The initial intent of this article was that it would be composed absent flagrant namedropping and savage barning. This proved impossible, so be forewarned.
My plan is to talk about “playskill:” what it is, how it manifests itself throughout the course of the game, and how different aspects of skill (or lack thereof) can impact a person’s ability to do well at competitive Magic.
While I was scrambling for a deck, several of my testing partners were making a big fuss about Glare being good again. As I had seen the Glare list before and liked it, I figured it had some merit and I had enough cards to at least try it, so I worked with their list that already had Spectral Force/Scryb Ranger and tested it against the gauntlet to very positive results.
You will knock over liquor stores and leave cars full of empty cardboard boxes on bridges and in tunnels. You will jump the turnstile in the subway and run past security at the check-in counter. You will throw red paint on granite lions and draw your fingers through wet cement, noticed but never, ever, caught. You will steal the glasses off the nose of the local librarian and pour water in the sixth grade teacher’s potato chips. You will do anything — anything — that you possibly can, make every noise and exaggerate every motion, to distract the authority figures from what is really going on. You need time, and to get that time, you need them not to kill you. All war is deception, even this one. You will be a cardboard ninja and a digital assassin, distracting the enemy from anything that matters with everything that doesn’t. And when you’re done, when you’re spent to your last card, and his mana is tapped even though he’s convinced that he’s won, you’ll tap out Hellbent, point and click, and he’ll go down muttering about how lucky you were to topdeck.
Put simply, you will learn the most important lesson you possibly can in the quest for dominating a game of Magic – no lies!
Raph continues his quest to level up to Pro Player Club Level 5… today’s installment looks at the ups and downs of Pro Tour: Kobe. Raph was 5-1 going into the third draft… where did it all go wrong? This article contains sume invaluable Time Spiral Limited advice, perfect for those travelling to Grand Prix: New Jersey this weekend. Who knows, maybe you can beat Raph at his own game…
There’s a Grand Prix in Josh’s home state this weekend; nothing will stop him from attending! Today’s article looks at an interesting Sealed pool cracked in preparation for the big event. Josh takes us through each color and highlights the strengths and weaknesses, evaluating each card as he goes. Do YOU agree with his choices?
The color pie has shifted over the five or six years of MTGO’s history; back when it started out, Invasion and Odyssey were the new kids on the block, and in that time, Blue was powerful. Blue had Fact or Fiction, twelve high-profile, playable counterspells ranging in multiple color combinations, and of course, all its raw power in the midsection. Green, on the other hand… not so much so.
Sean takes us through not one, not two, but three triple Time Spiral drafts, each pick lovingly recreated for us readers! It’s clear that the newest set on the block has everyone talking… but will this practice be enough to take Sean to the top tables at Grand Prix: New Jersey?
Life is just full of surprises sometimes. For example, when some utter random builds a rogue budget (for Classic) deck with next to no knowledge of the metagame and still manages to finish in the Top 8 of a 112-person event. Just for further grins and giggles, let’s say said utter random has never even played the format casually before.
Well, I’ll be your utter random today. So how did I do it?
Quentin has spent the last four months travelling around the world… he’s back, and this article sees him in a reflective mood. Mr. Martin takes us through the card evaluation process, and warns us against the dangers of ignoring the surrounding ephemera that can cloud rational judgement. Never take a card’s worth at face value… there’s more to this skill than one might expect.
Richard completes his excellent series on building a Constructed manabase with the most intricate installment yet – honing the color and mana requirements of any given deck. He looks at a number of recent examples to emphasize his theories, and shares a mass of insight that can only aid us in our quest to become superior deckbuilders. A fine conclusion to a strong series.
Richie took his honed Angel control deck and threw it squarely in the face of our champion Jeroen Remie. Would the stronger strategy and critical mass of destruction spells ruin Heroin’s day? Read on to find out!
Jeroen Remie, two-time Battle Royale champion, took a leaf from the Holy Book of Wakefield for this current round of play. Cards? 62. Lands? 26. Fat monsters, removal, and fun. Was it enough to bring down the grumpiest player on the Pro Tour? You’ll have to read the article to find out…
States didn’t go so well for me this year; just your standard 2-2 drop filled with your standard play errors and your standard deckbuilding mistakes. Some interesting stuff did happen which caused me to re-assess my mental game, and I may write about that at a later point, but for now I bet you’d like to hear about someone doing well at States. Thank goodness for Sean Vandover.
This series of articles was written in response to a series of comments by various casual players who decried the existence of a casual metagame. Of course, as the creator of the Framework, I obviously disagree with that claim. These articles set out to demonstrate to casual players that there is an underlying taxonomy to Magic decks that can be studied and understood.
In Five-Color Magic, White gives you Balance, Swords to Plowshares, and Armageddon. Distinguished company, distinguished indeed. All of them, powerful in control, combo, aggro, or midgame — who doesn’t love watching a team of Mongoose, Werebear, and Terravore plump up as you blow up the world?
