The art of sideboarding is elusive. The metagame evolves at a startling rate, and there are enough different archetypes across all formats to make everyone happy. However, this is not an excuse for us to ignore the sideboard altogether. In the first part of a two-part series, Peter stresses the importance of testing those sideboarded games, and supplies practical examples to prove his point.
In a recent Mark Rosewater column, MaRo revealed that Zvi Mowshowitz – who worked on the development team for Planar Chaos – was vehemently against the printing of a Black four-mana board-sweeper that you may be familiar with. Mark looks at Zvi’s reasoning behind such a belief, and posits his own theories into the wisdom, or folly, behind such a move.
In the rush to become a Pro player a lot of people overlook the intermediate steps involved in getting to just “okay.” And Magic’s a complex enough game that really, just getting to “not sucking completely” is a significant accomplishment. When you’re a mediocre player, you can’t afford to rely on your play skills; you need to hone every edge you have, because the good players will outplay you.
Here are the tricks I’ve learned to improve my game significantly. These are the things that separate me from the truly bad; they’re the reasons I usually finish at the top of my prerelease pool. And if you integrate these into your play, you too can be at least mediocre.
In the first of his regular weekly columns on Limited Magic, Nick Eisel examines some of the unsung heroes of Time Spiral draft. Those thirteenth- and fourteenth-pick cards that wing their way around the table time and again? Maybe they should be in your final forty. Nick also takes a baseball bat to some of the overblown cards of the format, busting their hype bubbles and sending them packing. Are you still picking Durkwood Baloth over Penumbra Spider? Then this is the article for you!
Recently, Vintage has discovered a new monster – Manaless Ichorid. In his last article, Stephen Menendian took us through a blow-by-blow account of ten games between Manaless Ichorid and Meandeck Gifts. In those ten games, Manaless Ichorid proved itself strong enough to kick back with the Big Boys. However, there is improvement to be made, and tweaking to be done. Today, Stephen suggests a radical change to Manaless Ichorid – adding mana.
Rich continues his excellent series of Time Spiral Draft walkthroughs, presenting each pick as it happened and highlighting each card chosen. He shares his final decklist, and gives us a brief overview of his results and processes. As usual, for more detailed draft deconstruction, come visit us in the forums!
With Planar Chaos promising a great deal for the control-loving mages among us, Bennie asks a simple question: what now for the creature strategy? In the face of mass removal by the bucketload, is it possible to succeed with monsters in the face of so much horror? Benne looks back through history, and presents us with a few theories and decklists that may just work…
Nick went into Worlds 2006 with high hopes. Even so, a Top 8 finish was beyond even his wildest dreams. However, with some smart play, excellent choices, and a little luck, Nick powered through the Constructed days undefeated. Today he tells his rags-to-riches story in fine style, sharing the things he learnt during his wild ride to the Top 8 of Magic’s biggest event…
It’s Monday… and that means it’s time for some Magic Puzzles! Each week, Jeff brings us the most fiendish Magical conundrums he can, each one brewed in his fevered brainpan. Do you have the skills to solve the problems? Be sure to leave your answers in the forums!
With MagictheGathering.com concentrating on all things Planar Chaos, today’s Flores Friday brings us the tournament lowdown from last weekend’s round of Extended PTQs. Mike breaks down the numbers from all the results that are in so far, sharing some of the winning and high-performing deck builds. He takes a long look at why they won, and makes his own personal suggestions for those hoping to succeed in Week Two of the PTQ roller coaster.
Stephen Menendian has made some mighty big claims regarding his potent Manaless Ichorid deck… in this comprehensive matchup article, he puts his creation to the test. Ten games against one of the strogest decks in the Vintage metagame – Meandeck Gifts. So, can Stephen’s Ichorids bring home the proverbial bacon, or will Gifts be laughing all the way to the bank?
Rich continues his excellent series of Time Spiral Draft walkthroughs, presenting each pick as it happened and highlighting each card chosen. He shares his final decklist, and gives us a brief overview of his results and processes. As usual, for more detailed draft deconstruction, come visit us in the forums!
This week, I could try to be one of the “cool kids” and tell you how 1337 my Extended deck is, and that Scepter-Chant is one of highest-quality decks to play in the current Extended field. After all, PJ talked about how Boros is great (again), and Flores will tell you that his Green/White deck must be great because it won someone some PTQ somewhere… but not him. Instead of following the trend, we’re going to look at progress in motion and the herd mentality.
Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. I’m your host, Evan Erwin. Today we’re going to take a look at Wizards of the Coast’s own little money maker, Magic Online. I know I’ve spent a fortune on those untouchable digital objects, and there are new players joining every day. But what is there to know about the game online? How does it differ from the delicious paper we know and love?
While my flight down was comped by the fine people at Sony, bringing the significant other down was not, and last-minute flights from the middle of nowhere are not cheap. However, I was coming into some money soon (one hoped), and when was she ever going to get to see me on a game show again?
