If you’ve never been to a prerelease, here’s what it’s like: You have this big pile of cards in front of you. In half an hour, you have to make a deck out of them. Today I’m going to take the least experienced among you and try to instruct you how to take your “pile” and turn it into a deck that can win.
Welcome back. Today I’d like to go over what you should expect if you’re planning on playing Vintage in Richmond this weekend. My job today is pretty easy though, since anyone who’s been to Richmond before knows that the metagame is extremely predictable. What’s that? You don’t know what to expect? Well read on, then. Still need a decklist for the big event? I got your back on that one too.
Last week, my newly acquired playtest partner Jeff Cunningham, a.k.a. ffej, wrote what was described by Randy Buehler, Grand Wizard Vizier of Magic: the Gathering as – and I quote specifically here – what “could be the best column [he] ha[s] ever read[,]” (emphasis mine). High praise indeed from the lord and master of hocus-pocus and prestidigitation; too high, in fact, to escape notice. Now I must say that your narrator, too, enjoyed ffej’s Time Walk into the ancient days and it jarred me almost bodily into historic reverie. However, instead of telling untold stories as Jeff is doing, I shall highlight some of the greatest stories ever told for the eggs and chicks in the audience.
One of the most widely-read writers on Multiplayer returns to the field, condensing his overly-long series of articles back from the Pleistocene Era of Magic into several sweet, easily-readable theories. Today, The Ferrett takes on the core concepts of Aggro, Combo, and Control to show you why multiplayer is different from a single-player duel – and how these differences make him reject articles from friendly readers. Plus, a brief rant on the status of our non-Premium articles!
“Oh look,” you say, resignedly. “Another Legacy testing article. Yippee. Sigh. Why can’t anyone write about cool decks in that format?” Well do we have a treat for you. Today McKeown discusses skeletons for four different decks that are distinctly off the beaten path. Looking for a port of Fujita’s Sneak Attack deck? He’s got it. Want to play something as ridiculous and outrageous as Dragonstorm? He’s got it. If you like strange but potentially competitive decks in interesting new formats, then this is the article for you.
It’s interesting… on the surface 9th Edition Limited seems pretty simple. However, every time we run a new article on the format writers seem to disagree dramatically on color strength and pick orders. Which color does Pelcak feel is the best and what do his pick orders look like? Enquiring minds want to know…
I get a lot of questions from players who love their foils as to how best to maximize the pimpness ratings of their Magical cards. In order to make this a little more clearly apparent (and to write a slightly more whimsical than usual article) I’ve decided to take up the challenge as an article. Read on to discover maximum pimposity.
Grand Prix: Nottingham is coming soon, only three weeks after the prerelease, and it will rock. A single GP is of course nothing like a PTQ season. At least it’s nothing like the PTQ London season was around here. There is only one shot at glory and there are only three weeks to get to grips with a brand spanking new format that has nothing whatsoever in common with the brand spanking old and stale format. Three measly weeks to break a Limited format? That requires some atomic-powered speed demon! I intend to become that demon. All y’all can come along for the ride; but beware! The road may be a bit bumpy.
I’ve never done well at any Nationals and this year proved to be no different. While most players were getting their game on in the first three rounds and were “growing in the tournament”, “gaining confidence in their deck” or even figuring out their deck while winning some rounds in Standard, I proceeded to quickly 0-3. Couldn’t beat the mono Green deck and wasn’t even close with the White Weenie guy that insisted on giving me four extra turns. I had a shot at the 0-2 table against Ogre/Demons, but even after he threw away some cards for no reason he still managed to draw six spells in a row. Nice deck, Kenji.
The spoiler is up; the set reviews are coming. I’m going to look at the set, too, but I’ll analyze it from a multiplayer perspective. Limited specialists can tell you how to draft it, and I haven’t tested enough to give you States previews, but multiplayer? I can do that. Is this a powerhouse set for multiplayer? Read on.
I played in my first ever Legacy tournament this past Saturday at Alex Shartsman’s Kings Games in Brooklyn, New York.
There was a Grand Prix Trial for Philadelphia there, so Alex’s store attracted a lot of non-regulars. The turnout was decent for a Grand Prix Trial not at a major event, with attendees including U.S. Nationals Top 8 competitor Chris Manning, Sped legend Jamie Parke, and Meddling Mage Chris Pikula. What deck did I play? Why something of my own design, of course. Who netdecks?
I was excited to see Green/Black as one of the guilds that received focus for Ravnica, but everyone keeps trying to make the same old Green and Black deck. You know… the one that has been a tier two deck for the last five years or so? Making this great color combination tier one requires some ingenuity and thinking outside the box instead of going through the same old motions season after season. Let’s see just what the new set has to offer, shall we?
StarCityGames.com has undergone a great deal of change in the last year. Today Teddy Card Game addresses those changes, highlights many of the new features you might not be aware of for both Free and Premium users, and discusses your suggestions for improvements to the site. Do you want to know where Star City is headed? Check inside, my friends, check inside.
I originally had plans to unveil a decklist after a couple New England tournaments to test-drive it. I decided not to do that when I rediscovered my affection for Shortbus Severance Belcher, and ended up winning with that instead. However, I’ve received a lot of requests to release this decklist anyway, and who am I to say no
Do you know what the hottest new combo deck for post-Ravnica Legacy looks like? Josh Silvestri does and he’s playing both Eve and Gwen Stefani today as he attempts to blow your mind.
