Having pummeled the format into submission with Tenacious Tron (and Richard Feldman), Zac takes a look back over the recently-departed Extended season, and asks just what it was that made the format so damned fun. He breaks down the essential components required to make a Constructive format zing, and explains to the masses just why he hates Block Constructed.
A while ago, I wrote one of my first articles on the topic of preconstructed decks. In that article, I stated that recent precons had really disappointed me, because they largely displayed bland deckbuilding skills. Sometimes they featured a keyword or mechanic that was relatively boring, and sometimes they did the same thing over and over again. Then Planar Chaos was printed and I found a good precon! Then I found another! And finally a third!
I have been making Curio decks up and down since my first outing with the card, over a year ago. A simple, mana-free engine that R&D costed just out of the “danger range,” the card can be the glue for so many other decks. As Vanishing and Echo were added to the Standard pool, the possible options for the Curio Use just went up.
By his own admission, Paul is not the powerhouse of PTQ-level Constructed Magic that he used to be. As a young man with a flighty lifestyle, a PTQ each weekend was the very least of his Magic experience. Now a man with commitments and responsibilities, he can only manage two or three a season. However, he has a fine tactic to lessen the pressure and get the most from his game. Who knows, maybe it can help you too…
Raph embarks on an exciting new draft series today… Pimp My Draft! He rides shotgun with an “amateur” drafter for the first three picks of a MTGO TTP Draft, before taking the wheel and driving the draft towards the car-park of success. If that weren’t enough, there’s a chance that YOU could be Raph’s next co-pilot! Intrigued? Then read on!
After regaling us with high tales from Grand Prix: Amsterdam last week, Jeroen returns to his tried-and-tested Ask The Drama formula. Today’s questions concern the state of Black/White Mid-Range Control in Standard, Mono-Black Control in Time Spiral Block Constructed, plus a few words on when to concede in an important match.
One of the most common questions I get from people who haven’t played Time Spiral Block yet is if there are any viable swarm or weenie aggro decks that are viable. Most of them have heard people like me go on about how slow the format is, and that White Weenie was doing well before Planar Chaos came onto MTGO… Today, I take a closer look at White Weenie.
We’re going to explore something of a new format this week – one that was new for me, even. It’s not entirely new, but it’s more of a mish-mash of a few other variant formats all tied into one big stew of oddball play. Plus, it ties in with some of the out-loud musing I did at the end of last week’s article (how fortuitous!), so I figured hey, why not? Let’s prep this patient for an exam, shall we?
That’s right folks… he’s back! After a brief hiatus in which our favorite grumpy Canadian travelled the world slinging spells in exotic locations, Rich returns to take us through a draft each day – from pick one to pick forty-five – before giving us a quick rundown of his thoughts and games played. For more detailed analysis, come visit the forums!
Today’s Online Outlook isn’t really about Magic Online at all… it’s about What Really Grinds My Gears. Don’t worry, I’ve not gone all Romeo on you. But I do have a few things that need saying. Of course, I couldn’t write a MTGO article without a little online content, so there’s a Premier Event tournament report for your amusement and ridicule.
Jamie continues his unrelenting quest to find a broken Green deck in Planar Chaos Standard. Today’s first offering pairs the traditional color of monsters with a little White action, bringing us a deck that harnesses the power of eight Anthem effects. The second deck finally sees Timbermare in the house, a card that Jamie is desperate to play to its full potential…
What is a Good card? What is a Bad card? In specific scenarios, these definitions can be handy short-cuts… but in the abstract, they are doing us a disservice. Today’s Deep Analysis sees Richard break down the definitions into manageable chunks, and in the process he walks us through the differences between power and synergy.
That’s right folks… he’s back! After a brief hiatus in which our favorite grumpy Canadian travelled the world slinging spells in exotic locations, Rich returns to take us through a draft each day – from pick one to pick forty-five – before giving us a quick rundown of his thoughts and games played. For more detailed analysis, come visit the forums!
When I first scoped out the Planar Chaos preconstructed decks, I was much more excited about what I saw than I was about the Time Spiral decks. The decks just looked more solid. I don’t know if that’s a function of the designers having more cards to work with (although the current set is supposed to be the majority of the cards in any precon) or just designing more attractive decks.
Mark, fresh of a demoralizing Two-Headed Giant PTQ loss, turns to Constructed formats for sweet succor. He takes a look at a couple of interesting decks, one for Time Spiral Block and one for Standard, and brings us a breakdown of the upcoming tournaments that will impact the Constructed scenes.
