I’m continuing my exploration of the more unusual Magic Online formats. Last time I talked about the highly addictive Singleton format. This week I want to look at a specialized Singleton format — Rainbow Stairwell.
While waiting for the tournament to begin, my mate Bill Johnston asked which Betrayers common I would most like to open, suggesting it might be Waxmane Baku. Although I hadn’t really thought about this question I said Gnarled Mass without hesitation. I’m not saying that it’s the best common in Betrayers, but Gnarled Mass is just the one that works best for me. So how did I fare at the PTQ with two of Bob Gnarly in my deck? Check inside, friends, check inside.
Look, we have Mowshowitz and Wakefield on the same day, does it even matter what they are writing about? Okay okay, Jamie starts his hike on the comeback trail by getting acquainted with the current Standard scene and getting smashed by some 12-year-old kids playing White Weenie. Oh, and what he has now termed “The Silver Age of Magic.” Are you happy now? Go read!
Those of you familiar with Magic history may remember the Brothers’ War between Mishra and Urza, the two most powerful artificers on Dominaria. But those of you familiar with StarCityGames.com writers will know of the brothers’ war we’re having: Matthew Lubich and his brother Andrew. Both of them have written consistently-entertaining entries for the weekly Casual Challenge, and this week they went head-to-head.
Matthew wrote an excellent primer on the rules for lockdown decks (even if his deck was a little on the underpowered side this time around), whereas his brother came up with one of the most creative kill methods I think I’ve ever seen. The problem is, Andrew’s won before, and Matthew hasn’t. Who to choose?
In the end, I decided to split it evenly, lest I cause fistfights at the Lubich household. Matthew wins this week’s $20 prize, in the sincere hopes that both brothers will keep writing!
And next week’s challenge?
Theme Decks.
That’s right, folks — we want to see the most powerful (and, more importantly, playable) deck you can build around a non-Magic theme. Whether that’s an Edgar Allen Poe deck or a deck related exclusively to emo bands, we want to see your crazy theme deck — and more importantly, how to play a pile of cards that have nothing in common except for flavor. So write it up and send it to Mail us at https://sales.starcitygames.com/contactus/contactform.php?emailid=2, and you could win $20!
These are the decklists that are going to define Philly, and they’re the best versions I know of. Sure one or two cards are experimental but this will be what 80% of your Philly opponents will be playing.
Being the Vintage Supercomputer is a tough job, so every once in a while, Pip likes to kick back and actually sling some spells as part of his relaxation program. Last weekend at Chicago he did just that, putting up a surprisingly solid record with Landstill, the deck he’s discussing today.
One of (my idol) JMS’s shticks is to take a pre-con deck and modify it so that it’s competitive in the Casual Decks room of Magic Online. Since I want to be so much like Jay (published novelist, work from home, hyphenated last name), I’m going to try the same kind of thing for the next couple of weeks with one twist: I want this deck to be competitive in a tournament. That doesn’t mean that it has to win the thing. I just want it to win more than it loses.
Today the Bleiweiss has turned in an article so packed with “stuff” that it’s difficult to describe all of it in a concise blurb. Try this on for size: 9th Edition and Ravnica Speculations, the short and long-term past and future of FNM prizes, the cards that absolutely NEED to be made into Judge promos and how the judges got the shaft last time, the coolest proposed GenCon Vintage Championships prizes of all time, and so much more! This will be the water cooler article for your friends for the rest of the week, so you’re going to want to read it.
Champions/Betrayers draft is fully mature now and Nick has reevaluated some of the cards he has written about previously, particularly from Champions. What cards does he feel are over and underrated at the draft tables? The details are inside.
We hate to toot our own horn around here, but the day before the Chicago Power 9, we published an article about the very deck that won the tournament the next day. Today Stephen Menendian talks about variations of Vintage Oath of Druids decks, including the deck he designed that finished second at that very same Chicago Power 9, this time in the hands of Brian Demars.
During Legacy’s birth, you could be guaranteed that you’d face combo decks, Sligh, and combo/control ports from Extended like Aluren, as well as control decks, like Landstill or Fish. With those constraints in mind, Monoblue was probably the one of the best two or three decks in the format. While it’s no longer the best deck, BBS is a strong choice – and it builds the foundation for playing control in Legacy.
My last article took care of getting you to the Top 8, so now it’s time to win the draft once you get there. This week we’ll look at the nature of draft archetypes in the abstract (with specific examples, naturally) and how to think about the interaction between draft archetypes and card valuation.
Last week I tackled White Weenie. While that deck is out there in the metagame, no one would contend that it’s a major force in the new Standard metagame. Now it’s time to tackle something bigger.
This weekend, Martin attended three PTQs and won all of them utilizing the power of Takeno’s Cavalry enchanted with Kumano’s Blessing. Okay, maybe that’s not quite true, but he did attend one and he may have had to play against Takeno’s Calvary in round 6 where the winner of the match would make the Top 8.
I hadn’t planned on writing a report. I was worried that by doing so, I’d inadvertently make fun of the Midwest and devalue my win. Then I realized I played like an asshat all day and still won, so I don’t really feel like I earned it anyway. I’m still looking at this Black Lotus wondering why it’s here, because I don’t think I played optimally in any game all day…
