Top 10 Kiki abuses that I didn’t play with this weekend
#10 – Intruder Alarm – Everyone and their brother has tried this one out. It’s explosive, certainly, and generally means an instant win. Not much good on its own, though.

#9 – Solemn Simulacrum – I mean it when I say that I hate this guy right now. No, I’m not talking about Handsome Jens Thoren, I’m referring to mana acceleration that is this expensive. Still, though, he works quite well with the Mirrorbreaker.

#8 – Nantuko Cultivator – I’ve always had a soft spot for this guy. Get a one-shot big attacker and get rid of any land that you still have in your hand. Then do it again. Not a half bad way to dig deep. Combine with Terravore for yet more fun.

#7 – Flametongue Kavu – This guy single-handedly shut down most creatures from even being able to see play when he was legal in Type 2. Put him on Xerox and watch nearly every critter around cry.

#6 – Siege-Gang Commander – Not a bad way to get out a lot of damage. Combine this with a Mana Echoes for a ton of mana.

#5 – Ancestor’s Chosen – Can you kill me now? Can you kill me now?

#4 – Triskelion – Pimp-bot. The Pig. Trike. He’s got a few different names, but he’s a machine gun with the Mirrorbreaker. I actually did run him in earlier lists of the deck, and is it really any surprise that Andy Wolf couldn’t resist playing him?

#3 – Chittering Rats – Not as big as a Rootrunner, but just as good at making a lock-out. Plus, playing with Rats is always fun (and always will be while Mark’s at the helm).

#2 – Rukh Egg – Man, oh man. Sure, it starts out as an overpriced wall, but will anyone want to kill it? When Kiki comes to town, out fly the Rukhs!

#1 – Blistering Firecat – It’s not the best, but I know if I put it lower on this list, someone would say I was just pandering to the readers who claim I have a thing for Red. Really, I don’t!

引用元
KIKI-JIKI, MIRROR BREAKER Posted in Feature on October 27, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/kiki-jiki-mirror-breaker-2004-10-27

《鏡割りのキキジキ/Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker》でコンボしたいカードのトップテンです。

《侵入警報/Intruder Alarm》はもちろんとして、それ以外にも強力なETB、PIG持ちクリーチャーが多くランクインしています。

《真面目な身代わり/Solemn Simulacrum》《火炎舌のカヴー/Flametongue Kavu》《包囲攻撃の司令官/Siege-Gang Commander》などは、単体でも充分に強力です。コンボパーツが揃わない場合の強さ、というのも無視できないでしょう。

そんな中で、《焦熱の火猫/Blistering Firecat》というのは珍しいです。著者自身、「ベストではない（It’s not the best）」と認めています。

So, this week is going to be a bit different from our usual Single Card Strategies. Rather than bring up a card and then show how to go about using it, I’m going to show you the deck that I brought to this weekend’s State Championships. This week, the column will be, in a sense, presented in a backwards fashion. Still, though, it fits: the deck is its very own Single Card Strategy. And that card is Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker.

Now, of course, I’m not the only person out there that thought of what could be done with Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker. Mike Flores thought a wee little bit about it. Tons and tons of people talked about Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker in various forums in fact. And, of course, my little coven and I over at my mailing list Cabal Rogue thought about it. Cabalist Ben Dempsey was the first one to send a preliminary list, and it was close enough to what I’d been musing on that I thought maybe we might have something. In the end, this was the “official” list:

KOOKY JOOKY BY CABAL ROGUE
Creature (28)
4 Birds of Paradise
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Eternal Witness
4 Viridian Shaman
3 Hearth Kami
2 Duplicant
3 Rootrunner
4 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker

Sorcery (4)
4 Commune with Nature

Instant (4)
4 Magma Jet

Artifact (2)
2 Sensei’s Divining Top

Land (22)
7 Mountain
11 Forest
2 City of Brass
1 Okina, Temple to the Grandfathers
1 Pinecrest Ridge
60 Cards

引用元
KIKI-JIKI, MIRROR BREAKER Posted in Feature on October 27, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/kiki-jiki-mirror-breaker-2004-10-27

《鏡割りのキキジキ/Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker》を使ったデッキ紹介です。コンボというよりは、ETBを再利用してアドバンテージ獲得を狙ったコントロールです。

それでも必殺技がない訳ではありません。《根走り/Rootrunner》がある場合は土地をライブラリートップに戻し続けるロックが完成します。

《侵入警報/Intruder Alarm》ほど派手ではありませんが、おなじ『神河物語』のカードで成立する美しさがあると言えます。

The Top 10 Reasons To Play Magic Online This Weekend

2. New Avatars
Before I started writing this column (i.e. back in the “doctorjay” days), I was an Avatar junkie. My Avatars, along with multicolor lands, were part of my “untouchable” collection, the digital objects I owned that I refused to trade. I delighted in flitting from Avatar to Avatar as my mood changed, or picking my Avatar based on what deck I happened to be playing (I’ve recently returned to this sort of behavior, actually). Release Events for me, then, were largely about getting my hands on new Avatars quickly.

The Champions of Kamigawa Release Events bring two new Avatars into the fold, Seshiro the Anointed and Eight-and-a-Half Tails. Enter any Release Event and you get Seshiro. Place towards the top two of a Release Event and you get Eight-and-a-Half-Tails. To whet your appetite, here’s a sneak peek of skin you might be able to don this week...

New MTGO Avatars for Champions of Kamigawa

1. Time Stop
If you win first place in one of the normal Premier Events, you qualify for the Release Events Championship on November 6th. Place in the Top 4 of the 4x Events and you also qualify for the Championship. That sounds pretty impressive, and everyone who qualifies gets to play in the Championship for free.

What will you be playing for, though? Well, first you win the admiration of your fellow players for being the best of the best. If you win the Championship you bear the mantle of THE Champion of Kamigawa. Suddenly you flip upside down and gain Legendary status among your peers.

Second, you win a whopping seventy-two Booster Packs of Champions of Kamigawa, which is just a ridiculous number of packs. In fact, if you place in the top thirty-two of the Championship we’re talking 6x the normal prize payout.

But none of that is as cool as the Ultra Grand Prize. The Championship winner also receives the original art for Time Stop:

Yep, win the Release Event Championship and you win the framed original art as your trophy. Not only that, but you get signed foil and regular copies of Time Stop too. You lucky Samurai, you.

See you online this weekend. My current plan is to play in at least four Drafts, two Pemier Events, one 4x Event, and build at least one Constructed deck based on my Champions cards from the week. We’ll see if I can pull all of that off or not. Regardless of what happens, you’ll get a full recap in next week’s article.

I can’t wait!

-j

引用元
INTOTHEAETHER KEEPS IT SIMPLE Posted in Feature on October 26, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/intotheaether-keeps-it-simple-2004-10-26

記事の著者が今週MOをプレイする理由トップテンの1,2に、神河が関与しています。

第1位がリリースイベントチャンピオンシップの大賞賞品です。額に入った《時間停止/Time Stop》の原画や、サイン入りのフォイルカードと通常のカードが貰えました。

第2位がMOのアバターです。リリースイベントに参加すると《清められし者、せし郎/Seshiro the Anointed》、上位入賞で《八ツ尾半/Eight-and-a-Half-Tails》が貰えました。

TOP TEN LIST #9: TOP TEN GOALS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THIS COLUMN
10) Lose the respect of my readers, and then win them back tenfold after entering the local battle of the bands, standing up to the bully lead singer of my chief competition, and believing in myself!

9) Use the latest techniques in interactive computer education to stimulate readers’ interest and to enhance long term retention of facts regarding the Earth, the solar system, and my in-laws’ home on Alpha Centauri.

8) Celebrate the New England Patriots’ 21st consecutive win, baby! (Note: written before the game with the Jets. Not responsible for any damage, loss of life, or embarrassment caused by any adverse events during that game.)

7) Determine whether a deck with Peer through Depths, Reach through Mists, and Sift through Sands can become even better without The Unspeakable.

6) Use the word “cream-filled” in a non-gratuitous, intellectually honest way.

5) Make readers cry. (Check.) Make readers laugh. (Pending.) Make readers sigh with longing, stare out the weathered window-pane at an appropriately picturesque rural setting, and ponder the incalculable breathlessness of life. (Hmmm.)

4) Pay appropriate homage to Jon Stewart, the Smartest Funny Man in America.

3) Get every single one of our play group members to read this, so they can see just how much amazing strategy and insight on Magic they’re missing on a weekly basis.

2) Engage in a whirlwind romance with Rebecca Romijn in a manner that neither angers my God nor my wife (not necessarily in that order).

1) Keep my mind off the fact that Election Day is next week, I’ve visited hundreds of households, and I still have hundreds of doors yet to knock on. (I’ll count myself lucky if I get this article in on time!)

引用元
THE TOP TEN TOP TEN Posted in Serious Fun on October 26, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/serious-fun/top-ten-top-ten-2004-10-26

トップ10に関する記事です。短いですが一応、神河のカードに言及しているので取り上げてみます。

《深遠の覗き見/Peer Through Depths》《霧中の到達/Reach Through Mists》《砂のふるい分け/Sift Through Sands》を使うデッキは、《語られざるもの、忌話図/The Unspeakable》なしで良くなるかどうか、というものです。

すべてが秘儀のドロースペルなので、スピリットクラフトのような「秘儀を唱えるたび」誘発する能力を活かすのが第一候補になるでしょうか。

From the Kamigawa Glossary:

nezumi (nay-ZOO-mee) Rat. In Kamigawa, short for nezumi-bito, meaning “ratfolk.”

During Kamigawa’s war with its own kami, the black-aligned nezumi mostly looked out for their own interests. They lived in Takenuma Swamp among the rotten bamboo, scavenging shabby equipment from the swamp or stealing goods from travelers. They favor Kusari-Gama, such as this burly fellow.

Nezumi Cutthroat art by Carl Critchlow

The nezumi were greedy, treacherous opportunists, mercenaries and thieves -- often involved in deals with other races who needed to get the nastiest sorts of jobs done.


Night Dealings art by Darrell Riche

The nezumi were also talented shamans (check out the great shamanic details here -- the fish strapped to his thigh armor and the lizard hanging from his staff)...


Nezumi Bone-Reader art by Dan Scott

...and in some cases, worked their way up from common graverobbers to legendary necromancers.

Nighteyes the Desecrator / Nezumi Graverobber art by Jim Nelson

引用元
NEZUMI IN ART Posted in Arcana on October 25, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/arcana/nezumi-art-2004-10-25

神河固有の人型種族である、「鼠人(Ratfolk)」のアートについての記事です。

「腐った竹の間にある竹沼湿地に住んでいる」「湿地からみすぼらしい装備品を漁ったり、旅行者から商品を盗んだりしている」「《鼠の殺し屋/Nezumi Cutthroat》のイラストにもあるように、《鎖鎌/Kusari-Gama》のような武器を好む」といった特徴があります。

鼠人は貪欲で、不誠実な日和見主義者で、傭兵や泥棒を営んでおり、他種族との取引も行っていました。《夜の分配/Night Dealings》はそれを表したイラストです。

ただ、そうしたならず者集団というだけでなく、《鼠の骨読み/Nezumi Bone-Reader》のようなシャーマン、さらには《冒涜する者、夜目/Nighteyes the Desecrator》のような伝説のネクロマンサーも存在します。

現実のネズミらしい特徴をもったものから、ファンタジーらしい設定までそろっていると言えるでしょう。

All of the interactions I’ll be going through today I’ve drafted myself. I’m going to avoid using rares as they won’t come up very often but I recently had the Horobi, Death’s Wail + 3 x Kabuto Moth deck, and needless to say I had a lot of fun with that one. I’m sure there are plenty more combos I haven’t listed but it’s up to you to discover those. Some of these will be obvious and some not so obvious, but they’re all amongst my favourites from the new set.

10 - Reach Through Mists and Glacial Ray
9 - Strength of Cedars and Kodama’s Reach
8 - Matsu-Tribe Decoy and Indomitable Will
7 - Nagao, Bound by Honor and Konda’s Hatamoto
6 - Hankyu and Harsh Deceiver
5 - Kashi-Tribe Reaver and Lure
4 - Soilshaper + Kami of the Hunt
3 - Initiate of Blood, Frostwielder and Honden of Infinite Rage
2 - Devouring Greed and Zuberas / Honden of Life’s Web
1 - Soratami Mirror-Guard and Wicked Akuba

TOP 10 CHAMPIONS COMBOS
Posted in Limited Information on October 25, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/limited-information/top-10-champions-combos-2004-10-25

リミテッドにおけるコンボのトップ10についての記事です。

それゆえに、コモンやアンコモンが中心であり、爆発力も控えめになっています。

Top Ten List #6 - Top Ten Cards That Took The Longest To See Print
8) Moonring Mirror (Champions of Kamigawa)
Before I came to Wizards of the Coast, I had a cool idea for a card that allowed a player to have two hands (of cards that is) that they could swap back and forth. That card ended up being called Duplicity and it was printed in Tempest. Unfortunately, Duplicity ended up being a dud and no one except for a few eager Johnnies ever played with it.
So I was determined to remake Duplicity; this time doing it right. I tried various versions, some artifacts and others enchantments. But it wasn’t until Champions of Kamigawa that I was finally successful.

1) Heartbeat of Spring (Champions of Kamigawa)
During the development of Fifth Edition (back in something like 1997), the team made of wish list of cards it wanted to see in future base sets. The list was for cards that didn’t yet exist but that the team wanted to see get designed. One such card was a “green mana flare”. I stuck it in Tempest. And Urza’s Saga. And Mercadian Masques. And Invasion. And Odyssey. (I skipped Onslaught.) And Mirrodin. And finally Champions of Kamigawa. Seven years later it has finally seen print.

引用元
TOP TEN OF THE MORNING Posted in Making Magic on October 25, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/making-magic/top-ten-morning-2004-10-25

様々なトップ10について語る記事です。

印刷に至るまでにかかった期間の長さトップ1,8に『神河物語』のカードがランクインしています。

1位の《春の鼓動/Heartbeat of Spring》については、過去の日記（※１）で取り上げました。日本語の記事もあるので、そちらを読む方が分かりやすいでしょう。

8位の《月輪の鏡/Moonring Mirror》は、《二枚舌/Duplicity》のリメイクになります。様々なバリエーションを試した結果、完成したのが『神河物語』の時期だった、ということでした。

※１
神河資料 - ９年待った《春の鼓動/Heartbeat of Spring》
https://researchofkamigawa.diarynote.jp/201912252015371051/

From the Kamigawa Provinces
Q: Concerning the new Hero cards, if I were to Time of Need or use Captain Sisay’s ability to search my library for a legendary card, could I go for one of the hero cards since their flipped version is a legend? --Vann B.

A: Sorry, no heroes. The only time a hero’s Legendary self is unmasked is once the hero is in play and has met its flip requirement [CR 508.2]. At any other time, it’s as if that side of the card just doesn’t exist. R&D guys aren’t the only ones with secret identities (not that Mago’s is secret anymore).

引用元
HAPPY STATES DAY! Posted in Feature on October 23, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/happy-states-day-2004-10-23

恒例のQ&A記事です。

ちょうど先日の記事で紹介された、《分かち合う運命/Shared Fate》と《地ならし屋/Leveler》の相互作用についても書かれています。



2021/03/09 追記
日本語訳を見つけました。
オンラインルール学校#34――神河物語 #2（Saturday School 2004/10/16～2004/10/23 より）
https://web.archive.org/web/20041113051821/http://www.hobbyjapan.co.jp/magic/articles/files/20041029_01.html

昨日の記事の続きです。

Doomsday
Today’s last deck is a Shared Fate-Leveler deck from Boris Zinshteyn. I get sent Shared Fate decks all the time, and I never post them. I don’t like the card. I’ve seen the Shared Fate-with-no-victory-conditions deck way too often, and it bores me. It doesn’t have the panache, the verve, the élan, the other fancy words that I usually strive for in a deck. The thought of a Shared Fate mirror match, where neither deck has any victory conditions at all, seems so horribly unpleasant I don’t want to contemplate it. And I’ve seen the Shared Fate-Leveler combo a million times by now, so it’s old news to me. That could be because I’ve already written about it. In fact, I was one of the first people to ever come up with the combo, posting it back on October 2 of last year, right around the time Leveler (and the rest of Mirrodin) was released. No one ever checks the archives. Back to my whiny point: I don’t post Shared Fate-Leveler decks.

But Boris has a different approach.

Boris takes two cards—two popular cards (no, I’m not talking about either Shared Fate or Leveler)—and uses them in such a subversive, unintended, wrong manner that is nothing short of genius. His real combo is Cranial Extraction + Relentless Rats. He stuffs his deck full of at least 20 Relentless Rats, then uses Cranial Extraction on himself to remove them all! He’s left with a lean, mean, much smaller and more focused deck. After that, it doesn’t much matter what the victory condition is. He chose Shared Fate and Leveler, but he also noted that you can use anything else. (Well, maybe not Battle of Wits.)

RAT EXTRACTION
Creature (21)
1 Leveler
20 Relentless Rats

Sorcery (12)
4 Cranial Extraction
4 Diabolic Tutor
4 Lobotomy

Instant (4)
4 Gifts Ungiven

Enchantment (1)
1 Shared Fate

Land (22)
4 Island
10 Swamp
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Polluted Delta
60 Cards

引用元
ANTI-GRAVITY Posted in Feature on October 21, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/anti-gravity-2004-10-21

《地ならし屋/Leveler》で自分のライブラリーをゼロにした状態で《分かち合う運命/Shared Fate》を唱えると、相手が実質的にドローができなくなるロックデッキの亜種です。

《頭蓋の摘出/Cranial Extraction》を自分にうって、《執拗なネズミ/Relentless Rats》20枚を追放することで、ライブラリーから勝ち手段をゼロにし、《地ならし屋/Leveler》に代わるアプローチとしています。これにより、ネズミをそのまま並べてビートダウンするサブプランも出来ました。

ネズミや摘出の使い方としてはかなり独創的でしょう。

昨日の記事の続きです。

Top of the Morning
Adrian Sullivan’s column this week is about the many uses of Sensei’s Divining Top. It’s a testament to the robustness of this annoying little card (as well as a testament to my luckiness) that he didn’t exhaust all of them. I have a Top deck that exploits an additional trick brought to my attention by N.K.S that Adrian didn’t use at all. So while it could have looked as though Adrian and I don’t communicate about what we’ll each be writing about or, worse, that I just copied his ideas, it instead looks as though we cooperatively collaborated so my column dovetails nicely with his. Let’s just say that’s what happened.

N.K.S discovered that having two Divining Tops could be quite a boon. I always thought a second Top was redundantly redundant, and in most cases it is. But not if you build around it. Here’s the situation: You use the tap ability of one Top to draw a card and then plant it on top of your library. You use the tap ability of the other Top to draw a card (that first Top) and now it goes to the top of your library. Play the Top that’s now in your hand. Tap it to draw a card… and you should see where this is going. This is, of course, useless. Unless you have a Forgotten Ancient in play, which has suddenly gained the ability “: Put X +1/+1 counters on Forgotten Ancient. Play this ability only any time you could play a sorcery.” Arcbound Crusher also gains X +1/+1 tokens. Leonin Elder gains X life. Vedalken Archmage draws X cards. Lumengrid Sentinel taps X creatures. And you only have to pay X once for all these affects because they each trigger each time you play one of your super-bouncy Tops.

TO THE TOP
Creature (22)
2 Aphetto Alchemist
3 Arcbound Crusher
4 Forgotten Ancient
3 Leonin Battlemage
4 Sakura-Tribe Elder
4 Trinket Mage
2 Vedalken Archmage

Sorcery (8)
2 Fabricate
4 Kodama’s Reach
2 Temporal Fissure

Instant (3)
3 Sprouting Vines

Artifact (4)
4 Sensei’s Divining Top

Land (23)
2 Plains
10 Island
10 Forest
1 Mirrodin’s Core
60 Cards

引用元
ANTI-GRAVITY Posted in Feature on October 21, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/anti-gravity-2004-10-21

《師範の占い独楽/Sensei’s Divining Top》2枚があると、それらを交互に起動・唱えることでマナの限りアーティファクト呪文を唱えることができます。

これだけでは意味がありませんが、「～を唱えるたび」などを誘発させることでコンボ成立です。

ここでは、《忘れられた古霊/Forgotten Ancient》《ヴィダルケンの大魔道士/Vedalken Archmage》で大量パンプ、大量ドローを狙います。

2枚の独楽によるコンボと言うと、エターナル環境での「Sensei, Sensei」を思い出します。
http://mtgwiki.com/wiki/Sensei,_Sensei

こちらは《覚醒の兜/Helm of Awakening》を使うので、マナも不要になり、無限コンボが成立します。

このデッキの目の付け所は悪くないと言えるでしょう。

Apology Excepted
I didn’t get to Foul Familiar last week, but it stuck around long enough for me to chat it up now. Oddly, I didn’t think of Blinking Spirit (a much more famous Ice Age Spirit with a self-bounce ability) until this week. The deck practically builds itself, though. Just use all the black and white Champions of Kamigawa creatures that have a “whenever you play a Spirit or Arcane spell” ability, and we’re done! Right? Maybe not. There are four white Champions creatures with a “spiritcraft” ability. They each cost exactly five mana. Sure, some are and some are , but they lend themselves to neither a diverse nor a cheap mana curve. The black creatures fare better, as they provide Kami of the Waning Moon and the excellent Thief of Hope. But it was when I dipped into artifacts that the deck really took shape.

What’s in artifacts? Jade Idol. This goes along with not only bouncy Blinky and Fouly, but Hikari (sorry, that’s Hikari, Twilight Guardian), which popped up during my white “spiritcraft” search. What these cards have in common is that they can all duck Wrath of God. The deck’s bouncing Spirits keep the Idol turned on and keep Thief of Hope busy while either attacking with abandon or (in Blinking Spirit’s case) blocking forever. Your opponent may have to overextend to break through, and that’s when you sweep the board… except for your creatures that hid in your hand, the removed from game zone, or in statue form.

Creature (18)
4 Blinking Spirit
4 Foul Familiar
4 Hikari, Twilight Guardian
2 Kami of the Waning Moon
4 Thief of Hope

Sorcery (6)
2 Rout
4 Wrath of God

Instant (4)
2 Candles’ Glow
2 Otherworldly Journey

Artifact (8)
2 Guardian Idol
4 Jade Idol
2 Marble Diamond

Land (24)
11 Plains
7 Swamp
4 Caves of Koilos
1 Eiganjo Castle
1 Shizo, Death’s Storehouse

60 Cards

引用元
ANTI-GRAVITY Posted in Feature on October 21, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/anti-gravity-2004-10-21

デッキ紹介の記事です。

《Foul Familiar》や《またたくスピリット/Blinking Spirit》のような回収できるスピリットのシナジーを活かしたデッキです。

《欠け月の神/Kami of the Waning Moon》や《希望の盗人/Thief of Hope》のようなスピリットクラフトと相性がいいのは言うまでもないでしょう。

他にも、《翡翠の彫像/Jade Idol》などの一時的にクリーチャー化するアーティファクトと《神の怒り/Wrath of God》を合わせて、一方的に相手の場を壊滅させるコントロール力もあります。

"Unbelievable!"

That was how Nikolaus Eigner, the 23-year old student of Politics and Communication Studies at the University of Vienna, described his victory over nearly 1,000 other players two weekends ago at Grand Prix–Vienna.

"Its amazing! It was already a dream coming true to finish Top 8 and qualifying for another PT," Eigner said. "But winning the whole thing? Unbelievable!"

In addition to winning $2,400, Eigner also qualified for the Pro Tour for the second time in his career. He started playing shortly after the release of Stronghold and his first tournament was Grand Prix–Vienna during the 1998-99 season (when Kai Budde was on his remarkable Grand Prix tear). Refreshingly, Eigner was eager to take advantage of his invite and was looking to follow up an impressive debut at Pro Tour–Amsterdam.

"Yes I will attend Nagoya. My goal is to finish better than my 46th place at my first PT in Amsterdam. I will do countless practice drafts on MTGO," he added.

Eigner also has a thriving real-life Magic scene in his local area to rely upon for practice.

"Vienna is the hot spot of Magic in Austria with its huge new store MAGICCORNER," Eigner said. "There are lots of players with PT-experience such as Benedikt Klauser, Thomas Preyer, and Stefan Jedlicka. There are also Magic scenes in other cities like Salzburg, Linz, Graz and Klagenfurt."

引用元
LOCAL FLAVOR Posted in The Week That Was on October 21, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/week-was/local-flavor-2004-10-21

グランプリウィーン04（※１）の優勝者、Nikolaus Eignerの記事です。フォーマットは神河ブロックのリミテッドで、初日がシールド、二日目がロチェスター・ドラフトでした。

リミテッドのボム《山伏の長、熊野/Kumano, Master Yamabushi》をピックしています。

ただ、勝利に貢献したのは、《貪る強欲/Devouring Greed》の方だったようです。こういうコモンカードは好きなので、活躍するのは嬉しいことです。

※１
http://mtgwiki.com/wiki/%E3%82%B0%E3%83%A9%E3%83%B3%E3%83%97%E3%83%AA%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A3%E3%83%BC%E3%83%B304

Card Name　　　　　　　　　　Card Set
巻物の君、あざみ　　　　　　 　神河物語
潮の星、京河　　　　　　　 　　神河物語
空民の雨刻み　　　　　　 　　　神河物語
精霊の学び手/風の達人、鳶太　　神河物語
血塗られた悪姥　　　　　　 　　神河物語
宝石の陣列　　　　　　　　 　　フィフス・ドーン
霧散　　　　　　　　　　　 　　フィフス・ドーン
粗野な覚醒　　　　　　　　 　　フィフス・ドーン
電結の悪鬼　　　　　　　　 　　ダークスティール
懲戒の儀式　　　　　　　　 　　ダークスティール

著名な日本人イラストレーターである一徳のマジックでの初仕事はダークスティルで見られる。
神河ブロックのコンセプト・イラストレーター陣の１員として、神河の独特な雰囲気を生み出す上で中心的役割を担う。
デュエル・マスターズ・カードのイラストレーションも多数手がける。
作品集はこちら
http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/ittoku01/hp/.

引用元
GRAND PRIX YOKOHAMA ARTIST - ITTOKU 更新日 Feature on 2004年 10月 20日
https://magic.wizards.com/ja/articles/archive/feature/grand-prix-yokohama-artist-ittoku-2004-10-20

神河ブロックのコンセプト・イラストレーターである、一徳の仕事の一覧です。当時のグランプリ横浜04の来場アーティストということで、このような記事が書かれました。

『神河物語』以前からも、MTGのイラストを手掛けていることが分かります。中でも一番有名なのは、《粗野な覚醒》でしょう。

Public Enemy Number One
For those of you who will make Champs your first sanctioned tournament experience, let me introduce you to the bad guys:

These two notorious villains ruled Mirrodin Block Constructed and have been a force in Standard since the release of Darksteel. For his part, Disciple of the Vault has been played since Champs last year, albeit back then, he was mostly a foil for Affinity-killer Akroma’s Vengeance. Today, Arcbound Ravager and Disciple of the Vault make up the finest two-card combination since long unplayable Illusions of Grandeur met the seemingly innocuous Donate in 1999. Both cards are solid alone, but together, they push the Affinity deck over the top.

（中略）

The Limiting Factor
The next biggest deck to come out of the Mirrodin Block is Tooth and Nail. Tooth and Nail (called “TwelvePost” at that event) came on the scene at the Block Pro Tour early this year, and nearly took home the top prize. While the game’s finest designer had to settle for second place in Kobe, Gabriel Nassif’s performance at the Pro Tour helped propel him to Player of the Year.

The core of Tooth and Nail is Sylvan Scrying and a set of entwine sorceries – Reap and Sow and Tooth and Nail itself. The goal of the deck is to generate a ton of mana and then entwine the latter sorcery for a ridiculous effect. What actually comes down is to some extent irrelevant… most of the time a resolved Tooth and Nail is the death knell. The end can take the form of two copies of Darksteel Colossus, ready to trample over for 22, invulnerable to Wrath of God or other sweep. It can be the team of Platinum Angel and Leonin Abunas; one ensures victory while the other prevents its partner from being removed. Victory can take the form of Triskelion and Mephidross Vampire… a couple that sweeps the board of offending creatures on the other side of the table. Colored mana requirements are irrelevant once Tooth and Nail is within range.

引用元
PREPARING FOR CHAMPS Posted in Feature on October 20, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/preparing-champs-2004-10-20

当時の環境を分析する記事です。

1ブロック3セットせいだった頃は、「ローテーション直後はブロック構築からメタゲームを読む」というのが１つの方針でした。

そこで、注目されているのはやはり親和で、その次が12ポスト（歯と爪デッキ）となっています。

『神河物語』には親和を強化する要素はほとんどありませんが、歯と爪で呼び出したくなるような強力な伝説クリーチャーはいたことが注目されていたようです。



2021/03/09 追記
日本語訳を見つけました。
都道府県選手権に向けて――選手権のメタゲーム概要
https://web.archive.org/web/20041113050253/http://www.hobbyjapan.co.jp/magic/articles/files/20041022_01.html

昨日の記事の続きです。

Wrapping Up
Well, all that said, I can’t help it, I’m going to make a burn deck. I’ve been restraining myself long enough…

I think I’ll go with Online Extended, mostly because I realize I haven’t made a deck for Online Extended yet. Also, that let’s me do a bunch of fun tricks…

Creature (14)
4 Blistering Firecat
4 Solemn Simulacrum
2 Rorix Bladewing
4 Chartooth Cougar

Sorcery (14)
4 Firebolt
4 Erratic Explosion
4 Pillage
2 Slice and Dice

Instant (7)
4 Shrapnel Blast
3 Seething Song

Artifact (2)
2 Sensei’s Divining Top

Land (23)
3 Barbarian Ring
4 Forgotten Cave
2 Temple of the False God
10 Mountain
4 Blinkmoth Nexus
60 Cards

Besides the fun burn cards, there are burn cards with Top tricks! Shrapnel Blast/Sensei’s Divining Top is only a weak combo, but Erratic Explosion is a great spell when it can regularly do 6 damage (Slice and Dice, Rorix Bladewing, Chartooth Cougar). Solemn Simulacrum and Chartooth also provide some nice shuffling affects while they give you more mana. Forgotten Cave and sacrificing a Solemn Simulacrum to Shrapnel Blast both can give you a card put on top of the library immediately. I also get to cheat a tiny bit with my mana because of the Top. Normally, I wouldn’t feel comfortable going below 24 with a deck like this (even given the Solemns and Cougars), especially with Temple of the False God and Forgotten Cave, but here, the Top can help guarantee that I keep in the mana enough to get the rest of the mana going.

One of the things about building any deck with Top is that it isn’t going to be the centerpiece. The Top is a helper card. All library manipulation is, by its very nature. Only Psychogenic Probe kills anyone for simply moving their library around, and nothing really kills your opponent for just moving it around. What it does do is make sure that the juice you squeeze out of your deck is more worth it.

Good luck to everyone that is playing in the various Champs events this weekend! I’ll be in Wisconsin, playing with a Top.

引用元
SENSEI’S DIVINING TOP Posted in Feature on October 20, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/sensei%E2%80%99s-divining-top-2004-10-20

この記事で紹介してきたシナジーが詰め込まれた、独楽バーンデッキです。記事を締めくくるにはふさわしいでしょう。

フォーマットが今は無きエクステンデッドなので、活躍させることはできませんが。

昨日の記事の続きです。

Eating it
One final neat trick with the Top: drawing a card with the Top is an effect, but so is putting it on top of your library. If your Top is in the graveyard before your card draw resolves, that’s fine – you get to draw your card anyway.

This can be very useful if you just want a new card, but don’t want a Sensei’s Divining Top to be your next draw (it does happen sometimes…). Any number of cards can make this happen, and they all generally include the phrase “Sacrifice an artifact”, though not all of them do. In Extended, this includes Atog, Goblin Welder, and Shrapnel Blast, among others.

引用元
SENSEI’S DIVINING TOP Posted in Feature on October 20, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/sensei%E2%80%99s-divining-top-2004-10-20

独楽の２つ目の能力で、ライブラリーに独楽をトップに戻すのはコストではなく効果であるため、起動に対応して独楽を生け贄に捧げることでデメリットを回避できるというテクニックが紹介されています。

アーティファクトを生け贄に捧げるサクリ台は総数こそ多くないですが、《エイトグ/Atog》《ゴブリンの溶接工/Goblin Welder》《爆片破/Shrapnel Blast》と活躍したカードは少なくないです。

特に、《ゴブリンの溶接工/Goblin Welder》はペインターデッキにおいて独楽と採用されていた実績があります。実際に使用した、目にしたことがあるシナジーかもしれません。

昨日の記事の続きです。

It’s your future… I see a cab ride…

One of the other things that is fantastic about knowing what you have on top of your library is simple planning. If you know that you can expect a particular quality spell at some point in the next several turns, you can make far more informed choices when it comes to any of the difficult decision we make each turn. Knowing that you have a Nekrataal or a Viridian Shaman on top of your library makes deciding whether or not to kill a creature (or which creature) much easier.

But beyond simply making it easier to make the right call, there are a whole slew of cards that become far more impressive if you can just make the top of your library have a particularly decent order. And I’m not just talking about the new Deceivers from Kamigawa, either.

Vexing Arcanix – Many years ago, I tried to make use of Vexing Arcanix in a really terrible Orcish Spy deck. Being able to always guess correctly was great, and you could generally expect that most people aren’t going to get their own guesses correct, so it could double as a damage source in a pinch. Top is like a better Orcish Spy.

The Deceivers – It’s not just a Pierce Brosnan movie, it’s also the name of a slew of Kamigawa spirits that like to find land on top of your library. While this is much more of a Sealed deck and Draft trick, it’s still good to know that you can put that land on top of you library to make a Deceiver work.

Timesifter – Timesifter is a hugely risky card. If you whiff with a Timesifter out, your opponent gets an extra turn, and that isn’t good. The Top can keep the most expensive of each three cards on top of your library to make the Timesifter far more likely to lock your opponent out of the game. Just make sure you keep your library well-stocked – it will mill that expensive card away.

Erratic Explosion – You know me, I love burn. Keeping a Rorix handy on top of your library until you get to the mana to cast it is great. Getting rid of it to do 6 damage? Also great.

Call of the Wild – I remember playing a Call of the Wild years ago when I was but a wee lad. People made fun of me, but I still won a $1000 tournament with the deck. I had Sylvan Library back then, you have Sensei’s Divining Top now.

Vedalken Archmage – When building an Archmage deck, sometimes you can simply stall out on artifacts that you can cast. With the Top, find a good artifact to keep going, and then draw it. When you cast the new artifact, you’ll draw into the Top. Play the Top again, and draw another card. Coincidentally, you’ll already know what it is (since you arranged it just a bit ago).

Future Sight – Oh, Future Sight. I get a small little shiver of glee when I think about this card. Future Sight has always had one big problem, though. Glutting on lands. You’ll have already put as many land into play as you can, and one just sticks right there, annoying you. The Top can help move these about a bit. With a bit of mana, it can work much like the Vedalken Archmage trick to push into your deck – when you get that extra unplayable land on top, draw it and then replay the Top from the top of your library with Future Sight. Repeat as often as you can afford.

引用元
SENSEI’S DIVINING TOP Posted in Feature on October 20, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/sensei%E2%80%99s-divining-top-2004-10-20

独楽はライブラリー操作ですから、ライブラリートップを参照するカードとは当然相性がよくなります。

そうしたシナジーのあるカードとして、《難問の秘儀具/Vexing Arcanix》などが挙げられています。

この手のカードとして活躍したものは、『神河物語』の後になりますが、やはり《相殺/Counterbalance》でしょう。この手のロックコンボは他にもありますが、パーツが1,2マナというのは群を抜いた軽さです。相殺コントロールというデッキを成立させ、活躍しました。

また、さらに後に登場した奇跡とも相性がよく、青白奇跡コントロールが活躍しました。奇跡という名前とは裏腹の動きになるのは皮肉ですが。

いずれにせよ、ライブラリー操作として採用されるのがずっと独楽というのは、いかに強力な操作力かということの証明でしょう。

昨日の記事の続きです。

Spinning: not just for insiders any more
Once you start shuffling the deck, the power of the top begins to increase greatly. If taking the best cards out of three is generally good, taking the best card out of six (or more) is great. Sure, Myr Mindservant will give you a shuffle, but there are far better options out there.

Typically, it’s hunting for land that makes for the best shuffling. Kamigawa brings us one of the best mana cards for constructed Magic that we’ve seen in some time: Sakura-Tribe Elder. The card is subtle, but very rich. It provides a fast blocker and then gives you another mana. With the Top, it’s even better: you’ll always know whether or not you’d prefer to sacrifice him for mana or to forego the mana in favor of a good card. Solemn Simulacrum is another Standard legal card that is very similar, however you don’t get the ability to delay your decision. Other land searches are out there, from Journey of Discovery to Wood Elves, but these are probably the two best of their type. Sylvan Scrying and Reap and Sow have already been proven to be good at finding Cloudposts or Urza’s Lands, but besides that, they toss in a shuffle as well. And don’t forget Kodama’s Reach, also from Champions of Kamigawa and also outstanding.

Once you make the foray towards older cards, the possibilities open up quite a bit. The most efficient option is the Onslaught fetch lands – cards such as Polluted Delta and Bloodstained Mire – but these aren’t the only things available. I always enjoyed the card selection that came from Sylvan Library and Thawing Glaciers, and there’s no reason you can’t use this too.

Another good way to clear off the top of your library is other library manipulation. Commune with Nature, Peer Through Depths, Impulse, and Tainted Pact can all get rid of some of the dead weight on top of your library and replace it with something new and good. Simple card drawing like Accumulated Knowledge or Fact or Fiction can accomplish the same task. Between land-searching cards and generally card drawing, it’s easy to get the Top to look at new cards. Because of this, my current 5-color deck happily plays Tops just because of “deck spinning” cards like these. Very often, you’ll find that you’ll end up ditching the Top to draw some really powerful card and then shuffling it away, but most likely, it will have held its own in the meantime.

One great shuffle effect is the Tutor. There are a bunch of great tutor affects in Extended. Sadly, they all make you wait to get the benefits of your learning. Well, no more. Cast your Mystical Tutor, cast your Enlightened Tutor, cast your Vampiric Tutor, cast your Reclaim, whatever. The Top can get you that card in your hand with no waiting. Long-Term Plans is a long wait. Well, no more.

引用元
SENSEI’S DIVINING TOP Posted in Feature on October 20, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/sensei%E2%80%99s-divining-top-2004-10-20

独楽は単体でもそれなりに強いですが、他のカードと組み合わせることでより強力になります。そんなシナジーを成すカードが多数紹介されています。

やはりシャッフル手段と組み合わせることが一番です。不要なカードがトップにあることを確認したら、切り直してしまえばいいからです。

当時は、《桜族の長老/Sakura-Tribe Elder》《真面目な身代わり/Solemn Simulacrum》《木霊の手の内/Kodama’s Reach》など、土地サーチカードが揃っていました。

下環境であれば、言うまでもなくフェッチランドが好相性です。もっとも、それゆえに独楽が禁止されてしまいましたが……。

What it is, What it is
Well first of all, the card is rock steady. At one mana, the card is a cheap cast. Finding a moment when you have the extra mana to put it into play is easy. In the same way, finding the free mana to activate it is easy too. Generally, that means that the top of your library is going to be much better than you might otherwise expect (perfect when you don’t want to have cards in your hand yet because of discard).

One of the most powerful ways that this impacts the game is through land. Land is the cornerstone and fuel of every single deck. Anytime you miss a land drop, you can be very likely to find it by simply activating the Top. While it is true that you might occasionally miss, usually you’ll hit, and on the next turn, you can spend two mana (one to drop the Top, and one to activate it) to do the same thing if you need to. On the other hand, the other big issue with land is getting too much of it. Here, the Top works wonders as well. Just activate the Top and move land further into your deck. At some point, you might build up more than a few cards you don’t want to draw, but hey, we do have other cards in our deck that we can use to spin it.

One important Top technique was nicknamed “stack tricks” by another one of my playtest partners, Adam Kugler. If you’re lucky enough to know that you want the top card of your library (and we’ll definitely be getting to that!) in your hand and you don’t want the Top for a little bit, using the stack can accomplish this for you. First, activate the one mana reordering ability of the Top, and then in response activate the card drawing ability on the Top. When both of the abilities resolve, you’ll draw a card and put the Top on top of your library, and then the second ability will resolve and you can take the Top off the top of your library and place it farther in. (Is it just me, or do you think that Rosewater and company knew people would be saying “Put Top on top?”)

The top can be incredibly useful in just cleaning up the “day-to-day” draws that you get from a deck. And all of this without doing anything to spin around the order of you library.

引用元
SENSEI’S DIVINING TOP Posted in Feature on October 20, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/sensei%E2%80%99s-divining-top-2004-10-20

独楽単体での使い方の紹介です。

単純に不要なカードをはじくだけでも充分強力です。

それ以外にも、入れ替え能力を起動し、対応してドロー能力を起動することで、不要な独楽をライブラリーに送る、といったテクニックです。

During the course of all of this frantic playtesting, Brian came over to check out the new changes to one of the decks we were working on. The next day, he e-mailed our mailing list with a joking slam on me:

silly sully really likes this card but i think he is just trying to fill a void in his heart. every time he got the top out i had to watch him fondle the deck for long periods of time. siiiiiiiigh.

He’s right; there is a card that fills a void in my heart. And that card is Sensei’s Divining Top.

If you were to talk about the things I really like from my cards, library manipulation has always been the biggest, brightest thing to me. I’ve loved Brainstorm, Impulse, and Intuition (even if it wasn’t being used to get Accumulated Knowledges). But definitely, the granddaddy of all of these cards for me is Sylvan Library, the card that I always hope will come back, but never does. (I knew I shouldn’t have poked fun at Mark Rosewater! This is his little vendetta!)

The constant card selection of Sylvan meant that you would be continuously getting quality cards into your hand. Even the simplest of shuffle or searching affects could guarantee that with each successive turn, you were getting the good end of whatever your library had to offer. Now, Sensei’s Divining Top is no Sylvan, but it still has plenty to offer.

引用元
SENSEI’S DIVINING TOP Posted in Feature on October 20, 2004
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/feature/sensei%E2%80%99s-divining-top-2004-10-20

《師範の占い独楽/Sensei’s Divining Top》について長く語られた記事です。

著者は、《渦巻く知識/Brainstorm》、《衝動/Impulse》、《直感/Intuition》などのライブラリー操作が好きであり、その中でも《森の知恵/Sylvan Library》が一番気に入っています。そこで、独楽も気に入った、という話です。

昨日取り上げた通り、《森の知恵/Sylvan Library》は神河の新規イラストが作成されたので、不思議な縁を感じています。