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The Kitchen Table #274 – You Have Lost Your Excuse for a Bad Manabase

Read Abe Sargent every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Wednesday, February 25th – Today I will be talking about one of the core issues that affect casual deckbuilders, especially those on a budget: Mana. One of the things I intend to do, is walk you through mana over time, and thereby show you what lands are out there for your deckbuilding needs. Not every casual player was playing Magic way back when, so cards like Terminal Moraine or Rainbow Vale might have fallen through the cracks.

At the Gathering – Standard Deviations?

Read Jeff Phillips every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Wednesday, February 25th – Last week, I promised you some Standard deck-lists, and I have plenty of new ideas for you. Let’s jump into the Standard card pool and see what we can dig up. After that, I have a nice tip on how to build a manabase.

MTGCast #143 – MTGO, Pauper, and Crazy Cougar!

Listen to MTGCast every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Wednesday, February 25th – On this week’s edition of MTGCast, there’s talk on the Pauper format, Magic Online, and much more!

Sullivan Library – Raising the Boat Brew to a New Standard

Read Adrian Sullivan every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, February 24th – The Standard metagame pre-Conflux had a number of interesting strategies at its cutting edge. Red/White Reveillark Aggro, or “Boat Brew,” was a particularly strong contender. Adrian believes that, at the coming Pro Tour, Boat Brew will be the strongest and most successful archetype… do you agree with this assertion?

Black Magic – Kyoto Predictions

Read Sam Black every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, February 24th – Pro Tour: Kyoto is fast approaching, and our game’s top players are heading east. Today, Sam Black brings us his thoughts on Standard going into the tournament, breaking down the metagame with reference to recent tournaments, including the top decks from last weekend’s StarCityGames.com $5000 Standard Open!

Chatter of the Squirrel – Slow Play, or, How Not to Become a Victim

Read Zac Hill every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, February 24th – A lot of players talk in the forums about how decks by authors like Chapin, GerryT, and myself are light on ‘win conditions.’ Without a big tap-out fatty to end the game quickly, they worry they won’t be able to finish their matches on time. This sentiment isn’t entirely unreasonable, but there are so many ways to solve the problem of time limits without having to resort to making your deck worse. This article will outline a few of them.

Legacy’s Allure – Cheating with Cheetahs

Play Legacy at Grand Prix: Chicago!
Tuesday, February 24th – This week, Doug tackles the emergent Natural Order combo, using the antique Visions sorcery to Tinker Progenitus into play. How can Legacy players handle this new strategy when the common tools in Legacy can’t target the monster? What decks could pack this combination, and what should you watch out for? Get this, along with a pragmatic assessment of preparing for Progenitus at Grand Prix: Chicago, in this week’s article.

Removed From Game – Looking Ahead to Pro Tour: Kyoto

Read Rich Hagon every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, February 24th – Get your card marked – not your cards marked, because that would be cheating – for Pro Tour: Kyoto, as Rich brings you a ton of background on the names you’ll be hearing at the top tables all next week.

Tribal Thriftiness #57 – Magic 2010… or Portal 4?

Read Dave Meeson every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, February 24th – The announcement of Magic 2010 on Monday probably surprised everyone. What does it mean for budget players? And is it Portal 4?

The Long and Winding Road – Vintage and Legacy Examined

Read Matt Elias every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, February 24th – In today’s Long and Winding Road, Matt Elias examines Hellkite Oath for Vintage, and suggests a few interesting Legacy lists in good time for Grand Prix: Chicago…

Insert Column Name Here – The Casual Player’s Bargain-Hunting Guide, Part 11

Read The Ferrett every Monday... at StarCityGames.com!Monday, February 23rd – For every block since Masques, there’s been a “pre-made” deck lurking in the wings for you. Take Shards of Alara, where Wizards practically screamed, “You can build a Shard deck, you know!” and then handed you a list of all the Jund cards that were guaranteed to work together. And as we start in on Kamigawa and Mirrodin, with arguably some of the heaviest mechanics-oriented cards around, we now have to think about whole mechanics.

Innovations – Pre Pro Tour Ponderings

Read Patrick Chapin every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, February 23rd – It’s the week before Pro Tour: Kyoto, and the pro community is understandably being tight-lipped about their breakout technology. In today’s Innovations, Patrick Chapin outlines his own view on the likely makeup of the Pro Tour metagame, and shares a few strategies and lists he believes will be front-runners come Sunday…

So Many Insane Plays – A Bird’s Eye View of Legacy: The Engines of Legacy

Play Legacy at Grand Prix: Chicago!
Monday, February 23rd– In the second part of this excellent Legacy series, Stephen Menendian and Matthieu Durand take us through the Engines of Legacy. Counterbalance/Top, Life from the Loam, Ancient Tomb… all these and more come under scrutiny. Grand Prix: Chicago is drawing near… be prepared!

[Editor’s Note – This article was written by Stephen Menendian and Matthieu Durand.]

Constructed Criticism – Darwin on Control

Read Todd Anderson every week... at StarCityGames.com
Monday, February 23rd – Last week I talked about a few different Standard deck ideas revolving around the powerhouse cards Banefire and Volcanic Fallout from Conflux, while giving honorable mention to Path to Exile. Today I’ve decided to take on the other side of the spectrum of Standard, delving into my two favorite control archetypes: Faeries and Five-Color Control.

The Magic Sock Episode 159 – All About Conflux Commons

Listen to The Magic Sock each week... on StarCityGames.com
Monday, February 23rd – In today’s edition of The Magic Sock podcast, there’s a run-through of the top commons from Conflux, a Standard Domain deck challenge, a nostalgic look back at Dissension, and much more!