Friday, December 18th – The Standard portion of last weekend’s SCG $10K Open St. Louis is sure to inform the metagame going into the next event in Los Angeles, and Brian Kibler aims to be prepared! He looks at Red decks and Grixis Control, two archetypes that did well in St. Louis, and posits what this means for the format going forward.
Friday, December 18th – Hall of Famer Olivier Ruel takes us through an 8-4 draft queue on Magic Online. He shares some comprehensive thoughts about both the picks and the games, and talks us through each step of the way! If you’re looking to improve your Limited game, this is the article series for you!
Friday, December 18th – In this text-only article from Evan, he discusses the impact of the hottest new Planeswalker in town: Jace, the Mind Sculptor! [Warning: Contains Spoilers.]
Friday, December 18th – Are you a pack-cracker? I sometimes feel weird when, after getting my booster box comp for working at prereleases, I go home and rip open all the booster packs for singles to add to my collection or trade binder (to trade for more of what I need).
Friday, December 18th – Those who have read my intermittent ramblings in the past might remember that winning States has been my grail, my dream, my nigh-unattainable goal over the many, many years I’ve been slinging cards. I have come close, oh so close, in years past, making many Top 8s or missing them by whisker-thin tiebreakers. My precious, it taunts me so, but I shall have it…
Friday, December 18th – In this week’s edition of The Chump Block, Zach discusses Jund, his Open the Vaults deck, and Sarkhan Vol. He also interviews Justin Souza, who placed second on the Standard Saturday of the SCG $10K Open St. Louis weekend!
Friday, December 18th – Triple Zendikar draft is a speedy format, and its sheer power means that cute combos or intricate tricks are largely kerb-stomped to oblivion. However, there are a few funky interactions that may have passed you by thus far… Olivier Ruel reveals all!
Thursday, December 17th – The Standard metagame seems to be swinging away from the Jund-dominated format it was mere weeks ago. While Jund is still extremely strong, speedy Red strategies (and others) appear to have the upper hand in those matchups. Adrian dissects the States results to form a clearer picture of the metagame going forward…
Thursday, December 17th – While the state of Standard gave Cedric little hope of success in St. Louis this past weekend, his love for Legacy led him to believe he’d be Belching his way to the top tables. Sadly, the Magic Gods proved just as fickle on Sunday. Nevertheless, today sees Ced in reflective mood, as he replays his weekend of disappointment…
Thursday, December 17th – There are three elements to the play of any game of Magic: Strategic, Tactical, and Social. They exist in different proportions based on the event that you’re attending, and the format you’re playing. I’d like to talk about the differences between them in competitive events versus EDH events.
Thursday, December 17th – Burnout… the affliction of PTQ road warriors, playtesting junkies, and even professional players. Burnout is a mental condition many Magic players go through without even realizing it that threatens your success as a player, the longevity of your competitive Magic run, and, most of all, your level of fun. Fortunately, there are ways you can identify and combat burnout.
Thursday, December 17th – Magic Online has just released the Exodus set – over a decade after the set appeared in paper. The online release events included sealed queues, drafts, and premier events. The premier events in particular failed to fire, and Wizards has now canceled them early. The draft and smaller sealed event queues are still around, but they are not firing very fast, if at all. What went wrong?
Thursday, December 17th – I have a long box of low value rares that you can get for uber-cheap. These bad rares just sit here, waiting for the next Bad Rare article. The goal of the article is simple. I will pull out, randomly, one of these crap rares, and then build a deck around it. I never know what is coming out, so it’s a chance to have fun, build some decks, and use some older and unusual cards.
Wednesday, December 16th – In the quest for the perfect play in any given game of Magic, we often gloss over the basic play in search of something cooler, or more “professional.†This curse of overthinking the easy and complex interaction can lead to mistakes and game losses in the best of us. Paulo investigates the process of overthinking, and offers sage advice on its avoidance.
Wednesday, December 16th – Kyle Sanchez is in an uncommonly reflective mood. Spurred on by his recent game loss for mis-registering his States deck, Kyle discusses the detrimental effect of bad habits, and how to remove them from our game. If you’re looking to improve the quality of your out-of-game habits, let Kyle lead the way!
