Robot Viking

If you’ve been without Internet this week or something, you may have somehow missed the explosion of nerd rage when a female Gizmodo writer posted an article about discovering that her Internet date was actually Magic world champion Jon Finkel, and her horror at having been mislead. I guess he wasn’t wearing his “Gaming Nerd” [...]

While at GenCon, I managed to sneak in a few minutes with WoTC’s Adam Colby to talk about where Magic is right now. While Wizard’s big push this year is Neverwinter, Magic was there in force for the Nationals, as well as a large Duels of the Planeswalkers booth. I asked Colby about the upcoming [...]

It’s already been revealed that tribal mechanics will play a part in Magic’s fall set, the horror themed Innistrad. We also know that the almost completely forsaken werewolf tribe will be getting a lot more attention. Inspired by one of Bennie Smith’s columns at Starcitygames, in which he speculated how the werewolves will function mechanically, [...]

It’s been a few weeks now since M12, magic’s latest core set, hit game store shelves. Instead of doing a full set review, here’s a look at some of the most interesting cards in the set and how they might affect a variety of formats.

This fall’s Magic set, Innistrad, is far too many months away. Magic’s R&D team is sharing choice bits of information on the set at SDCC this weekend to get us hyped up. It’s working!  Here are some updates, including the name of the second set in the block and what tribes will be featured.

There are five Commander decks to choose from, and at $30 each, you might not be able to grab all of them. Here’s a brief analysis of each deck, what style of play it suits and a few basic suggestions for customizing it.

This summer’s multiplayer Magic format is Commander, formerly known as EDH. While it’s the most widely played casual format and very likely to be around for many years, it’s actually pretty difficult for new players to get into. Five new pre-constructed Commander decks have removed a major hurdle for casual players looking to explore the [...]

The next edition of Magic’s core set is due in just a few weeks. These days, core sets aren’t just reprints, they’re filled with 50 percent brand new cards, including Rune-Scarred Demon. If you crack this in your M12 prerelease, it’s definitely a first pick.

Jace, the Mind Sculptor is no longer with us (in Standard), but there are always more wizards willing to stride the pathways between the planes. Who are these new planar adventurers?

The bell tolled for Jace at the stroke of midnight last night, as Wizards made the official announcement banning cards in Standard for the first time in several years. There’s a lot to be said (and surely will be) about the bannings, but most interesting to me is what they say about Magic’s long-term future [...]

Right around this time last year I was in Washington visiting Wizards of the Coast HQ as their guest and competitor in the Magic Online Community Cup. This year, Wizards is giving a whole new batch of players, forum members and website owners a chance to live the dream.

Inspired by Lovecraftian horrors that inspire fear at their cosmic might and utter loss of sanity at their malevolent horribleness, Unstable Arithmetic is another way to overcome the inherent badness of Auras in Magic.

This summer’s Magic: the Gathering multiplayer format is Commander (formerly known as Elder Dragon Highlander, or EDH). For the first time, Wizards is creating new cards for a casual, multiplayer format. One of those cards is the monstrosity above: Avatar of Slaughter.

We usually approach Magic as a strategic and tactical game with cool flavor, but sometimes it’s fun to let the game’s underlying premise (that you are a wizard with a collection of spells at your disposal) to run free. Could we take that a step further and turn Magic into an RPG?