Thompson explains why linear decks are often not the strongest in any format. He uses this framework to explain why attacking on multiple angles gives your opponents more to think about, and making your games go longer means your opponents have more chances to make mistakes when they don’t know what you are doing.
“Being linear means you are the dead money in the tournament — the person everyone knows how to beat.” – Gerry Thompson, 2014
Thompson opens by explaining that the way your cards interact with each other dictates a level of power in your deck beyond stuffing it full of the most busted mythics you can find, but also beyond linear strategies where cards are too reliant on other pieces. The primary examples given deal with matching your removal to the rest of your deck, lining up your strengths and weaknesses in as advantageous as manner as you can, and then considering how this may be affected by what your opponent is doing. He also touches on the subject that is later explored in detail by Majors in the piece Traction.
A guide to (almost) everything you need to know about targeted discard spells. Recommended reading for anyone playing discard spells.
Anderson takes an in-depth look at the type of combo decks in magic and explains their strengths and weaknesses He also takes a look at transitional sideboards in these decks.
Klomparens introduces us to the 3 styles of magic problem solver: the metagamer, the tuner, and the player. We are then given some examples which highlight the relative strengths and weaknesses of each approach.
An excellent article on how, in modern magic, simply drawing more cards doesn’t necessarily win the game. Instead Majors considers activated abilities and simply having a board presence may represent more cards than a Sphinx’s Revelation. He also talks about play patterns based on planeswalkers, some of the best card advantage engines available, both defending them by setting up multi turn sequences and how a board presence may make playing one unattractive to your opponent.
Seminal piece of work, one of the most important articles to have available while building decks. Karsten explains his method, before laying out the conditions for hitting your coloured mana on time, for limited, competitive constructed and highlander formats.