Last week, we began looking at the most recent format of relevance to tournament play – Lorwyn Sealed Deck. It only makes sense to follow up on that subject the week after a North American Grand Prix in the format, especially with the PTQ season hitting its stride as we hit Thanksgiving weekend. Not being a turkey fan myself, I’m more interested in the Magic weekend that a few days off will provide…
On today’s SCG Double Feature, Chris takes us through his time at Grand Prix: Daytona Beach, and Ben gives thanks for the things that mean a great deal to him.
Grand Prix: Krakow brought a resurgence of Islands to the Standard metagame. Indeed, if the Top 8 is any indication, times are good for the water-loving spellslinger. This week’s Deep Analysis sees Richard Feldman attempt to deflate the control mages, attacking them aggressively in a way that currently has no defense. Intrigued? Then read on!
We’ve had the Krakow 10, and the Kitakyuushuu 10… Today, Kyle follows it up with the Daytona 10! As usual, he packs his articles with fun, frolics, and mayhem. Alongside his personal Top 5 commons by color list for Lorwyn Draft, he brings us a glowing description of Gabe Walls, a debate on Grand Prix versus Pro Tour Top 8s, and some tales of debauchery that frankly boggle the mind. Kyle Sanchez – discretion advised.
That’s right, folks: The “Drafting With…” series is back! Taking up where both Rich Hoaen and Kenji Tsumura left off, we have Level 6 Mage Tiago Chan. As before, Tiago takes us through a triple Lorwyn draft from pick 1 to pick 45, before sharing his insight on the draft and the games that followed. For more detailed draft debate, come to the forums!
Today is Thanksgiving. As one who concentrates on inexpensive decks, I’m especially thankful for the fan-freakin’-tastic commons and uncommons that the folks at Wizards have been making over the past few years. I could make my word count for this article right now just by listing all of the kick aspirin commons and uncommons that are Standard-legal right now. While I’m cheesy (check out that moustache!), I’m not that cheesy.
I got home from Daytona Monday night. I have to work Tuesday until 5, of course I can’t write at all from work *wink*, and my article is due Tuesday at 6. So, you’re not going to get coherent thoughts from me like you usually do, but instead a wide-ranging spray of various topics and random thoughts that I had over the past four days…
I’m fond of Lorwyn. I think it’s a fine set. However, there is only so much I want to write on it before I get bored. Three consecutive weeks of pouring over the Lorwyn spoiler and then the draft overview I gave concerning six Lorwyn rare drafts. Lorwyn ain’t that exciting. I am ready to move onto new topics for a little while, at least. Today, let’s do something completely different.
The recent Vintage Mega-Weekend in Chicago shook the metagame like a Polaroid picture. The Little Lhurgoyf That Could, scourge of many a tournament, finally made its presence felt in the most broken format. Stephen brings us an exhaustive play-by-play of his own tournament performance, and ruminates on the Vintage metagame as it currently stands. Are we entering a Golden Age?
Today’s Peebles Primers sees Benjamin Peebles-Mundy peering over the shoulder of a drafter on Magic Online. He takes us through each pick made, and offers his own picks and opinions on the draft as a whole. If you’re struggling to make waves in the online Draft queues, let BPM show you the way!
That’s right, folks: The “Drafting With…” series is back! Taking up where both Rich Hoaen and Kenji Tsumura left off, we have Level 6 Mage Tiago Chan. As before, Tiago takes us through a triple Lorwyn draft from pick 1 to pick 45, before sharing his insight on the draft and the games that followed. For more detailed draft debate, come to the forums!
I want to caution y’all not to be too concerned with issues of tempo in Sealed Deck. This extends far beyond the fact that drawing first is better in this format the overwhelming majority of the time. In Draft, mana curve is one of the first things I look at. In Sealed, though, it’s just not all that important…
It occurs to me that I don’t share the emails I get from people as much as I should, so as a tip of the hat to those of you who care enough to send your thoughts back, I wanted to include a few of them here this week, and try harder to at least share one email a week from here on.
I spent last weekend at a Vintage tournament. This week, I read that Masters Edition One will stop being sold online in January, Weatherlight will be released online in December, and that Masters Edition II is coming. All of this raises the question: are these old sets worth anything at all? The simple rule is that the more cards a format has, the fewer cards that are actually playable.
Today’s Sullivan Library looks to quantify that most elusive of commodities – Luck. In fact, Adrian is here to help us understand the true role of luck, and math, in our glorious game. We all know what it means to roll the die and take our chances… but do we understand the true nature of such things? How can we grant ourselves the best chances of success?
