Hello folks and welcome back to series that explores the caverns of the casual. Today, we are going to be doing some serious spelunking. I have spent a lot of time and research preparing today’s article, and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you. The spark for today’s subject came from an old format I discovered at another site. I found this old, old format trying to turn Magic into an RPG.
Deckbuilding is difficult. Sure, it’s relatively easy to come up with a semi-competitive deck, one that could do some rocking in an 8-man queue of an FNM… but deckbuilding for a tournament like Worlds? From scratch? That’s a different kettle of fish. Adrian takes us through some of the pitfalls one can face when shuffling up a rogue sixty. He also presents a fresh Standard deck that jumps through the correct deckbuilding hoops…
Lorwyn drafting, both online and in real life, are now in full swing. We’ve had many a primer article here on StarCityGames.com, including a number of informative tribal articles. Today, Nick Eisel brings us a look at some of the overvalued and underappreciated cards on offer in triple Lorwyn… which of these cards do you rate too highly, and which should you be slamming into your pile?
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!
Welcome back to the series on Faeries. This should be the last or next to last article I need to write on the subject, since I’ll basically have covered the majority of matches in Standard after this. I blame this recreation of My Fires (My Faeries! Roofles) on my obsession with aggro decks once I tweak them enough. If anyone playing Vintage remembers my 20 page Food Chain Goblins primer you can understand the detail I’ll go into if I think the deck is worthwhile.
This week, Rich Hagon invites you to put your brain into high gear, let the scales drop from your eyes, and discover how you can beat the online Pros at their own Drafting game. If you can’t work out why they pick what they pick, why your good cards don’t seem good enough, and why the same players win time after time, Rich’s visualisation techniques can help. In a reversal of his normal articles, this week features a little humor and a lot of thought. So thinking caps (and Draft caps) at the ready. Good luck.
Can’t make this stuff up, folks. Get a message from Dan Ackroyd – okay, Danny Ackroyd-Isales, but story value, people, story value – asking about Rock and Nail. Never really got a chance to write about that deck, but accusations of self-flattery and the reality of an irrelevant format made me think it’d stay that way. Come to find out Extended season’s almost here. Cute.
For Thanksgiving, The Ferrett LARPed a classic computer game and drove all the way across the East Coast with a trunk full of food… Oh yeah, and played some Magic with a ludicrously strong U/W Lorwyn Sealed deck!
Seven cards are better than six. This much we know. But how often can we be sure that the hand we’re keeping is stronger than a prospective six? Dan Paskins brings us an interesting look at the process of playtesting with regards to mulligan decisions. By examining those hands that win against those hands that lose, Dan helps us along the road to a greater understanding of mulligans in general.
Grand Prix: Daytona Beach taught the world a thing or two about the nuances of Lorwyn Limited. Tribal concerns, color shenanigans, and card evaluation were all under the harsh glare of the major tournament spotlight. Today’s Innovations brings us Patrick Chapin’s version of events, as he powered up to a 34th-place finish.
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!
Seasoned players tend to talk about “sideboarding plans,” which is not a surprise since sideboarding well is really all about planning. Tom looks at some decks and asks you to think about how their sideboards do or do not fit with the decks’ game plans. He wants to convince you that you need to be aware of and take into account your deck’s plans to build the most effective sideboard you can.
I have tried to follow hunches and ideas in decks even when they are ludicrous or go against the conventional wisdom. The most frequent result is utter junk; it turns out that conventional wisdom can be pretty wise. Sometimes I get interesting results, or better yet I get some new and useful deck. The most recent and interesting experiments involved Faerie Stompy and Goblins, and I want to share some things I learned.
A Standard Pro Tour looms in the New Year, and who wouldn’t want a trip to Hollywood? In order to qualify, one must triumph at an Extended PTQ. The season kicks off in January… but Mike likes to be prepared. Today’s Flores Friday sees Mike share an interesting multi-colored deck based around powerful Lorwyn cards and overlooked mana-fixing. If you’re serious about qualifying for PT: Showbiz, you can’t miss this!
Tiago Chan, without a clear goal to hit in the Pro Player’s Club, was a little reluctant to attend Grand Prix: Daytona Beach. However, a Magical holiday is hard to turn down. Today’s Levelling Up sees Portugal’s Level 6 mage take us through three possible builds of his Sealed Deck cardpool, before walking us through his tournament round by round. His match with Shuhei for Day 2 play was particulalry spicy, and is detailed at length… as is his bizarre hotel experience!
