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StarCityGames.com had always been among the largest Magic the Gathering buyers in the world, but our sales had increased to a point where we simply could not buy enough cards to meet the demand. With that in mind, we knew something had to be done…

Longbow Archers is probably the dumbest card to remove from the base set. Seriously, they ejected a solid 2/2 for WW, and brought in Sword Dancer? That’s like trading gold bullion for bronzed puke, and I can’t imagine the reasoning behind it. Well, actually I can – they probably couldn’t fit the first strike reminder text in the box alongside”This may block creatures with flying.” If they’re so mindful about space, perhaps they can tell me how best to maneuver my foot up their collective poop chutes (with a minimum of chafing on entry or extrusion on exit)?

I am one of the people who thought that Counterspell was not overpowered. Too many of you whined about control. I think that you whined because you couldn’t adapt, and you were too in love with your little fatties to try to adapt. Well, guess what? Control is more than just blue counters. I’m going to feel really good when I start using other control methods to kill you precious fatties.

I’ve been playing with Scourge in Limited for a few weeks now. I’ve been practicing for Nationals, I used it in the Team Grand Prix in Pittsburgh and have been discussing card quality with my teammates. All this Scourge work gave me a hankering to try my hand at something I haven’t done before: A comprehensive set review.

So I had an amazing winning streak. What was my secret? Oh, very well, I’ll tell you. Lean closer.

As I finished tying up the loose ends on my list of black cards, I realized the true depth of the color in the set: In Scourge, there are solid playables all the way down to #21! Cut black hard the first pack, and you’ll rarely be disappointed. Speaking of disappointment, I discovered that Jeff Cunningham has a much larger reader base than I do, so I think it’s time to inform you about how he really plays. Fun Fact: One time, when an opponent played Decree of Pain against Jeff Cunningham, he got so mad that he kicked a puppy down a flight of stairs.

I can’t say enough good about this card, as I have actually started drafting white again because of it. Before Scourge, I would only touch white for a bomb Onslaught rare, and now I draft white whenever I feel I have a good chance of getting this card in pack three… And it’s not Zombie Cutthroat, Frontline Strategist, Zealous Inquisitor, Noble Templar, or an Aven.

>Elske van der Vaart’s article reminded me of one very important point that I only barely touched on in my original article, Counter This! I would have been content to leave it at that – but a second opinion has come to light, making the statement that Elske and I were bashing counterspells in multiplayer games, particularly free-for-all games. So it’s time once again to defend myself – and moreover, further expand on a previous idea.

There were still a lot of Beasts decks there, but there were plenty of Goblins running around as well. It seemed like Astral Slide was an acceptable metagame call – and even though I did well, I should have sat this one out. This is what I played. Be warned, it indeed is a pile. I credit the performance to having really really good matchups.

At this time, Yu-Gi-Oh outsells Magic, but not quite as much as appearances would suggest. I watch Yu-Gi-Oh players of ages eight to twelve wander into the store and throw down more money than I’d care to admit. I have no idea where these tykes are getting their hands on freshly-printed, unmarked one hundred dollar bills, but as I wipe off the cocaine left over on the textured bling I am struck considering what exactly is better than Magic in this game.

Ted Knutson recently sparked a pretty robust debate on the”best” writers in Magic’s brief history with his article Love’s Labour Found. One thing that struck me while reading the forum chat on this was that a lot of the newer players have not been exposed to a lot of the historical pieces upon which Flores and others base their conclusion. There is a lot of really good stuff out there that many people will never get to read… Well, maybe they will get to read a little bit.