Archive for the ‘Magic: The Gathering’ Category

May 2nd Grand Prix Las Vegas Trial – Just ONE Week Away!

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Just ONE WEEK to go for up-coming Grand Prix Trial for Grand Prix Las Vegas! Here’s your opportunity for a chance to earn a 2-round Bye at what is expected to be the largest North American Grand Prix -EVER!

We look forward to seeing you at our Plainville, MA location on May 2nd!

Format: Modern
Date: May 2nd, 2015 a Saturday
Time: Doors at 10:00 am, Round 1 pairings at 12:00 pm
Entrance Fee: $25.00 per person

Address:
25 Taunton Street
Plainville MA 02762

Parking on site

This event is being run as a Grand Prix Trial for Las Vegas:
• Deck lists required
• Cut to top 8

Prizes:
Prizes will be paid to the top finishers in Store Credit usable in store or online!

 

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TODAY – ‘MTG’ Grand Prix Las Vegas Trial @ Abington, MA

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Join us TODAY at Battleground Games & Hobbies in Abington, MA for your chance to earn a 2-round Bye to Grand Prix Las Vegas!

 

Format: Modern
Date: April 25th, 2015 a Saturday
Time: Doors at 10:00am, Round 1 pairings at 12:00pm
Entrance Fee: $25.00 per person

Address:
1423 Bedford Street
Abington MA 02351

This event is being run as a Grand Prix Trial for Las Vegas:
• Decklists required
• Cut to top 8

Prizes:
Prizes will be paid to the top finishers in Store Credit usable in store or online!

 

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Wizards of the Coast Announces May thru July FNM Promo Cards

Wizards of the Coast announced yesterday, the promotional cards for the Friday Night Magic program for May, June and July; and they do not disappoint! Please make sure you join us at your local Battleground Games & Hobbies each and every Friday for a chance to earn one of these great promotional cards in addition to other great prizes.

 

May

 

 

 

 

June

 

 

 

July

 

 

 

What is Friday Night Magic?

Friday Night Magic is the heart and soul of the local Magic community. Open to all and running in all Battleground Games & Hobbies stores each Friday Night, “FNM” is a chance to catch up with your friends, make new ones and of course, play some Magic! We offer participants a variety of ways to enjoy Magic, including booster drafts, Standard-constructed, Modern-constructed and so much more. Please see our event calender for more details.

 

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This week in Magic: Naya Burn for Modern

GPT Vegas 4252015

 

Welcome back for another edition of “This week in Magic.” With Grand Prix Las Vegas quickly approaching, GPTs have sprung up in the area to help those going get their byes for what will be one of the most massively attended card tournaments ever (even more than World Series of Poker). I’ve even heard numbers as crazy as 10,000 people attending. This weekend, the Abington location will be hosting a Modern format GPT.

 

As you may all know by now I’ve been playing Mono Red for almost a year now in Modern and have had moderate success with it. However, since the introduction of Khans to the format, it has evolved from Mono Red, to what is now Naya Burn. I’m sure you can still play Mono Red, however, for this week’s discussion, we’re going to go over some of the reasons to play Naya Burn over Mono Red Burn.

 

In case you’ve been wondering, here is what I’ve been playing lately:

 

Main Board
4x Goblin Guide
4x Monastery Swiftspear
4x Eidolon of the Great Revel
2x Grim Lavamancer
4x Lightning Bolt
4x Lava Spike
3x Rift Bolt
2x Skullcrack
4x Boros Charm
4x Atarka’s Command
2x Lightning Helix
2x Shard Volley
2x Searing Blaze

 

3x Mountain
4x Scalding Tarn
4x Wooded Foothill
4x Bloodstained Mire
1x Stomping Ground
3x Sacred Foundry

 

Side Board:
3x Destructive Revelry
1x Lightning Helix
2x Path to Exile
2x Deflecting Palm
2x Skull Crack
3x Molten Rain
2x Kor Firewalker

 

Why play Naya over Mono Red?

One of the best additions to the deck has been Atarka’s Command. With the current creature package Burn plays with, this is one of the most back breaking spells in the deck. Imagine this, on turn one you play a fetch land, sac the land getting a Stomping Ground, play a Goblin Guide and swing for two damage. On your second turn you play another land, cast a Monastery Swiftspear, cast a Lava Spike triggering the Swiftspear’s prowess ability and attack with both creatures. By now you’ve done nine damage. One your third turn, with Atarka’s Command, the potential to kill your opponent is extremely high as opposed to not having the command.

 

Green also allows you to play Destructive Revelry. This card has really changed the way the deck plays and how other play against the deck post-board. While Leyline of Sanctity is still very painful to watch hit the battlefield against you, thanks to Destructive Revelry, it doesn’t mean an auto loss. The fact that Destructive Revelry has the ability to hit both artifacts and enchantments makes it more versatile than something like Smash to Smithereens.

 

White is provides even more reach thanks to spells like Path to Exile and Kor Firewalker for the mirror. The other week, I played against someone who was able to land a turn two Kor Firewalker against me. Needless to say, they weren’t happy when I play a Path on my following turn and then proceeded to win the match because of it. Path answers so many problems that conventional burn spells can’t. For example, Siege Rhino, a 4/5 which has been running rampant in the Modern format, is something that a Lightning Bolt can’t handle. However, a Path can answer it without any problem. Add to the fact that Path only costs one white to cast, and now Burn players can breath a sigh of relief.

 

Playing white in the main board means that Burn players can have access to better burn spells such a Boros Charm and Lightning Helix. Charm has easily replaces Flames of the Blood Hand as the better four damage burn spell thank to the fact that it only costs two mana to play. Lightning Helix’s ability to gain you life is such a big life swing it makes it worth playing. However, that’s all it has going for it. That’s why people tend to only play a couple copies of the spell as opposed to a full set of four. Gaining life is almost not worth the inconsistency the card adds to the deck thanks to the two colors needed.

 

For what it’s worth, I’d suggest playing the Naya Burn list over Mono Red because of the amount of options the colors open up for the player.

 

Who made the cut?

Of course with the introduction of a full playset of Atarka’s Command, we had to find room in the deck somewhere. It’s hard to tell, but some of the major cuts I’ve made have been to Rift Bolt, Searing Blaze, and Skull Crack. First of all, let’s start with why I made a cut to one of the best “one mana” spells in the deck.

 

First of all, it doesn’t cost one mana. It never has cost one mana. It will never cost one mana to cast. Unless it’s in your hand within the first couple of turns, Rift Bolt costs three mana to play. However, there are certain situations where the spell will costs you one mana late in the game, but at this point you’re so far in control is doesn’t matter. I felt that because it really doesn’t cost you one mana to cast that I could afford to cut one, but only one.

 

The next spell on my list was Skull Crack. I felt like having a full set of both seemed redundant, but thanks to the pumping effects of the the Command, it garnered enough attention to play a set. For now, I’ve split up the Skull Cracks with two in the main and two in the side. As for the side board. I’m uncertain about how much longer they will stay there. For now, I don’t mind them taking up slots. They help against the Spellskite plans people love to play against burn. Remember, Skull Crack can only hit another player. So activating a Spellskite doesn’t help. Well, it helps, but here it only helps the Burn player.

 

I needed to cut one more card to make room for the full set of Commands. Could I run three Commands? I could have, but it’s probably best that I run four. At this point, Shard Volley may have looked like an okay option, but I think some of you forget that it’s one of the best burn spells in the deck. However, because of it’s major setback of sacrificing a land, we can only sustain two copies of the spell. In the long run, I decided to cut a Searing Blaze. We all know my personal feelings for this card by now. Without Landfall, it is by far the worst burn spells in the deck. In fact, it’s the main reason we’re running an absurd amount of Fetchlands in the deck. Don’t get me wrong. I understand how great the card can be. It’s amazing against Collected Company, Infect, and other weenie aggro decks, but it’s one of the worst cards against some of the top tier decks in the game right now. Even worse, it has less of an impact on it’s own.

 

Well with that we’re going to leave things here and pick up next week. Tune in when we’ll touch upon the side board and our options for different matchups in the meta. Thanks for reading!

 

About the author

Simeon is now the Community Manager for Battleground Games & Hobbies. If you have any questions or inquiries, then you can reach him at Sims@battlegroundgames.com. He is also an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!

 

 

The Extra Life 2015 campaign is underway. Donate today!

 

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Join the Battleground Games & Hobbies community forums!

Please don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @battleground_gh!

 

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‘MTG’ Grand Prix Las Vegas Trial – Just ONE Week Away!

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Battleground Games & Hobbies – Abingon MA

Format: Modern
Date: April 25th, 2015 a Saturday
Time: Doors at 10:00am, Round 1 pairings at 12:00pm
Entrance Fee: $25.00 per person

Address:
1423 Bedford Street
Abington MA 02351

This event is being run as a Grand Prix Trial for Las Vegas:
• Decklists required
• Cut to top 8

Prizes:
Prizes will be paid to the top finishers in Store Credit usable in store or online!

 

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This week in Magic: Dragons of Tarkir Game Day

Game Day Banner
 

Hello and welcome to another edition of “This week in Magic.” Game Day is coming upon us very quickly. In fact, it’s this weekend. I’m sure plenty of you out there are still wondering what to play. In all honesty, Game Day is a tournament that is meant to bring out the creativeness of the deck builders out there. Game Day is a day meant to try your creations out, and try not to meta-game the field as if you’re playing in a GP. It’s all about fun. With all that being said, I’m sure there is a vast majority of you who will still scramble to find something. So here are a few suggestions I have to offer.

 

UB Control

I’ve been playing this list for about a week now and have had quite a bit of success with it. I took it the the PPTQ held at the Abington store and piloted it to a Top 4 finish. I recently took it to the Ugin Standard tournament with about 21 players and went 4-1. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt comfortable with a deck, let alone one that is control.

 

One of the big pros about the deck is that many opponents have told me that it’s very hard to side board against. I can see this considering how hard it is to play against. It just seems to have all of the answers. Thanks to the re-introduction of ultimate price, killing creatures has gotten a lot easier. Therefore relieving a lot of pressure on my end.

 

However, don’t be fooled by my successsragy. The deck is hard to play. The only real advice I have to get better with the deck is to keep playing it. It’s one of those things where experience is one of the keys to winning with the deck. For example, casting Dig Through Time doesn’t always provide you with a clear answer. There have been a few times where a Dig has provided me with plenty of options. It’s knowing which one is the best that will lead you to victory.

 

Mono Red Aggro

Mono Red Aggro is always something I know I can fall back on. Of course, there are some who may say I’m a little biased. For now, put those thoughts aside. Monok Red is the real deal. I mean, it did take down the latest Pro Tour. That version splashed Green, but that was mainly for Atarka’s Command – a card that is seeing much more play in Standard.

 

What makes this deck a winner is how fast it can win. How fast can it win, you ask? It wins under the turn five mark. This is huge because it avoids board wipes such as End Hostilities and Crux of Faith. More importantly, a lot of other decks need more time to establish themselves on the battlefield. The case with Mono Red is that it tries to kill you before you’ve settled in.

 

Red has always been a reliable color to go to whenever a new meta comes out. However, the major downfall of the deck, in many cases, is how quickly other decks can adapt to the Mono Red strategy. The key to beating Mono Red, in my opinion, is to be able to survive the first three turns. Once you’ve made it past that point, you can feel more confident in your plays. If you can force them into a position where they feel they need to kill you before turn five or sooner, then you’ve accomplished your mission. It’s in these cases that they tend to empty their hands sooner than they would like putting them in a poor position.

 

Mono Green Devotion

Or sometimes known as GR Devotion. The red in this case is actually a splash for Dragonlord Atarka. If I can play a mono colored deck over any other, then chances are that I will. Reason being is that it’s such a break from tri-colored decks where mana can get a little out of hand. So Why play Mono Green? These creatures are huge! No other color can really compete to tell you the truth. Not only are they huge, but they can be cheap considering the amount of ramp Green has at it’s disposal – Elves, Caryatids, Satyrs.

 

Elves, Caryatids, and Satyrs alone can stop the early onslaught of weenie decks and Mono Red. Later on it can get out of hand as creatures hit the battlefield that are well out of a Red player’s burn range. The deck can be overwhelming for most opponents which can also mean the end for them.

 

So what about a downside? Aside from bad draws, I can’t really see one. The game plan is simple: play smaller guys to make bigger guys then swing with the big guys. If there is anything bad about the deck it could be how weak susceptible you are to board wipers. Well you’ll be happy to know that we all are. Get some practice in and learn how to play around them. You’ll be just fine.

 

Well that’s it for now. Remember to go out and take a shot at your local game day. We’ll be hosting two of them! If there is anything in particular that you’d like me to cover, then drop me a line.

 

About the author

Simeon is now the Community Manager for Battleground Games & Hobbies. If you have any questions or inquiries, then you can reach him at Sims@battlegroundgames.com. He is also an avid gamer who loves to play board games and video games. He graduated college with a degree in Political Science, and now serves the public by writing about games. You can check that out here. Don’t forget to “like” him on Facebook as well. It’ll update you on all of his newest content. Best of all, you can follow Simeon on Twitter (@SimeonCortezano) for some real time hilarity. Thanks for reading!

 

 

The Extra Life 2015 campaign is underway. Donate today!

 

1170
 

 

Join the Battleground Games & Hobbies community forums!

Please don’t forget to check us out on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @battleground_gh!

 

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