States is fast approaching, and it’s time to buckle down and choose our decks!. Today’s Flores Friday sees Mike share an U/W Control build with which he hopes to defend his crown at the end of the month. Flyers, board control, and ridiculous card drawing… what’s not to love? Is this deck the next big thing in Standard? Even if we don’t play it, we can’t afford to ignore it… so read on!
So, when last we met I was 2-5 in the Mockvitational and about to play four rounds of Standard. The interesting thing is that three of my remaining four opponents — Christian Calcano, Asher Hecht, and Gabe Carlton-Barnes — were 1-2-3 in the standings at that point. So much like baseball’s Washington Nationals, I would get a chance to spoil the dreams of some New Yorkers in October. Calcano was even wearing a Mets jersey, it was just too perfect. I would also have to play Mike Flores, who was my main competition for the ignominious last-place finish…
Mister Aten doesn’t write often, but when he does… it’s party time! Today he shares some of his more acerbic and humorous views on the Pro Tour (and PT: Valencia in particular), breaking down the runners, riders, and high finishers in his own inimitable style. He then brings us an intriguing Mono-Green Beatdown deck for States… one that doesn’t run Tarmogoyf! If you’re looking for something a little off-the-wall, then read on!
I have a funky deck idea I threw together as a lark that actually crushes the Kithkin deck fairly well as I cast about for something to stop the White Weenie menace. It’s a weird mutant blend of Haakon/Nameless Inversion recursion with Slivers, tied together by an innocent looking Bear named Woodland Changeling…
Picking up from where we left off last week, I’ll be taking a look at a few of the aggro decks that are available in the current Standard metagame. To ensure a little diversity, I picked a deck that has been close to optimized, one that’s largely in the concept stage still, and one that needs to be refined a little more.
I’m not sure how, but one of these days I’m going to put together an article called America’s Next Top Magician. It would take place at a GP, and I’d do interviews with the top 5 amateurs. Then I’d get seasoned pros and Magic veterans like LSCheonV, BDM, Aten, and Ant to help me pick out who is the best of the bunch. I was thinking about doing drafts or something to whittle them down… maybe making Constructed decks and having them face off against each other blindfolded.
Mike rounds out his Mockvitational experience, sharing his Bring Your Own Block deck and personal performance, before diving deep into the coming Standard Champs metagame with a couple of interesting decks powered by the new Lorwyn cards. Everyone is attempting to lash Green with White to abuse Gaddock Teeg… but what are the other aggro strategies available to us? Read on to find out!
Two weeks ago, as a way to focus my time and attention, I asked you kind and thoughtful readers to vote on which of five cards I should feature in this week’s article. You voted for Ana Battlemage. Let me deconstruct this card and see what I’ve gotten myself into…
Standard Champs are looming large, and with Lorwyn promising to shake the metagame like a Polaroid picture, Richard Feldman offers up some decklists for those beatdown fans among us. There’s the perennial Red/Green offerings, another look at the popular Green/White Kithkin deck, a few interesting versions of Haakon Aggro, and an excellent build featuring Doran, the Siege Tower…
If you haven’t noticed, Lorwyn is a block about creatures. You know what’s really good in a format where a whole ton of creatures just appeared? Wrath of God. Damnation. Molten Disaster. Today’s Peebles Primers takes a look at some of the more entertaining directions such a strategy may take for Champs, and throws up a slew of interesting decklists and ideas. If you’re looking for an edge on the Standard competition, look no further!
Stephen is having a well-earned break in preparation for Pro Tour: Valencia and The Invitational. In his place we have the irreplaceable John Friggin’ Rizzo with another entertaining rant! This week, JFR takes a look at Standard decks that discard cards for fun and profit, featuring the 3/1 flyer for two mana that may well be the sleeper hit of Lorwyn: Oona’s Prowler. So, has JFR broke the format? Read on to find out!
Last week I received a number of responses wanting me to go further into Lorwyn Standard, so I’ll be leaving any final Extended thoughts to Feldman and company. We’ll jump right in with some baselines that many of the new decks people are throwing out there will have to live up too. Think of these as general guidelines that you want to follow while trying to optimize your deck.
Adrian is jetting off to Valencia soon, but before he departs for some Extended chicanery he spills the beans on the new Tribal cards from Lorwyn. Will they have an impact in Standard over and above the obvious pump for Tarmogoyf? Or are they merely smoke and bubbles, designed to deceive us into believing their hype? Let Adrian reveal all…
Imagine having Teferi out, evoking Shriekmaw at instant speed, playing Grim Harvest getting Shriekmaw back, Evoking it again, Recovering Grim Harvest, playing Grim Harvest getting Shriekmaw back, Evoking Shriekmaw again, Recovering Grim Harvest, playing Grim Harvest getting Shriekmaw back, Evoking Shriekmaw, then Recovering Grim Harvest again.
Wet dream, my friend… wet dream.
With eyes set on Spain and Pro Tour: Valencia, Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin has set the Extended cards aside for a look at Lorwyn Standard. Today, he presents two decks, one of which he took to the infamous Mockvitational this past weekend. So how did he do? You’ll have to read on to find out… And if that’s not enough, Patrick also has a few ideas on how to get out of those all-too frequent crippling slumps.
