The New Red Deck Wins August 26, 2010
Posted by James in : all, strategy, constructed , 5comments
Red Deck Wins is one of the least expensive yet competitive decks you can make for standard. After someone stole my three standard decks I already had plans to play in a standard event the next day, so I ended up staying up late making a new deck. I decided the best option was red deck wins, which could be made entirely with cards worth around $5 or less. Here was my deck list: (more…)
Drafting 2011 Part 6: Green August 3, 2010
Posted by James in : all, strategy, tips, draft , 6comments
Green doesn’t have the mind blowing power of the other colors, but it does have big creatures and mana fixing. The main idea of green is that you can play a couple other colors of your choice without worrying a lot about having mana problems. My top 10 favorite green common and uncommon cards are the following: (more…)
Drafting Magic 2011 Part 5: Red July 28, 2010
Posted by James in : all, reviews, strategy, limited, draft , 5comments
Red is by far my favorite color to draft in Magic 2011, but the problem is that everyone else seems to feel the same way and they often take all the best red cards before I have a chance. Here are my top 10 red common and uncommon cards for Magic 2011: (more…)
Drafting Magic 2011 Part 4: Black July 23, 2010
Posted by James in : all, strategy, tips, limited, draft , 6comments
These are my favorite 10 black commons and uncommons when drafting Magic 2011: (more…)
Drafting Magic 2011 Part 3: Blue July 16, 2010
Posted by James in : all, reviews, previews, strategy, tips, limited, draft , 3comments
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 , 11commentsWhen 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 Top 10 Cards (Not In Magic 2010) For Standard July 8, 2010
Posted by James in : all, strategy, constructed , 3commentsMy current favorite top 10 cards in Magic 2011 that are reprints or completely new with Standard tournaments in mind are as follows: (more…)
Drafting Rise of Eldrazi Part 5: Red/Black Control May 27, 2010
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One of the most powerful decks you can make while drafting Rise of Eldrazi is a red/black deck jam packed with removal. This is much like the red/blue instant/sorcery themed deck I discussed earlier, but it makes use out of black removal. Two of the most important cards to get other than creature removal are the following: (more…)
Drafting Rise of Eldrazi Part 4: Choosing a Theme May 14, 2010
Posted by James in : all, reviews, strategy, tips, limited, draft , 4commentsOne of the most important elements of drafting Rise of Eldrazi is to try to use a theme, which is basically just getting a lot of cards that work well together. I have noticed six main themes that you can shoot for in Rise of Eldrazi: (more…)
Drafting Rise of Eldrazi Part 3: Second Picks May 11, 2010
Posted by James in : all, reviews, strategy, tips, limited, draft , add a commentSecond picks are basically first picks that didn’t make my top 10 bombs or first picks list. I think many of these are significantly less good than the cards on my top 10 list, but they are still quite good. (more…)
Drafting Rise of Eldrazi Part 2: First Picks April 27, 2010
Posted by James in : all, reviews, strategy, tips, limited, draft , 5commentsWhen you draft a deck in Rise of Eldrazi, you might want to keep a specific strategy in mind, such as mana ramp, defender, instant/sorcery, or level up. However, before making a commitment, you should take the best cards you can. I have already discussed my 10 favorite cards for draft. In this article I will present my next 10 favorite commons and uncommons that will help me decide which colors to play. (more…)
Drafting Rise of Eldrazi Part 1: Bombs April 25, 2010
Posted by James in : all, reviews, strategy, tips, limited, draft , 8commentsThe first step in drafting is to choose your first card, which could end up committing you to a color or deck strategy. Here are my top 10 favorite cards for Rise of Eldrazi drafts: (more…)
Worldwake Review Part 4: Standard Top 12 February 3, 2010
Posted by James in : all, reviews, strategy, constructed, standard , 13comments
There are several cards in Worldwake that will see play in standard tournaments, but I will focus my attention to the top 12. These are the cards I expect to see the most play: (more…)
Worldwake Review Part 2: First Picks (Limited) January 28, 2010
Posted by James in : all, reviews, strategy, tips, limited, draft, sealed , 2commentsIn order to prepare for the pre-release, it might help to consider which commons and uncommons you want. When you see these it can help you decide what colors to play. I call the best commons and uncommons “first picks” because they will tend to be the first cards you take during a draft. Here are my favorite 8 commons and uncommons: (more…)
Worldwake Review Part 1: Bombs (Limited) January 27, 2010
Posted by James in : all, reviews, strategy, tips, limited , add a commentThe spoiler is now done and we already have pictures of the best draft/sealed bombs. Shards of Alara, M10, and Zendikar all seemed to allow bombs to affect the game to an extraordinary extent, and Worldwake has continued this trend. A “bomb” in my mind is a card that could pretty much win by itself. Here are my favorite eight bombs in Worldwake. (more…)
Post Zendikar Red Deck Wins November 9, 2009
Posted by James in : all, strategy, constructed, standard , 3commentsI did well with Red Deck Wins in the past, but I haven’t got a chance to play it much recently. Red Deck Wins is a tempting deck to play considering that it doesn’t require all the expensive dual lands or fetch lands. Unfortunately, the best red decks probably do require 8 fetch lands. Let’s consider a red deck with fetch lands and another one without them. (more…)
Type 3: Five Color Control October 22, 2009
Posted by James in : all, strategy, constructed , 11commentsOne great thing about Type 3 (Standard without rares) is that all our favorite deck types are still viable. Uncommons are pretty essential for making a good control deck in standard, so Pauper seems to go too far. The control decks you can make without rares aren’t too powerful, but they are powerful enough to be worth playing. (more…)
Drafting Zendikar Part 1: First Picks October 5, 2009
Posted by James in : all, reviews, strategy, tips, limited, draft , 6comments
When drafting Zendikar, you will want to decide which colors to play mostly depending on what cards are passed to you. If the rare isn’t extremely powerful, such as a Sorin Markov, you will have to depend on the commons and uncommons, which is 99% of the time. Even if your first pick is a Soren, you need good black cards to be passed to you in order to play him. Here are my 12 favorite common and uncommon first picks found in Zendikar: (more…)
Budget Decks Part 3: Blue Control August 18, 2009
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The most powerful budget decks should be legal in legacy (Type 1.5), which is a tournament type that allows all cards from normal Magic sets except the most over-powered cards, such as the power 9. The most powerful color in magic is Blue, and it isn’t that hard to make a very powerful blue deck without spending a whole lot of money. A mono blue control deck will be a great way to make all of your friends very frustrated because it won’t let them do anything. (more…)