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Deconstructing Constructed — Unlocking Vintage

Read Josh Silvestri every Tuesday... at StarCityGames.com!
Right now, the Vintage metagame is an odd anomaly when you look at it from a competitive point of view. On one hand, the best players are winning and making Top 8s at all the decent sized and major Vintage tournaments over the last few months. On the other hand, part of this is because a substantial chunk of the metagame is playing decks that don’t maximize their chances to win. I’m reasonably sure the only four decks that should be seeing play are GAT, Flash, Ichorid, and Stax.

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Removed From Game — More Bang For Your Buck

Read Rich Hagon every week... at StarCityGames.com!
In today’s only Charles Dickens reference here on StarCityGames.com, it’s time to go all Scrooge-like with Rich Hagon, as he starts to explore ways to get the best value out of your cards. Now’s your chance to learn all about Snooker Draft, Triple Sealed, The Joys Of Saturday, Hunger Pangs, and much more. It’s time to get More Bang For Your Buck.

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Feature Article — Fabiano at U.S. Nationals

Read Feature Articles every Monday and Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
He placed third in the Storyteller Ballot for this year’s Invitational, but he was the choice of many a pro player. His stories are, if you believe all you read, a work of genius. He’s fun, frivolous, and fiery… and he plays a mean game of Magic to boot. Gerard’s debut article takes us through his personal 5-2 performance at in the Standard portion of this year’s U.S. Nationals. Welcome aboard Gerard!

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Innovations – Extended Decklists and the Metagame to Come

Read Patrick Chapin every Monday... at StarCityGames.com!
Time Spiral Block Constructed season is winding to a close, and it’s time to move to Constructed pastures new. Traditionally, Block Constructed is the least powerful of the sixty-card formats. Patrick Chapin has a decent antidote to this low-level play… Extended! With Pro Tour: Valencia looming large, the Innovator brings us his personal take on the current Extended metagame, with decklists, PLAY tips, and predictions galore!

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Calling All Dinosaurs! Limited Hits of Masters Edition

Read Feature Articles every Monday and Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
When the word on Masters Edition finally broke out, I couldn’t believe it. An Online only expansion? Whoa. Masters Edition is an attempt by Wizards to give people a taste of the classics of yesteryear, but not too much of a taste so that it becomes an actual copy of the paper Legacy metagame.

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Play Magic Against the Computer, or Better Than Apprentice

I’m writing this article to promote a program I’ve written, called “MTG Forge,” that lets you play Magic against a computer opponent using all the rules of a real game. It’s really fun. Currently there are 400 cards available, and you can play in three modes: Constructed (all the cards), Sealed, or Draft.

[Editor’s Note: It’s a quiet time for Magic at the moment. Roll on Lorwyn, say I. In the meantime, here’s something a little different…]

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Levelling Up – U/B/R Control at Grand Prix: San Francisco

Read Tiago Chan every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
After powering out to a 6-0 start at Grand Prix: San Francisco (albeit on the back of three byes and three great matchups), Tiago needed a simple “win and in” result to qualify for Day 2 play. Today’s Levelling Up examines where the wheels fell off the wagon. He also looks at his preparation for the GP, and explains why he spends a great deal of his time traveling to play Magic…

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The Magic Show #59 — Planeswalkin’

Watch Evan Erwin every Friday... on StarCityGames.com!
Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re going to take a look at the first new card type since the introduction of the game, my upcoming performance in Pro Tour: Valencia (yes, you read that right), and more. Let’s go! Warning: Contains Spoilers.

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Not Magical Hack — Sportsmanship

Read Sean McKeown every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
Sportsmanship is a gray area in Magic. That’s because everyone has a different idea about what sporting play is. Take, for instance, use of headphones while you are playing. To me it’s a sign of disrespect, but others won’t think twice about it. You can just think about it in terms of game play… for instance, what if someone calls you on the cell phone and gives you advice? That’s clearly against the rules…

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Unlocking Legacy – Tarmogoyf Deckbuilding

Read Legacy articles every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
Without a doubt, Tarmogoyf is the best creature in Legacy. Unsatisfied with current Threshold decks, Kevin presents several ideas on how to best use the Goyf. He also looks at ways to build around and play around Counterbalance.

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Flores Friday – The Lesson: Two-and-a Half Decks for Post-Lorwyn Standard… Almost

Read Mike Flores every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
[Editor’s Note: This article was a little late on Friday, so we’re running it again today in case you missed it.]

Mike’s Flores Friday takes us through his preparations thus far for States… yeah, that’s right: STATES. He shares two Standard decklists pulled deep from his well of creativity, both without a Ravnica card to their name, and walks us through some sample games. How does he fare? Well, the second offering is christened “Unbeatable.dec,” so you figure it out…

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Feature Article – Sullivan Library: California Teachings – The National Champs at San Francisco

Read Feature Articles every Monday and Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
The Time Spiral Block Constructed season is winding down… there are a few PTQs left, and a European Grand Prix, but that’s about it. To round out the Block metagame talk, Adrian Sullivan dissects the winning deck from the recent Grand Prix: San Francisco, a deck that was piloted to the Top 8 by no less than three talented spellslingers…

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Deep Analysis – Tiered Metagames

Read Richard Feldman every Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
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!

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From Right Field – Do Zombies Dream?

Read Chris Romeo every Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
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…

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The Beautiful Struggle – Closing the Book on Block

Read Mark Young every Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
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.

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