We’re at the bi-annual time when I look back at the cards that were in the Core (nee Base) set to which hardly anyone paid any attention, and with which you won’t be able to play in Standard once the new Core/Base set becomes Standard legal. In other words, the cards we missed in Ninth Edition that aren’t coming back in Tenth Edition (a.k.a. X).
Lots of people think Green/White is a poor beatdown deck, because it has no one-drops and runs only-slightly-relevant cards like Edge of Autumn. Lots of people point out that a beatdown deck will often win a big event, but a control deck proves to be the best choice for the PTQ field. Lots of people think they beat Green/White. Lots of people are wrong.
I expect to move shortly. If I get the word that I am moving, then I won’t have long to actually pack and move. As such, I am preparing now for the move. The grad school I applied to last week is overseas. I can’t take that many things with me if I go. I want to take Magic, sure, but the move itself demands that I cut off a lot of my possessions and that means winnowing my Magic collection to the bare essentials. How does one go about doing that?
Stephen takes a break from brain-melting play-by-play action in order to bring us an overview of the runners and riders in today’s Vintage metagame. He brings us five of the strongest players in the format, and talks us through their strengths and weaknesses in order to fully prepare anyone coming fresh to the Vintage tournament scene. This is an excellent primer article on the current state of Vintage, and a fine refresher for those coming in with more experienced eyes…
For today’s Peebles Primer, Ben takes us back to Grand Prix: Montreal, and talks us through the important matchups that will make up your typical PTQ experience. He then pilots the deck in a PTQ of his own, and gives us a report on the games played and the final result. If you’re looking for a fringe strategy with strength and versatility, maybe this is the deck for you…
You all know the drill by now… Rich Hoaen, Canada’s finest and grumpiest draft export, takes us by the hand and drags us through the rollercoaster ride of an 8-4 TPF Draft on Magic Online. From pick 1 to pick 45, Rich shares them all, and his final deck and draft performance are analyzed in the article, the forums, and beyond. Come join in the fun!
I’ve been really theory-intensive for the last several weeks, so I’m going to shift gears today and simply talk about decks. We’ve got two rogue lists to look at – both of which were designed by other people—and a concept I’ve been toying with that I bet some of y’all could make work if you put the time and effort into it.
By the time this goes up, I’m sure my fellow columnists (and likely those on) other sites will have weighed in on the significance of the Tenth (X) Edition rotation. Typically, these columns will talk about specific cards leaving the base set, specific cards being added, and how that will impact various metagames. As someone who spends far too much time musing on Magic, I’ve got my own opinions on this too, but I thought I’d approach it a little differently…
As you read this, Magic Game Day will be just three days away. Magic Game Day is the equivalent of a prerelease for Tenth Edition, and a lot of stores will have special events. It’s more widespread than official prereleases — almost any store that runs FNM may well have Magic Game Day events. These stores will have special foils, etc — but the main reason to attend is because the cards look good.
After falling at the final Day 1 hurdle in Grand Prix: Montreal, Craig “The Professor” Jones headed for the sunny shores of San Diego, ready to thrash the Two-Headed Giant format into oblivion. As we know, he failed in a spectacular fashion… but that didn’t stop him having a grand old time. Prof shares some snapshots from the city, and brings us an intriguing snippet of Game Theory that could explain why the success of the Sliver Kids was not as random as it might appear…
Drafting TPF is a peculiar thing… Future Sight, it seems, has definitely thrown the cat amongst the pigeons. One of the classic Limited aggro strategies, Green/Red is proving both popular and powerful, but the marquee cards such as Sprout Swarm appear to be of a controlling bent. So what do we do? Thankfully, Nick Eisel is here today to bring us the lowdown on the archetype. Pack-by-pack pick orders, card analysis, sample decklists… it’s all here!
You all know the drill by now… Rich Hoaen, Canada’s finest and grumpiest draft export, takes us by the hand and drags us through the rollercoaster ride of an 8-4 TPF Draft on Magic Online. From pick 1 to pick 45, Rich shares them all, and his final deck and draft performance are analyzed in the article, the forums, and beyond. Come join in the fun!
There are two basic types of Reanimator deck shells that are proven to work in the Block Constructed format. The first is the basic aggro Reanimator shell, which involves Gathan Raiders and Looter Il-Kor backed by Bridge from Below, Body Double, and Dread Return. Akroma, Angel of Wrath and Bogardan Hellkite are the two main reanimation targets in just about every Reanimator build seen thus far.
This article’s designed for the aid of players with moderate experience and aims to help them do well and enjoy the release tournaments at Magic Game Day. (Or whenever Tenth happens to hit Magic Online.) If you’re an old hand and are bringing a less experienced friend to Magic Game Day, print this out and hand it to them. I know the article’s long, but it’s important for newer players to grasp the idea of evaluating cards.
July 3rd was, as noted previously, The Ferrett’s birthday. And the universe gifted him with a whopping beauty of a card pool to make the day more special! What sort of sweet cards did he get? Tune in to find out!
