The year is winding down, but Steve hasn’t stopped tallying decklists for the mid-sized Vintage tournaments and analyzing what they mean. Which decks sit at the top of the Type One metagame these days and which ones are in decline? Steve’s got all the answers inside.
If you could pick the ultimate Top 8 – what format would it be and who would be there?
I recently got my hands on some Unhinged cards, so I’ve been looking at integrating them into decks. Some are stupidly broken, some are just bleah, but some are actually pretty interesting. Unhinged is also a reasonable set for Limited purposes – something I did not really expect from a silver-bordered set. At the request of our editor, I decided to take a comprehensive look at the Limited, Constructed, and Multiplayer possibilities inherent in this fun new set and report my findings.
I heard you were big into martial arts. Can you teach me to kick ass like Jet Li?
Today Nick throws down his thoughts about Jabberwocky, Mystic Restraints (overplayed), Reverse the Sands (a potential bomb), and a particularly tough pack he faced recently. He also muses about a potential new draft archetype he stumbled upon recently while drafting a bad Dampen.dec.
What was your first album purchase, and what 5 albums would you take with you to a desert island to keep you company for the rest of your days?
Phil takes a look at the last two months of big Vintage tournament data and also breaks down the various points being made in the Mishra’s Workshop/Trinisphere banning debate. What does the data say about who’s right and who’s wrong here? You’ll have to click on the link to find out.
Hi! Are you tired of all of these Magic terms and words getting tossed around like lunch in an old sailor’s stomach? Ever wonder if you prefer control, combo, or aggro decks? Do you prefer winning, being clever, or playing big effects? Are you competitive or casual? Are you more inclined to be rogue or run a netdeck? Whew! All of these Magic identities running around! What kind of Magic player are you? Take this simple test and find out!
Kanoot wraps up his travel diary to Japan and Australia with tales of barhopping in Yokohama and pictures of toilets. Seriously.
You can’t have the name “Knuts” and be a quality writer/editor/metagame predictor/website administrator/tournament reporter/deck builder/card evaluator.
Who’s doing your writing? It’s time to come clean!
Is there a competitive Type Two deck out there built around the splice mechanic? John Matthew Upton has been researching this very question for a couple of weeks now and is finally ready to detail his answers.
This week I’d like to talk about a draft archetype that is near and dear to my heart: R/W jank. I was reading an article by Ken Krouner the other week and he said, “I have even heard rumors about Akki Avalanchers and Lava Spike making their way into highly aggressive decks built around Kami of Fire’s Roar,” while talking about red pick orders. Now if you’re anything like I was a few weeks back before Brian-David Marshall ushered in the era of the R/W jank deck here at Neutral Ground, you probably laughed whenever you saw someone play a Lava Spike without shocking something. That said, if you’ll give me a few minutes of your time, I’d like to introduce you to this deck, and maybe you too can whimsically debate around the draft table if there is any deck better than R/W jank.
In one of the best submissions we’ve received all year, Mark covers a variety of methods and mindsets to help you turn a losing situation into a win. We’re sure you will judge this for yourself, but Gene Siskel returned from the dead to give this article a big fat thumbs up, so you should at least check it out.
I’m going to kick a few hornets’ nests today. I think that everyone who has written about most challenging format gets it wrong, so I’m going to cover that. I will also discuss the whole issue of Contract from Below and ante in 5color. Abe Sargent has described banning Contract as the abortion issue of 5color — it raises heated debates, with zealots on both sides. Time to feed the flames.
Kanoot takes a look at the events of the second Vs. System Pro Circuit and investigates some similarities and differences between the Pro Tours, while delivering quotes like this: ‘Antonino actually had the best quote of Sunday when he said “Oh my God, I’ve been sitting here so long that I can actually feel myself growing fatter waiting for you to figure out the right play.”‘ He’d also like your help in answering a pressing question that’s on his mind after witnessing this weekend’s events.
