This week, instead of trying to break things wide open, which I am, quite frankly, unable to do all by myself, ever, I figured I’d go and piss many of you off, which I am, quite franklier, willing and able to do. Not that I intend to anger or rile or antagonize… it’s just that when you offer a list of the top ten of anything, you’re liable to need witness protection.
Do you have a lot of useless knowledge about all things Magical? Are you itching to show that you’re smarter than everyone else? Well, this is your big chance! Today, I will be posing 100 Magic-related trivia questions. The person that scores the most points is the winner, and will be acknowledged next week, along with the answers. Oh, did I mention that the winner also gets $25 of StarCityGames.com store credit?
Regionals is tomorrow, and today we have five Premium articles devoted to the subject! The first is Mike Flores, who recently pitted his wits, and Annex Wildfire, against a pair of decks piloted by Steve Sadin. Steve’s take on the matchups is presented below… How did Flores fare? Is the unheralded Annex Wildfire a contender for the coming metagame? Can it cope with with Heartbeat and Ghost Husk? Click here to find out!
We welcome Patrick Chapin to our swelling ranks of Featured Writers, in perfect time to share an innovative “Tribal” deck that has power and consistency. Can the whipping-boy of the Kamigawa tribe pull together to form a contender in the Regionals metagame? Plus, Patrick provides a detailed tournament report, where he faced off against a number of colorful characters. An excellent read, and a deck that’s definitely off the radar.
As is customary for any large Constructed tournament, the esteemed Theodore Cardgame presents his metagame breakdown… or does he? We know Regionals is gonna be huge, but we also know that the current Standard metagame is mesmerizing in its complexity. So, has Ted pulled it off? Or has he fallen by the wayside, blind and impotent, raging at the sky? You’ll have to read on to find out…
Yesterday, I discussed the logic behind how Dissension is likely to change the post-Honolulu metagame that evolved during the Team Standard Qualifier season for Pro Tour: Charleston. Today, we’ll be covering some of the same territory but with decklists this time, to try and figure out where the tolerances of each deck lie so as to get a good sense for what changes might attune the deck to different potential metagames.
Standard, as people have been saying time and time again, is a very open environment. So open that despite hours of testing, as of this writing, I am no closer to being confident in any Regionals deck. Oh sure, I know B/W Husk is still quite good, and Heartbeat is probably excellent in capable hands. I’ve been trying to incorporate Dissension into the mix, assuming there must be some nonland card in the set that is maindeck-worthy.
Richard takes a peek at B/W decks… and presents the list he’ll be piloting to his own Regionals tournament. We all know that Black and White have been supremely popular of late, be they Hand in Hand, or Ghosts of both the Dad and Husk variety. Does Richard’s build have the pedigree to take it all? He thinks it does… and has the testing to prove it.
For our final Premium article before Regionals, Steve Sadin shares the matchup data behind his recent testing session with Mike Flores. Piloting both Heartbeat and Ghost Husk, he faced off against Annex Wildfire, with remarkably stable results. Are you planning to run with one of the best two decks in the current Standard? Be prepared – Read Steve today!
Talen and Fox round off their entertaining look at Dissension. Today, it’s the turn of the White and Split cards. Art critique, card evaluation, flavor text mockery… it’s all here!
Craig Jones, Constructed specialist, takes a wander through the garden of Dissension Standard. He presents a number of innovative decks that span a variety of archetypes, from UW Control to Rakdos Beats. In addition, he presents some more outlandish ideas for those planning to go rogue. Still undecided on your Regionals weapon of choice? Look no further…
In the second of today’s Premium “Road to Regionals” articles, Rogier takes a look at a number of controlling archetypes, each constructed for the Regionals metagame. He outlines the neccessary tools needed for a control deck to succeed in an unknown metagame, and provides three decklists for our examination. If you like to be in control, these may be the decks for you.
The Mighty JFR takes his Nearly Mono Black in Standard deck apart, and rebuilds it from the ground up. This, he feels, will be his chosen deck for Regionals. Is it a contender? Will it propel him to the Top 8? After the unquestionable success of Friggorid in Extended, it’s difficult to write it off completely… Maybe this deck will be the one that yields results.
In the fourth of today’s Premium “Road to Regionals” articles, Sean shares his opinions on the coming metagame. While conservative opinion claims that Aggro and Beatdown will be the prevalent metagame theme across the board, Sean isn’t so sure… Will there be an upsurge of Control options, led by the all-powerful Azorius guild?
Regionals is drawing near and now is a pretty ideal time to make your final decisions and revisions, to allow yourself some time to become acquainted with your deck. This article contains twelve of the most popular deck types for Regionals.
