Last weekend I went from the newest format to the oldest, and back again. Both went pretty well. The old stuff: I judged the StarCityGames.com Vintage event in Chicago. The new stuff: drafting Lorwyn online. I’ve got some comments, some observations and some anecdotes. Enjoy – I did.
Last week I was reading various articles on Lorwyn Limited in order to bone up for my first foray into LOR draft at FNM, so of course I checked out Nick Eisel’s Limited Lessons columns on this here site here. In his first article on Lorwyn (Approaching Lorwyn) there was a paragraph he wrote that really got under my skin…
One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do… and singleton cards in Constructed Magic can seem very lonely indeed. Today’s Sullivan Library examines the theory behind including one-of cards in your ultra-honed sixty-card machine. By defining the roles such inclusions need to play, we can refine our choices and increase our chances of tournament success.
Lorwyn Drafts on Magic Online are now in full swing… well, half swing at least. Despite the downtime and the hideous lag, Nick has managed to compile a few drafts for walkthroughs. Today’s walkthrough contains a number of tricky decisions, and highlights the importance of rating cards for both power and tribal concerns…
Hello and welcome to another article about those lovable Blue miscreants, the Faerie tribe. Today I’ll be going over the general matches, tips, and some testing results against the top three control decks from GP: Krakow: Mono Blue Guile, UW Pickles and UB Mannequin. I’ve received a number of e-mails asking for match advice, and some general questions on how the deck holds up against Pickles-esque decks, so instead of answering each individually it seemed easier to do it all at once.
It turns out that given a theoretically unlimited supply of boosters, starters, and tix, the only thing stopping you playing MODO 24/7 is stamina, and servers. With a little bit of downtime for both, join Rich on an epic journey through online Magicland as he Drafts… and Drafts… and Drafts… and occasionally enters a Premier Event for artistic licence purposes. It’s Drafting With Rich, but a Rich with 400 fewer ranking points than the last one…
The Ferrett gets a sturdy card pool this time around, with a lot of bombs… And for once, he builds it correctly! (Or hey, at least correctly enough to do well in the actual tournament.) Take a look at the sheer power inherent in the system!
Building the perfect Sealed deck is a fine art. Sure, there are times that you get all the good Green and all the good Red, but even then there are decisions to be made. Steve Sadin believes that, along with the usual card power concerns, building a successful Sealed deck relies on understanding exactly what type of deck you need. If you’ve three byes at your next Grand Prix, the art of building a Sealed deck can be radically different to those building to ensure PTQ success. Intrigued? Then read on!
One of the most important questions players are forced to answer during a game of Magic is “What is my role?†Mike Flores tells us that Misassignment of Role = Game Loss, and while that is certainly true, there is more to the theory behind that statement than meets the eye. Today, in a contender for Article of the Year, Patrick “The Innovator†Chapin explores the novel concept of Thermodynamics in Magic. One deck is warm, the other is cool… just where do the boundaries lie?
When in the course of deckbuilding, sometimes you end up stepping back from your project and asking why you’re even trying to make a new deck. Players get all sorts of satisfaction out of Magic, and much of that can come from tinkering with new ideas. Timmy, Johnny and Spike all get a chance to play. I admit that all three kids come play with me when I want to make something new. Do I want to play with ridiculous cards like Mindslaver, Timmy asks? Spike wants me to beat everyone in the room. But I succumb the opiate whispers of Johnny, telling me that together, we can be clever.
Today, I share the tales and torments from Saturday’s PTQ, an event that saw 60-plus players take to the Bradford playing fields. I share my cardpool, and my build, and recount the wacky hijinks that ensued! Did I make Top 8? Did I scrub out and draft? Did I punch the head judge and get banned for life? All is revealed within!
The elusive Blue Envelope… the Holy Grail for which every PTQ player pines. How, exactly, can we put ourselves in the proper mindset to achieve a PTQ win? Is it about practice, belief, luck… all of these things? Today’s Flores Friday examines the qualities you need to step up and reach your true potential. Another master class from Mike – you don’t want to miss this!
After eight rounds on Day 1 of Grand Prix: Bangkok, Tiago Chan stood proud and undefeated at the top of the ladder. Perhaps this Grand Prix would bring him that elusive Top 8 he’s been hunting for so long… Sadly, Day 2 was an outright disaster, seeing poor Tiago drop from the top of his game to the depths of despair. He shares his decks – Sealed and Draft – today, bringing us fine advice on what to do – and what to avoid – at our next PTQ…
Hello once again Magic players, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re going to tackle the Finals of the 2007 Magic Invitational, a little bit of Rosewater, a little bit of Kenji, and the next big thing: Learn how to send the Magic Show to the World Championships!
Seeing how we are now two weeks away from the State Championships, we have the opportunity to examine the Standard metagame in motion. We are on our way to the World Championships in a month’s time, give or take a little, and in addition to looking at the States metagame as it played out, we can advance it one week into the future by examining the results of this past weekend’s Grand Prix in Krakow.
