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Yawgmoth’s Whimsy #76: Going Rogue, Part II

In Part I of this article, I discussed the why and how of rogue decks, and provided some general rules for their construction. Now I’ll build one, to provide a practical example of the process. The trick was to find a rogue deck concept that hasn’t been thoroughly discussed in articles and forums already. I think I have one: Intruder Alarm, Squirrel Nest, and something to animate lands, like Vivify. So what happened when I tested this deck in a modern Standard environment, what were the two pitfalls I had to avoid – and how did the deck turn out?

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Breaking The Silence: PTQ Top 8 Report

I realize a U/W Control Onslaught Block decklist is nothing new, but it was groundbreaking when my teammate Ian Welter came up with the idea a month and a half ago. The extra month I had to test the deck before Grand Prix: London made all the difference. My deck was better tuned, and I knew how to play it better than the hordes of people who had been playing it for only a week….

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The Latest OnBC Tech… P.T.Q. Richmond, VA – Top 8 Decklists!

Goblin decks with Goons instead of Piledrivers? You betcha! Check out the SIX teched out Goblin decks that blazed their way through the swiss rounds at this past weekend’s Pro Tour New Orleans Qualifier… then check out the U/W deck that took them down…

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Living The Dream: Day 2 At Atlanta!

My love for Block Constructed put me in danger of not playing in the Grand Prix. I thought about preparing for the Grand Prix, but decided against because I knew what I wanted to play. A lack of preparation made me think I was not going to do well, so I just wanted to have as much fun as I possibly could. How can you not have fun reanimating big stupid creatures? That is the only reason I went in playing Reanimator! It had some game against Wake with all the disruption main, and with Akroma, Angel of Wrath, Phantom Nishoba, and Visara, it had some game against the aggressive decks of the format like Goblins and U/G. In theory, the deck seemed strong, and in truth the amount of fun I was going to have Stitch Togethering some dorks would outweigh my overall results regardless.

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Choose Your Own Adventure: What Splash Should You Use?

Nick’s back with his series on the tiny decisions in Magic, and this one’s a doozy: You have a base-black deck. What should your splash be? A very in-depth analysis of how you should look at Limited decks, and how a bad choice can lead to cards that have no synergy with the base color’s plan of attack…

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Mining the Crystal Quarry: Reanimation And Its Impact On Multiplayer Games.

When Torment came out, Hypnox was the card that caught my eye as something to try to make usable. Then the ruling came that Clone, when cast copying a Hypnox, would indeed take away an opponent’s hand. That was just begging for someone to put it all together. Now, Reanimator decks in multiplayer have to be as speedy as possible to contend with the greater number of threats. Unlike a duel, decks in multiplayer need to last longer and have a long-term plan. This deck has both raw power and a late game.

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Mirrodin: First Impressions

You know, the other day I found out Mirrodin was The Artifact Set and I thought only one thought…

That maybe now was the time…

The day would finally come…

Manakin would be reborn!

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Richmond, VA – OnBC Qualifier This Saturday!

Still looking to qualify for Pro Tour New Orleans? This Saturday… look no further than Richmond, Virginia and an exciting day of OnBC action head judged by Sheldon Menery!

[Click Here For Our Complete Event Schedule!]

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Back to Basics #7: Counting Tempo (Part III)

In Part I, we recapped card advantage and summed up that drawing extra cards is like taking extra turns. However, this is put in context when you consider that an extra turn has other components aside from an extra card draw. In Part II, we went further and showed that you also maximize your mana in a particular turn by paying the lowest mana cost for a given effect. In 2003, however, I feel that even the concept”mana” as broadly discussed doesn’t cover everything about tempo; today, we’ll track tempo in the way that Rob Hahn did – attack phases.

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Yawgmoth’s Whimsy #75: The 101 Best Mechanics In Multiplayer

Recently, several writers have been debating the best cards for multiplayer. Any best card list like that is going to be difficult, and will be missing a bunch of cards due to brain farts, but those lists do stimulate discussion. Now me, I’ve written mine already, but I want to weigh in on the debate, so I’ll take a different approach. I want to talk about the best mechanics and effects for multiplayer – with a few cards thrown in for good measure.

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Breaking Down Zombie Bidding

Zombie Bidding, it has been noted by pundits who are better-known than I, one of those pseudo-combo decks masquerading as a creature-oriented aggro-control deck – say that three times fast. The idea is to basically hold the fort until you can get the graveyard chock full o’ Zombies, Patriarch’s Bidding them back, clear the board – yes, that means you too, Akroma, Angel of Wrath – and then sweep over the next turn for the kill. Lather, rinse, repeat until opponent is dead.

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Randy Buehler Lied To Me: How To Scrub Out At Your First Grand Prix, And Other Observations

You may notice that it’s basically the same as Gabriel Nassif’s deck from the Standard portion of Worlds, except I took out the Phyrexian Plaguelord and the two Shambling Swarms for three Nekrataals. This is a classic amateur mistake: Net-deck one of the pro’s decks, then”improve” it. This almost always turns out badly, and my case is no exception. Of course the Swarm is the best anti-creature card in Nassif’s deck; the only time Nekrataal is strictly better is if your opponent has a Roar of the Wurm token out, and Wonder in the graveyard, and he’s not holding Circular Logic. The Swarm makes Wild Mongrel cry, turns Gempalm Incinerator into a badly-costed 2/1, refutes an active Sparksmith, and is a major pain in Siege-Gang Commander’s ass. And that’s before I even get started on the nuttiness of Swarm + Cabal Therapy….

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Ice Age Through The Looking Glass

Curious to see what the latest Magic novels are like? Daniel provides a Cliffs Notes summary for you, telling you the official backstory behind the Ice Age expansion!

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A Punishment For My Sins: A Grand Prix London Report

“I hear you attended the recent Grand Prix in London, Mr Stevenson.” I know the next question before it’s asked.”How did you finish?”
My shoulders slump.”Badly.”
“We know you finished badly, Mr Stevenson. We want you to tell everyone about it.” I swallow hard. The voice becomes sharp, vindictive.”So write.”
“If I do this,” I ask,”will you let me go?”
There is laughter. Then a click. Then silence.

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Mining The Crystal Quarry: 8th Edition For Casual

What can you do when everything in a particular set has been released already? 8th Edition, just like every base set before it, is a way to mess with Standard and release old cards for newer players to”catch up,” as it were. But that’s probably the best way to approach this set – to get acquainted old cards and obtain the ones you wanted to get so badly. Along with this reason, most of the commons and uncommons are pretty standard… So this article’s only going to go over the rares, and show you what sorts of cool casual decks you can build around ’em.

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