Open all writers!

Just a quick note. I've changed the account settings, so you'll see posts from Fox Murdoch, as well as JDNoice, Ammonium and iRony now, not just Fox. This is great, because I don't know when you'll see updates! Who knows, maybe some crackers deck that I'm not privy too, which we battle in the Top 2 and I lose to a fellow teammate. Hilarious.

In the latest news, tonight is FNM again, which is about the 3rd last before GP Auckland itself. I'm counting down the FNMs obviously as a kind of testing ground, but also as a good way to just get that whiff of the metagame that I'm expecting. The problem is I'm using a smallish sample from the western suburbs of Sydney, surely that's going to be different from the Auckland of New Zealand?

I don't think it matters too much. When everyone comes together, there's an accepted "right" and "not so right" way to do things, that is competitive or casually. Lots of players show up at a GP for the fun, so their decks aren't honed and they don't mind coming where they come. Others are built for violence and winning, and will likely go winwinwinwinwinwinwinwiwniwniwiwn day 2 top 8. It's the day 2 people that will matter more, I think, so simply see what the CARDS themselves are spawning (in terms of deck ideas that work, as well as colour combinations that are being championed) and to then respond to that. For example I don't expect to fight ANY Orzhov. If someone does show up with a clever black/white deck, it'll have inferior lands seeing they tap for a turn and don't abuse the ridiculous easy three-colour mana bases available to us.

I'd like to test Grixis tonight, but depending on numbers I make take another Travis Woo build to the red zone. It's Dirt Cheap Dirty Red, and you can find it here: http://www.channelfireball.com/articles/woo-brews-dirt-cheap-dirty-red/

After tonight there is only two FNMs left, though Blacktown does run a thursday night's worth of Magic, so that's another potential testing ground.

Expect more always!