It's time for the Players' Championship!

[ ] Is it Saturday yet? You’d think that after doing coverage of Magic tournaments for more than four years that I still wouldn’t get excited to cover them. At some point, I’d get so used to covering them that they wouldn’t feel like a big deal anymore, right? Wrong! And the reason is simple—the StarCityGames.com Players’ Championship isn’t just some ordinary tournament. When you’ve got 16 of the SCG Tour’s best players duking it out over the course of two days for their share of $50,000, it’s hard not to get excited. In 2014, it was a dominant performance by Brad Nelson that I’ll never forget. In 2015, it was picture perfect metagaming by Jim Davis that will forever be etched in my memory. But for 2016? I don’t know what the most memorable thing will be but I’ve got a few guesses. One could be Gerry Thompson’s performance in his first ever [#SCGPC]. A force to be reckoned with on the SCG Tour for the past half-decade, Thompson could easily run away with this tournament. Another could be Jeff Hoogland finding a hole in a small metagame. Never afraid to march to the beat of his own drum, things didn’t work out great for Jeff at 2014’s Players’ Championship, but he’s a much different player now than he was then. Or perhaps a total wild card like Liam Lonergan or Max McVety will end up stealing the show! Whatever happens, I know it will be memorable and that’s got me excited. We hope you’ll be joining us as all the memories unfold December 17-18 over at [twitch.tv/scglive]! — Cedric Phillips, Media Manager [@CedricAPhillips] [Results] [Results] [Upcoming Events] [Upcoming Events] [Upcoming Events] [Editor's Picks] [The Dream Come True] A year is a long time to work toward a goal, but if you accomplish it, all of a sudden it doesn’t seem that long. For Jacob Baugh, he had a single goal for 2016—qualify for the StarCityGames.com Players’ Championship. This week, Jacob chronicles his journey and explains why he’s pumped for the [#SCGPC]. [Trying To Get A Greater Power From Dark Intimations] Cruel Ultimatum is an iconic Magic card that we know Patrick Chapin loves. So when Dark Intimations was previewed, naturally the Magic Hall of Famer was drawn to it. This week, The Innovator breaks down the newest Grixis sorcery along with plenty of other new previews from Aether Revolt. [Frontier Fears And Futures] With so much backlash toward the volatile nature of Modern and Legacy, Magic players have gotten creative by creating a new format—Frontier! But is a new format exactly what Magic needs? And how expensive is it to play? Mark Nestico takes a stab at Frontier by examining it’s decks, cost, and future. [Match of the Week] The 2016 Players’ Championship awaits us this weekend! Check out last year’s finals between Jim Davis and Todd Anderson to get a quick refresher. [Match of the Week video] [What I'd Play At The Open Series] The Players' Championship is this weekend and I can’t wait to tune in. Watching sixteen of the best do battle in three different formats with a massive Christmas present of a payday on the line is an exciting prospect, and it's made all the more exciting by the presence of Legacy as one of the formats. In a field where many people have wide ranges and could play a variety of decks, your weapon of choice needs to be flexible. It needs to have game against the three people in the pod, but of course you won't know which three it is. It could be Joe Lossett and his Miracles, Caleb Scherer and Storm, Tom Ross and Infect—the sheer number of permutations means you need to go with something certain. A sure thing. And we all know there are only two certainties in life… Death and Taxes by Chris Lansdell Maindeck 4 [Aether Vial] 4 [Mother of Runes] 4 [Swords to Plowshares] 3 [Thalia, Guardian of Thraben] 4 [Stoneforge Mystic] 3 [Phyrexian Revoker] 1 [Spirit of the Labyrinth] 1 [Council's Judgement] 2 [Mirran Crusader] 1 [Sanctum Prelate] 2 [Recruiter of the Guard] 3 [Flickerwisp] 1 [Thalia, Heretic Cathar] 1 [Umezawa's Jitte] 1 [Sword of Fire and Ice] 1 [Batterskull] 1 [Sword of Feast and Famine] 1 [Palace Jailer] 10 [Plains] 4 [Rishadan Port] 4 [Wasteland] 2 [Karakas] 2 [Cavern of Souls] Sideboard 1 [Ratchet Bomb] 1 [Pithing Needle] 1 [Magus of the Moon] 1 [Sword of War and Peace] 2 [Leyline of Sanctity] 1 [Spirit of the Labyrinth] 1 [Eldrazi Displacer] 1 [Sanctum Prelate] 1 [Selfless Squire] 1 [Grand Abolisher] 1 [Meekstone] 2 [Containment Priest] 1 [Ethersworn Canonist] [Recruiter of the Guard card preview] Tutor effects make any deck more consistent, but combined with all the powerful effects that have been printed on creatures in recent years, [Recruiter of the Guard] has contributed to a big power spike in the deck. [Recruiter of the Guard] can find almost every hate piece in the deck, and with [Aether Vial] still being the key card in the deck we can often find and play the relevant card on the same turn. It has also allowed us to shave a copy of various pieces in order to diversify our hate package, making it one of the best addition in many years. [Palace Jailer card preview] When [Palace Jailer] first popped up at Eternal Weekend, it felt like a joke. You become the Monarch? What the heck is that? Turns out that [Palace Jailer] is actually just what this deck needed. White is notoriously bad at card advantage, so making yourself the Monarch is a good way to draw some extra cards. With a few Legacy decks eschewing the combat step completely, you're likely to stay the Monarch for a while…which is handy, since you are also exiling a creature for as long as you can keep that crown. In the event that you do lose the monarchy, [Flickerwisp] can always reset it for you. [Sanctum Prelate card preview] The second major addition from Conspiracy: Take the Crown, [Sanctum Prelate] does a lot to shore up some weak matchups like Lands. Although it can be hard to know what to name against every deck (and in some matches you don't want it at all), it does turn nigh-unwinnable matches (like Lands) a good deal better. You name two, by the way. [Magus of the Moon card preview] I have been going back and forth between one and two copies of [Cavern of Souls] for a while. Although it does help against decks like Temur Delver and Miracles, it can be hard to find enough white sources with half your lands not always tapping for white mana. [Magus of the Moon] is a big reason to play the second Cavern, especially against a rough matchup like Eldrazi. Aside from the Caverns we do have [Aether Vial] to get [Magus of the Moon] on to the battlefield, and the effect can sometimes just end games in Legacy. [Selfless Squire card preview] It might be a sideboard card, but I think [Selfless Squire] can be very powerful against decks like Elves that win with a giant chunk of damage. Sure, it costs four, and we never want to tick our [Vial] up that high, but it does win the game if it resolves. As a Human it can be cast through a [Cavern of Souls] to ensure it does its thing (with the exception of [Stifle]), and unless your opponent is playing around it, you’ll likely win the game when you untap with a 62/62 monstrosity. — Chris Lansdell, [@Lansdellicious] [Game Night] [Cardboard Crack] [Invitational Qualifier announcement] [Join the Conversation] [StarCityGames.com] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Youtube] [If you would like to unsubscribe and stop receiving these emails please click here.] StarCityGames.com, 5728 Williamson Road N.W, Roanoke, VA 24012 [SafeUnsubscribe™ {EMAIL}] [Forward email] | [Update Profile] | [About our service provider] Sent by [donotreply@starcitygames.com] in collaboration with [Constant Contact] [Try it free today]