Tuesday, October 21st – In the current Standard, the supposed top-dog is Five-Color Control. The optimal build is hardly unanimous, if such a thing even exists right now, and it causes at least four articles a week to be written about its awesome visage. From the limited reports coming in, it seems as if Reflecting Pool Control decks of all shapes and sizes have become the majority of the metagame.
Tuesday, October 21st – The addition of a fourth rarity was always going to impact the secondary market… or was it? Dave explores the financial side of the new mythic rares in Shards of Alara.
Tuesday, October 21st – England’s finest deckbuilder, pro player Stuart Wright, wades into the current Standard format in perfect time for this weekend’s StarCityGames.com $5K Standard Open. He presents some stock metagame lists, plus a few funky ideas straight from his Standard playbook. If you’re looking for something off the beaten path, look no further!
Monday, October 20th – The Vintage metagame is brimming with powerful cards and strategies, and Shards of Alara adds a new level of intricacy to the mix! Today’s So Many Insane Plays sees Stephen Menendian take an unassuming Blue artifact for a spin, pairing it with some of the most broken cards in the format! [Editor’s Note – Patrick Chapin will be appearing later in the week!]
Monday, October 20th – Last week made for a rather interesting article. Most people seemed to stay on message about the Outside Assistant (OA) issues and wanted to discuss said issues in the forums. A couple of people brought up some legitimate concerns about OA, specifically about what Gerry Thompson wrote, which I hope to clear up today.
Monday, October 20th – Every multiplayer group you play with has certain, shall we say, tendencies – a group gestalt that encourages some behaviors at the cost of others. And if you know your group, you can start building decks that play to take advantage of your group’s habits….
Monday, October 20th – At the beginning of the year, BPM played Reveillark at the StarCityGames.com $5K Open. He made Top 8. At the $5K in Richmond in May, he played Reveillark again, and again posted a high finish. Guess what he’s playing for the StarCityGames.com $5K Standard Open this coming weekend? Here’s a clue: it’s a 4/3 flying elemental…
Friday, October 17th – It seems that, despite the loss of some key components, those flighty and fickle Fae are at the forefront of the Standard format once more. With the world going mad over Esper Charm, Luis Scott-Vargas is championing a different, albeit eerily similar, direction. Exactly where can the perfect Faeries list be found? LSV is on the case…
Friday, October 17th – With Faeries at the top of the Standard pile, the other stand-out strategy appears to be Five-Color Control, or “Quick n’ Toast.” While there are many variants of this Reflecting-Pool-packing monster, they all seem to stumble to similar weaknesses… and today, Billy Moreno exploits these weaknesses with a couple of new decks! If you’re attending the StarCityGames.com $5K Standard Open, you can’t afford to miss this!
Friday, October 17th – Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re getting you prepared for two big tournaments at the same time: For those preparing for next week’s huge $5K Tournament in Richmond, Virginia we’ll have interviews with the top two Cruise Qualifier finishers and complete deck techs from both. For those headed to Kansas City like me this weekend, we’ve got another even more in-depth sealed breakdown from Patrick Chapin & Friends. Let’s go!
Friday, October 17th – The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, but the road to States is littered with decklists. Some are good, some are bad, and I’m sure that things will begin to change as more strategies are tried out and things begin to hone in towards the razor-sharp edge of good technology.
Thursday, October 16th – In today’s edition of Insider Trading, Ben takes a look at the unfortunate reality of card theft. How can you prevent your cards from being stolen? What steps should you take to protect your collection? Read today’s article for tips on how to protect your Magic investment!
Thursday, October 16th – With the Standard metagame taking shape, the smart money is on the format being dominated by perennial contenders Faeries and Five-Color Control. Today’s Deep Analysis sees Richard Feldman thrash the two gladiators together in order to gain valuable insight into how this important matchup plays out. The StarCityGames.com $5K Standard Open is approaching fast… Be Prepared!
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.
