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      CASUAL FRIDAYS #145: The Pearl Hall Of Fame

      The thirty-five best white cards in multiplayer, plus over ten neatly organized staples for you law-and-order types. And a request to prove Anthony wrong! Shouldn’t be too hard, folks.

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      CASUAL FRIDAYS #142: The Ruby Hall Of Fame

      Anthony’s last week at StarCity starts off with the thirty-five best red cards in multiplayer… Plus over ten”staples” every self-respecting mountain mage has in their collection! Which Onslaught card has zoomed to #9 on the list? No, it’s not Insurrection.

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      FINAL JUDGEMENT: Playing Around, Part II

      My foray into mediocrity at the last Houston Qualifier led me to try it again at one of the early PT: Chicago Qualifiers. After all, what’s a better way to spend an afternoon than going 3-3 with your friends?

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      From Right Field: How To Get Ready For States

      Neither of these decks are groundbreaking. I mean, where are all of the Onslaught cards? But you gotta remember that sometimes, new cards just don’t help certain decks. Look at PTQ Chicago in 2000: Fires decks were all the rage. But what won the thing? A good, solid Rebel deck. Invasion didn’t give Rebels anything… But it also didn’t take anything away.

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      Onslaught Of Wits!

      “Hi, my name is Dave, and I’m a Wits-aholic….”
      “Hi, Dave.”
      “But back when Battle of Wits occasionally won tournaments, Toby and Brock ran the same number of counterspells: Thirty-six. Are there even nine counters in Standard today that are worth playing? And does that mean that Wits is dead?”

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      CASUAL FRIDAYS #140: You Have To Retire To Get The Hall Of Fame Right

      Before you start the Hall (which begins today), read this primer so you know how to get the most out of its new, interactive features! Damn, we’re starting to look good on this site – and we’ll look even better now that Alongi’s announcing his StarCity retirement, which should also boost our image.

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      The Daily Shot: Mulligans And Manascrew

      Anyhow, I was playing this Etherlords computer card game with a couple of other guys. I had a good time, and after about five games, I wondered aloud to myself what was so different. Then I realized: There were no lands. And hot on the on the cranial-pathway-burning heels of that thought was this:”Man, this is nice.”

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      …And If You Made The Sets Right, Spoilers Wouldn’t Bother You

      Wizards shouldn’t write articles how they’re vexed with the fact that I’m allowed to judge a set on its own merits – and not as it is presented in their carefully-presented propaganda induced visions. Strangely enough, they weren’t featuring Skittish Valesk as one of their preview cards.

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      Magic Art Matters: Pregnant Pro Players

      This is the reward for winning the Invitational? Ouch! If I were to ever be immortalized on a Magic card, I’d be hoping for a better overall effort. I think an Invitational card should be clearly-focused on the character, and it should faithfully capture the likeness of the winner of the Invitational. This is, unfortunately, not the case with Voidmage Prodigy.

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      Starting From Scratch: The Key Points Of Building A States-Worthy Deck From Nothing

      Here is a depressing little fact: Almost no rogue decks win major tournaments. Jamie Wakefield’s PTQ win with Secret Force is legendary partly because of Jamie’s writing skill and partly because he was like the Little Engine That Could – failing repeatedly with the same deck before finally qualifying. I’m the king of rogue decks, and if I really wanted to win, I wouldn’t go rogue… But if I did, here’s the basic steps I’d take towards making a competitive deck.

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      Building Your First Five, Volume 1: Planning It Out

      I asked a few of my friends why they hadn’t gotten into Five Color yet; after all, they enjoyed watching Five Color play. Was it the ante? Getting the cards? Not having any powerful cards? Not wanting to use sleeves? Nope; they didn’t want to build the deck, because they didn’t know where to start. And if that is you and why YOU’RE not playing Five Color, then just read on.

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      The Daily Shot: Onslaught Red Finish

      Thoughtbound Primoc really reads:”If your opponent is playing bad cards, he may gain control of this creature sometime during the game, if your removal and Sparksmith doesn’t get rid of the 1/1 after he pays 2U for it.”

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      You CAN Play Type I #62: Opening Up Onslaught, Part III – The Sorceries

      Blackmail is clearly a second-rate Duress. But is that bad? Well, actually it is – unless you can find a deck that wants four more discard slots. You know, though, that no deck wants all that discard, the simplest reason being it sucks to strip an empty hand while a weenie beats down on you. Discard is just disruption; you need other things to win you the game.

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      The Daily Shot: Onslaught Red Review, G – P

      Goblin Sligh might just be fast enough to work in Extended. First turn Lackey, second-turn Flunkies, attack for one, drop Goblin Piledriver. Third turn Piledriver #2, Reckless Charge it, attack for twenty-one!?

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      How To Get Ready For The Coming Onslaught – Lands And Artifacts

      Island

      This is the land that makes blue mana. If you have two of them untapped, your opponent will always worry that you have a Counterspell. As such, many people consider this the best land ever printed. And for good reason! If you have two Forests untapped, what is your opponent going to be scared of? Double Giant Growth?

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