Wednesday, February 4th – The Esper cards and strategies, in straight Shards of Alara at least, were never quite strong enough to see dedicated Standard play. However, now Conflux is almost here, do we have enough artifacts to make such a strategy worthwhile? In the forst of what promises to be an intriguing series, Kyle lays the groundwork for a dedicated Standard Esper deck, and examines all the possible artifacts in the format…
Wednesday, February 4th – This past weekend, I attended our local big Conflux Prerelease, although I didn’t actually play in it since the flight was going to end long after I had to be at work. This week, I’ll again be discussing Standard and the additions Conflux brings to the table, in more detail now that we’ve had some time to go over what makes the set tick.
Wednesday, February 4th – On Thornling: Patrick Chapin mentioned that indestructibility in a format with this many remove-from-the-game effects is not what it once was. In this environment, indestructibility is only slightly better than regeneration. Obviously, this card would have been a lot better with Shroud or even protection form color X on command – but those are “not in flavor for Green.â€
Tuesday, February 3rd – Hear that sound of whirling rubber squeaking against road? That’s the prerelease, baby. All those cards that looked so awesome sitting pretty on the spoiler? Now they have to interact with other cards, all their sins revealed. The question, as always, is this: Which cards were better than we thought, and which cards were worse?
Tuesday, February 3rd – Since taking the helm of the Drafting With series, Luis Scott-Vargas has undergone a fundamental shift in his approach to the format. Today, he looks back on the series as a whole, drawing conclusions that help form our perspectives going forward with Conflux. LSV also brings us some initial thoughts on the Limited applications of the new set!
Tuesday, February 3rd – With Conflux hitting both the shelves and the tournament floor at the end of the week, Adrian Sullivan examines the PTQ metagame as it stands, and suggests a few pertinent directions the format may take when the new spells become legal. He also updates the Red Burn strategy with some fresh spices from the upcoming set…
Tuesday, February 3rd – With the Prerelease weekend now under our belts, it’s time to study all those juicy new cards very carefully. Rich won’t tell you which cards are good – he’ll leave that to the experts – but he will tell you how to go about separating the wheat from the chaff, using a wide variety of techniques that will help all of you aspiring to get to the Pro Tour.
Tuesday, February 3rd – Hello friends, and welcome back to the column dedicated to the casual. Today I am continuing a series of articles that begun years ago and has continued through this one. Once the official spoiler for a set has been released, I can take a look through the cards, and tell you which ones I believe will have an impact for Five Color.
Monday, February 2nd – Today’s Innovations is a mixed bag of fun and interesting topics. Patrick details his prerelease weekend gunslinging efforts with Manuel Bucher, shares some funky Elder Dragon Highlander lists, and brings us an exciting post-Conflux Standard list which he believes is close to Tier 1 play…
Monday, February 2nd – Vintage maestro Stephen Menendian is determined to make a splash at the upcoming Legacy Grand Prix in Chicago. He believes it is essential to have a good grounding in the format fundamentals in order to achieve success, and his comprehensive Legacy tournament report today is the second step on his journey to Legacy understanding…
Monday, February 2nd – When you judge seven large multiday tournaments in one year, you tend to make friends quickly. These connections come in handy when you’re in need of some highly talented and motivated individuals to assist you on a special project…
Monday, February 2nd – In today’s edition of The Magic Sock podcast, there’s talk of Conflux, a trip down Memory Lane with a look at Saviors of Kamigawa, and much much more!
Friday, January 30th – Need to know which Conflux cards are currently undervalued, and which are currently overvalued? Want to make sure that you’re getting fair trades at the Conflux Prerelease this weekend? Then you must read this edition of Insider Trading, brought to you by the guy who sets the prices for StarCityGames.com!
Friday, January 30th – The Conflux prerelease activities begin tomorrow, and the new cards are in everyone’s minds. David Irvine examines some cool strategies that spring up through the addition of the new cardboard, and brings us some spicy first-pass decks for Standard, Extended, and Legacy!
Friday, January 30th – Luis Scott-Vargas concludes his daily Draft series for now, sharing each pick from a draft in the Magic Online 8-4 queue. He talks us through the difficult decisions in the forums… do you agree with his choices?
