John Pelcak has spent the last six weeks in China. Surrounded by some of the most breathtaking scenery and architecture imaginable, he’s been busy brainstorming Time Spiral Block Constructed decks for Grand Prix: San Francisco. Today, he brings us five decklists to dissect and discuss. Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something splashing Blue. If you’re after a new direction for the GP, maybe the Cak has the answer…
The Bad Beat story… as timeless as Magic itself. We’ve all been there: our opponent needs a ridiculous series of luck in order to turn our surefire win into a crushing defeat. Does he get there? You betcha. However, Richard believes that at the core of most Bad Beat stories lies a lurking evil, an insidious demon that tells us we could have played better. Today’s Deep Analysis looks at four Bad Beat stories, and translates them into lessons from which we can improve. Another winner from Mr. Feldman!
Aside from the fact that I have to spend more money that I don’t really have, I love it when a new set comes out. That’s true even if, like Tenth Edition (a.k.a. Xth), it’s mostly comprised of cards that I already have, thanks to years of hoarding the ones that I’ve purchased. That’s because the fun isn’t necessarily in getting new cards but in using old cards in new ways. At a minimum, it’s the chance to use old cards in combinations and in formats in which I’ve never gotten to use them.
I’ve been playing a lot of Tenth Edition Release Events on Magic Online lately, for a lot of reasons. In part it’s because I do most of my Constructed work online these days, and thus I’ll need the cards; in part because I love the format and hate drafting Time Spiral block; and in part because I’ve done pretty well in them, especially if you count events that crashed after I was able to draw into Top 8.
In my opinion, some silver-bordered cards are self-banned. My personal rule is to eschew cards that are too powerful in order to get a laugh. Mox Lotus may be funny when you see it in a pack, but it is far from hilarious when you see it kill you and everybody else at the table reliably via the use of cards like Tinker. Someone who tries to abuse the broken cards in the silver sets is not playing with the spirit of the silver sets.
As you’re no doubt aware, Stephen Menendian — the Voice of Vintage — is the new Vintage World Champion! At GenCon, piloting his much-lauded GroAtog list, he grabbed the tournament field by the throat and walked off with the title. Today, he takes us through his exhaustive preparation for the event, and shares each match, each game, and each play with his signature analytical style. Congratulations again, Stephen… you definitely deserve it!
Today’s Peebles Primers sees Benjamin take us through two tricky Tenth Edition Sealed card pools, breaking down each color of cards into a distinct three-tier system. Reviewing the possibilities and maxing the power has always been the road to success in Sealed play, and BPM demonstrates how he tackles such questions when presented with a fresh seventy-five…
If you regularly follow some of the columnists who are also DCI judges, or read the “behind the scenes” coverage of pro tours, you’ve probably heard about Elder Dragon Highlander, a format that is quite popular for judges to run casually after hours on the Pro Tour. Right now I have zero interest in Time Spiral Block Constructed, and little interest in Standard. So I decided to set up a multiplayer game at our local game shop on Sept 1st… and just to make it interesting, I’m making it Elder Dragon Highlander!
I love casual players. I was one for five years before I played in my first tournament. But I want to swear up and down for as long as it takes to get my point across that the Pro community is not composed of a bunch of evil, selfish bastards lurking in the wings to steal casual players’ lunch money. By and large they’re tolerant, nice, fun, good people who love the game every bit as much as any kitchen table squad I’ve ever seen. Don’t let the one rules-lawyer you always run into at PTQs ruin your taste of tournament players more broadly. There’s a reason he’s still playing at PTQs and trying to win his games unfairly, believe me
A year ago, Wizards launched Dreamblades minis game at GenCon with a $50,000 tournament, and a full schedule of big dollar events. This year it held the $50,000 World championships at GenCon, but also announced that Wizards was ending support for organized play. Since Dreamblade was based on the same model that drives Magic, what does that say about Magic the Gathering?
Last week, Nick asked the forum folk a question: would they like to see a Tenth Edition Draft walkthrough. The answer was a resounding yes, and today Nick makes good on his promise. He takes us through each difficult pick, and gives us some food for thought with intricate game scenarios. If you’re looking to improve your Limited game, this is the article for you!
This weekend I attended the first PTQ in Northern California of the season, because it literally wasn’t even scheduled until recently. To get the obvious out of the way, I lost. I went 3-0 then 0-2, drop, because I was so annoyed after round 5 that I most likely would’ve just played like garbage the next two rounds anyway. I played W/G Aggro heavily metagamed against U/G and Pickles. I’d been working on it for the past few weeks, tweaking for the expected metagame…
Over the next two weeks, Rich Hagon takes a long hard look at the shape of the Magic year ahead. This week, bold predictions abound, including all the formats and locations for PTQs and PTs alike, plucked God-like from the air, and an insight into the new world of four-expansion Magic. Plus the best accountancy joke in the world
Aussie Storm was piloted to a 5-1 in the Australian Nationals Standard portion. I lucked my way into the Top 8 of UK Nationals with it, with 4 wins, 2 losses and a draw, and Stephen Neal piloted it to a 5-2 score in the Standard portion of U.S. Nationals. It also won an 80-man GPT for Krakov the day before UK Nationals, in the hands of Ben Allen… and no one is talking about it.
Craig “The Professor” Jones takes us through his personal choices for this year’s Hall of Fame ballot, and questions the very nature of Magic play itself. Why do certain folk acquire a Bad Player nickname, even if their results would lead us to believe different? In answering this question, can we improve our own play?
