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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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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. Unlike other Tribal Terrors articles, this specific […]

Tribal Terrors: Kirin

3 Jul, 2017 in Uncategorized tagged Black / Blue / Brews / Discussion / Green / Red / White 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

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

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

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

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

EDH is a format full of variation and personalization. Just think of all the choices you have to make when you’re creating a deck. What strategy do you want to play? What colors do you want to be in? And the most infamous of all: what commander should you use? For many […]

“And I’ll Form the Head!”: An Overview of Voltron

3 May, 2017 in EDH/Commander / Explanations / Uncategorized tagged Advice / cEDH / Commander / Competitive / Decks / Discussion / EDH / Getting Started / The Game / Tiny Leaders / Wizards / Wizards of The Coast by Shakunjin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 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

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

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

Magic the Gathering has a very deep and intricate lore that has influenced design choices and set themes for years. However the most fundamental aspects of Magic’s lore are the color cycles. White, Blue, Red, Black, and Green all have their own unique characteristics and takes on the world. While […]

Quick Look at Magic The Gathering Color Lore

13 Feb, 2017 in Articles / Explanations / MTG Guides / The Game tagged Advice / Black / Discussion / Green / Guides / Red / The Game / White by zebotc

With the recent full release of the Kaladesh block many aspects of various Standard decks have been significantly affected, and even some new increasingly powerful strategies have cropped up, such as Saheeli Combo. But how has this block begun to alter the eternal scene? What cards in it can we […]

Kaladesh Block Charging Into Eternal Formats

10 Feb, 2017 in Articles / EDH/Commander / Formats / Legacy / Modern / The Game tagged Advice / Casual / Competitive / Discussion / Frontier / Legacy / Modern / News / Speculation by zebotc

With the release of Modern Masters 2017 on the horizon, there is much speculation about what should be in the set. With card prices rising, and a slim chance of many of these cards being reprinted in a legal Standard set, Modern Masters may be our only hope to help the affordability […]

Top Eight Cards for Modern Masters 2017

8 Feb, 2017 in Articles / Formats / Modern / The Game tagged Casual / Competitive / Discussion / Formats / Modern / Rumors / Speculation / The Game / Wizards / Wizards of The Coast by Shakunjin

1/1’s: the little guys – the cards in every Magic set that are often overshadowed by their physically superior, more robust kin. Today, we’re going to pay tribute to the many incredibly influential 1/1’s that help keep strategies alive. While many of these creatures aren’t very useful in combat, have lackluster […]

The Power of 1/1’s

6 Feb, 2017 in Articles / Explanations / MTG Guides / The Game tagged Advice / Casual / Competitive / Discussion / Guides / Tips by zebotc

What will happen to now? Will one of the most important Standard cards in recent history find a new place to be played?The recent Standard bannings have sent waves of controversy through the community. While for many, the banning of was quite welcome, the restriction wasn't exactly the same case. With Standard completely […]

Smuggler’s Copter: What Now? (Legacy, Frontier)

3 Feb, 2017 in Articles / Decks / Formats / Legacy / News / Standard tagged Decks / Discussion / Formats / Legacy / News / Speculation by zebotc

With the recently released in full swing, many players have been wondering what Wizards’ announcement in September about the Masterpiece series means for the Magic community as a whole. How is such a print cycle going to affect the limited environment? How is it going to affect prices in Standard? And will it […]

Masterpieces in Every Set?

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

Eldrazi Stompy – much like the events of Zendikar – ravaged through almost every format during the early 2016 season. Much like their story-driven counterparts, Modern, Legacy, Vintage, EDH, and even Standard saw an insurgence in Eldrazi-based decks. With the EDH and Standard decks fairly balanced, all seemed to be going […]

Legacy: Eldrazi Aggro Losing Popularity?

28 Jan, 2017 in Articles / Decks / Formats / Legacy / News tagged Aggro / Competitive / Discussion / Formats / Legacy / News / Speculation by zebotc

EDH decks are a work of art; is it okay to use a list that’s not your own? There’s a lot of animosity around netdecking in EDH: many players say, yes, it’s alright, while many more cry blasphemy at the very notion. So today (regardless of whether you play competitively or casually), we’re going […]

Let’s Discuss EDH: Netdecking

28 Jan, 2017 in Articles / EDH/Commander / Formats tagged Advice / Casual / cEDH / Commander / Competitive / Discussion / EDH by zebotc

Throughout the history of Magic, some colors have been better than others at getting rid of things. In the Modern format, it can be tricky to think of all of the removal out there. We’re going to list all of the removal that we’ve seen played, just to get an idea of […]

Modern Removal

28 Jan, 2017 in Articles / Explanations / Formats / Modern / MTG Guides tagged Competitive / Discussion / Formats / Getting Started / Guides / Modern / MTG / Tips by LooseWire

With FNM attendance in an alarming downswing, Wizards has responded. Standard as a format rarely, if ever, sees bans, since sets are usually carefully designed to work together. Wizards of the Coast’s recent choice to ban not only , but and , as well, was incredibly controversial. A lot of people would agree […]

Post-Aether Revolt/Bannings: State of Standard

27 Jan, 2017 in Articles / Formats / News / Standard / Uncategorized tagged Competitive / Decks / Discussion / Formats / Speculation / Standard / The Game / Wizards of The Coast by zebotc

With the grand opening of Sylvan Studies underway, we'd like to take a few brief moments to introduce you to our site.Sylvan Studies is dedicated to providing the Magic: the Gathering community with up-to-date, useful, and fun content - including, but not limited to, rule guides, deck techs, news, speculation, and […]

Welcome to Sylvan Studies!

26 Jan, 2017 in Articles / News / Stories tagged Discussion / News by zebotc

In the world of EDH there is much controversy regarding casual vs competitive playing. So today we are going to take a look at the merits of both sides of the discussion.

Let’s Discuss EDH: Competitive vs. Casual

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