It was all going so well… and then the Green cards came along. Ted takes a long look at the red-headed stepchild of the Magic color pie, and finds it lacking. There are, however, some diamonds hidden deep in the mossy effluvia. Mr Card Game tells us where to dig for gold… plus, a bonus section by Ben “Ridiculous Hat” Goodman!
With Standard States just around the corner, and Time Spiral officially released today, Constructed testing has kicked off in fine style. Mike takes a powerful updated Solar Flare deck and throws it against a gauntlet of possible Standard contenders… and reveals the deck he would take to States if they were to be played tomorrow.
With a few more matches under his Magical belt, Josh feels he has a fine preliminary grasp of the evolving format. Today’s article sees him dissect the power commons for each color of Time Spiral, and rank the colors in order of power and depth. He also touches on possible strong color combinations; invaluable information for those looking to ace their PTQ Top 8 Drafts this weekend.
Having looked almost exclusively at Limited for the past month, Sean turns his analytical eye towards the Standard metagame. He posits an excellent, logical process for determining what cards will be strong in the new format, and presents a number of interesting decklists to test and tweak.
Today’s article deals with the beatdown decks of the format. Traditionally, new formats are defined by the beatdown decks, and if you cannot deal with some of these (Zoo, Gruul, Sand Burn) then your deck may not be the best bet to play for the tournament. Other decks are a little more left-of-center (Mono Green, Dark Boros), and you could be well suited being prepared for them, at the very least.
Today’s edition of the SCG Daily will take a look at all the slivers available for Time Spiral Standard play, and throw out a first-pass aggro sliver build as a bonus to those hardy enough to wade through to the end.
As a bonus, there’s another installment of the SCG Daily coming later today! See inside for details.
After dealing with the White, Blue, and Black offerings from Time Spiral, Ted turns his attention to the Red spells. Alongside Mr Card Game’s customary wit, we have one Patrick Sullivan sharing his fiery insight on the Red cards he thinks will see Constructed play. The second guest columnist, Norin the Wary, disappeared shortly before commencement of the article and is therefore unavailable for comment.
Tim has his States deck figured out already. Sadly, it’s not White Weenie. This article, however, concentrates on the ever-popular beatdown archetype. Where do the Time Spiral cards slot in? Is Knight of the Holy Nimbus a sufficiently fake Hand? What can we do about the loss of Isamaru? And does Griffin Guide warrant a slot in the deck? (Hint: there’s a reason its initials are GG…) Looking to run with the little White guys? Then this is the article for you!
Sean takes his Battle Royale Championship Belt into the ring once more, pitting his wits against Jeoren Remie. What savage tech does he bring to the Battle this week? Read on to find out!
Jeroen brings his considerable talents to the Battle Royale arena, piloting a budget take on one of the more popular decks in the current Standard metagame. Will it be enough to take down the current champ…?
It seems appropriate that following my 150th regular article will be a review of the nostalgia set from a Five Color perspective. I established myself early as one of the few Five writers running around, and I’ve been around for a few years. This is my fourteenth Five-Color set review, and I’ve done every set from Onslaught until now.
Teddy Card Game continues his overview of the Time Spiral cards for Constructed play. Monday was White, Tuesday was Blue… and Wednesday brings the Black cards under the spotlight. Is Sengir Nosferatu direct competition for Skeletal Vampire? Will Smallpox be big? And how do you pronounce Phthisis? Click here to find out!
Jeroen delivers his weekly dose of Magical advice, answering questions posed via email by StarCityGames.com readers the world over. Today’s topics include tips on tournament preparation, advice on evaluating new cards for competitive play, and the truth about Rich Hoaen’s legendary grumpiness…
Blisterguy brings us the usual breakdown of the Magic Online metagame, plus a bevy of trade prices to avoid being ripped off in the Marketplace. He also made his flatmate submit this on his behalf. Thanks Disco Dave!
Before the event, I IM’d with Ben Bleiweiss that I was fairly certain this event would break records due to the appeal to both old-school players and new players wowed by Ravnica. Ben expressed some concern that Wizards’ game of Hide-the-Salami regarding the 121 extra subset of reprints would create some backlash of resentment from the Magic community that might suppress attendance. I can now add a feather in my “I Told You So” cap.
