For all that we Magic players love to think analytically and break things down, there are still some hugely impactful blind spots in community discussion of the game. This week’s Magic Online Championships thrust one into the spotlight, as a controversial finish to Oliver Tiu vs. Michael Jacob led to fiery online debate about cheating, “angle-shooting” and the moral grey …
The impending release of Commander Legends feels like a big moment for Magic. It’s the clearest and most significant expression of WotC’s whole-hearted conversion to the cause of casual play. Commander and other casual formats have always been the underwater bulk of the Magic iceberg, but it took the rise of social media and content algorithms to really show it. …
It is likely that more words have been devoted to Commander deck-building than any other topic in Magic history. And not for no reason! Commander is the most popular way to play Magic, and a large portion of its audience plays only Commander — a testament to the depth of the format and the appeal of social, multiplayer gaming. That …
Good evening, my readers of the night! We draw near to the spookiest night of the year, and so naturally I found myself pondering the most eerie and haunted periods in Magic history for this week’s article. The myth and imagery of horror have been a huge part of Magic since its earliest days. The game was barely a year …
After each new banning shakes up Standard, there begins a cycle of hope. I rush to Arena and go to my maxed-out Decks screen, where jank brews untold await testing and tuning. “This time,” I say to myself. “This time W/B Auras and Mono-U Self-Mill and Vito Aggro will be good!” Then, I take them to the ladder and realize …
It seemed destined by fate that Emma Handy — who helped rally the Magic community around the “No TERFs on Gruul Turf!” slogan — would end up crashing the Top 8 of a Worlds-level tournament with a red-green aggro deck. “Gruul Adventures was honestly the sort of eleventh hour audible you always hear about — but this time it worked.” …
Current Standard has more ramp than a skate park built in a multi-level parking garage. Ramp decks have always been a part of Magic, escaping the limits of the mana curve since the first Llanowar Elves tapped to cast Force of Nature. But design changes in the Standard rotation shifted the balance of power, doing away with many of the …
This past week has seen drafters on MTG Arena and MTGO make their long-awaited return to Zendikar — and the plane of hedrons is NOT as we left it! Not only are we free to explore the wilds without Eldrazi interference for the first time since original Zendikar, but there are these new double-faced “spell lands” running around everywhere, challenging …
This past weekend’s Mythic Invitational brought a satisfying conclusion to one of pro Magic’s biggest storylines: the rise of Historic as a premier format. It seemed so unlikely at first; prior to the pandemic, Pioneer was the popular choice, while Historic was hampered by negative PR and a lack of clear direction. But with Historic available on Arena through this …
I’ve got something a little different for you this week, readers. For a while now I’ve been hoping to feature more regular interviews here on CK, so you can hear from other key figures in Magic instead of just me all the time. Today, I bring you the first (but not the last!) of these interviews! Ari Nieh is a …
