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Wednesday, February 20th – In case you’ve forgotten, the next update to the Vintage Banned and Restricted list is about to occur. In the past, Stephen has largely shied away from commenting before the updates occurred. This time, however, he’s brimming with ideas! But why should there be any changes to the most varied and enjoyable Vintage metagame for years? Stephen reveals all…

…Time Walk plus 3 more mana accelerants. 2. Black Lotus and at least one other mana accelerant. 3. Mox Sapphire…

…The second was that I would have almost zero time to playtest, because Israeli nationals occurred about four days before…

Monday, August 30th – Losing the die roll to a dedicated Workshop player is one of the most disheartening feelings in all of Magic. Magic players have kindly taken steps on our behalf to warn us not to fall for the trap of the Workshop.

…Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Gifts Ungiven, Mana Drain, Force of Will, Mind’s Desire, and so on. Thus we see…

…The time I spend daydreaming in class about those ten cards gives me a very firm understanding of each card…

…Though the guilds rule Ravnica, they aren’t the only ones who walk its streets. The guildless of Ravnica come…

Chris Lansdell didn’t get the details quite right when he went to Grand Prix Atlanta. Learn from his mistakes if you’re going to your first SCG Tour or similarly big event! It’s not too late to book tickets to Roanoke…

…just walk right in and get one. Oketra's Monument If at all possible, try to take some time to…

…In an environment where most players walk the line, with many ideas often insufficiently tested, an already proven archetype can…

Ross Merriam prepares you for Games 2 and 3 in Zendikar Rising Standard with this weekend’s essential sideboard cards.

…Sets are now released online a full week before major tournaments are played, leaving the community time to play millions…

…We made a lot of individual choices, and it's important that I walk them through what factors shaped those…

First, I’ll make the obligatory comments on Draft and Limited. The set looks like it’s more aimed at these formats. It has a lot of creatures with combat related abilities, lots of combat tricks, and the new Legends rule* makes Legends a lot more playable. This is not too surprising – we came off a block built around combo and Constructed play (although the Affinity mechanic proved excessive), so a more Limited-focused block was predictable. This isn’t Masques block II, however: Masques was all about horrible creatures with big price tags. CoK has some amazing 5/5s for bargain prices. In fact, let’s take a look under the hood and see exactly what Champions offers, shall we?

…Imagine having to split Time Walk, Burning Wish, Recoup and Contract from Below. Blue also gets three counters, including a…

Thursday, August 27th – Since rocking the Alara Block Constructed format at Pro Tour: Honolulu with the Esper Stoneblade, Brian Kibler entered the GenCon arena with a new plan: Cascade. Today, he looks at the Block Championship tournament and his finals finish, with an eye on the upcoming Standard format created by the imminent release of Zendikar.

…Last year was the first time I had any free time at GenCon in quite a while, and I came…

Limited maven Ryan Saxe shares his secrets to drafting Storm decks in Magic Online’s Vintage Cube! Get his thoughts on removal, Power, and more.

…They mostly are very strong sideboard options, but alongside Time Walk and Time Warp can be very potent backup threats…

Brian looks at three months of tournament data to decipher all the latest Vintage trends. You want decklists? He has decklists.

…the<br> greatest commonality (besides for Power 9 like Ancestral Recall, Time Walk, Black Lotus, etc.) is the engine that…

…Moving Around the Board At any time during your main phase, you may move your creatures one card north, south…

…Memory Lapse, when at its best, plays a lot like Time Walk. Here's a powerful deck from *Ice Age…

…There was a time not too long ago when I would sign up for a draft on Magic Online and…

…At that time I wasn't an editor, traveler, or expectant father. I wasn't a writer. I was barely…

If you’ve ever wondered to yourself how people just seem to “get there” but never seem to “get there” yourself, this article is for you. What are the steps to understanding yourself, Magic, and winning? How do you accomplish your goals?

…I have devoted more time, blood, sweat, and hard work into this game than most people do at their actual…

Bryan Gottlieb has seen this film before, and he didn’t like the ending! He offers swift responses to Temur Reclamation in Historic.

…for a long time now, and sometimes you just need to cut your losses and walk away. Come rotation, I…

After rocking his Regionals with Korlash Control, Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin wanted a similar fish to take him upstream towards U.S. Nationals Top 8 success. After much debate and discussion with some of the top theorists and players in the game, he settled on an interesting control variant that harnessed the power of both Korlash and Tarmogoyf. It served him well, and almost took him to the very top. Today’s article looks at his preparation for the event, and brings us a new Standard control deck for those looking for top tech.

…time limits, there are also the issues of beatdown decks attacking from unexpected angles and not being able to walk…

…You get an extra creature on the board, and one of his takes a walk. Admittedly, it isn’t permanent…

…With Oona defeated, the aurora is broken and the plane has a regular dawn for the first time in centuries…

…Then those whose guess most accurate and those who had the best ideas walk away as the winners and the…

…from time to time, it's important to break the rules. Afterall, Magic's identity is that of a game…

Need help choosing a Standard deck for SCG Open Series: Phoenix? Then read as rising Russian player Valeriy Shunkov considers Birthing Pod, B/W Tokens, Wolf Run, and more for Magic World Cup Qualifiers and the upcoming PTQ season.

…Now Magic World Cup Qualifiers and PTQs for amazing PT Seattle (Ravnica, Ravnica, Ravnica!) are ahead, so it’s time…

…This is tense because<br> I know that I am giving him plenty of time to topdeck another Armageddon,<br…

…Root Maze is effectively a double Time Walk against a fetch land. Suppression Field will similarly turn off a fetch…

…spending the time and mana to 'walk should (usually) improve your situation. To mitigate the perceived randomness of games using…

…Ben and Warren put in as much if not more time testing than anyone while it's John, the creator…

Adrian Sullivan, deckbuilding guru, takes a look at three of the winning Regionals decklists, and examines their particular strengths in the emerging metagame. He looks at the theory behind certain card choices, and offers what he considers to be beneficial changes to the seventy-five select. The Standard metagame is in a state of constant flux — With the help of Adrian, the choices become a little more straightforward.

…I’m sure that by the time Standard winds down with Future Sight, we’ll see even more of the…

…For those of you new to the Heartbeat-Harvest deck, I'll walk you through it. The deck plays out…

…from last time? It is often the case that just sitting back and letting your opponent walk into your Complicates…

Tuesday, February 1 – Grand Prix: Toronto Champion Jon Smithers invented the Tempered Steel deck in Extended and provides you with an in-depth strategy guide for beating Faeries, systematically.

…Step #4 — Alternatives Analysis With the battle plans drawn for an assault on the Faerie stronghold, it’s now time…

…Clearly a baloth would have a hard time wielding a hammer, just like a Craw Wurm would have a hard…

…Thankfully, Wizards of the Coast learned the lesson in time for *Time Spiral Remastered*, giving the card the current border…

GenCon this year was a blast. I played some, judged some, saw some great Magic, and was attacked by flaming mummies and by a desert tray. GenCon hosted the Vintage and Legacy Champs, and Five-Color Worlds. I also saw Sam Black redefine “having a good weekend.”

…Black Lotus<br> All six Moxen (Sapphire, Jet, Pearl, Emerald, Ruby, Crystal\*\*)<br> Ancestral Recall<br> (no Time Walk – banned…

…Among the rare cases where I disagreed with one of their plays, 90% of the time they were proven right…

…We pass the time by building practice sealed decks, three decks rotated - so we each build a deck with all…

…Rebels and Waters are a lot more complex when it comes time to start casting spells (or thawing animals, as…

It feels a long time ago now, those long hot summers of *Lorwyn*. Just as we are hitting the long…

Dan Paskins, the Red mage personified, brings us an entertaining article on the noble art of swindling your opponent. Don’t worry, Dan hasn’t defected to the Dark Side… there’s no cheating here. Rather, Mr Paskins takes us step-by-step through the methods required to force your opponent into bad play.

…If, however, you can find an alternative automatic routine which helps you to catch yourself and give yourself enough time…

The Huntmaster is back with part two of his report on his epic win at Pro Tour Dark Ascension. Read how Huntmaster of the Fells and Thrun, the Last Trolls were all-stars on the road to Brian Kibler’s second Pro Tour victory.

…I got up and got ready with time to spare before the scheduled meeting time, so I decided to wander…

Jadine Klomparens talks those Goblin Rabblemasters in her Top 32 SCG Louisville Jund deck and the potential of Ixalan’s black “extra card” spells. Could Sword-Point Diplomacy break the mold for SCG Dallas?

…You might laugh, but letting their Engineered Explosives be a Plague Wind stapled to a Time Walk is a huge…

…We used up a large percentage of the time, but all three games went pretty much the same way, and…

The secret to Team Magic events isn’t in metagaming against three chairs or running elaborate Kansas City Shuffle bluffs. It’s in finding people you want to play with and sharing good times with them. GerryT shows the way!

…and it will eat incredibly valuable time off the clock. Nobody wants to walk away with an unintentional draw, but…

…Updated Standard Worksheets We have two updates to the Standard worksheet I presented last time—a fix, and a complete…

…My opponent drew their card and did not have another Polymorph, the Time Walk gave me enough time/gas to…

American Magic player Ryan Schwenk gives you another look at the Standard metagame he’s a part of in Japan before Avacyn Restored was released. If you like control, he recommends trying White Artifact Control at your next Standard tournament.

…current deck (by the way, did anybody pull a Time Walk —I mean Temporal Mastery?). But before you opened up…

…Embedded media It's time to prepare yourself . . . And what better way to prepare yourself than with the advanced knowledge…

…But with plenty of time left in the round? A crucial Game 3? If you decide to keep playing, then…