TagStandard

You Lika The Juice? – Gettin’ Wild on MTGO

Bennie faces off in this week’s Battle of the Bens with a few choice words for our own Mr Bleiweiss! He follows them up with a look at one of the new graveyard-acquainted cards from the approaching Future Sight, talks us through some Magic Online games, an jumps on the Wild Pair bandwagon with a few Time Spiral Block Constructed decks of his own…

Magical Hack – April Fool, Part Two

After last week’s parody of a particularly florid Flores, Sean drops the quill and returns to touch-typing. He shares an interesting Standard deck that utilizes four copies of the two Suspend Guys du Jour: Detritivore and Aeon Chronicler. With an IPA Qualifying Event locked firmly between his beady little Swayze eyes, he cocks and pulls and lets fly with both barrels!

From The Lab – Time Spiral, One Month On

With the Time Spiral Block Pro Tour just around the corner, Craig “The Professor” Jones is forbidden to talk of super-secret Block technology on pain of catapult. Instead, he takes a long look at the Top 8 Standard decks from Grand Prix: Kyoto, and takes us through some of the more questionable predictions he made for the new Standard format when the cards were fresh off the production line…

Tact or Friction — Rock Garden

Rock deck owners never put the deck away. They don’t. We just quietly have it, tucked behind all the others, in its own little deck box. It’s almost always got special sleeves, too. Not too new, don’t want people thinking we’re sleeving it up for the next tournament. That’d be silly, because, you know, Rock’s No Good Right Now. But like your favorite dancing shoes, or that embarrassing shirt with the slogan, or that beanie your grandmother gave you and you just can’t bring yourself to get rid of, you keep it.

Peebles Primers — Taking Dredge to the Top 8

What is it with Dredge strategies and players called Ben? Taking a leaf out of Bennie Smith’s book, BPM takes hi own tweaked G/B Dredge deck and throws it into the IPA Qualifying Tournament ring. Today’s Peebles Primers takes us through the tournament step by step, with comprehensive game walkthroughs along the way. If you’re after a fringe strategy with the power to take home the prize, the look no further than your graveyard!

From Right Field – Necromancing the Stone: The Sequel

When I left you last week, I was doing quite badly with a Black and White deck inspired by and built around Necrotic Sliver. Part of the reason was that I had run in directly into a gauntlet of tournament-winning decks. The other part was that the deck sucked. I was in a bit of a pickle. I have called Necrotic Sliver one of the two best non-rare creatures in Planar Chaos. Of course, I had to build a deck to prove that point, or no one would believe it.

The Combat Phase — Being In The Moment

Can it be true? Has Jamie finally succumbed? Has he joined the Dark Side, and picked up an Island or two? Is he coming round to the Way of the Control Mage, ready to leave mana open and counter spells left, right, and center? There’s only one way to find out… Read on!

Magical Hack: April Fools, or The Long Road To Regionals

Really, I don’t know where to begin with the intro for this one. Sean, it seems, has gone mad… and handed over the bulk of his column to someone else. I won’t spoil the surprise, but if you’re looking for top-notch Standard matchup analysis, this will be the best — and strangest — you’ll see this dec(k)ade…

Tact or Friction — Broken Pieces

I have a handful of bones today. Bits and pieces of decks that might have a full structure if you can find them. Nuts and bolts, structures that I’ve been busy bashing against one another, trying to find the right angle at which they become round pegs. Then, once I have properly-functioning not-good-enough decks, I can waste my time trying to make them good enough to compete in metagame of square holes.

The Online Outlook #5 — Dashed Hopes on the IPA Altar

Today’s Online Outlook doesn’t mess about… it offers two IPA Qualifying tournament reports, and the complete rundown of the Top 8 Standard Premier Event results this past week. It also offers commentary on said results, and cries out for help with a Time Spiral Sealed cardpool. Yes folks, there’s something for everyone!

Magic Grab Bag #11 – Bouncier Than Things Best Left Unmentioned

This week I’m coming to you with something I’ve been kicking around with some other writers and friends that I find does pretty well casually. Some people appreciated its mostly budget nature, others like the mechanics of it, some people thought it just looked fun to play (it is), and Talen gets to feel giddy for indirectly inspiring it. So, gentlemen… what is it?

Yawgmoth’s Whimsy #171 – Around the Horn with Ide’s R/G Concoction

Pete takes a break from racking up the results in the Ultimate Extended Tournament to take a strong R/G deck into the MTGO Metagame in order to kick ass and take names. He fires the deck against a number of high-quality archetypes in the MTGO eight-man Standard queues, and is extremely pleased with the results…

From Right Field – Necromancing the Stone

Read Chris Romeo... every Tuesday at
StarCityGames.com!As promised last week, Chris brings us his newest Standard creation — Black/White Slivers. He takes us through five different iterations of the deck, and shares some of his thoughts in testing and beyond. All this, plus a few match walkthroughs to boot! Looking to abuse the power of Necrotic Sliver? Then maybe this is the deck for you…

The Combat Phase – Disaster Week

Jamie brings us another taste of his weekly ramblings on all things Spanish and Green. In his own words…

It’s Shark Week on the Discovery Channel! And it’s Disaster Week on the Wakefield Channel! Tune in to see gruesome footage of bad food, pulled muscles, and sea foam beatings around the head and neck!

The Magic Show #36 — This Week In Magic

Evan’s 36th foray into the video realm deals with a number of topics, including the New Era of Standard, Zac Hill and Concessions, and a fun-looking Standard deck christened Radha Might Get There. Evan also takes a look at the first officially spoiled card from Future Sight, so don your speculation hats and come join the fun!