The first Ravnica card that I saw that just leapt out at me was Bloodbond March. In fact, I remember it well. I was walking down our hallway – we have this long thin hallway that leads from our foyer to our living room – when aaaaaiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeee there it was! I was so scared. But it was just teasing. Given the fact that the March is Green and Black and Green and Black have all of those Dredge cards, I figured it was golden.
This will be the best report written about GP: Nottingham. Yes, I do dare to say that. The article you are reading now just has all the good stuff: an epic competitor’s story, the stories of not one, but two DQs at the GP, photos of your Magic heros in compromising situations and even a movie clip of two PT mainstays getting into a fight. [Sorry, no movies. – Knut, not hosting The Battle of the Pro Tour Stars] Oh, and if you read between the lines, you might even pick up a little strategy as well… You get all this, and the tale of a PT purgatory member slugging it out, battling for that elusive Top 32.
Haven’t seen your favorite weekly series of reminisces lately? Master Cunningham explains why and when you can expect it to be back.
This past weekend, Mike had the rare chance to put his States deck to the test in an actual Ravnica-legal Standard tournament packed with Neutral Ground regulars. In today’s article, Mike discusses what he learned by playing in that tournament, and shares the decklist he’ll be playing in this weekend’s State Championship!
Yesterday, Teddy Card Game promised to write about the deck he was taking to States if the guy who designed the deck gave him permission to do so. That designer is none other than Seth Burn, and Seth has decided to reveal the deck himself! If you are still undecided about what you are playing at Champs, and are looking for the latest in hot tech plus a heavily tested decklist, look no further!
Raise your hand if you’ve heard of the Metagame Clock. Anyone? Bueller? The Metagame Clock is what’ll help me get a grip on things. Maybe it’ll help you as well, as some last-minute reading that puts things in perspective.
My goal for this week is to weave all of these things together for a look at the States metagame and the choices that are going to be present and inherent in each archetype. I’ll also give a few hints as to how the key contenders match up against each other, and we can go from there into creating an assumed picture of the metagame as well as the suggestions that can come from it as to how to succeed. I like looking at the whole picture and figuring out the so-called “rules of the format”, and that’s something that may be profitable here as well. It may also be highly premature, so we’ll see how firm our conclusions are before taking that particular step.
Dark Confidant (henceforth “Bob”) provides one main function – card drawing. It can also beat, and can hold a Jitte, but card drawing is what it does best. However, that card drawing comes at a price – a significant price if you draw something like Ink-Eyes or Kokusho. I found myself wondering if it was possible to build a winning deck around The Great One and his abilities.
Going to play in Champs this weekend? Josh Silvestri has some important reminders that you should definitely think through before you sit down for round 1 on Saturday.
Haven’t found a deck you like for States? Don’t want to be among the countless hordes playing Red/White, Mono-Blue Control, Gifts Ungiven or Black/Green? Then read this article to see Ben’s ramblings about a slew of cards being overlooked in Standard right now. Editor’s Warning: Following any of this advice might be dangerous to your health, sanity and chances of winning!
Wondering what people are going to be playing at States? Ben takes at look at the StarCityGames.com sales database to make some startling predictions! Find which cards have been selling the best from Standard and which are falling behind.
Also in Ben’s Corner: Which new pieces of original Magic artwork has Star City added to its inventory? Hark, do I spy with my eye nifty new Magic carrying bags? Where can I go this weekend to sell my cards to StarCityGames.com in person? The answers to all these questions are just a click away!
The thrilling conclusion! Five builds later, Eli reviews his work and tries to judge which is the best color combination in Ravnica Sealed.
Year after year Teddy Card Game has provided the most accurate skinny on exactly what the Championships metagame will look like. He’s at it again this year with updated decklists, metagame percentages, latebreaking rogue options, and delectable cheesecake. This is the most wide-open Standard format in years… if you don’t read this article, you could be missing a crucial piece of information you need to succeed this weekend.
Lifegain gets a bad rap. Really, it does. Those of us who started off as casual players remember one of the first things we learned when moving to a competitive scene is that Lifegain Sucks. So what would you say if I told you there was a potentially tier 1 deck for States that attempts to abuse lifegain to kill your opponent?
Another day, another Sealed pool. With than two weeks for Ravnica, are you ready for the Prerelease tournaments? Polish your skills and see how your thoughts stack up to Eli’s. As a bonus to today’s offering you also get an incredibly Japanese Vulturous Zombie combo deck to ponder for States. Wild tech? Yesiree!
