Nationals competition really heat up this coming weekend, with both the U.S. and UK tournaments scheduled to highlight the cream of both nations. But how can we gauge the evolving metagame now the new core set has been integrated into Standard play? Ben looks back at Australian Nationals, the first major tournament to showcase the new card-pool, and walk us through some of the highs and lows we can expect to face…
Usually, I fill the beginnings of my articles with vivid stories of past nights or awkward occurrences. This time, however, I’m going to cut to the meat of the article… so, without further ado, I present a deck of my own creation: Touched by a Sanchez.
Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re going to be taking a hard look at Standard and Time Spiral Block play. Both of them are front and center this weekend, as the BlueGrassMagic $3,300 Kentucky Open gives us the first major Tenth Edition Standard event with a PTQ following it the next day. Want to know the best kept secret in this new Standard? Let’s go!
Tenth Edition brings with it many interesting things, and one of the more noticeable things it brings is two years of “X Marks The…” jokes that are inevitably going to pop up in gaming articles until we finally see Eleventh Edition. Now that we’ve officially seen all of the cards and can work with an official card-list, I’ve decided it’s prudent to take but a single week away from the Block Constructed meddling in order to try and figure out what the summer Standard environment is going to look like.
Nationals is fast approaching, and the deadline for Tenth Edition’s Standard debut is actually today… so, what can we expect of the new metagame? Mike takes a timely look at all the major players pre-rotation, and places them in the Winners or Losers enclosure. Some decks gain, while some fall from grace. If you’re looking to form a picture of the evolving metagame before it officially arrives, this article is invaluable.
Lots of people got excited about the four- and five-color strategy with the reprinting of Whispers of the Muse and Gaea’s Blessing in Time Spiral, but it didn’t quite work out; during our testing at the Time Spiral prerelease, Mike Flores was concerned about tapping low for a Whispers and having the opponent respond with Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir. However, Block Constructed has shown the way…
With Nationals fast approaching, and Tenth Edition making a major impact on the Standard metagame, Benjamin Peebles-Mundy takes us through the probably changes that will be made to the powerhouse Gruul Aggro deck now that Kird Ape has hit the showers. With U.S. Grinders consisting of a largely aggro field, you’ll need to beat this deck if you’re aiming for success…
Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin is always happy to put his money where his mouth is. Not so long ago, he brought us the lowdown on his deck of choice for Regionals… and he rocked up to the tournament and took home a Nationals invite. This week, he brings us the first pass of his deck for Nationals itself… will it be enough to book him a slot at the Sunday table?
We’re at the bi-annual time when I look back at the cards that were in the Core (nee Base) set to which hardly anyone paid any attention, and with which you won’t be able to play in Standard once the new Core/Base set becomes Standard legal. In other words, the cards we missed in Ninth Edition that aren’t coming back in Tenth Edition (a.k.a. X).
I was playing Steve Sadin’s Gruul deck in an eight-man queue online right after Regionals, and in the first round I did exactly what Sadin’s deck was designed to do: crush one of those Llanowar Elves plus Giant Solifuge Gruul decks. As my Tarmogoyf and Greater Gargadon were staring down his whole lotta nothin’, I realized something: Tarmogoyf needs a nickname.
Bennie rounds out some of the more eye-catching decks from the recent Regionals weekend, and supplies some interesting facts about American cities along the way! Aside from this comprehensive Standard rundown, he also has a special request regarding the nomination of your personal Hometown Hero… Intrigued? Then read on!
Of all the decks in Standard today, I personally feel that Dredge is the most difficult to design correctly. This mainly stems from the fact that each matchup plays completely differently, and you must know your most effective gameplan against each deck. Certain cards are MVPs in certain matchups, and it’s not always clear why until you have logged many games. I see a lot of play mistakes, even in premiere event Top 8 replays. Knowing the matchups inside and out is key.
The goal of this article (and the following one tomorrow) is to provide you with a thorough analysis of the Dredge archetype as it exists in today’s Standard. This articles will start off by discussing some of the general cards used in the dredge decks, followed by a thorough matchup analysis tomorrow. I will also present an overview on how to design your own Dredge deck based on the strengths of each card in each matchup. This way, you will be able to build a Dredge deck LEGO-Style, and reap some benefit from my extensive playtesting, to put you a step ahead of the average Joe playing Dredge.
This week’s Flores Friday sees Mike answer his critics with a detailed explanation of his recent Vectors argument. By fighting a Magical battle on the expected front, a player puts himself in the unenviable position to be outclassed come games 2 and 3. However, with a little canny repositioning, the numbers can be dragged back into the winning column. If you’re serious about improving your chances at your next Constructed tournament, you can’t afford to miss this.
I didn’t go to Regionals this year. I intended to play. I wanted to play. I built the deck. I even had it sleeved in the first new sleeves I’ve bought in a year, those new, shiny, black, “official” Magic: The Gathering sleeves with yellow lettering. Sweet, huh? So, what’s a poor boy to do when he’s all dressed for Regionals with no place to go? He makes it up! What follows is the story of how I would have won Regionals… had I attended.
