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.
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 really like Aethermage’s Touch. It won me several game 1s that I couldn’t have possibly won otherwise. That said, a lot of people don’t like it, and I don’t exactly know why. Sure, you will miss somewhere around 10-15% of the time, but it is such a blowout card that can be used to make their Remands much less efficent. There aren’t any instants that actually do something when you don’t have a creature in this deck, and Touch gives you more options to combat the various permission strategies.
It’s summer time for the majority of the world, and with Tenth Edition out and some of the most prominent Nationals wrapped up, most players are taking time hammering out the new Standard format or getting their Tenth Edition Limited on. Tenth Edition is a fine set to draft with, but it’s a little too straightforward for some. Box Draft is a fine way to break the tedium. It’s a great way to spend some time without dropping a ton of cash.
It’s the weekend, so that means one thing: Flores Friday. Today’s offering from Mike showcases a plethora of practical information on the relevant formats, from the front lines. He shares his U.S. Grinders decklist, and Osyp’s Nationals deck, before bringing us what he claims to be the best deck in Time Spiral Block Constructed by far… and he didn’t design it! Intrigued? Then read on…
