The Magic Show #46 — Glittering Wish Control
Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week I’m going to be talking about my Standard deck that made Top 4 in the recent StarCityGames.com $1,000 Open.
TagStandard
Magical Hack – Road To Regionals: Setting The Stage
Apparently, last week’s Magical Hack, Dredging Up The Past, was quite a popular read… apparently Bridge / Dredge strategies had somehow evaded the public eye. With a little bit of Standard play under our belt, I presented a deck apparently most people hadn’t seen. With a full weekend of sanctioned Standard play under our belts, we’ve got quite a bit more to look at… both StarCityGames.com $1000 Standard tournament, and the German Regional Qualifiers.
From The Lab — Road to Regionals: The Future is Black
Craig “The Professor” Jones takes time from his busy Mad Scientist schedule to give his own personal view of the upcoming Regionals. He also looks at the Black offering from Future Sight, and throws up a few interesting decklists that may be the sixty-card piles strong enough to pilot you to Regionals success! Plus, for those with no Standard agenda, there’s a little Block tech to whet your whistle.
Flores Friday – Resident Genius Fight
For Mike’s first Road to Regionals article this year, the 2006 Resident Genius takes the good fight to the 2007 Resident Genius, Mark Herberholz! Mike and Heezy slug it out in a ten-game set, Gruul versus NarcoDredge. Mike’s disdain for the dredge deck is well documented. After a quick ten versus Mark H, is the Price suddenly Right?
Levelling Up — Road to Regionals: Identifying and Applying a Game Plan
While Tiago has little knowledge of the current Standard metagame (those pesky pros needn’t play it as often as us commoners), it’s safe to say that his strategic knowledge is beyond reproach. Today’s Levelling Up is a timely reminder on how to avoid mistakes by identifying a game plan. With Regionals fast approaching, formulating clear objectives for any given scenario is a sure passport to increased success. Everyone needs a game plan… let Tiago help!
Tact or Friction — Fragment: Three Colors
Imperiosaur doesn’t mandate single-color play, any more than Terramorphic Expanse demands five-color. People need to wean themselves off the Ravnica duals, because they not only won’t be around forever, but, god willing, we will never have cards this good again. God, I am sick of seeing three- and four-color control lists that reduce the color pie into this homogenous, $5,000 slush.
Chatter of the Squirrel — Chatterstorm
In all honesty, you could read all the strategy in the world, scour the corners of the earth for decklists, pore through statistic after tedious statistic in an effort to dissect the metagame, and none of it would help you qualify for Nationals more than this simple four-word sentence: Play Dragonstorm and stuff. (The “and stuff” is essential, for those not in the know.)
Peebles Primers — Road to Regionals: Solar Flare
We’re trundling down the Road to Regionals today with a look at one of Japan’s finest sixty-card imports… Solar Flare! Once a proud Tier 1 deck, this U/B/W Control deck took a beating with new set releases, but it’s seeing a Renaissance of late. If you like your decks packed with card drawing and broken plays, then Solar Flare may be the choice for you come Regionals…
Deconstructing Constructed — Road to Regionals: Glare Mini Primer
It’s Road to Regionals for Deconstructing Constructed this week, and Josh is here to help! This week he covers a number of questions received about the Detritivore Glare deck from his last article, and he also adds a few words about Boros in the current metagame.
Ask the Drama — Road to Regionals: Your Standard Questions Answered!
In today’s instalment of the Road to Regionals series, Jeroen Remie sifts through his mailbag in search of questions on Standard. He has a look at Solar Pox, at another interesting Black/White deck, and discusses at length some of the ways to combat Dragonstorm. He also looks at a Blue/White Control deck and discusses countermagic. If you’re looking for that all-important edge for Regionals, Jeroen has the article for you!
The Beautiful Struggle — Road to Regionals: Astonishing X Men
No one actually knows the complete history of the deck known as Project X. It’s a lot like the mutants in Marvel’s X-Comics: no one how they came about or who was responsible. Its origins have been lost in the Sands of Time. All I can do is tell you what I know…
From Right Field – Not a Column About Regionals
Chris recaps his vacation week shenanigans and brings three interesting Standard decks for us to dissect and consume. Blue/Black discard, and mono-Blue Pirates deck, and a deck that revolves around the dollar rare Dichotomancy. Could there be a gem of undiscovered tech lurking in these formative lists? Read on to find out!
Deep Analysis — Road to Regionals: The Suicide Squad
We start our Road to Regionals series with an all new Feldman creation: the Orzhova Suicide Squad! Richard was hell-bent on finding a mind-range deck with game against the Big Three of Dragonstorm, Gruul, and Dralnu du Louvre. In recent weeks, that quest was sidelined for other Magical endeavors. However, the Suicide Squad has been putting up great numbers against both the Big Three and the some of the new pretenders to the throne! If you’re looking for a deck for Regionals, this could be the one.
Magical Hack – Dredging Up The Past
On the 20th, I played in a Future Sight-legal Standard tournament… which was won by a U/B speed Dredge deck, previously unseen on the online tournament circuit but apparently popular on bulletin boards everywhere. It used Blue dredge enablers like Magus of the Bazaar and mana acceleration effects to play them turn 1. It’s currently known as “Under The Bridge,” and it’s the deck of choice today.
Flores Friday – Go-Sis and Draw-Go
Mike continues his exploration of the B/U/R Control deck in Standard, and reveals that this is the deck he is currently planning to take to Regionals. Today’s Flores Friday sees Mike throw the deck against the format’s behemoth, Dragonstorm. Ten games, ten results, and a favorable matchup overall. If that’s not enough, he also brings us a powerful Mono-Blue Control build, both with and without Future Sight!