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Sullivan Library – Digesting Standard’s Big Weekend

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Tuesday, March 30th – The dust has settled over a record-breaking weekend for Standard competition, and it seems that Jund is still ridiculous. Adrian Sullivan examines the results from the StarCityGames.com Orlando Standard Open and Grand Prix: Brussels, and draws some interesting conclusions.

The Chump Block – Allied Strategies

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Monday, March 29th – After the severe pummeling at the hands of the W/R Ally deck that I faced at the StarCityGames.com Indianapolis Standard Open, I breathed a small breath and took consolation in the fact that Allies was not a very popular deck. “Boy, am I glad no one plays those allies!”

Constructed Criticism – No More Dark Depths

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Monday, March 29th – This week, I’ve learned a lot about Extended. While DDT continues to dominate, and win pretty much every tournament, I think a lot of that has to do with the abundance of people playing the deck in such a small tournament. Sure, the deck is really good, but if enough people play a really good deck, it is certain to put up good results.

So Many Insane Plays – Six Cards To Unban In Legacy

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Monday, March 29th – With Legacy being heavily discussed at present, Stephen Menendian presents a case for six cards to be removed from the current Legacy Banned list. In each case, he suggests why the card isn’t as dangerous as it once appeared, and he provides sample decklists that include the illegal spells!

Innovations – A First Look at Rise of the Eldrazi: What Really Matters?

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Monday, March 29th – Rise of the Eldrazi is on the way, an Patrick Chapin is here to walk us through some of the cards spoiled thus far. From massive fifteen-mana monsters to innocuous common mana ramp cards, the Innovator spills the beans! Warning! Contains spoilers!

Flow of Ideas – Beating the Hate: How To Fight Against A Sideboard

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Monday, March 29th – Sideboarding. Many theorists and players who have risen to prominence in the past several years have called attention to the importance of that fifteen card first aid kit. Where ten years ago sideboards were often overlooked, times have changed. Articles have been written, paths have been blazed, and theories have been created.

Live Coverage of StarCityGames.com Open: Orlando

Live coverage of the StarCityGames.com Open Series in Orlando!

In one of the largest Legacy events in Florida history, the StarCityGames.com Open saw over 120 competitors squaring off to determine who would be crowned champion. The previous afternoon it had been former Pro Tour champion Charles Gindy taking the title, and he started the Legacy portion of the event off strongly at 3-0. But the wheels came off shortly thereafter.

A second player from Saturday’s Top 8 who performed well on the day was Taylor Raflowitz. The finalist from Saturday was in the hunt all of Sunday, but suffered the ignominy of a 9th place finish. Still, the extra Open points he picked up will help him in his quest to become Open Player of the Year. One previously successful player quietly making a run in Legacy? David Sharfman. The two-time Nationals Top 8er brought black-red Goblins to battle, and the tiny green creatures went to work for him. He ripped off enough wins to make the Top 8, and from there it was all David.

In the Quarterfinals he took down Lewis Laskin’s innovative Bant deck in three games. The Semifinals saw him favorably paired deckwise against Mike Brady’s Merfolk deck, but in all their matches against one another David had never defeated Brady. But it was his day, and he swept the match with ease. That left just Zack Wilson in the Finals, and his Aggro Loam deck just couldn’t keep up with David’s speed.

David Sharfman is your StarCityGames.com Legacy Open champion in Orlando!

StarCityGames.com Open Series Event Photos on Facebook

StarCityGames.com Open Series Orlando

StarCityGames.com Open Series Event Coverage Photos on Facebook!


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Reflecting Ruel – Analyzing Turbo Fog in Standard

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Friday, March 26th – At Pro Tour: San Diego, Olivier Ruel made an interesting deck choice: Turbo Fog. Today, he talks us through the decks main matchups and sideboarding plans, and brings us a down and dirty walkthrough of his tournament matches.

Ideas Unbound – Plans

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Friday, March 26th – I was watching a match last year that has stuck with me for quite a while. It was game 1 the Five-Color Control mirror, and “Rich” was in the tank in the midgame. Rich had been on the draw; his opponent had evoked Mulldrifter on turn 3, and Rich had done the same. Rich’s hand was Broodmate Dragon, Cruel Ultimatum, Cruel Ultimatum, Cryptic Command, and lands. I forget how many cards the other guy had, but it was quite the grip. Both players had six lands in play. Rich thought. And thought.

The Long & Winding Road – Playing in the MUD

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Friday, March 26th – At its core, Vintage isn’t really different than other formats. You can exploit the metagame using deck choice and deck design; proper deck choice and design, and minimizing play mistakes, will lead to tournament results. If you build your deck to attack certain elements of the metagame, and face those elements, you’ll do well.

Feature Article – Playing Zoo at Grand Prix: Madrid

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Friday, March 26th – Marijn Lybaert rocked to Grand Prix: Madrid with a Zoo deck and a desire for fun. While his Grand Prix performance didn’t set the world alight, he did learn some valuable lessons about beatdown in Magic’s Hottest Format. He shares his thoughts on the deck, and his play-by-play game walkthroughs, today!

The Magic Show #182 – The Rise of the Eldrazi Spoiler Train Arrives!

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Friday, March 26th – Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week I’ve got a piping hot new spoiler ready to go, the never-before-seen Boar Umbra, and it looks ready to kick some serious ass. Plus we’ve got a huge helping of new spoilers, a common Eldrazi monster and the mind-blowing Level Up mechanic. Let’s go!

Legacy’s Allure – The Reserved List and Unbanning Issues

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Friday, March 26th – With Wizards’ change in the Reserved List last week, nearly all discussion on the Reserved List’s legitimacy was quashed and it looks like it’s set to forever effect Eternal formats. This week, Doug looks at the impact this will have on Legacy and what can be done to soften its blow. Due to the matter of bannings and unbannings has come up in discussion through official channels, Doug also considers the opportune times to change and examine the list so as to have the best impact on the format while not hampering pre-scheduled tournaments. Get this and more in this week’s policy-oriented Legacy’s Allure!

The Dragonmaster’s Lair – Zoo at Grand Prix: Yokohama

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Friday, March 26th – At Grand Prix: Yokohama, Brian Kibler returned to his Extended Zoo roots… only this time, he focused on Speed and Efficiency. With nary a Grove of the Burnwillows in sight, he proceeded to lay down the smack in fine fashion. He shares his tournament stories today.

You Lika The Juice? – Digging into Knightfall

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Friday, March 26th – For a while now, I’ve been focused pretty heavily on playing G/W Knightfall. After finally giving up on Summoning Trap, I turned to G/W Knightfall and it carried me to the finals of States last year. It’s a good deck, chock full of powerful cards… and yet when I’m checking out the Top 8s of the recent big Standard events, it seems to keep falling short.