Still Very Much Alive
Hey folks! Quick update here, wanted to connect as it’s been too long since I updated!
No, Ertai’s Lament hasn’t gone anywhere. I’ve been crazy busy with some things, but we’ll be right back in stride soon.
In the meantime, I’m still writing about preconstructed Magic every week for Gathering Magic! Here are some recent columns, make sure to check them out if you haven’t already.
A History of Izzet Intro Packs (Part 1)
I go back in time, charting the history of the Blue/Red-colored Intro Packs, with some surprising results!
A History of Izzet Theme Decks
Some of the most notable and interesting Theme Decks in Magic’s history are Blue and Red. Here we walk through them all!
That’s right- we’re meddling a Fourth Edition deck! This was suggested by a reader after the previous week’s column (below)
The first-ever preconstructed deck was a two-deck boxed set called Quick Start: Rivals. Go back to the dawn of the game and see what lie within!
Meddling Nissa, Nature’s Artisan
The Kaladesh Planeswalker Deck deck gets a makeover!
Chandra’s deck gets a meddling, too!
Thanks for reading, and see you soon!
Kaladesh: Chandra, Pyrogenius Review (Part 1 of 2)
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
So goes one of the more quotable lines from The Who’s 1971 classic song, Won’t Get Fooled Again, and it’s been the anthem of sorts around Ertai’s Lament Towers as we prepare for the arrival of Kaladesh and- more significantly- a passing of the preconstructed baton.
2014-15 Precon Championships: The Finals
And with that, the Preconstructed Championships for the 2014-15 Season has come to an end. Although short-lived as a product line, a Clash Pack has written its name in the Book of Glory, and will be see its name on the wall with all of our past winners. Read more
2014-15 Preconstructed Championships: The Finals
Eight weeks.
It’s taken us eight weeks to get to this point, which has seen a field of nearly fifty decks reduced to only four. It’s been a contest not without some controversy, as non-commercially available preconstructed decks were permitted to suit up and take the field. But at the end of the day, the talking was settled in the red zone.
Sample decks made it to the second round, then died. The Player’s Guide decks fared no better. Intro Packs put up a fight, but in the end, it was one Commander 2014 deck, two Duel Decks, and a Clash Pack deck that won their respective divisions and prepared to see which one of them would be able to take their place in the Hall of Champions.
That struggle ends now. Read more
2014-15 Precon Championships: Lauer Division (Part 2 of 2)
Welcome back, folks, for the final round of Divisional action! Yes, your humble author did derp a bit here and posted the divisional write-up and prediction thread in the wrong order, but sometimes you just gotta roll with a little unpredictability!
Here’s how the action unfolded! Read more 
2014-15 Precon Championships: Final Round and the Leaderboard
And we’re here! Eight weeks and four divisions concluded, with the Grand Final in our sights. There are just three matches left to play. Three matches before we crown a Champion for the 2014-15 season, three matches before a winner of the Prediction League is declared and one of our readers walks away with a prize package filled with boosters. Read more
2014-15 Precon Championships: Round 8 and the Leaderboard
Round 8 is upon us! Not only the final and deciding round of the Lauer Division, but also the last of the rounds in the lead-up to the Final Four and Grand Final. This weekend’s matches will decide which deck represents the Lauer, and the week after this whole thing comes to an end. Read more
2014-15 Precon Championships: Lauer Division (Part 1 of 2)
Three divisions have their champion anointed, to represent them in the Final Four. Only the Lauer remains, and today we cut the field of contenders in half! Let’s see who advances, and who is carted off the arena floor in a stretcher! Read more
2014-15 Precon Championships: Round 7 and the Leaderboard
The Turian Division is settled, with a champion deck from amongst the eight ready to take its place in the Final Four. It was also a rocky road for our predictors, as is often the case with the second “deciding” week in any division. It’s a challenge to predict the winner of four straight matches, but in the deciding week you don’t know which two decks it’s going to come down to. In an intriguing twist, two of our predictors even picked decks to win the division that they picked against in the first two matches, just to hedge bets. Read more
2014-2015 Precon Championships: Turian Division (Part 2 of 2)
Welcome back to the 2014-15 Preconstructed Championships! With the conclusion of the Turian Division today, we’ll be three-quarters of the way through our competition.
Last week eight contenders squared off for their shot at glory. Today, three of those winners will be sent to the showers, with the last deck going on to represent the Turian Division in the semifinals. The action is ready to go, let’s head to the arena! Read more
Ertai's Lament 