|
| |
 Featured
Article:
Sarpadian
Empires, Vol VII: Appendix.
5/9/08 - In our final entry into the Sarpadian
Empires, Vol III. we shall look more in-depth at individual places,
people and things that made up the denizens of Sarpadia. The following
are some familiar and not so familiar names and places. Perhaps the name
came from one mere flavor text, or a mention in an obscure source, but
regardless it made up the essence of Fallen Empires. I left out one
major source as it's canon is highly suspect seeing as it involved
dragons and lots of things never shown to be on Sarpadia, but I digress.
If you enjoy lore read on, if not read anyway. Cause
baby, at the end there's a contest! ~Cashew~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Sarpadian
Empires, Vol VII: Ch. 3 - Revival.
5/8/08 - Many thought the story of Fallen Empires
ended with the advent of Ice Ages. The empires were in ruin, and Thrulls
and Thallids ruled over Sarpadia as snow blanketed the land burying any
remainder of the continent in the cold. Some creature lines continued
on, but for many of the Sarpadian lines it was the end of their Age.
That's how Wizards left Sarpadia in 1995, but its story interestingly
continued in 2006 with Time Spiral.The arrival
of Time Spiral had many familiar faces emerging from the time bubbles
back into our present. The mass planar destabilization had given a
second life to the sets of Magic's past. Homarids appeared again from
the depths of time, while Thallids rampaged across the land amongst the
legions of Slivers. Most surprising of all were names the old vanguard
of Magic knew by heart, showing up 1000's of years in Dominara's future.
Today we will examine what may be Fallen Empires's
final tale, through the cards of Time Spiral. ~Cashew~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Sarpadian
Empires, Vol VII: Ch. 2 - Conflict.
5/7/08 - Come brothers, hurry. War has come
knocking upon our door on this foul night. Look across the ridge, across
the barren moor into the foul presence of the swamp. Do you see their
shadows against the pale light from the bad moon that plagues our sky?
Even at this darkest hour the servants of Tourach gather and make ready
for battle. In turn, we must make ready the defenses, for by dawn they
surely will be upon us. They shall not catch us unprepared though, the
holy servants of Leitbur and the Hand of Justice will bathe in light
again!!
Those not on guard duty, prepare to cleanse your
souls. Receive the priest's blessings and speak sheltering prayers. So
make sure you don your holy armor and let each soul radiate a righteous
aura. When the enemy attacks it may be dark, but our souls shall
illuminate the very night itself. We shall push them back into the dark
and fight them until the sun breaks the horizon. At dawn they shall see
the true victor as their corpses begin to rot in the sun.
Now to you sire—are you ready? The army is at your
command, all it needs is a single word and it shall smite all in its
way. ~Cashew~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Sarpadian
Empires, Vol VII: Ch. 1 - Artistry.
5/6/08 - Today's chapter of the Sarpadian Empires is more a picture
book than anything else. To truly understand a Magic set's flavor is much more
than cards and a good story. The missing element that really ties everything
together is the artwork. The artistry put onto each card tells far more story
than a simple flavor text might—after all, a picture is worth a thousand words. ~Cashew~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Sarpadian
Empires, Col VII: Foreword.
5/5/08 - Come, sit down a spell. Take any seat
you like; today we're going to take a journey back in time. Make sure
you open up your mind and prepare to understand things you thought you
already knew or are learning for the first time. It's time to look back
on a set long since released, and today we're heading all the way back
to November 1994, a time when America and the world were searching for
identity, having shed themselves fully from the 1980's. Generation X was
declared lost as Generation Y became the first generation to truly
explore and foster the Internet en masse. The mood of the nation as a
whole was gloomy—Kurt Cobain had ended his life, Ronald Reagan's fate
was sealed in Alzheimer’s and practically the entire nation was enamored
with the first media-extravaganza scandal: OJ Simpson.
In the world of Magic, the release of its fifth
expansion and the largest period of growth for the company were
experienced. Scours of people joined the devoted fans during the Revised
to Ice Age period. The media even likened it to the D&D trend of the
1980's. However, Magic was still young and finding its footing. It made
mistakes that angered the fans such as under-printing sets and
reprinting cards in a fake set called Chronicles. This week a few
special guests and I will take you through one of the sets of this era:
Fallen Empires. So sit back and enjoy a chapter from Sarpadian Empires,
Vol VII, only recently unearthed from the past. ~Cashew~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
First Impressions: Shadowmoor - Green.
5/2/08 - Well, now that First Impressions Week is just
about complete, it’s time to delve into the Green cards from Shadowmoor.
As a mage who splashes Green in just about every deck I bring to the
casual table, I was overjoyed when asked to review these cards. To me,
Green is about nature, and what is better than turning nature against
your enemy? If you’re beating someone with Green you are usually either
overwhelming them with a tremendous swarm of tiny creatures, or
pummeling them with one, colossal killer. Green is vulnerable yet quick,
but too often stopped in its tracks if not quick enough, so timing can
be everything. What I am looking for in a Green card is either an
efficient and effective low cost spell that endows a mage with some type
of board advantage, or a ridiculously expensive creature that spells
endgame for your opponent. ~hamsandwich~
Discuss Here.
|
Featured
Article:
First Impressions: Shadowmoor - White.
5/1/08 - So, White cards, huh? New set, based on the last
block? Okay, sure. I’m not going to do some giant introduction. That’s
not what you’re here for. You’re here to see what I think of these
cards. So, that said, let’s get down to business and see what’s going on
here. ~Death_By_Beebles~
Discuss Here.
|
Featured
Article:
First Impressions: Shadowmoor - Blue.
4/30/08 - Darkness falls, good to evil. Everything
changes for the worse—but wait, what's happening? Blue has been looked
at as one of the most evil colors for being so controlling. What happens
when Blue goes more evil? Will we be so terrified we forfeit the game
once that Island hits play? Or will we sit there and laugh at how
pathetic Blue has become? Join me and we'll find out together. Try to
keep up; the Dusk Urchins like to come out at this time of night, and
you wouldn't want to meet one in person, I assure you...
We have arrived, now let's take a look at the new shade
of Blue. I myself am a Blue fanatic so I am itching to get into them.
Let's not waste anymore time, and delve right into it! ~Ryuzaki~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
First Impressions: Shadowmoor - Red.
4/29/08 - If you remember, I covered Red back in
Morningtide, and my basis for grading the cards was this statement:
"Even though I am a Blue mage first, I have a
side of me that craves the old school burn of Red. I am not a fan of
paying R for two damage. I need that third point to be satisfied. So
each time a new set comes out, I find myself hoping and praying that
I get that third point of damage back. Does Morningtide provide that
lusted over point of damage? Let's take a look together and find
out..."
Let's see what Shadowmoor has to offer. Can it meet my
personal standard, or does it fall short like Morningtide? ~Chris
Newton~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
First Impressions: Shadowmoor - Black.
4/28/08 - Does Shadowmoor live up to the hype from the
Rumor Mill? Is this what Magic has been missing for oh so long? Black is
the color of endless night and Shadowmoor is its plane of existence.
This set has been looked forward to by the Guild for quite a while now
and expect no stone unturned from my views. ~MZ~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
First Impressions: Shadowmoor - Hybrid.
(All of them!)
4/26/08 - Today we'll be looking at all the hybrid cards
and there are quite lot. I'll try to keep it to a minimum so you don't
get bored as there are quite a lot to cover.
Each allied color represents something entirely
different.
Blue-White focuses a lot on defense;
Blue-Black focuses on direct
player damage from creatures, Black-Red on pure destructive power, Red-Green on
a very chaotic cycle of life and death, and
Green-White on life preservation.
One of the cool things about the hybrids is all the fun cycles in it.
I'll go
ahead and name them for you first so you can see that each color combo is almost
equally loved and hated on by the designers. ~Cashew~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
First Impressions: Shadowmoor -
Artifacts and Lands.
4/25/08 - Wizards of the Coast has done a good job thus
far with the last few sets. I really enjoyed Lorwyn and equally enjoyed
Morningtide. Then again, I love Tribal. What isn’t to love about Tribal
Decks and Tribal Class Decks? I loved Onslaught before Lorwyn, so it
only made sense that I would love Lorwyn and Morningtide.
On the other hand, Shadowmoor has nothing to do with
Tribal. In fact, it is the darker side of the Lorwyn we all came to
love. Darker themes, evil scarecrows, the Reaper King, Cairns and other
Graven places… Will this set shape up to be a good set?
Today I get to tackle two of my more favorite colors
in Magic, the colors that aren’t colors! I’m talking about Lands and
Artifacts. Do I have good things to say about our new rare dual land
cycle? Or how about that Grim Poppet guy they previewed on MTG.Com? If
you must know, you are going to have to click the link above. Or just
click here. ~John Streetz~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
MOMP: Memories of a Jarhead.
4/25/08 - Welcome to another exciting edition of Memories
of an Old Magic Player.In this edition, we will
be talking in depth about one of my favorite cards, Memory Jar. We will
discuss theory, strategy, deck construction, and have plenty of
tournament coverage from throughout the world… wait, where are you
going? Of course we won’t talk about those things. This is "A Casual
Site," remember? *sinister looking grin*
I’ll see you inside…. ~CPN~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
More Evil Than Evil.
4/24/08 - I don't know about you, but I've about had it
with combos this week. Three-card combos, two-card combos, Green and Red
and Blue card combos. Sneaky combos, infinite combos, even some crazy
Vanguard combos! And once you think we've covered them all, we've got
Shuko combos, Sharing combos, arbitrarily large combos; Serum combos,
Squirrel combos, and don't forget the Bacterial combos!
And when it's all said and done, and the gooey mass of
seemingly never-ending combos finally begins to congeal into this rank
and festering thing that is Evil Combo Week (hailing those which are
dedicated to making people hate you since 1993—God forbid any of you
have friends after it all), I still feel it is missing something. It
lacks completion, and who better than a Phyrexian to chime in this week?
~Maleficent~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Forgotten Power: Johnny + Phyrexia =
Evil Combo Player.
4/24/08 - Well it’s been a while since I’ve touched back
down with you gentlemen. Given this is Evil Combo Week, I feel obligated
to touch back here as a good starting point until the Shadowmoor
pre-release and the week after First Impressions. Now others are taking
a normal route of saying, “Oh yeah, I know a great evil combo for this
week.” So really, for what I can see, we are not flexing the parts of
our brains that allow us to make these evil combos. This article is not
only about trying to create evil combos but to look for them anywhere
you see Magic. ~Michael_Zeora~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
A Series of Tubes: An Evil Quartet of
Decks.
4/23/08 - I've been playing Magic Online since its
release back in 1998-1999; I can't rightly remember anymore it's been so
long. Long enough that I've forgotten exactly when, that's for sure.
During that time I've seen a lot of mean decks and probably a lot more
crap decks. Being that it's Evil Combo Week, can you guess which of the
two I'm going to talk about? Today is all about the evilest, most mean,
completely vile decks that I've ever had the displeasure of facing.
I'm talking the kind of stuff that spreads animosity
across international borders. Decks that you could never bring to a
paper game for fear of physical harm. Decks where you sit there making a
pyramid of power with your finger saying "excellent" without even
meaning to. Get the picture? Just in case you don't, one more: decks
that make you want to look up an IP address and head to their city just
to beat the first pasty white fat kid you find in hopes it was the
deck's creator. ~Cashew~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
So You Hate Me.
4/23/08 - This
article was originally published on 5/24/05 and was in fact one of the
first ten articles on Magic Deck Vortex. In the spirit of Evil
Combo Week, and considering the combos this article entails, I thought
it was a perfect reprint for this week. Just ignore some of the
comments about the Kamigawa Block and Standard Legal-ness and read up on
the decks and combos. Thanks.
~Streetz~
Discuss Here.
|
Featured
Article:
Finding the Street Serum.
4/22/08 - Time. Always ticking, tick, tock, tick. Of
course, we all know that there’s only so much. What if you could find a
way to slow it down? Is that even possible, or is it some illusion of
grandeur to slow down time? Well, if you can’t slow time down, why not
speed other things up? That, was the dream of many a madman; but one of
those madman actually found a way…found something to help speed things
up. ~Ryuzaki~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Vanguard: Across the Formats - Evil
Style.
4/21/08 - This theme week has me brimming with
excitement; MDV is finally a shade of black that I can really enjoy:
Combos. Anyone who roots through my extensive deck list collection on
Magic Workstation (164 and counting) will soon come to realize that
Luther loves his combos.
The intricate designs, the way they can turn a game
180 and pull victory from the jaws of defeat. The ingenuity and
complexity that some of these combos employ and the loop-holes in the
wording and rules that just makes you shiver when you realize just how
painful this combo could really be. Just thinking back over some of the
combos I’ve seen makes me all tingly inside—it’s strange to realize I
still have feelings like this left in me.
But enough about this old vamp going gooey-eyed at the
idea of an infinite storm count, you came here to see Vanguard cards
used in alternate formats; but this time you’re going to get something
extra ~LV~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Introduction & Schedule for Evil Combo
Week!
4/21/08 - With Shadowmoor on the near horizon and the
array of evil creatures it promises us, the Writer’s Guild felt it was
time to embrace the darker side of Magic for a while. I’m talking of
course, Ladies and Gentlemen; about Evil Combos.
Over the coming week you’ll see all manner of combo’s that will truly
scare and excite you; infinite land destruction, creatures and lock-down
decks – you name it, we’ve got it. ~LV~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
A Fresh Perspective: Stasis - Part Two.
4/18/08 - Here is the
awaited second part to A Fresh
Perspective: Stasis. While the first half was an in-depth look of the
basic “Stasis Philosophy” and an analysis of some of the possible cards
and strategies the second half show my own results combined with those
of everyone who gave me feedback with their own builds. Ready to see how
everyone decided to take their build of the deck? Then let the
Stasis-locks begin! ~Dazboot~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
If I Worked at R&D... The Last Edition.
4/17/08 - Folks, there comes a time in a writer's career
when he realizes that he’s not happy with the way things are going—come
to think of it, that happens to everyone; but nevertheless, the same
course of action must be taken: Change.I have
really enjoyed this article series; the feedback, the challenge of
putting my work out there to be championed or flamed, and most of all I
enjoyed the fact that I managed to get away with doing it for so long.
But the truth is that as I develop and change so do my tastes and
preferences of subject material. To this end I feel I can no longer
continue this article series.
Now, having got the heavy stuff out of the way; before
I let this article thread vanish into the shadows of the net I’m going
to take her out for one last ride—the ride of the ages.~Luthervamplord~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Delusions of Mediocrity: Dandân,
Seriously!
4/16/08 - Welcome back to another Delusions of Mediocrity article!
Hopefully you made it all the way through the last few. If you’ve never made it
through any, I would recommend at least checking them out after
you have read this one.
To recap, this article series is all about mediocre cards
where I take one mediocre card and make something more of it with combos and
other fun cards. If you want to get more into it than just one sentence, check
out Familiar With it, Part 1. The whole first section talks about
my concept of a mediocre card.
With that aside, I’ve debated greatly on which card I should
do... ~Streetz~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
MDV Newsletter Progress
4/10/08 - Progress. It is the evolution of everything in
a forward direction. We all progress towards the end of our lives, which
is a scary thought, but true. However, not all progress is a bad thing.
This short editorial will show you the progress of the
MDV Newsletter, and possibly the future, as I will set the long term
goals of the Eye of the Vortex.
Read on to find out more on the next evolution of MDV.
~Chris Newton~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Clockwork Manor: The New Mix.
4/9/08 - Greetings patriots! I’m glad to see you’re all
here to help me fix another deck, but I’ve got bad news; we won’t be
fixing a deck today. It’s part of a new regime my council of advisers
(all clockwork constructs of course) has, well, advised I put into
action. Now hold on there, I have good news as well! The reason we won’t
be working on a deck today is because there is another thing we can gain
from pushing back the clock, and that’s a lesson from Magic history.
You see, Magic in terms of trading card games is one of
the oldest ongoing games out there, and it has a rather rich history.
From its humble beginnings in Alpha to Arabian Nights (the first ever
Magic expansion), to changing the symbol for White mana, to the new card
frames, to even the fantastic digital world of Magic Online, Magic has
been full of glorious achievements. Of course, every great success has
multiple great stories in its wake. Over the history of professional
Magic, there have been countless lessons gleaned from amazing plays,
brilliant strategies, and perfectly precise card choices. It is from
these moments of Magic history that I will share some lessons that still
hold value today, and hopefully give you a new appreciation for old
wisdom. ~Death_By_Aggro~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Memories of an Old Magic Player 10: The
Outsiders Journal #3 - Part 8.
4/8/08 - Welcome back to the longest article series in
the history of MDV. Now that we are at the final part, I'd like to thank
you for sticking it out with me. You may be interested to know how long
the article actually is. The entire article was 39 pages before I broke
it up into eight parts, making it the longest single article in MDV
history (at least to my knowledge).That is
right my friends; this is part eight, the final installment. Should all
go well, you may walk your way in peace, knowing the result of this
lengthy tournament. ~Chris Newton~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Raiding the Dollar Bins: Raiding the
Mailbag #1.
4/7/08 - This week, I’m doing something a bit
different, and I’m answering some reader mail! As you may know, I’ve
been leaving my email address at the bottom of this column for some time
now; with always the offer to do something with a card of your choice
(provided, of course, that you email me.)Well,
I get a few emails now and then (mostly with deck questions or people
wanting advice), but now and again I get people emailing me asking me to
use a card, a “dollar bin rare” in my next article. This week, I’ll be
doing just that. ~Death_By_Beebles~
Discuss Here. |
 Some
Recent Blogs.
3/2/08 - If you aren't aware, MDV has something called the MDV Super Series
(MSS for short). There is currently a logo creating contest in
process, which Ryuzaki talks about in
this blog.
Also, Chris Newton has been working on the MSS score sheets and he talks
about the scores in this
blog. A bit older in the MDV blog-o-sphere, but Ryu posted a blog
about two weeks ago concerning the Battle Royale. Read about that
here. Enjoy!
~Streetz~ |
Featured
Article:
Delusions of Mediocrity: Manipulating
the Dragon Part I.
4/4/08 - Hey folks, Hamsandwich here, hoping to throw some extra
mustard on this blue-plate special we call life with the resurrection of an
article series previously written by our own John Streetz. Those of you
unfamiliar with the original series can find it
here. John’s vision was to
focus on extremely bad or broken cards, discuss their problems, and build decks
around them in hopes of helping the reader view his or her collection a little
differently. I hope to continue that vision with this updated version; however,
I will broaden the spectrum and not only focus on those same types of cards, but
also on a number of other cards that have been clogging up our binders for
extended periods of time for a variety of reasons.
You know the cards. The ones
that you can’t seem to trade away, but occasionally pull out or stare at for a
seemingly endless amount of time thinking, “Well, if I do this… no… or how
about, um, no… but what if? Nah,” and then methodically place back in their
plastic tomb, only to taunt you each time you flip through your collection. One
such card for me, a self-proclaimed Simic man, was the Cytoplast Manipulator.
~hamsandwich~
Discuss Here.
|
Featured
Article:
Casual Violence: Playstyles.
4/3/08 - Last time, seen here, Michael_Zeora and I
discussed various teaching styles to help make it easier to bring your
padawan up to speed. In this offering, we’ll look at the different
playing styles that are common among players. The styles are given as a
reference to give you some ideas on how to match a newer player with a
deck, and give them options for what to play and what they’ll be playing
against.
This isn’t a definitive list, and I’m sure that we’ve missed a couple of
playstyles.
MZ: Hopefully not, but you never know, the game is
evolving. These are also not meant to be taken as strict definitions
of the styles, but more of a guideline. ~CV(WR) & MZ~
Discuss Here.
|
Featured
Article:
Memories of an Old Magic Player 10: The
Outsiders Journal #3 - Part 7.
4/2/08 - Are you getting tired of my story yet? Trust me,
you reading it and even me taking the time to write it is not nearly as
draining or frustrating as actually living it out.
Please read on as we are getting very close to concluding
this long tale. ~Chris Newton~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
[Mini-Article] Control Players & How to
Hurt Them.
3/31/08 - Hey guys, Luthervamplord here. This time around
I'm here to help you beat an archetype of player that regularly suffers
from abuse and violence due to their unsavory gaming tactics; these
players have high levels of insurance because they ruin the game for so
many and live in constant fear of the public beatings they rightfully
deserve!Ladies and Gentlemen; I'm referring, of
course, to the Control Player!
As a big time UB player I feel a little strange doing
this; it feels like I'm betraying some sacred oath or something....
Nevertheless, I have come here to give you the facts on these guys and
the tools with which to beat them. ~Luthervamplord~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
MDV Idol 3: The FINALE!
3/28/08 - *The lights begin to
illuminate the stage in a soft blue haze*
Are we on?This is it ladies and
gentlemen. Please return to your seats and hang on. You have been
patiently waiting to see who is the most Talented of the Talented;
Gifted of the Gifted; and who can stop a speeding bullet with a blink of
the eye.
You’ve come here for one single purpose, and that
is to see who won.
I have that answer for you, but all in due time.
THIS is MDV Idol!
*Lights burst into bright white light and the theme song blares through
the speakers* ~MDV Idol 3 Host~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
A Series of Tubes: Enter the Dragon.
3/27/08 - While this series may have a brand new name for
MDV, it's something I've been writing about since my very first article
here (although for pure
trivia it wasn't the first
published. For those not familiar with the meaning of the series name it
comes from Senator Ted Stevens’s explanation of the Internet as
merely a series of tubes during a debate on net neutrality. For
those of you confused on what net neutrality is I offer a very basic
definition: the ability for any user to connect to any other user shall
be impartial. I can think of no finer banner for talking about Magic
Online, as most people who talk about MTGO are just as far off base as
Senator Stevens was with his concept of the Internet.
In this series, I will look at things unique or not so
unique to Magic Online. Topics might include formats that really only
Magic Online (MTGO) players can take true advantage of such as Momir-Vig
Basic, unique decks that would be hard to play without use of MTGO, and
of course the very program itself. In this inaugural article, I had a
plethora of topics I could feasibly touch on from the countdown then
postponing of Version 3.0 to the release of Morningtide or even the
massive rumors swirling about it being ported to Xbox Live! The later of
which gets me awfully excited for some reason. ~Cashew~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
A Fresh Perspective: Stasis - Part One.
3/26/08 - The premise of
this article is based off the
conclusion of another. Those of you who read my editorial
Amongst the Giants will remember that I ended it by thanking
Chris Newton for my favorite article from MDV, his piece on Stasis “Shifting
Lineaments: Lessons in Being Punched in the Face”. In this
article he spoke on how Stasis is still alive and kicking with the good
old Brine Elemental + Vesuvan Shapeshifter or “Pickles” lock. In the
forum responses, Amadeus voiced the question that had been tickling the
back of my mind as I was reading the article and learning the premise
behind “Stasis Theory”. He wrote:
“Tynion alluded to it but I don't think
actually stated it... Would some build of Stasis (I'm thinking
something using the actual card) actually be viable in a fairly
competitive casual setting? What would it need to keep the hordes at
bay? How would Stasis fare if it had been Time Shifted?”
And from that question, this piece is born. ~Dazboot~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Memories of an Old Magic Player 10: The
Outsiders Journal #3 - Part 6.
3/25/08 - We meet again. This is part six of the ongoing
story of one man vs. the field in a State Championship Tournament. Step
inside and read on. I hope to have kept you entertained with my story
thus far. ~Chris Newton~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Raiding the Dollar Bins: Sunburst
Saturdays.
3/24/08 - Everyone who has ever played this game for any
length of time has memories about “the way the game was when they
started.” Some may not like the way the game has changed, and others
have loved every minute of it. For me, I’ve always been looking forward;
I’m eagerly anticipating Shadowmoor when it comes out in May. Still,
it’s hard not to think back fondly on the decks you used to play and
remember the people you played with. The nostalgia is running pretty
thick around here lately. I’ve been playing with some older sets, using
cards I used when I was first playing the game. It’s been a blast, and
I’m here to share some of that excitement with you.
I remember one of my first artifact decks. I had built it
after going to the Fifth Dawn Prerelease, and I remember being extremely
excited about all the new cards. I was especially impressed with the
sunburst mechanic. I was (quite frankly) getting tired of not seeing
colored cards in Mirrodin, and sunburst brought color to the Magic
world. Take a walk with me to the past this week in Raiding the Dollar
Bins. Back when things weren’t so complicated. Back to Sunburst
Saturdays. ~Death_By_Beebles~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
MDV Idol 3: The Judging!
3/20/08 - Last weekend we rounded up the contestants and
grouped them up. Then all last week you guys cast your votes and
eliminated the weaker cards of each group.Now
all that is left is for you to decide the winner of MDV Idol right?
Wrong! It’s time for some fun, as the Judges sit down
and review the finalists.
THIS is MDV Idol!
~MDV Idol 3 Host~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
The Apprentice Magician, Part Five.
3/19/08 - At some point in the life of many spell
slingers there comes a realization that building decks that are flashy
and fun to play is not always the same as building decks that are good.
For some this spawns a desire to advance to an intermediate skill level
of deck construction. Whether acquired intuitively through experience or
by a deliberate effort to study the game, or often a little of both,
this advance is characterized by an understanding of some of the
foundational theoretical concepts of Magic: the Gathering.
In this series we follow such a player as his eyes are
opened to the world of Magic theory and its application to deck
construction. In this episode the discussion turns to speed and
efficiency.
Cue theme song. ~Amadeus~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Memories of an Old Magic Player 10: The
Outsiders Journal #3 - Part 5.
3/18/08 - Welcome back to Memories of an Old Magic
Player. This is part five of this series, where I relate the story of my
voyage through a sea of Magic players en route to trying to actually
play ten rounds of a State Championship Tournament. ~Chris Newton~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
[Mini-Article] The Duel* of Brownies!
3/17/08 - Commentator: Once upon a time, like,
a few weeks ago, there raged a battle of titans whose power shook the
very earth. These Titans known as Ryuzaki and Maleficent will be
battling to the death in a game of Magic! Upon beginning the game, the
Dice of Fate were rolled to decide which of the Titans would begin the
battle. Maleficent rolled a 1, and Ryu an 11. Luck was surely on
Ryuzaki's side. As the adversaries readied themselves for the war,
Maleficent spoke:
Maleficent: So yeah, I haven't played
in months. This should be interesting.
Commentator: Indeed it would be. Ryuzaki began with a simple
land, and Maleficent countered with his own land and cast a mighty
Flamekin Harbinger, searching for a Nova Chaser. Things were looking
perilous for Ryuzaki. Maleficent then put the Elemental into his hand-
Ryuzaki: That doesn't go in your
hand..
Commentator: Realizing his mistake, Maleficent returned the
card to the top of his library, as the Harbinger specified.
Ryuzaki: ...
Maleficent: MONTHS.
Commentator: The two shared a laugh over the silly play, not
knowing that this battle would be recorded in history for all to see....
~Ryuzaki & Maleficent~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Words from the Streetz: I Want My MDV!
3/13/08 -
I’ve been thinking about Magic Deck Vortex lately and wondering on a few
different topics related to this site. Topics like slogans. The various
slogans I’ve used in the past and currently, are they accurate? For
instance, is Magic Deck Vortex really “What the casual players use?” Or,
as I used in the past, is Magic Deck Vortex really “More than meets the
eye?”Of course, there is a lot more than just
slogans to think about. There’s MDV Idol #3. There’s the new MDV Super
Series. There’s the possibility for me to write more articles for MDV.
There’s a new layout to think about for the main site … and more! What
kinds of Words from the Streetz are in store for you today? Looks like
you’ll just have to keep reading. ~Streetz~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
MDV IDOL #3: Let the Voting Begin!
 3/12/08 -
Welcome back to MDV Idol, where we are entering the voting portion of
the competition. The contest is heating up and now comes the important
part of the contest…Who do you think should be
the next MDV Idol?
Take a look inside to see your candidates. ~MDV Idol
Host~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Raiding the Dollar Bins: The Return of
the Vault Ninja.
3/11/08 - He’s the King of class, he’ll kick your ass, sea bass! Mr.
Vault Ninja, the Ultimate Headache of Wizards of the Coast! Whole formats were
built and then were banned based on this little one mana creature, and now he’s
ready for some more action. He’s back ladies and gentlemen, for the first time
since… wait, what’s this? He never left? Well, oops. That’s rather embarrassing.Embarrassing, but true. Vault Ninja, for those of you who
don’t know, is Disciple of the Vault (who was printed and got his nickname
before Ninjas were actually a type in Magic, go figure), and he was at the root
of some of most broken decks in a Standard format long ago and far away. Ravager
Affinity, or just Raffinity, used this little dandy along with Arcbound Ravager
and cheap Affinity artifacts to pump out a deadly stream of creatures that would
eventually culminate in 11 or 12 +1/+1 counters on an Ornithopter, equipped with
Cranial Plating swinging at your face (to add a cherry on top of that pain
sundae, you had probably already lost 10 life from the Vault Ninja).
Raw power is what the Vault Ninja is, and we’re going to
tap into that power for this week’s Raiding the Dollar Bins. ~Death_By_Beebles~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Memories of an Old Magic Player 10: The
Outsiders Journal #3 - Part 4.
3/10/08 - Whew, rolling right along here. Greetings again. If you
are still reading, then hopefully I have you captivated and you are enjoying
spending a long day with me as I beat people senseless and lose my shirt at the
same time.This is the continuing saga of one man's determined march to the top of the
mountain, in his mind.
If you have not read the previous parts, I would highly recommend doing so to
get caught up with the story before reading on... ~Chris Newton~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
What's New with MDV? The MDV Super
Series!
3/3/08 - Welcome fellow gamers. Being that we are all
drawn together due to our shared competitive nature and desire to learn
more about the game Magic: the Gathering, I have devised a way to bring
us all one step closer.
The MDV Super Series! Want to know more about it? You
will have to step inside and get the low down. ~Chris Newton~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Editorial: MDV Newsletter.
3/3/08 - Another day another dollar. What does that mean?
It means that given another day to think about something, I came up with
another great idea, and in this editorial, I will give you the low down
on the newest item to rock your Vortex experience: The MDV Newsletter.
~Chris Newton~
Discuss Here.
|
Featured
Article:
MDV IDOL 3: A Mysterious Twist.
3/3/08 - You have waited a long time for this. Your time
of waiting has come to and end.
Are you ready for it?
This... is... MDV Idol!!! ~MDV
Idol Host~
Discuss Here.
|
A
Week in Blogging - for the week of 2/25/08.
3/2/08 - Below are the blogs from the past two weeks. Apologies on
missing last weekend's summary of blogs. Please enjoy! ~Streetz~
|
Featured
Article:
[Mini-Article] Controlling the Game:
Without Blue.
2/28/08 - Hi guys, Luthervamplord here and I've got a
question for you:If I were to say 'Control';
how many of you would immediately think of cards like Counterspell and
Rewind? Quite a few of you I'm sure. I can almost hear some of you guys
yelling out 'Dashed Hopes' and again you'd still be falling into a trap
that I myself believed for some time.
When I started playing MTG back in Seventh edition I
played Mono-U control exclusively because at the time my flavor was
control and had always believed that control was purely the domain of
Blue - but I now know this is not the case.
You see, there are ways and means to control a game
without resorting to counterspells; that is only one of many routes you
can take to ruin your opponents day.
Don't know what I mean? Well then this would be the
perfect time to hand you over to two of the greatest minds in the
Writers Guild - My good friend Tynion and the young-blood they call
Amadeus. ~Chris Newton & Amadeus~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
[Mini-Article] The Design on a Dime
Challenge: Luther vs. DBB.
2/27/08 - It's Luthervamplord versus Death_By_Beebles in
a budget deck building challenge taken to the extreme. In Luther and
DBB's latest mini-article series, which MDV Writer has got the stuff it
takes to win a deck building challenge that only gives you $10 to make a
deck? Check it out here! ~Death_By_Beebles
& Luthervamplord~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Winning, More Than Just Zero Life.
2/26/08 - When it comes to winning, what comes to mind? Akroma is a
good win condition. So is Tombstalker. Perhaps you like clogging up the board
with lots of little creatures. Or maybe you like to throw 15 Elves into play,
attack with one Scryb Sprite and have a Timberwatch Elf turn that 1/1 Sprite
into a 16/16 creature and bulldoze your opponent into oblivion!You could be a control player. A control player loves to
make the board clear of any debris and attack with a nasty finisher like Aeon
Chronicler. What about combos? Anyone like 1,204,500,129 point Fireballs split
between three opponents?
What do they all have in common?
They are all not winning the game the same way that the
following writers are going to show you. As they are going to show you that
there is more to winning than dealing 20 points of damage. ~Ryuzaki & Chris
Newton~ Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
[Mini-Article] The Creature Only Game.
2/25/08 - There are many different types of cards in
Magic. Normally when you create your deck, you mix them all up and
utilize them in the best manner to defeat your opponent.
What would you say though if I told you that you
couldn’t use instants in your deck? Oh, and you also can’t use
artifacts; or enchantments. Please don’t use sorceries either. They are
very bothersome. One last thing… you can’t use planeswalkers either.
Welcome to the Creatures Only Game.
In this Mini-Article, Death_By_Beebles and
Luthervamplord will discuss that very concept. ~Death_By_Beebles
& Luthervamplord~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
MDV Article Mechanic - Mini Articles!
2/25/08 - Welcome to another exciting 'Week' at MDV.
While normally our weeks would be a Theme Week, or possible First
Impressions Week, or maybe even MDV Idol week(s?), this week will be a
little bit different.This week will be
dedicated to introducing you to a completely new idea; a new concept
that has been developed and now fleshed out.
Take a look inside and find details on what exactly a
Mini-Article is. ~Chris Newton~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
If I Worked at R&D... the first one!
2/22/08 - [Note: This is a
reprint of the first ever in this series]. Okay
people, here it is: the start of my writing career at MDV! (Hoping and wishing,
hoping and wishing, hoping and wishing...) But seriously, I hope you like this
article and will support this article thread. So what do I plan to do with this
space of mine? What else -- Make Cards! ~Luthervamplord~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Tribal Coffee: The Smaller Tribes.
2/20/08 - The Onslaught and Lorwyn blocks are all about
Tribal. The problem is that they don’t address some of the smaller
tribes. Instead, several of the already large tribes were chosen and
further developed in these blocks. I can understand why Wizards of the
Coast would do this, but why don’t they develop some of the smaller
creature tribes too? They’ve been known to humanize tribes like
Elephants, Cats, Foxes, and others, which expanded those tribes and gave
us casual players deck building options. But what about Fish,
Cockatrice, Crab, Hellion, Gorgon, Monger, Ferret, Eye, Boar, Homarid
and Antelope (to name a few)?And with that said
I welcome you to one of my new series: Tribal Coffee. In this series I
will talk about anything Tribal related: the casual version, the online
version, various alternate Tribal formats and most importantly Tribal
Deck Lists. However, if you are looking for a tournament caliber deck
for Tribal Online, I would steer clear of today’s article. Today I’ll be
picking three uber small tribes and building decks with them. ~Streetz~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Memories of an Old Magic Player 10: The
Outsiders Journal #3 - Part 3.
2/19/08 - Welcome back. This is Part Three of the
extremely long story of one man’s trek through a State Championship
Tournament.If you missed Part One or Two, you
should check here, where you will find the archive of all the parts of
this story. Make sure you read them in order, or you may miss something
important and/or funny. ~Chris Newton~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Raiding the Dollar Bins: Counter Wars.
2/18/08 - If you weren’t immediately turned off by the title of my
latest Raiding the Dollar Bins article, congratulations, you fared better than
my college roommate. One of the integral parts of Blue in Magic: the Gathering
is the counterspell. Counterspells are the bread and butter of a good Blue
Control deck. Counters give you the chance to say no to your opponent’s
shenanigans and keep that ridiculous combo from going anywhere.Fortunately for my sake, and yours, those are NOT the
counters that we’re talking about today. I’m talking counters counters. You
know, creature counters, +1/+1 counters, time counters, shell counters, whatever
kind of counter floats your boat counters; those pesky beads, coins, and potato
chips that sit on top of your cards. This week, we’re playing around with some
counters, and we’ll see where we go. ~Death_By_Beebles~
Discuss Here. |
A
Week in Blogging - for the week of 2/11/08.
2/16/08 - Below are the blogs from the past week. Be sure to check them
out and discuss them in our forums. Let the bloggers know what you
thought; let the bloggers know you read their material and loved it or hated
it! ~Streetz~
|
Featured
Article:
Class-Wars Results!
2/15/08 - Welcome fellow staff and readers to the second
class-based deck building contest results. When
Streetz ran the
Class-ifed contest a year and a half ago, Death_by_Beebles
took the first place prize with his deck Deathshaker, a Shaman vehicle.
Some of this year’s non-winners have already been revealed - but the
question remains: Can Shamans take home the prize again?
First let’s look at all the race-class combos that
entered to show you just how varied the decks really were when some
initially questioned me about how narrow this contest would be. Also,
for those naysayers at home—you two who kept telling me it would be
nothing but Goblin tribes—I only have to say: Not a single one. It was a
total shock for me as Goblin Warriors are massively strong, but hey the
people proved me right. Elves and Humans ended up being the most popular
tribes while Druids and Wizards took home most popular classes. ~Cashew~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
The Apprentice Magician, Part Four.
2/14/08 - At some point in the life of many spell
slingers there comes a realization that building decks that are flashy
and fun to play is not always the same as building decks that are good.
For some this spawns a desire to advance to an intermediate skill level
of deck construction. Whether acquired intuitively through experience or
by a deliberate effort to study the game, or often a little of both,
this advance is characterized by an understanding of some of the
foundational theoretical concepts of Magic: the Gathering.
In this series we follow such a player as his eyes are
opened to the world of Magic theory and its application to constructed
decks built for a “competitive casual” environment. In the previous
installments we looked at
resources and
lineup theory
and began a discussion of
card advantage. In this episode the
discussion of card advantage is completed along with a brief discussion
of card quality.
Cue theme song. ~Amadeus~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
First Impressions: Morningtide Blue - By
jokerinexile.
2/13/08 - I play casual. I love kicking it with the guy’s
playing cards and talking about how late we all run in life. That’s my
idea of fun. So I’m going to talk about my experience with casual and
how these new set of cards will interact within my casual group. I’ve
played in some tourneys and had minor league success but casual is where
the heart is and …well… whatever. My goal is to make you think.
~jokerinexile~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
First Impressions: Article Writing.
2/13/08 - If you check out the
thread, you can see my response to
Tynion’s First Impression’s article. There was one particular card,
Stomping Slabs, which he had given a D. ‘Forget about the pesky “reveal
the top seven cards of your library…” part, we’re talking about seven
damage for three mana. This must be a good card.’, I had thought to
myself. In the forum, and later in a private message to Tynion, I called
him out on this card and spoke boldly of a T2 deck where this card could
work. He said, “Write me an article.” So I set about diligently
building, and chronicling my attempts at utilizing this card.
“Have you ever heard of Scry?” I said. Of course Tynion
had. It was my first thought on how to set up a deck to use this card.
With cards like Cryptic Annelid and Foresee, it had to be possible to
make this work. Blue and Red. “I can do that,” I thought, “Search and
destroy.” ~hamsandwich~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Editorial: Reader Impressions.
2/13/08 - In the Wake of First Impressions Week, I have
received two Impression articles that came from readers in response to
my Editorial. I thought
it would be a good idea to post them and get a more diverse view of
Morningtide. ~Chris Newton~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Memories of an Old Magic Player 10: The
Outsiders Journal #3 - Part 2.
2/12/08 - This is Part Two of the admittedly lengthy
story of one man’s ride through a huge field of players in a State
Championship Tournament.If you missed Part One,
you should check here
first. Make sure you read the story in order, or you may miss something
important and/or funny. ~Chris Newton~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Raiding the Dollar Bins: Red vs. Blue.
2/11/08 - Red and Blue are probably two of the strangest
colors to put together, if you think about Magic in a flavor-y,
Vorthos-y type of way. Blue is the element of the mind, conscious
thought, planning, and thinking. Red, on the other hand, is all about
the here and the now , the “me me me” and “get out of my way if you
think you’re going to stop me from doing what I want, right now!” I
suppose that’s why they made the two colors enemies.
Regardless of the flavor, Red and Blue have made some of
the greatest decks in Magic’s history. One Standard season ago, players
were using them along with Urza’s lands to make enough mana to cast an
uncounterable Demonfire, and have counterspells along the way to make
sure that their opponent couldn’t ever resolve a useful spell. Versions
of Trix (a tournament deck that Donates an Illusions of Grandeur to its
opponent) play Red for cards like Fire//Ice. Today, I’d like to channel
the power and the purpose of Blue and Red, and do some things that will
make your next casual match a little more fun. ~Death_By_Beebles~
Discuss Here. |
A
Week in Blogging - for the week of 2/4/08.
2/9/08 - Below are the blogs from the past week. Be sure to check them
out and discuss them in our forums. Let the bloggers know what you
thought; let the bloggers know you read their material and loved it or hated
it!
OK - so I lied. This is really a list of the some of
the blogs from the past two weeks. How's everyone liking the blogs of
MDV so far? ~Streetz~ |
Featured
Article:
Vanguard: Across the Formats #5.
2/8/08 - Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the fifth
article of the series, Vanguard: Across the Formats!
Those readers who have read any of the previous articles
will be aware that the purpose of this article is to lift the illusion
surrounding Vanguard; that it exists only as a standalone format. The
beauty of Vanguard is that it is a format enhancer; the rules can be
applied to nearly any other format!
Now normally for each article I would take two random
Vanguard cards or Avatars (meaning I would cover both the original cards
and the new online versions) as well as a random Magic format, and I
would create a deck for each for your viewing pleasure; but this time
I’m trying something a bit different – this time I’m choosing the format
rules myself, but I’m still randomly choosing the avatars.
Now whilst this is a change from the status quo, I
shall explain myself and hopefully you’ll appreciate my angle. As you
all know by now; I am an alternate format junkie – I honestly can’t get
enough of them. The change in rules brings new challenges, new
surprises, interesting combos and unique playing experiences that you
just can’t get from a T2 game. ~Luthervamplord~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
First Impressions: Morningtide - Flavor
Edition.
2/8/08 - Now that Lorwyn is finally over, we can expect a
decent set from the good folks at Wizards: Shadowmoor. Unlike the fluffy
pretty crap from Lorwyn, Shadowm-What?
Morningtide? What the hell is that? An expansion of Lorwyn? Good Lord...
no, they couldn't have... ~Maleficent~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Casually Alternate: Morningtide - Green
(First Impressions).
2/7/08 - Welcome readers to the last in the current
series of Casually Alternate, the First impressions of a player who
favors those formats outside of the mainstream. As ever I am your
eternal host, Luthervamplord. Encase some of you have missed the earlier
editions to this series, follow the link at the bottom of this page to
my article listing and look for them there. ~Luthervamplord~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
The Apprentice Magician, Part Three.
2/7/08 - At some point in the life of many spell
slingers, there comes a realization that building decks that are flashy
and fun to play is not always the same as building decks that are good.
For some this spawns a desire to advance to an intermediate skill level
of deck construction. Whether acquired intuitively through experience or
by a deliberate effort to study the game, or often a little of both,
this advance is characterized by an understanding of some of the
foundational theoretical concepts of Magic: the Gathering.
In this series we follow such a player as his eyes are
opened to the world of Magic theory and it's application to constructed
decks built for a “competitive casual” environment. In the previous
installments we looked at resources and
lineup theory. In this episode these
concepts are pulled together into a discussion of card advantage, one of
the most essential theoretical concepts for budding deck builders and
players alike.
Cue theme song. ~Amadeus~
Discuss Here.
|
 New
Series: The Apprentice Magician.
2/6/08 - This series started in December of 2007 and as of today has had
its third article published. Keep checking back for more -- there
are several more parts to this series before its over. Or will it
end? ~Streetz~ |
Featured
Article:
2007 MDV Writers Guild Awards.
2/6/08 - Now that 2007 is behind us, we can finally begin
a new tradition here at MDV, and that is the MDV Writer’s Guild Awards.
You may be thinking to yourself, “Isn’t there already an
awards system in the forums?” Yes there is, and in that system you get a
vote, but in this one you don’t get a say. However, we will do our best
to keep you entertained with the new addition to the MDV tradition:
The Annual MDV Writers Guild Awards.
These awards are handed out from the Senior Writing
staff to everyone in general. We have broken the MDV community into
three categories; writers, forum users, and forum admins. Each of the
categories were assigned to a Senior Member and they were asked to
create awards for deserving people.
Let's see how the event unfolds. ~Tynion,
Death_By_Beebles & Streetz~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Casually Alternate: Morningtide - Blue
(First Impressions).
2/5/08 - Welcome readers, the next part in my First
Impressions series aimed at all you casual players and fans of the
alternate formats. I am your eternal host, Luthervamplord and this
series is a serious change of pace with me; here’s hoping you’re
enjoying it so far. But enough talk, you came for a set review and
that’s what you’re going to get. ~Luthervamplord~
Discuss Here. |
Featured
Article:
Memories of an Old Magic Player 10: The
Outsiders Journal #3.
2/5/08 - My previous Memories articles have been about my
perspective of how Magic was back in the day, and on occasion, I would
tell you a story about how a time period played out or how a deck
worked. I wanted to do something a little different this time.
In this eight-part article series, I will tell you the
story of one event in my personal Magic career, and most likely, my
crowning achievement. That in itself is not the different part; the
different part is that I will tell the story from my mind, and not my
mouth.
Read on, and see what I mean. ~Chris Newton~
Discuss Here. | |
