Thursday, October 22nd – It’s the best format you’ve ever seen played. You’ve watched all the wackiness, you’ve heard all the stories. You’ve even borrowed someone’s 100 card pile and participated in the madness. Now you want to build your own deck. Where to start?
Wednesday, October 21st – Patrick Chapin recounts adventures with Brian Kibler, Gabriel Nassif, and the rest of his playtest team leading up to Pro Tour: Austin, with a focus on the cutting edge technology they developed for the new Extended format. He fits in thoughts on new Standard Control decks, and explains why he picks Goblin Shortcutter over Rampaging Baloth in Zendikar draft.
Wednesday, October 21st – Manuel Bucher played a Combo deck at Pro Tour: Austin. It wasn’t Dark Depths, it wasn’t Hypergenesis… his intriguing choice involved Scapeshift and Valakut, a combo that promised much on the set’s release. Today, he tells us how he did, and touches on Zendikar draft too!
Wednesday, October 21st – Kyle rocked up to his home territory Pro Tour with a hot Standard deck and a pocketful of passion. Sadly, the desire didn’t translate into the invite. Today, he shares his time at the LCQ, and lists his weapon of choice both pre- and post-tournament.
Wednesday, October 21st – I played the wrong deck. I made a huge mistake. We had convinced ourselves of something that was just not true, and moved all-in only to get instant-called by the nuts. We were unprepared, and we paid for it with our losses. There is not much else to say. But we must move forward and learn from our mistakes.
Wednesday, October 21st – I had an opportunity to play at a PTQ this last weekend. Of course, by opportunity, I mean I switched work schedules, picked up an extra shift, and made an iron man 18 hour day in order to play in a Zendikar sealed PTQ.
Wednesday, October 21st – Join Tom, Conley, and Eric as we discuss the news this week. Conley gives us the full low-down on his experiences at PT: Austin, and congratulations to Brian Kibler for being crowned champion.
Tuesday, October 20th – Sam Black tells a Texan tale today, sharing his preparation and choices for Pro Tour: Austin. While his performance didn’t set the tournament alight, the lessons he learned before the event are helpful to all. He also highlights the strength of drafting Mono Red in Zendikar Draft…
Tuesday, October 20th – The downfall of Blue in Standard is highly publicized. Cryptic Command is gone, and people are still mourning its departure. However, Richard Feldman has been searching for a worthy Blue deck in the new metagame… and in finding it, he believes he’s broken the format. Intrigued? Then read on…
Tuesday, October 20th – A short while back, Matt Elias wrote a wonderful and entertaining article called “Your Format Sucks,†which slapped each format in the face one-by-one. Though clearly aiming at humor in the long run, Matt’s analysis of the formats was more or less spot-on: especially his take on Extended.
Tuesday, October 20th – This week, Doug interviews the third-place finisher at last week’s StarCityGames.com $5000 Legacy tournament in Philadelphia. Matthew played Bloodghast Dredge, a new take on a familiar Legacy deck that featured the new Vampire from Zendikar. The interview explores the advantages of this Dredge build over typical lists and discusses Matthew’s unorthodox sideboarding techniques. Check out the newest and techiest Dredge in this week’s Legacy’s Allure!
Tuesday, October 20th – The new Ally mechanic from Zendikar offers a number of possibilities to deckbuilders willing to put the effort in – and since they are mostly common and uncommon, they make a great place to start for cost-conscious players.
Monday, October 19th – In today’s So Many Insane Plays, Vintage Maestro Stephen Menendian brings us an in-depth look at Dark Confidant, a.k.a. Bob. He presents Confidant Control, a deck that’s poised to pounce on the Vintage metagame. Bob has been heralded as the best draw engine in the format… Do you agree?
[Editor’s Note: The Pro Tour has thrown the schedule off kilter, and Patrick Chapin will be appearing later this week. Stay tuned!]
Monday, October 19th – For many players, the jump to Legacy is a leap of faith into the unknown of Magic’s past. There are now as many “blocks†of Magic that are barred from Extended (seven: Ice Age, Mirage, Tempest, Masques, Invasion, Odyssey, Onslaught) as are allowed in it, and that doesn’t include the pre-Ice Age sets or Portal. This means that Legacy has over double the card pool allowed in Extended play.
Monday, October 19th – One of the cards that jumped out at me in the Zendikar spoiler, along with everyone else, was Bloodchief Ascension; however, unlike everyone else, I felt like Pyromancer Ascension was a perhaps even more powerful enchantment. Just like at a sandwich shop, two-for-one deals make anyone stop and take notice.
