Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Strategy”
This week, I’m rolling up my sleeves to tackle one of life’s great questions: what does “tempo” mean in Magic: The Gathering? It’s a controversial bit of jargon among Magic players even at the highest level, and this is far from the first article written about it. I have faint memories of reading one by Ben Bleiweiss back in Guildpact …
Time Spiral Remastered is coming out soon, and many longtime Magic players are having flashbacks to fifteen years ago. Today, we’re talking about a Time Spiral block mechanic called… well, flashback! What is Flashback? Flashback is a graveyard mechanic that you’ll find on instant and sorcery cards. When a spell with flashback is in your graveyard, you may cast it …
As you’ve learned to play Magic: The Gathering, you’ve probably familiarized yourself with the instant and sorcery card types. These spells have a one-time effect — on your turn, and maybe on someone else’s. But in the early days of Magic, there was a third spell type with short-term effects. Interrupts were like instants, but more powerful — you could …
Earlier in this series, we explained hexproof: a mechanic that prevents your opponents from targeting your creatures with their spells or abilities. In explaining hexproof, we alluded to an older mechanic called shroud, from which hexproof evolved. But what is shroud, and how does it differ from hexproof? That’s what we’re here to talk about today! What is Shroud? As …
There are all kinds of creatures in Magic‘s Multiverse. Big creatures, small creatures; creatures you’d want to adopt as pets, and creatures you’d never want to cross on an interplanar journey. Some creatures in Magic are just downright frightening and intimidating. And, as with all things in Magic, there are ways the game expresses those qualities through mechanics. Today, we’re …
I’d like to talk about something a little different today, and that’s the idea of virtual card advantage. I recently put together a draft list of a Boros flicker deck, helmed by Archangel Avacyn. My goal was to have a little fun, running lots of cool ETB creatures like Dualcaster Mage and Wildfire Devils. Instead of the usual “greatest hits” …
We’re just ten days away from the release of Kaldheim, and you’ve probably seen at least a few cards from the set already. Like most Magic sets, Kaldheim features a mix of new mechanics as well as some returning mechanics from further back in the game’s history. One of these mechanics is changeling — an ability that allows your creatures …
If WotC set up Kaldheim spoiler season like a metal concert, then this week feels like the showstopping guitar solo. We’re seeing more and more powerful cards drop, many of which feature the set’s new cost-reduction mechanic: foretell. Appearing across all five colors and a wide variety of different cards, foretell has the potential to challenge players with sequencing choices …
Some Magic keywords — like flying, trample, first strike, or deathtouch — have names that are pretty self-explanatory. But, as you dig deep into the history of the game, you find some pretty enigmatic entries. Take epic: a mechanic introduced in Saviors of Kamigawa. Sounds pretty impressive, but what does it do? Today, we’ll share what makes epic so — …
Kaldheim spoiler season sure has given us an exciting start to 2021! New legends, new Gods, new modal double-faced cards, bearing all manner of powerful and unique effects. If anything, this candy-shop effect has left the actual mechanics of Kaldheim a bit lost in the shuffle! Boast and foretell are the latest in a string of very cool keywords WotC …
