The incorrigible blisterguy returns with his weekly round-up of Magical Electronica, including a rundown of the Standard and Extended Premier Event Top 8 results, and a few choice words on Dichotomancy and sugary snacks…
Currently, Extended is a very diverse place, which means for many of us the strategy is picking one of the top four or five decks, practicing, and trying to take the envelope home. Past some sideboard changes or a cute maindeck addition, these decks have the capability to beat the majority as long as you play well and get a little lucky at times. However, despite the diversity of the environment, a number of people are taking glass cannons to the PTQs.
Does Magic either want or need six colors? It’s not something I think is needed yet, but I think there will eventually be a point at which the inevitable shake-up that such a change would bring would be almost certain to do more good than harm. The game will want this sort of kick someday.
In the second part of our Impact series on Planar Chaos, Richard Feldman looks at the cards that’ll make waves in the format du jour – Extended. Sure, everyone is going ga-ga for Extirpate, and by now the world and his dog are sick to death of Damnation… but what other cards look likely to make waves in the diverse Extended metagame? Will your pet deck flourish under the Planar Chaos regime?
Jamie Wakefield brings us this week’s look into all things Green from the comfort of a foregin shore… Spain! He takes us through the developments he’s made to his evolving Beast Attack Mono-Green deck, and shares more stories from his ever-changing life. Soon, Jamie’s Madrid Adventure will become a permanent one, and we all wish him luck. In the meantime, can his Extended beatdown machine conquer the degenerate likes of TEPS and Scepter-Chant?
With everyone’s favorite grumpy Canadian winging his way towards Geneva (to let those PT hopefuls do some real Drafting With Rich), Jeroen “Ask The Drama” Remie has stepped manfully into the breach. For the rest of the week, Jeroen will bring us a draft each day, sharing each pick and ponderance along the way. For more protracted discussion on his card choices, come visit the forums!
Today’s From Right Field comes from the trenches of Planar Chaos. Chris takes a timely look at each card in the set, and wades in with his personal opinion regarding the color pie dilemma. Have individual color boundaries remained intact, or have such disctintions been happy-slapped into submission?
I take most games I play seriously; you should see me when I’m home for the holidays playing Pictionary with the family. However, I do try to have fun whenever I can, and one way I can is to play Momir Basic on Magic Online.
Finally, finally, finally Wizards has started posting the Extended PTQ decklists again. I’ve been itching to crunch numbers, but there were no numbers to crunch. Now I have chewed through eight complete and two partial Top 8 lists, and I can share some masticated goodness. I’ll look at numbers, then break down a couple archetypes. Whether you are wondering what to expect at the PTQs or looking to refine your gauntlet decks, I got what you need.
At the Prerelease, I drafted a bad deck. A very bad deck. In fact, I would say that it was the worst Draft deck in the history of mankind. And so I set out to have the universe punish me, as it should, for drafting such a botched atrocity.
In the first of a week-long five-part series that investigates Planar Chaos, Nick Eisel examines the new cards in detail. Instead of a “normal” card-by-card set review, we’ll be looking at the impact that Planar Chaos will have across a number of formats. Nick’s agenda? Planar Chaos in TTP draft. Stay tuned this week for more Impact articles!
Stephen recently decided to put his money where his mouth was: he rocked up to a Vintage tournament armed with Mana Ichorid. Today’s “Insane Plays” looks at two tournaments that asked some interesting questions of Stephen’s theoretical analysis of the matchups… and poses some possible workarounds.
I don’t know about you, but 2HG Champs kinda snuck up on me – it’s March 3rd, less than a month away! Last year, Josh Adams and I came a whisker away from taking the Championship title but had to settle for second place after walking into a Hex. This year, I hope to go all the way…
Magic puzzles can be fun, but can they help you with your play? I think they can. These puzzles often test your analytic reasoning, and what is Magic but a game of logic? A lot of games come down to finding your one way of winning, and executing that plan perfectly…
Planar Chaos has just hit the shelves, and many of you are going to be getting ready for Friday Night Magic or upcoming Two-Headed Giant tournaments. Sealed is going to be a critical skill to brush up on, and I’ll be contributing a few pieces to this esteemed site to help you get up to speed.
