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 , 3comments
I 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…)
Budget Decks Part 2: Legacy (Type 1.5) Red Burn August 10, 2009
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Legacy (Type 1.5) is a tournament type that allows all cards from normal Magic sets except the most over-powered cards, such as the power 9. The best way to make the most powerful deck possible is to make a Legacy deck because it allows cards from every normal Magic set ever made. The best way to make the least expensive deck is to make a Legacy deck because older cards tend to be worth less. People only want the newest cards because the most popular tournaments only allows us to use cards from the newest sets. If you want to make a budget red deck for standard (type 2) tournaments, go here. (more…)
Drafting Magic 2010 Part 5: Red August 7, 2009
Posted by James in : all, strategy, tips, limited, draft , 2comments
I already reviewed the first picks and second picks. Here are the other best commons and uncommons to look for when playing red: (more…)
Drafting Magic 2010 Part 3: Blue July 27, 2009
Posted by James in : all, reviews, strategy, tips, limited, draft , 3comments
I already reviewed the first picks and second picks. Here are the other best commons and uncommons to look for when playing blue: (more…)
Drafting Magic 2010 Part 2: White July 23, 2009
Posted by James in : all, reviews, strategy, tips, limited, draft , 3comments
This article will continue my discussion of Drafting Magic 2010. I already reviewed the first picks and second picks. Here are the other best commons and uncommons to look for when playing white: (more…)
Drafting Magic 2010 Part 1: Green July 21, 2009
Posted by James in : all, strategy, limited, draft , 1 comment so far
When you draft M10, it’s a good idea to make a two color deck. You can have a main color and a secondary color. I have already discussed what cards to look for when you take first picks or second picks. Now I will discuss other decent and mentionable commons and uncommons to look for in each color. (more…)
Budget Decks: Standard (Type 2) Red Burn July 17, 2009
Posted by James in : all, strategy, constructed, standard , 2comments
I have already suggested in my Magic the Gathering FAQ that a red burn deck is the best deck to make with a limited budget. Here is an uptated list of the best cards I suggest for a budget red deck: (more…)
Magic 2010 Review Part 3: Top 14 New Cards for Standard July 14, 2009
Posted by James in : all, reviews, previews, strategy, constructed , add a comment
Update (7-17-2009): Added Honor the Pure and dual lands to the list
The point of this review is to take a look at the best new cards in Magic 2010 for Standard (that we don’t already have in Standard). For example, we already have Ajani Goldmane and Birds of Paradise, so they aren’t worth mentioning. Essence Scatter also doesn’t count because it’s the same thing as Remove Soul. However, the card could be a reprint that we simply haven’t seen for a while. (more…)
Magic 2010 Review Part 2: Second Picks July 8, 2009
Posted by James in : all, reviews, previews, strategy, tips, limited, draft, sealed , 6commentsSecond picks are a notch under first picks. They are cards that are sometimes worth taking as a first pick in a draft. It is important to know what cards are considered to be second picks because every card in your deck isn’t going to be a bomb or a first pick when playing in a draft or sealed deck tournament. Taking a close look at the second picks can help you decide what colors to play, and it will help you take the best cards in a draft. I will only discuss the common and uncommon second picks because you can’t count on getting good rares in a limited event. (more…)
Magic 2010 Review: Limited Bombs & First Picks July 7, 2009
Posted by James in : all, reviews, previews, strategy, tips, limited, draft, sealed , 5commentsIn order to understand what colors and cards are best in sealed and draft tournaments, it can be a good idea to take a look at the best cards. (more…)
Magic the Gathering FAQ June 30, 2009
Posted by James in : all, random, game rules, tips , 3commentsFind out the answers to important questions, such as: How can I play Magic on the internet for free? How can I get free Magic Cards? What is the best budget deck I can make? How can I make my own cards?
After answering some questions on Yahoo Answers!, I noticed that some questions are more popular than others. Here are the answers to some of these questions. (more…)
Why Aggro Decks Are Terrible June 23, 2009
Posted by James in : all, random, reviews, strategy, constructed, design , 1 comment so far
I have made great creature-based aggro (aggressive) decks for years, but it has become increasingly more difficult to make a good aggro deck. You’d think Lorwyn would have been the ultimate savior of aggro with the huge power creep for creatures, but Wizards has simply not realized something: They can make creatures with almost unlimited power, and it won’t make a difference. The problem isn’t that creatures aren’t good enough. The problem is that anti-control is nonexistent. (more…)
Drafting Alara Reborn Part 6: Esper June 1, 2009
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The best cards for Esper in Alara Reborn when you draft SCA (Shards/Conflux/Reborn). (more…)
Drafting Alara Reborn Part 5: Grixis May 30, 2009
Posted by James in : all, strategy, tips, limited, draft , add a commentThe best cards for Grixis in Alara Reborn when you draft SCA (Shards/Conflux/Reborn). (more…)