Wednesday, June 9th – Standard, it seems, is packed with powerful options. Thankfully, there are many viable decks, and the all-conquering strategy is largely a thing of the past. However, this creates its own problems. Today, Sam Black examines one of the lynchpins in the current metagame: the power of the four-mana spells. How will you approach your next Constructed tournament?
Tuesday, June 8th – Constructed metagames adapt with each new tournament, and the more successful mages always seems a step ahead of the crowd. Today, Kyle Boggemes looks at both Standard and Legacy, suggesting lists for both formats, and shares some interesting tips to help us get to grips with any given format…
Tuesday, June 8th – For weeks, I’ve done nothing but try to solve the equation that is Standard. Each week, a different deck rises to the top, only to be crushed the next week by that deck’s bad matchup, and the cycle repeats over and over again. In the last few weeks, Blue-White Control took down GP: Washington in the hands of Brad Nelson, but many other decks continue to perform on different stages.
Monday, June 7th – King of the Fatties Jamie Wakefield introduces himself for those unfamiliar with his legacy, and has a few strong words for those who doubt him. He also tries a different spin on his Green-loving deckbuilding, and returns to a pair of numbers that have been synonymous with him since he started playing…
Friday, June 4th – In today’s edition of Duel With Ruel, Antoine pits the fabulous UWr Planeswalkers deck against Manu with Mythic Conscription. Both decks have proved themselves in high-level tournament play… Will one of these builds take home the prize at the StarCityGames.com Open in Philadelphia this weekend?
Friday, June 4th – Earlier this week, while playing in a mid-week draft, I got into a discussion with one of the players about the particularly poor quality of the rares in our box. No Gideon, Sarkhan, or Vengevine made for a definitely sub-standard value box. I ended up grabbing a Realms Uncharted…
Friday, June 4th – Antoine Ruel brought us the Planeswalker Perspective above… Now it’s Manu’s turn, with Mythic Conscription. Antoine believes the Mythic deck is the perfect choice for your next Standard tournament. Will it do the business this weekend at the StarCityGames.com Open in Philadelphia?
Wednesday, June 2nd – Not surprisingly, Standard is the hot topic right now in competitive Magic. Although I don’t feel as though there is a lot more to be said about this format that hasn’t already been said, it wouldn’t hurt to discuss the decks in Standard post-GP: DC and pinpoint the direction things are going. I’ve always said that playing the right deck for any given event is probably the biggest edge you can give yourself, so let’s get right to it.
Wednesday, June 2nd – Gerry Thompson built the Naya aggro deck that stormed U.S. National Qualifiers. Recognizing that Vengevine is completely insane against Jund and U/W control decks, Gerry built an aggressive deck designed such that Bloodbraid Elf cascades nearly always triggered Vengevine. Then he added the combination of Cunning Sparkmage and Basilisk Collar to fight other creature-based strategies.
Wednesday, June 2nd – When we last left our hero, I was 7-1-1 after Day 1 of Grand Prix: D.C., the largest North American tournament in quite some time. With over 200 people making the cut for Day 2, there was sure to be plenty of competition, and I was ready for it.
Tuesday, June 1st – Now back to testing Standard with Rise of the Eldrazi, Antoine enlists the help of his brother Oli to thrash out the details of the Mythic Conscription versus Time Sieve matchup. Today, Antoine presents the match from the perspective of the creature deck. Who will be victorious?
Monday, May 31st – King of Fatties Jamie Wakefield continues his quest to qualify for the Pro Tour with a Mono Green deck of his own devising. Recent results have proved very promising… but are these wins mere anomalies, or do they signify an upturn in his beatdown fortunes? [Editor’s Note – Patrick Chapin will be here later this week!]
Monday, May 31st – The first of many questions that may arise when one looks at my list is “No Siege-Gang Commander?†While Siege-Gang may be the five-drop of choice for any deck packing a significant amount of Red, I’m not really convinced that it is head and shoulders above the Malakir Bloodwitch which is taking its place now.
Friday, May 28th – Time to fill in the big hole from last week’s recap of my day at the Virginia Nationals Qualifier—what deck I actually played. It’s quite interesting in retrospect that I waited a week to talk about it, considering the role two particular Green mythic rares played in my story, and in the current story of Standard writ large.
Friday, May 28th – Brian Kibler rocked into Washington with a Blue/White Control deck, but after seeing Patrick Chapin’s Next Level Bant deck in action, he audibled into the archetype… and it served him well. Today, he shares stories and strategy from the tournament floor, and presents his most recent build of the deck!
