TagStandard

Tribal Thriftiness #56 – The Endless March

Richmond, Virginia hosts the first StarCityGames.com $5,000 Standard Open of 2009!
Tuesday, February 17th – Continuing a look at forgotten gems from Tenth Edition, Dave presses on and digs up a forgotten less-than-a-dollar rare that’s a perfect match for some of Esper’s artifacts – March of the Machines.

Positive EV – Faeries in Conflux Standard

Richmond, Virginia hosts the first StarCityGames.com $5,000 Standard Open of 2009!
Tuesday, February 17th – This weekend sees the next installment of the StarCityGames.com $5000 Standard open series! In the first of a new weekly column, Manuel Bucher talks us through the true effect of Conflux on the most powerful archetype in the format: Faeries. He shares his latest list, alongside extensive sideboarding tips for all the metagame contenders…

You Lika The Juice? – The Fugees: Scepter/Elves

Richmond, Virginia hosts the first StarCityGames.com $5,000 Standard Open of 2009!
Friday, February 13th – Of all the post-Conflux deck ideas I’d been kicking around, the tweaked B/G Elves deck seemed like the strongest right out of the box. While the other deck ideas were certainly more interesting and different from what’s currently doing well in the metagame, they also obviously needed lots of playtest time to see what truly worked and what just seemed good on paper.

Magical Hack – Watching The Fallout

Richmond, Virginia hosts the first StarCityGames.com $5,000 Standard Open of 2009!
Friday, February 13th – With the recent release of Conflux into the fray, we’re beginning to see changes coming along because of the recent additions. While I’ve been pretty focused on Extended as a format of interest of late, Standard has caught my eye once again…

One Step Ahead – Post-Conflux Standard Brainstorm

Richmond, Virginia hosts the first StarCityGames.com $5,000 Standard Open of 2009!
Thursday, February 12th – Conflux, as with all new sets, throws a selection of interesting strategies and ideas into the metagame mix. Today’s One Step Ahead sees Constructed master Gerry Thompson brainstorming on how the fresh cardboard impacts the prominent archetypes in modern Standard. He also deflates the hype surrounding a number of the more popular cards to spring from the new set, starting with the much-vaunted Path to Exile…

Down And Dirty – Analyzing All The Artificial Angles, Part 2

Richmond, Virginia hosts the first StarCityGames.com $5,000 Standard Open of 2009!
Wednesday, February 11th – Last week, Kyle planted the seeds of some interesting artifact-based strategies now that Conflux is in the Standard mix. Today, he continues this work and brings us a slew of intriguing artifact-centered decks with varying levels of success. Do the stronger offerings here have what it takes to crack the Tier 1 metagame? And will such strategies make an impact at the approaching StarCityGames.com $5000 Standard Open?

Feature Article – Esper-Lark and the Upcoming Evolution of Standard

Richmond, Virginia hosts the first StarCityGames.com $5,000 Standard Open of 2009!
Tuesday, February 10th – Conflux is here, and our Standard options seem to have exploded overnight! Today, David Irvine brings us an overview of the intriguing Esper-Lark deck, plus some ideas for both Red and White decks as the format moves towards Pro Tour: Kyoto…

Innovations – Standard Decks Built in a Post-Conflux World

Richmond, Virginia hosts the first StarCityGames.com $5,000 Standard Open of 2009!
Monday, February 9th – Conflux is now legal in all Constructed formats, and everyone is looking for the hot new tech. Today’s Innovations sees Patrick Chapin take some of the old favorite archetypes for a post-Conflux spin before suggesting a couple of ideas inspired by Noble Hierarch…

Feature Article – Conflux: New Decks for Standard

Richmond, Virginia hosts the first StarCityGames.com $5,000 Standard Open of 2009!
Friday, February 6th – Conflux is officially here, and it is legal in all Constructed formats as of today! Stuart Wright, England’s premier deckbuilding mind, brings us a host of cool ideas that utilize some of the more powerful cards in the new set. With both new ideas and updates to established strategies, this article is invaluable to anyone serious about Standard…

Deconstructing Constructed – Building with Conflux

Richmond, Virginia hosts the first StarCityGames.com $5,000 Standard Open of 2009!
Wednesday, February 4th – This past weekend, I attended our local big Conflux Prerelease, although I didn’t actually play in it since the flight was going to end long after I had to be at work. This week, I’ll again be discussing Standard and the additions Conflux brings to the table, in more detail now that we’ve had some time to go over what makes the set tick.

Down And Dirty – Analyzing All The Artificial Angles, Part 1

Richmond, Virginia hosts the first StarCityGames.com $5,000 Standard Open of 2009!
Wednesday, February 4th – The Esper cards and strategies, in straight Shards of Alara at least, were never quite strong enough to see dedicated Standard play. However, now Conflux is almost here, do we have enough artifacts to make such a strategy worthwhile? In the forst of what promises to be an intriguing series, Kyle lays the groundwork for a dedicated Standard Esper deck, and examines all the possible artifacts in the format…

Innovations – Gunslinging, Post-Conflux Standard, and Elder Dragon Highlander

Richmond, Virginia hosts the first StarCityGames.com $5,000 Standard Open of 2009!
Monday, February 2nd – Today’s Innovations is a mixed bag of fun and interesting topics. Patrick details his prerelease weekend gunslinging efforts with Manuel Bucher, shares some funky Elder Dragon Highlander lists, and brings us an exciting post-Conflux Standard list which he believes is close to Tier 1 play…

Feature Article – Brainstorming Standard with Conflux

Richmond, Virginia hosts the first StarCityGames.com $5,000 Standard Open of 2009!
Thursday, January 29th – With the new Conflux cards arriving this weekend, and becoming legal for Constructed play on the day of their release a week later, 2008 Rookie of the Year Aaron Nicastri brainstorms his own personal view of the Standard metagame in the post-Conflux world…

Down And Dirty – Sanchez Spoils Conflux Constructed

Richmond, Virginia hosts the first StarCityGames.com $5,000 Standard Open of 2009!
Wednesday, January 28th – The prerelease is now mere days away, and everyone is salivating over the fresh new cardboard that Conflux promises to deliver. Today’s Down And Dirty sees Kyle Sanchez take us through his personal picks for the Conflux cards set to make waves in the Constructed arena… Warning: Contains Spoilers.

Tribal Thriftiness #57 – Worlds Leads to Stupidity

Read Dave Meeson every week... at StarCityGames.com!
Tuesday, January 27th – Worlds was a month and a half ago, but the inspiration for this article still remained. Now that Extended season is in full swing and Conflux is here, and you’re looking for something a little different, here’s a lost gem from Tenth Edition.