Masters 25 Continues To Impress

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Newsletter
Thursday, March 1st

Why, hello there, Masters 25!

If the goal of the powers that be was to celebrate Magic's 25th anniversary in style, they're doing that and then some! Simply put, Magic 25 looks awesome and I can't wait to get my hands on the entire set to crack some packs for a good ole Boosty D. I mean, just look at this set! We all knew about Jace, the Mind Sculptor coming back pretty early on, but other old cards with new artwork really have me going. Cards like Exclude, Flash, Living Death, Undead Gladiator, Imperial Recruiter, Pillage, Fierce Empath, and Watchwolf are back and look better than ever!

Speaking of being back and better than ever, that's the only way to describe Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Bloodbraid Elf right now. Both have been smashing the Modern queues on Magic Online and Gerry Thompson's got all the decklists to demonstrate their dominance. If it's Legacy advice you're looking for, Ben Friedman's got your #SCGWOR Legacy deck guide all ready to go just in time for our Open this weekend. And if you're tired of losing to The Scarab God in Standard? Winding Constrictor aficionado Jadine Klomparens breaks down all the ways to beat Standard's most problematic 5/5.

As for me, I'm preparing for a lengthy cross country trip to cover all the Wasteland activations I can handle at #SCGWOR. I'll be joined by Patrick Sullivan, Nick Miller, and the rest of the @SCGTour crew as we work our way through fifteen rounds of Legacy action on my birthday weekend. Really, what better way to spend a weekend turning 32 than PSulli yelling in my ear every time a Wasteland destroys a nonbasic land while Nick tries to troll us with what he puts on camera?

I lead a charmed life, I tell ya!

— Cedric Phillips, Content Coordinator

March 10-11
Modern

March 24-25
Team Constructed

April 7-8
Modern

GerryT's Ten Things: Jace And Bloodbraid In Modern, In Practice
By Gerry Thompson  

People have been following these rules:

Step 1: Add Jace, the Mind Sculptor to bad combo deck.

Step 2: Profit.

That's definitely not how it works, though. The common theme throughout this article (and recent Modern events, really) is that Jace, the Mind Sculptor needs to be utilized in a proactive shell. Planeswalkers don't defend themselves easily, and while Jace's -1 can help with that to some degree, ultimately you need to actually deal with their threats or block them.

Still, this deck is a tad different. It's not like Scapeshift where you'll probably resolve Jace and have it die almost immediately. Instead, you look for a spot where you can combo it with a Time Walk effect (Exhaustion counts) and go from there. In a way, Jace is a harder to use Howling Mine that has numerous upsides, namely giving you more selection than a Howling Mine would, but also functioning as a win condition.

Of all the decks that fall under the category of "Jace deck that has no way to protect Jace," this is among the best of them, and actually has been performing quite well.

SCG Worcester Legacy Deck Guide
By Ben Friedman  

Ah, Legacy. The Cadillac of Magic: The Gathering.

Where Wastelands and Brainstorms sit side by side with Dark Rituals and Lion's Eye Diamonds. The original removal spell, Swords to Plowshares, hangs out opposite some of the most efficient creatures of all time, with Sheriff Force of Will and Deputy Daze there to keep all the ruffians and ne'er-do-wells in their place. It's a wonderful and evergreen experience, picking up those old dual lands for another workout. We will soon be back to Worcester for an SCG Tour® Legacy event, and I envy those of you who will be in attendance. Too often, we let Legacy slip out of the forefront of our minds, as there are many more Standard, Limited, and Modern events to prepare for, but whenever we go back it reminds us that we are but humble and fallible novices in the face of the intricate dance of two powerful, well-tuned machines.

In order to properly get back into the right mindset for Legacy, it behooves us to take a look at some of the perennial contenders and what has happened in the interim since the last major Legacy event. New decks have risen to the top, others have slipped, and (as always) I have a personal decklist to offer up at the very end.

Every Trick In The Book
To Beating The Scarab God
By Jadine Klomparens  

I have a bad habit of not playing with the best cards. Not bad cards, mind you—just, the very best cards, the exciting game-winning mythic rares. When Dragonlord Ojutai was the name of the game, I did everything in my power to play any other deck. When Elspeth, Sun's Champion was deciding games left and right, I let my curve stop at Siege Rhino. With feature appearances in five of the Top 8 decks at Grand Prix Memphis last weekend, The Scarab God is everywhere in Standard these days, well, everywhere except my decklist.

Look, it's not some being different for the sake of being different thing. I'm as Spike-y as they come, I promise. For whatever reason, I keep convincing myself that playing these overpowered cards isn't in my best interests. And for what it's worth, I'm sure that sometimes I've been right. Yes, sometimes I've essentially handicapped myself by not playing with these overpowered cards, but other times I've been right and have created a substantial edge for myself by exploiting those same overpowered cards.