Innistrad: Deathfed Review (Part 1 of 2)
In our last feature, a review of Hold the Line, we mentioned the intriguing place in preconstructed history occupied by Innistrad. Hold the Line was the first time a mono-coloured Event Deck had been of a repeat colour (following the mono-White War of Attrition from New Phyrexia). Left unsaid at the time was a similar factoid: this is also the first time we’ve seen the repeat of a multi-colour deck as well- and the first for a three-colour deck. Read more 
Innistrad: Hold the Line Review (Part 1 of 2)
1998’s Urza’s Saga had a number of superlatives associated with it, not all of them proud and glorious. For instance, Mark Rosewater has labeled the set his “biggest mistake” in his Making Magic column on the mothership, and even went on to add that this set “was is the only time in the eight years that I’ve been working at Wizards that R&D as an entirity got pulled into the president’s office and was yelled at.” It was also the first set of a block that would go on to have the most cards ever banned from organised play.
News: Wizards Spoils Innistrad Event Decks
If you haven’t seen them yet, head on over to today’s Arcana on the mothership for the strategy and decklists for Deathfed and Hold the Line! With a release date of 10/29, you can be certain we’ll be giving them the full Ertai’s Lament treatment!
Whispers of the Muse: Julián R’s Vampire Onslaught (M12 Event Deck)
Welcome once again to Whispers of the Muse, the occasional series where a reader submits a deck they’d like some advice on, and we turn it over to you, the community! Our letter this time comes from Julián R, who had this to say:
Booster Battle Pack Review (Part 2 of 2)
Time to put our labours to the test! In the first part of our review, I build a 25-card Red/Green deck augmented by a few choice gems from my booster pack. Jimi has done the same, and we’re eager to pit the two decks against one another. Here are the notes from our matchup.
Booster Battle Pack Review (Part 1 of 2)
In the hullabaloo with the impending release of Innistrad and all the spoilers that go with it, the recent launch of a new Magic product- the Booster Battle Pack- seems to have gone largely unnoticed. A new limited product, the phrase “deck of semi-randomized cards” in the marketing blurb got our attention. If they are only semi-randomized, does that make them to some degree planned? And if they’re planned, could that put them in the realm of preconstruction? Close enough, we thought, and picked one up to investigate.
The Pack consists of two cardboard deck boxes, and within each deck are four things. First, a booster pack of Magic 2012. Next, an insert (either the “Booster Battle Pack” tutorial or the ubiquitous “How to Play” one). Finally, there were two plastic-wrapped packs of 10 cards, each containing five cards of a single colour and five corresponding land cards. The object is simple- take your deck of 20 cards, then open the booster and add five more of your choice. Shuffle up, and you’re ready to go! Jimi and I sat down to test them out and put them through their paces.
For my part, my base cards were Red and Green. I opened the Red first, and noted that there were four commons and one uncommon. My base was interesting: a Fiery Hellhound and Firebreathing each gave me a way to turn extra Red mana into damage, though these are always somewhat constrained in a deck playing more than one colour. But aha, a trick! There was a Goblin Tunneler present as well, which gave me some sneakiness as I could make a creature unblockable, attack with it and then pump up its power. Devious!
Duel Decks- Ajani vs Nicol Bolas: Ajani’s Deck Review (Part 2 of 2)
Our second tilt with Duel Decks: Ajani vs Nicol Bolas sees the roles reversed this time, with Sam taking on the piloting of Bolas. In our last matchup, you might recall that Sam had me handily beat two games to one, though in the third her Ajani deck never had a chance. Would that trend continue, or would we see the decks pan out as evenly matched?
Duel Decks- Ajani vs Nicol Bolas: Nicol Bolas’s Deck Review (part 2 of 2)
Our opening game of the Duel Decks: Ajani vs Nicol Bolas, I had no trouble at all finding an eager opponent. With Sam’s two favourite planeswalkers being the ones in this set, she already had her playmat and spindown die set up before I even broke out the decks. As we found in our analysis, the decks offered early-game advantage to Ajani, while Bolas steadily rose to power the longer the game went on. Would I be able to hold off the Nayan assault long enough to give His Draconic Majesty a chance?
Duel Decks- Ajani vs Nicol Bolas: Ajani’s Deck Review (Part 1 of 2)
A young man of seemingly unassuming destiny ekes out a living away from civilisation in a perilous land. Although it will take him awhile to fully understand and awaken, there is a power lying dormant within him, and a great destiny to go with it. He might have continued to live an otherwise quite ordinary life, but fate has other plans. When his family is murdered by agents of a great and maelvolent evil, a chain of events is set in motion that will see him awaken the potential that has lain dormant within him.
But his powers are raw and unfocused; it takes the guiding hand of a mentor to allow him to learn how to exert control over them. He struggles with the blinding, corrupting forces of rage and aggression. In a harrowing battle against his adversary he then finds himself gravely injured. Nursed back to health, he rises stronger than before. In full command of his powers, he seeks out the shadowy villain behind the corruption and destruction of most everything he has held dear, and emerges triumphant. Our hero today is none other than…
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Duel Decks- Ajani vs Nicol Bolas: Nicol Bolas’s Deck Review (Part 1 of 2)
It was less than a year after the birth of the game of Magic: the Gathering that today’s antagonist was born, giving him a far longer existence than a particular Nacatl from Naya. While Planeswalkers (as a card type) were many years away, even then in his ‘weaker’ incarnation he still commanded reverence and respect. He was Nicol Bolas, and he was an Elder Dragon Legend.
Legends was released in June 1994, and was the largest set release to date. Revised Edition came closest at 306, only four cards shy- but it’s worth noting that unlike Revised, Legends did not contain any basic lands. It was an exciting and heady time to be playing Magic- after the release of the core set(s) and the Arabian Nights and Antiquities expansions, here was a whole new and massive set filled with mechanical innovation. A few of these would settle into comfortable obscurity: bands-with-other (a selective form of banding), rampage, world enchantments, and poison (which, as we know now, would see a triumphant resurrection only with the release of Scars of Mirrodin). Two of them would become integral parts of the game as played today- multicolour cards and legends.
The legends of Legends may seem by the modern eye to be a motley crew of overcosted, underpowered, context-less and disorganised individuals, but that was indeed hardly the case. To be fair, this was bold, new ground. The game was still in its relative infancy, and the degree to which being “legendary” was a drawback was not yet fully known. Nor yet was casting cost as understood as it is today. Gosta Dirk is a 4/4 first striker with a marginal ability (negating islandwalk) priced at seven mana, and there are other such examples, like Jedit Ojanen. And while there was no context for these legends, that was part of the appeal. Narrative arcs over sets was at best a vague overlay (such as in Antiquities)- it would take another three years to marry a card set with a concrete story in Tempest. These were figures of your imagination, and wondering who and what they were only added to their allure.
Ertai's Lament 