In a break from high strategy, this week’s Moreno Monday chronicles Billy’s formative Magical years. He details his ascension from kitchen table player, to Pro Tour Qualifier attendee, to Pro Tour mainstay, in an evocative and honest style. While not loaded with top tech tips, this is a fine companion article that captures the beauty of our wonderful game.
With the change of time comes a re-evaluation of decks. I don’t play my Glare deck any more, having sold my Yoseis. My Zo-Zus have found a better home, my Meloku and my Shining Shoals having raked me in quite a tidy sum compared to what I paid for them, and I am as we speak idly picking my way through the trash bins of Coldsnap, seeing what might one day be worth something, and what, in the meantime, will be fun to play.
Hello and welcome back to another set of daily decks brought to you by the Deckmaster General. Reading too many Magic articles may be hazardous to your health.
According to Josh, Coldsnap is “a Constructed format in which you have to draft your decks.” With many broken strategies made possible by the odd slanting of card numbers, it is hard to disagree with his convictions. Today, he examines one such Constructed Draft archetype – the Icefall deck. This strategy has reaped rewards on Magic Online… can it do the same for you?
Sean investigates Time Spiral, with the aid of the Orb of Insight, and predicts what trends the coming set will introduce for Limited play. Can the information revealed thus far serve as a sufficient barometer to predict the overall style we can expect to see played out? Sean reveals all…
Home stretch now. You’re only three days away from seeing my face replaced with Tim Aten’s, or Billy Moreno’s, or, you know, someone people who dislike me want to see. Never going to quite grok how this works out. I mean, you can stop my stuff from existing – stuff you “didn’t pay for” – by just waiting a few days and looking again. Who knows, there might be something that you like put up here… though god knows if you’d tell them.
The dealer flipped over a king on the river, and that was how my bankroll excluded any other card game but Magic on the Saturday afternoon of Labor Day weekend. A local store was holding a 10-proxy Vintage tournament and promised a Mana Drain as the prize if 16 people showed up…
Once upon a time, Mike told us that Sakura-Tribe Elder was the best card in Standard. Today, however, he reveals a new love… one that, he believes, will warp the Standard metagame for as long as it’s available. He supplies decklists and analysis to reinforce his claim… and one deck is heralded as both competitive and hideously fun to play. Intrigued? Then read on…
It’s a strange time for Magic writers. Topics and ideas are thin on the ground. Coldsnap Limited? It’s been said already. Ravnica Block? Been there, done that. Standard? We’re waiting for Time Spiral. And Time Spiral itself? Not enough to write about. So, what is a writer to do… Luis steps into the breach with a fine piece on Gifts Rock in Extended. Matchups, decklists, strategies… it’s all here. Looking for a break from the norm? Look no further!
Wizards of the Coast are currently searching for a new designer. They’re holding a competition, in which the winner earns the right to an intern position at the Magic Mothership. Paul, along with countless others, longed for a shot at the big time… today, he shares his design questionnaire answers with candor and humor. An off-beat article, but one that should inspire debate.
Welcome back to the series of articles where I explore all of the various types of decks in the Casual Deck Framework. Today we are going to explore the Resource Denial Archetype…
Party of Five, as you may or may not recall, was a notoriously horrible American television show which aired long ago and was cancelled with extreme prejudice due to its utter inability to do just about anything right, insofar as actually being entertaining was concerned. Today, we are going to look over some things which have been similarly cancelled, or well should be. I refer to these as “Parties of Five.”
It takes a special kind of writer to write a daily series about a subject, then spend three days before he even mentions the subject. It takes an even more special kind of writer who would have that section of the series being the smallest of the five daily articles. The good news is that all the “serious” readers are tuned out by now. Enjoy your ham sandwich, sir.
Evan beat me last week, so badly that I couldn’t muster the energy to write my follow-up article. I mean, he even recorded my humiliation… this week, he leaps into the fray with a cheap Red burn deck that plays eighteen land. An excellent deck and article, accompanied by an entertaining video…
And of course, here’s the reason I wanted to win so badly last week… this week’s challenger is none other than Billy Moreno! As one of the premier Constructed minds on the planet, what did Billy do with his 25 tickets? Read on to find out!
