Top 10 First Picks for Dark Ascension Draft (Tips & Strategy) January 24, 2012
Posted by James in : all, reviews, previews, strategy, tips, limited, draft , 4comments
Dark Ascension can be drafted alone or with two booster packs of Innistrad. Keep in mind that Dark Ascension will be the first pack you draft, so it’s a good idea to know what you want to “shoot for” when you start drafting Dark Ascension with Innistrad. The cards in this list are the cards that I think are (a) powerful, (b) worth drafting early, and are (c) common or uncommon. Rares are often the first pick, but you should be more familiar with the commons and uncommons since you will see a lot of them. (more…)
Magic 2012 Core Set First Impressions July 7, 2011
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The spoiler for Magic 2012 is complete, and I will now discuss some of my observations. First, bloodthirst is back. Second, hexproof is a new “evergreen” keyword. Third, Lightning Bolt has been replaced with Incinerate. Fourth, there’s three new Planeswalkers. (more…)
Preview of Magician, The Magic Deck Building Game June 6, 2011
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Magician is a new deck building game being made based on Magic: the Gathering and inspired by the success of Dominion and Ascension. Instead of paying mana costs to play cards, you buy cards for your deck using money. Here are some sneak previews: (more…)
Top 10 New Phyrexia First Picks for Draft (Tips & Strategy) May 2, 2011
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The following are the my favorite common and uncommon cards from New Phyrexia that I will take a look out for while drafting New Phyrexia: (more…)
Top 10 Cards for Standard from New Phyrexia April 28, 2011
Posted by James in : all, reviews, previews, strategy, tips, constructed, standard , 6commentsHere are my current favorite cards for Standard from New Phyrexia. (more…)
First Impressions of New Phyrexia April 24, 2011
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The New Phyrexia spoiler is finished, so I will start previewing it now. In this installment I will review the themes found in New Phrexia: Phyrexian Mana, Golems, Infect, and Metalcraft. (more…)
Why Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas, is a Game Design Failure February 1, 2011
Posted by James in : all, reviews, previews, constructed , 8comments
Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas is quite powerful, and I agree that it’s not broken. So what’s the problem? The problem is that we can’t ignore it because it’s good. And the problem is that it’s the wrong colors. The problem is Tezzeret is wrong for the constructed metalcraft decks we should be able to make using cards from Scars of Mirrodin block. (more…)
Top 10 Cards for Standard in Mirrodin Besieged January 27, 2011
Posted by James in : all, reviews, previews, strategy, constructed , 2commentsI mentioned my 3 personal favorite cards from Mirrodin Besieged, but they aren’t necessarily going to be the most important cards in Standard. Here are the top 10 cards I think will be powerful (or highly useful) for Standard: (more…)
Mirrodin Besieged First Impressions January 26, 2011
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The Mirrodin Besieged spoiler is finished, and I will discuss my favorite new cards, implications Mirrodin Besieged will have on draft, and the theme. (more…)
Predicting the Future Part 7: Magic 2080 (Part 1) November 22, 2010
Posted by James in : all, fake cards, previews, speculation , 3comments
Back in 2008 I predicted what Magic would look like 50 years in the future, and I eventually turned many of those cards into an actual set that could be played. It was then that I thought of a card called “Cinder Ritual” as seen below: (more…)
Top 10 Scars of Mirrodin Cards for Standard September 26, 2010
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I don’t think poison or artifact themed decks will immediately have a strong impact on standard, and my top 10 list will be restricted to the cards I think will have an impact right away. My top 10 list is the following: (more…)
Drafting Scars of Mirrodin Part 1: Top 20 Commons & Uncommons September 23, 2010
Posted by James in : all, reviews, previews, strategy, tips, limited, draft , 8commentsThe most relevant cards to a draft strategy are the commons and uncommons because they are much more predictable than rares. These are the cards you usually build a deck around. My favorite Scars of Mirrodin commons and uncommons are the following: (more…)
Scars of Mirrodin: First Impressions September 22, 2010
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Drafting Magic 2011 Part 3: Blue July 16, 2010
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This is a list of the top 10 blue uncommon and common cards that I would want to get in draft. (more…)
Drafting Magic 2011 Part 2: White July 14, 2010
Posted by James in : all, reviews, previews, strategy, tips, limited, draft , 3commentsHere are my favorite top 10 white common and uncommon white cards in Magic 2011. These are the cards I would want most if I was playing white. (more…)
Drafting Magic 2011: Top 10 First Picks July 9, 2010
Posted by James in : all, reviews, previews, strategy, tips, limited, draft , 12commentsWhen drafting, the first few picks we take will often determine what colors we should play, so knowing the very best cards of a draft is essential. If you get a powerful card after a couple cards have already been taken in a pack, then you should probably play that color because it looks like you don’t have a lot of competition. The most powerful cards are what I often call “first picks.” I will discuss my current favorite top 10 commons and uncommon first picks for draft. (Keep in mind that this was written before Magic 2011 was released, so this is somewhat speculative.) (more…)
Magic 2011 First Impressions July 7, 2010
Posted by James in : all, reviews, previews , 4commentsThe Magic 2011 spoiler has been finished and we now see a set much like Magic 2010 with some slight changes. The last several core sets have had pretty major changes for the better, so I had my hopes up, but the changes were actually very minor. Here are my current observations: (more…)
Predicting the Future Part 6: Moxes from M11 to M19 (Part 3) July 5, 2010
Posted by James in : all, fake cards, reviews, previews, speculation , 2commentsThe grand finale. Here are my final 3 card ideas for Moxes in the not-too-distant-future. (more…)
Predicting the Future Part 5: Moxes from M11 to M19 (Part 2) June 28, 2010
Posted by James in : all, fake cards, reviews, previews, speculation , 5commentsToday I will introduce 3 more Moxes that could be made anytime now. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them within the next 9 years. (more…)
Predicting the Future Part 4: Moxes from M11 to M19 June 26, 2010
Posted by James in : all, fake cards, reviews, previews, speculation , 2commentsI have already presented you with my version of Mox Crystal, which I expect to be made sooner or later, but I will now present several more moxes that could be made within the next 9 years. I will start off with 3 green moxes that would actually be made in all five colors (if made at all). (more…)