For Standard players, RPTQ weekend signaled the end of competitive events until after rotation. Some players are sad to see their favorite cards leave the format, with all-stars like Chandra, Torch of Defiance, Hazoret the Fervent, and Walking Ballista being relegated to Modern decks forever. Others are glad to see Standard get a shake-up, and …
RPTQ Testing Process and Tournament Report
Testing for the RPTQ started two weeks before the tournament. Unfortunately, the format for the current PPTQ season is Modern, meaning that those qualified were unable to get much practice playing in Competitive REL Standard events. So testing started as soon as the meta had settled a little bit after the Pro Tour, helping my …
Standard Results at PT 25th Anniversary and Testing for GP LA
Well, the results are in, and Allen Wu, Ben Hull, and Greg Orange defeated Channel Fireball’s Martin Juza, Ben Stark, and Josh Utter-Leyton in the finals of Pro Tour 25th Anniversary. This Pro Tour was a great celebration of Magic’s 25 years, complete with star-studded lineups, old favorites, and newcomers challenging for the title. The …
Three Decks to Tackle Standard
Three Decks to Tackle Standard Written by Andrew Blackwood As I mentioned last week, Standard is a big midrange grindfest, and since there hasn’t been a major tournament in a couple of weeks, the metagame is developing slowly. Grixis midrange, red-black aggro, and green stompy keep being popular choices for SCG events while MTGO results …
Entering the Battlefield
Sure this is a bit cheesy, but this site is really about giving our group of competitive MTG grinders an outlet to put words to stone. While most pros can tell you what is good and what is bad, the vast majority of us aren’t playing at a professional level. We aren’t bringing the 50/50 …