…It wasn't just the Non-Sligh, it was, “Mana curve? What mana curve? I just sit here until the…
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Monday, July 19th – It’s time to start counting the dollars, pounds, or yen, stuffed under the mattress at home. Can you afford a box of M11 now it’s hit the shelves? It might seem like a big investment, but Rich explains how to get every drop of value out of thirty six boosters, and why buying a box is one of the best entertainment deals ever.
…want to know how much of a ‘hard’ counterspell Mana Leak is. Next up is Soulsurge Elemental. Clearly, it’s…
…isn't the easiest process in the world versus Mana Leak, Remand, or almost anything). Once down, Kaervek is, however…
Jeroen continues his Dissension musings with a look at the Green cards and the Simic guild. Historically, Blue/Green has been a Constructed powerhouse. Does the Simic return Standard to the Glory Days of Wild Mongrel, Arrogant Wurm, and Circular Logic? And does the Blue/Green guild house the best rare in the set? Click here to find out… [Part I: White/Azorius] – [Part II: Black/Rakdos]
…In the future, when Hinder rotates out, this will be the only alternative we have to Mana Leak, and people…
…can be worked around if you have more mana (Remand, Mana Leak, Izzet Charm), so adding two lands to your…
…6-1 Round 8- Noah Barnett- Affinity He tells me about how he had Mana Leak and Shrapnel Blast last…
Well, my last column opened a can of worms about Chalice of the Void and the future of Vintage – and letters are still coming in! Let me answer your questions and concerns.
…Thus, Mana Drain is only played in decks that would use Counterspell or Mana Leak. Mana Drain has, in fact…
This week Ari talks about the conclusions he came to about Modern while testing it for Grand Prix Detroit and goes over how he did in the event with his Kiki Pod deck.
…Nice Lightning Bolt, nice Mana Leak, nice Restoration Angel. Oddly enough, you are pretty good against the Steam Vents combo…
…is not actually a solution to the problem. - Casting Mana Leak on Overgrown Battlement is the height of idiocy. - Venser…
…Both are slightly mana hosed, and we sit at three mana for a long time. The only thing is, I…
When a beginner sees creatures, especially weenies, he usually labels a deck”aggro.” When he sees control elements, especially counterspells, he usually labels it”control.” Aggro-control decks, however, have creatures and counterspells. The problem with misidentifying an archetype, as usual, is consequently not knowing how to play against it, much less sideboard.
…It’s just that there was no good splashable counter before Mana Leak was printed.) Compare the Block deck to…
Friday, October 15th – Just in time for the StarCityGames.com Standard Open in Nashville this weekend, The Innovator digs out and revives Pyromancer Ascension! All its major threats are gone! Is the time ripe for this combo?
…The prospect of losing so much mana was a losing one, to be sure. In addition, I could just untap…
…Annul was a legitimate one mana Counterspell, and between Condescend, Hinder, and Mana Leak, we had enough critical mass to…
…the threat of Daze or Mana Leak. Whether it’s part of a dedicated mana-denial plan with land destruction…
…Mnemonic Sliver<br> Dream Cache<br> Shadow Rift<br> Mana Leak<br> Contempt<br> Rootwater Mystic<br> Spinal Graft<br…
…Conventional wisdom is that Commander decks should have around 36 lands, and supplement the manabase with mana rocks and mana…
Craig Jones, Constructed specialist, takes a wander through the garden of Dissension Standard. He presents a number of innovative decks that span a variety of archetypes, from UW Control to Rakdos Beats. In addition, he presents some more outlandish ideas for those planning to go rogue. Still undecided on your Regionals weapon of choice? Look no further…
…At the very least, fans of Vinelasher Kudzu and Mana Leak finally get a dual land to help their mana…
Thursday, April 22nd – Rise of the Eldrazi is causing quite a stir, and everyone is looking for the next breakout Constructed card. Today, Craig Wescoe looks at the best of what White, Blue, and Colorless has to offer, hyping cards that have avoided examination, and busting the bubbles of a few that have been highly hyped…
…The second best upside is that, unlike Force Spike and Mana Leak and Rune Snag, Counterspell is just as effective…
…You see, he's got this leak in his game where he won't risk any recover card unless he…
…I'm slightly mana light and have to let a<br> Acidic sliver through which kills me a couple of…
Find out how Mike’s tournaments went last weekend with U/R Delver in Standard. He also provides you with the deck he’d play if all his Delvers and Snapcaster Mages were stolen. Give it a try in Worcester!
…Come on, Mana Leak! Nope :( Surprised? You shouldn’t be; I already told you how this one shook out. Play…
Take a bit o’ Blue, add a splash o’ Red, and what have you got? The world’s favorite color combination (allegedly). Everyone loves Steam Vents, or so it would seem, and it appears that Mr Romeo is no different. Today’s offering brings us two budget-centric Red/Blue builds, coupled with detailed game descriptions from Magic Online.
…For game 2, I dropped the Rewinds, Careful Considerations, a Remand, and a Mana Leak for the three Spell Snares…
…None of that!” and he counters with a Mana Leak. I wonder how many counters he is running? I am…
…There are no “mana issues” with the PT Junk mana base. Should anyone object to the mana base, it should…
I want to talk a bit about what makes a card broken, and what makes a format healthy. As the StarCityGames.com writer with more articles about combos that don’t work than anyone else, I am also going to talk about combo decks and their impact on the format.
…Two, I might leave the Welding Jars, or play* Mana Leak *s. For block, you could also splash green for…
…time with their [card] Remand [/card]s and [card] Mana Leak [/card]s. We have consistent access to [card]Cavern…
Which kinds of cards are safe to invest in? Which staples are next to get steamrolled by more powerful or efficient competitors? What does the overall increase of Magic’ power level mean for the future of the game? Read on to find out!
…Rinse and repeat for Rancor, Mana Leak, etc. Right now, most of the expensive cards in Return to Ravnica are…
…It's a decent amount of stats for five mana, but there is no double- Raise Dead in the format…
Friday, February 20th – In the arduous quest for a Pro Tour invitation, PTQs are the most common trial that upcoming Magic stars have to wade through. They are long tournaments with only the winner taking home an invitation. So, how do you obtain that advantage in a format like Extended, where the number of viable archetypes outnumber the number of simians found in a barrel of monkeys?
…Earlier in the season I was working with a player who brought Flashfreeze in while taking out Mana Leak. In…
…like Compulsive Research and having three mana open for a Remand or Mana Leak becomes much more difficult. Against Heartbeat…
Nice to meet you; I’m Yann Hamon. I have had recent successes on the Pro Tour circuit, playing at Grand Prix: London, Grand Prix: Lyon and Pro Tour: New Orleans, finishing second, first, and third, which is not too bad. Consequently, my composite rating is actually over 2150, and I’m ranked second in the world. Also, I was the second half of the Labarre concession controversy. I’m going to tell you this story and other interesting ones (at least I hope so) in my report. The report may also contain useful information for your Extended PTQ season – at least until Wizards finally decides to ban some cards and change the format.
…with Duress backup and enough mana too deal with Force Spike *and* Mana Leak – two spells that merely allowed him…
In today’s edition of the Real Deal, Ben talks about fifteen cards from Future Sight that you should pay attention to. Five of these cards are sleeper hits, five of them are being overvalued, and five of them are Dual Lands. In his Planar Chaos Set Review, Ben extolled the virtues of Aeon Chronicler and Sulfur Elemental — will he be a hit or miss this time around?
…Why aren’t you playing Mana Leak, Remand, Delay or Rune Snag instead, huh? There are definitely decks and situations…
…At about 5am Josh wakes up Phil by saying “ Mana Leak ” in his sleep, LMAO again. July 24th - The three…
More Card Advantage Examples and Chasey Lain references. Honest.
…my opinion, makes for better decisions when you can Mana Leak or Naturalize the annoying Glasses. I do it this…
…Being able to Mana Leak something for 1 mana is very strong, and in certain metas, this card can very…
One of the more interesting decks that no one noticed in Los Angeles was a deck called Crazy Pedro, an aggro deck designed by last year’s Extended Pro Tour winner Pierre Canali. Tiago Chan made Day 2 with the deck and says that it’s better his performance would indicate. If you are looking for a rogue creation to battle with at your local PTQs, this may be your lucky day.
…Then he Force Spiked my Sword Fire and Ice, Countered my Mana Leak, after which I proceed to draw 3…
…He had shown me game 1 that he has [card]Dismember[/card] and [card] Mana Leak [/card], and game two…
…Quench Quench It’s kind of like Mana Leak but 100% worse. Why am I still thirsty for a good…
…Command 1 Force of Negation 4 Lightning Bolt 1 Mana Leak 2 Opt 3 Prismari Command 3 Remand 1 Spell…
Ken Bearl made the finals of a PTQ with Affinity, a deck he initially underestimated. This article covers exactly why he was wrong.
…Master of Etherium and company killed him very quickly when he couldn’t Mana Leak Master. Game 2 I started…
…Mana Leak or Go for the Throat would be some other ways. One thing that Vorapede has going for him…
Brian Kibler narrowly missed a top 8 at Grand Prix Los Angeles! He’s back again to show you why Temur could be the most underrated clan for Standard! If you want to attack at #SCGMINN, don’t miss Brian’s advice!
…The Mana Leak mode needs you to have a board presence to be able to afford to leave mana untapped…
White hasn’t got a lot of ways to play at the big boy’s table. Historically, White Weenie has only been good when it’s been riding the back of Armageddon (a good disruption spell and a card-advantage spell). Hell, I see people putting Wrath in the sideboards of their White Weenie decks because other aggro decks are a problem. Not really a winning thought process…
…You gave us Mana Leak and told us the format would be awesomely better and you were absolutely right. You…
Thursday, October 21st – Gerard Fabiano has some lessons for ya’ll in communication, innovation, and more. He builds a Venser deck and a white weenie deck for your consideration for the upcoming StarCityGames.com Standard Open: Charlotte.
…Round 7 I played<br> against Mass Polymorph, a match that favors U/W, since Spell Pierce / Negate / Mana Leak…
Coming out of Worlds, we have a reasonably defined Extended metagame, identifying a few “best” decks and about a dozen different deck strategies that are actually worth playing. What is interesting, however, is how this format will change between the World Championships and the subsequent PTQ season, as the matchups are tested out extensively and ideas are brought forward for improving upon the small stable of decks that are worth honest consideration.
…cards, and lean in the general direction of either Mana Leak or Lightning Helix … the latter of which might be…
…For example, Mana Leak can either help control the long game or press the advantage in the early game. Vapor…
…Now there is a way to help make Mana Leak effects like this one work, a little tempo, like taxes…
Chris Lansdell serves up a trio of Top 8 “banned lists” today, including his all-time Top 8 of banned cards…and not one but two Top 8s of cards that should’ve been banned! Will your past nightmare make one of his lists?
…was being done when Ponder, Preordain, Vapor Snag and Mana Leak were all legal in Standard. Runechanter’s Pike and…
…It's serviceable for Limited or Standard, but we have actual Mana Leak in Pauper or better yet actual Counterspell…
Wednesday, March 26th – If you check the Top 8s of Standard events both online and in real life, you’ll soon see that Faeries is the deck to beat. One way of taking down the flying menace is through copious use of Islandwalkers. Enter Merfolk, one of the more under-appreciated tribes in Lorwyn Constructed. BPM takes us through his own brand of Merfolk goodness, examining an archetype that is definitely on the rise.
…After all, Mana Leak is usually good for it, and Cryptic Command is amazing at impersonating Dismiss at a much…