Predisposal

Michael Flores and I got together last night to drink some cold brewed coffee from Joe’s, talk about the ramifications of the changes to Organized Play for last weekend’s Magic 2012 Prerelease events, make some suggestions on how to handle Prereleases in the future, and do some brainstorming about potential Standard decks for the upcoming $75K tournament in Chicago.

We also spoke about Pascal Maynard’s winning decklist from the Canadian Magic Tour which is listed below:

ShiftBlade
Pascal Maynard — Winner
Canadian Magic Tour

4 Squadron Hawk
3 Emeria Angel
4 Preordain
4 Mana Leak
3 Spell Pierce
2 Sword of Feast and Famine
2 Gravitational Shift
2 Gideon Jura
2 Jace Beleren
2 Dismember
2 Into the Roil
2 Journey to Nowhere
1 Gitaxian Probe
1 Deprive
4 Seachrome Coast
4 Celestial Colonnade
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Inkmoth Nexus
4 Island
3 Plains
2 Arid Mesa
1 Scalding Tarn
Sideboard:
4 Flashfreeze
3 Day of Judgment
2 Celestial Purge
2 Spellskite
2 Mental Misstep
1 Dismember
1 Divine Offering

Mike also mentioned an old interview he did on SCG which is linked here.

Looking Ahead to Magic 2012

If there is one thing I hate about core sets is the limited amount of fodder they provide for punny podcast titles. Feel free to make some suggestions in the comments section as there will be more M12 coverage and discussion in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Mike Flores and I got together at our now regular podcast rendezvous to clear the air about other podcast we have been seeing on the side, a little bit of chatter about the recent bannings of Jace, the Mind Scuiptor and Stoneforge Mystic, and a wander through the Card Image Gallery for the new cards that will be released in the coming weeks.

Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 Preview

I was lucky enough yesterday to get a sneak peak at Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 courtesy of Magic Brand Manager Paul Levy. Paul sat down for a podcast to discuss the online release on June 15th and I was excited to hear about how closely integrated Duels 2012 is with the upcoming base set release. I was even more excited when I got to see some actual M12 booster packs (sadly I could not convince anyone to draft with them — or even open them) AND some actual M12 cards that are featured in some of the decks in the game. I also walked away with the promo Grave Titan, Frost Titan (and Top8Magic listeners know I am excited about that one), and Inferno Titan. Depending on what platform you purchase Duels 2012 on you will get a code redeemable for one of these alternate art beauties.

Duels of the Planeswalkers goes on sale for Xbox Live Arcade, PC via Steam,

and PlayStation Network on June 15th. Magic 2012 Core Set will be available on July 15th at game stores the worldwide. Players from both the digital and analog sides of the game will come together for a Magic Celebration on September 10th all around the world.

In the meanwhile enjoy these preview of a handful of the cards that appear in the Magic 2012 Core Set. You can find the rest of those images below the fold — or not if you don’t like spoilers. Read the rest of this entry »

Splinter For The Win with MichaelJ

Kudos to our own Michael J Flores for winning the TCGPlayer.com WWS Big Apple this past weekend with the long-threatened Splinter Twin/Deceiver Exarch combo deck. Mike fought his way through a 200+ person field that was split into two separate flights which merged into a single elimination Top 16. There, he squared off with Chris Leveque and Grixis Twin, GP winner Dave Shiels with Caw-Blade, MOCS competitor Reid Duke with Blue-Black Control, and finally — in a show down between the grizzled veteran Flores and the young upstart Flores — Edgar Flores with Caw-Blade.

We talked the Monday after the tournament about the big win, his individual card choices, and the operational techniques he used to get through the very long and grueling event. Here is the decklist he used and as a bonus I have included Top8Magic intern Matt Ferrando’s Bant Blade list which he played to a Top 16 finish — after winning a SCG IQ qualifier with it last week.

Splinter Twin
Michael Flores — Winner
2011 TCGplayer.com WWS Big Apple

4 Deceiver Exarch
2 Inferno Titan
2 Jace Beleren
4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Pilgrim’s Eye
4 Sea Gate Oracle
4 Into the Roil
3 Mana Leak
4 Preordain
2 Spell Pierce
4 Splinter Twin
10 Island
8 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
4 Tectonic Edge

Sideboard:
1 Basilisk Collar
1 Consecrated Sphinx
1 Dispel
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Jace Beleren
1 Jace’s Ingenuity
2 Manic Vandal
2 Pyroclasm
2 Spell Pierce
2 Spellskite
1 Trinket Mage

You can find all the Top 16 decklists here but I have singled out Matt Ferrando’s Bant Blade and longtime friend of Top8Magic.com’s Luis Neiman’s Dark Blade below the fold. Read the rest of this entry »

Talking PyroTwin Combo

Mike Flores and I sat down for a nice windy cup of coffee to discuss his burgeoning love affair with the new PryoTwin decks that will be emerging from the post-New Phyrexia Standard format. Mike has always been a proponent of Pyromancer’s Ascension in Standard, going all the way back to last year’s Nationals season, and with the addition of free spells and the extra Splinter Twin combo thanks to the printing of the flashy new Deceiver Exarch he has declared it to be the deck to beat in the coming weeks. Why does he feel so strongly about it? I guess you will have to give a listen to find out.

Freeking Without Flores Part 2

Limited Information author and Star City Games Content Manager Steve Sadin and I pick up where we left off — more or less — with Michael J Flores in talking about the individual cards from New Phyrexia. We look at different decks the cards might go in ranging from 40 card draft decks to 99 card Commander vessels. It is an exciting and deep set with cards that shake up just about every format. Hope you enjoy it!

PS If you are going to be at the Gray Matter Conventions Prerelease in New York City on Saturday, May 7th both Steve and I will be there.

Freeking Without Flores Part 1

Limited Information author and Star City Games Content Manager Steve Sadin and I pick up where we left off — more or less — with Michael J Flores in talking about the individual cards from New Phyrexia. We look at different decks the cards might go in ranging from 40 card draft decks to 99 card Commander vessels. It is an exciting and deep set with cards that shake up just about every format. Hope you enjoy it!

PS If you are going to be at the Gray Matter Conventions Prerelease in New York City on Saturday, May 7th both Steve and I will be there.

Spoiler Alert (or Freeking with Flores)

Still reeling from the news that World Champion Guillaume Matignon and Worlds Finalist Guillaume Wafo-Tapa — along with two other players — were being suspended from the DCI for their involvement in leaking the New Phyrexia “godbooks” out to the Magic community, Mike and I sat down for a cup of coffee to discuss. We were joined mid conversation by Steve Sadin and then moved on to discuss the blue and white cards from the new set that were made public earlier that week.

Look for some permutation of me, Mike and Steve to talk about the remaining colors later in the week.

hashtagJaceHammer

I caught up with Mike the other day to discuss the online clamor about Jace, The Mind Sculptor utterly dominating finish at Grand Prix: Dallas. We went on to discuss playing in Regionals this weekend including not only what to play but what the proper spousal compensation for taking a precious Saturday afternoon to do so is. Other topics included “bird” watching, Mike’s mono-white control deck for Standard, and the impending Game of Thrones series on HBO.

Carmelo Cast

Anyone who follows me (@Top8Games) or Steve Sadin (@stevesadin) on Twitter is probably aware of how excited we were about the Carmelo Anthony trade that has brought him to the New York Knicks. Anyone who follows Mike (@fivewithflores) knows what a basketball fan he is and it was impossible for us to not get together and chat about the trade, argue about the merits of various players, and — once the dust settled — talk plenty about Magic as well.

The original plan for the podcast was to talk while Mike’s daughter Bella took her karate class. The class got canceled and Bella was available to set us straight on what cards Steve should have played in his deck for Magic Weekend in Paris, who wins in a fight between Jace and Great Sable Stag, and what the best Planeswalker actually is. Here is a hint:

This should have been posted sooner but circumstances entirely within my control conspired to delay it. Shortly after this goes up I will be headed over to Katz’s Delicatessen for what will hopefully become Katz Kast with several dozen Magic players including the likes of out-of-towners Gerry Thompson, Megan Holland, and Gavin Verhey who are all visiting for the SCG Open Series in Edison, New Jersey this weekend.