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The Story of Ink-Eyes, Gifts Ungiven, and the Little Flower That Could

Once Knutson’s only barn, Star Wars Kid (Chris McDaniel) has since graduated to Featured Writer, Level 2 Pro, and a solid slinger of spells. Today this Taking Back Sunday team member gives you a look behind the scenes at the development of the winning Pro Tour: Philadelphia deck, shows you the humble beginnings of his version of the deck, and explains why sometimes it’s just not possible to get a good night’s sleep before the Pro Tour.

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Going Down the Drain: Examining the Best (Mana Drain) Decks in Vintage Part 1

Deciding to play the right deck is critical to Type One success. This article is going to provide a comprehensive overview of the six best Mana Drain decks in the format. It will trace the trends in development thus far and bring us to some very recent design innovations. The trend that was already in the making has suddenly blossomed at the same time as the restriction of Trinisphere, resulting in the most broken Drain combo decks ever.

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Pimp my Precon: Sky Slam

I’m spending my week turning the horrible 40-card 8th Edition precons into amazing Constructed decks. I tuned Expulsion for Standard, turned Lifeboost into a killer Peasant Magic deck and converted Heavy Hitters into a smashing Vanguard deck. Today I tackle Sky Slam, which is destined to become a new Type Two archetype.

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MODO Learning

I’ve now spent… must be close to a hundred hours on MODO. I just can’t imagine getting back into Magic without this tool. Without a store nearby to play in, it would be impossible. Without being able to test my deck a couple hundred times before Regionals, it would be impossible. Without being able to see what everyone else is working on and how the metagame is developing, doing well at a sanctioned event would be the equivalent of buying a Powerball ticket. And yes, I’m still working on the Elf deck – but that’s not the only deck I’m working on…

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Shirei in Standard: A Case of Neither/Nor

Mr. Grydehoj takes you on a wild ride into the world of one-power creatures, where no matter what you try, the decks don’t quite end up working. That doesn’t stop them from being fascinating experiments in deckbuilding.

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SCG Daily – Pimp my Precon: Heavy Hitters

I’m busily turning the 8th Edition precons into well-oiled machines, one per day. On Monday I turned Lifeboost into a steam-powered chicken plucker soaked in rancid olive oil. Yesterday I turned Expulsion into an electric pencil sharpener, dripping with the SAE 30 I drained from my tractor. Well-oiled machines indeed. Today it’s time to tackle Heavy Hitters.

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A Second Gift From The Other Side Of The Ocean

A Gifts Ungiven deck that uses Goblin Charbelcher and Mana Severance, but completely removes Goblin Welders from the deck? Can that possibly be good? Our favorite Frenchie Vintage writer thinks so, and there’s a good chance that you’ll see more than a few people running it at the Vintage Megaevent in Paris this weekend!

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Pro Tour: Philadelphia

Today Zvi reviews everything that happened at Philly, including his own performance at breaking down the format (one that Randy Buehler and Mike Flores said he nailed in the coverage), plus he discusses the payout structure, the surprise decks, and the two topics that had everyone at the site buzzing all weekend: The Players Hall of Fame and the Pro Tour Players Club!

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The Back Door to E3 and Grand Prix: Detroit *16th*

Taking Back Sunday not only won a Pro Tour this weekend, but members of the team were posting solid results two weeks ago in Detroit as well. In today’s article, TBS member John Pelcak explains how the Online E3 tournaments helped him prepare for Detroit, and how he ended up fighting for the Top 8 after starting Day 1 with a loss and Day 2 all the way down in 63rd place.

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SCG Daily – Pimp My Precon: Expulsion

I’m following in the footsteps of JMS and Chris Romeo and turning precons into powerhouse decks, at the rate of one per day. I’m also doing it on the cheap: using the precon plus whatever I get from five drafts. Given that, I’m aiming for winning half my games in some competitive format – in other words, I want the decks to have a reasonable chance.

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Sealed Luck #5

The fifth installment of this very solid series seeing Martin discuss fetishes, an encounter with Tomi “Mountain Man” Walamies, power vs. consistency, and his latest PTQ adventures.

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Insider Trading: Becoming a Better Trader Part II – Meet the Cast!

Successful traders know that trading Magic: the Gathering can often be just as rewarding as playing the game itself, if not moreso. Today I’m going to introduce you to the diverse cast of characters that you’re likely to encounter at a larger Magic: the Gathering event, and explain how to identify who’s who. Afterwards, our friends at Digi-Cardz.com are back with more Magic Online trading tips!

[Digi-Cardz.com – Every MTGO card in stock!]

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SCG Daily – Pimp My Precon: Lifeboost

This week, I’m ripping off JMS and Chris Romeo for the tuning precons idea. Since those worthies have taken the good precons, I’m stuck with those from Eight Edition. On the plus side, I can do one per day for a whole week.

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