After disappointing results from Pro Tour: Columbus, The Rock has been tearing up the PTQ scene and is one of the hottest decks around. In this article, Noah puts aggro Rock to the test and is not disappointed by the results. Why did he choose a deck that is underpowered, in spite of knowing that in the first place? Well, I’ll let the man explain for himself…
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Various and sundry people have written in suggesting that perhaps the decks I am offering in the series are a bit too expensive for most people to play. Since I try to be receptive to reader wishes, today I am going to try and build a solid, playable, winnable budget U/B control deck. I chose U/B control because I haven’t played one in a while, and I am itching to play a deck of my own. As such, I will be building with an eye to possibly playing myself.
A simple, concise, and helpful primer on your DCI Rating including how they are calculated and quirks you might encounter along the way.
What does Nick have to say about the best card in the set and why does he compare it to Skullclamp? What Champions cards have made a big jump in playability since the introduction of Betrayers? What clever pictures has Yawgatog worked up this week? The answers to all these questions and more are just a click away!
As part of our continuing effort to bring you the lastest tech in Type One deckbuilding, today StarCityGames.com presents our newest Featured Writer, noted French deckbuilder Mattieu Durand. Matthieu’s topic du jour is a new version of an Auriok Salvagers control deck that seeks to abuse the power of Gifts Ungiven, complete with card-by-card analysis and matchup information.
How do you weather one of the worst Magic slumps of your career? By returning to your roots, of course, and piloting a deck that fits like an old pair of house slippers to a consistent set of wins. Today Rick discusses the midifications Rock decks have had to make to compete and gives a complete matchup analysis against all the major decks in the field.
…because if it’s not, its writers certainly are. We’ve only had a single article for this week’s Casual Challenge, which means that at this point, Jonah Sutton-Morse and Mr. Anderson are a lock for the $20 prize. Send in your 5-Color article to Mail us at https://sales.starcitygames.com/contactus/contactform.php?emailid=2 by 5:00 on Thursday for your chance at the prize!
Today I wanted a more casual, laid back sort of deck. I decided to build a humble theme deck, but like any theme deck, there is your typical Abe-twist. We’re going to harness the tribal theme to play with a rather interesting creature type. Today I am working on a modern day Shapeshifter deck. Although it is meant to be fun, there are several powerful wining conditions here. Let’s take a look at the deck:
This is it folks, Ravager is dead, New Standard has begun and it’s time to start breaking down the format. Dave takes an in-depth look at several of the contenders for the new crown plus a cursory glance at the rest of the decks that you’ll see in the coming months. Is Tooth and Nail going to be the best deck in the format, or is there somewhere else you should focus your deckbuilding energies? Check out what Dave has to say today and see if you agree.
Trinisphere wasn’t broken, but it was restricted anyway for contributions of “making the game unfun.” Is fun a viable reason to ban or restrict a card? Oscar Tan has his own opinion on this one and he’d like to hear yours: Did Wizards of the coast screw up when they restricted Trinisphere?
What do the secrets of Team Limited, swords of meat, the decline of American Magic, Wake Forest, and I Blame Bung have in common? They are all covered in Zvi’s lastest article documenting his thoughts on what is likely his last Pro Tour.
It’s not often that you get to go behind the scenes during a deck’s development, but that’s exactly what Quentin Martin delivers today. The “Top Deck” as it was so named, received more coverage than any other new deck at Grand Prix: Eindhoven and in this article Quentin shows you how the deck came about, what changes they made in testing, and what the deck looks like now that eight of Europe’s best players put the deck to the work against over a thousand other players at Grand Prix: Eindhoven!
As I write this, people all over the world are looking at all of the available decklists from this weekend (and previous weekends) that are available at Wizards of the Coast’s website. Whether by stick or carrot, Wizards has managed (at least in theory) to get all of the tournament organizers out there to provide their Top 8 lists. As Mike Flores has already said, we haven’t seen this kind of depth of information available since the days of the Dojo.
But really, it is much more than that. We’re living in the middle of the longest Grinder of all time.
