03/18/2016
The Games Cube is Sydney’s premier gaming store, and Australia’s ultimate online store and strategy articles.
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The Team
Brendon Healy
Myles Newling
FORMAT AND ARTICLES: COMMANDER
Favorite Card: Dryad Arbor
My Magic world started on the kitchen table back in Shards of Alara, with 100 card decks and everyone having no idea what was happening or what we were doing. It was great, we had fun, but we eventually moved on to other prospects. Enter 2013, my friends were playing and nostalgia brought me back to it. I quickly got back into the casual spirit of things, playing all kinds of weird formats and terrible decks. Post Theros, now older and wiser than my previous self, I sought more gratification in the competitive scene and quickly put together a standard constructed deck for FNM. Things happened, time passed, and now I spend most of my magic days playing on a kitchen table, with 100 card decks, and we still don’t know what we are doing.
Bradley Tran
FORMAT AND ARTICLES: STANDARD
Favourite card: Hellrider
Coming from a competitive TCG background, I was easily hooked onto Magic the Gathering. The first thing I did when I heard about the game was asking my mate that played the game, “What’s the best aggressive deck?”(I started at the beginning of M14).
Apparently killing your opponent on turn four before they could Supreme Verdict was considered pretty fast with a turn two Burning-Tree Emissary into Burning-Tree Emissary into a [card]Flinthoof Boar [card].
When it comes to deck preference, I will always prefer the aggressive deck but every now and then I’ll experiment with other kinds of decks in case I get bored haha.
Keith Baily
FORMAT AND ARTICLES: BAD BEATS / LEGACY
Favourite card: Tezzeret, agent of Bolas
Like many others my Magic career started on the dining table. I was 21 years old, and we were playing for ante, as the rules stipulated, as it was 1994. Some of my fondest memories are of 4 or 5 way games on that dining table, throwing out Moxes, Nightmares, Serra Angels and Shivan Dragons. Tapping our dual lands like it was no big deal, as everyone had them. Man I wish we had card sleeves back then.
Today I still love the artwork on my Transmute Artifact, my Beta Islands and Force of Will’s. I play them all regularly and hope to still be doing so in another 20 years.
Modern and legacy are my preferred formats and as such will be the focus of my musings in future articles, with strong emphasis on the control archetype, as any deck without blue just seems wrong somehow…
Maddie and Sam Atkins
FORMAT AND ARTICLES: STANDARD
When it comes to Magic, we’re a package deal. Normally it’s the guy who gets the girl into the game. That’s not what happened here. Enter South Park: Cock Magic. Watching the episode made us question why we hadn’t properly tried out this game that we’d heard of in passing.
We rushed out at 5pm on a Sunday to The Games Cube to get started. After being overwhelmed by the number of singles and having no idea where to start, we were approached by Lindsay. We picked out the M15 Intro Packs – I chose Red-Black and Sam chose Blue-Green.
After playtesting through the week, we attended our first FNM and were immediately paired up against one another, which while annoying, gave us at least an even match. Afterwards, we were quickly demolished with superior decks.
Our competitive natures saw us return to The Games Cube the next day and splurge on singles and booster boxes. We were already addicted, and we were adamant we’d be competitive the next time we played. And the next, and the next.
We played at home every day and instore at least three times a week. We read articles, watched streams and YouTube videos, downloaded podcasts. Over time we became more competitive and won more matches than we lost. Magic became a massive part of our lives. Unlike many other players, we didn’t have to take a day off to spend time with our other halves.
Neither of us are from Sydney originally. I grew up in Ballarat and Sam in Evandale, outside Launceston. Sam works with the Defence Force, so we move around every few years. We’ve struggled in the past to make roots in a place and find social outlets. Playing Magic has provided us with just that. Now we know that wherever we go in the future, we’ll find somewhere to belong.
Jacob Smith 
FORMAT AND ARTICLES: BURN
Favorite Card: Eidolon of the Great Revel
Coming from a competitive gaming background, I started playing MTG around a kitchen table as most did. This didn’t last long, however, as I realised the power ceiling was somewhat higher than Vulpine Goliath. My first Prerelease was Theros, and I was soon hooked. I tend to play aggressive decks as I like forcing my opponent out of their comfort zone.
Mitchel O’Keefe
FORMAT AND ARTICLES: COMBO.DEC
Favorite Card: Grapeshot
Javed Hafiz
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