Tribal Thriftiness #66 – Double-Action Cascade
Tuesday, April 28th – Fresh off the Prerelease, Dave gives his opinion of Alara Reborn’s new Cascade mechanic, and looks at ways to minimize the inherent randomness of this cool new toy.
TagStandard
Black Magic – Standard Reborn: Investigating New Decks with Alara Reborn
Tuesday, April 28th – With Alara Reborn on everyone’s mind, Sam Black brings us some fresh perspective on the Standard format when then new set hits the shelves. An all-gold set was sure to provide exciting new options, and Alara Reborn does not disappoint. Sam shares his thoughts, alongside a batch of fresh decklists…
Constructed Criticism – The Pulse of Standard: Prepping for Regionals and PTQs
Monday, April 27th – The entire spoiler is out for Alara Reborn, and everyone seems ravenous for new technology for whatever format their heart desires. Pros rummage through articles and articles from various websites looking for Alara Block Constructed ideas, while average Joes pillage material for upcoming Pro Tour Qualifiers for PT: Austin, as well as Regionals. With all of this in mind, I figured I would begin by focusing on Standard, since this is the format most relevant to me.
Deep Analysis – Elves Reborn
Thursday, April 23rd – With the upcoming release of Alara Reborn on everyone’s mind, Richard Feldman concocts an intriguing Red/Green Beatdown deck utilizing a selection of the multicolor goodies on the table. He shares his list and sideboarding strategies, runs the deck against a pair of the format’s top contenders, and records the results!
Tribal Thriftiness #65 – Unrare Previews
Tuesday, April 21st – With the Alara Reborn Prerelease less than a week away, it seems like so much has been said about the Mythic and Rare previews. Dave takes a look at the commons and uncommons that are flying under the radar.
Sullivan Library – Brainstorming Standard Decks from the Alara Reborn Spoiler
Tuesday, April 21st – Alara Reborn is coming, and it’s looking awesome. Today, deckbuilding legend Adrian Sullivan looks at some of the freshly-spoiled cardboard, and throws out a number of interesting decks for the upcoming Standard. Getting that all-important edge on the competition is vital come the rotation, so be prepared!
Black Magic – Anticipating Alara Reborn
Tuesday, April 21st – With the Alara Reborn prerelease mere days away, it’s time to examine those cards we’ve seen so far in order to gain a handle on their strengths and weaknesses. Sam Black takes us through a plethora of promising Alara Reborn goodies, and shares his thoughts and insights on the approaching Standard metagame…
Constructed Criticism – Enter the Maelstrom
Monday, April 20th – Standard is a format that seems to be growing stale. Alara Reborn is on the horizon, and there are plenty of cards that (hopefully) will shake up the metagame. Today I’m going to take a look at a few of those cards and their potential applications for the Standard format, as well as the a few topics related to Magic Online.
You Lika The Juice? – Feeling Janet Leigh: Standard Ruminations
Friday, April 17th – StarCityGames.com’s $1K Top 8 decks are posted. I am surprised to see the archetypes listed. Just one Faeries, just one Five-Color Control, and just one Reveillark deck? Blightning wins the whole thing and two Green/White decks round out the top 3? Have all my worries been an overreaction?
Feature Article – Grixis Control for Standard
Friday, April 17th – In his first article for StarCityGames.com, Level 5 Italian Pro William Cavaglieri brings us a fresh deck for Standard battle: Grixis Control. William, the creator of the innovative Red/Black Torrent of Souls deck for the last Nationals season, is having great success with his new creation. He shares the list and sideboard plans, and adds a few helpful tips for those of us who are looking to reach the next level…
Flow of Ideas – A Look at Standard: GPT Seattle Overview
Thursday, April 16th – The date: April 11th, 2009. The location: First Pick Games in Seattle. The scene: Forty-six of Seattle’s finest, each fighting for three byes to a Grand Prix under an hour away…
Deep Analysis – Blue/White Tokens in Alara Reborn Standard
Thursday, April 16th – The three cards that currently define Standard: Bitterblossom, Spectral Procession, and Cryptic Command. A number of decks bring two of the three to the table: Faeries has Blossom and Command, for example. However, none of the main contenders packs both Spectral Procession and Cryptic Command. Today, Richard attempts to fix this…
PV’s Playhouse – Five-Color Control
Thursday, April 16th – Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa, the proud Faeries player we all know and love, has turned to the Dark Side. Today’s PV’s Playhouse sees the Brazilian maestro tackle Five-Color Control in Standard. While Nassif set the Gold Standard in Kyoto with Broodmate Dragons and Walls of Reverence, PV has chosen to ignore both of these powerful cards. Intrigued? Then read on!
Down And Dirty – Testing With Tezzeret
Wednesday, April 15th – In today’s Down And Dirty, Kyle rocks Standard on Magic Online with an innovative deck based around the Tezzeret strategy he unleashed a few weeks ago. With manabases stretched to the limit, is the time right for the glorious return of Land Destruction? Kyle believes that LD Heaven may be just around the corner, and he’s getting in the practice before the playing field shifts beneath him…
Tribal Thriftiness #64 – The Relentless Pursuit of Excellence
Tuesday, April 14th– As Alara Reborn nears and new cards start sprouting up around the Internet, Dave takes a moment to dig back into 10th Edition to play with an uncommon that’s… relentless.