Predictions for Streets of New Capenna

Tom AndersonDesign

The release of Streets of New Capenna is on the horizon, and Tom looks ahead and tries to predict what the new set will bring! Streets of New Capenna season has arrived with the beginning of Story Month, along with some select card previews trickling out of the WotC mothership.  Like Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, this set also promises to explore …

About the Academic – an Interview with the Professor

Tom AndersonCommunity, Products

When the Professor launched his first ever Kickstarter campaign last week, he was ready for a long, busy day monitoring progress and putting out fires. Instead, he found himself “watching a movie of someone else running a successful Kickstarter”, as his next-generation TCG deckbox attracted over $1 million in pledges in 12 hours!  With three weeks still to go in …

Combo Crash Course: Heliod’s Company

Tom AndersonStrategy

Out of all the classic card effects in Magic, lifegain might get the least respect. And though it pains me to say it…with good reason. The problem with expending cards and mana to gain life – especially if that’s the only thing you’re doing – is that lifegain alone will never win the game for you, so all you’re doing …

An Early Look at Streets of New Capenna

Tom AndersonProducts

Big news in the multiverse! While the Magic community is still happily soaking in the glow of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty, Wizards has put out the first release information and card spoilers for the second new Standard set of 2022: Streets of New Capenna!  Since this was just an early teaser, most of what Adam Styborski showed off on the Magic …

MTG Challenger Decks 2022

Tom AndersonProducts, Standard

“A NEW CHALLENGER APPROACHES!” The journey of a new competitive player – or at least a player new to a particular format – is often hard in Magic compared to other games. Each incarnation of Standard has its own field of tier decks and leading cards to study up on, even if your grasp of the fundamentals is strong from …

Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Draft By The Numbers

Tom AndersonLimited

Welcome back, my scientifically-minded Draft players! At time of writing, almost two weeks of Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Limited are on the record. Various surveillance thopters and cyber kami have begun filtering that data into a more complete picture of the format – one that can supplement and validate our first instincts as Magic players. That’s what this Draft By Numbers …

Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty Draft Guide

Tom AndersonLimited

Heed my word, Magic players: the future is now! Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty has launched to much fanfare and applause, with its daring cyberpunk setting drawing many curious players back into the game after the holiday lull.  Just glancing over the spoiler for Neon Dynasty gives you the feel of something different and special, with a remarkably high density of artifacts …

Top 20 Ninja Cards in Magic: The Gathering

Tom AndersonCommunity

There’s no disputing it at this point: Ninjas are the most- and best-remembered part of the original Kamigawa block. Even with close to 20 years of power creep and shifts in Magic design against them, Ninjas are still an iconic and popular creature type, with a huge number of players maintaining Ninja tribal decks to this day.  What makes Ninjas …

New Sagas in Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty

Tom AndersonDesign

With such a powerfully thematic new set on the way, a lot of attention is given over to the reveal of new mechanics. Of course, new tech like reconfigure and modified expand Magic and create the most new opportunities for deck building and gameplay, and that’s why a set is often judged by the mechanics it introduces. But sometimes a …