| Another Magic tournament. Another trophy for Siege Rhino. If you rewind to #SCGPHILLY a few weeks ago, it was an Abzan world and we, as a community, came to terms that we were just casting spells in it. #GPAtlanta happened and Tom Martell's win gave us a weekend off from the crash of rhinos. And even though #SCGKC didn't have the @SCGLive crew in attendance, I could feel those Siege Rhino triggers all the way from here in Seattle. Matt Carlson decided to spice things up a touch with his red splash for Crackling Doom and Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury, but no mistake about it; this is further proof that Abzan is the best deck in Standard. And Carlson's build may be the best of the bunch. With Siege Rhino's dominance well documented, it's time for it, once again, to take a break from the Open Series, as #SCGNJ brings Legacy back into the limelight. The last time we had Legacy action as the main event, it was Tom Ross hoisting the trophy at #SCGSTL with Infect as his weapon of choice. With that win, Ross catapulted himself near the top of the Season Four Leaderboard and strengthened his positioning for a slot in the #SCGPC. So will The Boss be able to do it again with Glistener Elf and friends? I'll be joined by Patrick Sullivan, Nick Miller, and the rest of the @SCGLive crew as we make our way to Patrick's home state to watch 18 rounds of Legacy action unfold. With how close the race is for the #SCGPC, I expect all of the Open Series' finest to be out in force, which means that you can expect to watch some fantastic Magic all weekend long. If you can't make it to #SCGNJ, be sure to join us all weekend long at twitch.tv/scglive! — Cedric Phillips, Online Content Coordinator | | |  |  | Fixing Bad Habits Biting your nails. Leaving dirty dishes in the sink. Complaining about mana screw. We all have bad habits. But it's what you do to fix those bad habits that really matters. Pro Tour Born of the Gods champion Shaun McLaren addresses some common bad habits Magic players have and suggests the best ways to fix them. |  | Ask A Judge Commander 2015 Rules With Commander 2015 on the loose, the rules of Magic have become even more difficult. So how does Mirror Match work with Phantom Warrior? How does Ezuri's Predation interact with Parallel Lives? And does anyone know how Blade of Selves works? Paul Baranay and Elliot Raff do, and they're here to help! |  | Underpriced Modern Staples As shown by #GPPITT, Modern is one heck of a format and it's only getting more popular. So what cards are underpriced in arguably Magic's most popular format? Chas Andres has the answers to that question, plus why he thinks Amulet Bloom might be risky to move in on, and what cards might be able to be unbanned. | | | | | They're back! Justin Parnell, Stephen Green, John Suarez, and Wes Wise are here with some more Commander action! This week, the crew use the Commander 2015 pre-constructed decks in a video you won't want to miss! |  | | Legacy is tough. Playing in a big Legacy event is like opening a box of chocolates. You open up the wrapper and there's Griselbrand in play on Turn 2 with Force of Will backup! Or your opponent plays a one mana 3/2 flier on Turn 1 and then Dazes and Wastelands you into next year! Or there's a Turn 1 Blood Moon! Or there's a bunch of Islands and a Sensei's Divining Top that just keeps spinning over and over and over again! (Seriously, does it ever stop spinning?) Given this variety, it is very difficult to metagame. Lands may have won the Grand Prix a few weeks ago, but it wouldn't be surprising to play fifteen rounds at #SCGNJ this weekend and not play against it once. People will always play their pet decks with reckless abandon; just because Oops All Spells can't consistently beat a deck with Force of Will doesn't mean that "Petal-to-the-Metal Pete" isn't going to just play it anyway. When picking a Legacy deck, I like to look for ones that can do two things well— be powerful and be proactive. | | Sultai Delver does exactly that.   Much more powerful than it's smaller and leaner cousin Temur Delver, Sultai Delver still offers the powerful mana denial/disruption package of Wasteland and Stifle along with soft counters like Daze and Spell Pierce. This gives Sultai Delver very powerful and disruptive openings that, when followed up with your brutally efficient threats, can end the game before it ever really begins for your opponent.   However, Sultai Delver also has a lot of power as well. Dark Confidant may be a card not seeing enough play, which gives you a great angle of attack against both grindy decks and unfair combo decks. The deck is able to deploy and protect Bob very quickly, and then reap the rewards while your opponent tries to get off the ground. Tarmogoyf and Deathrite Shaman are also two of the best creatures in the format, and while the deck does a great job with tempo in the early game, it is more than capable of powering through the midgame as well.   Between Abrupt Decay and Dark Confidant, Sultai Delver has a great Miracles matchup, and a great matchup against the formats various combo decks. Sultai Delver is also great against the large crop of less popular decks you may play against, as it is highly interactive and can power through as necessary. Sultai Delver's weakness seems to be decks that are built primarily to grind out small advantages, like Shardless Sultai, but a good tempo draw will give you an excellent chance to win against almost any deck in the format. Remember Stifle has many uses against both Miracles and Shardless Sultai beyond hitting fetchlands, such as Stifling miracle triggers from Terminus or the suspend trigger on Ancestral Vision!   The sideboard is very versatile, containing great tools for a wide variety of matchups. It is also extremely customizable, and if you have a good read on the format, there are other cards out there to help pretty much any matchup you can think of. Cards like Surgical Extraction and Winter Orb are wonderful in an unfavorable matchup like Lands, and there are plenty of sneaky cards like Divert that can turn the tide in other rough matchups. Sleek, powerful, proactive, and consistent… what more could you want? | | New Jersey. Denver. Las Vegas. Those are the last three stops on the Road to the Players' Championship, and each one is going to have a major impact on how our year-end tournament looks. Thanks to #SCGKC and our IQ circuit, there have been some huge shake-ups on the Leaderboard, and the competition couldn't be any tighter. If the spots in the Players' Championship were determined today, Eric Hawkins would be the last player in, and Tom Ross would be the first player out. However, only one point separates the two players, meaning every win is crucial over these next three weeks. Eric Hawkins finished in the Top 4 of our Legacy Premier IQ at #SCGKC, propelling him past The Boss by the thinnest of margins. However, this weekend is a Legacy Open at #SCGNJ which should serve both men rather well considering their finishes in the last Legacy Open at #SCGSTL where Tom beat Eric in the Finals. Given both players' mastery of the Legacy format, it would be no surprise if they both jumped ahead on the Leaderboard this weekend. |  | | A couple of other players to look out for are Matthew Tickal, Logan Mize, and Chris Andersen. Matthew Tickal has put together a very nice Season Four with two Open Series Top 8s and several high IQ finishes. One of his Top 8s was at #SCGSTL in Legacy, which should help him in his attempt to gain ground this weekend in #SCGKC. Florida native Logan Mize may have been a little more quiet than most this season, but he's put up quality finishes on the IQ circuit to keep pace with the rest of the field. He is currently only eight Open Points back of an at-large bid in the Players' Championship and could easily make a run starting this weekend. Finally, Chris Andersen has been a model of consistency this year on the Open Series, with an average finish of 27th place in 15 Open Series events. If Chris continues his blistering pace and those around him falter, Chris could ride his hot streak straight into the Players' Championship and become the odds-on favorite to win the whole thing. With the Road to the Players' Championship being decided in just three short weeks, there has never been a more exciting time to watch. Whether you're watching in person at #SCGNJ or from home at twitch.tv/scglive, make sure you join us as we continue down the Road to the Players' Championship! |  |  | | Friday, November 27 | | Invitational Qualifiers Flat Rock, NC - Gamers Paradise Newington, CT - Your Friendly Neighborhood Tabletop Shop Somerville, NJ - The Only Game in Town Springfield, VA - Curio Cavern GPT (IQ Prizes) Tampa, FL - Next Ridge Games | Saturday, November 28 | | 1K Super Invitational Qualifiers Indian Trail, NC - Be There Games Montclair, CA - TheMonstore | Invitational Qualifiers Arvada, CO - Game Heroes Avondale, AZ - Play or Draw Bloomington, IN - Common Room Games Buffalo Grove, IL - Nerd Rage Gaming Burnsville, MN - Dreamers Vault Games Coshocton, OH - Alpha Bits and Byes Duluth, GA - The Wasteland Gaming Eau Claire, WI - Legendary Tabletop Games Findlay, OH - Post Board Gaming Goose Creek, SC - Turtle Gaming Lexington,KY - Legendary Games Midland, MI - Game On Tampa, FL - Oblivion Games GPT (IQ Prizes) Mobile, AL - Ipuheb's Cards, Comics, and Games | Sunday, November 29 | | 1K Super Invitational Qualifiers Columbia, MO - Magelings Games Montclair, CA - TheMonstore | Invitational Qualifiers Columbus, OH - Comic Town Dalton, GA - The Battlegrounds Games and Comics Maitland, FL - Cool Stuff Games - Maitland Roanoke, VA - Star City Game Center Sumter, SC - 2nd Player Video Games Tampa, FL - The Game Academy Tampa | Tuesday, December 1 | | Invitational Qualifiers Brooklyn, NY - Kings Games | If you would like to unsubscribe and stop receiving these emails please click here. |
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