| It's finally here! Battle for Zendikar has finally arrived and it's ready to make a huge impact. This set is unlike any that we've ever seen before, so to try and predict what it will do to the metagame is borderline impossible. How much of a role with Converge play in things? Is Ingest a constructed playable mechanic? Is Gideon, Ally of Zendikar as good as everyone thinks? We will find out soon enough! But we can't forget about all the cards from Khans of Tarkir that were held down by the power of Theros block. Remember Bloodsoaked Champion? That card is nuts but never really found a home. The same can be said for Butcher of the Horde, Savage Knuckleblade, and Narset Transcendent. Just because looking at the newest set is a lot of fun doesn't mean that there aren't plenty of older cards waiting to dominate. But what will dominate at the beginning of our brand new Standard format? We will find out this weekend, as the Open Series comes to Indianapolis for the debut of Battle for Zendikar. I'll be joined by Patrick Sullivan, Nick Miller, and the rest of the @SCGLive crew as we make our way through eighteen exciting rounds of action, and watch someone walk away with $5,000, 25 Open Series points, and an invite to our Season Four Invitational in Las Vegas. If you can't make it out to #SCGINDY, be sure to join us for all the action at twitch.tv/scglive! — Cedric Phillips, Online Content Coordinator |  |  | Preparing For Battle For Zendikar Draft If you played in a prerelease this past weekend, you already know that Battle For Zendikar limited is a weird format. Thankfully, Pro Tour Born of the Gods champion Shaun McLaren is here to break down everything from draft picks to mulligan decisions to help you get an early edge on the format. |  | The Battle For Battle For Zendikar So you don't like Battle for Zendikar? You're wishing it had more powerful cards like Worldwake and New Phyrexia? Danny West is here to explain to you why sets like Worldwake and New Phyrexia aren't always great for the health of Magic and why Battle for Zendikar is a lot better than you realize. |  | Retreat To Coralhelm By now, everyone knows that Retreat to Coralhelm and Knight of the Reliquary are a combo. But the question is, "How do you go about building the deck", as there are so many options at your disposal. Join Pro Tour Khans of Tarkir champion Ari Lax as he examines Magic's newest combo. | | | With Battle for Zendikar legal at #SCGINDY, it is time to unleash our brews upon the world. And what better place to start than—you guessed it—Sultai Control! | | I've been working on this Sultai Control list for the Battle for Zendikar Standard format. I had posted a list in my last article, and this is the updated version I've been tuning. While I won't be able to make the Open Series event in Indianapolis this weekend, I do plan on playing this list in a few local Super Invitational Qualifiers. As players, we have a few deckbuilding options when it comes to a new set but I tend to stick with decks that I know best. Sultai Control was a good deck before rotation, and it gets a lot of new tools without losing too much. I'm trying out a few different card choices between the main and the sideboard since I'm not too sure what types of decks we will see the first week. I suspect that Esper Dragons, Eldrazi Ramp, Jeskai and Abzan strategies will all be represented, so I tried to have cards that are good against all of those decks. I think that Stratus Dancer is a great card that isn't getting as much play as it deserves; it also works well with the maindeck copies of Den Protector, as our opponents will usually suspect our morphs to be those. I am only running a handful of cards from Battle for Zendikar, but the ones I am playing have a huge impact on improving the deck. I am confident it will give you a good chance to do well at the Open in Indianpolis. Overall, the high volume of singletons in the deck should keep our opponents guessing. | | With Battle for Zendikar legal in Standard play, we are going to see some Eldrazi-sized movement on the Leaderboard starting at #SCGINDY. However, there have been some smaller shifts in recent weeks that may impact the Race to the Players' Championship more than the release of giant monsters. For example, Rudy Briksza has quietly made his way up the Leaderboard to ninth place. He's had several strong finishes this year including three Open Series Top 8s as well as several Super IQ and IQ victories. Over the past week, while many players were busy brewing with Battle for Zendikar, Rudy was busy grinding, winning one IQ and finishing runner-up in another. These finishes pushed Rudy upward three spots on our Leaderboard, putting him in prime position to attain an at-large bid for our year-end Players' Championship. With consistently good results in all three formats (Standard, Modern, and Legacy), watch for Rudy Briksza as a dark horse contender to win the whole thing at the Players' Championship. |  | | Another player trying to better position himself for a run at the Players' Championship is Michael Derczo. Many may know Michael as a "Legacy-specialist", playing Death and Taxes to two Legacy Open Top 8s this year. However, Michael is fully capable of slinging the Standard cardboard with the best of them as well. Coming off a Top 8 at the Philly WMCQ and several IQ victories, he has moved himself up four spots this past week. With two more Legacy Opens in Season Four and his improved Standard play, Michael Derczo could easily find himself with an at-large bid in our Players' Championship. With Battle for Zendikar ready to burst on to the Standard scene at #SCGINDY, the Season Four points race and at-large bid points race are heating up for the Players' Championship. But for those of you who can't make it out to Indianapolis, but still want to show off your brews, find an IQ near you and win points and prizes today! |  |  | | Friday, October 2 | | Invitational Qualifiers Newington, CT - Your Friendly Neighborhood Tabletop Shop Springfield, VA - Curio Cavern Staten Island, NY - Game Champ TCG | Saturday, October 3 | | Invitational Qualifiers Crestview, FL - GameMasters Guild Glen Burnie, MD - Squabbles Trading Cards Marion, NC - Goathead Games PPTQ (IQ Prizes) Decatur, GA - Challenges Games and Comics Fredericksburg, VA - The Sourcery Harrisburg, PA - The Adventurer's Guild Knoxville, TN - CM Games - West Town Lebanon, NH - Black Moon Games GPT (IQ Prizes) Hatboro, PA - Stomping Grounds | 5K Premier Invitational Qualifiers Minneapolis, MN - Pastimes 1K Super Invitational Qualifiers Brooklyn, NY - Kings Games Colorado Springs, CO - Enchanted Realms East Windsor, CT - Ice Imports | Sunday, October 4 | | Invitational Qualifiers Cary, NC - East Coast Gaming Cayce, SC - Ready to Play Trading Cards Denton, TX - Reaper Game Store Midlothian, VA - Battlegrounds PPTQ (IQ Prizes) Bristol, TN - MWO Games Mount Airy, NC - Paradise Games GPT (IQ Prizes) Eau Claire, WI - Legendary Tabletop Games | 1K Super Invitational Qualifiers Columbia, MO - Magelings Games East Windsor, CT - Ice Imports Glen Burnie, MD - Squabbles Trading Cards | If you would like to unsubscribe and stop receiving these emails please click here. |
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