Once again, Abe delves into his box of crappy rares, picking five crappy cards to build five crazy decks! Any normal columnist would just build an Atog deck when confronted with an Atogatog… But Abe? He has different plans for Atogatog, and Onulet, and even Barl’s Cage!
I’m sure that the suggestions put forth in this article will already be second nature to many of you… But on the off chance that intarweb social graces aren’t your area of expertise, I’ve taken the time to provide a simple guide to help you test online in a courteous – and, more importantly, efficient – manner. I’ve taken some excerpts from TheManaDrain.com’s MWS/APPR Horror Story thread and my own experiences to highlight some specific examples of some infractions of these rules.
My efforts to break Thoughtpicker Witch have failed utterly. So instead of unveiling my uber Thoughtpicker Witch deck, therefore, I am revealing the process of failure. Remember, everything is a learning process — and sometimes, you can learn more about the format from the way a deck doesn’t succeed. And sometimes, you might pick up one heck of an idea for Extended along the way.
Nathan’s known for his groundbreaking insights into the Legacy format. He’s proven himself again and again in the Constructed arena. But our readers wanted to know – how good is Mr. Xaxson’s Kung-Fu when he’s facing five friends in a four-pack Ravnica kitchen table booster draft? Find out inside!
What happens when you stick to the wrong colors during a draft and it all goes wrong? Nick deconstructs one of his drafts and shows you why it fell apart and how you can avoid certain Ravnica draft pitfalls. Plus, which cards are key to a successful Selesnya draft? Eisel’s got the answers!
Think Goblins is dead in Extended? Think again. The number one Goblins player at the Pro Tour tells you today that with some sideboard tweaks and correct play, Goblins is still good enough to take home the title.
The Limited Lover’s fan favorite is back, this time covering the many colors of Ravnica in all its sealed deck goodness.
For some reason, people are more excited about the Boros deck than the Golgari deck, and I can’t figure out why. The Golgari have Dredge, potentially huge animated lands, and maybe the second-best, three-mana, multi-colored common of all-time in Shambling Shell. Maybe the G/B decks spawned by Ravnica just seemed so obviously powerful that the folks who normally read my stuff weren’t impressed. “Duh, G/B’s strong. We get it.” Maybe they like the challenge of taking a weaker color combination and making it work. Maybe they just like Quaker Strawberries and Cream Instant Oatmeal and/or the color pink.
As many of you know, I have an aversion to buying more than a few packs of each set. This is because most often, the contents of a pack don’t typically justify the purchase. Ravnica, however, is awesome.
I’ve got to finish this report. I’m writing for posterity, so here we go — time to quit sitting on my big fat… laurels. Time to explain my perspective on a fairly interesting Top 8 Sunday. Time to own up to what’s mine.
As thanks for you reading all week, Jim produces two Boros creature loads for Extended that are a bit off the beaten path. Check it out.
As promised, here are the seven traits which I feel dictate one’s individual style as a spell slinger. No one attribute is solely definitive, as I feel every player displays at least two or three, and in varying degrees.
Teddy Card Game takes a break from strategy today in order to thank unsung heroes from around the game.
Originally I was planning on skipping Grand Prix: Philly and instead spending time working on the Extended format for Grand Prix: Charlotte in December. This all changed when I realized I’d be qualified for Pro Tour: Honolulu on rating. “No Constructed Magic until February?” I thought to myself. Just then I came to the realization that Grand Prix: Philadelphia was technically not a Constructed tournament, but it affected Eternal ratings. Immediately I started making phone calls, checking class syllibi and by the end of the week, my flight was booked. Now then… What the hell is good in Legacy?
Everyone knows the Top 8 decks from PT LA: Ruel’s Two Color Tog, SWK’s Heartbeat deck, Fujita’s Boros build, Moreno’s Madness Tog and so forth. I want to look beyond the Top 8 – and beyond PT LA – to see what other decks are being played. I’ll even throw in some metagame info from the recent GPs.
