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Selecting 9th Edition Dilemma – Hammer!

Since Phoenix is a creature, I figure it will win this week’s vote regardless of whatever silly words Ben and I put on the page discussing the merits of each card, but this is a vote the mtg.com readers may get right. For once.

Selecting 9th Edition Dilemma – Phoenix!

Here’s the updated Oracle text for Hammer of Bogardan as of August 1st, 2004:
Hammer of Bogardan deals 3 damage to target creature of player wayyyyyy slower than Barbed Lightning and a turn later than Volcanic Hammer.

RRR2: Skip the rest of your turn. Use this ability only during your upkeep.

The GFC Freshmaker and the Lost Art of Deckbuilding

Four PTQs have gone by in the Ohio Valley for Pro Tour: Columbus, and all four have featured at least one copy of the GFC Freshmaker in the Top 8. In the first PTQ of the season at Origins 2004, three people (including myself) made the final cut with the deck. There have been eight Top Eight appearances by teammates/partners of the GFC in those four PTQs, with more than twice as many top sixteen performances in the same PTQs. I only have one question for you: Why aren’t you playing this deck?

Blog Elemental — My Job Here Is Done

As a special thanks to Jay on the last day of this tremendous experiment, we are running Blog Elemental in the Strategy section. For those of you just catching up with Jay’s deckbuilding, we encourage you to relive the excitement by checking out the Blog Elemental archives. Here’s a snippet from today’s article:”It’s also interesting to note that since version 2.0 of the deck, I’ve had a very respectable 64-11 record in the Casual Constructed room of MTGO. That’s probably a higher winning percentage than I would expect from an evolved preconstructed deck built for casual play.”

Bring On the Vikings!: Another Look at Big Red

For the PTQ recently held in my neck of the woods, I decided to go with Big Red, primarily because I liked that it had game against the entire field, and in the words of teammate Chris Fox, “when in doubt, burn ‘em out.”

Rule of Law: Back From the Dead!

Those of you who were around the old Magic Dojo site might remember a series I did at the end of 1999 called Rule of Law. With this introductory article, I hope to resume it here, picking up where I left off.

Multiplayer, Tournament Style

Current scuttlebutt around the watercooler is that Wizards, with its first deployment of “official” rules, is attempting a foray into multiplayer tournaments. Will this destroy the sanctity of the casual player’s realm by throwing a few sharks into the fish pond? Or will it become a paradise for those estranged individuals who long for more social interaction in Magic?

Blog Fanatic: I Deny!

Chris: “Pay two life, discard that. I’ll gain two life with my Fountains.”
Anthony: “Whoa, whoa, whoa Huang! Give me a second to think here.”
Chris: “There’s nothing to think about. You can’t have the card.”
Anthony: “Let me think about it.”
Chris: (Getting more annoyed). “I deny!”
Anthony: “What?”
Chris: (Grabs the card out of Anthony’s hand, and throws it in Anthony’s graveyard) “I deny!”

Blog Elemental – The Budget Cog Elemental

Cog Elemental has added some key rares since its initial Nuts and Bolts decklist, but the heart of the deck is still a pile of commons and uncommons. Heck, most of the variations I discussed last Friday are also fairly rare-light. One of the comments I’ve heard from several people online and in the Forums is that the deck can be built for far less than $50 total. Even still, on this penultimate day of my experiment, I want to retrace my steps and look at how to make a version of the deck that is truly”lite” (a phrase I coined on magicthegathering.com meaning”without rares”).

From Right Field: All You Need is Blog, Part Dos

Okay folks, we have to be honest here. Romeo’s out of ideas. No really, there are only so many times you can write about Centaur Glade, Johnny Damon’s hair, the model for Eternal Witness, Lindsay Lohan, and playing Magic with your brother who lives in Iceland. Therefore, your job is to read Chris’s latest ramblings and then chime in with ideas for Chris’s next article. In the meantime, enjoy a variety of budget decklists Chris has been working with on Magic Online.

Changes in Five Color — July

All Suns’ Dawn is up for Banning
Bringer of the Black Dawn is up for Banning
Eternal Witness is up for Restriction

Change the minimum color requirement to twenty cards of each color.

Yawgmoth’s Whimsy #107: Multiplayer Rules

In his latest article on mtg.com, Paul Barclay introduced draft multiplayer rules and asked for feedback. Since I play a lot of multiplayer, I have some feedback. I’ll go through the rules as released, with the rule sections in Italics, and spout off about them. Then I’ll talk about the things these rules don’t cover, and other problems (and I’ll throw in some MD5 stats at the end).

Blog Fanatic: Those Damn Cheaters! (Part 2 of 2)

Kirk (sarcastically):”Well now, isn’t it convenient that you drew four Swords to Plowshares by turn 4?”
Me (surveying the game):”Just about as convenient as you drawing four Hypnotic Specters by turn 4, wouldn’t you say?”
Kirk (averting my gaze):”Um oh, um, well, I guess we’re both lucky.”
Me (driving the point home):”Yeah, right Kirk. (Derisive) Lucky.”