Monday, December 13th – Patrick Chapin dives into Extended, and taking all the data from Worlds, breaks down the decks into Tier 1, Tier 1.5, Tier 2, and just plain bad.
…Personally, I would consider cards like Mana Leak, Cryptic Command, and Sower of Temptation. Playing less than four Mind Sculptors…
Craig (me) finishes his (my) report on English Nationals 2006. When we left him (me), he (I) was poised at a precarious 5-2 after one day of play, looking to pose a strong challenge for a Top 8 spot. This concluding article deals with every match of Day 2, including an epic five-game final. Highs, lows, some startling and entertaining plays… and a mulligan to three.
…I’d played around a single Mana Leak, but two also doomed me. Boomer slumped.<br> “Resolves,” he said. Yosei…
Friday, September 26th – Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re going to take a look at what could only be described as the upcoming Reflecting Pool metagame, take a look at the latest Shards of Alara spoilers, and detail my plans for attending the Magic Cruise in February and a last ditch effort to reach Germany. Let’s go!
…br> have six mana; drop Venser, then untap a land and hold open Negate or Mana Leak or Deprive. Most…
Fifty miserable, lousy Blue cards. This probably goes without saying by now, but this is an approximate pick order. More than anything, it’s meant to give you a jumping-off point on power levels and/or usefulness of the Blue cards in the set. Nonetheless, I’d appreciate seeing any disputes, minor or major, in the forums. It’s nice to have one of these lists out there for each color for posterity, and in a few months we can look back and see how foolish we were.
…His opponent tried to play a Nezumi Graverobber with six mana up. KK returned a land to Mana Leak; his…
Thursday, July 23rd – In the run up to Brazilian Nationals this weekend, Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa is in an unusually reflective mood. Today’s PV’s Playhouse has Brazil’s finest looking back at his rise from eight-year-old beginner to the force he is today. The stories are entertaining and uplifting, and dotted with excellent advice on how to reach the next level of play.
…I only had two Mountains, though, so he Wished for Mana Leak and passed. On my upkeep I show him…
Monday, December 7th – Today’s So Many Insane Plays sees Stephen Menendian doing what he does best: in-depth, intricate, play-by-play tournament reports! He shares his recent Top 4 success at a local Vintage tournament, with decklists, detail, and drama throughout.
…I didn’t know whether he ran Mana Leak or not, but I wouldn’t put it past him. If…
…destroyed by possible Sideboarded Land Destruction but bluffing a Mana Leak, Condescend or Echoing Truth to stop any Mox-Slogger…
My goal for this week is to weave all of these things together for a look at the States metagame and the choices that are going to be present and inherent in each archetype. I’ll also give a few hints as to how the key contenders match up against each other, and we can go from there into creating an assumed picture of the metagame as well as the suggestions that can come from it as to how to succeed. I like looking at the whole picture and figuring out the so-called “rules of the format”, and that’s something that may be profitable here as well. It may also be highly premature, so we’ll see how firm our conclusions are before taking that particular step.
…4 Mana Leak<br> <br> 4 Remand<br> <br> 4 Hinder The cheap countermagic, and only the cheap countermagic. We…
A thoughtful and learned look back on Lapille’s first Grand Prix Top 8 experience.
…Even Masashi Oiso tries to Mana Leak spells whose controllers have three mana untapped. In a tournament, you may have…
…Counterspell, Mental Misstep, Wash Away, Unable to Scream, Brazen Borrower, Force of Negation, Mana Leak, Stern Scolding, Daze - Black: Fatal…
…Quench Welcome to another powered down Mana Leak. It might see some play in Standard. Rampage of the Clans This…
I’ve always loved the National Championships. My favorite of all was six years ago, when I finished second with the first version of Red Deck Wins. That tournament qualified me for the World Championships in Yokohama, which was simply great in spite of the fact that I ended up losing more than I won, and the report I wrote afterwards got chosen by Mike Flores as the first Editor’s Choice on the Magic Dojo. I never thought, particularly recently, that I’d play in another Nationals which could match that.
…But if I play for this, then if Sam has a Mana Leak, a Condescend or an Echoing Truth I…
…Remember, the highest mana cost was *seven*. For what it's worth, the average Converted Mana Cost for all cards…
Now that the Lorwyn Spoiler is in our grubby and impatient little hands, Rich Hagon revisits the techniques for Spoiler analysis he espoused last week and attempts to show how these touchstones can be useful in dissecting so much raw data. This episode also includes the largest font yet seen in a Magic article. (Mr. Hagon wishes to make it clear that this is not a challenge to a rapidly-escalating Font War with other writers. Thank you.)
…At one, expect super-narrow (Spell Snare) and at two think of counters that aren’t always counters (Mana Leak…
Commander 2016 and its partner mechanic have given us almost too many options! Sean studies the infinite possibilities of our new Commander world!
…Unsummon option offered by Mystic Confluence alongside the triple- Mana Leak or triple-cantrip modes, but Aetherspouts wrecks opposing battlefields…
…Counterspell, Mana Leak, Memory Lapse, Negate, & Remand – Perhaps it is blasphemous to honorably mention the card to which all counter…
I promise that this review will be as informative as any other review you will read, unless you find one that is somehow better. It’s possible.
…Worse than flexible counters like Prohibit, Rethink, and Mana Leak, but someone in R&D obviously loves this card. Daring…
Stuart Wright, England’s premier deckbuilder, shares his thoughts on the cards from Time Spiral. He gives us a rundown of all the cards he believes will impact on the Constructed metagame, and offers an amazing twelve new decklists for us to tweak and test! The StarCityGames.com $1,500 Standard Open is this Saturday, and Champs are just around the corner… be prepared!
…Remand might be better than Mana Leak, if lots of people play suspend stuff. Volcanic Hammer could be maindecked if…
Wednesday, November 25th – In this mammoth article, Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin shares his thoughts on Rome, Worlds, Standard, Extended, and all points in between. He wades into the Gindy debate, and promises great things for 2010…
…In my infinite wisdom, I used my last Mana Leak on it, despite being at 20 life. Why? Sure, I…
…The more general solutions to Storm are things like Spell Pierce, Spellstutter Sprite, and Mana Leak. Combined with some other…
Want the most thorough analysis of nearly every known Modern deck in the game today? Pro Tour Champion gives lists and talks matchups, weaknesses, strengths, and everything in between for #SCGINVI and Grand Prix Charlotte!
…Or really the removal is really bad against things that fit in the small gap between Mana Leak and Abrupt…
…Giving Eric a questionable look, I sputtered, “ Hydroblast? Force Spike? Powersink? Mana Leak? ” It took Eric around five minutes to…
…dead draw (although I've generally found cards like Mana Leak tend to keep their value longer than people think…
Patrick Chapin’s set review takes on a new form. Instead of going through all the cards, he’ll give you updates to existing decklists using New Phyrexia. Look for Parts 2 and 3 later in the week.
…I actually like black discard even better than Mana Leak right now, as it’s just so incredible to actually…
People love the single Drizzt allusion I made last time more than they love my article. More than half of the responses were about the Matron Mother. So what else is a man to do but make a Dark Elves deck that smashes face in multiplayer?
…search out the Drake and Leak their Rout. Some handsome guys will have enough mana to pay for that… And…
…It was just shuffle, make a good mulligan decision, play my Steppe Lynx, curve out perfectly, mana screw this guy…
…Lose Focus Mana Leak hasn't seen a lot of play in Pauper in, well, ever, and certainly not Quench…
…still keeps its toe in this ability (mostly with Mana Leak –type counterspells). As far as five years from now…
Muddy pictures and a contest (with no prize) to name Rizzo’s amazing ferret puppet sidekick. Oh, and he bashes pros again. What a surprise.
…Rites of Refusal – Ditch a card for a Mana Leak? Seemed like great times for me, and even though no…
…asks for a mana payment, even while that spell or ability is resolving. (Think Mana Leak, for example.) Regarding your…
…Unfortunately, that becomes harder to do with a card like Mana Crypt that sits at a higher price point. In…
…asks for a mana payment, even while that spell or ability is resolving. (Think Mana Leak, for example.) Regarding your…
Monday, August 2nd – A fair amount of controversy has appeared over the past few weeks, over the subject of “how to fish.” AJ Sacher wrote in this article that ‘there is too much deck copying, and not enough deck design’, to summarize in very brief. The parable goes that if you give a man a fish, he will eat for a day, but if instead you teach a man to fish, he will eat for the rest of his life.
…we can see Jace, Elspeth, Path, Wall of Omens, Mana Leak, Day of Judgment, and figure there’s probably something…
Too often, we sideboard in all the wrong ways and a matchup goes wrong because of it. Pro Tour Champion Ari Lax doesn’t want it happening to you at the #SCGKC $5,000 Premier IQ or #GPPitt this weekend, and to protect you, he’s provided this extensive and irreplaceable guide to the format.
…You can’t Mana Leak, you often can’t Remand, you can’t Dispel, and Envelop isn’t a legal…
…you could cast an instant.)* | | R | Charles Urbach | | 62 | Mana Leak | 1U | Instant | | Counter target spell unless its controller pays…
Today, we’re going to talk about Fatties. We’re going to look over historically good fatties, a hall of fame of real king-hitters, those heavyweights and the few rare super-heavyweights. To qualify for this discussion, it’s not enough to be played. Once upon a time, Zvi said a spell that cost five mana or more, “had better win me the game right there.” This quote is trotted out many, many times by better players than you or I, and these players are almost universally wrong to mention it.
…Seventh Edition rotated out, taking with it Counterspell and Mana Short, and bringing in Mana Leak, a slightly more anemic…
…2 X Mana Leak Stifle By $9 Stifle Set Scourge Cost U Color Blue Card Type Instant Rarity R Card…
…I catch an early leak that Rob won a mock Your Move tournament with a Tinker-Welder deck. When I…
Zvi asked for questions… and man, did you flood him! Zvi answers questions on just about every topic around, from “How do you become a better player?” to “How far should R&D push the design envelope?” to “Why did Netrunner fail?” to “How dangerous is Blue, anyway?”
…If even a few cards slip through the cracks – say Mana Leak, Meloku, the Clouded Mirror, and Vedalken Shackles – then…
In Part Two of his can’t-miss tournament report, Patrick Chapin describes his three life-changing days, going through them round by round on his way to the Pro Tour Journey into Nyx title.
…Sure, I’d get extra cards, but my bottleneck was mana. I didn’t last much longer, and we were…
John tells the epic tale of his preparation and performance at his local Champs tournament. As usual, he worked hard… and as usual, his story is full of highs and lows, all chronicled in the expected acerbic Rizzo style. If you’ve not read Rizzo before, this is the perfect time to try. If you’re already a fan… enjoy!
…I try to end-of-turn Electrolyze her two Birds of Paradise, which she taps out to Mana Leak. As…
To round off Patrick Chapin’s set review for New Phyrexia, he discusses Legacy, Extended, Vintage, and more. With decklists galore, spend the weekend exploring his ideas, particularly for the Legacy Open in Orlando!
…Personally, I’m not the biggest<br> fan of Mana Leak right now, and this looks way worse. You can…
…end until I say so.” | R | Jason Chan | | 63 | Mana Leak | {1}{U} | Instant | | Counter target spell unless its controller…
While we need to turn the corner to see what’s up ahead, a look back will keep things in perspective and help crystallize the lessons we’ve learned along the way, and tie up some loose ends. Type One has gone, in one year, from being a dead format to being a playtested and supported format. Starting with Aaron Forsythe’s article at the beginning of the year in which he asked the Type One community what should be unrestricted, the DCI has been listening.
…Mana Leak. Both players now have six cards in hand. Then Gro answers with Misdirection pitching a cantrip. Mono-Blue…
When you publicly bitch about Wizards on the front page of one of the Big Three Magic websites, you’re going to get attention. When Wizards actually steps up to the plate and provides you with the information you were complaining about, you better be ready to come correct and cough up the analysis…. And so I did. Here’s everything I can figure out about Onslaught draft from Draft 3 of Chicago, as well as the story of what it was exactly that I showed to the ladies in New Orleans.
…After all, an Arrogant Wurm that comes out fifth turn and a big Mana Leak for three mana is still…
Yes folks, it’s true… Geordie is back! Lured into our addictive game by a nearby Grand Prix, Sarnia’s finest returns to the pages of StarCityGames.com with an epic tale of Magical mayhem. With Jeff Cunningham recently raising the bar in the Tournament Report arena, Geordie straightens his back and squares up to the challenge. This is an excellent reintroduction to the works of Mr. Tait, and promises to be a wonderful series.
…Then I immediately drew Followed Footsteps with four mana on the table. (I could almost hear Phil Samms golf-clapping…
…The Mana Leak, as it was known was pretty good for discussion, it and I even found out what “The…
…fourth Counterspell in favor of Lose Focus, or even Mana Leak, to ease the double blue cost and have more…
The cube has recently taken the Magic world by storm, starting with the Magic Invitational and spreading around the world; it even infiltrated Wizards of the Coast’s internal Draft Club. Tom shows you how to make a cube, talks about his own cube, talks with Aaron Forsythe about the Magic Invitational cube, and gives a brief recap of the Saturday Night Cube Draft that he and Evan Erwin hosted at Worlds.
…br> Daze<br> Arcane Denial<br> Remove Soul<br> Mana Leak<br> Memory Lapse<br> Remand Capsize<br> Exclude<br…
Patrick Chapin’s three-part set review will contain all you need to know for deckbuilding in Innistrad. First up, updating old Standard archetypes with new cards like Geist of Saint Trast, Heartless Summoning, Champion of the Parish, and more.
…than to go turn two Stalker, turn three Curiosity + Mana Leak. Personally, I think this is more of a card…