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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 Cincinatti
Grand Prix Cincinnati was the first Standard event in the United States in several months. What lessons can be learned from Magic's best playing the game's most popular format? Blake shares some of the lessons he learned watching the action up close along with a few interesting stories and things Blake thinks he's thinking. As always, Blake tells fantastic stories littered with gems of Magic knowledge that you don't want to miss.
GatheringMagic.com: Blake Rasmussen (@blakepr) - Cincinnati's Lessons
We learned a lot from Cincinnati this weekend, not least of all the proclamation Brad Nelson kept making as he wound his way to the finals to face, you guessed it, an Esper mirror.
Grand Prix Cincinnati was North America’s first taste of Standard on the Grand Prix level since the release of Born of the Gods, and lost in all of the Esper-mirror-match hoopla was that we learned a ton about the texture of the format, card choices, variations on archetypes, and fallibility of Alexander Hayne.
Since I was once again off to the side hacking away at my laptop covering the 1,734-person event from start to finish, I gained a ton of insight into not only the very purposeful, very deliberate angles players were taking on the format, but also the ones that were accidental, the things that ended up mattering far more than they were intended.
Here are the highlights of what we learned in Cincinnati. Let’s start with Nelson’s proclamation.
On Teysa
Can MJ transform herself into one of the most powerful members of the Church of Deals? This week, MJ tries to assume the identity of Teysa, Orzhov Scion. A few hours, contacts, and destroyed shirts later, did she accomplish her goal? You be the judge.
GatheringMagic.com: MJ Scott (@moxymtg)- Quick & Dirty Cosplay: Teysa and Part 2
If you’re not familiar with my Quick & Dirty series, check out my Moxy Cosplay Facebook page. Basically, I give myself an hour to pull off an MTG character or card art, limit myself to using items around the house that I already own, and try to take some evocative photos of the results. It’s down-and-dirty, do-or-die cosplay that, as a mom of a preschool-age baloth, works great for me since I only have so much time to devote to creative pursuits during the week.
And I only have so much capacity to do bigger-ticket projects like Elesh Norn (thank you again if you voted in the Ultimate Cosplay polls) and the Liliana, Night’s Mistress (sssh!) I’m planning for Grand Prix Portland this summer.
Now, onward to Teysa Karlov, scion of the Orzhov Syndicate!
On Commander
What do the people running the format think about the state of Commander? Sheldon Menery has transcribed a conversation he had with other members of the rules committee to give the community an idea of exactly how they think and talk about the format, independent of any community pressures, expectations, or demands. This conversation is just the first of two or more parts, but it gives a fantastic look into the mindset behind a format mediated by social contract rather than by explicit rules.
StarCityGames.com: Sheldon Menery (@SheldonMenery) - Commander Rules Committee Half Moon Table, Part 1
During spring break, two of my closest friends, Scott Larabee and Toby Elliott, made a week-long visit. What's important to you isn't a week lounging poolside, eating, drinking, gaming, and debauching, but that the two of them also happen to be on the Commander Rules Committee. We thought it'd be interesting to record one of our conversations as we talked about the format.
Except for pauses, ums, and you knows, I haven't edited the conversation except for a few instances of clarity. What follows is a faithful transcript of what went on.
On Origin Stories
What is your Magic origin story? Jon Corpora wrote one once. He's since learned better. In this article Jon reflects on some of the things that most of our stories have in common. Friends. Doubt. Losing. In his typical fashion, Jon tells great stories with useful lessons about the way that we approach the game. Do you have the appropriate mindset for taking down a Magic tournament? Jon's friend Kyle might disagree.
ChannelFireball.com: Jon Corpora (@feb31st) - We Are All Cameron Frye
Something that happens a lot at Magic tournaments these days is someone—we’ll call him Steve—will come up and watch me play some match, and witness me make a handful of atrocious misplays to lose said match. Then, after the match slip is filled out 2-0 in favor of my opponent, a friend of mine will come up and say something along the lines of, “ChannelFireball Columnist Jon Corpora, ladies and gentlemen!” and will start clapping. Steve will invariably ask,
“You write for Channel Fireball?”
At which point I have a bevy of go-to self-defense mechanisms at the ready.
“Rarely.”
“Sometimes.”
“Not very well.”
“Against everyone’s will.”
“Only because I have serious dirt on LSV and am blackmailing him”
Then a light bulb goes off in Steve’s head—hey, if this guy can do it…
“How do I write for a Magic website?”
On Doomsday
What happens after you cast Doomsday? Normally, people hope that it ends up with dead opponents, but there's a lot more that goes into choosing a pile of five cards that can win a game. Caleb ended up playing what may be the most difficult card in Magic almost by accident, and this week he's sharing what he's learned. A couple of brews, some interesting lines, and a lesson in how to approach playing decks you're not certain of. This article has a little bit of everything for anyone who follows the Legacy format.
ChannelFireball.com: Caleb Durward (@CalebDMTG ) - Call Me Doom
Fortunately, another player came to my aid, a Mr. Jon Johnson.
"I've got a deck."
"Is it competitive?"
"I've won events with it."
Great, I thought to myself as I went through a mental checklist. He's going to hand me freaking Werewolf Stompy.
I popped open the deckbox and slid out a card, Burning Wish. Then another, Sensei's Divining Top. Ah, Doomsday.
"I'll take it."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah."
I wasn't sure.
On Gods
How did gods like Thassa, Ephara, and Mogis come to be? In his column this week, Mark Rosewater gives us a glimpse into how the gods of Theros were designed, refined, and developed before they hit the printers. This time Mark focuses on how Helo was transformed into Heliod, God of the Sun, complete with all of the changes in stats, mana cost, and mechanic/keyword combinations that they tried along the way. Looking for a peek behind the R&D curtain? This is one you don't want to miss.
DailyMTG.com: Mark Rosewater (@maro254)- Modern Gods
Welcome to God Week. This week, we're going to be talking about the legendary enchantment creatures of Theros block. Erik Lauer wrote an article where he talked about the design and the development of the Gods, but their story is a complex one, so I thought I would try to tell it through a very different kind of article.
Here's what I've done. I chose one of the Gods, Heliod, and then I went back through our database to pull out every version of the card—twenty versions in all. I'm going to start from the beginning and then walk you through each incarnation and explain what was changed and why. This will give you a chance to see a single card evolve from early design all the way until print. Enjoy!
If you have suggestions for next week's recap you can mention us on Twitter, or share throughout the week in the comments below.
