Lorwyn is coming, and it’s full of prime, juicy Elves. Our resident Red guru, Dan Paskins, takes us through a list of some of the more irritating little pointy-eared idiots, and shares his thoughts on how to dispatch them. He also brings us a couple of new aggressive decks for the upcoming Standard format, and rolls out an interesting Red Deck for Extended.
Last week, Richard walked us through some of the non-graveyard decks that may feature highly in the upcoming Pro Tour: Valencia. This week, Deep Analysis concentrates on those very graveyard-centric decks that last week he was trying to beat. Utilizing the yard is the strategy du jour for any serious Extended mage… so how do you maximize your chances to prevail despite the inevitable hate?
Right now, the card that has me the most torn up is Mobilization. I love that card. I was enamored of it back when it was first printed in Onslaught, and I’m no less taken by it today. It makes token Soldiers, no less. They have Vigilance. I can make as many as I can afford to pay for. What’s not to love?
It’s kind of eerie how Boggart Shenanigans, with the spoiled casting cost of 2R, seems to fit as perfectly for a Goblin beatdown deck as Astral Slide did for a White control deck. It’s almost like one card is a photonegative of the other. The Shenanigans turns each Goblin card (note that this includes Tarfire) into an extra point of damage without extra mana spent or loss of card advantage.
It’s been three weeks of 150 cards from the uncommon and common sections of Magicdom. Today we count down the Top 50 cards remaining. The previous 150 were all at approximately the same level, but today’s cards are going to be in the form of a countdown, taking you all the way to number one. [Editor’s Note — 200 Articles! Nice work, Abe!]
The unrestriction of Gush has thrown a spanner in the works of Vintage, with GroAtog deck making Top 8s left, right, and center. Today’s So Many Insane Plays looks at the forgotten draw spell of the format, Fact or Fiction. It’s currently restricted… but should it be? Stephen argues its case. He also explains the difference between Red Elemental Blast and Pyroblast, and goes through the math behind popular decks and Top 8 appearances.
When folks start talking aggro, especially in Standard or Block, talk soon turns to White Weenie. With the Kithkin tribe looking particularly strong in Lorwyn, today’s Peebles Primers takes a look at two possible directions for the little White men. Benjamin brings us two decklists using the new goodies from Lorwyn — an all-White beatdown machine, and a Green/White build featuring man of the moment Gaddock Teeg. Warning: Contains Spoilers.
If you can successfully stop the fastest deck in the format from killing you while simultaneously not packing to the optimally-positioned control deck’s late game, chances are you can handle a less streamlined version of either strategy. This doesn’t necessarily mean, either, that every deck that isn’t positioned along the poles is “sub-optimal” to take to a tournament strictly speaking; it just means it’s less unilateral.
Like most of the Magic world, I have been looking forward to Lorwyn. I have the spoiler. I also have written a lot of set reviews over the years — and I tend to get them wrong as often as right. I’m not going there. Instead, I’ll look at Magic Online’s old school, throwback set, and try an old school, throwback deck design to use those cards.
Last week I mentioned strategic giants of the game Flores, Feldman, and Sullivan clashing over proper deckbuilding and how correct Flores’ 4/1 theory was. Recently Magical Hack Sean McKeown weighed in with his thoughts too. I wonder what these fine gentlemen would think about this new deck sweeping the country recently? Perhaps you’ve seen it…
This weekend, we finally get our hands on Lorwyn! The prerelease is one of the most eagerly awaited weekends in the Magic calendar… but how can we maximize our chances of success? Without experience in playing the cards, we must rely on our evaluation techniques when faced with all-new pristine cardboard. Today’s Limited Lessons sees Nick Eisel present us with some fine advice on card evaluation…
After asking readers if they wanted to see Vintage or Extended, the majority came back with the latter (I blame Gush) so that’s what we’ll be discussing today. Last week I covered the main graveyard based combo decks that you can expect to play against, so this week we’ll be branching out into the aggro-control segment of the meta…
It’s the greatest trick in the book. How the hell do writers put together a set analysis when they probably haven’t even physically seen half the cards, let alone played with them? With just four days to go, Rich Hagon gives you all the tools you need to fully understand your Lorwyn spoiler. Find out the Magic behind the Magic, and let the Noetic Scales drop from your eyes. You’ll never look at a Spoiler the same way again!
I love Magic for many things, and one of those things is camaraderie. On the weekend, even if I’m sick as a dog and can’t keep my head straight, I’ll head off for the local cardboard center and shuffle up, or at least say hi to the locals. Getting out for a stretch and making social calls is important. In my personal case, there’s no more enjoyable opportunity to use my Japanese in a practical situation than inter-match banter.
After a blunder with the topic of today’s Sullivan Library, Adrian turned to Patrick Chapin for help. Ever the scholar, The Innovator delivered in spades. He presented Adrian with a list of 25 of the most exciting Constructed cards from the Lorwyn spoiler, and told Adrian to examine them. This article, packed with fresh ideas, is the result… and if I have to tell you, be warned: this contains spoilers.
