Wednesday, August 13th – I wanted to write about this deck prior to Grand Prix: Denver, but I was under the assumption that some of the Madison players may be playing it so I kept my mouth shut. Turns out that didn’t happen, but it’s quite a beauty and I’m excited to finally be able to chat it up…
…Madison made for one of the best eight-week stretches of time in my life, but all that’s gone…
Online Content Coordinator Lauren Lee reviews all the articles from 2012 and shares a few things you can expect for 2013.
…I hope 2013 is an even better year for top finishes by women players. *Because it’s about time.* From…
Thursday, September 16th – Pro Tour Amsterdam is in the books, and the DCI Family has a whopping three new Level 3 judges in its ranks! Let’s find out more about who these great guys are!
…Q:<br> Looks like you got into judging in the first time because of rules interactions. <br> DLS:<br> I…
The Sexiest Man In Magic takes Itchy and Scratchy to Regionals! What’s Itchy and what’s Scratchy? And how did Dave do?
…For a deck with a fairly high mana base, I was mulliganing about 40% of the time. Other than that…
…I'll walk you through their creation while interweaving the explanation of design's need for linear mechanics. I might…
…Again (although this time with a little more time) I was asked to design the mechanic. > > I knew I wanted…
When looking at a new Standard season, it’s always a good idea to peak back at the previous year’s Block Constructed Pro Tour and see what ideas you can take from that tournament. Today Flores uses Masashiro Kuroda’s winning deck from Kobe and turns it into what may once again be one of the best decks in the format.
…I love Mox in the opening hand… hate it any time after. Overall I actually hate a lot of Claudel…
…At worst it can serve as a Time Walk while you are doing other things to control the game. Gideon…
For his 100th article for StarCityGames, Stephen tries something a little different: he answers questions posed by readers on a variety of Magic and non-Magic subjects! He looks back over his collected works, and shares a little of his successes and failures. He describes his brief flirtation with facial hair, and pens a poem to his favorite card of all time! Congratulations on your 100, Stephen… here’s to the next milestone!
…Dream Hall cannot be cast on turn 1 without Academy, Lotus, Time Walk, Petal, or Sapphire, basically. Dream Halls would…
…I think it's about time for someone to address the 8000 pound gorilla in the room and figure out…
Join Erik Tiernan as he studies all the incredible new Commander goods we’re getting with Commander 2016! Which cards are you stoked about?
…While this is far from the truth, when so many people walk the same path of deckbuilding, it certainly feels…
…I will answer the same four questions I have answered each other time and then I will talk about the…
There’s no denying that the plane of Innistrad is a flavor home run. It’s the kind of set and setting that gets John Dale Beety ready to write! Enjoy his analysis of Magic’s most beloved horror show!
…And then she would return and walk among her people again, she would teach and laugh and love again, and…
…Long Answer Since this is the long answer, I'll have the time to properly run through these “more important…
Friday, October 2nd – While most judges have probably used the judge center at some stage to set up exams for themselves, there is nothing to stop you creating exams for other judges that you are actively mentoring. By generating the exams for the candidate, you automatically become ‘privy’ to the results and the answers they give.
…601.2a — 601.2g, but let’s walk through this one. *Step 1, C.R. 601.2a. The player announces…
…Long Answer Since this is the long answer, I'll have the time to properly run through these “more important…
…walk them both. Games 11-3 Matches 5-1 Round 7: Jeff Burghy-Blue I should beat Blue every time…
…draw his creature again feels a lot like a “time walk” effect too. We only found two slots for Guillaume…
…The winning Merfolk deck likely benefited greatly from Time Walk, Mox Sapphire and Black Lotus, but let's not pretend…
If you want to win with your control deck, you had better know what you’re controlling. If you’re a fan of U/B Control, Adrian shares his latest build for #SCGBALT… as well as looking in detail at the deck’s progression over the past six months.
…Every time your opponent draws a land in that place, it’s generally bad. Every time you draw another answer…
Phil takes a look at the last two months of big Vintage tournament data and also breaks down the various points being made in the Mishra’s Workshop/Trinisphere banning debate. What does the data say about who’s right and who’s wrong here? You’ll have to click on the link to find out.
…Ancestral Recall 51 Strip Mine 48 Mana Crypt 44 Time Walk 180 Force of Will 165 Wasteland 136 Brainstorm 123…
…Every missed land drop is a Time Walk. This is a beating for creature-light decks. Huatli, the Sun's…
…One, any time you get strong data one way or another, you are getting feedback that can be easily applied…
Bennie loves brewing! This week, he tries to make a ton of Zombies with Zombie Infestation and Treasure Hunt in Standard; then he brews up a Damia Commander deck with the textbox-heavy Ice Cauldron. What does it even do?
…My current thinking is the best man to support Garruk is Dungrove Elder —he’s reliable, and by the time…
B/W Astral Slide doesn’t have the luxury of Lightning Rifts to burn out the little ones like its R/W cousin. It needs to survive the initial creature rush a bit better, as decks like G/W and U/G still can provide a lethal amount of heat out of the gates a bit too regularly. Also, with mirror matches now figuring in heavily as part of the metagame, the Treatment also needs a more flexibility against the other kids on the Astral playground. So the green has to be there – but in what quantity?
…In this sea of black, I wage war against a force far more powerful than I – time may be everlasting…
Frank finishes his synopsis of M14 Limited by walking you through a draft he participated in on Magic Online.
…As promised, today I’m going to walk through one of my 8-4 online drafts and discuss the thought…
…This freaked numerous playtesters out. (“I don't want people touching me.”) We spent a lot of time talking about…
…There are a lot of things people *really* shouldn't ever want to have to learn a second time. Time…
…Sway of the Stars Sundering Titan Sylvan Primordial Time Vault Time Walk Tinker Tolarian Academy Trade Secrets Upheaval Worldfire Yawgmoth…
Thursday, January 29th – Another day, another format… and another strong Black/White Midrange deck from Richard Feldman! Borrowing heavily from the successful Aggro Loam strategy, Richard tackles the current Extended format and mixes up a little Conflux into the brew…
…There are other reasons – synergy with Worship, ability to walk Red players into piles of card advantage when they try…
…It is not a bad creature by itself, but it can sometimes be a Time Walk, when your opponent needs…
Monday, June 28th – M11 is fast approaching, and many of the format’s nuts and bolts are slowly being revealed. Today, Patrick Chapin takes a look at some of the more exciting spoiled cards, cards that will certainly impact Constructed Magic upon their introduction. (Warning: Spoilers!)
…that Time Reversal, Time Warp, and Jace’s Ingenuity mean that there is a Time Twister, a Time Walk, and…
If you’ve been around Rich Hoaen for any period of time, you’ll understand that he’s probably better known for his powers of flatuence than he is for his Magic play. This is in spite of the fact that he’s consistently one of the top Limited players in the world. Today you get the story of how he finished second at Grand Prix: Detroit and while you’re reading, feel free to count the number of his opponents that actually had no idea who this “Rich Hoaen” guy is.
…I don’t know why I waste my time in hotel rooms before Magic tournaments. I am never able to…
…I decided at the time that the additional power of the Assassin's effect, especially the one-two punch of…
Monday, March 2nd – Stephen takes a break from his preparations for the Legacy Grand Prix in Chicago this coming weekend, turning his eye toward the next Waterbury Vintage tournament, or “Mana Drain Open.” Today’s article sees Stephen developing the GroAtog archetype in face of the bannings and recent inclusions. Will the deck be good enough to take home the prize?
…win condition than Tendrils in that regard (Tinker plus Time Walk also works). Also, it’s not that hard to…
…it seems especially cool against Valakut as a pseudo-time walk. It could give you the extra turn you need…
…for most games, discovery comes during the early part of playing the game and lessens over time. Early chess, for…
Join BBD as he tells you the tale of how a lucky Orzhov Guildgate carried him to great success in the past month, including a Top 4 at #SCGINVI and a PTQ win.
…It was fun while it lasted! I tried to resist this notion for a long time, but eventually I couldn…
*Aether Revolt* previews are over, which means it's time to start telling some card-by-card design stories. There…
Thursday, January 22nd – Patrick “The Innovator” Chapin rocked a Faerie/Gift hybrid deck at Grand Prix: Los Angeles. Today, he discusses the evolution of the metagame post-LA, before sharing some of the more interesting stories from the tournament floor…
…By the time Bucher and the others showed up, it was time to get down to business. MJ worked on…
…Until Next Time That's all the time I have for today. Next week, I'll get into the mana…
…Ugin's Insight can be more powerful than a Dig Through Time late, yet is sorcery speed. Bring to Light…
Tap two actuaries from Anthony’s Magic group: Explain the beauty and strategies of this unconventional card in duel and multiplayer.
…Time Walk once went through this difficulty in the early Magic days, as some people mutated”take a turn after…
…In a time when people were just starting to really understand library manipulation (Mirage Tutors, Florida Orb), this deck was…
…Time Wipe – $0.10 Time Wipe Time Wipe is perfect for those “save one, smash the rest” moments. It lets…
…If we hold the Cavern, we can effectively Time Walk them (since Cavern makes the creature unable to be countered…
…I hadn’t entered a tournament in a month’s time. I’d been avoiding the format in part because…
Some people have told me that Mono-Red is actually terrible now that Future Sight has entered the format. I have to admit, much like in Standard, there is a strong case to be made for adding Forests and Tarmogoyfs to fight alongside the Gargadons. Or maybe adding Blue cards and Bridge From Below, and running the Bridge-Reanimator deck. Or maybe throwing the Red cards in the trash and trading for Korlash, Heir to Blackblade before it’s too late.
…Most of the time it was equivalent to Ghostflame, and any time I got to play it by unmorphing it…
…I have a very difficult time explaining things verbally. If you were to walk up to me and ask why…
Brian "Nostrademars" DeMars has been making good on a lot of his predictions for the Vintage metagame lately. He has his list of the five best spells currently and decklists for two new brews: Vintage Control and Midrange Bant.
…make my Snapcaster Mages even better—essentially becoming a Time Walk. Honor the Fallen “*A white card that exiles creatures…