Articles

Do you like big creatures? Powerful artifacts? Midrange, Aggro, and control? Do you like to beat face but also win with ridiculous combos that will make your opponents’ jaws drop to the ground? If you answered yes to any or all of those questions, then I sure have the […]

Yisan, the Wanderer Bard EDH Primer

20 Jun, 2019 in Articles / EDH/Commander / Formats tagged Casual / cEDH / Commander / Competitive / Deck Tech / EDH / Green / Stompy by zebotc

Management of your mana resources is incredibly important throughout the game. In Commander, for example, powerful, high mana cost spells are cast back to back. To help with this, players use different types of artifacts that can create mana on the fly. Today, let’s list of some of the best […]

Mana Creation Artifacts

7 Mar, 2018 in Articles / Explanations / MTG Guides tagged Advice / cEDH / Commander / Discussion / EDH / Getting Started / The Game / Tips by

My ability triggered, what now? Does it resolve? Guide to understanding the stack and priority — Last in First out When I first started playing Magic, one of the most confusing concepts to me was the stack. It was mystifying, and it took me quite a while to get a […]

You Want to Respond to That? How the Stack Works

21 Feb, 2018 in Articles / Explanations / Getting Started / MTG Guides / The Game / Uncategorized tagged Advice / Getting Started / Guides / MTG / The Game by zebotc

Happy Lunar New Year everyone! The Chinese Zodiac is a popular part of Chinese Mythology that influences character and story elements in a multitude of games and other forms of entertainment; such as Pokemon, Persona, and Fire Emblem. Magic the gathering also has a slew of cards based off of […]

The Chinese Zodiac in Magic the Gathering

14 Feb, 2018 in Articles / MTG Guides / The Game tagged Advice / Discussion / Guides by

Today we will be covering what is in my opinion, one of the most versatile decks in all of Pauper, . is a creature based deck that focuses on using its namesake enchantment to recycle creatures over and over, making use of enter the battlefield effects and sac effects. This […]

Pauper: Abzan Tortured Existence

7 Feb, 2018 in Articles / Formats / Pauper tagged Abzan / Black / Deck Tech / Green / Pauper / White by Shakunjin

So, you say you want to draw cards, eh? You say you want to draw lots of cards? Good cards? Game winning cards, perhaps? Well, today, I present to you Magic’s latest and greatest in card drawing technology. That of course is, Azami Lady of Scrolls! Drawing cards in Magic […]

EDH: Azami Lady of Scrolls

31 Jan, 2018 in Articles / EDH/Commander / Formats tagged Blue / cEDH / Commander / Competitive / Deck Tech / EDH / Guides by zebotc

To win a game of Magic, you need to delegate your resources, while also maintaining a strong presence on the battlefield. As a player, you need to realize when it is important to cast certain spells to either win the game, or get yourself out of various situations. Due to […]

The Leylines of Magic

24 Jan, 2018 in Articles / Explanations / MTG Guides / The Game tagged Discussion / Guides / The Game by

Today, we will be covering one of my favorite decks in all of Pauper, Blue Black Delver. Blue and Black just seem to work perfectly together in Pauper. Blue is full of great utility like counterspells, bounce, and card draw. But other than bouncing creatures to delay them, blue really […]

Pauper: Dimir Delver Breakdown

17 Jan, 2018 in Articles / Formats / Pauper tagged Aggro / Black / Blue / Deck Tech by Shakunjin

Ever since I started playing Magic years ago, I have always wanted vampires to be a deck. When I first started playing, I fell in love with all of the vampire cards, their arts, their abilities, the flavor of them (I’ve always been a fan of victorian era things). But, […]

Mardu Vampires in Modern? Rivals of Ixalan Spoilers!

8 Jan, 2018 in Articles / Formats / Modern tagged Black / Competitive / Deck Tech / Decks / Guides / Modern / Red / White by zebotc

The Holidays are underway, and who better to invite to your festivities than some of the strongest Magic creatures in the game? The only problem is that their cards have too high of a mana cost for being only a single party guest. So, in order to spread the battlefield […]

A Festival Of Tokens

30 Dec, 2017 in Articles / EDH/Commander / Formats / MTG Guides tagged Aggro / Commander / Discussion / EDH / Guides by

Finally, after about a year of waiting, I am covering a deck that I’ve been meaning to go over for a long time. You may be wondering why this has taken so long… Well um, I kinda forgot about it and moved on to something else (Probably because this deck doesn’t […]

Pauper: Mono-Black Control Breakdown

20 Dec, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Pauper tagged Black / Control / Deck Tech / Decks / Guides / MTG / MTGO / Pauper / Wizards of The Coast by Shakunjin

Magic can be an incredibly intricate and complex game to learn and play. While its basic rules are not too hard to understand, there are a lot of underlying strategies that are not always outwardly apparent to everyone. I know for myself, I definitely didn’t understand a lot of the […]

Advanced Magic: The Gathering Strategy – How to Be a ...

13 Dec, 2017 in Articles / Getting Started / MTG Guides / The Game tagged Advice / Competitive / Discussion / Guides / The Game by zebotc

Being able to add cards to your hand is almost always a useful ability, especially in games where you end up using all of your resources in one fell swoop. Having a large amount of cards in your hand can completely change the tide of a game. So cards that […]

Best Draw Cards in MTG

6 Dec, 2017 in Articles / Explanations / Getting Started / MTG Guides tagged Advice / Casual / cEDH / Commander / Competitive / Discussion / Guides / The Game / Tips by

The Deck Today we return to Pauper with one of the hottest decks in the format (pun intended), Izzet Blitz. Izzet Blitz is a fast paced combo deck, that relies on stringing together many cheap or free spells to do loads of burst damage. For that reason, it plays similarly […]

Pauper: Izzet Blitz Breakdown

29 Nov, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Pauper tagged Aggro / Blue / Deck Tech / Pauper / Red by Shakunjin

Dredge is a strategy that many players turn their noses up at. It has quite the reputation for being a degenerate, undervalued deck. However, in spite of popular belief, it can actually be a very fun, competitive, and complex deck to play. It is the ultimate graveyard deck in Magic. […]

Vintage Dredge

22 Nov, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Vintage tagged Black / Blue / Competitive / Deck Tech / Green / Red / White by zebotc

Nissa is one of the most popular green Planeswalkers in Magic the Gathering. She has a total of eight different cards, seven of which are mono green. Her abilities revolve a lot around untapping and reusing lands, restoring her controller’s life total, and providing reliable card advantage. So, without any […]

Planeswalkers: Nissa

15 Nov, 2017 in Articles / Explanations / MTG Guides tagged Advice / Discussion / Green / Guides / Life Gain by

Delver decks have transcended almost every format in Magic. They’re played in Modern, Legacy, and even Pauper. Just recently they have made waves by reaching their sly grip onto the Vintage format. While not as popular as the Legacy counterpart, Vintage Delver is definitely a powerful list that anyone who […]

Vintage UR Aggro

1 Nov, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Vintage tagged Aggro / Blue / Deck Tech / Red / Vintage by zebotc

There are a multitude of different ways to win in Magic the Gathering. You can mill your opponent, slowly burn their life away, or just swing a bunch of creatures in their face. Unlike these methods, gaining a tremendous amount of life in order to stall out your opponent doesn’t […]

Pros and Cons of Life Gain Decks in Magic

26 Oct, 2017 in Articles / Explanations / MTG Guides / The Game tagged Advice / Discussion / Getting Started / Guides / Life Gain by

Today we will be taking a closer look at one of my favorite formats in Magic: Vintage. For this special occasion, I will be going over the deck I play the most, Tezzerator. Tezzerator is an artifact focused combo deck, but don’t confuse it with the one trick pony combo […]

Vintage Tezzerator Breakdown

18 Oct, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Vintage tagged Black / Blue / Competitive / Deck Tech / Decks / Guides / Red / Vintage by Shakunjin

Legacy has traditionally been dominated by counter wars and combos throughout its history. However many decks in the format often utilize a few choice removal spells. From Death and Taxes to Delver, removal spells have stamped their spot permanently into Legacy’s meta. Commonly used spells range from general run of […]

Best Legacy Removal Spells

11 Oct, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Legacy / MTG Guides tagged Advice / Discussion / Guides / Legacy by zebotc

Lands are the cards that drive the basic mechanics in Magic. They’re required to produce mana in order to cast spells. Without them, it would become very difficult to play the game. While certain artifacts and creatures can do this as well, those cards generally need mana to be played […]

Most Effective Land Destruction in Magic

5 Oct, 2017 in Articles / Explanations / MTG Guides tagged Advice / Casual / cEDH / Deck Tech / Discussion / MTG by

It was my first tournament and I had just started getting my feet wet in the Legacy format. I was so excited to finally be playing a match with my pet deck: Death and Taxes. This was back in the CB-Top days, and of course my opponent was playing a classic […]

Containment Priest Does Not Stop Tokens… and Other MTG Misconceptions

29 Sep, 2017 in Articles / MTG Guides / The Game tagged Casual / Competitive / Discussion / Getting Started / Guides / Tips by zebotc

Today we are going to take a look at the various Narset lists that can be run in EDH. Narset has been a pet deck of mine for a while, and after playing it for quite some time I’ve found a whole bunch of really fun strategies that can be […]

EDH Narset Deck

1 Sep, 2017 in Articles / Decks / EDH/Commander / Formats tagged Casual / cEDH / Commander / Competitive / Deck Tech / EDH by zebotc

The card we’ve picked for September’s Card of the Month is Xira Arien Xira Arien is one of the most fashionable cards in all of magic, she has an assortment of different apparel that causes even royalty to become green with envy. However, fashion isn’t the only thing that Xira […]

Card of the Month: Xira Arien

29 Aug, 2017 in Articles tagged Discussion by

Choosing a commander for the EDH format can be as simple as making a sandwich, or as complex as quantum physics. Depending on the person, picking what commander to forge a deck around can take from a couple of minutes to an entire day. Some people just stumble across what […]

EDH: The Pros and Cons of Playing a Mono-Color Commander

21 Aug, 2017 in Articles / EDH/Commander / Formats tagged Commander / Discussion / EDH by LooseWire

The Praetors of New Phyrexia have to be one of my favorite groups of creatures in Magic the Gathering. Their creepy yet sleek designs match New Phyrexia perfectly as a whole. Most of the Praetors come with powerful abilities that can turn the tide of battle, if a player uses […]

The Praetors of New Phyrexia

14 Aug, 2017 in Articles tagged Casual / Discussion by

Something often discussed in EDH is the notion of playing competitively VS casually. While that does play a roll into adapting your deck for a play group, we are not going to extensively discuss that idea in this article, if you want to read more about that, please check out […]

Let’s Discuss EDH: Adapting Your Deck For Your Playgroup

11 Aug, 2017 in Articles / EDH/Commander / Formats / MTG Guides / The Game tagged Advice / Casual / cEDH / Commander / Competitive / Discussion / EDH by zebotc

Throughout the history of Magic the Gathering, there have been multiple creatures that use fire as a means to defeat and destroy opponents. From flaming magic to bodies made out of pure fire, many characters in Magic have powerful fire-based abilities. Today, we’ll be looking at the most fiery females in the game. We’ve gone […]

The Top 5 ‘Hottest’ Women In Magic

7 Aug, 2017 in Articles tagged MTG / Red / The Game by

There is another world nestled beneath the crashing waves of the sea, which is much like our own. It exists beyond the reaches of the ocean’s deepest trenches, concealed by powerful currents and dangerous riptides. This world is the home of the Merfolk. Merfolk have come to call almost every ocean […]

Sylvan Stories: Merfolk

4 Aug, 2017 in Articles / Sylvan Stories tagged Blue by zebotc

The recent release of Hour of Devastation is changing formats across the board. One of my favorite formats to consider when a new set comes out is Commander. In this article I will be going over the top ten cards in Hour of Devastation that I think are going to […]

Top 10 EDH Cards: Hour of Devastation

2 Aug, 2017 in Articles / EDH/Commander / Formats tagged cEDH / Commander / Competitive / Discussion / EDH by Shakunjin

Last week, we took a look at the monuments of Amonkhet and how they supported their specific colors. Today, we’ll be checking out their god counterparts and how they work as commanders in the EDH format. Unlike the monuments, the five monocolor gods of Amonkhet require specific conditions in order for them to […]

The Gods of Amonkhet

31 Jul, 2017 in Articles / EDH/Commander / Formats tagged Black / Blue / Commander / Discussion / EDH / Green / Red / White by

Modern is a format that is always fluctuating. Throughout its short history, the number of decks that have called themselves number one have been numerous. Such decks have included: Jund, Splintertwin, Delver, and now Death Shadow’s Aggro. While the very top decks in Modern fluctuate often, there are a few decks […]

Modern Death and Taxes

28 Jul, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Modern tagged Competitive / Deck Tech / Modern / White by zebotc

With the release of the Amonkhet block, a lot of cards were added to Magic the Gathering. Most of the cards from Amonkhet look gorgeous, whether they are new cards or reprints of old cards. You can tell that the artists put their hearts into designing this set. The creators even came up […]

The Monuments of Amonkhet

24 Jul, 2017 in Articles / EDH/Commander / Formats tagged Casual / cEDH / Commander / Competitive / Discussion by

The gears of the factory crackled to life, ringing through the land with every click of their teeth. Doing their eternal work to fuel the manifestation of scientist’s and engineer’s greatest dreams. Among the chaotic and disorganized construction of the factories lay an elegant system which controlled the foundation of every new […]

Sylvan Stories: UrzaTron

21 Jul, 2017 in Articles / Sylvan Stories tagged Blue / Decks / Modern by zebotc

With Hour of Devastation’s very recent release, I can think of no better time to take a look at how I think it is going to affect my favorite format, Pauper. Since I’ve already talked many times of the pros and cons of Pauper, I’ll forgo it this time so […]

Top 5 Pauper Cards: Hour of Devastation

19 Jul, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Pauper tagged Discussion / Formats / Pauper by Shakunjin

Liliana Vess is a planeswalker in Magic the Gathering who specializes in causing opponents to: discard cards, create zombies, and destroy other creatures. From her humble story driven abilities as a legendary creature in Magic Origins; Liliana has a total of seven different planeswalker cards that are based on her, all of […]

Planeswalkers: Liliana Vess

17 Jul, 2017 in Articles tagged Black / Discussion by

The Amonkhet block has brought with it a lot of very unique creatures and mechanics. Not only have there been powerful Modern cards in the forms of and , but there have also been some very powerful Legendary creatures released. While some of these creatures may never see play in […]

Top Commanders from the Amonkhet Block

14 Jul, 2017 in Articles / EDH/Commander / Formats tagged Casual / cEDH / Commander / Competitive / Discussion / EDH by zebotc

The newest Archenemy set has been out for a little under a month now, and you might be wondering to yourself, is it worth trying? Well in this article we will be going over the pros and cons of Archenemy: Nicol Bolas, so you can make the decision for yourself. […]

Know Your Enemy 2: Archenemy: Nicol Bolas Review

12 Jul, 2017 in Articles / Formats tagged Discussion by Shakunjin

Mana is the core component of Magic, as it allows players to cast spells and basically play the game. Sometimes, players have difficulties rounding up enough mana to play spells with high mana costs; such as and . But infinite mana combos can be an easy solution to casting these high […]

Infinite Mana Combos

10 Jul, 2017 in Articles / EDH/Commander / Formats / The Game tagged Casual / Competitive / Discussion by

“One piece? Now there’s a hundred!” – Scavenger Folk I couldn’t have said it better myself. Scavenger Folk, in all his gritty artifact shattering glory, elegantly sums up the past couple months here at Sylvan Studies. We started with only one idea. We had zero followers, zero posts, and no readers, but […]

Sylvan Stories: Sylvan Studies – One Hundred Follower Special

7 Jul, 2017 in Articles / Sylvan Stories tagged Discussion by zebotc

With the release of Commander 2017 only two months away, now seems like a good time to speculate on what exactly is going to be included in this product. Like always these will be one hundred card decks with new cards made specifically for the Commander format, this time with a […]

Top 5 Tribes for Commander 2017

5 Jul, 2017 in Articles / EDH/Commander / Formats tagged EDH / Speculation by Shakunjin

The card we’ve picked for July’s Card of the Month is Mikaeus, the Unhallowed. Mikaeus, the Unhallowed is a card I have very little experience playing with, but loads of experience playing against. One of the players in our playgroup only ever brings Mikaeus, and even though they are still pretty new […]

Card of the Month: Mikaeus, the Unhallowed

2 Jul, 2017 in Articles / Card of The Month by Shakunjin

All follow a path in life, some decide to follow a path filled with fire and light, others decide to revel in arcane arts so secretive that the most exuberant of individuals would dare not speak their names. While some yet choose to follow a different path. The path of the […]

Sylvan Stories: Dredge

30 Jun, 2017 in Articles / Sylvan Stories tagged Black / Blue / Decks / Green / Legacy / Modern / Red / White by zebotc

In this article we will once again be looking into the Pauper format. This time we will be looking at one of my favorite tribes in all of magic, Slivers. In a way, Slivers are one of the best tribes in Magic, due to their unique effect where every sliver […]

Pauper WG Slivers

28 Jun, 2017 in Articles / Decks / Formats / Pauper tagged Green / Pauper / White by Shakunjin

Tribal Terrors is a series that analyzes different creature types in order to determine whether the creature type and its respective tribe is playable. In this series we will not be exploring popular tribes such as Merfolk and Goblins, but instead lesser known tribes. At the end of the article, ideas […]

Tribal Terrors: Moonfolk

27 Jun, 2017 in Articles / MTG Guides / The Game by

A/N: Tribal Terrors will be analyzing different creature types in order to determine whether the creature type and its respective tribe is playable. In this series we will not be exploring more known tribes such as: merfolk and goblins, but will be looking into the less supported tribes and seeing […]

Tribal Terrors: Foxes

19 Jun, 2017 in Articles / The Game tagged Aggro / Brews / Casual / Commander / Decks / Discussion / EDH / White by

The Fae of the realm harness a subtle but powerful magic that mystifies and terrifies all who have had the privilege to witness it. Some of these people who witness the Fae’s magic grow a certain appreciation for it and they continue on to become masters of the Fae. They […]

Sylvan Stories: Life of a Faerie Summoner

16 Jun, 2017 in Articles / Sylvan Stories tagged Black / Blue / Modern by zebotc

The Legacy format brings with it many options for deck building. It has the potential to be one of the most diverse tournament formats that exists. One archetype that is commonly played in the format is Reanimator. While there are many traditional Reanimator lists out there, today we are going […]

Legacy Tin Fins

12 Jun, 2017 in Articles / Decks / Formats / Legacy tagged Black / Blue / Decks / Legacy / Storm / White by zebotc

The card we’ve picked for June’s Card of the Month is Cut // Ribbons has to be one of the best examples of the new aftermath cards. Cut is great in the early to mid game (as it will easily kill many threats you will be facing early on) and Ribbons is […]

Card of the Month: Cut // Ribbons

11 Jun, 2017 in Articles / Card of The Month by Shakunjin

A large group of druids, mystics, and magic users congregated around a sacred elm tree. Today was an important day, it was the day the fighting would finally cease after centuries of bloodshed. Today was the day children could walk outside and not have to worry about getting attacked by […]

Sylvan Stories: Oath of Druids

9 Jun, 2017 in Articles / Sylvan Stories tagged Black / Blue / Decks / Green / Red / Vintage by zebotc

With the recent banning of in Legacy, many players were troubled that there would be no more hard control decks in the format. Some even gave up hope entirely that Legacy would fix itself. However there is now a new deck on the forefront of Legacy’s new meta game that is […]

Legacy UW(x) Control Deck Spotlight

5 Jun, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Legacy / News tagged Blue / Casual / cEDH / Competitive / Deck Tech / Decks / Discussion / Legacy / Red / Speculation / White by zebotc

The land is full of untapped potential, beneath its soil churn heaps of wealth and power only the most powerful and experienced of mages can withstand. Upon its surface lay in wait great titans more ancient than the mountains themselves. Scouring vast forests of undergrowth they protect their territories from all […]

Sylvan Stories: An Explorer’s Guide to RG Scapeshift

2 Jun, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Modern / Sylvan Stories / The Game tagged Discussion / Green / Modern / Red / The Game by zebotc

Throughout my time deck building and brewing for commander I’ve found one specific aspect of building decks for the format to be incredibly important. And thus I present my concept of: Consistency within Inconsistency Now this phrase alone probably doesn’t mean much to you. You’re probably wondering, “What in the […]

EDH: Consistency Within Inconsistency

29 May, 2017 in Articles / EDH/Commander / Formats / The Game tagged Advice / Casual / cEDH / Commander / Competitive / Discussion / EDH by zebotc

A/N: This article encompasses a variety of strategies from Affinity, to MUD. Basically if your deck is mostly artifacts this one is about your deck. Carefully placed gears crackle to life, imbued with a subtly powerful magic that has been meticulously engineered for hundreds of years. Refined and polished, an army […]

Sylvan Stories: Artifact Aggro

26 May, 2017 in Articles / Sylvan Stories tagged Decks / Formats / Legacy / Modern by zebotc

In this series of articles we will be going over the various rules of Magic: the Gathering, in an attempt to both, teach new players the game, and help keep existing players up to date on possible rule changes. In these first few articles we will be going over the […]

Sylvan Tutor: Basic Rules

24 May, 2017 in Articles / Getting Started / MTG Guides tagged Discussion / Getting Started / Guides / MTG / The Game / Wizards / Wizards of The Coast by Shakunjin

Elves have been a strategy in Magic for almost as long as the game has existed. They have been supported heavily throughout all of Magic’s history, so it is no surprise that it is entirely possible to make an EDH deck that revolves around them. While there are many commanders […]

EDH: Ezuri Elves Tribal

22 May, 2017 in Articles / EDH/Commander / Formats tagged Casual / cEDH / Commander / Competitive / Deck Tech / Decks / EDH / Green by zebotc

A subtle breeze tugged at Narset’s hair as she sat atop the branch of an ancient gnarled pine which overlooked a high mountain cliff. She had come to the west monastery to better understand herself and the world, but she couldn’t quite yet get a handle on everything. Every time […]

Sylvan Stories: EDH Narset

19 May, 2017 in Articles / Sylvan Stories tagged Blue / cEDH / Commander / EDH / Red / White by zebotc

In this series of articles we will be going over the various rules of Magic: the Gathering, in an attempt to both, teach new players the game, and help keep existing players up to date on possible rule changes. In these first few articles we will be going over the […]

Sylvan Tutor: How Read Cards

17 May, 2017 in Articles / Getting Started / MTG Guides / The Game tagged Advice / Discussion / Getting Started / Guides / Rules by Shakunjin

A very important but often overlooked aspect to playing Magic is when to switch between playing as the control deck or the aggro deck. Often times players get stuck in the habit of playing one way or the other, often going through countless numbers of games playing one way when […]

Switching Roles: When Do You Play as the Control Deck ...

15 May, 2017 in Articles / MTG Guides / The Game tagged Advice / Aggro / Discussion / Guides / The Game by zebotc

Those mysterious lanterns illuminate paths both good and evil. – An Unknown Village Elder The heavily warded lands of the lanterns must be avoided at all costs, unless of course you want to loose your mind… That’s all that the girl could remember as she continued to walk down a […]

Sylvan Stories: Lantern Control

12 May, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Modern / Sylvan Stories / The Game tagged Decks / The Game by zebotc

Today, we take another look at my favorite format, Pauper. Due to its vast card pool and affordability Pauper is a great deck for brewers, and while that is a great thing for most people, others enjoy playing the top decks, or maybe they just need a place to get […]

Pauper Stompy

10 May, 2017 in Decks / Pauper / Uncategorized tagged Aggro / Brews / Competitive / Deck Tech / Decks / Green / MTG / MTGO / Pauper / Peasant / Stompy / Wizards of The Coast by Shakunjin

Every format has its share of top decks – Legacy had Miracles, Modern had Jund (and currently Death’s Shadow Aggro), and for the moment Standard has Mardu Vehicles. But are these top decks truly the best and most optimized decks that could be played in said format? Just because public […]

Are “Top Tier” Decks Truly The Best?

8 May, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Legacy / Modern / Standard / The Game tagged Advice / Competitive / Discussion / Formats / Legacy / Modern / Standard / The Game by zebotc

The card we’ve picked as May’s Card of the Month is . Harsh Mentor, which was just recently released in Amonkhet, has already been discussed very substantially by people playing all formats. Not only is this card being discussed for Standard, but it has been explored in both Modern and Legacy. While […]

Card of the Month: Harsh Mentor

8 May, 2017 in Card of The Month / Uncategorized by zebotc

Disturbingly eerie noises always emanated from the “research lab” (as it was unofficially titled by its owners) next store. Moans and groans would permeate the night, disturbing the subtle serenity of the small town it resided in. Joseph, the leader of the town’s investigation committee – which lay right next […]

Sylvan Stories: Delver

5 May, 2017 in Articles / Sylvan Stories tagged Black / Blue / Decks / Formats / Red / The Game by zebotc

Originally I was going to write an article about how the Legacy meta game might turn out in light of the recent banning of Top. However because everyone else has already discussed that to the point of redundancy, I’ve decided to write specifically about Miracles and what happens to the […]

Legacy: So What Now for Miracles Decks?

1 May, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Legacy / News / The Game tagged Blue / Competitive / Deck Tech / Decks / Discussion / Formats / Legacy / Red / Rumors / Speculation / The Game by zebotc

Breaking News: Disastrous Show and Tell day at Tolarian Elementary School The recent show and tell day at Tolarian Elementary school was anything but normal. Which is to be expected from a school that teaches magic. But this time it ended with absolutely disastrous results. Half of the building is now missing, […]

Sylvan Stories: Show and Tell

28 Apr, 2017 in Articles / Sylvan Stories tagged Formats / Legacy / The Game by zebotc

With Pauper’s popularity exploding across the community, many stores have started holding paper events. Although paper Pauper events are not yet supported by WotC, that hasn’t stopped my store from holding their own events! So in preparation for this, I will be sharing with all of you my favorite deck […]

Pauper B/G Dredge

26 Apr, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Pauper / The Game tagged Black / Decks / Formats / Green / Pauper / The Game by Shakunjin

While it is too early to tell for certain which cards from Magic’s newest set, Amonkhet, will be seeing play in eternal formats, there are definitely some very powerful contenders. Some of which have a very high potential to make entirely new strategies in various formats possibly altering entire meta […]

Amonkhet’s Impact on Eternal Formats

24 Apr, 2017 in Articles / EDH/Commander / Formats / Legacy / Modern / News / Pauper / The Game tagged Advice / cEDH / Commander / Competitive / Decks / Discussion / EDH / Formats / Legacy / Modern / Speculation / Spoilers by zebotc

Just as the forests twist and turn in mazes of bramble and earth, the elves lay ever vigilante, living in absolute harmony with their surroundings. They move about the gnarled canopies and enchanting earths of the grand forests they reside in, and expertly dispel any form of attack on their […]

Sylvan Stories: Elves

21 Apr, 2017 in Articles / Decks / Formats / Legacy / Modern / Sylvan Stories tagged Black / Decks / Formats / Green / Legacy / Modern / The Game by zebotc

Anyone who has played Magic has seen the power of artifacts. These colorless spells have been around since the release of Alpha, and even then, they were extremely powerful. From these small (but by no means humble) beginnings, artifacts have turned into one of Magic’s most notorious spell types. Morridon […]

“Fighting The Machine”: A Commentary on Artifacts in EDH

19 Apr, 2017 in Articles / EDH/Commander / Formats / The Game tagged cEDH / Commander / Discussion / EDH / Guides by LooseWire

Today fellow readers, we will be looking at a themed deck. What do I mean by a themed deck you may be wondering? Well a themed deck is a deck that fits some type of niche and follows a general big idea or topic. For example merfolk tribal could be considered a […]

Easter Eggs

17 Apr, 2017 in Articles / Brews / Formats / Modern / The Game tagged Casual / Deck Tech / Decks / Discussion / Modern by Shakunjin

I still remember the very first time I was shown the true potential of magic. It was long ago, when I was a young lad at the academy. Our professor – Professor Comberdale I believe it was – began lecturing us on where our true magic’s might comes from, and […]

Sylvan Stories: Storm

14 Apr, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Legacy / Modern / Sylvan Stories / The Game tagged Legacy / Modern / Storm / The Game by zebotc

One of the first things you must ask yourself before constructing a deck is what color(s) to play. With many color combinations available, it’s hard to know where to start. This article is one of a five part series that will take a closer look at the strengths and weaknesses […]

The Colors of Magic – Blue

12 Apr, 2017 in Articles / Getting Started / MTG Guides / The Game / Uncategorized tagged Blue / Discussion / The Game / Tips by Shakunjin

Whether you are playing a standard sized sixty card deck, a one hundred card commander deck, or a forty card draft deck, there is one thing that plagues us all, consistency. Whether you are looking for anything from your next land drop to the final piece of your combo, there is always the […]

The Power of Tutors

10 Apr, 2017 in Articles / Explanations / Getting Started / MTG Guides / The Game tagged Advice / Black / Blue / Commander / Discussion / EDH / Green / Highlander / Legacy / Pauper / Red / White / Wizards of The Coast by Shakunjin

A/N: Because of the nature of this post, the Sylvan Studies team must stress that this is a fictional work. Nothing in this article represents true events in any way. This story is a bit darker than our other Sylvan Stories, so if you’re a bit squeamish, we suggest checking out a […]

Sylvan Stories: Reanimator

7 Apr, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Sylvan Stories / The Game tagged Discussion / Legacy / Stompy by zebotc

Recently, I’ve started experimenting with different EDH decks. At first, I had a , Elf-based combo deck, but this deck quickly became boring, and felt underpowered to the group I was playing with. So I began searching for a new deck to play. After trying several different brews, I came up with the idea […]

EDH: Best Equipment to Run

5 Apr, 2017 in Articles / EDH/Commander / Formats / The Game tagged Advice / Casual / cEDH / Commander / Competitive / Discussion / Formats / Guides by LooseWire

The card we’ve picked as April’s Card of the Month is . We’re sure by now that people are getting tired of our obsession with this weird card from (this is be the third time we’ve talked about it), but rest assured – this is the last time we’ll talk about for a while. Hopefully. So […]

Card of the Month: Burning-Tree Emissary

4 Apr, 2017 in Articles / Card of The Month by Shakunjin

One of the first things you should ask yourself before constructing a deck is what color(s) to play. With so many different color combinations and possible strategies, it’s hard to know where to start. This article is one of a five-part series that’ll take a closer look at the strengths and […]

The Colors of Magic – Black

3 Apr, 2017 in Articles / Getting Started / MTG Guides / The Game / Uncategorized tagged Discussion / Green / Guides / The Game by Shakunjin

Mikea could feel the dismal power surging through him. The infection was spreading through his entire being: clogging his thoughts, stealing his dreams, destroying his hopes. The Invader’s infection spread ever on, just as it had through his homeland, his village, his family – all of it. Now he, too, would become one of […]

Sylvan Stories: Infect

31 Mar, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Legacy / Modern / Sylvan Stories tagged Discussion / Formats / Legacy / Modern / The Game by zebotc

With both the physical and digital release of now behind us, the Pauper format has been revived with a myriad of new toys to play with. There is one, however, that we believe has the best chance of having a great impact on the format: . So what makes this card […]

Burning-Tree Emissary in Pauper

29 Mar, 2017 in Articles / Decks / Formats / Pauper / The Game tagged Brews / Deck Tech / Decks / Discussion / Formats / Green / Pauper / Red by Shakunjin

As Magic has grown in popularity, so have the prices of sought-after cards. Cards such as and have reached obscene levels and moved into triple digits. The Fetchlands, which are integral to almost every strategy in Eternal and heavily used in Frontier, are also slowly rising in price. Wizards has […]

Fixing the Reprint Issue?

27 Mar, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Legacy / Modern / The Game tagged Discussion / Formats / Legacy / Modern / Wizards / Wizards of The Coast by zebotc

The Eldrazi move across the land like an unending sea, sweeping up all who move in their wake, assimilating all who defy them, while attempting to preserve their ever imposing position. Be warned fellow traveler – these extra planar beings are not to be trifled with, not to be taken lightly, […]

Sylvan Stories: Field Guide to Eldrazi

24 Mar, 2017 in Articles / Sylvan Stories / The Game tagged Discussion / Guides / Legacy / Modern / The Game by zebotc

While much of the MTG community is looking forward to Modern Masters 2017’s expensive reprints and new artwork, another group of players is getting all new cards to play with. You may be asking yourself, how can this be true if all the cards in this set are reprints? The […]

Modern Masters 2017’s Affect on Pauper

22 Mar, 2017 in Articles / Formats / News / Pauper / The Game tagged Formats / News / Pauper / The Game by Shakunjin

The first cards and mechanics from Amonkhet have already begun trickling out of research and design. While it’s not one hundred percent confirmed as real, the new Dusk // Dawn card is quite interesting, having caused quite a stir within the community. Whether you like it or hate its aesthetic design, the mechanics of this […]

Dusk // Dawn – New Amonkhet Card Spoiled?

20 Mar, 2017 in Articles / EDH/Commander / Formats / News / Standard tagged Commander / Discussion / Rumors / Speculation / Spoilers / Standard by zebotc

Here is a simple question, which card is better? or The choice here is quite obvious. But why? In Magic, there are many reasons why one card is better then another. In this series, we will discuss the concepts of efficiency and value in Magic: The Gathering. Cost is something […]

Value in Magic (Part One): Efficiency

17 Mar, 2017 in Articles / Getting Started / MTG Guides / The Game tagged Advice / Discussion / Getting Started / The Game by LooseWire

If you’re a long time player of Magic, you may already know about many of Magic’s unique formats. However, for many new players, there may be some confusion about the differences between them. Why is there a Legacy and a Vintage? What is the difference besteem EDH and Highlander? Below you will find […]

Guide to the Formats

13 Mar, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Getting Started / MTG Guides / The Formats / The Game tagged EDH / Formats / Frontier / Getting Started / Guides / Highlander / Legacy / Modern / Pauper / Peasant / Standard / Vintage by zebotc

The market streets were buzzing about with their typical day to day activities. Merchants shown their finest of materials, and tourists wandered about in bustling squares brimming with opportunity. Far off into a small corner of the activity, hidden away and forgotten by the excitement of the crowd, there lay […]

Sylvan Stories: Legacy Miracles

10 Mar, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Legacy / Stories / Sylvan Stories / The Game tagged Blue / Decks / Legacy / The Game by zebotc

One of the first things you must ask yourself before constructing a deck is what color(s) to play. With many different color combinations and possible strategies, it’s hard to know where to start. This article is one of a five-part series that will take a closer look at the strengths […]

The Colors of Magic – Green

8 Mar, 2017 in Articles / MTG Guides tagged Discussion / Green / Guides / The Game by Shakunjin

The card we have picked to be the card of the month for March 2017 is Dryad Arbor. A very weird card, it’s a creature, a land, a 1/1, and has a cmc of 0. This oddity was first printed in Future Sight and has fascinated and confused players ever since. […]

Card of The Month: Dryad Arbor

7 Mar, 2017 in Articles / Card of The Month / Uncategorized tagged Legacy / Modern / The Game by LooseWire

The reserved list has been a hot topic within the community for a long time, stirring up vast amounts of controversy throughout Magic’s history. The question everyone asks is: should it be abolished? Obviously, it has caused great deals of problems among newer players, making it almost impossible for the […]

Why Wizards Can’t Just Get Rid of the Reserved List

6 Mar, 2017 in Articles / Explanations / MTG Guides / The Game tagged Advice / Discussion / Guides / News / Speculation / Wizards / Wizards of The Coast by zebotc

One of the first things you must ask yourself before constructing a deck is what color to play. With many combinations and possible strategies, it’s hard to know where to start. This article is one of a five-part series that will take a closer look at the strengths and weaknesses […]

The Colors of Magic – Red

3 Mar, 2017 in Articles / Explanations / MTG Guides / The Game tagged Discussion / Getting Started / Red / The Game by Shakunjin

With the long-awaited return of Archenemy format coming this June, players are bound to have many questions. This article will tell you what to expect from this product and how to setup a game of the insanely fun multiplayer format that is Archenemy. The first question you are probably asking […]

Know Your Enemy – An Overview of the Archenemy Format

1 Mar, 2017 in Articles / MTG Guides / News tagged Casual / Discussion / Formats / Guides / News / The Game by Shakunjin

Countless strategies exist for Magic’s popular Commander format. While many players start out with the preconstructed decks or the most popularly-used generals, there are so many other strategies out there, just waiting to be discovered. So today, we are going to be exploring some underrated generals that are all solid […]

Underrated EDH Generals

27 Feb, 2017 in Articles / Decks / EDH/Commander / Formats tagged Black / Blue / Casual / cEDH / Commander / Competitive / Decks / Discussion / EDH / Green / Red / White by zebotc

You find yourself unknowingly walking through a mysterious forest. Surrounded on all sides by thick foliage, you see a glimmer of light and a large town in the distance. Not knowing how you arrived in this strange place and seeing no other escape, you approach the distant town. As you […]

Sylvan Stories: Modern Junk

25 Feb, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Modern / Stories / Sylvan Stories / The Game tagged Abzan / Black / Decks / Green / Modern / White by zebotc

One of the first things you must ask yourself before constructing a deck is what color(s) to play. With many different color combinations and possible strategies, it’s hard to know where to start. This article is one of a five-part series that will take a closer look at the strengths […]

The Colors of Magic – White

24 Feb, 2017 in Articles / Getting Started / MTG Guides / The Game / Uncategorized tagged Discussion / Guides / The Game / White by Shakunjin

As you may or may not know, some people say that the decks I play are “unfair” or “overpowered” – or even go so far as to say, “I’m not your friend anymore.” So let me list off my current decks… Modern: Bogles (it’s not my fault you can’t interact […]

Crashing the Party: Story of an MTG Player

22 Feb, 2017 in Articles / Stories / Uncategorized tagged Advice by LooseWire

Miracles has always been a pivotal deck in Legacy since its creation back in 2008. The deck has held a very prominent position throughout its history, enjoying a meta share of over 10% for most of the time it’s been played. Due to its high success rate, many players have called […]

Legacy: The Importance of Control Decks

20 Feb, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Legacy / The Game tagged Advice / Discussion / Legacy / Speculation by zebotc

From the red splattered plains of Tarkir to the grand bustling ports of Rishada, a horde has ravaged the planes. A finely tuned rickety machine, squabbling about in the mud of its undisputed prowess. Held at the helm by grand chieftains and hero’s of battle, the ever impending goblin agenda lies in […]

Sylvan Stories: Goblins

19 Feb, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Legacy / Modern / Stories / Sylvan Stories / The Game tagged Decks / Discussion / Legacy / Modern / Red by zebotc

Decks in Legacy always have a specific goal. Some want to chain together spells, others want to bring back gigantic demons from the dead, while others want to make sure that their opponents can’t have fun. This deck fits into several categories. It disrupts the playstyle of our opponent, aggressively attacks, creates […]

Legacy: Sylvan Stompy

17 Feb, 2017 in Articles / Decks / Formats / Legacy tagged Aggro / Brews / Competitive / Deck Tech / Decks / Green / Legacy / MTG / Stompy by LooseWire

Pro Tour Dublin has recently come to a close and one deck really seems to have shined, Mardu Vehicles. The prevalence of this deck in the Pro Tour has caused a lot of stir in the Standard community. Although it is by no means unbeatable (having many unfavorable matchups) that […]

Standard Mardu Vehicles

15 Feb, 2017 in Articles / Decks / Formats / News / Standard / Uncategorized tagged Competitive / Deck Tech / Decks / Standard by Shakunjin