With the Ravnica/Guildpact Sealed Deck Pro Tour Qualifier Season in full swing, we are finally beginning to iron out the difficulties inherent in the format. Today, Chad throws his hat into the ring, dispensing wisdom regarding mana base math; tempo and card advantage; and Limited bombs. Excellent advice for those yet to qualify for Pro Tour Prague.
Chris begins what promises to be a highly entertaining SCG Daily series by interviewing the one and only JMS. In his own words…
If you read my stuff, I’m as close to a hundred-per-cent sure that you read Jay Moldenhauer-Salazar’s stuff. He really doesn’t need any introduction.
The voting for the 2006 Magic Invitational continues, and the hotly contested Writer’s Vote is just around the corner. One player, chosen by a select squad plucked from the writing community, will win a spot at this year’s show. Each day this week, a panel memeber will outline his choices. Today it’s the turn of the esteemed Teddy Cardgame.
This week, your Premium writers will be commenting on the upcoming Pro Tour event, with analyses of what decks to see, how the format will shape up, and updated revisions of existing powerhouses. We kick off with Mike Mason’s excellent run-down of the both the existing and approaching metagame. All the current contenders examined, with forthright commentary on strengths, weaknesses, and card choices.
Magic is all about moments… the lessons you learn, the mistakes you make, the triumphs you pull from the jaws of defeat. Today, Mike tells the tales that made him the player, and writer, that he is today. A wonderful article showcasing the many mistakes of “BP” Flores. Mike certainly learnt from his mistakes… can you?
Sometimes you lose in Magic because you get manascrewed, sometimes you lose because you get land-flooded, sometimes you lose because you’re playing the wrong deck, and sometimes you lose because you misplayed.
Rich takes us step-by-step through his triumphant performance at the recent Grand Prix Richmond. Sealed Deck tips, Draft strategies, match reports, and card analysis from one of the greatest Limited players in the world today.
Having discussed the Sealed Deck environment quite thoroughly, I’ve been wanting to limit my scope to Draft, to see how specifically it has changed with the addition of Guildpact. Sealed Deck is all well and good, but it’s not a format where you control your destiny; as a skill-testing format it’s certainly excellent with the current set of cards, but nothing tests your skills in quite the same way as sitting down and choosing just one card forty-five times.
[Although this article originally ran as part of yesterday’s update, scheduling issues resulted in it being posted several hours late. We present it again today, for anyone who may have missed it. – Craig]
Gadiel is back. Today, he shares his highs and lows from Grand Prix Richmond. Is he annoyed at his final placing? Does he rant and rage against the folks he faced? What does he make of the crop of Magic cheaters unearthed at the tournament? Love him or hate him, the answers lie within…
A lot of Magic players seem to have an… interesting idea of what typically happens in the late game. They’ve gotten it into their heads that the late game is where Genesis comes online, and recurs things for, like forever! Where Treasure Trove draws infinity cards! And where you recur Cranial Extraction with Hana Kami to remove from game all your opponent’s win conditions!
The most important weapon in a Magic player’s arsenal – be they torunament players or casual players – is Consistency. Today, Abe shares his insights on the assembly of a casual manabase. He brings tips on creating a solid foundation for a casual deck, and tells us the lands all casual players should aim to acquire.
Today’s Sealed Revealed sees Craig battling the toughest pool yet. We’re all familiar with the Ravnica/Guildpact Dilemma: too much good stuff, too many colors. However, what do you do when the pool is weaker than a newborn kitten? Can this pool be salvaged? Craig imparts his insights, along with his usual dose of humor.
Control-based Psychatog has broken every format since the card’s printing in Odyssey block. To this day, despite numerous upheavals in its respective formats, Tog remains a top tier deck in Extended, taking First Place at Grand Prix: Los Angeles; and, in Vintage, taking Second Place at the most recent Waterbury, where it lost to Grow-a-Tog, of all things. But Psychatog’s absence in Legacy is perplexing.
One of the more interesting Draft strategies to emerge from the triple-Ravnica format was the so-called “Drake Draft,” mastered by Raphael Levy. His previous articles on the archetype suggested that the strategy would be all-but dead come Guildpact. Well, Raphael is back today to tell us that Drafting Drakes with Guildpact is still as strong, if not stronger! This article contains all the tips and strategy you need to win with this exciting archetype!
Blisterguy returns with his weekly examination of all things MTGO. Today, he updates the online price lists, and takes us through a Premier Event Top 8 in detail.
