"Wow, I haven’t written in a long time." My articles always seem to start out that way. The fact of the matter is, I was in quasi-retirement for a while. I still played, but I didn’t playtest or practice; I just went to PTQs. Let me tell you this strategy is bad if you are…
Three parts to today’s article. First, some early feedback and ideas on "singing decks." Then, a followup to an earlier conversation on women in casual Magic groups. Then, the winner of Connect the Dots. PART ONE: NOT OVER UNTIL THE FATTIE SINGS I am really pleased with the mail my last column generated. It felt…
There’s some Magic stuff, but mostly I’ve been dreaming unspeakable dreams in my sub-oceanic crypt outside of time. ***** BEGIN ARTICLE ***** If you called me an easygoing guy, I wouldn’t be at pains to disagree. So when my landlord dropped by two weeks ago to give me the news of a week’s worth of…
(Editor’s note: Thanks to the lateness of the season, I got this too late to post ON Thanksgiving, which really would have made a lot more sense. And ya know, this really doesn’t have much to do with Magic and has practically no content outside of an extended Props ‘n’ Slops. (But don’t be a…
Business before pleasure: I’m awarding two prizes in my "Who the Heck is Dominic Symens?" contest. The first to respond was Dom’s friend Pierre Cools – who also identified what I was really looking for, namely that Meneer Symens finished third at the first World Championships. I’m also going to award a prize to Jeff…
For those of you who recognize the reference I made in my title, this article is not about politics OR Saturday Night Live. Actually, it – like all other articles I write – is about Magic. But, this one is a bit different. Usually I write something about the storyline, or new rules, or my…
Do you hear them? Do you hear the cries? The hills are alive with the sound of Extended. Countless articles have been done already about the Extended metagame. I think I’ve read most of them, some of them more than once. I don’t LIKE Extended, because it’s staid. It’s predictable. The same archetypes perpetuate; it’s…
Ten Extended Decks to Beat: Counter-Sliver Counter-Sliver is another relatively new Extended archetype, arising from the synergy found between the Slivers from Tempest block. The deck is a perfect example of the aggro-control deck: Play out a few threats, start beating down your opponent, and protect your assets with countermagic and spot removal. Chris Senhouse…
PTQ-Tokyo, Columbus, November 18 Friday, November 17: Episode one, and stuff. The moment I realized that I couldn’t take it back, I wanted to. That was then, this is not only now, but the future as well. No takebacks here. No bootlicking for amnesty. Where do I go from here? To the losers bracket, slick….
Have you ever been mugged? I’ll tell you, it’s irritating. Not because you’ve lost some money; yeah, the financial hit’s a hassle, and you’re gonna be eating macaroni and cheese for a couple of weeks… but in the end, it’s just a couple of bucks. You’ll survive. What twists in your gut, what burns deep…
In the wake of States, we can give a preliminary estimation of the impact cards from Invasion; while there are undoubtedly still some sleepers waiting to catch on, the top 8 decklistings from States gives us enough data to start on. What will be interesting to see is whether there are Invasion cards that were…
I just got through reading Friggin’ Rizzo’s article " Mode: On." (I started about six or seven hours ago.) I have one question for my readers: "Am I the only one who stands by Rizzo?" (By no means – ) Rizzo, I don’t know if I’ve ever written you a personal email, but I’ll tell…
Ferrett keeps getting on me about writing opinion columns instead of Judging ones. (Only ’cause YOU get bored sometimes, Sheldie – ) I swear I’ll do that soon – as soon as I run out of fascinating (*cough*) Judge stuff to talk about. Oh, what the hell. Let’s skip the Judge stuff for a week….
In the spirit of holiday procrastination – yes, we are close enough to the holidays to start procrastinating, why put it off? – I am delaying the Connect the Dots contest winner for another week. Honestly, when I start one of these things, I look over the stuff I’ve promised in the recent past for…
Archaeologists were thrilled last year when they discovered a Persian library, which had lain in a remote ditch for the past fourteen centuries. Buried almost wholly intact underneath a canopy of vines, the library was nameless except for a set of mysterious symbols carved onto the walls; it turned out later that the words were,…
