MTG Salvation

Setting: Outpost Ghent, game store. Action: Lorwyn draft (16K). Mission: assembling three points of Limited rating.

I've come from Leuven to Ghent to secure a third bye for Grand Prix Stuttgart, in mid-December. For that I need three more points, which, calculations have revealed, equals one win against a 1775+ player or two wins. I'm willing to drop as soon as I reach my target.

What can you do to get an edge on the competition at a sealed event like the Lorwyn prerelease? Sneaky bluffing is one way! Here's a classic on bluffing for advice on sneaking a win out of an untenable situation.

Due to last night's server switch, the article planned for tonight encountered a black hole which sucked up its images and skewed our schedule. We apologize for this inconvenience; please enjoy this excellent article on Sealed Deck strategy, even though the set it was written for is... old. In fact, encourage the author to write a new version, please!

Do you attack with the Bear?

Such a simple situation. It happens all the time. And yet these kind of decisions are quite complex. There are a lot of things to consider, and little time to do so. If you think for three minutes before turning the Bear sideways with trembling fingers, I don't like your chances.

Let's discuss bluffing in Magic.

In this article originally published August 8, 2005, Peter explains his method for evaluating new cards in sealed deck tournaments, especially prereleases. While the examples hearken from Kamigawa block, the theory will hold true for those of you participating in this weekend's Planar Chaos events!

What happens when a guild has to be two colours, when it has two philosophies, two meanings of life, two goals? It has to find a way to unite them all in one, clear idea, and this becomes the guild's identity. I'm going to try and discover these identities and share them with you.

Unlike anything before it. That's the least you can say about the Ravnica-Guildpact-Dissension draft format. It's a lot of fun, but it's insanely complex. At Pro Tour: Prague, the pros had to figure out how to survive three packs of different Gold cards. Eight players emerged on top for the final draft; eight players who, apparently, understood this crazy format better than everyone else. What can we learn from them?

Yes, exactly what the title said. This article is about card design (you know, that forum somewhere near the bottom) and in casu, about that cycle of four-colour creatures we all hate to open, while the laughing (former) friend next to us shows us his third Stomping Ground. That's probably a strange enough subject that it needs an introduction of its own.

I started analyzing why this deck had done so well, while it seemed for the most part made up of very mediocre cards (which is not meant insulting to fans of Viashino Slasher). It turned out the strength of the deck was the combination of loads of cheap creatures (as I hadn't found removal all draft), Thundersong Trumpeter and Rally the Righteous. And so I started willingly drafting this strange archetype.

What happens when a guild has to be two colours, when it has two philosophies, two meanings of life, two goals? It has to find a way to unite them all in one, clear idea, and this becomes the guild's identity. I'm going to try and discover these identities and share them with you.

This article is particularly directed at those people who want to do better at Prereleases. Prereleases are great fun, but walking away with some more boosters of the new set at the end ought to be even more fun, right? So, I’ll be talking about Sealed deck “in general.” I'll try to help you evaluate cards you've never seen before for Sealed play.