The Planeswalker's Stronghold

We have entered what I believe to be the most exciting time of the Magic year. The begging of summer, and the end of the traditional school year, ushers in the largest recruitment time for the game. It appears Wizards recognizes this opportunity too, and is making a special offer to encourage existing customer, but primarily to create a unique opportunity for noobs . This doesn't present a huge boon for most established mages , but if you are new to the game, or been waiting for the right time to jump in, the sound you are hearing may just be opportunity knocking. In most of my budget articles, I have established $20.00 as the relevant entry point. For this amount a careful mage can establish a reasonable collection, and create one or more playable decks. You may have noticed that Wizards is targeting a $15.00 purchase, and committing a potential for a bonus $10.00 in freebies. The chance to get an extra 40% bang for your buck, just shouldn't be missed out on by any new ma...

(Contributed by John Kozlowski) I’ve got that writing bug, and decided to write another article for the Planeswalker’s Stronghold. Today I will discuss the best card ever printed. Its my favorite card as well. Nope, its not Grim Reminder, it’s Recurring Nightmare. Recurring Nightmare is fantastic. I run it in my 250 card highlander 5-color deck, and I smile wickedly whenever I draw it. When I do, things normally get out of control. About a year ago, I was accused of unfairly abusing this card, so much so that an entire multi-player table would scoop when the Recursion began. For a mere B2, you gain a renewable engine to recur creatures in and out (and in and out) of your graveyard as many times as you need. Let me explain… Survival of the Fittest When Recurring Nightmare was originally printed way back in 1998 in the Exodus expansion, the mechanics of the game were clearly different. The cardpool was smaller, and the effects were tamer. Recurring Nightmare was immediately paired with a...

(Contributed by John Kozlowski) 5-color Magic is regarded by some as the most electrifying format in all of magic. It has been gaining popularity in the Triangle over the past year, with many new players experimenting with the original "Big Deck" format. 5-Color Deck-building Criteria: Here is the basic skinny: 5-color decks must contain a minimum of 250 cards, with at least 20 cards of each color. That doesn’t sound too complicated, does it? Its not. Really. In fact, the minimal amount of trouble you’ll experience is deciding which cards NOT to include! Although some decks do run powerful cards such as Ancestral Recall & Library of Alexandria, not every deck has to run the Power-9 to be as efficient. Remember, there are 250 cards your dealing with… the chances of drawing Ancestral Recall in a 60-card deck is 1/60, or about 1.7%. The chances of drawing Ancestral Recall in a 5-Color deck is 1/250, or 0.04%. That is a fairly small percentage, not enough to let it be a barri...

Well, maybe not completely different. I often use this platform to talk about something I've heard related to Magic the Gathering . Today I'm going to talk about something I have heard more and more. Sometimes in life, media, and imagination somethings take on a life of their own, becoming more then sum of their parts, and reaching beyond the scope and measure of the seed thought which spawned them. Recently it has come to my attention that something as simple as a color, has done just that. We've come together today through the force and will of pink . For a year now this simple blending of red and white has brought people together from all across the globe, inspired and renewed friendships, shared hopes, dreams, and passions of individuals. It has in some small but measurable way, changed the world, and the people in it. I have thought that I was beyond the scope of this phenomenon, as beyond an impressive collection of scars, I really have nothing pink in my life. Let...

Deadly Perils, Priceless Treasures. Amongst those of use who attempt to riddle out he next step of Magic evolution, long before it is intended to be known, it has long been established the role the world's religions often play. Often times the inspiration for the "contrived" words of Magic truly come from relatively obscure religious text. In fact many people attribute the foundations of the five color of magic, and the original color pie to the 5 dominate threads of religious thought. Since the beginning we have seen minor nods to religion through out Magic's history. These often originate, or point to the Avesta, one of the most ancient religious movement in the history of the world, and the origin of Christianity, Judaism, Hindu, and Buddhism. For instance, during the Weatherlight Saga, Urza's chosen savior for the world was Gerrard, derived as a slight bastardization of the Zend word for hero, and for borrowed. His love interest, Hanna, daughter of Barrin, is ...

Fall 2009 marks a potentialy important turning point for our little community. For many of us, Extended becomes a playable option for the first time in our Magic carrers. I know the last stretch in which I played magic, Extended did not even exist as a format. This fall as Onslaught Legions, and Scourge rotate out of the format, an number of barriers to entry go along with it. First and formost the all power full fetchlands will fade in to the memory of Extended, likely never to return. These 5 cars alone drop your "must have budget" by $450.00 for the playset easily. This makes the Ravnica Shockland cycle the dual lands of choice in Extended, at half the price. Recent mana fixing alternatives make budget versions of decks playable, with an accepted temp loss. The key to budget building will be to identify the decks which are not impacted by this tempo loss. I'll save that line of thinking for another day. The next real impact will be felt by the Control decks. Not only w...