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Arcane Teachings – Mountains and Mutavaults at Pro Tour: Hollywood

Read Tom LaPille every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Wednesday, May 28th – Last weekend, Tom played in his last Pro Tour for the foreseeable future. Low on preparation, and bereft of options, he decided to rock out with the Red spells. While he didn’t cause a splash in the grand scheme of things, he did learn some significant lessons on the evolving Standard format. To learn these lessons, and to discover why PT: Hollywood may well be his last, read on!

Peebles Primers – Hollywood Numbers, and The Resurgence of Reveillark

Read Benjamin Peebles-Mundy every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Wednesday, May 28th – As we all know, Benjamin Peebles-Mundy loves the ‘Lark. Today’s edition of Peebles Primers examines whether Reveillark decks are to be feared come Regionals. Drawing on statistics from Pro Tour: Hollywood, in which two plucky Reveillark players made Top 8, BPM concludes that maybe the Faeries deck isn’t quite the best deck in Standard after all…

Scouse of Cards – Testing the Water in Block Constructed

Read Craig Stevenson every week... at StarCtyGames.com!
Wednesday, May 28th – In three days, I’ll be slinging spells at Grand Prix: Birmingham. I’ve been testing for weeks. Two days ago, I won three byes. Today, I start intensive testing with a gaggle of established pros. On Sunday, I intend to be in the Top 8. I’m taking this one seriously. Wanna join me?

Chatter of the Squirrel – An Ode to the Magic Pro Tour

Read Zac Hill every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Wednesday, May 28th – I arrived in Hollywood laden with hopes and expectations; I left disappointed but eerily satisfied, defeated but irrevocably changed. As a player and as a person I learned a great deal about myself as a result of this trip, and in this article I will attempt to chronicle some of those changes…

Deep Analysis – Ten Hollywood Decks (Plus a New One)

Read Richard Feldman every Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, May 27th – As the Pro Tour plays havoc with our schedule, Richard Feldman shifts forward from Thursday to bring us the lowdown on the Top 8 Standard decks from Hollywood. He also cogitates on the format as a whole, and brings a fresh decklist looking to position itself in the evolving metagame.

You Lika The Juice? – EDH with Kamahl, Fist of Krosa

Read Bennie Smith every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, May 27th – The last time I went to battle at an Elder Dragon Highlander game, I got horribly color-screwed nearly the entire game and vowed to play Mono-Green the next time around in the hopes that mana troubles wouldn’t be nearly as bad. Green isn’t exactly known for its powerful multiplayer cards, so I wanted to use that notion as camouflage to lull people into not really regarding me as a threat.

The Kitchen Table #235: The Casual Toolkit – Countermagic

Read Abe Sargent every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, May 27th – Is Akroma scaring you? Do you fear that your combo deck will be stopped just as you are ready to go off? Perhaps you fear someone else playing the combo, and defeating your creature deck? That’s why you need… countermagic!

The Riki Rules – Foiled: Mythbusting Marked Cards

Read Riki Hayashi every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, May 27th – Self-improvement is at the heart of the modern Magic article. You want it. We, the writers promise it. And you complain when you don’t think you’re getting your money’s worth, whether it’s free or Premium. My goal in my articles is to make you a better Magic player. I have a sure-fire tip that is guaranteed to help you improve…

Insert Column Name Here – Lessons From Hollywood, And The Intarwebz, And Every Other Big Event

Read The Ferrett every Monday... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, May 26th – I have never been to a Constructed Pro Tour. But as the Editor-in-Chief of StarCityGames.com over the past eight years, I’ve noticed a distinct trend in how the Internet as a whole approaches large, high-stakes Constructed events… Particularly when there’s a dominant deck that’s clearly head and shoulders above anything else. What can we learn from the past patterns of hype, crazy rogue decks, and deflation?

So Many Insane Plays – A StarCityGames.com Power 9 Tournament Report: 5th Place

Read Stephen Menendian every Monday... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, May 26th – Last week, Vintage World Champion Stephen Menendian shared his ponderous run in Day 1 of the recent StarCityGames.com Power 9 tournament weekend. While he didn’t lose a great deal, he did pick up a slew of unintentional draws. Today, he investigates why that may be, and takes us through his far more successful Day 2 performance…

The Main Phase – Everything Old is New Again

Monday, May 26th – In this installment of The Main Phase I want to explore what has worked in the past in the hopes that perhaps it will lead us in the right direction for the future. I admit that it is entirely possible that there may be nothing here… but we’ll never know if we don’t dig around every once and a while. There may be a diamond in the rough.

Limited Lessons – The Mill Deck in Triple Shadowmoor Draft

Meet Magic artist John Avon at Grand Prix Indianapolis!
Monday, May 26th – Patrick Chapin is busy recovering from Pro Tour: Hollywood, and thus his article will appear later this week. In his place, we have Nick Eisel’s take on the innovative Milling draft strategy available in triple Shadowmoor. If attacking for two just ain’t your thing, look no further…

Unlocking Legacy – More Than Mere Survival

Read Legacy articles every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, May 26th – Do these decks have what it takes to survive? Doug pores over four new Survival of the Fittest builds, evaluating their potential for current play and seeing if they solve the problems that have typically plagued Survival decks. Should you play the straightforward Survival Advantage deck, planning for a consistent stream of Green men? Is the classic Full English Breakfast kill worth revisiting? What would it take to make Slivers playable in Legacy? All this, plus the hottest Survival tech cards in this week’s Unlocking Legacy!

Flores Friday – A Case for Scissors, and Building the Anti-Deck

Read Mike Flores every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, May 23rd – In a follow-up to last week’s incredible “The Basic Test of Metagame Competence,” Mike sets out his case for avoiding decks that auto-lose to the most powerful deck in a metagame, even if they do crush the rest of the field. He also expands the theory of the Anti-Deck, and outlines some of the pleasures and pitfalls involved in running such a strategy.

Sullivan Library – Hollywood, Curves, and Rogue Decklists

Read Adrian Sullivan every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, May 23rd – As you’re reading this, Adrian Sullivan is slinging spells at Pro Tour: Hollywood… and hopefully tight play and excellent deck choice will see him still slinging spells on Sunday. Today’s Sullivan Library looks at his testing philosophy, examines the nature of a technology curve, and presents an interesting rogue deck that is both fun and powerful…