I love the Avengers. The super-hero team of Marvel’s Mightiest Heroes has been a favorite of mine for a long time, going back to my childhood in years past. I have virtually every Avengers comic printed, including most comics printed that include an Avenger in them. For this final entry in our deck-a-thon, I decided to figure out whether it was possible to build a Magic deck based around the Avengers theme, with unique cards for each character.
Despite a slow start, the 5-Color Casual Challenge provided some solid articles on the 250-card format by the end of the week. Brian Epstein’s excellent 5-Color: The Metagame As We Know It came close, but in the end amusing writing once again took the $20 prize. Jonah Sutton-Morse and Mr. Anderson’s Twenty Cards That Go With Contract was a solid article that discussed what did and didn’t work in the format… and it was both fun and easy to read. Thus, they take the prize!
So what’s next week’s Casual Challenge? Something that’s sure to generate a flurry of submissions:
The Three Most Annoying Cards Of All Time.
Now, the last “Top Five” challenge did phenomenally well in terms of generating submissions, but by the end of the week our readers’ eyes were glazing over from “Card: Description. Card: Description.” Thus, remember that the prize will most likely go to the person who provides the most interesting variant on the format. This doesn’t have to be just multiplayer; feel free to discuss the three most annoying cards in format X, or a look at cards that cause confusion for all the wrong reasons, or a historical overview of what cards were considered annoying, and why.
So give us your most hated cards, and the decks that go with them, and you might win $20! Send your article in to Mail us at https://sales.starcitygames.com/contactus/contactform.php?emailid=2 today!
5-Color is a format that is polarized into archetypes. There are pure control decks that destroy combo and live in fear of the Armageddons that aggro packs. There are wacky Dream Halls decks that seek to draw their entire decks on turn 4. There’s aggro, with nothing in the deck costing more than two mana outside of mana-denial cards like Ruination, Winter Orb, and the aforementioned Armageddon. This is a format that requires 250 cards – there must be more variation than that!
When Stephen Menendian writes an article, the Vintage world pays attention, but when he writes a deck primer, the whole of the Magic world often stops by to see what new tech exists. Today Steve updates Dr. Teeth for the new Vintage era. How many colors should you be playing? What should your Cunning Wish sideboard look like? Your opponents will be reading this article, can you afford not to?
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…
This article will focus on:
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.
