Magic: the Gathering Strategy Resources

As my time to play Magic continues to diminish I get most of my information from articles and streams . I wanted to know if I was missing any resources, so I set out to see if there were any sites that I didn't know about. I was very surprised to be unable to find a comprehensive list of Magic blogs and online content. For a community that is extremely reliant on the flow of information from articles and other online content it was quite surprising to me that nobody has compiled this list already (as far as I could find anyway). Maybe this list is so ingrained into our Magic consciousness that we don't even think about needing such a list. Consequently, I wanted to create a list of the Magic: the Gathering resources.

For each item on the list I have added a personal Pro and Con so that the uninitiated can use that to guide where they want to go. Enjoy.

Article Sites:

http://www.blackborder.com/
Pro: Content is free.
Con: They don't have quite as many big names but they have a lot of pro tour players and judges writing for them.

http://www.brainstormbrewery.com/
Pro: Content is free.
Con: Limited number of writers.

http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/
Pro: Content is free.
Con: Content is primarily driven by standard and can sometimes be updated in patchy bursts.

http://www.eternalcentral.com/
Pro: Free-ish.
Con: Irregular updates + downloadable articles that you need to pay for.

http://www.happymtg.com/
Pro: This site was off the radar for a long time until Saito starting spamming twitter, etc. with deck lists. Previously, I used to get a lot of Japanese "tech" from this site (all formats). Also content is free.
Con: Content is in Japanese but you can use Google translator which makes some of the articles close to unreadable. Thanks goodness deck lists don't usually need an explanation.

http://www.starcitygames.com/
Pro: Has the most content on the internet and posts new content daily. Does have some free content.
Con: Costs money for premium though you can get a free month every time you play in an SCG event.

http://magic.tcgplayer.com/
Pro: Content is free.
Con: Their site is totally terrible and the content is usually a re-hash of content that is already on Starcitygames or Channelfireball.

http://www.manaleak.com/mtguk/
Pro: Content is free.
Con: Limited number of writers.

http://themeadery.org/
Pro: Content is free.
Con: Limited number of writers.

Blogs:

http://bmkgaming.com/blog/
Pro: As far as big names in Magic go, this is pretty high up there and it feels a little more personal than an article.
Con: Not that much Magic content but occasionally there are some good tidbits on there.

http://blog.mtgmadness.com/
Pro: A literal shit ton of pros are on this team
Con: The updates are patchy as hell but the content is sometimes very good if you strike it at the right time.

http://mtgbazaar-teamz.blogspot.com/
Pro: Varied content.
Con: Patchy updates.

Forums:

http://mtgthesource.com/
Pro: Legacy.
Con: Only Legacy and the quality of posts seems to diminish day-by-day.

http://www.mtgsalvation.com/
Pro: May be the best place for spoilers.
Con: The quality of forum posts is total garbage.


Twitch:

www.twitch.tv/ajsacher
Pro: Free...good commentary
Con: Currently he is all Hearthstone all the time though the Legacy GP in NJ changed that recently.

www.twitch.tv/pvddr
Pro: Watch a member of the HOF stream MTG or Hearthstone
Con: I find Paulo really difficult to listen to.

www.twitch.tv/scglive
Pro: Any time Patrick Sullivan is in the booth (and Cedric too).
Con: Sometimes they are a little off base but this is the best live content you will see. Also don't listen to Patrick talk about NJ.

This list is severely slanted to the places that I personally go to find content. If you have any other places that are worthy of a mention please let me know and I will update.

Cheers,
Simon

Legacy - UR Delver (with a little Green)

I have been a big proponent of Delver of Secrets since it was first printed and the new UR Delver deck has taken my fancy for the last couple of weeks. I have a few small changes that are a little different that what most people are playing.

 

My List:

 

Creatures (11)

• 4 Delver of Secrets
• 4 Monastery Swiftspear
• 4 Young Pyromancer

Lands (16)

• 1 Island
• 1 Mountain
• 3 Flooded Strand
• 4 Scalding Tarn
• 1 Tropical Island
• 4 Volcanic Island
• 2 Wooded Foothills

Spells (33)

• 4 Brainstorm
• 3 Daze
• 4 Force of Will
• 4 Lightning Bolt
• 1 Pyroblast
• 2 Spell Pierce
• 2 Forked Bolt
• 4 Gitaxian Probe
• 4 Ponder
• 4 Treasure Cruise

The list is mostly stock other than the Tropical Island (for the sideboard) and the Spell Pierces. Nobody is running spell pierce right now so nobody is playing around it and I have caught quite a few Batterskulls with it. I do not know if the Basic Mountain is required and it may just be better off as another fetchland to help fuel Treasure Cruise. I am also interested in running a singleton Wasteland but currently the list is so tight that it is tricky to know how to shoe horn it in. When nobody is playing around Wasteland the power of the card goes up a lot. The tough thing is that you really want to draw spells and not lands off your Treasure Cruises...I also think that I have seen more basic lands than I have seen in legacy since 2002.

My Sideboard:

• 2 Grafdigger's Cage
• 0/1 Flusterstorm
• 2 Sulfuric Vortex
• 2/3 Destructive Revelry
• 1 Blue Elemental Blast
• 1 Electrickery / Sudden Demise / Forked Bolt
• 1 Price of Progress
• 3 Pyroblast
• 1/2 Grim Lavamancer

The sideboard feels very strong to me. Everyone is bringing in Blue Elemental Blast, Disenchant and Wear/Tear, so it may be correct to cut the Sulfuric Vortex but they are just so strong vs. miracles and the mid-range stone forge decks. The Destructive Revelry is there primarily to blow up Artifacts but it can also be used to blow up Rest in Peace, Energy Field, Moat, etc.

What you do not see here is Blood Moon. Every deck at the moment seems to be playing basics as there is a dip in the number of 3 colour tempo decks. As a result I don't like Blood Moon and I also cut down on the number of Price's for the same reason. Having your opponents play around cards you aren't even playing is also very beneficial, especially when it lets you play other random cards that they might not be ready for. :)

Cheers,
Simon