Kyle M11 Draft #1

I have done a lot of M11 drafts recently and they have all been disasters.  I end up with these UG decks with no real tempo and just some ok cards.  I usually end up getting smashed in the first or second round to something shitty.  At the end of the last one, I decided that I wasn't going to draft green anymore.  This also leads to not really wanting to draft red, since all my red decks end up green for dudes.  I also really wanted to draft the white aggro deck more.  Anyways, we fired up a draft and this is what happened:

US Nationals Tournament Report!

Featuring a decklist you wouldn’t want to play, and draft strategies
that aren’t advisable.

I am fortunate enough to live in Minneapolis this summer (or unfortunate enough,
depending on how you look at it). So I ended up staying with the vanload Kai mention
in his article, but didn’t have to drive the 10 hours. As it turned out, I had a pretty
successful weekend, grinding into the main event and finishing 18th. Here’s the report.

Mountain, Target You

After Nationals, I felt like Matt's analysis of standard was right on.  Most decks were trying to execute a relatively linear strategy, with at most a set of Mana Leaks to interact with their opponents.  Even the UW decks were focusing on playing big spells, Baneslayers/Jaces.  The best way to abuse this is by playing Primeval Titan, and just combo'ing with Valakut and Avenger of Zendikars.  I picked up this list from Kai, who referenced the friends of his who played it in his earlier Nationals report.  This is the list I played, which domes pretty hard.

Gearing up for Adventure- Kurtis's Nats Report

I didn't grind in to nats this past weekend, but the trip was a lot of fun and I learned some things about the current standard and sealed formats. Read on for stories, decklists, and tales of trying to finish better than Ari Lax at the main event.

Taste Like Crab: Analyzing the Nationals Results

While I may have failed to grind into nationals, being in Minneapolis for the weekend gave me a chance to see how Standard was shaping up at the highest level.

US Nationals Report *Part 1*

So this last weekend the best players in the country showed up to battle at US Nationals. I wasn't qualified, but some of my friends were so I went along for the trip since it seemed like it would be a lot of fun. Besides, I could always grind in. As luck would have it, I won a grinder and had the opportunity to play the main event. I had a great time and hope you will enjoy my recollections.

Rynders Grinders #1

The Rusty Machete would like to introduce Alex Olson, a new writer who will be bringing you in-depth articles covering deck design and analysis, with regular insight into gameplay.

A Pre-Nats Decklist

With nationals just around the corner, I find myself needing to win a grinder to qualify. I'm pretty deep in the tank, but there is a brew, so all hope is not lost! Kai outlined the standard metagame fairly well in his article on this site (aside from U/W, which has been written about a lot on other sites lately anyways). What struck me especially was when he advocated playing a proactive deck, which was something that I'd been thinking about doing lately anyways.

Standard Decks for Nationals

With Nationals this upcoming weekend, there's been a lot of buzz about what the best decks to play are, as well as the "tech" that will give you an edge. I will be going to Nats and attempting to grind in, so here's what I think about the format right now.

Kai Draft #19 (Alara Block NixTix)

It's Alara Block NixTix again! Yay.

Pack 1, Pick 1:

"Frost at Midnight"- MWM Top 8 and Standard Thoughts

Some shenanigans took place this past weekend as four copies of Rite of Replication and four copies of Frost Titan made their way into the Midwest Masters Championship top 8. Join me as I talk a bit about the deck and some interesting situations/mistakes that occurred.

Vintage Rotisserie Draft

Inspired by this article:
http://strategy.channelfireball.com/featured-articles/special-feature-vintage-rotisserie-draft/

We at Rusty Machete have started doing our own Vintage Rotisserie draft.

Follow the action here!

(I got goaded into first pick Life from the Loam.  There are about 15 other cards I would choose above this, but I can work with this.)

Don't be a Bitch

Imagine the following scenario:
You're playing zoo in a legacy grinder for a Grand Prix. In the second round, you open with a Wild Nacatl, and your opponent goes Underground Sea, Thoughtseize you, taking Lavamancer instead of Goyf. The rest of your hand is a bunch of blank removal or burn spells, so you have to make a decision.

What's your turn 2 play? The only creature you can throw out is the goyf, but the fact that your opponent led with an underground sea and took the 1 drop instead of the goyf would seem to indicate he has daze. Should you just pass the turn with no play?

Legacy Weapon - 3 - Getting Wild with Wildfire

Let's start this off with a quick primer:

I was wrong.  I originally said that Inferno Titan wasn't good enough in Legacy, in the sense that if you were going to cheat him into play - he "Doesn't do enough.  Period." as I was talking about in my set review.  However, I didn't realize that if there were a shell to actually cast this guy (and protect him from the standard 1cc white removal of the format) this guy crushes creatures and people incredibly quickly.  Here's where he's castable on turn three:

Kyle M11 Sealed Release Event #2

I wasn't planning on writing up something for this.  The deck was fairly typical, but very good.  The last two rounds changed my mind.  Game 3 of round 3 and game 1 of round 4 very fairly entertaining.  First, here is the sealed pool:

Kai Draft #18 (NixTix LLM)

Last week was Nix Tix Lorwyn Block on MODO, so I naturally drafted a lot of that format. I decided to post one of the more interesting drafts. The deck wasn't the best I had nor the worst, rather the games had the most interesting interactions and decisions. Enjoy!


Pack 1, Pick 1:

GP Columbus Report- Top 64 with Fae (Part Two)

Join me for the conclusion of my report on Grand Prix Columbus, complete with a bonus standard decklist for the Midwest Masters Championship this Saturday!

Kai Draft #17 (8-4)

M11 draft queues are now up on MODO. It's Draft Time!
Pack 1, Pick 1:

Kyle M11 Sealed Release Event #1

With the release of M11 on Mtgo and my newly rekindled desire to game after the GP I couldn't wait to do battle.  Here is the pool from the first M11 (click for a bigger image):

Kai GP Columbus Report *Top 64* Part 1

GP Columbus was my third ever Legacy event, and the first one that wasn't a Get Your Game On Wednesday night event. Given that I knew the format was too complicated for me to learn in the time I had, I was constrained to not play a combo or control deck since I wouldn't be able to pilot it correctly. So I had Gandhi give me a GoyfSligh list, which would catch unwary opponents with their pants down.

GP Columbus Report- Top 64 with Fae (Part One)

GP Columbus was quite the grind, and it was a ton of fun. Battling with faeries, I managed to take down a grinder, make day 2, and then ID the final round into the top 64. Read on for the first part of the full tournament report!

Beep Beep Storming Through

Ari Lax went 9-0 on Day 1 of Grand Prix Columbus with his take on the Ad Nauseum Tendrils archetype. He narrowly missed Top 8 due to a slew of bad matchups on Day 2 as well as some misplays. Join him on his quest to becoming a Level 5 Pro!

Kelley's guide on how to 0-2 drop an M11 sealed event! (MODO)

Well, I decided to do a prerelease sealed event on MODO even though it is negative EV over the release events (check the prize structure and entry fee ratio).  I forgot to save a screenshot of the sealed pool but since it's the only M11 product I have here is what I opened.  Be ready to be amazed at this SICK pool: