I’ve never been good at winning. I know I’m terrible at losing, but when it comes to winning, I don’t really know how to react. Most of the time when I win, it’s in the casual room, with nobody watching. I wait until my opponent offers the gg, so I might respond, and after a period of waiting I graciously bow out. If my opponent didn’t have some fun, then to me, it was not a good game… I’m sure baby Tim Aten is weeping at that sentiment.
Today we present the debut article of Benjamin Peebles-Mundy, one of a new crop of Featured Writers! He brings us a comprehensive primer of the triple Coldsnap draft strategy, packed with pick orders for each color, draft archetype discussion, game strategy theory, and much more! This is a fantastic read, and we look forward to many more articles of this caliber in the future.
In the second article by a new Feature Writer today, we bring you Nathan Waxer’s take on the Coldsnap pick orders. He concentrates today on the Blue and Green cards, and has some surprising values and views on certain cards. Pick orders are, of course, a matter of opinion… and these two articles will surely fire up the forums with hearty debate.
Blisterguy shares the latest news from Magic Online, with Premier Event results and card price fluctuations. He also brings us the highs and lows of reporting on control mirror matches…
In Charleston, we finally got the chance to have all of us together at the same time. For the final tweaks in our decklists, we grouped ourselves by archetypes. Since every team agreed with sticking to Plan A, and each player was concerned the most with his own deck, why not discuss the final changes with someone who’s going to play the exact same deck and leave your team mates to do the same?
Julien completes his look at the Limited application of Coldsnap with an examination of the Artifacts. He also runs through a number of the more powerful two-color combinations, supplying some excellent advice on picks and play strategies. While U.S. and English Nationals have been and gone (and believe me, you’ll be hearing about English Nats a lot from me…), others have still to sample the vagaries of the triple Coldsnap format. Julien’s article is a fine primer for those wishing to improve their chances.
Nick brings us the stories from his recent PTQ win, qualifying him for Pro Tour: Kobe. After receiving a fine RGD pool, the first he’s received in some time, he highlights the cards that brought home the metaphorical bacon. With detailed match walkthroughs and some interesting Limited insights, Nick’s report is a fine primer for those attending RGD Limited PTQs in the future.
Chris revisits his popular “Train of Thought” article format… and no, I’m not talking about the card-drawing sorcery. He tackles a number of interesting points, throws in a decklist, and shares some quality cheesecake. What’s not to like?
It’s one of my favorite times of the year: new cards, potential for new decks, and my creativity gone wild. I’ve learned my lesson from trying to do the card-by-card reviews. I don’t have the patience. I’m prone to burnout. So this time this review focuses on the only cards you need to worry about.
At Pro Tour: Prague most of the teams for Charleston were already formed. I was teaming with Bernardo da Costa Cabral and Kamiel Cornelissen. We approached some other friendly teams, inquiring about playtesting together. I let Bernardo know about my availability — I could move at any time, to any place, for testing purposes. In the end it was decided we should all gather in Brussels in Bernardo’s own house, after Grand Prix: Torino.
There’s no doubt that Stephen Menedian is one of the premier Vintage thinkers in the game today. This article tackles some of the more tricky decisions facing those packing Force of Will in the current Type 1 metagame… so that’s almost everyone. When do you Force? When do you Drain? When do you hold back, and when does playing into a Force reap the rewards? A strong article, packed with positive theoretical tips.
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!
Veteran Japan reporter and Sealed Deck workhorse Eli Kaplan steps in for the Ferrett, with a satchel of issues and miscellaneous thoughts as he brushes up for Grand Prix: Hiroshima.
I now have the time to come back home and write for StarCityGames.com on a consistent basis. Writing the Dailies the other week was a lot of fun, and I look forward to the freedom and flexibility afforded to writers here. It feels good to be back – I started writing for Pete back in 1999! When I saw that Steven Menendian was recently celebrating his 100th column for Star City, it made me wonder – how many columns have I written here?
June was a crazy month for me. I found myself dashing from one place to another. I had the idea of writing an article about my experiences playing Magic in four different countries, but eventually I realized that writing a series would be better, because of both the size and content of the article.
