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Feature Article – Billy Plans

Read new Feature Articles each Monday and Thursday... only on StarCityGames.com!
Billy Moreno, one of the candidates for Resident Genius 2007, brings us the ideas and strategies behind a funky new Standard deck designed for Regionals. It’s a storm deck that runs five colors, and is capable of a number of ridiculous nut draws. BDM himself ran it at his Regionals, and it’s great fun to play. If you’re looking for something that’s both fun and competitive to play at your next Standard event, look no further!

Innovations – Ten Decks for Block Constructed

In the first of his weekly articles, Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin brings us a timely Block Constructed primer, taking us through the runners and riders in the next PTQ format. He also brings us a few new decks, some that feature the newly-popular Korlash as the kill method, and one combo deck that takes us back to the popular Draco Explosion decks. Intrigued? Then read on!

Drafting With Rich – TPF #6

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 analysed in the article, the forums, and beyond. Come join in the fun!

Down and Dirty — Mono-Blue Snow

Last weekend, I had the honor of watching South Texas’s finest compete in Regionals. Sadly, none of the finest made Top 8, and when the dust settled we were left with a new crop of Texas champions. While I was judging, one deck in particular caught my eye: a Mono-Blue Snow deck, featuring a ton of permission spells backed up with Teferi, and Aeon Chronicler as the kill condition.

The Online Outlook #14 — The Post-Regionals Online Metagame

Read Craig Stevenson every Monday... at StarCityGames.com!
After two long weeks of Future Sight Limited heartbreak, I’m back on the trail of the elusive Standard Metagame. Reports of the demise of Dragonstorm are greatly exaggerated… or are they? Plus, some new takes on the old Aggro favorites. And a Top 8 deck that… well, I saw a peanut stand, I saw a rubber band, I saw a needle that winked its eye… but I think I’ve seen about everything, now I’ve seen a turn 1 Fly(ing Men).

From The Lab – The Gargadon is Coming: A Look at the Modern Form of Aggro

Read Craig Jones every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
With Tarmogoyf fast becoming the Chosen One in the world of aggressive burn-backed beatdown, Craig “The Professor” Jones takes time off his exhaustive and analytical Block Constructed test schedule to bring us the skinny on the true face of modern Aggro — Big Gargs. In a world where two-mana 5/6s and one-mana 9/7s rule the battlefield, Prof brings us a map to safety. Intrigued? Then read on!

Drafting With Rich – TPF #5

That’s right, folks… he’s back! 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 examined in the article, the forums, and beyond. Come join in the fun!

Magical Hack – The Ballistics of Magic Bullets and Glass Cannons

Read Sean every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
Picking the right deck for a tournament is essentially a matter of tactics, and as such can be analyzed carefully to determine what the most effective tactic might be, based upon a set of criteria. Let us leave any impenetrable analogies behind us, and pick up an easily-understood analogy that is quite fitting: military warfare.

The Magic Show #48 — Post-Regionals Fallout

Watch Evan Erwin every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re going to talk about how I fared at Regionals, the list I brought, and how the metagame shaped up.

Flores Friday – The Legends of Team CMU

Read Mike Flores every Friday... at StarCityGames.com!
Mike Flores rocked up to Regionals with yet another powerful deck of his own design, this time admirably aided by a host of innovative others. As usual, he marched his way to the top tables, making Top 8 with relative ease. And, as usual, he punted at the final hurdle. Today’s Flores Friday sees Mike take us through the design and theory behind the deck, and gives us a blow-by-blow of the tournament itself.

Feature Article – Innovations: The Innovator Regionals Report ’07 (1st Place)

Read new Feature Articles each Monday and Thursday... only on StarCityGames.com!
Last week, in his Road to Regionals article, Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin brought us his exciting B/U/R Korlash deck, primed and ready for a Regionals showdown. This week, Patrick puts his money where his mouth is and takes us through the ups and downs of his local Regionals tournament, in which he placed first after the Swiss, and qualified for Nationals. Game breakdowns, key plays, and deck changes… it’s all here!

Levelling Up – Could Things Have Been Different? #2

Read Tiago Chan every Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
It must be nice to be Tiago Chan. He’s a Level 6 Mage, and one of the most fearsome spellslingers on the planet. And he’s writing excellent articles, week in and week out. But the real sickener is that, when he writes an in-depth article about his important match losses, he can count them on the fingers of one hand. Today, he looks over the matches he lost at four recent high-profile events. By examining those plays he believes may be suspect, he asks… Could Things Have Been Different?

Peebles Primers — No Fear

Read Benjamin Peebles-Mundy every Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
Benjamin Peebles-Mundy rocked up to his Regionals tournament with a wholly unusual Dredge deck. Inspired by the strangest of Japanese tech, it offers a more robust engine and combo kill, plus the opportunity to radically alter your game plan should the need arise. In the weeks leading to Regionals, this deck never lost a match on Magic Online. Is this the true Dredge deck we’ve all been waiting for? Read on to find out!

Drafting With Rich – TPF #4

That’s right, folks… he’s back! 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 examined in the article, the forums, and beyond. Come join in the fun!

Tact or Friction — Green in Prismatic

Read Talen Lee every Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
I’ve been looking at Prismatic again lately, as right now, all the standard decks I want to play are brutally expensive or just lack room for all the stuff I want. I want to recycle Armageddons and race my Jotun Grunts with my Life From The Loams and my Cycling Lands and I need a win condition so we’ll splash Black for Teneb and now I need some more draw and… anyway. One thing that has happened is that I’ve read some more writers talking about Prismatic… and almost universally, they say something that summarizes as: You’ll need your Green slots for mana fixing. Seriously… where have these people been?