Robot Viking

This weekend, my brother and I hit a nearby Worldwake prerelease. How does the new set perform in a limited environment? I can tell you. Sort of.

I know the whole “put new subtitles on the Hitler gets bad news movie clip” thing is the very definition of played out when it comes to Internet memes, but if you’re a Magic player, this one is worth the view.

Worldwake prereleases in China have been delayed and are now rescheduled for February 6-7. The launch parties will be held February 16-17. This directly affects like 0.03 percent of Robot Viking readers, but you still might be interested in finding out why.

When you get hit by a Ball Lightning with a Kicked Vines of the Vastwood, with a Noble Hierarch also on your opponent’s team, you really feel it. That Ball Lightning attacked as an 11/6 with Trample, if you’re keeping score. This is my brother’s Friday Night Magic deck.

Here’s your first look at the Jwari Shapeshifter, a rare blue creature in Magic: the Gathering’s upcoming Worldwake expansion. What does she do? Let’s just say a certain deck type is about to get a versatile new ally.

Worldwake comes out in less than a month. We’ve got a fresh batch of spoilers — four new cards from a world in the midst of a major (and literal) upheaval. We also get to see just how desperately Magic’s designers want people to use enchantments.

It’s been just under a year since I made my return to constructed Magic after many years away. My goal was to have fun and be at least slightly competitive. Well, at the last Friday Night Magic before the holidays, I took first place. It’s not exactly a World Championship, but it’s certainly a lot [...]

The sweet Sliver Premium Deck Wizards of the Coast recently released got me thinking about those weird polygenomic critters. A lot of Slivers have already been designed, using most of the basic keywords in Magic, but no one’s made a Sliver using one of the most popular current mechanics: Cascade.

There’s a lot of cool stuff going on with Magic: the Gathering these days. If you’re looking to drop a few gift-related hints to friends and family who might be doing a little holiday shopping this week, here are a few ideas.

Planechase, Magic’s latest casual format, came out a few months ago, but it took me this long to find some people and play a few games. This updated version of the old Vanguard rules is an unpredictable trip through Magic’s many planes.

Since I’m pretty much committed to the dark arts these days, I decided to sell off my one and only Baneslayer Angel. Is this some kind of crass marketing ploy to drive traffic to my Baneslayer ebay auction? Yup.
If the winner mentions they’re a Robot Viking reader, I’ll throw in some random swag.

So far, we don’t know much about the Eldrazi other than that they made a weird monument that bestows awesome power, yet requires brutal sacrifice. Now we know a little more — next April, they will rise. With the tag line, “And Carnage Shall Follow,” we can assume things won’t be pleasant for planeswalkers when [...]

Playing in Magic tournaments is fun, but sometimes budget restrictions can keep you out of constructed events. For that reason, each “season” (each set rotation, roughly) we’ll present to you a budget-friendly Magic deck that’s effective enough to be fun, but filled with mostly commons, uncommons and cheap rares. With Lorwyn gone and Zendikar here, [...]

It’s a phrase heard at game and card shops around the world, typically when someone with deeper pockets buys some ridiculously overpriced card or miniature: “It’s just paper and ink. There’s no way I’d pay that much!” That may be true, but somebody would. Here’s an essay on why the things we love cost as [...]