Top 8 Magic

Nationals Recap - 1 Long Podcast with Flores and BDM

Matt Wang — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:38:16 +0000

Enjoy this long podcast with BDM and Flores as they provide a recap of US Nationals!

Mike Flores: Deckade Available on Kindle Now!

Matt Wang — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 05:09:24 +0000

Top8Magic Fans,

We are proud to announce that Deckade is now available on Amazon for the Kindle. Click on the link below to order your copy.

Michael J. Flores: Deckade at Amazon’s Kindle Store

We hope to have the iBook, Nook and Google Edition out in the next month.

Also, stay tuned for exciting news regarding My Files Part 1 and some new Top8Magic books!

Best

Matt and BDM

Been Awhile… Part 3

bdm — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:35:12 +0000

The last few times Mike and I have tried to podcast we have gotten derailed by an M11 draft or actually testing Standard for this coming weekend’s US National Championships, which we are both qualified to play in. After a recent playtest session Mike and I stuck around for an extra hour — after finally remembering how to turn on the casting device — and chat about Magic in general and the Hall of Fame in particular.

Hall of Fame Musings Part 3

Been Awhile… Part 2

bdm — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:29:43 +0000

Hall of Fame Musings Part 2

Been awhile…

bdm — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 15:44:29 +0000

The last few times Mike and I have tried to podcast we have gotten derailed by an M11 draft or actually testing Standard for this coming weekend’s US National Championships, which we are both invited to play in. After a recent playtest session Mike and I stuck around for an extra hour — after finally remembering how to turn on the casting device — and chat about Magic in general and the Hall of Fame in particular.

Hall of Fame Musings Part 1

Sphinx or Sub-Sphinx M11 Visual Spoiler Review Part 4

bdm — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:25:17 +0000

I know it has been a while since the last set of cast but with cards flooding into the M11 Visual Spoiler page on the mothership Mike and I got together, with a special guest appearance from the hirsute Steve Sadin, to discuss Conundrum Sphinx and his spoiled friends from M11. It was a fun set of ‘casts to record as the three of us have not done anything together in quite some time and there were plenty of exciting cards to discuss. Topics of discussion included the tournament worthiness of Sphinx of Jwar Isle, which cards will win the most money for the rest of the year, and which cards seem like they are being overrated (Hint: It rhymes with with Rhyme Dispersal).

Make sure to check the Visual Spoiler page and the various weekly columns for the rest of this week and next as more cards are revealed every day. And of course, don’t forget to make your plans for the M11 Prerelease in a little over a week.

Sphinx or Sub-Sphinx? Part 4

Sphinx or Sub-Sphinx M11 Visual Spoiler Review Part 3

bdm — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:23:03 +0000

Sphinx or Sub-Sphinx? Part 3

Sphinx or Sub-Sphinx M11 Visual Spoiler Review Part 2

bdm — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:19:57 +0000

Sphinx or Sub-Sphinx? Part 2

Sphinx or Sub-Sphinx M11 Visual Spoiler Review Part 1

bdm — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:16:54 +0000

Sphinx or Sub-Sphinx? Part 1

Riddle Me This, Conundrum Sphinx

bdm — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 04:59:58 +0000

So is anyone still complaining about blue? Okay, I have actually heard plenty of people complaining about blue but it has a different tenor than the complaints from little over a year back. It does not seem that long ago that blue mages were hitting the mana-lines looking for handouts to keep them going. “Why is Wizards making blue so bad?” they would ask. “When will R&D give us some good blue cards?”

Be careful what you ask for or you might find yourself staring across the table at four mana, flying, blue Ophidian that you know is bigger than a Lightning Bolt can deal with on its own. Get a load of Conundrum Sphinx, the exclusive Top8Magic.com M11 Preview Card.

At first glance it seems like one of those Liar’s Pendulum-type cards that have a lot of text, promise to maybe draw you a card once in a blue moon, and before long are relegated to the back pages of trade binders at FNMs everywhere.

But if you think about the cards that blue has available to play with — and that are currently being played extensively in Standard — it is not too hard to imagine a scenario where the Conundrum Sphinx is able to start flying over on turn four and drawing its controller — possibly even you — an extra card a turn.

I will certainly be testing this card in my Standard gauntlet as I prepare to compete in Nationals. Think about it for a second. Play a turn two Everflowing Chalice and land this bird on turn three. Assuming you get to untap with it in play you can use any number of cards to get maximum value out of it and even protect it.

Halimar Depths is a card that leaps to mind and will actually net you you two extra cards while dealing 8 damage over two turns since you arrange three cards so that you get one when the Sphinx attacks, one on your next draw step and then the third one when you attack again. Halimar Depths is so exciting with this card that I fully expect to playing a set of Deprives to accompany it — especially if this is a more aggresive blue deck that can play some early threats and protect them with bounce and counterspells.

There is also an entire suite of cards that will coexist in Standard until Scars of Mirrodin shakes things up that let you smooth out your draws and solve the riddle of the Conundrum Sphinx. Ponder, the newly minted Preordain, Augury Owl…

…Jace, the Mind Sculptor. I know that there are pretty much no card that you can mention that don’t get better with a little help from everyone’s favorite Planeswalker but he really shines in concert with the Sphinx and a little countermagic to make sure the whole plan comes together. Even if you only attack once with Jace in play you will have drawn a total of three cards. Which seems like a good thing to be doing.

Mike and will be posting an M11 Preview podcast after the weekend to discuss this card and all the other goodies that have been unleashed over the past 24 hours.