For now, I’ll be taking a break from the Time Spiral Block format to take a look at Vintage. The last time I mentioned Vintage was when I was writing about how broken Flash was, and why you should be playing it right now if you weren’t already. Waterbury has come and gone, and more or less bolstered my suspicions that Flash is the deck to beat (along with GAT).
With Craig Jones’s Pro Player Blog being so popular, the Master of the Magical airwaves Rich Hagon brings you the very antithesis of the Professor’s postulations. Yes, it’s time for five days of musings from the man who’s already made it to every Pro Tour final table this year, and fully expects to be there in Valencia and New York too.
The general strategy of Red Death is to play disruption, creatures, and burn to win the game. Its creatures by themselves are not fast enough to win the game against most decks in Legacy. The disruption provides an opportunity to slow down an opponent’s gameplan to allow the creatures to win the game. The burn spells either finish off a player who has a low life total or act as additional disruption by removing creatures. It is the combination of disruption, creatures, and burn that makes Red Death successful.
A very old topic reared its ugly head in the forums in response to my article last week on 10th Edition. I’ve been editing the dang site for almost seven years now, and at this point I wish someone would drag this topic out back and beat it to death with a stick. But no, it keeps getting brought up, and so I figure I might as well flog this deceased equine with a few more savory paragraphs.
In a change to our usual schedule, Nick Eisel brings us the latest edition of Limited Lessons a day early. Today’s article takes us through a TPF draft… but this is not your run-of-the-mill walkthrough. Instead, Nick zooms in on the trickier picks in the draft, and finishes with some intricate in-game decisions that are invaluable tools for those looking to increase their Limited prowess.
Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin, fresh from his sterling performance at this year’s U.S. Nationals, brings us the entertaining story of The Greatest Deck That Never Was. While the creation of this deck proved to be in vain, it does highlight how difficult it is to position yourself correctly in order to break a format. Plus, we have Patrick’s U.S. Standard decklist, and a fresh take on beatdown for Time Spiral Block Constructed.
I’m in Baltimore, for U.S. Nationals. It’s hot. I’ve got a couple hours to kill before I start work. I think I’ll head for side events and some drafts, but before that I’ll try to give you an update on the evolving Standard format. I’ll also give you a little bit of the feel of judging at an event like Nationals.
In preparation for U.S. Nationals, and for the meatgrinders in particular, this week’s Flores Friday sees Mike bring us a selection of fun and powerful Standard decks across a number of popular archetypes. Looking for the best of Gruul beatdown? Or something more mid-range and controlling? How about a Green/White deck with plenty of trickery? Mike’s got all the bases covered…
No, you’re not misreading the title… Tiago Chan, Level 6 Mage, spent last weekend at the front line of competitive Magic, supporting friends in their quest to qualify for Pro Tour: Valencia. Today’s Levelling Up sees Portugal’s finest walk us through the PTQ from his two friends’ perspectives, as they battle valiantly with U/B Teachings. He reminisces over the sights, sounds, and smells of the Portuguese PTQ scene…
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!
Time Spiral Block began this season with a small number of known “good” decks. White Weenie was the presumed eight-hundred-pound gorilla, which U/B Teachings the 799-pound-gorilla stealthily hid behind and kept force-feeding Twinkies so the Internet wouldn’t see past the Great White Hype. Mono-Red was surprisingly playable, and Red/Green worked pretty well too.
Since the Flash fiasco, Legacy players have been paying more attention to the Legacy banned list. Christopher Coppola reviews the progress made since his recommendations last September, and responds to the latest statements given by the DCI about the banned list
Hello, everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re going to take a look at the Top 8 Standard decklists from the Kentucky Open, what’s impacting us the most in Tenth Edition, as well as a little thing I like to call This Week In Magic.
With the Standard metagame finally taking shape in this Post-Tenth Edition era, Adrian Sullivan opens another weighty tome from the Sullivan Library. By looking back at some pre-Tenth Mono-Black shenanigans, he creates an exciting new deck that may just be the weapon of choice for 2007’s National champion! Intrigued? Then read on…
Richard continues his fine run of form with yet another masterclass on the U/B Teachings deck in Time Spiral Block Constructed. With Poison Slivers taking a chunk out of the metagame, and Mono-Red making a tiny comeback, just how does the U/B mage cope? And, more importantly, how does the U/B mage cope when faced with another U/B mage of a similar mind? Just how on earth can you reliably win the mirror match? Richard reveals all…
