This week’s Deep Analysis sees Richard bring a fresh perspective on metagaming to the table. If you look at your average Constructed PTQ or GP Top 8, you’ll see a number of different decklists doing well at the hands of highly proficient mages. How on earth do these folk come to radically different conclusions concerning the “best deck” to play at any given time? Richard reveals all!
While I am often referred to as “Dr. Romeo“ in this column, I‘m not a doctor in the conventional sense of the word. I’m a doctor of jurisprudence. In other words, I just have the title of doctor, like Dr. Henry Kissinger with his Ph.D. from Harvard, or Dr. Dre with his degree in funkology. So, before writing this column I had little knowledge of the physiology and neurology of Zombies. I had to find out if Zombies dreamed…
The sun is setting on Block Constructed season. The last tournament in my area was last weekend (I finished an unceremonious 2-1-2, after picking up a pair of draws with U/B Mystical Teachings). DragonCon’s website is a little confusing, but it doesn’t seem that they have any Magic tournaments this weekend, much less Block events. Grand Prix: Florence is next weekend, and then it truly will be over. For most of the Western Hemisphere it’s already time to move on to Lorwyn Block.
Now that we know that Lorwyn has a tribal theme, it seems like a solid idea to actually explore some tribal ideas and make some decks in homage to the new set. If Lorwyn really changes the nature of Tribal decks, then these might be the last old school tribal decks I will build for a while.
Unsurprisingly, Stephen Menendian’s Magical thoughts are currently mired in the Invitational. Today’s So Many Insane Plays details the Voice of Vintage’s thoughts on hearing of his Invitation invite, and takes us through some his ideas on the possible upcoming formats. He breaks down the Invitational info from the past, and highlights the mammoth task ahead of him…
Now the Tenth Edition Release Events have finished, it’s business as usual with the Standard and Block Constructed Premier Events. Benjamin Peebles-Mundy returns to his beloved Vengeful Dredge deck and walks us through a tricky match against Red/Green Aggro. Just what can you do when they kill all your Dredge enablers?
With Time Spiral Block Constructed season winding down, and everyone holding their breath for news of Lorwyn trickling out from Wizards, Scrye, and other magazines, and the eagle-eyed sleuths at MTGSalvation, it’s tempting to just drift away from thinking about Magic right now. I mean, you spend eleven months devouring Magic strategy and content, you can take a month off… right?
While it may shock people to hear this, Wizards’ employees do not sit enraptured at the edges of their chairs paralyzed in sheer ecstasy at the thought of handing out company dollars to random people they’ve never met before. It’s not as if being good at a card game automatically entitles you to a plethora of $40,000 checks hand-delivered to your doorstep with a smile.
Last weekend I had a chance to head judge the very last (at least locally) Valencia PTQ. I’ve got the Top 8 decklists (for those of you planning on playing the format on MTGO, I guess), plus one “how the hell can that be in contention” deck, and the mystery of the phantom judge. It’s the dog days of Magic writing, with only a handful of Lowryn cards released. Could be worse — I could be writing about how the Lowryn basic land artwork will impact Legacy.
Craig “The Professor” Jones is signing of his weekly column for a few months in order to complete his PhD… and he goes out with a proverbial bang. Today’s From The Lab sees Prof in a reflective mood, as he takes a trawl through his personal history books and highlights all the lessons he’s learnt thus far from high-level play. There’s definitely something in here for everyone… good luck with your PhD Prof, and come back soon!
Limited expert Nick Eisel continues his excellent Draft Situations series with an in-depth look at a couple of interesting forty-card dilemmas. He brings us another tough pick in a TPF 8-4 draft, some tricky draft build considerations for a strong-looking pool, and a powerful pack from a three-on-three team draft at his local store. If you’re looking to improve your Limited game, this is the article series for you!
In the sequel to last week’s bestseller, Rich Hagon casts not one eye but two over the winners and losers in the coming Magic year. Good news for Drafters talented or otherwise? Constructed formats of delight? Sealed success or Limited limitations? Find out where your dollar, pound, yen, drachma, or euro will be going during the next twelve months. Plus no accountancy joke this week, which will disappoint none of you (plus or minus 10%.)
This article will be about the history of Vintage, and some of the personalities / in-jokes you may have missed if you’re new to the format. I’m hoping that, in the future, a few more articles can be written about the subject, since the format has had quite a long history and much of it from three or more years ago has been lost over website moves and server crashes.
Throughout the years, Adrian Sullivan has designed his fair share of powerful decks. His latest creation of note qualified him for Pro Tour: Valencia early in the season. Looking back at his creations, Adrian concludes that while all his successful decks achieved their goal, some of them were fragile or underpowered. Today, he offers the theory that fragile decks have a place in the metagame… and he shows us how to position ourselves to take advantage of an evolving metagame.
How to win a PTQ… a conundrum that’s plagued some of the best Magic minds since Organized Play began. Strategy, mental focus, deck choice and construction… it all goes into creating that perfect formula of success. Today’s Down And Dirty sees Kyle interview a host of top-level pros (and me) and ask them that most pertinent of questions. Just hoe DO you win a PTQ?
