Good players play tighter, make fewer mistakes. Good players understand matchups better, or know the correct draft pick orders, or have a deeper understanding of archetypes. Good players have a strategic plan. All these things are true, but sometimes I think the best description of the difference between good players and bad players is that good players don’t give you extra turns and find ways to get extra turns for themselves.
No one doubts the impact that Rich Shay’s Control Slaver has had on the Type One metagame. The idea was simple: an opponent can’t defeat you if he or she can’t actually play. So the question is simple: if it works so well in Vintage, can we do it in the new post-banning Standard?
What happens when everyone starts to remove the artifact removal from their maindecks in Standard? Adam shares his thoughts on this topic today, including an Isochron Scepter deck that could be very problematic in the end.
Once upon a time, aggro decks actually succeeded in Vintage. Then people got smart and started playing the really good cards in the format instead of trying to simply beat for two every turn. Why do aggro decks fail today and what can be learned from these important flaws? That’s the topic we’ll be addressing today, class, so follow along.
Some multiplayer groups don’t allow table talk between teammates. Communication in a team environment isn’t about taking away an advantage from the opponent – it’s about working together to make a solid team that can win based on better skills, not less mistakes. Would you rather watch two football teams continually fumble the ball…. or would you rather watch great teams make shoestring catches, stellar breaks, and diving tackles?
I have played Magic a long time. I’ve won a (small) collection of Top 8 pins from PTQs, and a lot of cards. I’ve judged at Worlds and PTs, and have been paid in cards. I’ve written over a hundred articles on Magic, and have been paid in cards. I have a really, really big collection. And I’ve been playing for a long time. I had never played online. This week I will take you through the highs and lows of my first Magic Online experience.
This week’s Casual Challenge is “The Three Most Annoying Cards In Magic” – and Kevin not only hates these cards, but the strategies that come with the cards. So what strategies invalidate your entire deck? Kevin told us, and he might win $20 for his complaint! How about you?
The thing that got me interested in 5C wasn’t the big decks; it was drawing all over cards and modifying them to the point of illegibility. It was taking some piece of art and tinkering around with it and then having opponents say, “Wow, that’s really cool!” I’ve learned many techniques on my own for gussying up cards to make them more aesthetically-pleasing, so read on as I share how to create blackout cards, smear art with acetone, and create foil versions of non-foil cards!
The Mauler has never been a conventional drafter, often making picks that cause other pros to shake their heads in bewilderment, but few people can argue with the results that he posts. Today, in one of the more insightful and yet highly controversial Limited articles we’ve published, Mauler gives his take on Betrayers Limited and suffice it to say that what Murray thinks about this format is may set our forums on fire with howls of disagreement.
This week Mike puts Sneak Attack to the test to see if it really is the sauciest goldfish deck in the environment. In addition, he also talks to some of the game’s best players to get their thoughts on the Extended format, the Limit of Skill, and playing threat decks vs. answer decks.
Today the Magic Jerk dips into his recent Pro Tour experience to illustrate just how good the Japanese really are, riffs on the skill factor in Sealed Deck vs. Draft, and delivers a few helpful suggestions to improve your Limited game. Tomohiro Kaji, this one’s for you!
Say there was this hot girl in your office that played Magic and you needed to build her a Standard deck that was cool, but still had a chance to win. What deck would you build for her and why? That’s the dilemma Romeo faces this week, but once you’ve finished the article, we’d like to know your deck choice for this particular scenario.
In this continuing deck primer on one of the oldest decks in Vintage, Steve takes a look at all of the components that make Multi-Colored Control successful, and includes a tournament report from a recent event where he put his updated build to the test and landed squarely in the finals.
After a recent bit of forum criticism, the editors of this site challenged Nathan to write again, since his previous works had all been quite solid. Nathan proved more than up for the challenge this week, writing about a stone-cold rogue deck for the end of the Extended season and including an impressive amount of goofy humor to boot. If you like Magic, you will probably like this article.
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.
