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Deconstructing Constructed – Burning Through Standard

Read Josh Silvestri every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, March 18th – Ever since I saw the results of the burn deck that succeeded at Grand Prix: Shizuoka, I’ve decided that it would be one of my main decks to try out for the new Standard format. Of course, I’d love to play my Faeries deck some more, but on Magic Online there’s the slight issue of procuring a set of Mutavault and Bitterblossom without trading in an organ or two. As they say, if you can’t join ‘em, play Red and burn them to a crisp.

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Removed From Game – Why?

Read Rich Hagon every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, March 18th – “Why not?” and “Because” might get you a University interview on a Philosophy course, but when it comes to explaining to a new player why twelve four-drops is too many in a Goblin rush deck at their first ever Standard FNM? Time to relearn some lessons the easy way, in the company of Rich Hagon, the man with more hair than PT Top 8s. Which is probably true of most of us, actually.

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Insert Column Name Here – Choose The Right Aggro?

Read The Ferrett every Monday... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, March 17th – I’m trying hard to get a handle on what makes a good Sealed deck in the format, but what look like decent builds collapse underneath me. And today, I got a deck with cards I would have sworn would have been a raging aggro deck, only to find that the real aggro deck was buried beneath.

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Limited Lessons – The Over/Under of Lorwyn/Lorwyn/Morningtide

Read Nick Eisel... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, March 17th – Whenever a new set is added to a well-explored draft format, there are a number of things up for consideration. One of the most overlooked aspects of exploration is the need to re-evaluate the cards of the first set in context with the cards from the second. Today, Nick brings us some of the overrated and underrated hits and misses now that Morningtide is in the mix…

[Editor’s Note: Patrick Chapin will be appearing later in the week. Stay tuned!]

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So Many Insane Plays – The Jan-Feb Vintage Metagame Report

Read Stephen Menendian every Monday... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, March 17th – At present, Vintage is full of entertaining and powerful options. The metagame is packed with great decks that run the gauntlet of Magical strategies. Today’s So Many Insane Plays sees Vintage World Champion Stephen Menendian break down the important Vintage results from January and February… so, exactly where is the metagame headed?

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There And Back Again – Spirit Stompy in Extended

Monday, March 17th – When Lorwyn first started leaking to the Web forums, the world over got excited about two cards: Thoughtseize and Gaddock Teeg. Both promised to disrupt combo and control decks in a significant way, but Thoughtseize has gone the distance a bit more successfully than our 2/2 Kithkin hero. After all, at the end of the day the Teegster is just a 2/2 and every deck this side of the Mississippi ought to be able to deal with that. Enter Rashad Miller…

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Unlocking Legacy – Game Losses Are Optional

Read Legacy articles every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, March 17th – Players receive penalties all the time at Magic tournaments because of carelessness and laziness. Kevin Binswanger is here to give you advice and step-by-step instructions on tournament operations to let you concentrate on playing Magic without having to worry about an illegal decklist or slow play.

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Flores Friday – Modeling Grand Prix Excellence

Read Mike Flores every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, March 14th – This weekend, thousands of players will descend upon the Grand Prix halls in Philadelphia and Vienna. Only eight will survive to the final table of each, and of those eight, only one will triumph. What skills, exactly, do you need to make it all the way to the GP top? Mike investigates that today, with input from some of the greats (Dan OMS, Mikey P, Osyp to name but three). If you’re looking to elevate yourself to the next level, here’s the place to start!

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Sullivan Library – And the Blue Envelope Goes to Loam!

Read Adrian Sullivan every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, March 14th – This week, Adrian Sullivan shows us the inner workings of the winning deck from last week’s largest PTQ. Loam has been on the back-burner since Counterbalance’s ascendance – now that it’s enemy number one has largely disappeared from the metagame, is it time for Loam to make a comeback? This strange version of Loam has a unique take on how to attack the metagame, and Adrian walks us through what makes it tick!

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The Magic Show #87 – Shadowmoor Rising

Watch Evan Erwin every Friday... on StarCityGames.com!
Friday, March 14th – Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re going to take a peek inside our first Shadowmoor pack, detail the push for new player acquisition and complete assimilation of the planet Earth in the name of Magic, learn some details about this fall’s upcoming expansion, discuss the current Extended environment, and more. Let’s go! SPOILER WARNING

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Magical Hack – Standard, Extended, and Draft

Read Sean McKeown every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, March 14th – Rather than anything deep and expansive about any one format, it seems I’ve got a lot on my plate to do with a lot of different formats. Morningtide is now finally available on Magic Online, and last weekend’s Grand Prix featured the Standard format while this weekend’s Grand Prix features Extended once again. So we are going to look a little bit at Standard, Extended, and Draft, because each has some interesting progress going on.

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Deep Analysis – Dredge versus Vancouver

Read Richard Feldman every Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!Thursday, March 13th – The Extended PTQ season is beginning to wind down… but there are still PTQs to attend, and slots to be won! This coming weekend, Richard Feldman gets to play in his first PTQ of the season. In preparation, today’s Deep Analysis contains detailed play-by-play matches that pitch his chosen deck – Dredge – against the great and good from Grand Prix: Vancouver.

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Down And Dirty – A Tale of Two Tarmogoyfs

Read Kyle Sanchez every Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, March 13th – Kyle Sanchez rocked up to his latest Extended PTQ with a Blue/Green Tron deck and high hopes of qualification. Sadly, things weren’t to be for him that day. Nevertheless, his performance sheds some interesting light on the matchups involved, and he presents his personal pick for the deck to run at any approaching PTQ…

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The Kitchen Table #124 – A Casual Look at Online Programs

Read Abe Sargent every Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, March 13th – Hello folks, and welcome back to the series that brings the casual acts to the stage. I am your producer, determining which acts are good enough to warrant some time in the limelight. Today I want to investigate the tools available to casual Magic players out there, including Apprentice and more.

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Tribal Thriftiness #14 – That Old Ravnica Feeling

Read Dave Meeson every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, March 13th – With the revelation of Shadowmoor’s funky theme, Dave is pining for the fjords of Ravnica. Okay, there weren’t fjords in Ravnica, but Dave is still looking to play more than two colors in Standard one last time.

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