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Hello and welcome to my own temporary daily series outlining a casual deck of some sort or another. Adam Gryphondorf has done an excellent job these past few weeks with his article series, and now I have the torch. My series will feature casual decks, not decks that I recommend taking to the next PTQ or anything. Although some casual decks have a solid history at local store tourneys and Friday Night Magic, the majority of these decks are designed for the kitchen table.

Intrepid reporter Eli Kaplan has slowly been making a name for himself by posting solid finishes at Japanese Grand Prix. This time, paired with a motley crue of teammates, he attempts to strike gold by once again proving that the Japanese players are not the only ones who can earn money at Japanese Grand Prix.

A sad day, my friend. At this very moment, while you’re reading these very words, you’re reading the first words from the last article of the Golden Age series. Even though this daily column has gotten about as old as a piece of poorly-fashioned smørrebrød that no one at school will touch because Little Rasmus Rasmussen from Viborg might have burped on it; even though my jokes have become as stretched as those small, dark, stretchy things that you find in roast chicken; even though etc…I’ll miss it. There are so many brilliant Mirage Block cards I’ve yet to namedrop.

Noah Weil has something to say and he wants y’all to listen, yo!

With Betrayers coming out soon, I think this week is a good time to take a look back at some of the initial reviews of CoK Limited and see what we can learn from the mistakes that were made in initial evaluation of the new cards as well as how the format turned out as a whole. I do realize that this format will still be legal on MTGO for some time, but I think it’s still worth analyzing what has changed over the past few months of drafting in comparison to the initial insights on the set.

Chad tells the tale of how he hopped off the Magic gold course and right back on the Pro Tour for the second time in a row, though in this tale he gets by with a little help from his friends.

It doesn’t matter where I’m heading or how lost I get along the way. I’ll always end up back in Mirage. It’s not just that I like black people on my Magic cards (though, Lord knows, there aren’t many of them outside of Mirage). There’s also the wonderful setting, an environment far-flung from that of traditional fantasy. Sometimes, though, Mirage ignores its keynote mechanics, leaves the Phasing, chimera, and griffins behind. Sometimes, it plays good, old-fashioned, hardscrabble Magic.

For better or worse, I am now a part of Anthony Alongi’s infamous multiplayer group and it is my duty to host this week. My upbringing has taught me that a good hostess will always have an ample supply of food, drinks and booster packs. With a Sam’s Club right down the street, food and drinks are never an issue. A steady stream of inexpensive booster packs, on the other hand, is another matter entirely. I went upstairs to take stock of my Champions of Kamigawa booster packs only to find my ample supply had dwindled down to twelve. I tried to recall exactly where my once ample supply had disappeared to and it came to me: I think our group has been bit by the Emperor Draft bug.

When your eyes and my words last met in mutual, pixilated embrace on this very computer monitor, I was teasing you with promises of more the Dark. Well, I am not a politician, and my promises, far from being empty, are quite often brimming with expectation of fulfillment. You’ve already read about the wonders of the Dark’s White and Blue. Today, we’ll take aim at the other colors, jump right into it, and mix our metaphors right from the start by sizing up Red.