You know the drill people. Pip steps up and compiles the numbers, and then teaches you things about the Vintage metagame you can only learn from his analysis, and you can only find his analysis here at StarCityGames.com.
Dear Tim Hoyt Aten,
You’re officially insane.
Love,
Knut
Welcome to the grab bag, boys and girls! Today I’ll be covering a number of topics including underrepresented cards in the current format and opinions about which decks are viable in the current metagame, so I hope you’re ready to take notes.
Tired of hearing about Tooth and Nail yet? I’m sure everyone is, but the list I’m sharing with you today is somewhat different from the traditional, bland, boring, uninspired build and it earned me a slot at U.S. Nationals.
How exactly does one go from geeky chess club kid to Pro Tour champion and now employee of Wizards of the Coast R&D? Was he bitten by a radioactive mosquito? Or perhaps struck by a bolt of lightning? Today Zvi shares the story of his Magical origins including providing readers with some of his earliest deck designs.
Gifts Ungiven was just an overhyped, underpowered Fact or Fiction clone. Or that’s what we thought in the beginning. Now it’s the engine for most of the best control-combo decks in Vintage, but what build is the correct one? As usual, the conclusions I come to in this article may be a bit off the beaten path, but man do they make a good deck.
As I could not make it to Regionals this year, most of my recent play has been in drafts of the new Champions-Betrayers-Saviors variety. I am liking this format a great deal more than I did CCB – I couldn’t really comment on whether it’s a better format, but I know that I’m far more comfortable with it. That probably has something to do with the frequency of my drafts, which is way up, and as a result I’m in a much better position to comment upon drafts than I was a few months ago. The finer Limited writers on this here site here haven’t been quite as aggressive with the new tech as I was expecting, which is a shame, but I’m more than willing to fill the gap. That’s right, kids – I draft more, and you benefit!
Today, I’ll be casting my votes for the Magic Hall of Fame. Unlike with the Writer’s Ballot for the Invitational, I’m not actually on the panel, so my vote is completely meaningless instead of just 95% meaningless. Before I tell you my four choices, here’s a quote from Brian Kibler about an undisclosed product: “I’m no marketing genius, but I do know teenage and preteen girls.”
Last week’s challenge was to find the top three Saviors of Kamigawa multiplayer cards, and the winner — after several weeks of second-place finishes — is Edd Black, for his excellent and amusing work on One For Timmy! One For Johnny! And This One’s For Spike! Thus, Edd wins the $20!
Next week’s challenge?
I Coulda Been A Contender.
Now that Regionals is over and we will know shortly what decks came out on top, tell us about your crazy Regionals decks that didn’t work because Deck X was too strong. This is not a request for your tourney report, nor an explanation of how Homura, Human Ascendant almost worked in your Big Red deck. No, we want the craziest, the roguest ideas for Standard decks that utterly failed because Tooth and Nail was too strong or you couldn’t win against Mono-Blue Control to save your life. Tell us why your strangest deck utterly failed to make the grade, and you could win $20! Send your article into Mail us at https://sales.starcitygames.com/contactus/contactform.php?emailid=2 today!
While the rest of you are recovering from your Regionals hangover, we thought this would be a good time to remind you that Saviors of Kamigawa debuts on Magic Online this week. The Cak is there for you today, stepping up to the plate with a complete review of all Saviors has to offer in the commons slot as well as some advice on the Top 5 commons in each color and analysis of how the archetypes change in CBS.
That’s right kids, Tim Aten has been freed from his Premium shackles and he’ll be here all week, so get him while he’s hot!
That Romeo guy is always thinking ahead, preparing an extra special article on Kamigawa Block Constructed Red decks to help ease your transition from Regionals to the PTQ Block season. Huzzah!
I have judged at Worlds and the Pro Tour; I hope to do so again. But what the heck do I do if Wizards of the Coast puts Mike Long in the Pro Tour Hall of Fame, and not only invites him to the next event, but pays him an appearance fee to ensure he shows up? Do I watch him like a hawk? Do I ignore him, and let him get away with cheating? If I catch him, do I really want to get caught between a jerk like Mike Long and an organization that wants him to keep playing? If Wizards of the Coast pays Mike Long to attend, how can I give anyone else penalties for minor infractions – or even major infractions?
Knutson covers the final shifts in the metagame, tells you what deck he’d be playing this weekend, produces his well-tested Rats decklist, gives you attack plans for all the major decks in the format, and delivers a final Hall of Fame ballot that may surprise you. What more could you ask for?
The finalized list for Joshie Green, complete with sideboarding guide. ‘Nuff said.
