Standard always does an interesting dance this time of year. Old favorites from the past two years march off into the mists of time to be forgotten with the rest. Old problems disappear just as abruptly, showing that even the most aggressively dominant decks come with an expiration date… I’m looking at you, Arcbound Ravager.
Lorwyn Standard is, at present, a mystery. Are the tribes strong enough to impact on the format? How bad is the loss of the Ravnica dual lands? With tomorrow’s Mockvitational in his sights, Mike Flores attempts to crack a few of these mysteries and brings us a B/U Control deck that’s packed with fresh meat! Cryptic Command, Guile… will they cut it in the upcoming metagame?
Brian David-Marshall caught up to me on Magic Online about a month ago and sent me a message: “How would you like to come up to NYC on October 6 to play in the top8magic Mockvitational?” Competitors? Lebedowicz, Chapin, and other luminaries will be turning out. Formats? Hey, I’ve always wanted to build my own block. Prizes? Amongst this crowd, what better prize could there possibly be than… bragging rights.
Chris Romeo takes a thoughtful stroll through the garden of Lorwyn, pointing out the cards and the combos that have recently piqued his interest. All the colors are trawled for hidden gems, and the flotsam is ritually derided in the signature Romeo style. Looking for the budget bombs in the coming Standard format? Chris has the article for you!
Lorwyn, it seems, brings all the boys to the yard. Everyone wants to play with the new cards, and Steve Sadin is no exception. This coming weekend, he’ll be slinging spells in the Mockvitational, and invitation-only tournament that features a Lorwyn Standard section. Today, he shares some of his decks and preparations, plus a couple of Lorwyn Draft thoughts and ideas…
Ravnica, for all practical purposes, has rotated out of Standard. People are working on new-Standard decks for States, which is just a couple of weeks away. A few staple cards will be leaving — but the biggest change will be to manabases. Let’s look at what goes, and what stays…
The Lorwyn Planeswalkers are extremely difficult to evaluate. Sure, they appear to be stupid in Limited… but how will their revolutionary new mechanics fare in the world of 60-card Magic? Will we have to rethink our strategies completely, or are they merely fuel for Tarmogoyfs? Adrian Sullivan attempts to guide us through the theoretical quagmire, breaking down the Planeswalkers into more manageable chunks…
Finally, Lorwyn is here! States is coming, and eyes are turning to the New Standard. Today’s Innovations sees Patrick Chapin take a look at two of the more hyped strategies in the format: Green/White Aggro with Gaddock Teeg, and a Standard update of the U/B Teachings archetype from Time Spiral Block Constructed. If you’re looking for an edge in the coming Standard metagame, this is the article for you!
Lorwyn is coming, and it’s full of prime, juicy Elves. Our resident Red guru, Dan Paskins, takes us through a list of some of the more irritating little pointy-eared idiots, and shares his thoughts on how to dispatch them. He also brings us a couple of new aggressive decks for the upcoming Standard format, and rolls out an interesting Red Deck for Extended.
When folks start talking aggro, especially in Standard or Block, talk soon turns to White Weenie. With the Kithkin tribe looking particularly strong in Lorwyn, today’s Peebles Primers takes a look at two possible directions for the little White men. Benjamin brings us two decklists using the new goodies from Lorwyn — an all-White beatdown machine, and a Green/White build featuring man of the moment Gaddock Teeg. Warning: Contains Spoilers.
After a blunder with the topic of today’s Sullivan Library, Adrian turned to Patrick Chapin for help. Ever the scholar, The Innovator delivered in spades. He presented Adrian with a list of 25 of the most exciting Constructed cards from the Lorwyn spoiler, and told Adrian to examine them. This article, packed with fresh ideas, is the result… and if I have to tell you, be warned: this contains spoilers.
I think it was Craig “Lightning Helix” Jones who commented on all the quality burn spells in the current format. There are so many good ones that if you throw them all in a deck you can just win randomly, because all your burn gains synergy with all your other burn. This deck is very similar, because there are so many cards that produce several creatures that it makes all of your opponents’ spells less efficient.
If you read Magic strategy sites on the Internet, chances are you already know that Lorwyn is spreading several tribal themes across different colors: Giants are in White and Red, Merfolk are in Blue and White, Goblins are in Red and Black, and so on. As for Green, the list of tribes that they share obviously includes Elves, as well as Treefolk. … Treefolk? Warning: Contains Spoilers.
I write about budget decks. I tell those without unlimited Magic funds to make sure that the first thing that they do when each new set comes out is to get four copies of each common and uncommon. Since we know the schedule of sets’ releases, we should be able to budget for that purchase by putting aside five or so bucks a week. Some players, though, don’t have any money for anything beyond that. Not even enough to get four Heartwood Storytellers or four Stalking Vengeances. Why do I ignore those folks?
At the prerelease, I would be shocked if someone didn’t try to play Garruk, add a counter, play a two-drop, and activate the Overrun ability all in the same turn. Or, alternatively, someone will try to make three Beasts in one turn. Or perhaps someone will try to make a Beast during an opponent’s attack step. Of course, it doesn’t work in any of those ways; you can only use one of the loyalty abilities each turn, you can only use it once, and you can only do it at sorcery speed.
