5-Color Magic The most electrifying format in Magic
Bluebell, PA Tournament Organizer’s Report Event History: This tournament scheme began as the brainchild of discussions with Brian Epstein and Tom Fowler. Tom and I were looking for ways to promote 5-Color to players without Power 9 and the original duals. We quickly realized that holding a Peasant 5-Color tournament or a tournament with a modified B/R list would promote format fragmentation which I believe weakens non-sanctioned formats. Additionally, after talking with Brian Epstein, who lives 3 hours from me, I realized if I wanted more people, I need prizes to justify travel, and players seemed willing to pay a…
Everyone loves 5-Color. Everyone. How can you not love a format that features both bardishings and windmill slams of cards like Fellwar Stone? Honestly, I don't think Fellwar Stone has been windmill slammed to the table in any other format. Lots of kids try the format, some bail quickly, but others stick around. Why? I think it's for the intensity of play. There are two understood rules in 5-Color: "Don't Be a Dick" (that's DBAD for those that have been around a while; but the one I hear less often that everyone seems to work out is "Play to Win."…
Though it came from such roots, 5-Color is no longer about ponzas and playing casually. 5-Color is now played in trials across the country; 5-Color is played on other continents. 5-Color has also naturally evolved into a rather competitive format. Recently, however, 5-Color has stagnated as fewer people decide to build the 250-card decks necessary to play Magic’s most electrifying format. More people are leaving the format. Why? The 5-Color Rulings Committee (5CRC) has focused on the impact of decisions on competitive players, rather than focusing on the impact on the bread-and-butter casual players. While the 5CRC removes cards from…
It's tough to define "budget" when trying to speak to an audience. I live in Dustin Stern's house. It's his; he bought it last spring. Our budgets are far apart. As a high school student, Nick Bach was able to dump a ton of money into his 5-Color but people who have jobs and rent may not have as much disposable income as a 17 year-old...I know I don't. I would like to think you don't need the power nine to be competitive in this format. That might just be wishful thinking. In the first two 5-Color Worlds events I…
First of all this is Jeremy Barbeau reporting my third second place finish in a row. 5 color worlds 2003, 5 color worlds 2004, 5 color invitational 2005. DAMN IT!!!! I tried to win so five color could get a cool card added, and some thing people would want to win a qualifier for but I only managed second. These were some of the cards I was thinking of. Alas, I didn’t get to make them. I hope whatever Jim comes up with is cooler than these though. Balduvian Explorer (1)R Haste. When Balduvian Explorer comes into play Search your…
5-Color Invitational 2, January 30th, 2005, Madison, Wisconsin Thanks to Pat Fehling who ran an excellent event and gave me an invite. I had a fantastic time and would love to do it again! Thank you to Mark Gresbach who showed that the Old Man can still flip a Chaos Orb in the clutch well enough to beat yours truly. Mark also hooked me up with all kinds of saucy cards for my highlander, so those are very much appreciated; thanks again OMG. MY three-card deck was Tundra, Flying Men, Swords to Plowshares. I went 1-1 losing to Adrian Sullivan's…
So unfortunately for the rest of the 5-Color community, Madison, WI wins yet another major 5-C event. So yes, you will all get to listen to Pat brag about us. We did get 10 of the people who were invited to show up, but I wish Andy, John Carter, Nick B. Nick Little could have made it. The first 2 rounds were 3 card decks. The deck I played was designed by Johnny Luv it was Black Lotus, Glow Rider and Rishadan Cutpurse. Rnd 1 – Mark Gresbach playing Black Lotus, Show and Tell and Form of the Dragon. Game…
With the same cardpool as Type 1, 5-Color can appear daunting to people who haven’t played it before. They will see the same barrier to entry they see for Type 1: spending a gazillion dollars on the power cards that make the decks work. Unlike Type 1, however, 5-Color doesn’t have five-proxy tournaments to draw the Powered and non-Powered together in large numbers. I play 5-Color a lot at the local game store, and I’ve heard quite a few people say, “It looks like fun, but I just don’t have the cards to build a deck.” The problem here, of…
Beginning in the year 2000, Wizards of the Coast started printing foil promotional cards for its Friday Night Magic program. Some of these cards have been a blessing for casual and competitive 5-color players, some have been just “blah”, and some have been just plain bungles on Wotc’s part. Cards that are blessings were needed in a foil version to trip mandatory ante, and overall a playable card in either competitive or casual 5-color or both. Cards are only needed in a foil version when there is no other available foil version of the card and no version that was…
Newbies Budget Tech. Well when I started writing this I had no clue where to start. I said to myself, "Self should I start with the obvious Alpha, Beta, Unl, Rev or should I work this from the other perspective and go from Champions back in time." Since this is supposed to be for the newer 5-color fiends I decided to start with the newest set as it is the easiest to find under rated cards in. (That and everyone should know what is good from ABUR anyway) Champions of Kamigawa: Lets start with the newest form of "dual land."…