News

• Aaron Forsythe gives Modern the Nod—Overextended proponents were saddened by the news that Wizards will be moving forward with Modern as a format.
• Reviewing the ComiCon Panel—Greg Haenig runs down the breaking news from the MTG Panel in San Diego including Innistrad, Dark Ascension, and FTV Legends.
• “Rattle” is Dark Ascension—The official name for the second Innistrad expansion is announced.
• FTV: Legends Reveal—The powerful horsemanship enabler Sun Quan, Lord of Wu from Portal 3 kingdoms will help bolster the sales of the new Vaults box.

Standard and Block

• Analyzing Japanese Nats and Cincinnati SCG—Nassim Ketita wonders if Splinter Twin has been hated right out of the format.
• Cincinnati Standard—Glenn Jones on the ‘Nati meta where, as expected, Valakut and Mono-Red showed up in full force.
• Hello Seattle—Nick Spagnolo took home Standard gold with a revamped Caw-blade deck.
• SCG Cincy Standard Open 2^nd—Matt Farney took home the silver with a little help from Kalastria and her vampire brood.
• Things can be Different…This Time… (SCG$) -- Patrick Chapin wants to re-write the ending on this Standard format, so he shares several decks to take down the enemy.
• The Rundown—KYT’s decks of the week include a tuned Valakut, BUG Pod, and a funky UG deck.
• Turn to Fog—Conley Woods utilizes Rites of Flourishing to revitalize the Turbo Fog deck.
• UB vs Valakut—Join LSV as he begins his play-testing of UB against the gauntlet.  See the matchups against Vampires and Cawblade.
• Hunting for Success in New Standard (SCG$) — Ari Lax brews up several decks with the powerful new version of Garruk.
• Nayallies—Mike Cannon examines the new face of allies and runs the deck up against the metagame.
• Building Standard on a Budget—AJ Kerrigan shares three mono-color decks and his budget build of UR Twin.

Limited

• Number Crunch—Nina Illingworth’s extremely useful color-coded rankings for M12 help make this one of the strongest resources on drafting M12.
• The Reprint Trap—Tom Reeve suggests taking a broader perspective on a new format before you windmill slam a reprinted card.

Vintage, Legacy, and Modern

• SCG Seattle Legacy Open 1^st—Ben Swartz took top honors with his Hive Mind deck.  Todd Anderson considers the metagame position of the card here.
• Getting there in Cincinnati—Caleb Durward ran a blue Zoo deck in Legacy and a Pure Steel deck in Standard.
• Hive Mind—KillerOwen from MtGO Academy looks at how Hive Mind is playing out online.
• One Game—Adam Barnello goes deep with this analysis of one game of Uw Stoneforge and Affinity.
• Rise from the Grave—Christopher Walton gets to work reanimating Jin-Gataxias and other bombs.
• The Return of Fatesticher—Matt Elias joins Fatesticher Dredge on the comeback trail.

Casual and Variant Formats

• Top Competitive Commander Decks—Neale Talbot shares four blue-based decks that do extremely well in one-on-one games. 
• Random Commander Deck—Abe Sargent builds a rat-tastic deck around the mono-black general Marrow-Gnawer. 
• Ghave Tokens—Jeremy Blair overhauls the Counterpunch Commander deck. 
• Cycles—Usman Jamil feels Cube designers need to re-consider including full cycles as they may be too restrictive. 
• Sacred Assault Review—Ertai’s Lament looks at Wizard’s latest attempt to build a successful Aura-based strategy. 

Finance

• Modern Day Miracles (QS$) — Chad Havas shares his acquisition list for the newly announced format.
• An Introduction to Finance—Kelly Reid debuts a new column with some key definitions and his Long Positions list.
• Rules to Spec Buy (SCG$) — Ted Knutson shares seven rules for speculating in the volatile environment of Magic Online.
• Networking—JR Wade provides some perspective on the importance networking with other sharks, dealers, and hungry players.
• Driven to Distraction—Chas Andres skims trading advice from reality shows such as American Pickers.
• MTG Hoarders—Mike Linnemann dissects several card hoarders and finds out what makes them tick.

Theory and Miscellany

• Hall of Fame—It’s that time of year again and writers are weighing in on the ballot and the process itself.  Read thoughts from Sam Stoddad, Sheldon Menery,
• Innovation—Darwin Kastle shares his thoughts on the role of innovation in both limited and constructed.
• How to Lose a Match in Ten Plays—PVD’s “low-ten” list is a good resource to have handy to help you learn from a loss.
• When Ahead, Stay Ahead—Carrie Oliver explains when it’s correct to keep additional creatures off the battlefield.
• The Llanowar Sentinel, Issue 1—Debbie Freeland debuts a satirical column which lampoons everything in the multiverse from the banning of cards to Elspeth’s ego.