Deck of the Week: Return of the Red Deck

Simon IrvingStandard

This week’s Banned & Restricted announcement has dramatically reshaped Standard. As Rivals for Ixalan arrives, four widely played cards will be leaving the format. The removal of Attune with Aether and Rogue Refiner from the Energy lists was not surprising, but the two bans targeting Mono-Red were considerably more unexpected. Both Ramunap Ruins and Rampaging Ferocidon (RIP, my clever girl) gave …

Ludevic & Tymna & Treasure

Aaron DurbinCommander

Since the release of Ixalan last fall, Admiral Beckett Brass and her Dire Fleet have been fulfilling their most dire needs in Commander: pillaging, plundering, and getting tons of Treasure. While pirate decks have been out in full force these past few months, I’ve been much more interested in the unsung story of Revel in Riches and how it combos …

Swimming with the Fishes

Chantelle CampbellModern, Standard

Merfolk was the first Modern deck I ever built, and as such it will always have a special place in my heart. Until Humans busted onto the scene, it was one of the few competitive Modern tribal decks, and dedicated Merfolk players have honed their Islandwalking strategies like sharpened knives. As a lover of aggressive decks and synergy, seeing Merfolk …

Deck of the Week: Modern Jeskai

Hallie SantoModern

We all have dreams about Magic from time to time – doing well in a tournament, or just winning epic games with our favorite decks. Some of us dream of going off with Storm or winning with a flurry of burn spells. Some attack with a swarm of small creatures, or one enormous one. Me, I just want to flash …

Team Tournament 101

Hallie SantoStrategy

2018 promises to be The Year of the Team Tournament for Magic. This past weekend, Wizards kicked off the year with a team Grand Prix in Santa Clara, CA, and there are fourteen more premier-level team events coming up, including the 25th Anniversary Pro Tour in Minneapolis, MN. Players can compete in Team Limited, where they’ll build three Sealed decks …

Deck of the Week: Pauper Tron

Hallie SantoPauper

Welcome to Deck of the Week: a new feature here on the Card Kingdom Blog! Every Friday, we’ll post a Constructed decklist that should be on your radar for the weekend, whether you’re looking for something fun to sleeve up for Friday Night Magic or fine-tuning your sideboard for a PPTQ or Grand Prix. This weekend, our friend The Professor …

Unstable Commander Livestream

Card KingdomCommander, Livestreams, Video

Last week, four Card Kingdom employees ventured into the unknown and played a truly unforgettable game of Commander. Un-Commander, that is! Representing four of Unstable‘s five factions, our players sleeved up some silver-bordered cards and battled it out to see which of Bablovia’s leaders would reign supreme. Crossbreed Labs Aaron, the CK Blog’s resident Commander expert, brought Dr. Julius Jumblemorph …

Unstable Commanders

Aaron DurbinCommander

Dreaming of commanders that aren’t legal is a thought experiment as old as the format itself. We’ve speculated about “shoulda-been-legends” like Preacher or Uncle Istvan, and many of us tried out four-color decks in the pre-Commander 2016 world with the Guildpact Nephilim. The release of Unstable will once again beg us to ask what kinds of cards we should allow in …

Solving the Slump

Chantelle CampbellStandard, Strategy

On Sunday at Grand Prix Portland, I had just picked up my second loss in the PTQ after scrubbing out of the main event. I was left a little heartbroken, wondering what I could have done differently. Should I have chosen a different deck for Standard? Did I mis-build my sealed pool? Is it just variance? If it’s just variance, …

Battle Deck League

Card KingdomCommunity

As you can probably guess, we play quite a bit of Magic here at Card Kingdom. We do plenty of product testing each month, but we also use Magic as a way to relax, unwind, and bond with our coworkers. Our Fulfillment and Overstock employees frequently congregate in Café Mox for after-work Drafts or Commander matches, and lunchtime pick-up games …