Players who pick up Magic: The Gathering for the first time face an intimidating learning curve, that’s for sure. But the first and most important step is mastering the game’s unique language: an arcane vocabulary of keywords, rules terms and specific phrasing that holds the key to understanding every card from the last thirty years of Magic. I already got …
Players who pick up Magic: The Gathering for the first time face an intimidating learning curve, that’s for sure. But the first and most important step is mastering the game’s unique language: an arcane vocabulary of keywords, rules terms and specific phrasing that holds the key to understanding every card from the last thirty years of Magic. It would take …
Much of the excitement (from myself and other writers) for Tarkir: Dragonstorm has revolved around its seeded Sealed experience. It’s a great idea to give players a chance to pilot their clan of choice and really enjoy that aspect of the plane and the Limited environment. But the original Khans block was also a legendarily good Draft format – one …
Over the years, Magic has invented a multitude of mechanics to build decks around, each with its own unique advantages, dedicated support cards, and memorable payoffs. But when all of those archetypes are thrown together into the grand melting pot of Commander, a few top-tier choices stand out. They offer versatile deck building options, consistent performance across different areas of …
It’s been a while since we returned to the dragon-themed plane of Tarkir, and there are plenty of expectations going into the prerelease weekend. Not only is Dragonstorm dropping a host of new draconic bombs, but everyone is keen to see what their favorite clans have been up to since we last visited the plane. It’s also the first time …
With so many Commander precons releasing nowadays, it feels like a strong theme and identity is required to make a new deck stand out from the pack. Luckily for the designers putting together the Tarkir: Dragonstorm precons, the plane of Tarkir is home to Magic’s best-developed lore factions this side of the Ravnica guilds. I’m sure they didn’t have to …
Part of what makes Magic so great is the way its many different formats allow us to experience the game in different ways. Each format has its own metagame, history, community, and playstyles, and as we get more experienced most players will naturally home in on the ones we feel the most affinity for. Vintage is different though. To the …
Magic has a ton of iconic and beloved creature types, but you can make a strong argument that dragons are #1 all time. Shivan Dragon was functionally the game’s mascot in the early years and the most desirable rare long before Black Lotus could command a price tag. Dragon cards appear across all five colors and in nearly every Magic …
When the clans of Tarkir debuted in 2014, their evocative presentation established enduring identities for each of the three-color “wedges”. Despite the interference of Tarkir’s resurrected dragon flights, the five clans have persisted, and in Tarkir: Dragonstorm they have recovered enough strength to once again make war at epic scale. But unlike their struggle for survival against the dragons, represented …
Wizards has allowed us our first glimpses of the long-anticipated Universes Beyond tie-in with Final Fantasy! Already, we can see the ambitious scope of the set, featuring iconic characters from across the full breadth of the beloved JRPG franchise and its spinoff games. At least a few of them are getting multiple cards, or dual-faced transforming cards – giving designers …
