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Last week, Stephen Menendian wrote an excellent article about removing several cards from the Vintage restricted list. Much discussion ensued, both on StarCityGames.com and TheManaDrain.com forums. All through the debates about what should or shouldn’t be unrestricted, I saw an underlying question that fuelled the entire debate, but was never spoken out loud: I wrote my article as a response to Stephen’s article, and finally the right questions were asked – though not in the way you might have thought.

Unhinged really ramped up the power level from Unglued. In some areas, that additional playability is a really good thing… But some cards are simply sick in terms of power. The problem that I have with this is that is goes against the grain of releasing a casual-only set. Admittedly, these cards aren’t designed to be played in tournaments and sanctioned events…. But despite that, the power level of some of these cards is amazingly high. Take Mox Lotus, for example. A card that makes infinite mana of any color on its own is enormously broken. Sure, that concept is funny for a few minutes, but what casual table really wants it running around?

By 10:30 in the morning of September 2^nd, I was certain that I had written my last real article on Magic. It had been almost a year since my column work on Sideboard.com had ceased to be, I was far from in love with Wizards – and I’d just lost the first round of draft day at Worlds, prompting me to become the second of three-hundred-and five players to drop from the tournament. Forty-some Pro Tours and a few hundred articles later, I was done.

…But then came a shocking development.

From what I’ve heard here thus far, the majority of the Australian public has abysmal taste in music. It’s like they took the poppiest parts of the 80s and 90s and just keep recycling them over and over as “classics.” I’m guessing Milli Vanilli and New Kids on the Block were huge here. Tiffany clearly should have come down under to continue her musical career instead of showing her bits in Playboy, and Hillary Duff has already made this choice, which appears to be working out well for her thus far.

Long-time reader, first-time asker John Cochrane barrages me with eight questions on editing vs. webmastering, the locations of old writers, international politics, and whether I prefer chocolate or vanilla.

Greetings, and welcome to my travel diary! About a month ago when I was first given the opportunity to travel in Australia and Japan, I figured it would be interesting to chronicle my journeys for all to see. I’m a pretty keen observer of culture in the U.S. – why not extend that eye to my journeys as well? Thus, this series was born.

As an editor, you know that you should probably take a serious look at a writer when Mike Flores calls you up at home and says, “You have got to hire this guy. He’s great.” You may not have heard his name before, but Michael Clair is the New York State Champion, a Regionals Top 8 finisher, a PTQ and PCQ finalist, a man with a 1920 Limited rating… And he’s also our latest Featured Writer. Today, Michael discusses racing and combat math, showing how to utilize your life totals for maximum gain.

Some years ago, there was a Sideboard Ask the Pros question that asked, “What is the most difficult deck to play?” In order to correctly answer that question, we must first describe certain elements of Magic skill. What does it mean for a deck to be “difficult to play”? What does it mean for a format to be skill-intensive or skill-testing? Is Type One, a blisteringly-fast format, one of the toughest… And what is the most difficult deck of all-time?

Richard Vaughan asks:

“Of all the writers who have come and gone, who is your favorite, and who do you miss the most? (I will not be very surprised if both answers are Rizzo, but Meh!)”

Actually, it’s not Rizzo…. And I do have a personal favorite, which is not to slight the other many wonderful writers who have put their stamp on SCG. But do I dare to actually mention this man’s name in print?

Oh, heck, I just might.

The guy next to me handed me my deck as if it were a dead squirrel. “I’m sorry,” he said funereally.

“Why? What’s wrong with it?” I asked, alarmed.

“Oh, your deck isn’t bad,” he said, in tones that indicated that it clearly was. “It’s just all over the map. Good luck trying to build a deck with it.”

Having played enough Sealed games in the interim, I know now that I definitely misbuilt my deck at the Prerelease. But that’s because I’ve learned a few lessons about Kamigawa Sealed – some that I could not have possibly known at the time, and some that I should have learned from past seasons. What could I have done differently?