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Constructed Criticism – The Magic Online Championship: Season 1 Tournament Report

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Monday, May 4th – Today’s article is going to be a tournament report for the Magic Online Championship Series: Season 1. There are 354 people signed up so far, so it looks like this is going to be a 9-Round doozy. The format is Standard Pre-Alara Reborn, because Magic Online is about 20+ days behind paper Magic when new sets are released, but I have had a lot of experience with this format and am comfortable with the deck I am playing.

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The Long & Winding Road – Alara Reborn Post-Hype

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Monday, May 4th – Before almost every set’s release, we see a predictable pattern of extreme hype (wow, this is the best set ever!) followed by over-stated backlash (man, worst set ever!), when the reality tends to fall somewhere in the middle. Personally, I think this is a solid set with plenty of role-players for all the formats of Constructed Magic.

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Reflecting Ruel – Discussing Draft #3: Esper, Grixis, Jund, and Naya in Conflux

Read Olivier Ruel every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, May 1st – Oli and Manu continue their excellent discussion on the major archetypes in Shards of Alara draft. Today is the turn of Esper, Grixis, Jund, and Naya in Conflux. The guys present their top picks, and discuss how and why their choices differ. Next week, they complete their Conflux analysis, before moving onto Alara Reborn!

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Feature Article – Legacy Merfolk in Action *Top 8*

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Friday, May 1st – In this week’s Feature Article, Belgian pro Marijn Lybaert takes us through a recent Legacy tournament in which he placed highly with Merfolk. Marijn shares a round-by-round commentary, his thoughts on the decklist, and an updated version for those of us with Legacy tournaments on the horizon…

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The Magic Show #141 – Alara Reborn Prerelease

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Friday, May 1st – Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re live in Los Angeles for the Alara Reborn Prerelease hosted by SunMesa Events! With some help from Glenn Godard I was able to make my way to the West Coast, chat and gunsling with players there, and feature a great interview with Magic artist and flavor text guru Matt Cavotta. Let’s go!

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Magical Hack – Meddling With Alara Reborn

Read Sean McKeown every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, May 1st – We’ve seen the Prerelease come and go, and excitement was had by all. At least one faithful reader noted that my advice from last week’s column (play first!) was a big help in his going 4-0 in his Prerelease flight, much to my delight, as I also saw more established players who were coasting in to rely on their overall experience to carry the day then choose to draw first and then lose some matches.

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You Lika The Juice? – The Gunslinger, Part 2

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Friday, May 1st – Back in 2006 my hometown of Richmond, Virginia was privileged to host a Grand Prix, and TO, StarCityGames.com’s fearless leader Pete Hoefling, asked if I would be willing to “gunsling” the event. Flash forward three years, and StarCityGames.com asks again if I’d be willing to “gunsling” for them, this time at the Alara Reborn “big” prerelease…

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The Kitchen Table #283 – Alara Reborn and Five

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Friday, May 1st – For years, I have reviewed sets from the perspective of Five Color. I have also recently begun to use my set review for more generic casual formats as well, such as multiplayer and Peasant. However, Five Color still dominates my thoughts when I look at a new card.

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Drafting With Olivier – Shards/Shards/Conflux #25

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Friday, May 1st – 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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Deep Analysis – Bringing Elvish Beats in Standard

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Thursday, April 30th – With Alara Reborn now in the Standard mix, it seems the whole world is working on their own versions of Red/Green Beats. The power of Cascade, a la Bloodbraid Elf, is alluring. Today, Richard Feldman tweaks and tests his Red/Green Elves list, and throws it against Five-Color Control and Boat Brew.

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Flow of Ideas – Cascade: The Next Broken Mechanic

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Thursday, April 30th – Cascade will change everything. It is the next broken mechanic, the kind of keyword that only ever comes around once in a while and people later look back on and remark, “I wonder if printing that was really such a good idea…?” I have only played a handful of Block Constructed games with cascade, and even fewer in Standard, yet I already know this is a format-defining addition and one of the most powerful abilities to fall into our card arsenal in quite a while.

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The Justice League – A Cascade of Standard Events

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Thursday, April 30th – Active player has Tendrils of Agony on the stack with a storm count of 10. The opponent plays Angel’s Grace in response and wants to know what will happen if he lets everything resolve and then plays Lightning Helix. First, a match at a PTQ is between two players and it’s not my job to advise people what to do or when to do it!

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Yawgmoth’s Whimsy #273 – How to Lose

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Thursday, April 30th – Recently, a lot of the premium writers have been writing articles full of advice on how to win. They have covered skills, attitude, sideboarding, etc. I’m not premium – so I’ll talk about how to throw games. Of course, the secret of advice on how not to lose is to listen to the advice – and then not take it.

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PV’s Playhouse – Mulligans 2

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Thursday, April 30th – Last week, Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa presented some excellent advice on the art of the mulligan. He also shared a selection of sample hands, and promised pro opinion in today’s piece. He didn’t disappoint… today, those sample hands are analyzed by Manuel Bucher, Olivier Ruel, Sam Black, Martin Juza, and Ben Lundquist!

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Positive EV – Discussing Draft #2: Naya, Bant, White Aggro, and Five-Color Control in Shards of Alara

Read Manuel Bucher every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Wednesday, April 29th – Last week, Olivier and Manuel began an excellent series of discussions on Shards of Alara draft. They continue today with pick orders and debate on the Naya, Bant, White Aggro, and Five Color Control archetypes. Plus, there’s a bonus section with Antoine Ruel! This is a must-read for anyone serious about improving their forty-card game.

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