“My Squirrels get +10/+10, trample, and haste.” I said this to an opponent while playing one of many Oathbreaker games at MagicFest Seattle. Before that weekend, I had never played this command-zone-oriented format. But by the time the Fest was over, I had played eight Oathbreaker matches and was completely sold on it. Not sure what Oathbreaker is? Interested in …
Magic vs Hearthstone
Magic: The Gathering, the tabletop game about powerful plane-hopping wizards, has seen a spike in popularity with the release of its new digital analogue, MTG Arena. For years, people have been discovering Magic at their local game stores and through their D&D groups. Now more than ever before, players are coming to Magic from other digital games, including other collectible …
The Art of Avoiding a T-Rex
Jurassic Park is one of my sister’s favorite movies. While it is an amazing film, we only had one TV, so I’ve seen this movie more than most people. However, it wasn’t until recently that I realized the film has lessons that can be applied to Magic. Building up to your game plan while avoiding being eaten is difficult. Luckily, …
Going Outside Your Comfort Zone
Winning isn’t the same thing as getting better. In fact, sometimes they might be diametrically opposed. “But Chantelle,” you may ask, “how do I know if I’m getting better if I’m not winning?” I think this is best answered by an anecdote – one about me as a young planeswalker (and by “young” I mean “just a few short months …
Teaching with Color Theory
The release of Core Set 2019 has been the cause of widespread celebration throughout the Magic community. Core Sets are a great time for Magic players, since they supplement other sets throughout the year and also help get back to the basics of the game. They’re also a great entry point for many players, since Core Sets rarely introduce new …
Lessons from Grand Prix Vegas
Last weekend, Sin City was home to one of the largest Magic events of the year, and the town transformed as over 5,000 competitors, cosplayers, content creators, and lore lovers descended on the Las Vegas Convention Center. Grand Prix Vegas is unique in the Magic community, as it’s the closest thing to a traditional convention that we typically get. With …
Five Tips for Teaching Magic
Think back to a time when you didn’t know how to play Magic. Back when you were ignorant to the subtleties of mana curves and card advantage, combat tricks and counterspells. For some of you, that time may have only been a few months ago. Maybe a couple years. Maybe you’re even like me, and you’ve been playing Magic for …
How to Win in Brawl
Good (your time of day), everyone! I’ve joined the Card Kingdom Blog primarily to discuss multiplayer Brawl and Eternal Brawl, which is Brawl but for any Standard environment in history. I’ve made decks that cover each Standard block, and it’s been a blast to pit two years of the past against the current Standard or have different historical Standard formats …
Decoding Deck Selection
Many articles have been written on how to play various decks: on sideboarding, on lines of play, on card choices for a deck or archetype. However, there are far fewer articles that focus on how to go about choosing which deck to play for a given format or event, yet it is a choice that I believe is equally (or …
Team Tournament 101
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 …