Legacy is home to a surprising number of decks that can kill on the first turn, with Belcher at the forefront in speed and reliability. In contrast, U/W/B Fish has all the tools it needs to shut down combo decks like Belcher and contain their secondary attempts. See how tactics change when the most important decisions happen before either player has a turn!
Adrian Sullivan, deckbuilding guru, takes a look at three of the winning Regionals decklists, and examines their particular strengths in the emerging metagame. He looks at the theory behind certain card choices, and offers what he considers to be beneficial changes to the seventy-five select. The Standard metagame is in a state of constant flux — With the help of Adrian, the choices become a little more straightforward.
Richard Feldman takes up residence in the Thursday slot, and produces yet another barnstorming article that’s destined to go down as one of the strongest pieces written to date. Following on from Sean McKeown’s excellent “The Ballistics of Magic Bullets and Glass Cannons,” Richard takes us through some clear and succinct examples by which we can improve our deckbuilding and sideboarding theory. Another first class article from one of the strongest writers in the game today.
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!
Some people have told me that Mono-Red is actually terrible now that Future Sight has entered the format. I have to admit, much like in Standard, there is a strong case to be made for adding Forests and Tarmogoyfs to fight alongside the Gargadons. Or maybe adding Blue cards and Bridge From Below, and running the Bridge-Reanimator deck. Or maybe throwing the Red cards in the trash and trading for Korlash, Heir to Blackblade before it’s too late.
I didn’t go to Regionals this year. I intended to play. I wanted to play. I built the deck. I even had it sleeved in the first new sleeves I’ve bought in a year, those new, shiny, black, “official” Magic: The Gathering sleeves with yellow lettering. Sweet, huh? So, what’s a poor boy to do when he’s all dressed for Regionals with no place to go? He makes it up! What follows is the story of how I would have won Regionals… had I attended.
Happy Thursday to you all! Welcome back to the next installment in the updated Building Your First Five series. This is the fourth entry in the series. The previous series took five articles to get the final decklist finished, and then there were several articles on the restricted list, showing how to upgrade a deck, and then an article on miscellany. I intend this series to go to five articles, like the original.
Stephen christens his new Wednesday slot with another powerful Vintage deck that attempts to answer the difficult questions posed by the current Vintage metagame. By speeding out some of the most broken cards in the history of Magic, this deck definitely succeeds at its brief. In fact, it propelled two lucky punters to the Top 8 of the latest SCG P9 Vintage event! If you’re looking for the cutting edge of Vintage technology, look no further.
Regionals has passed for another year, and Block Constructed season is just beginning… and today’s Peebles Primers has some handy hints on how to choose a deck for the coming Constructed battles. With the various sixty-card metagames offering a dazzling array of powerful options, are there strategies available to maximize your winning potential? BPM reveals all…
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!
I’m going to introduce a new theory today. I’ve found the theory both extremely useful and extremely easy to implement once you “get it.” It covers much, much more ground than I’m going to be able to spell out here, but hopefully once I supply the skeleton it shouldn’t be difficult to infer more logical extensions from the specific example I’ll be using. I’m calling it “initiative.”
In the wake of Regionals we will be/have already been bombarded by “the best” builds of all the well-known archetypes, and we’re seeing The New Face of Standard’s Tier 1 decks galore. What I’d like to do here is shine the spotlight on some decks that traveled off the beaten path, anything from an interesting variant on to a totally new creation, that performed well enough to make Top 8 and earn a spot on MagictheGathering.com, if not an invite to Nationals.
I played at Northern Regionals. I took my modification of Josh Silvestri’s rework of Evan Erwin’s Glittering Control deck. My highlights included a turn 3 kill. The lowlights included a couple play errors that cost me Top 8. I’ve also included the Top 8 decklists, and a breakdown of all the Regionals Top 8 decks across the U.S. and the world. Enjoy.
Craig “The Professor” Jones migrates from his Friday hotspot to a more temperate Tuesday time-zone. In the first Tuesday edition of From The Lab, Prof tackles the ornery subject of Intentional Draws and Concessions. By applying some sound logic from the field of Behavioral Ecology, he attempts to put the debate to rest once and for all…
Nick kick-starts his new Tuesday slot with a comprehensive TPF 8-4 Draft walkthrough from Magic Online. While his final deck is packed with power, there are a number of very close picks, and Nick is still unsure that he made the right calls at certain times. Do you agree with all his choices? Come debate them in the forums!
