John Friggin’ Rizzo, the one-time destroyer of Extended, has gone a little peculiar. His article today is packed with the usual Mono Black in Standard musings, and Mono Black in Legacy tips… but we also learn a great deal about the man himself. Fun decks, fun plays, fun anecdotes, and the expected level of humorous invective… plus a frankly disturbing picture of the great man in full-on breakdance mode that will linger long in the memory.
Finally, Lorwyn is here! States is coming, and eyes are turning to the New Standard. Today’s Innovations sees Patrick Chapin take a look at two of the more hyped strategies in the format: Green/White Aggro with Gaddock Teeg, and a Standard update of the U/B Teachings archetype from Time Spiral Block Constructed. If you’re looking for an edge in the coming Standard metagame, this is the article for you!
Kyle takes a look at the commons in Lorwyn, and evaluates them for Limited play. He breaks them down by color, and divides them further using his own unique categories: Premium, Average, and Snot. The prerelease has passed, and it’s time to get busy with the new cards. If you’re looking for a Limited leg-up, look no further!
The goal of every competitive deck is to win. Not losing is merely a means to that end, but not an end in itself. Each archetype takes a different approach to winning the game. Looking at each archetype in detail will provide insight into how each of them achieves its strategy. There is one particular archetype that will be very different in nature from the others and it deserves more consideration.
Want to know what will be hot at your prerelease this weekend? Which cards should you pick up now while they are undervalued, and which should you trade away while they are overhyped? Will Lorwyn cause any older cards to jump suddenly in value? The only way to find out is to read Ben’s analysis of the Financial Value of Lorwyn!
Mike is not a particular fan of the Dredge strategy. However, with the Extended format shaping up to be a graveyard-dominated metagame, today’s Flores Friday sees Mike explain why fumbling around in our trash piles may actually be a winning formula. He also updates Zvi Mowshowitz’s excellent Numbers strategy, and asks a few questions of the decks that you’re looking to play…
Tiago Chan, Level 6 Mage and one of Portugal’s finest, has had many ups and downs in his successful Magic career. Today’s Levelling Up sees Mr Chan in a reflective mood… he looks back at five of the most important matches he’s played, and shares how they molded his career and outlook on the game we all love. Who knows, maybe his insights will help us in our own quest to level up…
Hello everybody, and welcome to the Magic Show. This week we’re going to talk about the upcoming Lorwyn prerelease and its follow-up block, Jelly and Doughnut. Wizards of the Coast has been saying over and over how they will be linked but not in a very obvious way. I think I, and many others, may have found this missing link.
Those of you who are actively trying to avoid spoilers can back away from your “Back” buttons. We aren’t going to talk about a single unofficially-previewed card… in anything resembling its actual form. I for one don’t feel like it is my place to make the decision to spoil or not to spoil for our good proprietor Pete Hoefling, and every time I write one of my prerelease preview articles I hear Groundskeeper Willie’s voice screaming “Hush, boy, d’ye want to get sued?”
Kevin Binswanger takes a look at two of the most discussed cards from Lorwyn and tests out whether they help against the most important deck in Legacy. Then he tries his hand at explaining theory in the context of Legacy.
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!]
