TagStandard

Magical Hack – Examining Barcelona

Saturday, June 13th - SCG 5K Atlanta!
Friday, May 29th – There is something so very clever about the Cascade Swans deck. Cascade is clearly at its most powerful when it is pure tutoring instead of merely card-and-mana-advantage but with a random effect generated on top of the spell, and one of the potential answers to doing this is to just play an awful lot of lands and not a lot of spells.

The Magic Show #144 – Much Ado About Swans

Saturday, June 13th - SCG 5K Atlanta!
Friday, May 29th – Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re going to take a look at the GP: Seattle metagame, how Swans crushed in Barcelona, and how this new combo deck will be seen everywhere this weekend. Let’s go!

PV’s Playhouse – Swans in Barcelona

Saturday, June 13th - SCG 5K Atlanta!
Friday, May 29th – Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa was instrumental in the design of the Standard deck that took Barcelona by storm: Cascade Swans. Today he shares the story behind the creation of the deck, and talks us through his perfect performance on Day 1 of the Grand Prix!

At the Gathering – Homeward Bound

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Thursday, May 28th – This week, I’ll be driving up to Seattle for a little vacation. School’s out, and before my summer classes begin, I thought I would take a little trip to visit some old friends up in the Pacific Northwest. As it turns out, there’s a Magic tournament of some repute going on too.

Flow of Ideas – One More Look at TurboFog

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Thursday, May 28th – Last week, I covered my initial foray with TurboFog leading up to Regionals. After extensively playing the deck since then, analyzing the effect of Grand Prix: Barcelona, and repeatedly reading and hearing misconception after misconception about the deck, I feel like the deck deserves a more in depth review.

Insider Information – Barcelona Beatdown

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Thursday, May 28th – In the first edition of his new weekly column, Cedric Phillips takes us through the highs and lows of his journey through both days of Grand Prix: Barcelona. Packing White/Black Kithkin, he rocked out to a money finish, wrecking face with little men every step of the way. If you’re looking to run Kithkin at Seattle, this is the article for you!

Black Magic – Understanding Grand Prix: Barcelona

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Thursday, May 28th – Sam Black, Faeries Player extraordinaire, rocked through Grand Prix: Barcelona and placed in the Top 4 with the ever-present Blue/Black menace. However, today’s article doesn’t rehash the old Fae material… Instead, Sam examines the fallout from Barcelona, and the effect it has on the metagame for the approaching Grand Prix: Seattle.

Tribal Thriftiness #70 – Loose Ends

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Wednesday, May 27th – Out on the road and headed for Seattle, Dave tackles a few small topics prompted (and inspired) by his road trip to the Grand Prix.

Down And Dirty – Cascading Through PTQ Houston *3rd*

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Wednesday, May 27th – Kyle Sanchez took his innovative Cascade deck to battle at a recent PTQ in Houston, with excellent results. While he didn’t quit pick up a blue envelope, his deck propelled him into the Top 4. With an alleged super-matchup versus the popular Swans deck, could this be the deck to take home the bacon at Grand Prix: Seattle? Read on to find out!

Feature Article – Token for Granted: Dave’s 2009 Regionals Report

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Tuesday, May 26th – I never miss Regionals if I can avoid it. Even if I scrubbed out, Lord knows I could use the diversion. I’d like to tell you about all my various decks I built for testing, but between the release of Alara Reborn and Regionals, it was mostly building decks with Jund Hackblade and discovering that they sucked. I ultimately settled on B/W Tokens…

Sullivan Library – Amalgamated Swans for Standard

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Tuesday, May 26th – With Barcelona gone and Seattle looming large, it seems the breakout Standard deck runs over forty lands… That’s right, Seismic Swans Combo is here to stay. Adrian Sullivan examines the various builds that succeeded at the Spanish Grand Prix, and suggests a useful amalgamated list for testing purposes.

Innovations – Continuing to Examine Standard (Now With More Barcelona)

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Monday, May 25th – Barcelona has come and gone, and while Patrick Chapin didn’t set Spain alight with a strong finish, the deck he played has a definite role to play in the emerging metagame. He takes us through his pre-tournament deck thoughts, and shares his personal opinions on some of the top strategies in Standard.

You Lika The Juice? – My Finest Hour & Regionals

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Friday, May 22nd – For the U.S., the Regionals Championships are in the books. For me personally, it’s been an exhausting couple of weeks between the Star City double-PTQ weekend and then Regionals the following week. I characterize myself as a “casually competitive” player, who mostly just likes to have fun with Magic, but who likes to step up and compete when PTQs, Regionals, and States comes around.

Magical Hack – Irrational Actions and the Fog Trap

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Friday, May 22nd – All of the buzz on the few days leading up to Regionals was somehow about Turbo-Fog. A Japanese Regionals tournament was won by a deck that confidently played 4x Holy Day, and the imagination of players everywhere was seemingly throwing off all sorts of sparks.

The Magic Show #143 – Scrubbing, Top 8ing, and You

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Friday, May 22nd – Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re going to take a look back at Regionals 2009 — How I scrubbed right out, the awesome new decks revealed from all across the country, and how I redeemed myself by Top 8ing the PTQ the next day. Let’s go!