Defending New York State Champion Mike Flores has not yet settled on a final 75. That’s understandable — the man changes decks more often than he changes socks. Today’s Flores Friday sees two distinct and original deck ideas that are high on his list of options. HE also looks back at his performances at States down the years, to see if there are lessons to be learnt…
Obviously, clearly, and undoubtedly, Grave Pact is just so very made for No Rest for the Wicked. They go together like peanut butter with jelly, fries with that shake, and yo’ momma with me. “Oh, snap!” In fact, it’s so easy that I didn’t even really try it. Of course, it could be that it isn’t as easy as I think…
I have this little problem. Every deck I build that doesn’t have Molten Disaster in it seems to be losing to Troll Ascetic. My Molten Disaster deck ain’t that hot either, if the Troll deck draws Loxodon Warhammer. Let me go back to the beginning, however. I originally wanted a Blue deck with, at a minimum, Scrying Sheets and Cryptic Command. So I built this…
Our Spotlight on States series continues today with Richard Feldman’s innovative take on a deck built around Doran, The Siege Tower. We all know that a virtual 5/5 for three mana is quite the bargain…. But what else does the Green/Black/White deck need in order to compete in the States metagame? Richard takes us step-by-step through the genesis of the final deck, and shares his matchup strategy and sideboarding plans…
Newly promoted Level 3 Mage Steve Sadin takes us though our next Spotlight on States article. We’ve had Red aggro from Dan Paskins, and White Aggro from Benjamin Peebles-Mundy… now it’s the turn of Blue-based beatdown decks! Steve brings us five decklists that see the Blue cards take an active part in the beatdown role, admirably paired by the other colors in the Magical spectrum. Aggression coupled with a touch of disruption… is this the recipe for success this weekend? Read on to find out!
I didn’t get a chance to playtest as much this past Friday as I’d like to; I got my wires crossed with Jay and he ended up committing to doing some Lorwyn Sealed at the local Friday Night Magic. Still, I went down there and grabbed some games in with him as I could, and think I’ve finally found the deck I want to run…
For a variety of reasons, I will be judging this coming weekend, not playing. I’ll babble a bit about what I would have played, then list five sure-fire ways to lose at States (in addition to playing my decks.) Everybody should them already — but I’m sure I will watch at least a ten percent of the field lose to one or more of these on Saturday. [Editor’s Note: Congratulations on article 200, Pete! Here’s to article #300!]
In a States field, I want to be doing abjectly powerful things. My deck contains Mind Stone, Shriekmaw, Cryptic Command, Damnation, and Scrying Sheets – all cards that I consider to be among the most powerful in the format right now. Moreover, not only do I want to be doing powerful things, I want to be doing powerful things against the broad spectrum of decks that you can expect to see at a tournament like States.
Our Spotlight on States series continues apace today… Benjamin Peebles-Mundy takes us through some of the ways in which you (or your opponents) can beat down with the kidney-stealing Kithkin Advisor Gaddock Teeg. BPM brings us five decklists in total: two dedicated Kithkin builds, two that rely on the non-Kithkin Green/White guys, and one decklist that’s sufficiently off the beaten path. G/W Aggro has a fine pedigree of late. Will it be enough to capture your State Championships?
This article will be broken into two parts. One will be about a U/W/R midrange deck I’ve been kicking around since Brion Stoutarm came out, and the second concerns a U/B Faeries aggro control deck that is on the short list for decks I might play at States. The first half of the article will be dedicated to the Faerie build, and the second half will be with the lesser-tested midrange Brion deck.
If you check the winning decklists from the past weekend’s StarCityGames.com $1K Standard Open, you’ll see that the winner took home all the marbles with a Mono-Green deck. The Green Machine, it seems, is firing on all cylinders. Today’s first Spotlight on States article takes a different view of Mono-Green, yet molds a deck that is undoubtedly brimming with power. Is this Mono-Green deck gonna rock States? Read on to find out!
Still unsure what to play at States? Here are a few suggestions from our StarCityGames.com Premium staff…
Spotlight on States: The Ghosts of States Past (Mono-Green and Rakdos in Standard) by Mike Flores
Spotlight on States: The Siege by Richard Feldman
Spotlight on States: Blue-Based Beatdown by Steve Sadin
Spotlight on States: Beating Down With Gaddock Teeg by Benjamin Peebles-Mundy
Spotlight on States: Stupid Green Deck by Adrian Sullivan
Spotlight on States: Red Aggression in Standard by Dan Paskins
Spotlight on States: Grim Teachings by Patrick Chapin
Blue/White Flying Control by Mike Flores
Wren and Stompy by Tim Aten
Continuing our Spotlight on States series, Kyle Sanchez walks us through three distinct Standard strategies, two of which are currently fighting for final favor regarding his 75-select this weekend. He also takes the opportunity to say goodbye, as this is his final Monday article for StaCityGames.com… but don’t worry, Sanchez fans, I’m sure he won’t be gone for long…
In the second of today’s articles in the Spotlight on States series, Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin concentrates on his strengths. He’s been busy tweaking and testing his latest version of Relic Control, priming himself for States competition at the weekend. Aggressive decks tend to come out in force for this tournament… if you’re looking to run with a controlling strategy, look no further!
The final countdown has begun! States is mere days away, and today’s Feature Article begins a series of pieces intended to inform your final deck choice for the big day. First up, we have Dan Paskins with… yup, you’ve guessed it… the Red spells. Dan brings us four competitive decks, two revolving around pairing Red with Green (And the obligatory Tarmogoyfs), and two focusing on the tribal synergies available with the Goblins. If you’re a fan of the flame, then maybe these are the decks for you…
