While most of the world is discussing what impact Saviors will have on the Regionals season, The Cak peeks one step ahead and takes a shot at what the effect of Saviors will be on Kamigawa Block Constructed. Why should you listen to him? Well, he started the Taking Back Sunday mailing list and is teammates with the last Block Constructed Pro Tour winner.
Pure Magic would be a world where there were no card pool constraints on a person’s deck choice, where there were no time limits, where everyone has perfect information as to the decks in the metagame and where no one made play mistakes. Unfortunately, Vintage, as defined by the rules of Magic and the banned and restricted list, doesn’t exist. What exists is a particular variant of Vintage called Tournament Vintage. It is essential to tournament success that you focus upon the actual features of Vintage tournaments, not just the features of the format as defined by the rules. In this article I am going reveal all of my secrets – all of the tidbits of knowledge I’ve picked up from my experience in Vintage tournaments.
Probably the most interesting article I’ve read all year is Mike Flores’ article on Interactivity. WARNING! ALERT! WARNING! I’d like to talk about Interactivity and Vintage. That means boring Magic theory to those of you who couldn’t care less. For those that do care, let’s parse what Master Flores has had to say on the subject and see how that applies to Vintage as a whole.
After graduating Law School, Oscar Tan is back with his theoretical thoughts on the Theory of Interactivity (or something). In fact, Oscar and Stephen Menendian go head to head on this subject today in dueling theory articles, both designed to answer Master Magic Theorist Mike Flores. Peep both articles for yourselves and tell us who got the better of the debate in the forums!
When Jamie Wakefield is on, he is one of the most evocative and funniest writers ever to grace the Magic community. Today he is most certainly on. Two new decklists, tons of fun anecdotes, and a short tale of the drunken monk. You cannot miss this article.
It’s Abe Sargent’s hundredth article, and he wants you to join the fun! He’s created fifty Saviors-based combos (which, by a lovely coincidence, is this week’s $20 Casual Challenge) to encourage and inspire deckbuilders everywhere… and his most-used card is blue, it’s a common, and it’s not Ideas Unbound.
In my last article you saw the best of the old Type Two. Here’s an attempt to get from there into the realm of the new Type Two you’ll be seeing at Regionals. In order to do that, I intend to talk about every card from the new set I can see having a potential effect on the Standard metagame, either by altering a pre-existing deck or tempting the creation of a new deck.
Phil has the scoop on all the info you need to know to prepare for the war at Rochester, including the post-Trinisphere metagame shifts, the Vintage Pro Tour standings, and more analysis than you can shake a stick at!
In a typically scene-setting fashion, the players who participated in the Invitational were recently allowed to give their ever-valued opinion on Standard by playing it for three rounds, conveniently giving us all a taste of what to expect at Regionals, short of whatever we get from Saviors of Kamigawa.
‘Cept they was just having fun, yo.
Dominick gives you the rundown of the odd and the confusing from Saviors of Kamigawa – perhaps one of the more oddball rules sets in recent memory.
There are numerous elements involved in proper Vintage tournament preparation. This article is going to concisely focus on just one: testing.
To preface the discussion of these Universal Truths [tm], we must first examine the actual cards which are defining Standard at present. Hell, I’m a man who enjoys lists – let’s make a list. I can’t even resist the foul temptations of gibberish such as “The Top 10 Most Disgusting Habits of Single Men” at a magazine stand. It’s not something I’m proud of. What was I talking about? Oh yeah, the cards and the rules of Regionals Standard as we know it.
Today StarCityGames.com welcomes Magic Invitationalist and mad drafter Sam Gomersall to the fold. In his first article, Sam takes a peek at what Saviors of Kamigawa White and Blue have to offer in Limited, including general advice on where you should be picking each card in those colors and a smattering of pithy English wit to boot!
Welcome to the first Vintage daily series! This week I have been given a platform to rant. I will delve into five topics that I would not normally write about because they aren’t worthy of a full-length article. To begin the week, here is a list of ten things Vintage could really use more of and things that Vintage really does not need (even though we might think we do).
My back is against the wall and I have to win my next three matches to have a shot at the Top 8. Oh well, I like a little pressure. I won eleven straight matches in San Diego to make my first Top 8 so winning just three matches should be nothing. Then I hear my name being called for a feature match vs. the best player of all time, Kai Budde. Whoopee!
