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Magical Hack: Snakes on a Ballot!

Read Sean McKeown... every Friday at
StarCityGames.com!

In a break from the norm, Sean turns his back on detailed analysis of tournament Magic to discuss his highly charged and personal views on the recent voting for the Magic Hall of Fame. As usual, the furor centers around a certain Mike Long… Do you agree with Sean’s opinion?

Brr, I Can Feel a Coldsnap Coming On…

Craig “The Professor” Jones originally submitted this article, covering his experiences at the Coldsnap prerelease, some time ago. We present it now, updated with new thoughts on the Coldsnap Limited format, as a fine tool for those entering the MTGO Coldsnap Release Leagues. Prof also shares some Coldsnap Draft stories with his usual humorous style. If you’ve not read any Craig Jones before, you’re in for a treat!

The Block That Came In From The Cold: Coldsnap and the New ALICE Block

The release of Coldsnap means many things. It’s going to throw a monkey wrench into the works of Standard. It also means that I’m going to have to redo my set binders yet again. But what really got my thinking cap all a-twitter is that there can finally be an honest-to-goodness Ice Age Block tournaments without the three-Standard-worthy-cards abomination that was Homelands.

SCG Daily – Excess Baggage

There is more to winning than winning. I played in my first Pro Tour almost five years ago. At the time I was one of the best players in my area. But I had no business at all playing in that tournament, and (though I didn’t know it) had absolutely no shot of making any money whatsoever. This article is about trying, with more or less varying degrees of success, to get rid of the extraneous baggage that keeps a good player from becoming great.

Prepping for the Vintage World Championship

Stephen supplied this article with the following request: “Do not publish this article until after the Vintage World Championship.” In this revealing piece, he discusses his preparation for the biggest tournament on the Vintage calendar. He explains the tweaks and tech he considered for his weapon of choice, and he gives a lowdown of the tournament metagame going in. His actual thoughts on the tournament proper are coming next week!

A Grand Prix: St. Louis Report

With the PTQs for Pro Tour: Kobe continuing apace, Nick Eisel presents his Ravnica Cardpool and Coldsnap Drafts from GP: St. Louis. He chronicles his performance in the event with detailed match data, and shares some handy tips for those hoping to do well in their upcoming Limited tournaments. Looking for an edge in your PTQ field? Nick can help…

Drafting With Rich #34

Rich continues his excellent series of RGD Draft walkthroughs, presenting each pick as it happened and highlighting each card chosen. He shares his final decklist, and gives us a brief overview of his results and processes. As usual, for more detailed draft deconstruction, come visit us in the forums!

Battle Royale Round 5 – A Small Victory

StarCityGames.com - Battle Royale!

So I beat Talen… big deal. To be honest, there was no winner here. Mana issues can cripple the mightiest fighter. Still, the deck performed well enough… wanna see how?

Battle Royale Round 5 – Losing the Hard Way

StarCityGames.com - Battle Royale!

Craig turned up half an hour late. I mulliganed in games 1, 2, 3, and 4… and because that wasn’t enough, game 2 again. I drew lots of land. Craig mulliganed to three in game 3, and still got a turn 2, 3, 4, and 5 Watchwolf. Across four games I saw two Rakdos Guildmages, no Ribbons of Night, one Last Gasp and one Pyroclasm, and something in the district of forty-six lands.

A Darker Valkyrie: The Impact of Coldsnap on B/W and U/W

It’s cold in here! Either my thermostat’s broken or Coldsnap just became Standard legal. In other news, terrible jokes have been put on a moratorium for the rest of the article.

SCG Daily – Wanna Draft Coldsnap? – Part 2

Picture the scene: everybody at the local store hates Coldsnap, seeing it (erroneously) as a shameless moneymaking scheme from Wizards despite their releasing a summer set for three consecutive years now, and as a consequence you just can’t ever get drafts in. Worse, you’re staring at the pack and seven first-pick quality cards are looking you right back in the eyes. What on earth do you do?

The Kitchen Table #145: The Casual Metagame #2

Read Abe Sargent... every Thursday at
StarCityGames.com!

I am writing a series of articles that explores the casual metagame, which is far more vast than any given competitive metagame. Any competitive metagame will have only a handful of decks at the top at any time. Even the best metagames, with a variety of solid, winnable decks, would probably not have more than a third of the Subtypes listed in the Framework, if that.

2006 U.S. Nationals Report – *1st Place* – Part 2

Paul concludes his exciting report on U.S. Nationals 2006! With fourteen rounds of swiss play behind him, seven men stood between him and an oversized comedy check. Yesterday’s opener had thrills and spills galore… today’s installment is packed with high drama! The best writers, the best players… only at StarCityGames.com!

Drafting Coldsnap at U.S. Nationals

Ben, the writer behind the Definitive Coldsnap Draft Primer, takes a long look at the decks that posted a 3-0 record in the Coldsnap Draft portion of U.S. Nationals 2006. He shows us why they were strong, and what could be done to improve them further. This excellent article also sees him share his views on some of the more intricate Coldsnap Draft strategies. Looking for an edge in triple Coldsnap? Look no further…

Drafting With Rich #33

Rich shares his Drafting technique in today’s installment of “Drafting With Rich!” As usual, he runs through a complete RGD draft from pick one to pick forty-five, and adds a brief commentary on his performance and final build. If you’d like some more detailed deconstruction, come visit the forums!