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A staggering amount of Magic content is published each day each day on a plethora of content sites, blogs, podcasts, and discussion forums. No matter how honest an effort you make, it's easy to fall behind and miss incredible articles because there just isn't enough time to read everything.
To that end, we've collected some of the best articles of the week covering a broad range of topics. If you're looking for articles, these are the ones you don't want to miss!
On the State of Professional Magic
The world of Professional Magic has changed significantly in the last few years. Organized play was revamped from the ground up with more Grands Prix, an overhauled Pro Players Club, a new structure for Nationals and Worlds was introduced, and the size of the Pro Tour had been decreased overall. How have these changes affected the people who play the game at the highest level? This week Brian Kibler expounded on what it's been like to travel from Grand Prix to Grand Prix on the hunt for Pro Points, why he believes the system needs to change.
Starcitygames.com: Brian Kibler (@bmkibler) - The State of Pro Play
"My flight is at 6 AM."
"Mine is at 5:30."
"Want to share a cab?"
"Sure."
"Meet you in the lobby at…god, 4 AM?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"I don't know if I can take much more of this."
"Neither do I. See you next week?"
"Yep, I'll be there."
This was a typical scene over the past year. As I discussed, in a bit of an extended rant in my 2012 year in review article, the realities of pro play these days are exhausting. With the expanded Grand Prix schedule, there are tournaments seemingly every weekend. While greater availability of premier level play is great for Magic as a whole, it's proven to be quite the problem for pro players.
On Triggers and Organized Play
In addition to the changes to Organized Play, we've seen a number of changes to the Infraction Procedure Guidelines (IPG), particularly regarding the topic of triggers and missed triggers. Level 3 Judge Riki Hayashi takes a look at the new policy and discusses why he thinks this is a good direction for Judges and players alike.
Starcitygames.com: Riki Hayashi (@mtgRikipedia) - Trigger Me This
So here we are once again with another round of Infraction Procedure Guide (IPG) changes, specifically changes involving the Missed Trigger policy.
Let me start by admitting that I love the direction that the trigger policy has gone. This shouldn't come as much of a surprise; it's a fairly common position to take amongst judges, but it is also worth exploring why.
On Survival and Missed Opportunities
For the longest time, Survival of the Fittest was just a value engine used for finding Flametongue Kavu and Genesis. Then Vengevine happened, and Survival was banned. Legacy aficionado Adam Barnello missed his chance to play with Survival of the Fittest, but he won't miss out on Birthing Pod in Modern.
ChannelFireball.com: Adam Barnello (@AdamNightmare) - The Birthing
In my mind’s eye, the Survival advantage archetype was a staple of Legacy, and an important cog in the metagame. It was a deck made up of (as the deck name would indicate) small advantages. These incremental gains would eventually result in a game state where the Survival player had inevitability—beyond that of even the grindiest control engines.
I never played Survival before Caleb decided to turn the deck on its head and reduce it to Cube obscurity. I had a fond appreciation for the deck, and not playing those early incarnations of the deck is one of my Legacy regrets—though I did have more than ample opportunity to become familiar with it during my time of playing against it.
On Life and Magic
One way to see the growth and change in culture is to see the prevalence of its mentions. Like memes from Internet forums and the popularity of retro gaming, Magic is older than we often believe and communicates broader than we currently realize.
Mcsweeneys.net: Alex Sargeant - Magic: The Quitting
ALEX SUMMONS HARROWING COURAGE +2 / +4
Harrowing Courage enters the battlefield with haste.
“I quit my job yesterday.”
MOM SUMMONS ANCIENT INQUISITOR +1 / +1
At the beginning of each opponent’s upkeep, Ancient Inquisitor asks, “Why?”
“Why?”
On Mindsets and Brewing
One of the best aspects of Magic is the deckbuilding. Everyone gets to choose their approach, pick their tools, and tune their deck to perfection. However, the brewing process can be daunting. This week Max is looked at different tools and approaches for deckbuilding.
GatheringMagic.com: Max Sjoeblom (@thebloom_) - On Brewing
So, how do you actually start? There are many techniques that have been developed that you can use when generating ideas, such as brainstorming, listing, using forced associations, brain-writing, and using six thinking hats.
One approach that I think is useful in the context of Magic is what can be called mind emptying. This technique relates to Edward de Bono’s thoughts on human thinking, specifically his thoughts on what he calls lateral thinking. When we are trying to come up with new ideas, we can see our thinking as comprised of three layers. The first layer is memory; these are ideas we generate based on previous experiences throughout our life. The second layer is logic; these ideas are formed by reasoning and rationalizing the data available. The last layer is creativity; here, we have the opportunity to come up with something new and really innovative. The human brain often works in such a way that it is impossible to access ideas from the deeper layers without first emptying the ideas that come from our memory. What this means is that you should often spend some time writing down the things that seem obvious. This helps clear your mind, allowing you to more effectively think about totally new ideas.
On Gideon and the Boros Legion
Gideon Jura, a planeswalker on a mission to save one plane has become embroiled in the danger facing another. Adam Lee's story of battle, glory, and savvy guild intrigue explained how a man on a mission came to wield the power of the Boros.
DailyMTG.com: Adam Lee - The Greater Good
"They were well trained for combat. I only showed them where to strike and when."
"Such modesty." Aurelia smiled. "But I think it is safe to say that you did a little striking of your own." Aurelia moved around the table and stood before Gideon. "What puzzles me, Jura, is why I haven't heard of your skill in battle before now. I get the feeling someone like you isn't apt to lay low and shirk the glory of battle."
On Boros and Building for Commander
Commander hinges on the idea of a social contract of interactive fairness despite being the second most broken format (after Vintage). Balancing these opposing forces can be tricky. Adam Styborski used the Boros as an analogy for how to pull it off, inspiring others to try for themselves.
@the_stybs Yes, it's got me considering making another run at building a deck. The article was really well structured.
— Glenn Godard (@SunmesaGlenn) February 5, 2013
DailyMTG.com: Adam Styborski (@the_stybs) - Assembling a Legion
Commander combines its own oil and water concepts: the order and rules of deck construction, and the passion and unrestraint of incredibly powerful cards. Simply restricting colors and copies of cards isn't enough to overwhelm the potential to break the game between friends. The duality doesn't stop there.
If you have suggestions for next week's recap you can send them through to us on Twitter, or share throughout the week in the comments below.
