So why did Ben Kowal choose to play this metagame sleeper and how did he end up as the number one seed coming out of the swiss, and finish one game short of making the finals? The details are right here!
In the fourth installment of Peter’s series searching for tech in the bones of Extended seasons past, he examines the great set rotation of 2001 and then explores the new decks and old archetypes that arose, including many that you will see this coming season.
Nick weighs in with his initial thoughts on drafting with Betrayers of Kamigawa, then shares some of the ideas that have already been popping up at CMU!
Mike unveils his new version of White Weenie, then sends it off to battle nine of the top decks in the Extended format! So how did he fare? Only one way to find out…
Bonjour mes amis! Today we have the fourth installment of the Daily Deck-a-thon. Today’s deck revolves around a Champions of Kamigawa card named Godo, Bandit Warlord. We are going to build a Red/White deck based around both of Godo’s abilities. Let’s take a look at the deck first, shall we?
Until now, Teams in Vintage have simply just “been”. There has been no classification, code of conduct, or any real structure to how a team is formed. Teams tend to sprout up as if nothing went into its formation and rivalries are formed among people who don’t even know each other. In this article I plan to help end all that with clarifications of what really matters in the world of teams.
Carl skipped the Richmond Power 9 to play in his Syracuse prerelease and play in the snow. Told in the usual Crazy Carl style, this report is a little light on the tech, but heavy on the fun.
The scarce resource is a fundamental strategic concept, whether in business, life or Magic, but it doesn’t get talked about nearly enough. Understanding scarce resource theory will help you draft, sideboard and make tough judgment calls during play, and is just as important a fundamental as card advantage or tempo. If you’ve been looking for a general guide that will lead you to making better plays, this is it!
This is going to be a long one, so I’ll keep the introduction short. This is a first look at the Constructed quality of Betrayers of Kamigawa. Since my expertise is only in Standard, I’m going to leave Limited and Extended evaluations to other people. I’m also going to give a separate rating for a card’s Kamigawa Block Constructed worthiness, since that format is quite different from Standard.
It’s that time again. It’s time for the release of a new set, full of plenty of new cards waiting to be sprung upon the magic populace. New cards are, fundamentally, a cool thing. New toys to play with means more fun for everyone, right? And better yet, if those new cards have a new ability, some interesting mechanic to tinker with and build around, that creates even more possibilities! Every keyword added to the game gives players more options for deckbuilding, more choices of what direction to go. Keywords are an all-around good thing. This is Wizards of the Coast’s attitude, and I agree with them. To a point.
Welcome back to the third installment of your daily dosage of deck. Today we are going to feature an old 250 combo in a neat, tight, sixty-card deck. The goal of the deck is simple, and I think that many of our readers might like it. It is a bit rare-heavy, but that can easily be changed. Let’s take a look.
In Part I, we looked at some of the most extreme matchups for Extended White Weenie, both the worst (board-locking NO Stick and Pernicious Deed-packing Rock), as well as what we initially thought of as some of the best – Red Decks. While the various Rock decks and U/W control were about as bad as expected, and Red Deck Wins was maybe even better than expected, Goblins didn’t turn out as expected at all. In this section, we will round up most of the rest of the expected Extended metagame and begin to determine if White Weenie is bad or just misunderstood.
Welcome to the next installment of A Deck a Day, the column where we rustle up a deck for you casual players. Many of my regular readers probably know that I’m on the Five Color Ruling Committee (or Council, I can never remember which, and I always see it abbreviated 5CRC, so I don’t even know). What many of you may not recall is that I also sit on the Peasant Magic ruling body as well. Although I recently had a Peasant Magic article published in Scrye, I haven’t written here about Peasant Magic for a while. Let’s change that today.
Stax has been an important part of the Vintage metagame since its introduction in early 2003. Back then, the card choices were pretty easy due to the limited amount of broken stuff. Sphere of Resistance, Smokestack, Tangle Wire and Meditate were indeed the only lock components available before Mirrodin for an artifact Prison deck (Winter Orb does not fit in Stax’s game plan). Now, we have plenty of new tools in the form of Chalice of the Void, Thirst for Knowledge, Trinisphere and Crucible of Worlds. Nevertheless, card slots are not expendable and choices have to be made in order to have the most finely tuned build according to your metagame. This article will provide general guidelines for answering most of the questions you should ask yourself if you want to take Stax at a Vintage tournament.
Over the last few columns, I’ve mentioned Shrine decks. It’s always been in the context of “What does this deck have in the sideboard for Shrine decks?” Most people, it seems, don’t understand why I’m worried about Shrine decks. The reactions have run the gamut from “You’re a silly man who makes me laugh with your worrying about Shrines” to “What a stupid idiot you are! No one plays Shrine decks!” I beg to differ – those decks are ubiquitous online. That means that someday soon you’ll be facing them in real life, too.
