Just as promised last week, an invitation-only Magic tournament took place last Saturday at the New Yorker hotel in New York City. Sponsored by top8magic.com, it was known as the Mockvitational. I played in it, and here is my story of what happened. Sadly, some deadline problems related to Fearless Leader’s trip to Valencia means that I will be unable to give you the Standard results until next week. Up until then…
Hello folks, and welcome back to your regularly scheduled articles, already in progress. This is my traditional Five Color review of the latest set. I’ve done these for years, and you can expect to see me continue for a long time.
Stephen is having a well-earned break in preparation for Pro Tour: Valencia and The Invitational. In his place we have the irreplaceable John Friggin’ Rizzo with another entertaining rant! This week, JFR takes a look at Standard decks that discard cards for fun and profit, featuring the 3/1 flyer for two mana that may well be the sleeper hit of Lorwyn: Oona’s Prowler. So, has JFR broke the format? Read on to find out!
If you haven’t noticed, Lorwyn is a block about creatures. You know what’s really good in a format where a whole ton of creatures just appeared? Wrath of God. Damnation. Molten Disaster. Today’s Peebles Primers takes a look at some of the more entertaining directions such a strategy may take for Champs, and throws up a slew of interesting decklists and ideas. If you’re looking for an edge on the Standard competition, look no further!
Over on the premium side of StarCityGames.com, I imagine those guys are busy testing, tuning, and working through the strategic nuances of new, post-Lorwyn Standard decks for the upcoming States/Champs tournaments that will be here before we know it. Over here on the free side, we’re all in the strategic vat together, stirring a big ol’ pot of Standard spaghetti, throwing noodles at the wall and seeing what sticks.
Greetings from sunny Valencia! My good buddy Zac is currently occupied with a beautiful Spanish maiden so I’m taking one for the team and filling his post for the week. As I know Constructed about as well as a chimpanzee knows Chess, we’re going to dive into the realms of Limited…
I don’t really want to reopen the ideological debate. Debating beliefs is pointless — debate is a rational exchange of data attempting to prove something, while beliefs, by definition, are idea held despite a complete lack of proof. Instead, I’ll look at data, and let people draw their own conclusion. It’s also a retrospective — I’ll look at creatures every few sets from Alpha to Lorwyn.
Adrian is jetting off to Valencia soon, but before he departs for some Extended chicanery he spills the beans on the new Tribal cards from Lorwyn. Will they have an impact in Standard over and above the obvious pump for Tarmogoyf? Or are they merely smoke and bubbles, designed to deceive us into believing their hype? Let Adrian reveal all…
Drafting triple Lorwyn is proving to be a somewhat tricky affair. There are color concerns to consider as usual, alongside the complicated drafting-by-tribe problems posed. Signaling seems especially difficult, and people disagree on the power of cards, colors, and creature types. Nick takes a look at a variety of Limited questions, and takes us through some of the harder decisions he made in a recent LLL draft…
Last week I received a number of responses wanting me to go further into Lorwyn Standard, so I’ll be leaving any final Extended thoughts to Feldman and company. We’ll jump right in with some baselines that many of the new decks people are throwing out there will have to live up too. Think of these as general guidelines that you want to follow while trying to optimize your deck.
Having done about as much Extended testing for Valencia as any self-respecting reporter could face, Rich Hagon spent the weekend drafting Lorwyn repeatedly with six of his best friends and Craig Stevenson. Learn what’s Cool about Clash, what’s Hiding behind Hideaway and what’s Teasing in Tribal. Plus, his personal guarantee that Dredge will win in Valencia next week. Click here now!
My initial reaction to seeing Lorwyn’s first preview was utter shock. Planeswalkers make a ton of sense. When I saw Liliana Vess, I figured that Wizards would take the incremental approach with Planeswalkers and keep them as a rare cycle. The new card type’s splashy, flavorful, and powerful, but at the same time it’s something that could potentially overpower the theme of a set. That’s fine with me.
I had been up late the night before importing all of the card information into Star City’s database, so you’d think I’d know all the cards… Right? Wrong. I actually like being spoiled. So showing up at the tournament, exhausted, run-down, and trying to sort through a new set? Not my greatest strategical moment.
The Extended Pro Tour kicks off this weekend… and you can be sure that some folk will run with the Overpowering Robots of Doom. Affinity has cast a long shadow over many a format, but does it still have the metaphorical grapes to run with the big dogs (and bigger Goyfs)? John “The Cak” Pelcak, a man with an affinity for Affinity, takes us through the motions.
With eyes set on Spain and Pro Tour: Valencia, Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin has set the Extended cards aside for a look at Lorwyn Standard. Today, he presents two decks, one of which he took to the infamous Mockvitational this past weekend. So how did he do? You’ll have to read on to find out… And if that’s not enough, Patrick also has a few ideas on how to get out of those all-too frequent crippling slumps.
