TagStandard

Feature Article – Grixis Control for Standard

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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

Read Gavin Verhey every week... at StarCityGames.com!
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

Read Richard Feldman every week... at StarCityGames.com!
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

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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

Read Kyle Sanchez every week... at StarCityGames.com!
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

Read Dave Meeson every week... at StarCityGames.com!
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.

The Long And Winding Road – Standard: Reviewing the Preseason

Read Matt Elias every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, April 13th – We’re entering a very exciting period that puts Standard front and center, with Regionals leading into a PTQ Season featuring the most popular Constructed format on the planet. The month of March featured several large Standard events in the United States and Europe, and analyzing that data should give us an idea how the pre-Alara Reborn Standard format is shaping up.

You Lika The Juice? – FNM with Ziggy Hierarch (2nd)

Read Bennie Smith every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, April 10th – Last Friday night I was hanging outside Richmond Comix with Jay Delazier between rounds, and he mentioned he didn’t like last week’s column very much. When I asked him why, he said he thought I was contradicting myself…

Flow of Ideas – Conquering the Kobayashi Maru Scenario: Winning the Unwinnable

Read Gavin Verhey every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, April 9th – You’ve been locked in a tight game three, but the match is edging towards an unfavorable closure. The last few turns have been an attrition war, and the life totals are close, but you look across the table and the sinking feeling that your opponent firmly has the upper hand sets in. As is, you’re dead on his next attack step… Or are you?

Sullivan Library – Swimming with the Fishes: Standard Merfolk

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Tuesday, April 7th – Today’s Sullivan Library tackles the other Blue tribe from Lorwyn: Merfolk! While the Standard metagame doesn’t reveal their power at first glance, those in the know are aware that these fishes have teeth. Adrian contrasts a couple of successful lists, and suggests one of his own…

Tribal Thriftiness #63 – Blightning Strikes Twice

Read Dave Meeson every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Monday, April 6th – With previews starting to sneak in, it looks an old aggro deck is set to pick up a few interesting weapons. Will Alara Reborn bring Blightning up to Tier 1 status? And can a budget version produce results?

You Lika The Juice? – Standard Milkshake

Read Bennie Smith every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Friday, April 3rd – Soon the collective attention of Magic columnists will turn to Standard, and likely stay there for quite a while since there is going to be a crush of Standard events in the next several months. Regionals is fast approaching, about a month and a half away, and we’ve also got the Qualifier season for Pro Tour: Austin starting in May, and that’s Standard too.

Yawgmoth’s Whimsy #269 – SCG 5K Indianapolis

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Thursday, April 2nd – For the first time in a long time, I know enough about a format to be able to write a serious, tech-laden article. However, by the time you read this, the Nix Tix queues will be gone, and the sealed Swiss probably as well. In other words, I’m going to concentrate on the StarCityGames.com $5000 Standard Open.

PV’s Playhouse – Five Weeks of Magic: Faeries in Standard

Read Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Thursday, April 2nd – In the first of a new weekly column, Brazil’s finest Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa takes us through a hectic five weeks of Magic played in many exotic locations across the world. He also gives us a definitive examination of his current favorite deck, Standard Faeries. Welcome aboard, PV!

At the Gathering – Standard of Living

Read Jeff Phillips every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Wednesday, April 1st – I love playing Standard, it’s easily my favorite format. It is the easiest to pick up as a new player, because the cards are typically still available as retail packs. It’s also easy to grasp, because you only have about 1500 cards to keep track of. Most importantly, the power level is pretty much exactly where I like it.