Welcome back to Magic Gatherings! I hope you all had a great Battle for Zendikar prerelease last weekend! This week is more Battle for Zendikar limited. While I spent time last week scoping out BFZ‘s set mechanics and the overall texture of the format’s limited play, this week I’ll be specifically looking at booster drafting. In case you’re new to …
Welcome back to Magic Gatherings! It’s that time again. A new set is around the corner, prerelease tournaments are this weekend, and I’ve spent the weekend crunching numbers to review the set for limited play. First we’ll review the major mechanics, then we’ll put it all together with some overarching thoughts about Battle for Zendikar‘s limited …
Hey all, and welcome back to Magic Gatherings! I hope everyone enjoyed last week’s trip down memory lane. This week, I’m back from vacation and we’re back to business: Battle for Zendikar previews have been rolling in for the last week and a half, and it’s time to start talking about them. This set is …
Do you remember your first game of Magic? I’ll never forget mine. I learned about Magic in the August 1995 issue of Disney Adventures magazine—the literature of choice for the sophisticated ten-year-old, and also a giant advertisement I paid Disney to send to me. In between page-turning news of the upcoming Power Rangers movie, there was a short article on …
Welcome back to Magic Gatherings! It’s hard to believe it—the Magic Origins prerelease feels like it was just yesterday—but the seasons are turning, and that means it’s time to look ahead to Magic‘s new fall expansion, Battle for Zendikar. This past weekend at PAX Prime, a gaming convention of which you may have heard, Battle for Zendikar had its …
Welcome back to Magic Gatherings! Last week I spent some time breaking down the results from Pro Tour Magic Origins, highlighted some cool new decks, and talked a little more about drafting the set. But after several weeks talking about Standard, Sealed, and Booster Draft, it’s time to go back to Commander. Casual mages, this …
It’s often said that it’s not the destination that matters, but the journey. Just so with today’s game, Tokaido, a recent (2013) offering from designer Antoine Bauza—he of Ghost Stories, Hanabi, and 7 Wonders fame. Tokaido is a very different game from Bauza’s other works, not least because of its unusual inspiration: the legendary Tokaido road, which spans some …
Welcome back to Magic Gatherings! Last time I regaled you with stories of Tim Lanning’s and my struggles at the Magic Origins prerelease. By now, though, Origins has been street-legal for two full weeks. At the same time, players around the world have been drafting Magic Origins—it’s been very popular at my local store—so we’re getting a better sense of …
Welcome back to Magic Gatherings! Last Sunday I attended the Magic Origins Prerelease at my Friendly Local Game Store: Pandemonium Books and Games in Cambridge, MA, a lovely institution where you are as likely to find a pickup game of Warhammer or My Little Pony as you are to find Max Gladstone and Elizabeth Baer playing D&D together. With me …
Welcome back to Magic Gatherings! It was only a little over a month ago that we were talking Modern Masters 2015 Edition. Sorry for my long hiatus! I was getting married, you see. It’s hard to believe, but Magic’s next expansion is already fast approaching: Magic Origins. To celebrate, I’ve got two articles. In this …