Thursday, March 12th – “Did you catch the definition of scription-fiction?†whispered Heather as she shifted from her seat next to me in the lecture hall and glanced in my direction. Scription-fiction, scription-fiction… where are you? The elusive term finally catches my eye when I notice I had written down “3x scription fiction†instead of “3x Natural Order†in my Threshold decklist.
Thursday, March 12th – A couple of rounds into the day, it was brought to my attention by TO Alan Hochman that one or two spectators at the GP had been described as acting suspiciously. The people in question were pointed out to me and I was asked, along with other judges, to be extra vigilant, as more bags had already been reported missing that morning. I spotted one of these individuals watching Ben Wienberg’s match while I was walking around…
Thursday, March 12th – I spent the weekend in Chicago, at the largest North American Grand Prix ever. I got to watch a lot of Magic, answer a bunch of questions, and have a great time. Here are some highlights.
Wednesday, March 11th – Going into the Pro Tour, Red/Black Blightning Deck Wins was one of the hottest archetypes around. Conflux gave the strategy a booster shot, and players had high hopes. Sadly, the deck didn’t quite live up to expectations. Nevertheless, Marijn Lybaert believes the deck has a place in the current metagame. Today, he shares his Kyoto build and talks us through the design process, with sideboarding plans against the metagame’s high rollers.
Wednesday, March 11th – Manuel Bucher rocked up to Grand Prix: Chicago with minimal testing. Sadly, his result mirrored this. Instead of dwelling on Legacy, he’s turned his eyes to the Extended metagame. With Extended Grand Prix tournaments in both Hannover and Singapore, and the Extended PTQ season rolling on, Manuel shares a few interesting decklists, and adds some general tips in the Conflux Extended metagame.
Wednesday, March 11th – That’s right, folks… the popular “Drafting With” series is back! French uber-pro Olivier Ruel takes us through an 8-4 draft on Magic Online, sharing his picks from 1 to 45, and supplying interesting pick debates and information. For more analysis, visit the forums!
Wednesday, March 11th – I arrived in Chicago still undecided as far as my deck choice. I was down to three options: Belcher, Dredge, and a home-brewed Painter’s Servant deck. Belcher had the benefit of familiarity and had tested well against most of the decks in the format. However, I had several concerns with running the deck for eight rounds…
Wednesday, March 11th – We must practice diligently with our deck. This will not only increase our level of comfort with it, as noted before, but also prepares us for the actual moment of crisis, when we must make the decision, and that decision may very well determine whether we win or lose. Go to any PTQ, and you can start picking out the players who audibled into a different deck the night before.
Wednesday, March 11th – Today I want to revisit a topic near and dear to my heart. My first two articles for this website, ever, were about Abedraft. My 175th and 176th articles were about Abedraft. Now, almost two years later, I want to talk about it again.
Wednesday, March 11th – The forums are a-buzz with the announcement on MagicTheGatherings.com Arcana with a partial spoiler card titled Ardent Plea for Alara Reborn that leads many to think it may be an entirely gold card set…
Tuesday, March 10th – Last week, Sam Black brought us the first part of his Pro Tour: Kyoto tournament report. With Faeries in the Standard portion, and a confident draft strategy, Sam managed to propel himself into the Top 32. Today’s conclusion takes us through the second day of competition…
Tuesday, March 10th – Grand Prix: Chicago wasn’t the personal success that Adrian Sullivan hoped, and Day 2 saw him slinging Extended spells in the PTQ side event. This, however, proved a much more fruitful hunting ground, and Adrian made Top 4 with a new rogue deck that includes O-Naginata…
Tuesday, March 10th – That’s right, folks… the popular “Drafting With” series is back! French uber-pro Olivier Ruel takes us through an 8-4 draft on Magic Online, sharing his picks from 1 to 45, and supplying interesting pick debates and information. For more analysis, visit the forums!
Tuesday, March 10th – Lists with singletons often appear to the outsider to be cobbled together at the last minute, haphazard scraps of “good-enough†that contain enough tools to get the job done, but are rarely optimized. Yet increasingly we’re seeing more and more lists from very good deck designers that feature numbers like “1 Terror, 1 Celestial Purge, 1 Pithing Needle,†stone absent any tutors whatsoever…
Tuesday, March 10th – Hot off the heels of the largest Grand Prix in American history, get a first-hand account of the event! Check out the unconventional list that Doug played and see his proposed changes. Get a perspective on the Top 8 and a look at Legacy for the coming months and a look at possible changes to the banned list. Is Counterbalance simply too good? Find out inside!
