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Constructed Criticism – The Pulse of Standard: Prepping for Regionals and PTQs

Read Todd Anderson every week... at StarCityGames.com
Monday, April 27th – The entire spoiler is out for Alara Reborn, and everyone seems ravenous for new technology for whatever format their heart desires. Pros rummage through articles and articles from various websites looking for Alara Block Constructed ideas, while average Joes pillage material for upcoming Pro Tour Qualifiers for PT: Austin, as well as Regionals. With all of this in mind, I figured I would begin by focusing on Standard, since this is the format most relevant to me.

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Removed From Game – The Birth of Reborn

Read Rich Hagon every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, April 27th – Like most Magic players who were breathing last weekend, Rich went along to the festival of Prereleaseness. Having Deck Doctored and Gun-Slung his way to inordinate quantities of victories, Rich sets us a challenging pool, and gives some helpful advice to those of us who don’t have Shuuhei Nakamura on speed dial.

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The Long & Winding Road – The Power Registry and Other Eternal Musings

Read Matt Elias every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, April 27th – While it is true that Vintage contains the best of every piece of acceleration ever printed, it also contains every answer. The existence of Null Rod, Gorilla Shaman, Pithing Needle, Wasteland plus Crucible of Worlds, Magus of the Moon, Chalice of the Void, and so on not only allow “slower” decks to be played in Vintage, but they slow down the format as a whole.

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Insider Trading – The Financial Value of Alara Reborn

The Financial Value of Alara Reborn!
Friday, April 24th – The Alara Reborn prerelease is here! Find out which cards Ben thinks are underpriced, which cards Ben thinks are overhyped, and which cards are the true sleepers of the set! Which Time Spiral card is going to be hot, hot, hot because of Alara Reborn? The only way to find out is to read Ben’s thoughts about the Financial Value of Alara Reborn!

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PV’s Playhouse – Mulligans

Read Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, April 24th – The art of correct mulligan decisions, alongside sideboarding, is one of our fair game’s forgotten skills. Today’s PV’s Playhouse sees Paulo tackle the subject with his usual rigor. He presents some handy tips on how to judge those sketchy hands, and brings us some interesting mulligan decisions to debate in the forums!

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Drafting With Olivier – Shards/Shards/Conflux #22

Draft with Olivier Ruel... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, April 24th – 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!

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The Magic Show #140 – Alara Reborn Arrives!

Watch Evan Erwin every week... on StarCityGames.com!
Friday, April 24th – Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re going to be delving into Alara Reborn spoilers, and what can I say? This looks to be the best set in years to play and purchase. Future Sight-level goodness all around, we’ll look into just how good Cascade really is, and my favorite cards from the set. Let’s go!

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Magical Hack – Alara Reborn Prerelease Primer

Read Sean McKeown every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, April 24th – Whenever Prerelease time rolls around, I like spend my column on the before taking a look at the ins and outs of that upcoming format, taking advantage of the fact that my weekly deadline is usually a day or two after the complete spoiler is compiled by mtgsalvation.com. As of the time of this writing it is Wednesday afternoon and we have 145 out of 145 cards spoiled, and while there is no guarantee that each and every card has the exact correct text it is still more than enough to work with in order to figure out how Shards of Alara-Alara Reborn Limited is going to feel.

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You Lika The Juice? – Alara Reborn Conversations

Read The Justice League every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, April 24th – Hello, everyone – I’m here to announce that Happy Bennie is back! I know over the last few columns my attitude may have been a bit of a downer given that the metagame was stinking and stagnant once you peeled back the veneer of so-called diversity. What a difference a week makes!

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The Kitchen Table #282 – Divine Vs. Demonic

Read Abe Sargent every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, April 24th – Hello folks, and welcome back to the column that investigates various aspects of the casual world. Today I want to discuss the Divine Vs. Demonic decks after having played with them after I got the set from my order with StarCityGames. Luckily, I have a few staff who like the occasional game of Magic, so I was able to get some games in with the new decks, facing off against each other.

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Reflecting Ruel – Discussing Draft #1: Esper, Grixis, and Jund in Shards of Alara

Read Olivier Ruel every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, April 24th – In the first of a four-part series on Shards Block Draft, Olivier Ruel and Manuel Bucher discuss the top common and uncommon picks in each set, for each archetype, helping us build the strongest decks we can. For part 1, Oli and Manu take us through their personal Top 20 lists in Esper, Grixis, and Jund. This excellent series is a must-read for anyone serious about forty-card play.

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Reflecting Ruel – Bluffing: A Dangerous Weapon

Read Olivier Ruel every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, April 23rd – Bluffing is a complex subject. Generally, the quality of your cards, the strength of your draws, and the tightness of your play dictate the outcome of any given game. However, there are techniques that can increase your chances of utilizing bluff in order to pick up a vital edge in close encounters. Olivier reveals all…

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Deep Analysis – Elves Reborn

Read Richard Feldman every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, April 23rd – With the upcoming release of Alara Reborn on everyone’s mind, Richard Feldman concocts an intriguing Red/Green Beatdown deck utilizing a selection of the multicolor goodies on the table. He shares his list and sideboarding strategies, runs the deck against a pair of the format’s top contenders, and records the results!

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Flow of Ideas – The Danger of New Things

Read Gavin Verhey every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, April 23rd – One of my all time favorite Magic articles – and one of the most influential on my play – is Chad Ellis’s “The Danger of Cool Things.” The article covers a simple, yet fundamental angle of Magic strategy. Ellis talks about how flashy plays, even ones which put a second copy of Verdant Force into play, are easy traps to fall into…

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The Justice League – (Ir)Regular REL

Read The Justice League every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, April 23rd – What exactly is a regular rules enforcement level event? In essence, it’s kitchen table Magic gone pro. Such events attract players from all walks of life, but they’re targeted at people that will probably never play in an event with a higher enforcement level.

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