Once or twice a year, I try to answer some of my fan mail and/or death threats in a column. This serves two purposes. First, I get to share some of the answers to the more common questions that get sent my way. Second, I get another quick, cheap column. Then, everyone’s happy. Or at least, I’m happy. Really, in the end, that’s all the counts.
I’ve put in a lot of time drafting this past year, and have become better at it than I’ve ever been. How likely am I to stay a good drafter when we change blocks?
Origins two kay four. I had skipped out on Origins last year for a few reasons, the main being that the year before it sucked mad hardcore. I opted for GenCon instead and that worked out much better. This year I decided to give the big O a shot and I was not disappointed.
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these, so I’ve been building up a collection of nifty data for you, including an analysis of the probable usefulness of Misdirection in Type I.
After sleeping for the first half of the flight from Washington, DC to Kansas City, I finally wake up and pull out my notebook. Since the first grinder begins in about six hours, I should probably come up with my decklist. The maindeck looks pretty good, at least on paper. I haven’t actually tested it yet. But finalizing the sideboard is the hardest part. After much scribbling and scratching out, it finally looks good.
Now we take our first step into the realm of Darksteel. Let’s delve right into White, shall we?
With Nationals behind us, Skullclamp now joins the ranks of attractive women and people of average body weight as things you won’t be playing against at a Magic tournament. A few weeks ago Wizards decided to ban everyone’s favorite piece of equipment and issued this formal apology . . .
Oscar’s continuing review of Fifth Dawn for Type 1, this time including such platinum hits as Night’s Whisper, Serum Visions, and Bleiweissian mega-bomb All Suns’ Dawn.
All the answers to yesterdays latest brain teasing set of play scenarios.
I played, as I have for the previous two years, at the English National Championships. I didn’t do as well as I’d hoped. Going into the event, I was ranked 12th in the country. Leaving the event, I presume I’m ranked considerably, and perhaps more realistically, lower.
I’m going to keep this relatively painless: nothing arcane or esoteric, references from the current Standard and Block environment, and a complete lack of math. I’ll also try to keep it short because I understand how theory can get boring fast. I am not positing anything groundbreaking here, but rather exploring an established part of the game, and trying to maximize its beneficial applications. What I’m talking about is Toolbox Theory.
Welcome to the next installment of Magic Puzzles in Play. You can see the first set of puzzles here. This time you’ll have the opportunity to test your skills with some of the new Fifth Dawn cards and mechanics. Once again, assume your opponent is playing his best to foil your goals. Good luck! The answers will be posted tomorrow.
Today my month-long blog experiment winds to a close. Today’s your chance to influence my thinking. If this blog hasn’t met your expectations, tell me why and what you had hoped to see. If you’re enjoying yourself, tell me so and what sort of content you’d like to see more or less frequently in the future. I’m feeling at a crossroads with the blog only thirty days in, and want to think through my next steps. I’m definitely energized enough to keep writing, I just need to decide whether it’s the blog I want to write or not.
