After a short hiatus, Rich Hoaen returns to continue his daily article series! Each day, the grumpy Canadian draft master takes us through a Magic Online draft, from pick 1 to pick 45, and shares his insight into the cards, the deck, and the games themselves. For more detailed analysis, Rich answers your questions in the forums!
The Extended coverage of Worlds provides an excellent pile of information: what was played the most, what “dark horse” decks made themselves known over the course of the six rounds of the format, and even plenty of decklists besides. Of course, I like to go data-mining and play with numbers, so I was disappointed… after all, there wasn’t a complete tally of decklists for all 350 people still playing…
Friday, 1st of December, 2006
The dark sky flashed and the clouds became illuminated as bolts of lightning struck down across my precious city. I had a date with Eli, and I couldn’t disappoint. I’d had power problems the entire day, but the battle must go on…
What’s this? A Pro Tour regular submitting a super tight aggro deck with a curve that uses a sexist metaphor? I wasn’t expecting that. I was expecting something a little more controllish. A mirror, perhaps.
Before the matchup, I did some testing, and it went all the way for Sanchez. The games reminded me of Hobbes’s definition of human existence in his seminal work of political philosophy, Leviathan. That is, brief, nasty, and short.
Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week wraps up with the Top 2 match between Justin Perdue and Charles Anderson, playing Fader and Solar Fires respectively.
Valkyrie
From Norse mythology, the valkyries (multiple pronunciations, but stick with val-KY-ree and you won’t be slapped by any Norwegians) were Odin’s handmaidens who would escort the souls of fallen warriors to Valhalla and wait upon them for eternity.
So, if I get killed in battle, I’ve got Lucy Lawless at my beck and call until the end of time? No wonder the Vikings were so ferocious in combat.
Going into Worlds, it’s safe to say that Raph was looking forward to the tournament. Of course, the Hall of Fame beckoned… Mr Levy would be joining the game’s uber-elite. As the only active player entering the Hall, Raph had a little more than nostalgia on his mind. A Top 48 performance here would cement a Level 5 Pro Player standing for the coming season. Could this particular ringbearer scale the mountain with the eyes of all bearing down upon him? Read on to find out!
Craig “The Professor” Jones’s preparation for Worlds was not as exhaustive as one might expect. With mere hours to go before the start of play, he audibled from his pet Reb/Back Pact Husk deck into what is inarguably the most powerful deck in the format – Dragonstorm. His Day 1 performance, while hardly blistering, smoldered along merrily. He learnt a few important magical lessons on his way to a 4-2 record, lessons he shares with us today. Fancy playing Dragonstorm in the current Standard? Prof has the tricks for you!
Tim Aten continues his role as a substitute for the grumpy Canadian in the Drafting With Rich series. As usual, he covers each of his picks in a triple Time Spiral draft, from pick one to pick forty-five, and supplies a brief commentary on the draft at the foot of the article. For more enlightened evaluation, visit the forums. Enjoy Tim while you can… Rich returns tomorrow!
In a continuation of yesterday’s installment of the video article series The Magic Show, our genial host Evan brings us a Top 4 matchup from the recent StarCityGames.com $1000 Open. The decks on parade? Dragonstorm and Solar Fires.
I’d just finished my most recent entry in the Casual Metagame series, and was trying to brainstorm a cool idea for my next article. However, I didn’t really have any ideas. For a day, I wracked my head. On what should I write my next article? Then inspiration hit. Well, not really inspiration so much as a full-blown challenge. I read the following quote by The Ferrett in his article over at MagictheGathering.com…
Dave continues his entertaining series examining the origins of various Magical card terms and names. Today’s dalliance through the dictionary deals with the letters O through S (and probably the number 8, in true Sesame Street fashion). Are you still struggling over the correct pronunciation of Phthisis? Mr Meddish has all the answers…
After a self-imposed break from writing, Benjamin Peebles-Mundy is back with a continuation of his excellent Time Spiral Draft series. Last time out he tackled the pick orders for Black, now acknowledged as the red-headed stepchild of the format. Today’s offering focuses on the Red cards. So, which fiery biscuits tickle Mr Mundy’s tastebuds? Read on to find out!
If the coverage from Worlds is to be believed, almost half of the coming Extended field will comprise of Boros Deck Wins. Of course, whether that number is inflated due to the laziness of the players at Worlds remains to be seen (NB: I played BDW myself, and it wasn’t because I thought it was the best deck in the format). Josh brings us a detailed breakdown of the components present in the more successful BDW builds, and suggests his own composite build from the debris. BDW will be a force in the coming Extended season… are you ready for it?
Tim Aten continues his role as a substitute for the grumpy Canadian in the Drafting With Rich series. As usual, he covers each of his picks in a triple Time Spiral draft, from pick one to pick forty-five, and supplies a brief commentary on the draft at the foot of the article. For more enlightened evaluation, visit the forums. Enjoy Tim while you can… Rich returns later this week!
