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Blog Elemental — Ban-Aid

Thank Goodness. I don’t know if it was a collective whoop or sigh that passed through the competitive Magic community yesterday with the DCI Banned and Restricted Announcement. For me, the announcement signaled that it may be safe to start creative deckbuilding again in the Casual Constructed room of Magic Online.

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The Combo That Couldn’t

This story begins way back when Darksteel first came out, when a little Artificer that goes by the name Vedalken Engineer caught my eye. He said to me, in the same crooning voice that he used to speak to so many others, one thing:”Turn 2 Gilded Lotus.” Yes, this little man, with an assist from Chrome Mox, could put a Gilded Lotus on the table just about as fast as a Tinker and leave you with more mana on the next turn than you would know what to do with. I had to have it.

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Updating the Metagame for Fifth Dawn: Tooth and Nail

Rather than rehash information about a deck most are already familiar with, I would like to examine Fifth Dawn’s impact on Tooth And Nail and what benefits other decks in the field could receive that might affect it. Regionals didn’t reveal much about Tooth And Nail that most of us didn’t already know. Elf And Nail has only now made an impact on the tournament scene, although it did make successful appearances at Regionals across the U.S. A series of strong showings and solid matchups seem to be causing an upswing in popularity of the deck, and many feel that Elf And Nail could be the answer to a field infested with Affinity decks. So it has proven to be a good deck, but that’s all about to change. Or is it?

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Mining the Crystal Quarry: Finally! It’s useful!

Ah, Fifth Dawn is here, and I have finally decided to return myself to writing. How could I resist? Crystal Quarry will finally see some real casual use, no longer fueling the one-in-a-million Sliver Queen, since no one really uses Cromat. The Sunburst mechanic will see to that. Amongst the dozens of set reviews there, I want to cover the odds and ends of these cards – play quirks, rules interests, and of course, the multiplayer and casual aspects of the best new ideas from R&D.

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Fifth Dawn in Five

Engineered Explosives
Single card in search of home. Likes decks with lots of different colors of mana, and few small casting cost permanents. Does not enjoy being related to cousins Pernicious Deed and Powder Keg. Instead likes to stand on its own. If you have a place in your deck for such a card, call us at 1-900-HOT-MACHINE-LOVE tonight. Don’t delay!

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Updating the Metagame for Fifth Dawn: MWC

The pre-Fifth Dawn metagame was cornered by a trio of Ravager Affinity, Goblin Bidding, and Tooth and Nail. Those three decks aren’t going anywhere until the next rotation, but will undoubtedly evolve with the new environment. While other writers will be focusing on updated versions of these decks later in the week, I’m going to take a look at what MWC gains from the new set and deliver a modified build of the deck that’s hopefully ready to compete in the new environment.

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18,000 Words: Putting the 5 in MD5 – A Look at Fifth Dawn in Block Constructed

Welcome to the last part of my look at Fifth Dawn across the various Constructed formats. On Tuesday we looked at Type One. On Wednesday, we moved forward towards Extended, and yesterday was a peek at Fifth Dawn in a post-Skullclamp Standard. This leaves only one format of note left to explore (sorry guys, not touching 1.5 or 5 Color) – Mirrodin Block Constructed.

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September to April: There and Back Again for Type One

Last time, I discussed the appearance rates of the cards currently on the restricted list, and took the opportunity to explain why some of them don’t belong there. This week, I’m going to look at a lot of noteworthy unrestricted cards and discuss their fluctuations over the last seven and a half months. For the people who’ve been paying close attention to Type One over that whole time, there won’t be many surprises here, but for the relatively un-hardcore reader, you can catch up on a lot of conventional wisdom all at once.

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Elf and Nail: The Best Deck You Aren’t Playing

I’m watching the match, and I’m thinking, what the hell? Wirewood Symbiote? Vernal Bloom? What in the name of Erik Lauer is going on here? Aside from the fact that Affinity was getting worked, that is. The deck – christened Elf and Nail – would win the Northwest Regionals, piloted to a 9-0-2 finish by Sameer Nelson, and the deck did incredibly well elsewhere. Immediately intrigued, I went home, built a copy and starting throwing it against the gauntlet I’d built for Regionals.

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Don’t Make Me Bring Out the Paddle!

Ben Bleiweiss posted an article a few days ago that I hadn’t read until I decided to write this. I hopped over to TMD after my Intarweb was working again and saw a new thread with lots of replies. Then I saw all of this crap spewed forth, and got annoyed, so I wrote an article, like this one, except a million times better. This article is merely a tribute to that one.

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Ask Ken, 05/28/2004

Is the Brock Parker I read about winning almost $30,000 in one event at the World Series of Poker the Brock Parker of Brockafellers fame?

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Three Days, Five Dawns – Artifacts in Fifth Dawn Limited

Wayfarer’s Bauble
This card is excellent. It’s a non-Green mana fixer, it’s a much-needed Myr replacement, and it’s perfect for giving that extra counter to your Sunburst cards. Additionally, it’s a one-mana artifact, which means it is enhanced by certain tutor or graveyard-retrieval effects. If you see one of these later than third pick, consider yourself a lucky man. Or woman. Or Ziegler.

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Yawgmoth’s Whimsy #100C: Enough Self-indulgence Already!

The original Visara is still great in multiplayer. In many games, the creature count gets high enough to cut the casting cost. The fact that the Avatar is not a Legend is also useful — I have had three out at once. The Avatar is a good, solid control element — which is the type of game I usually play. In Constructed duels, Visara is almost always better, but in multiplayer, Avatar of Woe rules.

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