I guess the biggest lesson I learned from this PTQ was that you’ve got to play in tournaments to win tournaments. Sounds stupid, but it is worth remembering.

For those of you who do not know, recently deckcheck.net has gone down. In its place, I hope to provide a reasonable summary of Standard decks (and perhaps other formats) for GoodGamery by presenting five decks per week, and possible variations of them.

This week we have Naya Shaman, Valakut Ramp with Genesis Wave, Monoblue-midrange, White-Weenie Relic, UB-Control, and 3 color Counterbalance/Top.

Hi there, boys and girls!

Welcome to my tourny report, in which I recount the details of my ptq failure. Hooray! Unable to run modo on my netbook, my prep has been limited to physical drafts, reading articles and… watching other people play modo. Feels good.

The week before States, there was a large tournament in New York City which would pretty much dictate the decks to beat for States. After looking at the top 16 decks, 1st and 2nd were both Ramp decks (1st was Valakut and 2nd was Eldrazi). 3rd and 4th were Elves and UR Control (Destructive Force variety), 5th-8th were Eldrazi Ramp, Valakut Ramp, UW Control, and Eldrazi Ramp. 9th-16th had 2 UW Control, 2 Valakut Ramp, 1 UGr Shaman, 1 Bant Shaman, 1 WW-Relic, and 1 Eldrazi Ramp.

All of this led me to believe that MonoRed would be a very good choice for States, since it had a pretty good matchup vs Ramp-based decks (especially boarding Mark of Mutiny/Threaten effects) and it had a reasonable matchup vs other aggro decks (which are always popular). UW control, depending on the build, could be a 50/50 matchup or nigh-unwinnable.

Welcome to GyantSpyder’s Nothin’-but-Chaff Set Review, M11 edition. My ratings are all for the same format: Shoebox in the Back of Your Closet Constructed. I might add commentary for other formats I play or hear other people talk about, but if I don’t mention a card, it’s probably because it thinks it is better than other cards, and I’m not interested in jerkface, persnickety cards like that.

Rise of the Eldrazi? NicotineJones has wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under his feet! NJ has applied his prophetic foresight to the cards of ROE. Do yourself a favor and get the scoop on the hidden gems and overhyped junk therein!

They’re here! What follows are the six cards, each with commentary by four of GG’s top Magic players/evaluators: Peebles (Benjamin Peebles-Mundy), Llarack (Jarvis Yu), NicotineJones, and Sti (Stuart Wright).

You heard right. At 9:00 PM Pacific tonight, you’ll not only get the 6 brand new ROE cards, complete with all sorts of big, juicy images, but you’ll also get speculative commentary from Peebles (Benjamin Peebles-Mundy), Llarack (Jarvis Yu), NicotineJones, and Sti (Stuart Wright). Let me tell you about these dudes.

Magic Online has released many older sets, including all of Tempest Block, and people draft them!  Ben Peebles-Mundy, GoodGamery poster and fan of odd draft formats, has posted his draft pick orders for every card in Tempest, Stronghold, and Exodus.  Read and comment here!

Awake, thou that sleepest! It’s Worldwake! NicotineJones applies his prophetic foresight to the cards therein. Take heed, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of foreign lands, which will become a snare in your midst.