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Feature Article — Brave New World

Read Feature Articles every Monday and Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
In the past, Constructed formats have been easy to define. Their metagames revolve around finding and tweaking the best deck, or simply positioning yourself to take advantage of a three-pronged rock/paper/scissors affair. With the policy of pushing Tier 2 cards and strategies, R&D have helped create a metagame packed with interesting choices and diverse decks. So what do you do at the eleventh hour, as the registration clock slowly ticks to zero? Dan reveals all…

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Innovations – The GenCon Article

Read Patrick Chapin every Monday... at StarCityGames.com!
Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin, like so many other gamers, spent this past weekend at GenCon. Today he takes us through the experience from start to finish, including a crash and burn in the Legacy Championship, and a very creditable performance in the Vintage Championship. All the sights, sounds, and smells from the GenCon trenches… only a click away!

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Down And Dirty – Why MTGO Is The End Of Magic

Read Kyle Sanchez every Monday... at StarCityGames.com!
When did the MTGO crash become so frequent? It seems like it happens every few hours, and it’s so pathetic. Think about the insane amount of income Wizards get from Magic Online. In the draft room alone, a some form of draft starts every 2-3 minutes. That’s twenty times an hour that Wizards made roughly $13, multiplied by eight for each draft. That’s $49,920 a day, from the draft room alone. It seems like they could afford a decent server, given how long Magic Online has been operational.

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Levelling Up – Portuguese Deck Tech: Wizards in Time Spiral Block Constructed

Read Tiago Chan every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
Kai Budde, it seems, is a shoo-in for the coming Hall of Fame Class of 2007. If that’s not all, his signature card — Voidmage Prodigy — is ripe for Time Spiral Block Constructred play! From the Portuguese PTQ trenches, Tiago Chan brings us an exciting Blue Wizards deck that has a fine matchup against a number of the block’s top decks. Teferi’s a Wizard, Venser’s a Wizard, Shadowmage is a Wizard… and Kai’s card binds these powerhouses together! Intrigued? Then read on…

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Drafting With Kenji – TPF #8

Draft with Kenji... every day at StarCityGames.com!
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!

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Unlocking Legacy — Yet Another Junk Deck

Read Legacy articles every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
In this article, Doug looks at understanding in a post-Tarmogoyf metagame and suggests a deck featuring old favorites as a solution to the Jolly Green Giant. Can Pernicious Deed hang in Legacy or is it too slow? Are there times when selective discard is superior to random discard? As a bonus, see what uncommons are essential for a die-hard Legacy player’s collection!

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Not Magical Hack — The Time Spiral Block Metagame, and Core Set “Block” Constructed

Read Sean McKeown every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
Sean is currently taking a brief break from his column… so today’s Magical Hack comes from Phil Barker. He brings us a comprehensive breakdown of the Time Spiral Block Constructed metagame, before turning his eye to something a little different. What do you think of playing a little Core Set “Block” Constructed?

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Hacking The Vote

Last year, I had a few choice words to say on the subject of the Hall of Fame voting… and rather than go on again about how Mike Long most emphatically does not, double-underscore exclamation-point, belong in the Hall of Fame, I would raise the one guideline that matters when it comes to voting for the Hall of Fame:

“…The Hall does not bestow the luminous shine of greatness to the Players, it is the Players who grant esteem to the Hall.”

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The Magic Show #57 — Stories From the Nashville PTQ

Watch Evan Erwin every Friday... on StarCityGames.com!
Say hello everybody to your 2007 Invitational Storyteller! Oh man, am I excited! I’ll be sure to share said excitement with you next week, but I still have a show to produce and this week is a goodie. I have a nice long chat with our own Richard Feldman and Zac Hill on getting better at Magic, the Invitational, Xth, Block Constructed, and more while I let you hear the worst Bad Beat story of all time.

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Flores Friday – Sideboarding with the Once and Future #1 Apprentices

Read Mike Flores every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
Last weekend, Mike Flores helped two of his self-appointed “apprentices” make Top 8 at a Time Spiral Block Constructed PTQ. Asher Hecht came third, and Josh Ravitz won the whole thing. This was due, in no small part, to excellent deck choice and playskill… but also because of the excellent sideboarding strategy. Mike brings us the low-down today, plus an exhaustive response to Adrian Sullivan’s claims regarding the 4/1 “dogma” of card numbers in deck construction.

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Feature Article – Sullivan Library: Deck Genesis

Read Feature Articles every Monday and Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
Adrian Sullivan, one of the finest deckbuilding minds in the game, has done it again. Today’s Sullivan Library takes us through a fantastic new Green/White deck that has positive matchups against four of the top five decks in Standard. If that isn’t enough, the article also divulges some of the Master Builder’s deck design secrets. Looking to smash at a Standard tournament, or hoping to hone your deckbuilding skills? Then this is the article for you!

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Deep Analysis – Rock in Block

Read Richard Feldman every Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
Richard Feldman, fresh off a harrowing Teachings-fueled run of “nearly” performances in Time Spiral Block Constructed PTQs, has decided to try something a little different. Green/Black Rock-style decks have been a staple of every Constructed format for many a year… so why should TSP Block be any different? Richard brings us the decklist, the sideboard plans, and some crafty strategic knowledge that enables us to Rock Out With Our Rock Out (In Block Out). Or something.

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Drafting With Kenji – TPF #7

Draft with Kenji... every day at StarCityGames.com!
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!

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From Right Field – The End of an Era

Read Chris Romeo every Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
My last two columns were about staple rares that I think that budget players should try to pick up. Many people commented on the fact that the lists were “too long” and had “too many cards” on them to be considered “staples.” While I addressed that issue at the beginning of last week’s column, I want to come back to it from a different angle.

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The Beautiful Struggle – Return of the King Pawn

Read Mark Young every Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
Hello everyone, I’m back. August is not an easy month for someone whose job is to write about tournament Magic, but at least we have Block Constructed season to talk about. Plus, some Lorwyn information is starting to leak out; MTGSalvation has already spoiled 21 cards*. And there are always the random strategic concepts that I’ll see applied in a game and I think, “that would make a great article.”

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