If you’ve ready any of my artciles you know I’m not a casual magic player. I don’t have an EDH deck, I’ve never played type 4 and I attend FNM because the shop down the street from me gives away $90 in store credit to first place and $30 to second place (for $5 entry). [...]

I generally do my best to keep up on deck tech. I don’t consider myself a rogue deck designer, most of my creations have been pretty straightforward or modifications of known strategies. I tend to look for interesting decks that I feel would be fun to play and tweak them. Sometimes this means I will [...]

If you have ever been to a decently large constructed Magic tournament, where you have to register your deck, you have been asked the question in no uncertain terms. It’s right there. For some this is a trivial question, as someone has told them what to write there, but for others, deck builders, it is a momentous occasion. The line can read more like “If you should attain glory on this fine day, what would be the name of the weapon you have forged and wielded to your victory?”

Attending my first Pro Tour last weekend was a hip-check to my Super Ego. I’ve been to dozens of card conventions and large tournaments, but this is the first time I attended when I wasn’t even invited to the big dance. There was never a VS System Pro Circuit Championship that I wasn’t qualified for. [...]

Decks can sometimes come from the most off-handed and reckless thoughts or actions. It seems a fitting occurrence that such impulsiveness would get Goblins into my bag for a trip to our local store’s new “Playtest Tuesday” event. The plan was to have players gather at the store for a couple hours of building, trading, [...]

In this video interview with Luis Scott-Vargas, we take a look at the deck strategy and play techniques for the Naya Boss build that propelled LSV to a remarkable 17-1 record at Pro Tour San Diego. Hear LSV’s reasons for including one Basilisk Collar or Sejiri Steppe One major comment I have is that back [...]

When it comes to Magic: The Gathering, hype is a strange beast. With the universal language of the internet greasing the wheels, a magic meta can spin out of control in a mere 24 hours. I fell into this trap last night playing in the latest online ptq. Today I’m going to take a look [...]

Dillon looks at the promising Worldwake cards and discusses where they will be sitting in the current Standard decks, as well as if they will create their own decks completely.

I discuss a new Red-White-Black Control variant that I’ve been tinkering with lately.

I discuss my recent success at the 2009 provincial championship.

Right now I’m looking out my window, staring at a foot of snow. With the event site for my Provincial Championships 3 hours away under normal driving conditions you can imagine how long it would take to get there this weekend. Due to the increased likelihood of winding up in a ditch, I’m afraid that I’m not going to brave the journey, as much as I want to. For those of you who saw part one of my States Primer you might recall I promised a deck, so without any further ado:

December is finally here! This year that means two things, Christmas sales and the 2009 State Championships, news of which I was the first to report on earlier this fall. This time around States comes after Worlds, so we have a pretty good idea of what the metagame has in store for us. In part one of my States series I’ll take a look at the top decks so you know what to look out for this weekend.