Two weeks ago, I wrote about six “precons” that I built for my playgroup. Since then, the group has really embraced playing with these precons in games both large and small. As such, I set out to build more precons for my group. My task was to make these new precons about the same power level as the old precons. As a reminder, these decks were all built out of the cards left over at the store after years of people picking through the boxes.
A provocative title, no doubt… but does Stephen really believe it? Well, yes… but not in the way you think. The Voice of Vintage is in reflective mood today, sharing with us his thoughts on the place of Magic in the life of a well-rounded individual. And if that’s not enough, he also takes us through some more of the intricacies in the Flash versus GroAtog matchup.
Dredge… the deck that falls to hate. The deck that, while powerful, is simply unable to put up the numbers in a multi-round tournament. Of course, if people forgo the sideboard hatred, then the deck is unquestionably powerful — just ask Stuart Wright. Today’s Peebles Primer sees BPM deconstruct the decklists from U.S Nationals in order to evaluate the level of hatred you may face, before presenting us with his powerful Dredge deck that has posted excellent results on Magic Online.
Richie Hoaen, our resident draft expert for many a month, has decided to hang up his boots… and in his place we’re proud to announce Kenji Tsumura! As before, Kenji will take us through a Time Spiral draft from pick 1 to pick 45, before sharing his draft deck and commenting briefly on the games. Thanks for the great run, Rich, we’ll miss you… and hello Kenji!
I’ve learned tons about 40-card Magic in the last month, mostly thanks to chats with Ervin Tormos. Said Ruski planned on writing “the definitive booster draft article,” but instead decided he’d rather just share his knowledge with friends on AIM and save himself the trouble. Well, I’m not so benevolent, and I’ve got a deadline-thumping Brit to impress, so this is going to be my side of the story…
This is the time of year when I start culling my Type 2 (well, Standard I guess is the correct phrase) card boxes, shifting out the old stuff – Ravnica block, Ninth Edition – adding in Tenth Edition, and anticipating adding in Lorwyn stuff. Truth be told, I’m a bit sick of Ravnica – Standard right now feels a lot like Invasion Standard, where everyone is able to pick three or more colors, select the crème de la crème from each of them, glue it all together with ridiculously easy mana, and have themselves a really good deck.
At U.S. Nationals, I head judged a Legacy tournament. I collected decklists, started round one then walked along the tables. Towards the end of one table, two minutes into the round, a player was sitting alone. I asked “no opponent?” His response — “No, match over. I never got to draw a card.”
Welcome to Legacy.
Craig “The Professor” Jones likes a burn spell. After all, one particular Lightning Helix earned him $16,000 and made him famous. So when he won the recent Great British National Championship, it came as no surprise that he was packing heat. Today’s From The Lab takes us through some of the intricacies of piloting a burn-heavy deck, and tells us how to turn the mirror match from a coin-flip into a three-point win.
Forty-card Magic is considered by some to be the true test of a player’s talent and skill. Tricky draft choices and complicated in-game decisions go a long way towards proving that Magic is the most challenging game ever devised. Today’s Limited Lessons sees Nick share a pair of difficult Limited decisions — one draft pick, one in-game scenario — in an attempt to clarify the best move available, and in turn open our minds to new avenues of strategic thought. If you’re serious about improving your Limited game, it’s articles like this that will prove invaluable.
Richie Hoaen, our resident draft expert for many a month, has decided to hang up his boots… and in his place we’re proud to announce Kenji Tsumura! As before, Kenji will take us through a Time Spiral draft from pick 1 to pick 45, before sharing his draft deck and commenting briefly on the games. Thanks for the great run, Rich, we’ll miss you… and hello Kenji!
My idiotic selection for the Grand Prix Trial this weekend was White Weenie. Why? Because the field was anticipated to be something like 50% Pickles with a smattering of Tarmogoyf and Reanimator decks. This is a field prime to be run over by W/G Goyf or the Little White Men.
Welcome back, puzzle fans! This issue I have something special planned for you. Today I bring you one of my favorite concepts: the puzzle within a puzzle. The first puzzle (a.k.a. the metapuzzle) is very straightforward. I will present you with twelve groups of three cards, and for each group you tell me which card comes next in the sequence or is missing from the group. I will even make the quiz multiple choice. The underlying puzzle, though, you’re going to have to figure out on your own…
Not so much Back to The Future, more Back to The Past, as Rich Hagon takes a wry look at the set that started it all way back in 1993. Weird rules, some of the best and worst cards in the history of the game, awesome artwork, it’s all here. Plus the easiest Magic card to recreate, the perfect card to turn up as at a fancy dress party, some Lorwyn speculation, and more.
Craig “The Professor” Jones recently took the Great British National Championship with an aggressive base-Red deck. Behind the scenes of this success sits Dan Paskins, who helped Prof along the way. Today he shares his wisdom with us all. For your entertainment and delectation, here are ten short snippets of strategy or stories, from fire magic, to summoning Elves, to the strongest deck in Standard, to a new (and banned) deck for Legacy.
After rocking his Regionals with Korlash Control, Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin wanted a similar fish to take him upstream towards U.S. Nationals Top 8 success. After much debate and discussion with some of the top theorists and players in the game, he settled on an interesting control variant that harnessed the power of both Korlash and Tarmogoyf. It served him well, and almost took him to the very top. Today’s article looks at his preparation for the event, and brings us a new Standard control deck for those looking for top tech.
