What do the secrets of Team Limited, swords of meat, the decline of American Magic, Wake Forest, and I Blame Bung have in common? They are all covered in Zvi’s lastest article documenting his thoughts on what is likely his last Pro Tour.
It’s not often that you get to go behind the scenes during a deck’s development, but that’s exactly what Quentin Martin delivers today. The “Top Deck” as it was so named, received more coverage than any other new deck at Grand Prix: Eindhoven and in this article Quentin shows you how the deck came about, what changes they made in testing, and what the deck looks like now that eight of Europe’s best players put the deck to the work against over a thousand other players at Grand Prix: Eindhoven!
As I write this, people all over the world are looking at all of the available decklists from this weekend (and previous weekends) that are available at Wizards of the Coast’s website. Whether by stick or carrot, Wizards has managed (at least in theory) to get all of the tournament organizers out there to provide their Top 8 lists. As Mike Flores has already said, we haven’t seen this kind of depth of information available since the days of the Dojo.
But really, it is much more than that. We’re living in the middle of the longest Grinder of all time.
Whether or not you like B&R list debates in Type One, this last one was more like hammer to the forebrain than a regular old discussion. Since this debate was arguably at least as intense as November 2003, lots of people were flailing around looking for support for their contentions. Unlike that past incident, which happened before I started my articles, this time there was a concentrated supply of data besides morphling.de’s deck database. I got cited all over the place and learned a great deal about what sort of information you folks want and need to see. As a result, I’ve tried to overhaul my presentation to give you as much information as you can handle.
As many readers will already know, I began the bad rare challenge as the last article in my first run of A Deck a Day. The bad rare challenge is simple. I pull a bad rare out of my “low value rare” box in order to build a deck. I cannot refuse any rare. The idea of bad rare deck building appealed to me so much that today I’m writing a follow-up article for it.
This past week, as I was getting ready to participate in one of the Magic Online release leagues for Betrayers of Kamigawa, I received a private message from CPAlliance member the Orgg. He requested that I join him in a MODO game of 2/2/all Emperor – also known as “Standard” Emperor. But there were some serious issues involved in the game which made it a tough experience to enjoy.
What I’m going to say today needs saying if for no other reason than it may save some innocent victims a few hard-earned dollars and run-ins with some unsavory leeches that are sucking this game dry. I will be exposing a couple of back room practices that occur in many gaming establishments and even in tournament settings – and even accepted as the “norm” in some cases – but designed to separate the uninformed (or the “unconnected”) from their cards and their money.
There is nothing like the thrill of discovery. That “a-HA!” moment when you finally understand a concept is the buzz that drives scientists, songwriters, and even Magic deckbuilders. A couple of weeks ago, the Magic community had a collective “a-HA!” moment when it was confirmed that, yes, because of the way that Genju of the Fields’ activated ability is written, a player can gain life multiple times during one combat. The question is… can we build a deck around this?
Ah, good old cards, how I love thee. I was perusing my deck stock binder, trying to find an idea for today’s article, when I espied Homarid Spawning Bed. This gem from the past allows you to sacrifice Blue creatures for 1/1 tokens equal to the casting cost.
I immediately thought about good ol’ Scornful Egotist, the eight-mana 1/1. I’ve never actually built a deck with Scornful Egotist, but this feels like as good a time as any.
A lot of people have said that Green is the deepest color in Betrayers Limited and noted pundits like Tim Aten put Matsu-Tribe Sniper at the top of the commons heap. Nick respectfully disagrees with both sentiments today, but to find out what the best common, uncommon, and rares are in Green, you’ll have to check inside.
Today Mike takes a look at some of the more intriguing questions to come out of this Extended season. Will we ever see another format like this one? Is this the greatest Constructed format of all time? How in the world do you choose a deck when there are thirty viable decks out there and more being discovered all the time? Flores knows…
The problem with the Casual Challenge is that sometimes, you face tough choices. For this week’s Type Four: Limited Infinity challenge, we had several articles, each good in their own way. Andrew Farias brought up some troubling issues with Type 4 rules, whereas David Kleppinger wrote an excellent introduction to Type 4. However, in the end I’m going to have to give it to Andrew Lubich’s Ten Cards You’re Not Playing With In Your Type 4 Stack (But You Should Be) for sheer creativity — it wasn’t the most strategic of articles, but the cards he chose were consistently geared to create a more interesting game. Thus, Andrew takes the prize in the tightest squeaker yet!
Since we were discussing a format with infinite mana this week, next week’s challenge will feature infinite cards — or at least 250 of them. Next week’s Casual Challenge?
5-Color Magic.
That’s right — win $20 for your best writing on the all-color format! We’ve had a dry spell on good 5-color articles, so send them in to Mail us at https://sales.starcitygames.com/contactus/contactform.php?emailid=2 and win the prize!
If you assume that TJ properly balanced his ratio of en-Kor, Target-Me-And-I-Get-Bigger guys, and sacrifice outlets in his Grand Prix: Boston Life deck, then taking out Task Forces for Worldly Tutors is a perfectly legitimate swap. All other draws being equal, Worldly Tutor can always turn into a Daru Spiritualist, which leaves you with the same effective number of Target-Me guys overall. You lose a card in the process, this way, but in exchange you receive the vastly superior Spiritualist over the underpowered Task Force. Of course, this means you now have to add green, but I don’t want Living Wish in it. Why? Read on.
Mike explains his fascination with decks that bear the Dan Paskins Seal of Approval, and offers up a most teched out decklist of the most popular deck this Extended Season. People will be playing this decklist at your local qualifiers, so the only way to get a drop on the competition is to read this article.
Now that Affinity is officially dead, we expect a landslide of new Standard articles discussing the bevy of new possibilities open to savvy deckbuilders. Adam of the Funny Last Name starts things off today by peeking at an overlooked two-mana instant that may see some play in the upcoming Standard and Block Constructed seasons, and includes a G/W Control deck that showcases the card’s versatility.
