Thursday, March 19th – Emphasis is always put on winning. People who win are revered, their strategies are studied, and the intricacies of their very being are examined. With the bustle circulating around the study of winning, it is easy to miss that there is just as much value in the study of losing. There are reasons why people lose, and seldom do the reasons have extreme variation at their core
Thursday, March 19th – It occurred to me there are some parallels you can draw between Girl Scout Cookies and the Standard Metagame. For the most part it seems the top deck and cookie archetypes never change. Like Faerie decks, you always have Samoas, which people can’t quit because they’re so damn good.
Thursday, March 19th – For this week, I want to start by reviewing my poll from last month’s article, then move on to a topic broadly on improvement and feedback for judges.
Wednesday, March 18th – Faeries… you just can’t keep them down. At Grand Prix: Hanover, Manuel Bucher piloted the tiny Blue menace to a repectable Top 32 finish. In today’s Positive EV, he explains his fresh build, takes us through the top matchups, and shares his game-by-game Grand Prix report!
Wednesday, March 18th – In an uncharacteristically reflective mood, Kyle Sanchez examines the impact of Magical resource management on real world decisions. Harking back to an innocent game description from the Old School of Magic, he suggests that competitive Magic players are setting themselves up well for success in other aspects of life…
Wednesday, March 18th – Magic is a constantly evolving game, and the players continuously cycle through the game. Think back to the players you knew when you first started. Do you still play with those guys? Are they still playing? Probably not. I’ve spent the last 3+ years teaching people how to play games, typically Magic, and I’m going to tell you how to do it too.
Wednesday, March 18th – This might not have been the best weekend to play Magic Online, even if I had had the time. The program has problems, again. Since I can’t talk about the decks, looks like I’ll have to talk about that. Lots to talk about – Wizards has made a number of announcements recently. Sets are leaving, sets are coming, and MTGO will have its own big buck championships at Worlds.
Wednesday, March 18th – A few months ago, I wrote and published an article in which I created some decks built around cards I randomly selected. That, in and of itself, is nothing new. I’ve been building decks around random elements for years, going all the way back to a lot of my daily articles. The catch with this article was that each deck had to be built using the previously selected card…
Wednesday, March 18th – Alara Reborn is confirmed to be the first all Gold Magic set. Magic Online 2009 Championship Series has been announced and seems to be a form of a pro tour for online players. Nationals locations and dates have been announced.
Tuesday, March 17th – Extended Grand Prix and PTQ tournaments continue apace, and GP: Hanover this past weekend will surely inform the metagame in the days and weeks to come. Sam Black shares his preparation for Hanover, his thoughts on this weekend’s Grand Prix, and the Extended format in general…
Tuesday, March 17th – Grand Prix: Hanover saw Elves pick up another Extended win. What does this mean to the current Extended metagame? Adrian examines the recent history of the archetype, and suggests how it may develop as people once again pick up their Nettle Sentinels and enter the fray…
Tuesday, March 17th – I think it’s time to start seriously considering the card Remand again, even if out of the board. Right now there’s very little danger to simply running mid-sized threats out there in the Faerie mirror, because there are only so many Mana Leaks to go around.
Tuesday, March 17th – Burn, long the ignored and maligned stepchild of Legacy, gets its day in the sun (or in the fire) in this week’s Legacy’s Allure. How is a Lightning Bolt like a Tendrils of Agony? Both burn and combo rely on getting a critical mass of spells through to win the game. How can we get our lightning storm to work in Legacy? Learn more about the surprising connections between card counts in a Legacy burn deck and why Barbarian Ring might not be strictly better than Mountain. Also, find strategies for beating Counterbalance, the ubiquitous blue enchantment. Are you ready to burn?
Tuesday, March 17th – With hundreds of thousands of airmiles under his belt, join Rich Hagon as he gently takes you by the hand, and helps you to avoid the first 94 mistakes that can befall the unwary traveler. And yes, this article really does talk about underpants. Frequently. And thongs. Seriously? Seriously.
Tuesday, March 17th – All this talk about Alara Reborn and its multicolor nature has Dave thinking about gold. It’s a word that has many meanings in Magic, and Dave hits them all while featuring some of Conflux’s inexpensive rares.
