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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On May 30, 2015, we’ll all be gathered magically at the Las Vegas Convention Center to play Modern Masters 2015. Until then, I’ll be spending my weekends playing Magic at local Preliminary Pro Tour Qualifiers (PPTQs) and Grand Prix Trials (GPTs) to reach the critical mass of Planeswalker Points needed for a round-one GP bye. Over this time,…
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One thing I really like to do is draft good sets. While most cubes provide a unique experience in which you get to play with a wide variety of powerful cards from various sets, there is something about a well-designed and playtested Limited environment that far outshines the enjoyment of having to decide between [card]Jace,…
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With the exception of drafts that occasionally go truly awry, we frequently find ourselves playing with an unimpressive pool of cards, only to do very well in a tournament. On the other side of this coin, I frequently come out of a draft very happy with my cards only to pull off a mediocre finish….
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I’m back from a long night of a midnight prerelease for Khans of Tarkir. My big pulls from the Sealed event were a foil [card]Meandering Towershell[/card] and an [card]Utter End[/card]. While not great, it could have been much worse. While hearing about what I opened probably isn’t why you’re here, understanding what I saw may…
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Welcome to my Cube article! On a weekly basis, some people and I get together to shuffle up and play our paper version of the MTGO Holiday Cube, one of the most fun draft formats that there is. It follows normal draft style, but plays with high-powered cards, including [card]Black Lotus[/card]! There’s only about four…
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Gen Con, where every game that doesn’t require electricity is located. I can now agree with the motto: Gen Con is “the best four days in gaming.” With all the choices available, it was hard to choose which games were worth giving a shot. Since I’m terrible at decisions, I just played Magic: The Gathering…
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If I had to guess why most games are won and lost in Magic, the first stop on the blame train would be mulligans. A good number of players have a hard time knowing what is keepable and what would be better as a random six. An even larger number of players don’t know when…
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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries?list=PLs4gxqbLAAD5bqyn6vroWK-yjZRSEO3J7&w=640&h=360] Divine Favor This week I’m pleased to welcome my good friend Jan (pronounced “Yawn,” he’s a dude) to the show to help take me through an MTGO Cube draft! As the title indicates, we wound up with most of the angel cards in the cube and played them to great success. This week…
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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries?list=PLs4gxqbLAAD5XqEP7eLdk_UliPFAkct5e&w=640&h=360] Cube’s Back! Everyone’s favorite online format, the MTGO cube, is back online! Making a blanket statement like that might not be entirely accurate, but you cannot deny that the variety of games and decks generated by the cube is unparalleled in the MTGO universe. This time around, I drafted a Jund deck featuring…
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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries?list=PLs4gxqbLAAD4-lO00rI30RmbtPnYQow9e&w=640&h=360] It’s Important to Remember Your Goals And with this tenthth episode of Forced Fruition, I would like to think I stayed true to what I set out to do. My primary goal with this series is to learn by doing, and specifically trying things out and learning from mistakes. There are some unique…
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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries?list=PLs4gxqbLAAD5QRnOIQU0HvsrL2NMVKfW7&w=640&h=360] Food for Thought If I were to describe this draft with one phrase: Staying Alive. Right from the get go, our strategy started to form, mostly due to a couple sheepish picks that wound up dictating the rest of our draft. Adding in the Journey pack to this format helps even out the…
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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries?list=PLs4gxqbLAAD4K0f7xZAy6wqfKdBxdhI_O&w=640&h=360] Magic is Difficult And I have a lot to learn. If you’ve been following the series, you’re aware of this fact. I won’t try to hide it—there it is, out in the open. My friend Cory is a much better Magic player than I, so I enlisted his help to run through another…
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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries?list=PLs4gxqbLAAD6dLhiofdGdf4zkIBkn0lQv&w=640&h=360] Intro Cube drafting as a format is wonderful because you get to make all kinds of crazy things happen. You get to play with powerful cards that span the entirety of Magic and use them to crush your opponents mercilessly. This week on Forced Fruition, join me as I power through an un-powered cube…
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[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=videoseries?list=PLs4gxqbLAAD58tis9UZ-pZ7zJueXZtZuJ&w=640&h=360] What is Red and Black and Green All Over? This week I had the pleasure of entering a Born of the Gods-Theros-Theros draft with my good friend Grant. Together we worked our way through some exciting picks and equally exciting games. Having a second voice to help guide your thoughts is a great…
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