As detailed in an article that I won’t link because it’ll depress you, I am now an editor for the Pro Tour coverage team. Although many people think that I got the position because I’m a filthy lucksack, it’s actually based entirely on my merits (i.e., Ted Knutson thinks I’m cool).
I really enjoyed my Carriage deck from yesterday, so I figured that I would continue the theme today. I will select a creature type at random, and then build a theme deck around it. What amazing creature type was selected? Volvers.
The Ferrett returns from Europe to discuss… death. Dying formats, dying comics, dying relatives, and endless, endless flights on planes. Which is not the standard method of writing “Welcome back” Magic articles, but hey! It has Ravnica cards, and talks about what it’s like to stay with Editor Craig Stevenson! What more do you want?
Last week, Stephen shared his preparation and deck choice for the “upcoming” Vintage Championship – Five-Color Pitch Long. Today’s article sees him share his views on the tournament. He discusses the current Vintage metagame, tells us where he thought things went right – and wrong – for him, and speculates on the future of Vintage Magic.
Richard talks us through his latest incarnation of the B/W Orzhova Maxima deck, with specific reference to his performance – and the performance of team-mates – at the U.S. Nationals (and Grinders). While the results weren’t exactly as planned, the development of the deck was perfect for their proposed metagame… sadly, their opponents didn’t get the memo. This frank and enlightening article highlights the strengths – and weaknesses – of high-level tournament playtesting.
Rich moves from the mean streets of Ravnica to the icy tundra of Coldsnap! Today’s installment of Drafting With Rich sees the Canadian maestro share a full triple-Coldsnap draft, from pick one to pick forty-five, with brief commentary on strong cards and deck performance. For a more detailed analysis, come join the forums!
Phyrexian Etchings: it’s good. Really good. Quite frighteningly good. In fact, let’s make this interesting:
Phyrexian Etchings is — situationally – more broken than Necropotence.
Have I got your attention now? Good.
Abe returns with his popular Deck A Day daily series, and today’s offering is genius. You’re in for a wild ride today… literally.
Maximilian Bracht took home all the marbles at German Nationals 2006 with an innovative Erayo / Ninja deck… and Mike liked the look of it. Today’s article sees Mr. Flores fling the quirky Standard creation against all comers in the Magic Online 8-Man Standard Queues. He documents each game, and waxes lyrical on the strengths and weaknesses of the deck in the current metagame. Overall, it worked for Mike… can it work for you?
While Coldsnap Limited is the new kid in town, qualifiers for Pro Tour: Kobe continue unabated. Today, Josh looks at an intricate RGD Sealed pool, and offers his thoughts on the format as a whole. RGD Sealed seems like it’s been around forever… but there are, as always, fresh insights to be learned. Plus, for those who enjoy building Sealed pools, Josh adds a bonus pool for discussion in the forums…
Today sees Rich’s last plunge into the world of Ravnica Limited… from Monday, Drafting With Rich moves onto Coldsnap! As usual, the Canadian Limited maestro shares each pick, from one to forty-five, of an 8-4 Draft on Magic Online. He shares his preliminary deck and match thoughts in the article, and joins in the more detailed pick discussions in the forums.
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?
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 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.
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.
