Thursday, October 16th – Star City’s deck database has a great jump on the fall Standard metagame, recently uploading the Top 16 decks from their “Mana Overboard†Magic boat cruise qualifier Sunday. Not only is this great information for building your gauntlet for States, but it also gives particularly relevant insight into what you might expect to show up at the Star City $5K Standard Open two weeks prior.
Thursday, October 16th – I have been looking at the prices for Classic set rares on MTGO. The Classic rares are from sets that are only legal in the online Classic format. These sets include Masters Edition I & II, Mirage / Visions / Weatherlight, and the two blocks that just rotated out of Extended. The rotating blocks are out of print, but MED I & II and Mirage block packs are still for sale. Sales stink. I’m wondering if this could justify “throwback†pricing on these packs, as a way to stimulate drafting.
Thursday, October 16th – Today I want to focus on an online format from the casual rooms, and then bring it offline for all to enjoy. There is an online variant of Five Color called Prismatic. Highlander is referred to as Singleton. Pauper is a variant of Peasant Magic that simply allows only commons instead of a few uncommons. What some casual players have been doing online is combining these three formats into one, called PPS…
Wednesday, October 15th – The New Standard Metagame is slowly taking shape… and while some things change, some things stay the same. With Faeries and Five-Color Control still proving popular and powerful options, Gerry Thompson takes us through his own personal vision of the ideal Five-Color Control configuration, without a Cruel Ultimatum in sight…
Wednesday, October 15th – The Limited PTQ season is now in full swing, and we’ve a couple of high-profile Grand Prix tournaments on the horizon. Today’s Down And Dirty sees Kyle crack and stack four Shards of Alara Sealed Cardpools, offering his own special insights into the deckbuilding process…
Wednesday, October 15th – Short on opinion and long on fact, this week Rich brings you something only a nerd could love, a comprehensive breakdown of a Shards PTQ, with analysis of all 53 decklists, and pools, featuring in-depth under the hoodness about battlemages, mythics, removal, manafixing, archetypes and more. A real resource for the aspiring PTQ-er. And STILL no Elvis jokes, with Worlds just two months away…
Wednesday, October 15th – Reuben Bresler brings us the latest installment of The Main Phase Video Show, with talk on Grand Prix: Kansas City, the missing Invitational, and the “suit up†idea for Pro Tour: Berlin…
Wednesday, October 15th – Today, we’re pleased to announce that the popular MTGCast podcast, looking at the state of Magic week by week, has made its way to the pages of StarCityGames.com! We’ll be showcasing their podcast each Wednesday… enjoy!
Tuesday, October 14th – Perceived wisdom suggests that triple Shards of Alara Draft is a blisteringly fast format, with great aggressive options across numerous archetypes. However, what if you fly in the face of this… is it possible to best the quick beats with a greedier strategy? Nick Eisel brings us a primer on a wonderful new draft archetype, powered by obscene amounts of mana fixing. If you’re after a strategy that’s powerful, rogue, and fun, look no further!
Tuesday, October 14th – Drafting with three packs of Shards of Alara is proving to be flexible, funky, and fun. There are options open for both aggro and control drafters, and being greedy can reap considerable benefits. The mana fixing available across the board is outstanding, but what strategies represent the best fixing the format has to offer? BPM investigates the Taplands, Obelisks, and Panoramas, and points the way to perfectly balanced manabases. There’s also a bonus Standard section too!
Tuesday, October 14th – It turns out that Shards Sealed Deck is one of the more complex formats in recent memory, doubly so when, as I mentioned last week, you don’t open an abundance of mana-fixing. What I’m increasingly beginning to realize about this format is that the density of your mana-fixing is far less important than the timing in which you intend to cast your spells.
Tuesday, October 14th – No doubt, Ad Nauseam is sick. This is no mere Panglossian pronouncement – it has the potential to draw a lot of cards, fuel a storm finish, and it sits in the right mana acceleration colors. The most fundamental question regarding Ad Nauseam is not whether it’s good, but how to build the deck correctly. As such, we have to put in some serious thinking about how we want to resolve the draw spell and what we want to do with it. Join Doug and special guests for an exploration of the card.
Monday, October 13th – Shards of Alara is shaking up all forms of Constructed Magic. From Vintage to Standard, the new cards are causing quite a stir. Today’s Innovations sees Patrick Chapin examine Extended (with an eye to Berlin) and Standard (with an eye to the upcoming StarCityGames.com $5K Open). If you want a head start on your opponents, Chapin delivers!
Monday, October 13th – Ad Nauseam… a card that has polarized opinion in the Vintage community. Is it a powerful effect that promises much in the Vintage-with-Shards metagame, or is it an overpriced and over-hyped waste of resources. Stephen Menendian believes the card has potential, and Team Meandeck have created a deck to prove it…
Monday, October 13th – This article will be all about getting ready for the StarCityGames.com $5,000 Standard Open. To start, I want to clear a few misconceptions people seem to have about the format at large. After that, we’ll be taking a look more closely at the popular decks, followed by a few that may be flying under the radar at the moment. Let’s go!
