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 – 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 – 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.
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 – 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…
Friday, October 16th – The Pro Tour has officially begun, and Olivier Ruel is in fighting mood. Today, he shares his two choices for battle on the eve of the tournament, plus a few ideas on how to come out of the Magical Closet…
Wednesday, October 14th – Pro Tour: Austin begins later this week, and Manuel Bucher is ready for action! Today, he walks us through a selection of decks that he believes will make a splash on the Extended Metagame Radar. Zoo, Hypergenesis, Blue decks, even Elves… What will take the crown when the dust settles?
Tuesday, October 13th – I have this sinking feeling that Hypergenesis is going to be “the deck” at the Pro Tour, since it is a combo that takes little effort to assemble, and all of the hate cards can be easily foiled. Luckily for Hypergenesis, most of the Blue-Goyf decks are a tad too slow to compete with some of the other combo decks, which may leave them with a ridiculously unprepared metagame come the PT.
Tuesday, October 6th – Pro Tour: Austin is fast approaching, and Quentin has the perfect article for those looking to break the format. He outlines his idea of the current metagame, including the Big Three and a selection of second-string contenders. He also throws in an intriguing rogue deck that has definite potential…
Thursday, October 1st – Goblin Guide… unmissable or unplayable? It seems that opinion is divided on this little Red guy. Adrian Sullivan looks at his place in the Extended Zoo strategy, sharing a handful of interesting decklists along the way…
Monday, September 14th – I have no idea what to play for Pro Tour: Austin. Even though I’ve had plenty of time thus far to prepare and have been brainstorming in hopes of finding the “answer” to the format, everything I’ve been working on has been thrown out the window. Its’ time to start fresh.
Friday, September 11th – With Zendikar promising much to prospective Extended, Quentin Martin rounds out his thought-provoking series looking at the building blocks that will underpin the new format. He looks at the Combo options available, and touches on other archetypes in light of recent spoiler information…
Wednesday, September 9th – Here I am again, in the lull between expansions. It’s times like these that I loathe being a Magic writer, as often it is difficult to find relevant topics to write about. As luck would have it, however, this week I’ve got a decent amount of content to cover. Zendikar spoilers are in full swing, and there are quite a few choice bits to sink our teeth into.
Tuesday, September 8th – With recent Zendikar revelations over the past few days, it seems that the predicted demise of Extended may have been a little premature. Sam Black examines some of the new cards that will define the New Extended, and shares his thoughts on the strengths and weaknesses of the approaching format. [Warning: Contains spoilers.]
Friday, September 4th – In the second article in his Austin Extended series, Quentin Martin examines the Control decks on offer in the pre-Zendikar Extended format. Such developing ideas are sure to form the basis of the metagame at the upcoming Pro Tour: Austin.
