MTG

Fighting Back Against Persecution in Magic

This is a guest post from Mark Nestico Jr. and was not written by Denis Stranjak. While the subject of this article is a little different than the usual fare you’ll find on Brainstorm Brewery, we believe this is a subject that is vitally important to the Magic community at-large, and we want to thank Mark…

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Mono Brew #2 – Ignoring Reality

It’s been a few months since the first edition of Mono Brew, which I ended with the promise that my next article would be a primer on my Modern pet deck, “Bringing Gifts” (five color [card]Gifts Ungiven[/card] with [card]Bring to Light[/card]). Much has changed in the world of Magic since then, as the release of Oath of the Gatewatch turned Modern season into “Eldrazi Winter”. I’m sure that most of…

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Why Linear Decks are Not a Bad Thing.

Splinter Twin got banned, Summer Bloom got banned, players raged at the world, at their family, at their lives, but mostly they just raged. I feel it was a net positive for the Modern format to grow and adapt. I think unbans should have occurred with [card]Bloodbraid Elf[/card] and [card]Ancestral Visions[/card] but thats not what…

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Mono Brew #1 – A Brewer’s Manifesto

No matter the stakes, no matter the format, the only thing you’ll find in this player’s hands is a brew. It might be the pet deck they’ve been tweaking and tuning for months, or it might be something new and spicy every week. Either way, playing a popular or “tier 1” deck is completely off the table for…

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Why Spoilers Suck

Trick Jarrett published an interesting article today and having had some time to digest the piece and the feedback (blowback?) from it, I’ve decided my opinion on the matter would be laborious and difficult to Tweet. What’s the point of owning a soapbox if you only ever pay other people to stand on it? I…

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To Ban or Unban?

It has been a while since I’ve contributed to the site and I’ve missed writing, missed seeing your comments, missed feeling like I’ve contributed to the community that I so enjoy being a part of.  Due to some personal commitments, I haven’t been as active a participant in the current Standard season, though I have…

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How Magic Almost Ruined My Life

Magic: The Gathering does a lot of good things for a lot of good people; it gives them an avenue to socialize, a hobby to be passionate about and a game to love and enjoy. In local game stores all around the world, long-standing friendships and relationships, deep cutting rivalries and meaningful senses of belonging…

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BFZ – Standing in the Way of Control

Control decks have lost their way in BFZ Standard. They currently represent Less than five percent of the winning meta game. Control often flounders in the early meta because the deck is made of answers. If the threats haven’t stabilized in the meta, it is hard to know which answers to include. There are a number of…

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Organizing Your Collection #1 – Piles of Cards

When we moved house a few months ago, Himself wanted to call our new house ‘the house of cards’ as we own so many. Often we have piles of cards all over the house, until I get around to sorting them all out again. Himself has been playing Magic off and on since he was…

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You Can Counter on Ephara

Some people hate fun. Whether they’re the dickhead boss that refuses employees nap time and Rock Band in the break room, or are simply an avid fan of TV’s Gotham, having a good time simply doesn’t appeal to some people. The same is often said for those who run a lot of counterspells in EDH….

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Legacy’s Allure

This weekend, my LGS is having its first Legacy FNM. For people who don’t play Legacy, this is just a chance for people to show off their dual lands, Force of Wills and Wastelands. I guarantee there will be some people who’ll show up just to see cards they may never see again. I mean,…

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Updating Esper Dragons for BFZ

I have been playing Esper Dragons since Dragons of Tarkir arrived with [card]Dragonlord Ojutai[/card]. The deck has been fun to play, and I’ve had success with it, but now that Theros is on it’s way out, is Esper Dragons going to survive? If so, will it be weaker or stronger? Will it even be the same deck?…

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A Magic: The Gathering Gameshow

Some of you may know that I run a YouTube channel called Windmill Slam where I do silly drafts every week with a friend. One day I thought it would be fun to attempt to make up flavor text for cards and see if my buddy could distinguish between real flavor text and the false ones that I…

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Will the Aristocrats Join The Battle?

We finally have the full spoiler for Battle for Zendikar and, despite a lot of community dissent about the power level of the set and its mechanics, I am thrilled with a lot of the cards about to enter the Standard format.  I’ve been brewing and looking over cards constantly. That said, there is one card…

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Teaching People to Play Magic

I believe that Magic is a great game, and if you’re reading this there is a good chance that you agree with me. It’s normal human nature to want to share things that we enjoy with our friends, but introducing Magic to people not familiar with a similar game can be a daunting task. If…

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Weekend Magic: 4/3-4/5

Last weekend brought us Star City Games: Syracuse. This Open featured Standard as the main event with a side of Modern and Legacy. Let’s see what the results were and note any trending cards amongst the lists. Star City Games Open – Standard (Syracuse, USA) Decklists Deck Finish Player Deck Finish Player G/R Aggro 1st…

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Commanding Opinion: Toshiro Umezawa

Sorry for having not written anything in quite a while. I’ve been very, very busy with work and family life, so I’m going to be making some edits to guest posts I received a while back and reposting them on here so people can still enjoy them. This was originally a guest post from when I…

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Pauper Cube: Drafting Tips, Tricks, and Archetypes

Pauper? What does poverty have to do with Magic? If you’re new to Magic, you might not know what Pauper is. Those who know of Pauper are asking, “Why are you writing about Pauper? Isn’t that format dead?” Well, Wizards of the Coast (WOTC) no long supports MTGO Daily Events for Pauper (editor’s note: This…

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Financial Five: Fate Reforged

With each new set it seems like retailers are getting better at pre-pricing cards to fit card hype and demand. I look past the chase rares/mythics and find the diamonds in the rough. Below are five cards I think are worth investing in. [card]Alesha, Who Smiles at Death[/card]($2) The list of “bring-backable” creatures seems be…

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Playing Magic for Free #2: From Trading to Trader

Read Part 1 of this series – here! Completing the Transformation I was talking to a friend, Kevin Grigsby, who has bought and sold cards off and on since well before my start in the game. We discussed a story dating back to the unbanning of [card]Land Tax[/card]. It was the first time I was…

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Ginger Journey #3 – Grand Prix Atlanta

The professor walks in on the first day of classes with a gleaming smile that could make your stomach turn to knots. There’s no way someone can be that happy. It’s the first day of MTG Appreciation 2100 [Ed. note: this explains why he’s so happy]. As an introduction, Professor Brightflame feels we should take turns…

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Playing Magic for Free #1: Catching the Cardboard Bug

When a newborn Magic players opens her eyes for the first time, it’s difficult to not be overwhelmed with the price others will pay for multicolored cardboard.  If you read the title to this three-part mini-series, it’s obvious I’m not here to justify card prices or imply the financial requirement to play this game. I’m actually…

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Financial Five: Sweepers

  Sweeper effects have been a long-lasting staple in Magic.  These effects make aggro players cry and control players gleam.  They can make or break a game and trigger the same “ooooh’s” and “ahhhhh’s” Wizards of the Coast (WotC) tried to accomplish with the Miracle mechanic from Avacyn Restored. These game-changers will continue to be…

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Getting L.U.C.K.y: Playtesting

Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work. -Thomas A. Edison I’m going to take a bit of a break this week and shift into getting L.U.C.K.y while playing the game. In a game such as Magic, where there are sixty randomized cards built from thousands of…

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The Financial Five: Born of the Gods

It’s the first set of 2014! The second installment of Theros block, Born of the Gods, is here, ready to improve your favorite Standard brew.  More importantly for MTG financiers, a whole batch of potential investments are waiting for speculation. Here are my five picks for a beneficial Born of the Gods speculation session (say…

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