2011-2012 Precon Championships: Tinsman Division (Part 1 of 2)
Ignoring the calendar for a moment and speaking strictly in terms of publishing chronology, the first Preconstructed Deck Championships kicked off in November of 2010. It was a new format and a crowded field, and the Prediction League at the time was a distant innovation. And in one of the Championships’ great Cinderella stories, a little deck called Eldrazi Arisen managed to overcome the longest of odds and claim the championship on the back of a single card, the Akoum Boulderfoot.
Onslaught: Devastation Review (Part 2 of 2)
It’s the first game in our review series for Onslaught, and Jimi joins me at the table for the opening clash. In my corner are the Elves and Beasts of Devastation. In hers? The Black and White Clerics of Ivory Doom. Only one of our two decks will live up to its name this evening- which shall it be?
Giveaway: Return to Ravnica Intro Pack and Meddlings!
You may recall a little while ago that we decreed that because you, the readers, are responsible for generating the ad revenue on the site, we wanted to give that revenue back in terms of contests and giveaways. While we have one active giveaway on right now in the form of the Preconstructed Deck Championships, we’d like to go ahead and kick another one off!
Reads: Meddling Selesnya Surge… and some news!
Happy Friday! It’s that time again. With the new Intro Packs out, that means I’m up over at Gathering Magic with an eye towards tinkering, tuning, and improving them. Today I take the Green/White Selesnya Surge, with its tokens-and-populate strategy, and give it some much-needed refinements.
Onslaught: Devastation Review (Part 1 of 2)
When looking at the scope and history of Magic: the Gathering sets, we tend to distill them down to their core essences. This is frequently summed up as the phrase “X matters,” where X is a card type. Zendikar, for instance, was “land matters,” while Scars of Mirrodin obviously was “artifacts matter.” Given the structure of the game, though, the one card type you seldom see inserted in this construction is “creatures matter.” The reason for this is obvious- in Magic, creatures always matter. In actual fact, however, there are sets that fall into the “creatures matter” classification, though given the default prominence creatures hold in the game it’s taken one level further. It’s not so much that creatures matter, so much as creature types matter. These are called “tribal” sets.
2011-12 Precon Championships: Round 3 and the Leaderboard
And just like that, we’re one division down with only three to go as the Innistrad Event Deck Hold the Line storms to victory over the outmanned and outgunned Carnival of Blood. As for the Prediction Leage leaderboard, well… that’s another story entirely!
Return to Ravnica: Azorius Advance Review (Part 2 of 2)
It’s our final match with Return to Ravnica until next week when the Event Decks get their turn. Today we take the Selesnya to task with Azorius Advance, a White/Blue creature-based deck that looks to stamp its opponents with the force of law through its detain mechanic.
Return to Ravnica: Azorius Advance Review (Part 1 of 2)
Sometimes things are simple. As we saw in our last review, the Izzet guild presented few hurdles to Wizards R&D, either in its initial conception or its Return to Ravnica iteration. Both Red and Blue had a natural affinity for instants and sorceries, so the ‘design space’ the Izzet occupied virtually carved itself out. The Izzet’s first mechanic, replicate, was fairly straightforward, and didn’t cause any headaches in development (that we know of). When it came time to create their second mechanic, for Return to Ravnica, lead designer Ken Nagle already had the perfect fit- from a mechanic he’d come up with some years back in the Great Designer Search. Sometimes, everything just comes together.
Other times, well…
2011-2012 Precon Championships: Nagle Division (Part 2 of 2)
Last week we kicked off the exciting action of the 2011-12 Preconstructed Championships with the Nagle Divsion, and by the end of the day the field was cut in half. Today, the arithmetic will be even more drastic, as a full seventy-five percent of the competitors will be carried off the pitch in stretchers. In the end, only one deck will remain- the Divisional champion!
Return to Ravnica: Izzet Ingenuity Review (Part 2 of 2)
Jimi’s back, and ready to roll with Golgari Growth and awaiting me at the other side of the table. The objective: to put Izzet Ingenuity through its paces, to see how well it performs under battlefield conditions. Can the spell-centric guild hold its own against its nemesis from the most recent Duel Decks?
Ertai's Lament 