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An Open Letter to Sol Malka

It doesn’t take a genius to guess the best of the Tier Two Rogues will be drawn to playing B/G this year. That’s where you come in, Sol. Only you can help me. If you were to publicly declare B/G dead in Type Two, all of this could be avoided. These people will listen to you, Sol. You’re practically the pope of B/G. Every freakin’ B/G deck ends up being called The Rock. That’s kinda your fault, right? So, the way I see it, you’re responsible for the well being of anyone who chooses to play those colors. They are your flock, as it were. You must save them from themselves.

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From Right Field: Spring Cleaning Edition — Now Hall & Oates Reference Free!

This was the first great weekend of Spring for us down here in Tennessee. I know that meteorologically Spring was still two weeks away. Like most people, I don’t measure seasons by the calendar. When the signs of Spring appear, it’s Spring. And Spring can only mean one thing here at the offices of From Right Field: Spring cleaning. Oh yeah, and chicks in short shorts.

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Ask Ken, 03/16/2004

At the request of Mister Krouner, today’s question cannot be posted to the front-page viewing public due to its violent content and sensitive nature. Enquiring minds need only check inside…

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Yawgmoth’s Whimsy # 94: Playtesting and Inbreeding

I am going to do something awful to my fellow writers. I am going to compare early metagame predictions with the actual metagame, as it is shaking out now in European regionals and the Type Two last chance qualifiers at PT: Kobe. I’ll do it to myself, too, and then I’ll give you a breakdown of the Top 8 decks from the European Regionals that have occurred thus far.

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February Type One Potpourri

Have you ever wondered just how much things like Alternate Casting Cost, Madness, Flashback, and your favorite mechanic affects the Type One environment? Are you curious to see how much each set is represented in Type One top 8s? Maybe you’re simply looking for a Magic article that features less blow-hard opinion, and more analysis based on facts? Whatever the case, Phil Stanton has the scoop, so all you need to do is check inside…

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Trading Manlands for Moxen: The Saga of Standstill

Steve Menendian sits down at the table and tells me that he has tested the Fish matchup a lot and is shaky about it, though he feels he can pull it out. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I wasn’t playing Fish, and as Carl von Clausewitz says in his military philosophy, don’t stop your opponent when they are making mistakes! He plays a typical strong opening hand with plenty of mana acceleration. Steve drops a fat artifact which gets Annulled and then follows up with Mindslaver later, which hits Mana Drain, accelerating me into a Disk. At this point, Steve has the epiphany that I am not playing the little Blue men, but it’s too late…

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Ask Ken, 03/15/2004

What is your take on the Nick Eisel situation back from Grand Prix: Boston? Do you think he cheated or was he just in the wrong place at the wrong time?

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Nothing Productive

The great Rob Hahn once claimed that the entirety of the Magic universe, all the games played, all the packs sold, the Pro Tour, and everything else, hinged on one thing for their existence: the friendships that Magic creates and fosters. If you think about it, Rob’s claim makes a lot of sense. How else can you explain staying up until all hours”playtesting” a”matchup” where both you and your partner know the outcome? You might learn something, you might not… oftentimes, it’s really just an excuse to hang out and have some beers.

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The Decks of Steve

One day, an idea occurred to me. Why don’t I write about the decks my friend Steve ends up playing? They are almost uniformly rogue or less-played ideas that many of StarCityGames’ readers, in my mind, would probably love to comment on. This is a feedback welcome article, and any part of this series that follows will also be open to feedback. Good reader ideas will go into Steve’s decks and then I’ll report back to you on how he does with them.

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Ask Ken, 03/12/2004

“In an MMD booster draft this past Saturday at a local gaming store, I was faced with the following possible first picks: foil Crystal Shard, Grab the Reins, Spikeshot Goblin, or Glissa Sunseeker. The pack was quite possibly the best pack of Mirrodin I’ve ever seen, and I had no idea what to pick.” Plus the Good Man of the Week, all in the latest edition of Ask Ken.

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Ask Ken, 03/11/2004

What dirt can you tell us about the rift in YMG regarding a tech leak during PT New Orleans?

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Yawgmoth’s Whimsy #93: Scrap Metal

I can’t talk about the other decks I’ve been testing that are crushing the R/G and MWC decks, but I can talk about Ravager Affinity. Card by card, and color by color. I should warn you that I’m going to be heretical in parts of this article. For one thing, I’m going to argue that Blue does not belong in Ravager Affinity.

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A Stronger, More Loving World: How Psychatog Has Influenced Type 1 Control

Like Steve Menendian wrote last week, Tog has completely changed around how the metagame in Type 1 needs to be viewed. This week, Knut’s asked me to look at how Type 1 would change without Tog. In terms of how the metagame would be changed, it’s pretty obvious. I’m going to focus on the various lessons that Tog has taught to Type 1 deckbuilders.

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Three Casual Decks with a Psychic Twist

After a week of reading articles about Type Two decks or block ideas along with the occasional store tournament, it feels really nice to play with a different sort of deck – the type that defies typical tournament conventions. If you are looking for a deck to play casually that seems to run on a different axis than most, allow me to present three personal creations of mine that I have found to be a lot of fun.

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Inside the Metagame: Goblin Bidding

If anyone is interested in playing Goblins – first off, I hate you. Yeah that’s right, I hate you. Why? No, it isn’t because I’m some sort of nutty rogue deckbuilding elitist. It is not because you are a netdecker and netdecking is the devil. Those are all filthy lies distributed by the press. No, I hate because you are going to smash my face in. Over and over.

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