Search Content

Magical Hack – Hacking the Shards Prerelease

Read Sean McKeown every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, September 26th – We’ve had a few weeks now to get used to the new realms of Shards of Alara, to learn the names ‘Grixis, Esper, Bant, Naya, Jund’ and figure out which color combinations they each espouse. We’ve seen some previews, but when it comes to playing at the Prerelease you’ll want to have more knowledge than just seeing a few cards (mostly rares) and assuming they define the set.

Unlocking Legacy – Legacy and Alara Design

Read Legacy articles every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, September 26th – Shards of Alara represents a new era for design and the power level of creatures and lands. Christopher Coppola looks back to Invasion and the evolution of modern design and considers what this means for the future of Legacy.

Feature Article – A Last Look At Shadowmoor / Eventide Draft

Read Feature Articles every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, September 25th – With Shards of Alara just around the corner, Pro Tour finalist Billy Moreno walks us through a difficult Shadowmoor / Eventide draft with an eye toward sharing his final thoughts on the format as a whole. With at least a month before SSE drafts fade from Magic Online, can you put Billy’s lessons to profitable use?

Deep Analysis – Bantcrasher in Standard

Read Richard Feldman every Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, September 25th – Shards of Alara promises much to the player searching for cool Constructed plays and strategies. With five distinct shards to mine for synergies and tech, the new set looks certain to send shockwaves through Standard. Today, Richard Feldman looks at an intriguing aggro-control option offered up by the Blue, Green, and White offerings of Bant… Warning: contains spoilers.

Drafting With Rich – Shadowmoor / Eventide #22

Draft With Rich Hoaen every day... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, September 25th – Canadian draft maestro Rich Hoaen takes us for a stroll through an 8-4 Shadowmoor / Eventide draft on Magic Online, from pick 1 to pick 45, and shares his special insights after the draft and in the forums.

Drafting With Nick – Shadowmoor / Eventide #19

Draft with Nick every day... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, September 25th – Nick Eisel goes head-to-head with Canada’s finest drafter in his very own Drafting With Nick series! Like Rich, Nick takes us through an 8-4 Shadowmoor / Eventide Draft on Magic Online, and shares his thoughts in the article and the forums!

You Lika The Juice? – Devouring Shards of Alara

Read Bennie Smith every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, September 25th – Since the complete spoiler for Shards of Alara isn’t publicly available as I’m writing this, I’ve decided to forego a set review and instead focus on some of the themes specific Shards bring us with an eye towards Standard. What’s caught my imagination first is the Devour mechanic as offered up by the denizens of Jund, the Black-Red-Green Shard.

Yawgmoth’s Whimsy #244 – Masters Edition II

Read Peter Jahn... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, September 25th – This week I’ll look at Masters Edition II, the new set for online Classic and casual players. It has 80 rares, 80 uncommons, and 80 commons. That means that, to collect playsets of all the commons, you will need to bust about 29 boosters (on average and ignoring foils)…

The Kitchen Table #252 – Peasant Magic Decks

Read Abe Sargent every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, September 25th – Hello my friends, and welcome back to the column dedicated to the casual. My name is Abe and I am your DJ, spinning you decks from around the Casualverse. Today I want to hit up one of my favorite formats, Peasant Magic. Lorwyn and Shadowmoor blocks gave us a lot of fun cards for our decks, and in Peasant Magic, they gave us some great tools…

One Step Ahead – Thompson Tackles Extended, Part 1

Read Gerry Thompson every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Wednesday, September 24th – With Pro Tour: Berlin just around the corner, and with Shards of Alara heralding a New Age of Extended, Gerry Thompson takes us through a few of the existing archetypes and examines how they’re affected by the rotation. With Zoo looking strong, and Affinity promising much, is there room for control or combo offerings? Gerry T reveals all… Warning: contains spoilers.

Down And Dirty – Standard Implications With Spoiled Shards Cards

Read Kyle Sanchez every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Wednesday, September 24th – Shards of Alara is shaping up to be one of the strongest Constructed sets in recent history. Today’s Down And Dirty has Kyle Sanchez trawling through the spoilers to find a selection of cool cards ready to smash through the Standard metagame. He also looks at those Shards cards he believes to be overrated… including an eleven-for-one sorcery that promises to “change everything.” Warning: contains spoilers.

Drafting With Rich – Shadowmoor / Eventide #21

Draft With Rich Hoaen every day... at StarCityGames.com!
Wednesday, September 24th – Canadian draft maestro Rich Hoaen takes us for a stroll through an 8-4 Shadowmoor / Eventide draft on Magic Online, from pick 1 to pick 45, and shares his special insights after the draft and in the forums.

Drafting With Nick – Shadowmoor / Eventide #18

Wednesday, September 24th – Nick Eisel goes head-to-head with Canada’s finest drafter in his very own Drafting With Nick series! Like Rich, Nick takes us through an 8-4 Shadowmoor / Eventide Draft on Magic Online, and shares his thoughts in the article and the forums!

Removed From Game – Rotation Retrospective 4: Planar Chaos

Read Rich Hagon every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Wednesday, September 24th – If you haven’t worked out by now what this mammoth series has been about, there’s very little hope for you. But if you have correctly surmised the premise of this latest offering from the podcast ponderer, jump right in and rediscover all the hits and misses of Planar Chaos, and what you should be setting aside for your collection.

Chatter of the Squirrel – The Boat, and a New Type of Tournament Structure

Read Zac Hill every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Wednesday, September 24th – There is, and will always be, a market for the possibility of professional – and I mean “pay the bills” professional – Magic-related gaming. It’s what got me started and why I continue to do loony things like ship $1400 for a ticket to Berlin. But honestly, so long as several times a year there exists an opportunity to make an amount comparable to a twentysomething’s annual income, that market is going to be sated to an extent.