Earlier this week, Nick Eisel weighed in with some interesting thoughts on the use of Stormbind in Time Spiral Standard. Today we have Stuart Wright, one of the premier deckbuilders in the UK, sharing his personal take on the card. He brings two decklists to the table, and takes us through other ideas and directions with which we can explore the synergies presented by the current Standard cardpool…
You have a lot of free time in MTG to make your decisions. Use it to break down decision trees and variable options before your opponent has a chance to truly think about his own board plan. Try to avoid going into a “muscle memory” mode like some fighting game players do… always consider your actions before making them.
Good day! Welcome back to the series that investigates Magic Taxonomy. In today’s entry in the series, I’d like to investigate how to maximize your own deck’s ability to respond to various decks in the Magic Deck Framework.
Tiago continues his excellent series of reports from major events around the globe. Today is the story of Pro Tour: Kobe Day 1, in which Tiago posted an excellent record that set him up for a serious charge on the Top 8. Each draft is analyzed in depth, and each match is examined for play tips and strategy. Tiago is one of the most consistent players on the Pro Tour… his words will help your game immensely.
The Cak and his cohorts had an unusual tactic gong into Pro Tour: Kobe… Go Tribal. Yes, Slivers was the order of the day, but sadly it failed to light up the tournament with its synergy and power. Nevertheless, it is a potent strategy when handled correctly. Mr Pelcak discusses his time in Japan, and imparts a spot of wisdom for those looking to draft the Little Guys Who Share the Love.
Blisterguy takes on the Extended scene (sadly without corresponding Magic Online Premier Events), and presents a couple of lists for our perusal. He also shares the current marketplace prices for Time Spiral cards, for those looking to improve their electronic collections.
As Rich Hoaen abdicated the Battle Royale crown, we have two new contenders today! The first? Bennie Smith. Can you guess what he’s bringing to the table? Let’s face it, everyone knew it would be a dredge deck… but is it enough to go all the way?
Our second challenger for the Battle Royale crown is our man in Japan, Eli Kaplan. As a teacher, it is safe to say that Eli is probably ready to impart some “old school” wisdom into the Battle framework… What will he do with his twenty-five bucks?
Another episode of the Magic Show, the popular video article series by Evan Erwin. In his own words…
Today I’m going to talk about Magic Design. Specifically, the Great Designer Search contest going on over at MagictheGathering.com. Now you’ve already seen our own Ben Bleiweiss – a cool cat if there ever was one – take a shot at last week’s “Take Five” Challenge. Today I’m going to cover “Picture This,” where severe design constraints are given and the designer must find a way out of it.
Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin returns to the Vintage scene, analyzing the strong openings that lead to success in the Gifts and Stax matchup. His findings are somewhat startling – can mulliganing down to five or less truly be the best form of attack in some cases? This article is packed with genuine Vintage food for thought… essential for those serious about the grandfather of Magical formats.
After Chris’s revelation that From Right Field will be “abandoning” its budget roots for future articles, the forums made their thoughts abundantly clear. Chris responds to the detractors… so where does it leave us?
If time has shown me one thing, it’s that I can identify a crap deck with relative ease, because I’m often stupid enough to put them together to see if they play. I’ve tried the Ratcatcher Deck, I’ve tried the Bombshell deck, and I even tried the Brooding Swallow. They’re not that good, but they are cheap.
Let’s go ahead and take a look at the implicit assumptions that go into the “Split Second is Bad” argument. In order for that stance to be sound, it has to be true that the chance to respond immediately to a spell will, over the course of a large number of games, enable a more skilled player to win substantially more often than a less skilled player.
Ten pictures and ten holes. This is what Wizards gave their contestants this week for the Great Designer Search. Ben takes his shot at this challenge, for great justice!
*Disclaimer* If you are a Wizards of the Coast Employee, you have full permission to use the cards and ideas contained in this article, without further obligation.
Last time out, Kenji took us through his performance in the first three drafts of Pro Tour: Kobe. Today’s article deals with his flawless second day of play, a day that catapulted him up into the Top 8! Drafting tips, game-play analysis, and the thoughts of the current Player of the Year, all wrapped up in a fine article!
