Friday, March 6th – In the forum thread to my column last week, a poster asked if I’d go into more details on the decisions I made when assembling my Ancient Ziggurat deck for the StarCityGames.com $5000 Standard Open. Given that another Ziggurat deck just made a huge splash in Kyoto, being pretty much the only new and innovative deck to come out of the tournament, I figured it would be worthwhile going over the choices I made.
Friday, March 6th – While I would be content to talk about playing Faeries in Extended till I am blue in the face, another near-miss at a Top 8 cannot hardly compare to the Pro Tour this past weekend in Kyoto…
Friday, March 6th – Manuel Bucher entered Pro Tour: Kyoto with high hopes. As part of the Chapin/Nassif super team, he felt his deck was tricked out to handle all comers. Sadly, illness and some bad decisions saw him missing Day 2… here is his analysis of his Standard choices, and a brief tournament report on his performance.
Friday, March 6th – Cedric Phillips, the popular yet largely unsuccessful Magic celebrity, finally broke through and pulled off a Sunday performance at Pro Tour: Kyoto. Powered by a thunderous Kithkin deck designed in conjunction with Charles Gindy, Ced rode his skill and his luck through a field of the world’s best players. This is his story…
Thursday, March 5th – Now that the Pro Tour is mixed-format discipline, specific format specialists such as Quentin Martin are opening their minds to the other side of the game (whatever it may be). Today, Quentin examines a few of the Standard decks that caught his eye from Kyoto. The first? Black/White Tokens…
Wednesday, March 4th – With Pro Tour: Kyoto firmly behind us, Sam Black recounts his sterling performance while piloting the Faerie menace. Today’s Black Magic sees Sam provide a rundown of the highs and lows from the first day of competition…
Wednesday, March 4th – The new Standard metagame, shaped by the shenanigans at Pro Tour: Kyoto, is likely packed with Boat Brew, Five-Color Control, and the ever-popular Fae. In today’s Down And Dirty, Kyle brings us a fascinating Tezzeret deck that preys on the format’s premier strategies…
Tuesday, March 3rd – I talked a little bit last week about a Tezzeret deck I had been working on for Standard, and enough people asked for a primer that I thought I would oblige. Besides, it’s been a little while since I’ve done one of these, and I wouldn’t want y’all to think I had gotten rusty, now, would I?
Tuesday, March 3rd – With the recent changes to the Pro Tour structure, deducing the best decks and strategies in Standard post-Kyoto is trickier than usual. In today’s Sullivan Library, Adrian takes us through his data-mined Top 8, factoring in a number of previously-unconsidered tangibles…
Monday, March 2nd – After months of testing for Pro Tour: Kyoto, Patrick Chapin hit a travel setback and was unable to attend. Nevertheless, his testing paid off in spades, with the deck he co-created going all the way to the top at the hands of Yellow Hat Gabriel Nassif. Today, we have the inside scoop on the PT-winning deck… enjoy!
Friday, February 27th – Hello everybody, and welcome to the last of three hour-long talks recorded on the Carnival Ecstasy a few weeks ago. Yes, even though most didn’t get the chance to go that doesn’t mean you can’t take in the discussions had while at sea. In this hour-long discussion, we hear Pro Player mega-personality Patrick Chapin and his thoughts on Conflux, Standard, and the power of the Fae. Enjoy!
Wednesday, February 25th – Last week, I promised you some Standard deck-lists, and I have plenty of new ideas for you. Let’s jump into the Standard card pool and see what we can dig up. After that, I have a nice tip on how to build a manabase.
Tuesday, February 24th – Pro Tour: Kyoto is fast approaching, and our game’s top players are heading east. Today, Sam Black brings us his thoughts on Standard going into the tournament, breaking down the metagame with reference to recent tournaments, including the top decks from last weekend’s StarCityGames.com $5000 Standard Open!
Tuesday, February 24th – The Standard metagame pre-Conflux had a number of interesting strategies at its cutting edge. Red/White Reveillark Aggro, or “Boat Brew,” was a particularly strong contender. Adrian believes that, at the coming Pro Tour, Boat Brew will be the strongest and most successful archetype… do you agree with this assertion?
Monday, February 23rd – Last week I talked about a few different Standard deck ideas revolving around the powerhouse cards Banefire and Volcanic Fallout from Conflux, while giving honorable mention to Path to Exile. Today I’ve decided to take on the other side of the spectrum of Standard, delving into my two favorite control archetypes: Faeries and Five-Color Control.
