Monday, June 8th – The StarCityGames.com $5000 Standard Open is coming to Atlanta on June 13th (as well as a PTQ on the 14th), and I am here to provide you with some of my thoughts about the current format. I’ve been battling on Magic Online for plenty of hours, bashed a few PTQs, read coverage of the recent Grand Prix tournaments, and feel like the format is shaping up to be awesome
Monday, June 8th – Last week, I discussed the potential advantages you can gain by playing a deck that, despite being a solid performer, is off the “radar†of the majority of players. This advantage can be magnified when you take the core of an existing deck and move it in a different direction, or create a new deck that other players haven’t seen before.
Friday, June 5th – Last week, Paulo took us through his triumphant Day 1 performance at Grand Prix: Barcelona. Today he continues his story, piloting his innovative Swans deck, through many a turn 4 win, onto the final table. PV is certainly on a hot streak right now, with back-to-back Grand Prix Top 8s… Can he translate this mastery to a high finish in Hawaii?
Friday, June 5th – The Standard metagame is teeming with decks dwelling on the fringe of Tier 1. One such strategy is Blue/White Reveillark. Today, Brian Kibler discusses his personal build of the deck, which he played in Grand Prix: Seattle. He updates it with the developing metagame in mind, and shares his sideboarding strategies against the format’s major players.
Friday, June 5th – 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, June 5th – Watching the metagame change around Grand Prix: Barcelona, it seemed to me that the biggest shifts were perception rather than reality. We stopped kidding ourselves that Faeries wasn€™t good, for example, now that the metagame had grown more mature and we could prove that the things we were being afraid of just weren€™t as terrifying as we thought.
Friday, June 5th – The Origins theme week over at MagictheGathering.com has had me waxing nostalgic of late. I’ve been playing Magic a really long time – since Unlimited and Arabian Nights packs were available for purchase – but I often forget just how disconnected that time is for many of those who play the game now.
Friday, June 5th – Those of us that read Wednesday’s Drafting With Olivier will have picked up that Olivier didn’t have much fun in Seattle. Today, he tells us exactly what went wrong… and what, at the end of the weekend, went right.
Thursday, June 4th – Sam Black followed up a strong Faerie performance at Grand Prix: Barcelona with another Faerie performance at Grand Prix: Seattle. While he didn’t ascend as high as he did in Spain, he’s in the perfect position to comment on the New Fae Metagame. With more Standard tournaments on the horizon, Mr. Black examines the metagame going forward…
Thursday, June 4th – Last week, Cedric Phillips shared his tales of Kithkin debauchery at the game tables of Grand Prix: Barcelona. Today, he spins stories of his modified White Weenie build smashing faces across two days of Grand Prix: Seattle. As usual with Ced, there’s a high dose of humor thrown in for good measure… Enjoy!
Thursday, June 4th – The following are passages from “Next Level Magic,” Patrick Chapin’s Strategy Guide that is being released as an e-book, here on StarCityGames.com, in one week’s time. Today’s preview is the last in the series, and it concerns… Tempo
Thursday, June 4th – Our story begins the week after Grand Prix: Barcelona. As I thought would likely happen, the tournament signaled the beginning of a slope down for token-based decks and the uprising of Cascade Swans. With this in mind, I had planned to play Faeries at the Grand Prix…
Thursday, June 4th – Grand Prix: Seattle Tacoma was a blast. I had the chance to catch up with a lot of old friends, meet a few new ones, and overall just have a fantastic time. Because I’m a sheep, I’ll be writing a tournament report, just like everyone else. Hopefully, it’s entertaining. If not, there’s some bonus stuff at the end. And here we go.
Thursday, June 4th – Do you ever dream that you have woken up? I had one such dream at Worlds last year. It was Sunday morning, after three 12-hour work days (plus a few hours of drafts and EDH), and I was really beat. I dreamt I woke up, fumbled for my glasses, then staggered into the bathroom. I pulled aside the shower curtain, and… A judge leaped out, shouting “Battlewand Oak with Lignify, Runed Stalactite, and a +1/+1 counter on it – quick, what’s its power and toughness?â€
Wednesday, June 3rd – With two back-to-back Standard Grand Prix tournaments, Manuel Bucher looked forward to the Constructed challenge. Today, he shares his preparation and final decklists for both GPs, alongside an interesting base Green/Blue multicolored control deck that packs Planeswalkers aplenty.
