Thursday, July 10th – My love of pre-releases comes from the Invasion block. (In fact, most of my love of Magic comes from Invasion block.) I had become involved in Magic in a bunch of ways by the time Invasion came around, had played in some PTQs, gone to a Pro Tour (albeit as a coverage person), and had started writing for Star City. But up until Planeshift, I hadn’t attended a pre-release…
Thursday, July 10th – The Compendium of Alternate Formats is designed to be a collection of interesting formats for you to share and to which you might introduce your playgroup. In today’s article, I am going to introduce the format, then talk about some of the details. Once that is out of the way, I intend to build some decks to demonstrate the format. Simple, eh?
Wednesday, July 9th – Reveillark… the Standard deck to play if you don’t fear the Fae. This entertaining combo deck is fantastic against the rest of the metagame, but Faeries is a tricky proposition. At Grand Prix: Buenos Aires, Gerry Thompson rocked out with his own personal build of the ‘Lark. While he didn’t quite make the Day 2 grade, he has some interesting ideas on the archetype and its place in the current metagame.
Wednesday, July 9th – Eventide is coming, and those of us sick to the back teeth of the Faerie menace in Block Constructed await the new cards with ill-concealed glee. However, before the set arrives, there are PTQs to be won. Today, Richard Feldman brings us a detailed matchup run-through between the mighty Fae and his Triple Tribe deck…
Wednesday, July 9th – As long as Faeries is reacting to you, you’re winning. If they don’t get an opportunity to use their Blossom as more than Forcefield, or deploy a Scion, or stick a Mistbind, they are going to be backpedaling. Cryptic Command is insane, but it’s only going to stabilize them if they’ve already got a relevant board presence.
Wednesday, July 9th – In Part 1 last week, I talked about settling on the deck I wanted to play for Richie Proffitt’s Memorial Tournament on June 29th, and I was incredibly happy with my choice both leading up to the tournament, during the tournament, and afterwards. My choice? Aggro Zur…
Tuesday, July 8th – With the Lorwyn / Shadowmoor Block Constructed format descending into a triangle of despair, and Faeries, Kithkin, and Five-Color Control dominating all, do the spoiled cards from Eventide offer up a modicum of hope? Benjamin Peebles-Mundy believes they do. BPM examines some of the more potent weapons available… Warning: Contains Spoilers.
Tuesday, July 8th – With Faeries, Kithkin, and Five-Color Control ruling the roost in Lorwyn / Shadowmoor Block Constructed, it takes an uncommon mind to come up with something new. Today, with the help of a few friends, Marijn Lybaert brings us two fresh decks based on the Quick n’ Toast framework: Swans on Toast and Toasted Trees! He also presents what he believes to be the definitive White Weenie deck…
Tuesday, July 8th – No other deck is even close to Faeries in terms or performance or numbers making Top 8s every week. I know, you’ve been hearing this for the last few weeks, but it really needs to be understood. If you aren’t playing Faeries, you need a damn good reason why.
Tuesday, July 8th – As we enter July and the Summer Series plus turbo-charged Nationals kick into high gear, Rich takes a long hard look at the contenders, the pretenders, and the return to senders. Which is as close as you’re getting to an Elvis joke this week.
Tuesday, July 8th – Regionals has always been somewhat of a hurdle in the Magic season. And by hurdle, I mean that it is a flat out Great Wall of China, at least for me. The weather is hot and muggy, and the tournament always brings out tons of people, making for logistical and rulings hell. Things have actually gotten better recently, but let’s take a look back through the past few years of Regionals…
Monday, July 7th – Last week, Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin brought us his personal pick for the best deck in Lorwyn / Shadowmoor Block Constructed: Solar Flare revisited! This week, he puts his money where his mouth is and runs the deck in a local PTQ. While he didn’t quite make the final table, he still believes the deck to be the most powerful choice in the metagame…
Monday, July 7th – In Today’s ‘Insane Plays,’ Stephen faces Vintage master, Rich Shay, to test the Control Slaver mirror. Watch Stephen battle Rich Shay, play-by-play, through a set of five games as he learns the ins and outs of playing in the New Vintage. This is not to be missed!
Monday, July 7th – A lot of things go into the creation of a successful Magic player. For example, countless hours of preparation and effort, mental toughness, and pure mathematical skill all take part. But no one thing has been nailed down as the singular most important deciding factor when it comes to what makes a person a ‘success’ at Magic…
Monday, July 7th – Decks you get from the Internet are built and tweaked already. When you try to metagame them you may be doing more harm than good. Read on, and get some tips on making the deck better, not worse.
