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StarCityGames.com Is Looking For Casual Writers!

As a part of the revamped Casual and Multiplayer section, StarCityGames.com is looking for new writers to produce weekly columns on alternative formats! The two formats we’re looking for experts on are Peasant Magic and Tribal Wars.

Potential writers must be able to:

  • Write a consistently entertaining column, week in and week out;
  • Have a basic knowledge of that format’s general metagame;
  • Be able to come up with creative, interesting decks (or reports on other interesting decks found elsewhere);
  • Be able to explain why a particular deck is good (and, more importantly, why it’s not good) to a casual general audience.

Note that for Tribal, we’re not strictly concerned with the smashing the format, but are looking more for someone who can design a deck around a specific creature race every week. (Hint: Don’t start with Goblins.) Still, it should be able to stand up to the competition in Tribal Wars or Creature World.

If you think you can handle this, please email a sample column and links to any previously-published articles to The Ferrett, Casual and Multiplayer Editor, at Mail us at https://sales.starcitygames.com/contactus/contactform.php?emailid=2.

In Search of the Triple Delicious: Betrayers Black for Limited

I never got to assemble Kaldra, but that doesn’t mean I’ve given up my other dreams, including all five Hondens in play, using the Green Myojin to toss out the other four, and to a lesser extent, attacking with an 8/12 trampling land. In addition to the Black review, this article contains a large section focusing on my attempts to pummel people with Genju of the Realms in draft.

Weak Among the Strong: Grand Prix Goblins, Part II

One of the things I think is often lacking in Magic articles is honesty. I’m not talking about people giving inferior lists so they can protect their tech, although that certainly happens. I’m talking about people not being honest enough with themselves to be honest with us about what they did and why. Today I will be fully honest about exactly how well my Goblin deck performed at Grand Prix: Boston, the mistakes I made with it, and the modifications I feel are necessary to make it even more competitive in this crazy environment.

Beneath the Vast Indifference of Heaven – An Aluren Tale

Anyone who has read Pale Mage over the years knows one thing: the man is obsessed with Aluren in Extended. Oiso’s Aluren win wrested the pale one from his Magic writing coma and set him straight on a curvy path of deck analysis, complete with a look at the successful Aluren decks over the past few years and Pale’s own PTQ vartiation he will be playing for the rest of the season.

SCG Daily – Doctor Mox Tackles Type Two, Part Deux

After whipping through the frenetic world of Affinity and Tooth and Nail yesterday, today Dr. Moxenstein turns his keen analytical eye on Green/Black and Mono-Blue in your favorite Friday Night format.

Training Wheels – A Reflection on the Use of the Intuition/AK Draw Engine in Control Slaver

One cannot doubt that Control Slaver has been growing both in popularity and success in Vintage. Many prominent players were critical of the deck at first, but it has since put up enough results to convince the skeptics. While the deck’s ability is beyond dispute, what has not been settled is the question regarding the optimal build. In this article, I focus on an important issue that many players face when constructing their Control Slaver lists: should the Intuition/Accumulated Knowledge engine be in the deck?

Papal Bull: It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year – The Restriction Candidates

In the first half, I went over the restricted list and covered the mechanics which appeared in the restricted cards. To recap, they were undercosted cards (Ancestral Recall), overpowered cards which cannot properly be costed (Balance), mana producers (Black Lotus), cards which are overpowered in multiples (Black Vise), tutors (Demonic Tutor), and combo engines (Dream Halls). In this half, I’ll go over some of the other cards that are unrestricted in Vintage that might fit into one or more of these categories along with some of the commonly requested restrictions.

Metagaming

The term Metagame, like the terms postmodern and existentialism, gets thrown around a lot by pseudo-intellectuals who don’t actually know its meaning. The word metagame means, most simply, the types of decks that are being played in a geographic area. The metagame includes both deck archetypes and individually tuned decks. For example, the metagame for an area might consist of control decks. There might be one prevalent control deck, or a couple of different types, but control decks are being played the most overall. The metagame is what will determine whether your deck succeeds or fails.

Building Decks With Bad Rares

Abe has a deck with three hundred and fifty of the worst cards in Magic in it. He reaches in, pulls out a card… and no matter how bad the card is, he has to build a deck around it. What five dreadful cards does he draw this time, and what sorts of decks can he assemble when the core is a sucktacular card?

Fighting the Best Decks… With the Best Decks

Now that would be telling.

The Intricacies of U/R in Champions Limited

Fresh off a Top 4 finish at Pro Tour: Nagoya, Murray Evans is here to give you the skinny on how to draft the deck that carried him to another Sunday finish: Blue/Red. In addition to detailing how to draft it in Champions Limited, Murray also gives you updated information on what will be good for the archetype out of Betrayers and tells you whether or not he thinks the deck will still be viable when the new set rotates in.

SCG Daily – Doctor Mox Tackles Type Two

Dear Doctor Mox,
Don’t you realize that TYPE TWO is the only true Constructed format? Who cares if there’s a PTQ season ongoing? FNM is the tournament that separates the men from the boys!
Come on, Mox! Pull your finger out! Give us the skinny on the Standard scene!
Aaron,
Renton, WA

Ruud Run Amuck – Euro Hijinks in Japan

Though he didn’t post a stellar record at Pro Tour: Nagoya, Ruud managed to bring back some interesting stories and solid strategy from his travels. Whether you are looking for opinions about ninjutsu or salsa dancing with Japanese hotties, this report has a little of everything.

You CAN Play Type I #147 – Betraying Kamigawa, Part II: Artifacts and Enchantments

Oscar takes a look at Betrayers Artifacts and Enchantments today as well as continuing the replay of “Oscar’s Greatest Misses.” Is there anything in the new set that will make a dent on Vintage, or does the whole set whiff when it comes to playable new cards? Only the Oscar knows…

Betrayers of Kawigawa: Standard Applications

Zvi begins to apply Betrayers of Kamigawa cards to Standard in order to gauge whether any of them will change both the current metagame and the post-banning one that will be coming in March. He also includes a new Red deck in Standard, weighs in on Aaron Forsythe’s announcement from Friday, and gives his opinion on the current Invitational voting.