I talked to Carl a bit after I had made my decision on the winners in order to find out what modifications he made to the deck over the last few weeks. He told me he hadn’t changed the maindeck (there was too much synergy in the build he originally submitted), but he did provide a sideboard that represents a virtual transformational sideboard against other control decks like Tog, MBC and Slide.
I became somewhat enchanted with the Green/Blue deck I played at the M’s Collectibles Invitational. It performed so well for me and gave me a nice feeling that I hadn’t felt in a while in Constructed: The feeling that in some games, there was nothing my opponent could do to stop me from winning. Let me show you my unconventional sideboard (no Composts?) and the sideboarding strategies for each matchup.
Here’s the dirty little secret to casual and multiplayer games – people do not want to think long and hard. If you present them with a mess like a Spike Feeder, a Seal of Strength, and a Wild Mongrel, they are not going to attack you – they will attack someone else who doesn’t force them to do as many mathematical calculations. In most cases, you don’t need to have an indefensible position – a complex position is often enough redirect attacks. It sure works for me.
It won the thirty-player Kings Games Tournament. It won the NEC tournament at the Dragon’s Lair in West Hartford, Connecticut. Alex and Zvi both made the top 8 at the MagicSingles.com Invitational with Elvish Succession; Alex defeated Zvi in the quarterfinals and went on to take 2nd place. Rob’s played it in eleven Magic Online eight-man tournaments, splitting in the finals of seven of them for a total match record of 16-4. Is this the dark horse for Regionals?
I’m going to tell you about how I was soundly defeated in Round 1 of the single-elimination cube draft by Josh Rider. This in itself is not newsworthy, but his method of victory was a strange one – he took me down without a single shot being fired. In fact, he took me down solely via his extremely clever method of being drunk off his ass, using a technique I like to call”Strategic Inebriation.”
For those competing this weekend at U.S. Regionals, at this point you’re either putting on those last polishing touches, reviewing potential opponents’ deck lists, trying to decide which deck of your favorites to go with, or cramming for a deck at the last minute. No matter which applies to you, the time for abstract theory is over and the time for decklists decklists decklists is in full swing! In this article, I’ll be covering as many archetypes as I’m capable of, with a focus on the key choices available while keeping an eye toward the metagame as a whole. No deck exists in a vacuum – and after this article is done, hopefully you’ll know where yours stands.
Regardless of whether you chose to run U/G yourself, you are going to see a boatload of Wild Mongrels that first Saturday in May; many Wonders will be pitched and there will be numerous flying Wurms, of both the Arrogant and Roaring variety. So why not take a closer look at the art on the core cards, and let your right brain take over for a bit?
Drafts containing lower-level players play by a different set of rules than those that take place at Pro Tours and Grand Prixs. I wanted to dissect an amateur draft and try to work out exactly where certain players went wrong. Not top-level drafts – but drafts with players of varying skill, such as those you may take part in at your local store or on Magic Online. In order to do this, I had to talk to the players after the draft and find out what decisions they made and how they affected the draft. Hopefully, the results are worth it; they certainly opened my eyes to a few things.
The Rogue in me is battling with the Johnny in me. I’m down to B/R Land Destruction and CounterRift, and I’ve decided I’m gonna test them both to see how they do – or if they do well at all.
I had just finished writing about the Elfball deck for the Magic Online site, and liked some of the interactions of the other cards in it, so I decided to make a more Standard-worthy version of the deck and try it out on Magic Online. At 9 a.m., I had lost only one game and decided to split in the finals. Somehow, my Elf deck had gone undefeated…
Last time, I explained the deck’s infinite combos in great detail. While the sheer ridiculous power of going infinite is fun – including a sideboarded-in infinite damage loop that can wipe out combo decks – you can often defeat your opponent with the deck’s humbler”finite” combos. Learn why it’s wise to chump block at twenty life on turn 4 against this deck!
Ted’s contest has been screwed by random circumstance twice – once by getting it in just a little too late for a Friday posting, and once by the technical problems we were having yesterday morning. So let’s try this again: HELP TED SELECT THE DECK HE’LL PLAY AT REGIONALS AND WIN A FOIL!
I have no quarrel with people who throw around twenty-point Drain Lifes or someone who triple-Spirit Links their Exalted Angels. These may be examples of sick, disgusting excess – but at least these people are advancing the game state. They are actually doing damage, not hiding behind unassailable walls and gaining life for the pure sake of gaining life. Well, friends, I want to say that I have the cure for this never-attacking, death-by-boredom madness…. And it’s something I work with every day.
I wrote last week’s Back to Basics column because I thought I had to clarify a concept discussed in the previous week’s column. Now, it turns out that I have to clarify the clarification, and people ribbed me that the beginner’s article still went over the beginner’s heads.
