Thursday, October 30th – There’s a brand new “large†expansion to explore, chock full of new cards, themes, and mechanics. There’s also a huge hole that’s usually significant, where the oldest block has rotated out. The maelstrom of new cards rushing in to fill the void of the old cards leaving is normally an exciting time. Only this time… nothing seems to be changing.
Thursday, October 30th – Recently, I have had some discussions about getting cards, cost of packs and so forth. One debate has come up again and again – the debate between people who buy packs and just open them and the people who feel that not drafting with any unopened pack is foolish. Both online and off, a very large percentage of all packs produced are simply opened. For most of the people who bust the packs, that is a perfectly rational option.
Thursday, October 30th – As any long time reader of my column will know, I love Five Color. I absolutely adore it! I also dig the online variant, Prismatic. Today, I thought it would be fun to look at my Prismatic deck, and see the cards I run.
Wednesday, October 29th – With the StarCityGames.com $5K Standard Open Top 16 decks now in the public domain, Richard looks at his much-discussed Blue/White Merfolk deck, a copy of which placed fifth in the main event. He shares his current thinking regarding card choices and sideboarding options, and brings us a ten-game set against Faeries…
Wednesday, October 29th – States is coming, and Kyle Sanchez is here to get your States Locked Down. Today’s Down And Dirty sees Kyle bring us three interesting decklists… the first is his version of Five-Color Control, the second another greedy control strategy, and the third a funky fresh Elemental build. He also brings us perhaps the oddest Sanchez Gallery to date…
Wednesday, October 29th – That’s right, folks… it’s back! While Canadian draft maestro Rich Hoaen battles it out at Pro Tour: Berlin, we have Nick Eisel bringing us a Shards of Alara 8-4 draft walkthrough each day, from pick 1 to pick 45. Nick supplies draft analysis in the forums! Rich Hoaen returns soon, to battle Nick head to head… watch this space!
Wednesday, October 29th – I’ll give you three guesses what this week is all about. Torvill and Dean? No. The rain delay of Game 5 in the baseball World Series? No. Last chance, or you’ll just have to click to find out…
Wednesday, October 29th – A few months ago, Chris Coppola wrote an article entitled “Legacy and Alara Design”. I commented on the forums that I thought it was interesting and thought-provoking, but that it needed to become more concrete. In other words, tell us whether you think this is good or not and where design needs to go to make good Legacy cards. After some thought I decided that if he was not going to write that article, I would…
Wednesday, October 29th – We discuss the announcement of the third set in the Shards of Alara block, Alara Reborn. It will have 145 cards and be released in stores on April 30, 2009. Gavin gives us a more in-depth discussion on how the new ratings system discussed in BDM’s latest article will affect players in the upcoming PT 2009 season. Plus much more!
Tuesday, October 28th – Is it a good idea to give strangers power over your life? The Ferrett asks for your feedback while he asks your help to test a new feature on StarCityGames.com! Also, some Shards of Alara thoughts!
Tuesday, October 28th – Constructed maestro Gerry Thompson posted a fine result at Grand Prix: Kansas City, making Day 2 in an impressive field. Today, he discusses his ideas concerning Shards Limited in general, before moving on to fresh Standard ideas that spring from the Top 16 decks at the StarCityGames.com $5K Standard Open. States is fast approaching… be prepared!
Tuesday, October 28th – With the StarCityGames.com $5K Standard Open now in the books, Benjamin Peebles-Mundy looks at his much-loved Reveillark strategy and discusses how it’ll fare now the metagame has changed. He throws the deck against a number of the successful Top 16 strategies from the $5K Open, and shares his new sideboarding plans against a handful of the major players in the format…
Tuesday, October 28th – That’s right, folks… it’s back! While Canadian draft maestro Rich Hoaen battles it out at Pro Tour: Berlin, we have Nick Eisel bringing us a Shards of Alara 8-4 draft walkthrough each day, from pick 1 to pick 45. Nick supplies draft analysis in the forums! Rich Hoaen returns soon, to battle Nick head to head… watch this space!
Tuesday, October 28th – Having now played in a Limited PTQ for the season, the first one I’ve played in at least three years, I can safely say Sealed is not just a luck-based pile of garbage. Rather, it’s a format where, if you want to lose with a good deck, your large advantage is something you have to punt away.
Tuesday, October 28th – Even with the inordinate number of cards that just rotated out of Standard, we still live in a day and age where Magic card prices can put some decks out of contention. With States right around the corner, Dave looks at two decks that have reasonable price tags – and reasonable chances at winning.
