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You Lika The Juice? – Like a Ton of Bricks

Read Bennie Smith every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Leading up to States, I heard a lot of grumbling about how underpowered Lorwyn was compared to Time Spiral and Ravnica. I think the results from States and Grand Prix: Krakow put that notion to rest. I’m of the opinion that Lorwyn was pretty masterfully designed – many of the cards don’t set off alarm bells when you’re just looking at the text box and stats, but when you shuffle them up in a deck and start playing with them, many of them give you that “oh, wow!” feeling.

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Blink And You’ll Miss It – Dave’s 2007 States Report *Top 8*

I’m not sure why States, as a tournament, holds such an allure for me. Maybe it’s the freewheeling, undefined metagame, which allows for any deck to break through and become the Next Best Thing. Maybe it’s the mad scramble to find any crumb of tech to wedge into a deck.

For me, I think it’s the plaque.

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Insert Column Name Here – Less Potent Than Advertised

Read The Ferrett every Monday... at StarCityGames.com!A deck stuffed to the gills (so to speak) with potent Merfolk and Faeries! What’s not to love! Well, the results aren’t to love if you get greedy and try to throw in too much! Watch what happens when a good deck tumbles! Film at 11!

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Sullivan Library – Johnny Walker Red

Read Adrian Sullivan every Tuesday... at StarCityGames.com!
Adrian Sullivan has quite the pedigree when it comes to the State Championships. This year he worked long and hard with I@n DeGraff, polishing and tweaking an innovative Red deck that can drag wins from nowhere. Today’s Sullivan Library takes a look at the development of this powerful deck, and Adrian suggests that the deck is a true contender in the post-States metagame. If you’re looking for an innovative and exciting Red deck, then this is the article for you!

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Limited Lessons – Giants in Lorwyn

Click here for more info on Grand Prix Daytona Beach!
It’s another Limited day, and another Lorwyn tribe receives the full Eisel treatment! After dealing with Merfolk, Goblins, and Elementals, we move onto the flabbiest monsters in the set – the Giants. Most folk believe that these mana-hungry behemoths are easily swarmed by the quicker tribes on offer… but with a little forethought their synergies are strong. And what’s not to love about swinging with 6/6 monsters?

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Deconstructing Constructed – Thorny Goblins in Vintage

Read Josh Silvestri every Tuesday... at StarCityGames.com!
Since I still get e-mails off and on asking what happened to the Vintage articles, and since the next major Vintage tournament is this weekend, I figured I may as well share some thoughts about Lorwyn and Goblins. Steve’s been too busy talking about his Invitational experiences to really go into depth about any of this stuff, so I can understand why there’s a particular lack of Eternal material going around.

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Removed From Game – The Grand Prix Merry-Go-Round

Read Rich Hagon every week... at StarCityGames.com!
With a Grand Prix seeming to turn up on our Magical doorsteps every week, someone has to make sense of it all. While the search for that person continues, join Rich Hagon for all the news from Brisbane, Bangkok and Krakow.

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Innovations – GobleStax in Vintage

Read Patrick Chapin every Monday... at StarCityGames.com!
The Vintage metagame seems rife with Gush. Free card drawing spells are undoubtedly broken, and decks such as GAT are prime to take advantage… but how about looking at the metagame from another angle. How about… Goblins? Backed with disruption? Can the fast yet ultimately fair Goblin tribe really kick up a stink in Magic’s most broken format? Patrick aims to find out…

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Scouse of Cards – Missing a Pro Tour

Click here for more info on Grand Prix Daytona Beach!
The forums have spoken… and the new name for my column is “Scouse of Cards.” Thanks to everyone who suggested names! Today, I bring you an underpowered PTQ Lorwyn cardpool. How would you go about building a winning deck? I also crank up the emo dial and share the tale of woe that is my non-attendance at Pro Tour: Valencia…

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Feature Article – Sadin’s Mailbag

Read Feature Articles every Monday... at StarCityGames.com!
Newly promoted Level 3 player Steve Sadin takes a break from his Premier routine to bring us a taste of mailbag action. He answers an intriguing question regarding the playability of symmetrical effects before moving onto the intricacies of the Red/Green Aggro deck he knows and loves…

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Feature Article – Aggro Flow in the New Extended

Read Feature Articles every Monday... at StarCityGames.com!
In preparation for Pro Tour: Valencia, Portugal’s Andre Coimbra joined forces with Steve Sadin, Mike Flores, Brian David-Marshall, and more. Together, they looked to demolish the blossoming metagame with a mixture of strategies both old and new. In his first article for StarCityGames.com, Andre shares the development of the deck he played at the PT, updates it for Lorwyn, and reveals his sideboarding strategies. Welcome aboard Andre!

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Flores Friday – Win the War

Read Mike Flores every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
Last weekend, Mike took to the field of battle with a deck that should look familiar. Unfortunately, a few play mistakes saw him out of contention early. Today’s Flores Friday sees Mike in a reflective mood, examining these mistakes in order to analyse what they signify in the grand scheme of self improvement. We all make mistakes… but learning from them is what makes us better players. Can YOU learn from Mike’s mistakes? Read on to find out!

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Levelling Up — My Invitational Report Part 2 *Winner*

Read Tiago Chan every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
Last week, we read of Tiago’s less than stellar start to the 2007 Magic Invitational. A 3-2 record after Day 1 is not what dreams are made of… but all you need it a place at the table. Today, Tiago continues the story of his epic Invitational win, through Winston draft, Bring Your Own Standard, Vintage, and the finals versus Rich Hoaen. Sterling, inspirational stuff… Congratulations, Tiago!

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The Magic Show #68 — The Magic Invitational Part 2

Watch Evan Erwin every Friday... on StarCityGames.com!
Hello again everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we delve further into the world of Development, Invitationalists’ favorite formats and their card submissions, and of course more Kenji. Hey hey you you, it’s time for the Invitational Video Part 2!

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Magical Hack — Grand Prix Spree

Click here for more info on Grand Prix Daytona Beach!
I held out writing this article as long as I could in the hopes of having access to the States decklists to begin a thorough metagame analysis… but it’s Halloween, and I’ve lost several days of prime article-writing time. I must put analyzing States and Standard off another week and instead have a look at a pair of Grand Prix tournaments that have passed by recently. In the hype for most players to prepare for States, these have gone largely unnoticed, and having a look at the available information for trends might have some benefits.

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