Rob McKenzie, a fellow judge, commented that Time Spiral was Fifth Edition all over again. It’s the kind of random discussion judges have while waiting and watching, but the thought kept recurring. We spent the rest of the tournament coming up with similarities. There are a lot. When I got home, I dug up a 5E list and saw even more. Now, I like Time Spiral and I never really liked 5E, but the two sets do feel similar…
Maybe you’ve thought to yourself at some point, “Should I register on the StarCityGames forums and post my opinions on article XYZ?” Maybe you’ve discovered some incredible combo and you’d like to share it with everyone, or maybe some writer said something you disagree with to the point of religious zeal and by golly, you really want to chastise that writer! Perhaps you’ve got a burning desire to discuss the top decks in your favorite format right now and you want to add your thoughts to whatever discussion is present…
While the rest of the community wonders what to play at Champs, StarCityGames.com Premium members are getting their deck ideas from some of the greatest minds in the game!
Sixteen – A Time Spiral Standard Tournament Experiment by Mike Flores
Dragonstorm in Time Spiral Standard by Stuart Wright
The Lawn Mower, The Cockroach, and Shovelling Snow – 3 Decks for Time Spiral Standard by Kyle Sanchez
You Make the Call by Mike Flores
The Black Perspective: That Other Standard Article! by Osyp Lebedowicz
Testing for the New Standard: U/G Versus Solar Flare! by Josh Ravitz
Grape Nuts, Flag Burner, and Turbo Balance: The World of Non-Firemane U/R/W by Pat Chapin
And Now For Somebody Completely Different… by Mike Flores
Building Decks With Time Spiral by Stuart Wright
Ten New Standard Decks with Time Spiral by Pat Chapin
The Future of Solar Flare by Naoki Shimizu
Anecdotes Regarding Time Spiral Standard Testing by Mike Flores
Time Spiral Standard: Testing from the Top by Mike Flores
White Weenie In Time Spiral Standard by Tim Aten
Give yourself an edge over the competition… become a StarCityGames.com Premium member today!
Standard Champs is this weekend, people! Why haven’t you settled on your final deck? For those of us still in the limbo of uncertainty, Mike reports from a Standard tournament held this past week at Neutral Ground. His sixteen-man tournament yesterday brought us a surprise winner… and believe me, the shock wins just keep on coming. If you’re still looking for last-minute tech, then this is the article for you!
Despite a number of high-profile events attempting to define the ongoing Standard metagame, the field is officially wide open. Josh takes a look at some of the myths and fallacies that are present in the respective tournament results. He looks at some of the stronger decks fielded thus far, and draws some interesting conclusions…
The archetypal Red mage Dan Paskins takes a look at the agressive decks offered in the current Standard environment, and poses an interesting question: instead of “tweaking your deck to beat Zoo,” why not simply
Last week, we had a look at a lot of different viable options for the upcoming State Championships. One of the key contenders for “deck I would play at States” was discussed there in its non-final form; one of the key contenders for “best deck to play for States” was discussed there (I just don’t want to play it); and the second deck I would consider playing at States hadn’t even been born yet…
Constructed Champs (fka States) is coming. Like the rest of the world, I’m devouring everything I can find, trying to guess the metagame. I watch websites, read the pundits, pros and wannabes, and scour the early tournaments. The result — I have no clue what the real metagame will be.
Let me explain…
This time of transition gives writers a lot of options, and ironically, we can’t take them all. I thought when I started this, I’d have a lot of decks seriously hurt by the departure of Kamigawa block; I liked Kamigawa a lot, and I felt it got a far too knee-jerk reaction from your average Magic player. I hated Mirrodin far more than I hated Kamigawa, so hearing people saying Kamigawa was the worst block ever made my gut tighten.
Naoki Shimizu (the creator of Solar Flare), fresh from his excellent performance at Japanese Nationals, made the Top 8 of the recent Lord of Magic Championship (a Standard tournament in Japan) with an innovative Blue/Green deck of his own design. Today’s article examines Naoki’s take on the best builds for current popular decks, and it takes a brief look at the current Japanese metagame. Oh, and there’s the decklist from his Top 8 performance too. The best writers, the best players, only at StarCityGames.com!
We’re a few short days away from Champs, and everyone should be settling in on a deck choice, be it Flores hot new tech, one of the very good decks from the StarCityGames event, or a unique homebrew. I’ve had my deck for a few weeks now. I’ve been tuning it, trying to make it hum against what I expect the metagame to be in Kentucky. I’m excited for the event; after three tests on Friday, I get a weekend to relax and see if I can run my streak of top 8 finishes in the state to a fourth year…
In the new Time Spiral Standard, it seems that the combo deck of choice involved ramping to nine mana and casting Dragonstorm. Today’s Champs article sees Constructed specialist Stuart Wright take a long look at the archetype in question, analysing possible cards for the deck and producing two decklists that are both strong and durable. Are you planning to cook up a Storm this weekend? If so, this article is for you!
Kyle returns to the pages of StarCityGames with an entertaining look at three new deck ideas that are ready to smash all comers at this weekend’s Champs tournaments! Mono Blue, Life From The Loam, and The Rack are all entertained and examined, and Stormbind also makes a timely Constructed appearence. Kyle even treats us to his Karaoke rendition of a Spice Girls classic! You have been warned…
We are going to look at the control decks of the format today. I feel that these decks are going to have a huge part of the Champs environment (when has control been weak?). We get many solid cards from Time Spiral for the control strategies, and these decks are where I have spent the bulk of my testing time. I am a control player at heart, and I feel that I know this style a lot better than I know the aggressive decks or the tempo decks.
With the advent of Ravnica block, making a good multicolor deck has become a lot harder to me. Other, more fiscal writers can afford to start a decklist with Hand of Cruelty and Paladin En-Vec, knowing their manabase will support it. Without that reliance, you look for other, more readily available ways to improve your chances.
