Richard Garfield’s deck uses a strategy that has gotten zero attention on the net… But with Garfield’s 3-0 record in the Standard portion of the Wizards Invitational, perhaps it’s worth checking out. Let’s review his deck, as well as all the other decks with winning records, and see if there are any lessons we can possibly glean from three rounds of Swiss in a very insulated metagame.
In commemoration of St. Patrick’s Day, a local card shop I was affiliated with would have a St. Patrick’s Format tournament every year. The format was simple – play only with green cards. But there are more issues involved in creating an all-green format than you might think… And Abe outlines them all in perhaps the best article we’ve ever seen on why you should play a crazy, whacky format.
If you want to draft all day without it costing an arm and a leg, you have to be smart. You can’t draft like it was the Pro Tour. I hate-drafted a Riptide Biologist out of a pack that had nothing for me when I was playing R/G Beasts, and passed the rest on… Including a Flooded Strand. The veteran MODO players at #mtgwacky laughed at my foolishness:”You ignoramus!” they chorused.”Flooded Strand is a third of a draft all by itself!“
I challenged you to name the top fifteen cards that would show up in the format, by quantity, and rank them in order. Whoever comes the closest to predicting these fifteen cards wins your choice of a box of product, or $50 cash. But here’s the catch: Nobody is winning that box. You know why? Cause I’m going to win my own contest. I am to make sure that none of your money-grubbing hands gets even a single fingerprint on the outer plastic wrap of my box. Here’s the fifteen cards that will – WILL! – see the most play at Venice.
The good thing is that we’ve already backed up the Lavaborn Muse with a solid body in the Mindslicer. What if the Muse isn’t in play? The Mindslicer is still a 4/3 that can decimate everybody’s hands.
QUESTION: Won’t losing our hand hurt us, too?
ANSWER: LA LA LA LA LA I’m not listening LA LA LA LA LA
“So you’re pretty much betting the farm on the fliers, huh?”
“That and Kamahl, Fist of Krosa.”
“I’m not sure I would be comfortable with that plan, dude.”
“In this environment? I’m not. But we’re playing in a very old building, and there is always the possibility of roof collapse of some other disaster taking out half the field before the end of Day One.”
“So, you’re an act of God away from making Day Two?”
“Basically.”
Ted’s”Win $50 For Your Deck contest is almost over, and he wants to remind you that it’s there. Oh, and he wants to give you his statistical analysis of draft colors from Chicago, and to tell you what color skyrocketed in popularity in Onslaught drafts, and to complain about The Sideboard’s reporting. Oh, and hot chicks.
…and the Onslaught Limited analysis continues with StarCity’s latest Featured Writer! Tim says:”Red isn’t too exciting, but any cards that can attack and block for a decent price are good enough to make the cut. The playables extend almost all the way to the bottom of the list. And also like green, there isn’t much difference in power between a lot of the cards, so you’ll be using this set to fill in the holes that Onslaught left in your deck.”
All of our friends agree:”Contracting facial syphilis is far better than opening a Dream Chisel.” In fact, we’ve been known to do the”Dream Chisel-ward dance” prior to opening any pack of Onslaught. But was there any way we could have made the Chisel good without making it overpowered?
Sadly, Nick Eisel is no longer with Star City. His presence will be missed, but we have the good fortune to have hired another fantastic player from CMU to pick up where Nick left off: Paul Sottosanti. And while Paul is going to show you a different road, I believe there is only one card to put as the second-best common pick in White: Daru Lancer.
As a quick look at my credentials, I’m qualified for Venice and I’ll be qualified for Yokohama based on my Limited rating, so I should hopefully be seen on the Pro Tour for a long time… And I’m here to tell you that as important as tempo is – after all, how many games are ended by Dirge of Dread or Wave of Indifference? – the Lancer only gives you early-game tempo when he’s blocked.
Haven’t read the Legions novelization yet? Curious to know what’s going on with all of those wacky pitfighters – Kamahl, Akroma, Phage, Ixidor, Braids, and the as-yet-uncarded The First and General Stonebrow? Daniel neatly summarizes the latest plot events for you, and provides a capsule review at the same time!
The Bird Deck does get a wonderful enchantment in the form of Soulcatcher’s Aerie. Admit it: 1/1 dorks are going to die. That’s about all they’re really good for, besides occasionally attacking for single points of damage. But no, dying is their skill! It’s their bad stylish ability. And the Aerie rewards you for having your stupid birds die in horrible, painful fashions. And that’s really what military strategy is all about: Stupid, annoying birds dying in droves.
This article is not about Nick Eisel. All he did was remind me of all the good reasons there are to cheat.
There are three formats that deal with playing creatures of the same type – Goblin Wars, Tribal Wars, Creature World, and such. Each of them are different, but they’re all tremendous casual fun; let’s start with a basic overview of the different types, and then I’ll give you a couple of decks, including the surprisingly-potent Spirit deck.
