared online, Jamie Wakefield has splashed out on some of the more exciting Green offerings in the post-Rise card pool. He shares his latest card-slinging shenanigans, including his thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of the creature color in Constructed Magic.

Flow of Ideas – Qualifying For Nationals With GerryT *Top 8*

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Monday, May 17th – It’s Friday morning. I crack open my eyes and rustle over to my couch to turn on my laptop. I’ve been playing Turbofog on Magic Online all week after realizing that Turbofog did everything Open the Vaults wanted to do, except it did it better and with better matchups…

Legacy’s Allure – Rediscovering Goblins

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Monday, May 17th – One of the format’s oldest decks has been quietly putting up great results recently. In this week’s article, Doug looks at why Goblins is doing well and how to effectively play the deck against the top decks of the format. Find out why Goblins isn’t really an aggro deck and how it can compete with decks like Zoo in a fast, furious format. See why Goblins can contend with Reanimator, the big dog in the room, thanks to good mana denial and an incredible pile of Edict effects. Get the scoop on one of the iconic and still affordable decks in Legacy!

You Lika The Juice? – Rating the Generals

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Monday, May 17th – By the time this column goes up, you all will probably be saturated with metagame articles and decks from this weekend’s Nationals Qualifiers. Since none of my deck ideas seem to break the hammerlock Jund, U/W Control, Mythic and Planeswalkers seem to have on the format, I figured I’d focus on Elder Dragon Highlander instead.

The Golden Giveaway

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Ideas Unbound – A Standard Blue/White Primer

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Friday, May 14th – I actively enjoy the playtesting process. I view matchups as puzzles to be solved, and am happy to sit down for an afternoon and just iterate games, keeping exhaustive notes and wondering what could have caused games to go differently until I figure out optimal strategies and important tactical plays.

Positive EV – A Look at Legacy: Two Matchups Redux

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Friday, May 14th – Legacy is a format with a fan-base that’s expanding fast. Today, Manuel Bucher plays two Legacy matchups against playtest partner Antoine Ruel, throwing Survival Bant against Reanimator and Zoo against ANT. We’ve heard Antoine’s side of the story… now Manu has his say!