http://www.mtgfanatic.com/articlesArticles designed to help new Magic players the skills necessary to become advanced players.Copyright 2001 - 2013 MtgFanatic.com. All rights reserved.This triple-threat dandy has really grabbed my attention. The flavor is cool, his ability is sweet, and he’s one of those special cards that can allow for you to build a deck in several different directions. He can be great in Vampire tribal, for sure. Any time you can load up on more soldiers in your army is a good time. Flipped he’s almost worth two copies of Captivating Vampire, just without the option of a repeatable Mind Control. Pair them together and you can play theft on a grand scale, nabbing a Mercedes or two.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=207238Mon, 15 Apr 2013 21:52:33 GMTThere is a group of cards enshrouded by an aura of power that many of us older players recognize. Maybe you’re like me and you have a few of them, but you have a long way to go before you can just build any deck you want with the best cards in print. In Legacy it would be Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Tarmogoyf, Force of Will, dual lands like Volcanic Island, and Show and Tell. If you aren’t into Legacy, maybe it’s a Modern cluster something like this: Dark Confidant, Thoughtseize, Cryptic Command, and Mutavault. Standard has these fabulous cardboard weapons of Thragtusk, Bonfire of the Damned, Restoration Angel, Sphinx’s Revelation, and Huntmaster of the Fells. Why are these cards so powerful, and furthermore, why do they have to cost so much darn cash? Sometimes it’s obvious why cards are good, but the intricacies of a card’s potential aren’t always well known, especially to the folks that don’t have experience using them.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=206218Thu, 28 Mar 2013 20:20:55 GMTWhen somebody is slinging cards in the Legacy format and they give an offhand comment like, “ I’m using Knights,” they aren’t talking about White Knight, Knight Exemplar, or even Northern Paladin. I can say with absolute accuracy that ninety-eight percent of the time they are talking about Knight of the Reliquary. I can also say with precision unmeasured that eighty percent of statistics are made up on the spot.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=206057Mon, 25 Mar 2013 22:45:16 GMTHave you found yourself practicing for tournaments too often all by yourself? Do you know people you like to play with but getting together is always a big hassle? Maybe you only manage to get together with other players whenever you are all at the game store. Have you seen dudes at tournaments with t-shirts declaring their allegiance to some private Magic team or club? Maybe you’ve thought about starting a team of your own. http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=204889Fri, 08 Mar 2013 22:56:59 GMTIt’s been a while since I dove into the Standard format, long enough to make me feel embarrassingly unfamiliar with that format. I wanted to change that by digging into it online with Magic Workstation and build a deck that suits my style, and maybe win a game or two. I also picked the brains of a few Standard junkies that I know to get an idea for what the top decks are.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=204376Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:31:18 GMTRecently, a friend told me that she wanted to jump back into Magic. She has all kinds of street cred in board gaming and roleplaying, but only dabbled in the Magic-al arts many years ago.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=202708Thu, 07 Feb 2013 22:57:35 GMTPrereleases are great opportunities for exploring a new set with your friends, but winning prizes is also nice. Why not do both? I’m here to help you make the most of your Gatecrash prerelease experience.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=201605Fri, 25 Jan 2013 03:06:16 GMTWhen was the last time you saw a quirky combo deck? There have been many crafty decks with the ability to “instantly win” over the history of Magic. Today I bring you not one, but two quirky combo decks based on our favorite undead friends: Zombies!http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=200959Wed, 16 Jan 2013 23:54:05 GMTIn the words of Steven Tyler, I’m ‘back in the saddle again’, returning as promised with the second installment revisiting the fundamental basics of deck building. My wife asked me: ‘why do you get so excited about Magic? I mean, what’s so great about it compared to any other card game like canasta?’ I responded: ‘I get to pick which cards I want to play with, and so does my opponent.’ This simple fact, more than any other aspect of Magic, is why we all love the game. We get to express our personality and preferences with card choices and deck design. It isn’t as simple as playing ‘War’ with a traditional deck of cards where winning is a matter of simply drawing more aces or kings. Magic is full of potential variance, but we all get to pick how many aces we get to play.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=200958Wed, 16 Jan 2013 23:50:43 GMTHere we are in 2013 with the world still turning. No zombie apocalypse, no cataclysmic shutdown of the world that the Mayans got stuck with predicting, and I’m still excited to play and write about Magic: the Gathering. Sometimes I trim back my Magic activity to only a few hours a week, enough to tinker with a few decks, post on the forums, and write something for all of you dedicated fanatics. Then there are weeks that I just can’t get the game out of my head, thinking about it constantly while I go about all of the mundane tasks of real life. Few events can trigger a near-obsessive fascination like meeting a new friend that just happens to be as fanatical as you are.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=200434Thu, 10 Jan 2013 01:47:23 GMTLorwyn and Morningtide provided the necessary cards to make one of the most hated decks in the history of the Standard format: blue and black Faeries. The core cards of that deck were unbelievably powerful, enabling a deck that could play control, aggro, and mid-range all in one package. It was a little while before Faeries finally took root in Legacy, but it eventually happened. http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=197561Sun, 02 Dec 2012 18:28:13 GMTI remember a time in my Magic-playing past when getting Birds of Paradise in my opening hand made me feel like I couldn’t lose. While the power level of Birds never came from combat, it was still considered the best one-mana creature in the game for most of Magic’s history. Fixing your mana was always its strongest attribute, closely followed by providing mana acceleration for turn two that so many aggro and midrange decks love. Several cards, though, have shown up that outclass Birds of Paradise in green.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=196463Sun, 18 Nov 2012 19:57:12 GMTI keep my toes dipped in the Pauper format, one of the most enjoyable formats for a Magic player trying to pinch their pennies. Ironically, I only play Pauper online with Magic Workstation, which is completely free. A couple of really good benefits come out of being involved in an online format: a worldwide network of players and the availability of a game whenever you can squeeze it in. If you are a big fan of Magic Online, Pauper is a fantastic format that doesn’t eat up too many tickets to play.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=194869Thu, 01 Nov 2012 19:02:00 GMTI recently found this advertisement in the personal section of the newspaper. I know what you’re thinking: who reads the newspaper anymore and beyond that, who [i]actually reads[/i] the personal ads and admits it? Before you get the wrong impression, I’m not some creepy old dude, I was just skimming the pages on my way to ‘Dear Abby’ and this ad really jumped out at me.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=193553Fri, 19 Oct 2012 22:38:14 GMTOn Saturday I will be competing in a Return to Ravnica sealed deck Pro Tour Qualifier in Plano, Texas at an excellent store called Madness Games. It’s the first time this year that we have sealed deck PTQs, and the first really large sealed deck tournament in Texas since Grand Prix Austin the first weekend in January. Me and my friends that love limited are chomping at the bit for this event for two main reasons. Return to Ravnica is a great set and it provides for a very challenging limited environment. It’s actually pretty difficult to assess a sealed pool of cards for this format (six booster packs) and correctly produce the best possible deck. http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=193368Wed, 17 Oct 2012 22:51:06 GMTWhat exactly does it take to make a good combo deck? Players that use combo decks almost exclusively, sometimes known as ‘Johnnies’, know that combo decks are one of the most difficult archetypes to pull off successfully. If you make a minor mistake with aggro or control decks it may not affect the outcome. If you make a minor mistake with a combo deck it might just be the difference in winning or losing. If you line up ten magic players you’ll have ten different viewpoints on combo decks, I’m willing to bet money on it. Recently, Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle was unbanned from the Modern format so I know Modern Johnnies everywhere are tinkering with the best way to turn it into a blind-siding monsterhttp://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=191846Thu, 04 Oct 2012 22:53:14 GMTI know all of you are excited for Return to Ravnica, I know I am. From what has been spoiled so far I can see some big impact on the different formats. One of my self-directed objectives with Roots is not only to gear up for new cards but also to encourage you to look backwards in Magic’s history. I have a unique viewpoint I’d like to share with you about why I think some of the most powerful new cards show up at the converted mana cost of five. http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=190621Thu, 20 Sep 2012 12:43:59 GMTJ.R.R. Tolkien was onto something great when he created Treebeard and the Ents. How cool is it to see a tree kick some serious butt? Magic has had its own Treefolk lore for a long time, but as a tribe they didn’t really come into their own until Lorwyn block was printed. Sure we had Ebony Treefolk, Wormwood Treefolk, and Verdeloth the Ancient but we didn’t have anything like Dauntless Dourbark, Leaf-Crowned Elder, or Wickerbough Elder. Treefolk have never really been successful in the competitive arena, but the granddaddy of all Tree-dom has been in and out of competitive play since his printing: Doran, the Siege Tower.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=189801Mon, 10 Sep 2012 15:59:57 GMTIf you’ve been tuned in to recent developments in the Magic community lately you should know how popular Commander has become. Multi-player games are almost as common as duels with this grass-roots movement that originated among players looking for a less competitive atmosphere. One format has really taken a back seat because of this: multi-player free-for-all. Still, many players continue to enjoy building sixty-card decks designed to combat a kitchen table’s worth of opponents. Today we’re going on a little trip to Casual Carnage town for some classic free-for-all deck tech.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=188953Sat, 01 Sep 2012 13:59:59 GMTTo become an advanced Magic player it is necessary to take full advantage of every turn available to you. Regardless of the format you favor, be it casual Commander or competitive Standard, each turn brings a unique level of importance to the game as each format has a different pace at which games are developed, and eventually decided. The card pool and dominant archetypes together establish what is known as the Fundamental Turn.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=186737Mon, 13 Aug 2012 14:20:16 GMTMagic is a game about resource management and strategic timing. Whenever you can play a card or get an effect for free, pay close attention. The old phrase ‘nothing in life is free’ doesn’t always apply when playing Magic. I’ve been playing this game for quite some time but I still get surprised occasionally by how good some cards can be simply because they are free. If it costs nothing you should be quite happy because you are getting the best return possible: something for nothing. When you see an opportunity for getting a significant something for nothing, buy yourself a lottery ticket. More often than not free cards are about on the same power level as a basic land: it provides something you can use but isn’t as good as something that would actually cost you mana. This is appropriate because if it costs mana it should reward you with a resource. Occasionally a card costs nothing in resources (beyond playing it from your hand) and it wins you the game.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=185658Fri, 03 Aug 2012 14:47:38 GMTThe Stack is a concept in the game that solves many important problems that Magic faced in its early days. The order in which cards resolve matters a great deal even on a basic level. The stack makes sure that it all happens in a way that ensures continuity of the game. The simplest way to figure out game situations involving the stack is to remember the mnemonic ‘LIFO’, which stands for ‘last in, first out.’ This means that the last spell or ability played resolves first on the stack and takes effect before anything else on the stack.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=184777Wed, 25 Jul 2012 18:24:21 GMTMy mind and household are abuzz with activity lately. I have a slew of writing to get punched onto a screen and two kids running in circles. I have this week off work to enjoy Independence Day, something my company has done for the past five years. That means my normal childcare arrangements are replaced by me, good old dad. Spending time with my offspring is always rewarding, but also challenging. Lily is five and Isaac is two, both of them exuding an aura of energy that I am incredibly jealous of. While I play tag, grill cheese sandwiches, and watch Finding Nemo for the eighty-ninth time my mind is still fluttering with the recent core set that was fully spoiled: Magic 2013. I may want to take a nap like the kids do, but I’m going to take advantage of that time to get some thoughts down about a well-executed core set. Each rarity level has a card with the potential for high quality contribution to the game. http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=183481Fri, 13 Jul 2012 22:17:53 GMTMill decks are a rarity in the game of Magic: most of them use very few creatures, if any, and eschew the combat phase completely. Fifty-three cards milled instead of twenty life lost can be daunting. What you may not realize is that Mill provides a unique opportunity for gaining the high ground against your opponent with a concept known as virtual card advantage. If you don’t have any creatures that can be targeted by your opponents removal spells, they are useless. If your opponent’s removal spells are worthless due to a lack of creatures, this allows you to play lopsided Pox-factor cards to extend virtual card advantage even further. Look no further than the reprint of Barter in Blood in Avacyn Restored to see how good playing zero creatures can be.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=181768Wed, 27 Jun 2012 19:31:27 GMT“The key to winning baseball games is pitching, fundamentals, and three-run homers.” – Earl Weaver This quote is significant when dealing with a mana-ramp Magic deck, even if the guy never had Magic in mind when he said it.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=181185Wed, 20 Jun 2012 22:52:48 GMTI’ve been doing quite a few simulated drafts lately on MTGFanatic’s draft simulator. It’s a blast poring over older sets to discover, and sometimes rediscover, fantastic cards from Magic’s past. If you’ve spent any amount of time involved in this game you know that it is constantly evolving, bringing new challenges and new cards with every new set. Those new cards can sometimes resurrect an old favorite, making it more fun to play than ever. I’m grabbing a couple new cards from Avacyn Restored and dusting off some old strategies: a Megrim-based discard deck and a Fires of Yavimaya-based mana-ramp/tokens deck. Part one brings you Megrim and the headaches it provides.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=180193Sun, 10 Jun 2012 13:41:22 GMTThe color wheel of Magic has somewhat ingrained in us that each color has a distinct set of characteristics. When we want to counter spells we look to blue to take care of the problem. When we want to make our opponents discard, black is our choice. Whatever effects we need for a given strategy tend to push us to certain colors. What if you’re a stubborn bonehead like me and say to yourself ‘pffh, I don’t need white. White is for weenies.’? That’s when you get creative and start uncovering cards to do your dirty work without getting your hands dirty from an unwanted color. Today I’d like to throw some cards at you that will challenge you to re-think a color splash. Wizards of the Coast has recently given each color a way to fill in the gap without forcing you to play different colors, or at the very least give you alternative options.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=179680Mon, 04 Jun 2012 18:03:19 GMTNow that Roots has covered the basics of building the different deck archetypes, it’s time to dig deep into mid-game play. With a decently built deck in your holster you’ll be able to gun-sling with anybody at the kitchen table. A favorite strategy for casual shenanigans is Turbo Fog. Most casual decks are creature based in one form or another, especially multi-player decks. Turbo Fog takes advantage of creature-based decks in a way that can frustrate even the heartiest of veteran players. Today we are exploring a Turbo-Fog deck in order to bring some interactions in the middle of a game that can provide for a way to flex your decision-making brain cells.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=178880Mon, 28 May 2012 21:45:30 GMTHere is part two of the Archetypes Updates where we will be covering a full six archetypes. Last week we focused heavily on the aggro portion of the metagame clock with stompy, sligh, and mid-range. This week we are covering the rest. Cards that affect aggro-oriented decks are usually rampant in a new set. As Mike Flores says ‘there are no wrong threats.’ It just depends on what you’re trying to accomplish when you choose them over others.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=177428Mon, 14 May 2012 23:52:21 GMTFolks can sometimes get caught up in the hype of the most powerful cards of the set at the expense of not noticing the quality cards that are hidden behind them. Today I’ll hopefully get your interest piqued for more than just miracle cards from Avacyn Restored. In my humble opinion, Avacyn Restored is one of the most exciting sets in quite some time. It will have ramifications across all formats, of that I am sure. http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=176869Wed, 09 May 2012 18:06:21 GMTIt is hard for me to believe that I’ve got twenty-five articles under my belt already. You are enjoying issue twenty-six, volume one of [b]Roots: The Fundamentals of Magic[/b]. Since the beginning I have had a clear vision for what Roots should be. I hope it has provided newer players with knowledge and tools to be better at Magic. My goal for today is to review the principles I’ve been trying to convey with my off-beat humor and writing style. In most of the articles there are practical ways of improving your deck-building skills. A few pieces of advice on how to play and a few tidbits on how to pilot decks have been scattered in there, but the majority has been how to build decks in order to accomplish your goal of having a deck that does what you want it to. I succinctly remember the story that Jeff Zandi provided for us (paraphrased) involving George Baxter, one of the first great Magic players: ‘Do you ever play Magic for FUN?’ He didn’t miss a beat: “I think WINNING is fun!”http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=175649Sat, 28 Apr 2012 01:07:51 GMTIs life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=174343Fri, 13 Apr 2012 20:36:58 GMTI’m going to forego the meat-and-potatoes approach that I usually employ in exchange for lighter fare this week, something more akin to a Caesar salad, hold the anchovies. Magic has a rich history when it comes to mechanics, some that soar and some that flop. Some mechanics have gone on to the Other Side as Eternal strategies, like dredge and storm. It seems that whenever a mechanic delves into the area of making things ‘free’ that a new monster is spawned. I am referencing Legacy primarily, but some of today’s ingredients also dip into the Modern and Standard card pool. http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=172803Thu, 29 Mar 2012 01:28:26 GMTI hope you all enjoyed last week’s interview with Zanman as much as I did writing it. We’ve covered all of the nine archetypes in one form or another in Roots, so we’re somewhat back to the beginning as far as deck building goes. Unknowingly, Jeff mentioned a term that ended up in the vocabulary insert that I feel could use more attention. We’re revisiting an archetype that has a specific agenda that can use that term in a great way. The term I refer to is ‘mana dump’, and we’re digging back into the roots of MBC (mono-black control.)http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=172169Thu, 22 Mar 2012 22:28:47 GMTCan you take the challenge, the Pauper Deck Challenge that is? In name, PDC has been trimmed down to simply ‘Pauper’, but the format isn’t just a ‘trimmed down’ constructed format for broke Magic addicts. Pauper can sometimes make other constructed formats seem positively [i]boring[/i] in comparison. The all-common card pool gives Pauper a uniqueness that comes from sheer necessity: without uncommon, rare, or mythic rare cards to use, it must look to the underplayed gems of Magic’s common history to compensate. This provides a deck builder’s paradise of brewing opportunities. Other writers on Fanatic have written articles on Pauper, all of them worthy of the time it takes to read them. Not wanting to be left behind, my aim is to give you an introduction by steering you to a few of the better strategies.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=170768Wed, 07 Mar 2012 22:24:32 GMTI risk losing you in the first paragraph by doing this, but I’m going to do it anyways because I can be immovably stubborn occasionally. Do you know the actual origin of the phrase ‘the whole nine yards’? I didn’t realize it was such a disputed factoid, but performing a brief search revealed explanations that were quite varied...http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=170137Thu, 01 Mar 2012 20:26:47 GMTMagic is a game of chance and strategy that is sometimes described as the mashing together of poker and chess. Generally this is true, but I’ve never heard of a chess player moving a queen into the center of the chessboard regardless of other pieces being in the way. It’s simply against the rules; it can’t be done. Hypothetically speaking, Magic does that all the time. The ever-growing card pool provides a cornucopia of ways to ‘cheat’ at the game. One particular archetype takes tutoring to a whole new level by building the entire deck around a central engine that provides a way to approach any matchup whatsoever. If you’ve ever sat on the losing end of Survival of the Fittest or Trinket Mage you know that I’m talking about the toolbox archetype.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=169553Fri, 24 Feb 2012 23:00:21 GMTIt is quite a surprise to discover that there are only nine good decks you can build in Magic. You read that right, just nine. A deck may be built deck that is seemingly original, but it still falls into a predetermined category that has already been established. If it doesn’t, it is likely that however it was altered, knowingly or unknowingly, actually makes the deck worse.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=168632Wed, 15 Feb 2012 21:11:44 GMTLast week set the stage for a good understanding of how to approach non-basic lands from a collecting as well as playing standpoint. I promised a practical approach to investing and upgrading your lands this week based on a personal journey of mine with a particular deck. Today’s deck is one of my favorite brews and I can honestly say that it is original to my knowledge. It uses many themes and strategies that were pulled from other established decks, but I’m fairly certain there isn’t another deck out there that is quite the same as mine. Only the all-seeing Internet knows the answer to that.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=167279Thu, 02 Feb 2012 17:53:13 GMTIf you haven’t guessed yet, I’m talking about lands today. Not just any lands: lands that can fundamentally alter the outcome of a game of Magic. The most basic function of a land is to tap for mana, utilizing time-restricted resources that allow the game of magic to be different than any other card game. There exists a myriad of lands that do more than just tap for mana. Some of them don’t even tap for mana but rather perform a different purpose altogether. Regardless of what they do, or how well they do it, lands are the foundation upon which a deck is built. http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=166507Wed, 25 Jan 2012 22:42:11 GMTVariance is part of the game of magic, sometimes an incredibly frustrating part. I defined variance in a past article as such: a concept that captures how consistently a deck plays out from one game to another. Early on in my magic experience I would be constantly telling myself, after a pathetic loss, ‘If I had just drawn the right cards, I’d have won that game!’ Finding the right way to reduce variance can be a challenge, and in many cases is [i]the definitive challenge[/i] to making a deck better. It may be as simple as adding a land to your deck to prevent mana screw or as complex as finding the right tutor that fits into your goals of mana curve and opportunity cost. I am referring to that elusive vixen called ‘card quality.’http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=166200Sun, 22 Jan 2012 16:38:43 GMTI am taking a slightly different tack this week by bringing you a personal deck list that I’m working on. Most of the decks that appear in Roots are built specifically for the article. Today it’s the other way around, the egg has come before the chicken with the deck initiating the article. It is a deck designed to begin my New Year’s resolution as far as magic is concerned: mastering combo decks. This year is ‘The Year of the Combo’ for Mr. Safety.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=164497Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:21:42 GMTHow many of you out there really enjoy putting a combo together but also likes to play the cool control game? There is a deck archetype tailor-made for you and it’s called ‘prison’. It functions the same as it sounds: you’re building a prison of control elements that prevents your opponent from winning the game. You may not win on the spot like a true combo deck, but the win isn’t really in question, only the timing of the win. It isn’t really like a true control deck either because you aren’t trying to have an answer for everything. Effective prison decks target one fundamental aspect of the game and dominate it.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=162988Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:50:25 GMTAll-black decks tend to suit a very particular personality. Players that are dedicated to tapping only Swamps for mana are a dangerous breed indeed. No fussing around with synergy or a layered strategy. If you listen closely you can almost hear Metallica playing in their head as they fan out their cards, imagining Kirk Hammet shredding his guitar as they shred your very soul, picking the most destructive spell possible to completely immerse you in darkness. The goal isn’t to be flashy or even technical. “Likes puppies and enjoys long walks on the beach” will never appear on a personal ad for mono-black players. It has a simple mantra: make big mana, play big bombs. Each card played discourages you and makes you wonder: why on earth did I ask this seemingly nice person to play a quiet game of magic? http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=162470Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:57:04 GMTWe started out at, well, the start of things last week. We ripped open six booster packs of Innistrad and went through all the steps to arrive at a forty (ahem) card deck. Building a deck, of course, is only half the trick. Now you actually have to play matches with the cards you have selected from your sealed pool. This is why Magic is such a fun toy to play with, it’s like being a kid with LEGOs. First you build your car, then you crash it into your friend’s car and see who wins. In this week’s article, we’re going to explore the things that happen when we actually play.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=162271Wed, 07 Dec 2011 16:29:02 GMTOne of the very best things about Magic: the Gathering is all the different ways you can play with it. I started out, a long time ago, the way most players begin, playing only constructed Magic. A while later, sealed deck was invented, and Magic was never the same for me again. After the invention of sealed deck, booster draft soon followed. Sealed deck, booster draft, and other related formats became known as limited formats. This is because each player’s card pool for deck construction is limited in some way. Today, I want to talk about sealed deck in a very basic way, from the ground up.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=161544Tue, 29 Nov 2011 21:58:59 GMTA crisp wintry good morning from Maine! We had record snowfall ‘up heyah’ for the month of October on Saturday. There is no way I would miss an opportunity to get outside with my kids when there was a five-inch blanket of instant-fun on the front lawn. I’m actually quite proud of our creation. It is a quirky coincidence that the traditional snowman has three sections and this week’s principles should help you tackle your first three color deck. Today’s deck brings ferocious cats and fearsome beasts under the name of Zoo. It will allow you to learn the principles of fixing your mana-base in a three (or more) color deck along with introducing you to a powerful strategy that takes full advantage of all three colors.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=159907Thu, 10 Nov 2011 21:39:49 GMTIf you’re like me, you’ve looked at some cards and said to yourself: ‘why in the world would I want to play that card?’ Some cards are subtle, and deceptively powerful, in their uses. The ones I’m talking about are cards that not only affect your opponent negatively, but hurt you too. They force you to dig deeper into your card knowledge, look farther into the card pool available to you, and you need to be a little bit of a risk-taker to even try using them. “If you’re not living on the edge, you’re taking up too much space”. At least that's how the saying goes. As our illustrious Casual Carnage author The Artificer (AKA Tom Wrigley) has written in the past: your life total is a resource that can be used the same as mana or cards. So in the spirit of risk-taking, and the lack of even a name for this concept, I’m going to create my own new magic vocabulary: the Pox Factor.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=159260Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:35:54 GMTRaise your hand if you know what a mana curve is. No, don’t really raise your hand, you look foolish sitting there at your computer with your hand in the air! I’m guessing most folks that play magic know what it is, or can at least deduce what I mean by it. I’m going to be a little more focused this week and try to avoid a long list of magic vocabulary. Rather, I want to zero in on the one specific principle of the mana curve which empowers all players, new and experienced, casual and competitive alike. I will also discuss its ‘sister’ principle of opportunity cost. At the end will be a fun exercise included today that should help you build your mana curve ‘muscles’ so to speak, and it will be attached to a contest!http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=158445Wed, 26 Oct 2011 21:21:22 GMTOne of the most challenging aspects of magic has absolutely nothing to do with actually playing the game (zero, nil, nada): how much money do I spend on this game? Well, Roots is here with a special edition to help you not only figure that one out, but hopefully get you on the right track to getting what you need in a more economical fashion. If you can follow a few basic guidelines, you’ll be shuffling up your newest concoction and playing with success, maybe even saving a buck or two along the way.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=157542Tue, 18 Oct 2011 17:44:56 GMTWelcome back to Roots! I hope you didn’t mind the side-trail I took a few weeks back with the article on pet cards. I feel rather strongly that we shouldn’t forget why we play magic. ‘Talking shop’ is another rewarding part of the game that shouldn’t be left out. I hope I didn’t lose you with the older card references, and I [i]really[/i] hope it resonated with you, even if only a little bit. This week, we’re back on track to defining the three basic deck archetypes found in magic with combo.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=157121Fri, 14 Oct 2011 23:41:42 GMTWelcome back to Roots! Whether you’re brand new to the game or just trying to build on your basic skills, Roots can hopefully help you out. More than anything, Roots is designed to focus on the fundamentals of how and why we play this incredible game. If I ever lose focus on that, Editor-in-Chief Jeff Zandi has my permission to use my head as a cue ball in his next game of billiards. This week we are delving a little deeper into the known deck types of the game with aggro-control.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=156190Fri, 07 Oct 2011 02:32:30 GMTI’m not new to the world of Magic, but the world of writing still has the morning dew on it. The newfound excitement of it has resulted in about fifteen different article ideas already logged in the notepad of my cell phone. Some will make it, some won’t. I will carefully go over each topic and make sure it does exactly what I want Roots to accomplish: teach the fundamentals of how and why we all play this exciting game. The first two articles were on the ‘how’; this one digs into the ‘why’, at least for me. The picture above is my one-year-old son Isaac by the way, trying to get a closer peek at what I’m holding onto (I’m pretty sure it was my trade binder at the time.) He was incredibly persistent, so I snapped a picture of him at super-close-up range. I hope he’s just as excited to get into magic 10 years from now. http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=154198Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:30:45 GMTWelcome back to Roots, a nice stop-over point in your journey with Magic. If you’re new to this cardboard addiction, welcome! You’ll find the journey to be exciting and fun. If you’re not new, welcome to a little piece of nostalgia that might help you remember some basic deck-building skills and what they can do for you.http://www.mtgfanatic.com/Articles/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=153549Wed, 14 Sep 2011 22:27:42 GMT