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Top Eight Decklists from the Star City Power Nine Tournament in Richmond!

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Richmond marked the debut of a new Vintage archetype… “Mean Deck Oath”. A majority of the field seemed unprepared to face the Oath of Druids/Forbidden Orchard “combo” and four members of Team Mean Deck piloted “Mean Deck Oath” straight to the top eight. What sort of impact will this have on Chicago? Will Team Mean Deck dominate again? There’s only one way to find out! Join us on Saturday, November 6th when the Star City “Power Nine” Tournament Series comes to Chicago!

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Those Shifty Souls

Laura Mills takes her first real look at Champions and uncovers the power of soulshift, both in Limited formats and in… Constructed? While the shifty souls might not quite be ready for primetime in sixty-card decks, this is definitely a mechanic to keep an eye on.

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Responding to John Davis’s

Level 2 Judge (and all-around hipster) Seamus Campbell responds to John Davis’s article yesterday with a reasoned look at the complaints in the article and the responsibilities of judges in general.

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Sealed Revealed: Card Pool Ten

Since at this point it’s safe to assume that you know what’s going on in this outstanding series, we figure it’s easier to give you a sample of today’s article as incentive to read: “The Deceiver cycle have very unpleasant names. Cruel, Brutal, Feral, Harsh, Callous. They’re getting such a bad press… Where are the nice Deceivers? The Fluffy Deceiver, the Is-Kind-to-Animals Deceiver, the Generous-to-a-Fault Deceiver? Remember, kids: Deceivers have feelings too. Equal Rights for Deceivers!“

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Sealed Revealed: Card Pool Nine

While the guys are playable, the White in this pool ain’t particularly inspiring. There’s nothing here to make me rip off my clothes, put my underpants on my head and run screaming down the High Street yelling “don’t trust the monkeys.” Which of course, is a bonus. Especially since the court-order.

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Changes in Five Color — October

On the ballot this month are issues dealing with Mana Crypt, Gifts Ungiven, Recurring Nightmare, Restock, and the Judgment Wishes.

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Top 10 Things I Learned From the 2004 Championship Deck Challenge

Magic: the Gathering Champs logoTo better prepare our readers for Champs, StarCityGames.com hired some of the best Constructed deckbuilders and writers in the world to explore the new Standard format, and according to the feedback we received on this project, it was one of our most successful ideas ever. Today Mike looks back on everything that he learned from designing and testing decks for the Challenge and shares with you ten lessons that will help you rise above the competition tomorrow and secure a spot in the top 8.

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The 2004 Championship Deck Challenge: Mono-Colored Madness!

Magic: the Gathering Champs logoJim brings you both the good and the bad of his Champs testing experiences, complete with not one, but two tribute decks to Indiana Jones. There’s something here for both casual and competitive players alike, so dig in and see what your opponents just might be playing tomorrow.

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The Cak’s Thoughts On… Champions – GP: Austin *T16*

Fresh off his top 16 finish in Austin, the man they call “The Cak” is back to share his experience and give his thoughts about the top 5 commons in each color. If you are looking for someone with a proven track record to give you his opinion on this fresh format, The Cak is your man.

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Sealed Revealed: Card Pool Eight

Craig is 100% certain that you will disagree with at least some portion of his build today, or he will refund your money! While most Magic players will be playing Standard this weekend, Craig is here for the Limited lovers among you, to provide you yet another outstanding exercise in order to help you improve your skills.

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Mixed kNuts: Five Things You Absolutely Must Know For Champs

Magic: the Gathering Champs logoYear after year, Kanoot has come correct with the skinny on what you have to be prepared to see when you walk into your Championships. Which decks will see the most play this weekend? Which decks are bad choices, given the current metagame? What else do you need to know to be fully prepared for what you will face this weekend? Knut has all the answers, and even includes a way to pry his States decklist out of his greedy little hands. If you are playing this weekend, this is an article you absolutely cannot miss.

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What’s the Situation?

I’ve got a piece of “Limited Information” for you guys to analyze from one of our regular drafts at CMU. I ended up arriving a little bit late this week since I had to give my best friend Jeremy Darling a ride down to CMU. We got there just as the first draft was starting as a result of his sluggishness, and I decided that it would be better to help Dr. Martel draft than to just sit around and do nothing until another draft started up. In doing so, a very interesting pick came up and I’d like to get input from you guys on it, since Martel and I didn’t agree initially.

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Finding the Tink…er, Control Slaver Deck

It’s been looking more and more to me that Type One is playing out more like a series of PTQs than Pro Tours. In this system, a set of top decks are known and the metagame tends to evolve weekly based on the results from each week’s PTQs. Here, the important skill is not the ability to build new decks, but to figure out which decks beat which and most importantly, which decks will be the big decks next week. Therefore, it seemed like a good idea to take a closer look at the top decks you will see at this weekend’s Power 9 tournament and figure out which decks might be good metagame choices.

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Yawgmoth’s Whimsy #114: It’s Too Late Now!

Magic: the Gathering Champs logoThere’s less than a week to go before States. You should have already chosen your deck. You should be very comfortable with it, and know it inside and out. You should have developed sideboarding strategies, and have a good idea of not only what comes in, but what goes out in each matchup. The worst mistake you can make, just before a major tournament, is to change decks. New decks are alluring, but you must resist the temptation. Unfortunately for you, I’m here to provide a heaping helping of temptation for those of you that like to play rogue decks. Looking for something off the beaten path? Follow me, my friends.

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You CAN Play Type I #141 – O Brave New World! Why the Type 1.5 Change is Good for Everyone

Frankly, I’m surprised that none of the usual suspects commented on Type 1.5 at length here on StarCityGames.com, and it’s been a while since the new Banned list was announced. Or rather, no one aside from Sebastian Smith, who managed to unseat me from my lofty perch as the indefatigable sourpuss of Vintage in just one article. Simply, I don’t understand where all the negative energy about the “new 1.5” came from, but I’d like to examine what the new format provides not only Type 1.5 players, but Type 1 players as well.

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