Customer Reviews

Magic The Gathering Advanced Strategy Guide: For Advanced and Expert Magic Players

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This book is quite good in that it takes you through the author's thought processes in how to assess new card sets and as such is not limited to the latest set.

It is not a speed read as you need to take in the reasons why a particular card is good or not, otherwise you may miss the point.

Not enough detail for some cards in his stronghold example as to why they were good or bad. Without description/pictures of cards, it was also difficult for me to follow some of his analysis. I needed to have a reference book with separate descriptions of each card to get full value from his comments.

His detailed example of drafting for sealed deck play would have been better if it was easier to follow but does provide some insight into how one can build a good deck without having to go through the experience the hard way. But again would have liked more detail as to why he would have picked a certain card and not another.

All in all, I would recommend highly for players looking to move from beginner/intermediate to expert to read this.

This is one of the only real strategy guides for Magic that I could get my hands on when I was still starting out. Written by one of the great masters of the game, Tim Deopulos, the book gives instructions on the more advanced aspects of the game, including tournament formats, deck history, tips and tricks, and even bluffing advice. In my mind, it acts as mostly as an "advanced rulebook." However, it is now six years old. The game changed so much since Tempest was in Standard, which seems like ages to any Magic player now (Honestly, since when did you play Tempest Booster Draft?). This was even before the Sixth Edition rules upheaval, which tried to simplify the game not only for newcomers, but also for tournament players. Due to this large expansion of the games rules, this guide is now a relic of a forgotten time; when the Auratog deck was still considered a cool idea (I remind you that this is before Urza's Saga) and when Standard was still fresh out of infancy. So, in conclusion, it was a great buy way back when, but now it's just part of the discount section, along with the Homelands boosters and The Wheel of Time CCG.

This book is good... it'll help you understand booster and rochester (i didn't knew nothing , but now i'm well informed) and it has some cool stuff BUT... -and this is the problem- it takes alot , and i mean alot of pages evaluating stronghold cards , not some intersting examples or something , the whole thing , it ends up boring you because you don't need to know what he thinks about every card of a set , he could just say 5 or 6 good examples and thats it.It didn't help much with deck construction , though those "rules" of how to build good decks will be followed by this MTG player. In short , when they said advanced player theyh mean ADVANCED , they expect you to have 4 cursed scrolls , your own set of moxes and al the rares in tempest! (kidding) Its a good book overall , but not i expected

Full color illustrations, and great advice from Mark Justice rock. Info on Sealed deck, how to evaluate cards, deck construction advice, etc. You want it, its in here!

A very good book on Magic strategies, but keep in mind this book was made in 1998 when Stronghold first came out, so this information is a bit dated. Obviously this means that some of the strategies have long ago lost popularity, or have no bearing on the current set's strategies. Another problem, is that some of the individual card descriptions for the Stronghold set are wrong (ie Flowstone Hellion is not a flying creature!). But outside of that, Mark Justice is an excellent old-school Magic player and if you play with older cards, you should definately read through this book.

When I was a serious tournament player I met Mark in Lincoln, Nebraska. Mark is a friendly, intelligent, and generous person. He's a great example of someone who found what he was meant to do in life. Mark is committed to the game and sharing his knowledge, which he demonstrated when I saw him in person. He also imparts his knowledge to fellow gamers in this well written book.

Obviously, the book went out of date (in a sense) soon after it was published. However, it contains a treasure trove of knowledge for the serious player. Magic is about strategy first and tactics second. Of course the game will change as WOTC develops new cards and different rules. I particularly liked the rigorous way the book delineates how to create an effective tournament deck. Mark also gives great tips about how to analyze new cards (how will that ever go out of date?).

I disagree with the foreward of the book - it states that anyone can become a great magic player with enough hard work. I've been around and I know that some people are naturally talented at Magic playing and will be better players than everyone else. However, using the book's advice will probably result in more wins for the committed student and player of Magic. econ

So much of the book is spent examining forthcoming cards from new sets and speculating as to how they might change the game. Educated guesses, yes, and the process of considering a new set is a useful skill from any player. But these "new" card sets are over a decade old, and spending so much of the book analyzing cards that aren't even commonly played anymore means that this book provides little information. General commentary on why certain cards are ineffective has been rendered long out of date by the addition of new cards or mechanics that opened up new possibilities.

In addition to most of the book's information being out of date, the writing style is not as concise as one would expect for a how-to guide. "Card X doesn't even compare to Card Y" is not helpful unless it is explained which of the two cards is better, and why.

There are photos of some cards in the book, which is very helpful. However, the same photos of the same cards are frequently repeated. It would have been better to include more pictures of different cards instead of repeating.

An advanced player who can find this book used for under five dollars may find a few very broad points of strategy in this book. An expert player will find it to be too dated, and a beginning player will simply be lead astray.

The book "Magic the Gathering Advanced Strategy Guide: For Advanced and Expert Magic Players" to be very helpful in how to play the game against more advanced players.

Well I wasn't satisfied enough, first of all because it arrived way too late and second of all because it wasn't in such a good shape after all.

I love the book,It informed me of how to be a better Magic the gathering player.