Theorycrafting Draft Decks: Xenan Mandrakes

When Empire of Glass falls and fades from memory, as all Empires do, this author will lament the parts of the kingdom that went unexplored: the bogs, swamps, and thickets where Mandrakes reside. Mandrake decks have occupied a space in the back of my brain from the format’s outset. The draft community collectively recognized the

Cooking with Bettorup: Drafting 3-5 Colors in Empire of Glass

Television in the Schaab household often plays Nailed It, an amateur baking show featuring people who would be abysmal Eternal players. I’m sure they’re lovely individuals, but their inability to sequence and manage time would undoubtedly leave them struggling to climb the Eternal leaderboards. These qualities, however, pale in comparison to their unanimously shared flaw:

Chasing Whales: Limited Level-Ups from Kaladesh (2016)

No Easy Answers Luis-Scott Vargas (LSV) and Paulo Vitor Damo Da Rosa (PVDDR) are inarguably two of the most successful Magic players of all time. As Hall of Famers and mainstays in competitive Magic for decades, it’s safe to say that their player experiences have many parallels: they’ve drafted the same sets, played the same

Drafting Empire of Glass the Hard Way

When I shamble in to my Local Game Store 50 years from now, there are three things I’m certain will be true: 1. The Constructed players and the Drafters will be arguing about which format is better. 2. The Drafters will be arguing about which approach to draft is correct. 3. They’ll all frantically whisper

Drafting Empire of Glass: Archetypes

“Rats Ablaze” or “Rally Rats” is how I affectionately refer to my favorite Eternal draft archetype of all time. Was it a premiere archetype in that format? Probably not. Was it a good deck? Debatable. Was it insanely fun? Yes. Yes it was and I forced it every single time I could: my relationship with

47 Cards to Go: Drafting Legendaries in Empire of Glass

Fine. You win. You’ll get your article about Legendaries, but only after I make these jokes at your expense. Youth basketball coaches worldwide have my sympathy. I’m over here trying to help people like “ok, kids, let’s talk about fundamentals. Time to practice free throws.” The Farming Eternal Discord : “HOW DO WE MAKE HOOK

Drafting Empire of Glass: Evaluating rares

New limited formats are like the Wild West and @TempestDragonKing is mighty quick on the draw, providing this and more feedback on my initial Empire of Glass article within an hour of publication. As much as I’d love to fill this article with Wild West references and Doc Holliday gifs (Trivia: Doc Holliday was an

Drafting Empire of Glass: Zero Games Played AUDIO version

Audio of my first article about Empire of Glass Draft. This version has some additional insights not included in the article, along with a few exciting announcements! Happy drafting! Listen to Schaab-tacular Ep. 2: Empire of Glass by Farming Eternal on #SoundCloudhttps://soundcloud.com/farming-eternal/schaab-tacular-ep-2?ref=clipboard&p=a&c=0 Special thank you to Patrick of Farming Eternal for hosting this episode!

Drafting Empire of Glass: Zero Games Played

Fresh outta grad school, I could’ve written an extraordinary 30-page paper about improving speech & language therapy outcomes for individuals with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder)*. Google Scholar and I were best friends, transition sentences flowed effortlessly while I typed, and I had a campus full of academic and professional resources at my disposal. *Source: Schaab,

Learning from Elites: Shouta

Shouta Yasooka’s name inspires fear, respect, and the following associations throughout the worldwide Magic community : 1. Control Decks. 2. Playing insanely quickly. 3. Brilliant technical play. 4. Making balloon animals for opponents after losses. Okay, so the last one is a lie, but hopefully I have you hooked now. While it’s easy to find