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Deep Analysis – Fortress Theory

Read Richard Feldman every Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
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.

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Drafting With Rich – TPF #10

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!

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The Beautiful Struggle – Red Head Wins

Read Mark Young every Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
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.

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From Right Field – Fantasy Island Regionals Report 2007 – *1st*

Read Chris Romeo every Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
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.

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The Kitchen Table #186 — Building Your First Five, TNG: Volume Four, Girding Your Deck

Read Abe Sargent every Thursday... at StarCityGames.com!
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.

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So Many Insane Plays — The Mean Deck Solution to the Vintage Metagame

Read Stephen Menendian every Wednesday... at StarCityGames.com!
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.

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Peebles Primers — Picking a Deck

Read Benjamin Peebles-Mundy every Wednesday... at StarCityGames.com!
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…

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Drafting With Rich – TPF #8

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!

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Chatter of the Squirrel — Initiative

Read Zac Hill every Wednesday... at StarCityGames.com!
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.”

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You Lika the Juice? – Regionals Sightseeing, Part I

Read Bennie Smith every Wednesday... at StarCityGames.com!
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.

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Yawgmoth’s Whimsy #182 – Regionals Aftermath

Read Peter Jahn every Wednesday... at StarCityGames.com!
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.

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From The Lab – The Science of IDs and Concessions

Read Craig Jones every Tuesday... at StarCityGames.com!
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…

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Limited Lessons — A TPF Draft Walkthrough

Read Nick Eisel every Tuesday... at StarCityGames.com!
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!

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Drafting With Rich – TPF #7

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!

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Deconstructing Constructed – Designing Decks

Read Josh Silvestri every Tuesday... at StarCityGames.com!
I’ve always preferred making decks to playing decks. Something about the essence of crafting your own weapon to bash the other guy really pleases me. However, because I enjoy designing decks so much, it means I have many decks that go wrong, decks I have to discard because they just aren’t good enough. Over the years, I’ve developed a system to help me when I start work on the base of a deck, and to keep track of where I thought the deck was inferior to existing decks.

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