Every year one article is written that definitively sets the stage for the upcoming Regionals metagame, detailing what the field looks like, which decks are under- and over-rated, and picking the de facto king of the hill that is likely to dominate the U.S. tournaments. This year, Sean McKeown has written that article and those of you that somehow skip this article will find yourselves regretting that fact a month from now.
Adam breaks down what is sure to be one of the most popular archetypes at Regionals around the world, creature by creature and spell by spell, all in an effort to help you build the most competitive deck possible.
So, in my first day of the Grand Reweave Experiment, it should not be surprising that I submitted an absolute pile of a U/W deck based upon the combo Reweave + Yosei, the Morning Star. The only thing good about the deck was that its incredible sucktitude pointed out some important things to me I needed to learn. Today’s task is to begin to apply those lessons and come up with something a bit more competitive.
Usually the third set in a block heralds the arrival of some of the most broken cards we see each year, but is Saviors of Kamigawa different? See what Zvi has to say today as he delves into Saviors White.
Today Chad looks at the most important thing to pay attention to when doing playtesting. This is something that will not only make you a better player and teach you the intricacies of a matchup, but it will also make you a better deck designer as well and help you tune your decks like the Pros.
While everyone else is busy writing up their set reviews, Andy wraps up his strategic review of the previews and tells you whether the cards MagictheGathering.com let us peak at early are winners or stinkers.
Dr. Christopher Romeo J.D. turns a scientific eye to his most recent deck idea (G/R Anti-Jitte) and comes up with one of his most witty and entertaining articles of the year.
The concept for this week will be the birthing process. No, not that kind of birthing – I’m referring to ideas here. Specifically I’m going to look at one minor piece of tech from Tsuyoshi Fujita’s recent Pro Tour Block Constructed deck and see if I can design a competitive deck around it.
Sealed deck play can be tricky if you’re a casual player or not used to a Limited environment – the challenges of picking the correct cards, then building a good deck with it, then playing right with it can be overwhelming for the beginner. I can’t guarantee you a win if you’re a Limited novice… But I do guarantee you won’t be ashamed of your finish if you follow my guidelines here.
Anyone can build a deck around a power card like Survival of the Fittest… but what happens when you try to build decks around little-known cards like Invoke Prejudice and Dark Suspicions? Abe puts his deckbuilding skills to the test to dust off these oldie goldies and create a sixty-card pile that will shred the other players at your table!
The "Top Three Multiplayer Enchantments" week was an interesting one (and not just because of a one-week delay when I was installing and upgrading the new Deck Database). But this week’s winner won on the strength of solid deckbuilding alone: not only did he have solid Pestilence and Death Pits of Rath decks to back up his claim, but his usage of Panoptic Mirror and Armageddon to break Island Sanctuary was a positive hoot. Thus, Dave Almansor’s Building A Better Pestilence Deck takes the $20 prize!
What’s next week’s challenge?
Emperor Multiplayer.
That’s right; everybody’s favorite six-player format finally steps to the fore at StarCityGames.com! Articles can be about either Emperor Constructed or Emperor Draft, though Constructed articles should provide a deck and what position it’s for: Flank or Emperor. (A contest-winning article, however, will provide all three decks for a unified front of terrifying power.)
Send your article in to Mail us at https://sales.starcitygames.com/contactus/contactform.php?emailid=2 and you could win $20 in our Casual Challenge!
Looking for ways to destroy your evil opponents at the Prerelease? That’s exactly what Noah Weil has cooked up for you today, with a heaping helping of strategy on the new cards to help you come out ahead in both the flights and the draft pods.
blisterguy returns with another installment from his heralded series of prerelease survival guides designed to give both noobies and veterans alike some insights on how tomorrow will play out.
Debate has raged for years over whether the Pros would ruin Vintage if they ever bothered to pay attention to the format. Finally, after an argument over dinner with Randy Buehler, Teddy Card Game had had enough. Armed with one of the most powerful writing forces ever assembled and culminating with the Power 9 Shooting Stars in Rochester on June 11th, he decided to test that theory by asking our Pro Tour writers to work on the Vintage format and see if they can break it. This is an event that simply cannot be missed, as whatever the result is, it will reverberate throughout the Magic community. Appropriately enough, it all starts today with the master of broken decks, Zvi Mowshowitz.
Ben Bleiweiss is back to give you the straight dish on which cards will be the most valuable and most sought after from Saviors of Kamigawa. If you’re going to the prerelease tommorrow, this is a must-read article! Find out what cards to trade for, which cards will be valued more highly by casual and competitive players, and more!
