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Kahana Chin began playing Magic when the Revised set was released. His days at the Tolarian Academy were spent mixing Magic duels with computer classes. He’s somewhat infamous for being an Artificer; rivaling both Urza & Mishra for designing utterly simple and devious decks. In later years, after transforming into a Planeswalker, Kahana changed his ways and reformed – no longer using Type 1 powers for selfish glory. Now he lives quietly in one of Mishra’s Workshops tinkering away with Type 2 decks.

As a Magic mentor, he gives away advice, support, and tech to all players who need his help. It should be known that some younger players call him out for Power Duels to see if he’s worthy of his Artificer title. After these duels, Orim the Samite Healer, gets plenty of new patients...

Broken or Restricted - The Chalice of MUD
22-11-2003
I just met a group of Asian Type 1 players who gather around the area of Winnetka, California. They are very competitive and play customized versions of the top decks like Keeper, Burning Academy, Psychatog, Mask/Dreadnought, etc. One of them, a great guy named Jin Hong, convinced me to try Welder Mud; an artifact deck similar to the Cascade deck, except it focuses on locking and destroying permanents, as well as removing the ability to cast spells...

AstroGlide in Evolution
19-06-2003
Some time ago, I made a comment in an article stating how much I enjoyed playing the AstroGlide deck. My feelings have not changed. I still get a kick playing my custom version of the deck. But I do have to make a correction about the deck's name. At the time of my prior article, the design was then called by several players - "The Electric Slide". After all this time, I still like to use it, but formally from now on the name "AstroGlide" stays...

The Deserted Island
03-11-2002
In my case, I will be working long, crazy hours. If I get in a game every few months, consider it a miracle. However, I will not allow myself to go stir-crazy. At least eight favorite decks are going to be packed so that I can keep my skills to a decent level whenever I do get a game...

A Mixed Bag
14-10-2002
Most of my articles focus on a theme. However, the last couple of months have brought several items to my attention. So after a lot of consideration, I present to my readers a mixed bag of Goodies to consider...

What Would Gandalf Do?
16-09-2002
Make certain when designing a dwarf deck to pack it well with every maximum enhancement. You will need it against all the super-strong Uruk-Hai waiting for you on the outside and the Orcs/Goblins inside the Mines of Moria...

Ante-Up
06-05-2002
One of the "Lost Arts" in playing Magic is "Ante-ing" or playing opponents for the ownership of cards. Extremely few people play this format of Magic today as the risks of losing highly prized and or valuable cards are greater than ever. This article attempts to explain, explore, and entice today's players into a past style when having nerve was more than employing Jedi mind tricks...

Tossing Your Cookies
16-03-2002
The combo that hit me hard was realizing the number of Green creatures I could play on the first turn with the Mirage set's "Black Lotus", the zero-casting cost Lion's Eye Diamond. The LED works like this: Tap & sacrifice the artifact - add 3 mana of any 1 color to your mana pool - and discard all the cards in your hand. Using this with Madness means I can do the following on Turn 1...

Can We Have It All?
21-01-2002
In my last article, I championed Stasis as a competitive deck for Extended format tournaments. Shortly after, several readers critiqued it severely in the Forums section. These players said the deck lacked better cards to improve its performance against better decks like Donate. Of course, I wrote replies stating a myriad of reasons for my card selections. A few commented in detail and some were very vague or ambivalent towards me. In the end, you cannot please everyone...

Tools of the Trade
30-12-2001
This is going to be a straight to the point article. If you are competing in Extended tournaments, use a well-tuned Stasis deck. If you are playing Type 2, use a Ripper deck. Enough said...

Spiral Decks
09-11-2001
Today's article reveals the inner workings of a deck type that I call Spiral Technology. This type can be one of the most degenerate and annoying designs ever created. It can be constructed from any color and can also appear in almost every format to a certain degree...

The Manhattan Project
13-09-2001
I am horrified to submit this article. Before great tragedies occur, some people get strong psychic urges and intuitive feelings. They avoid places, trains, planes, etc. etc. where something bad is about to occur. In my case, I wrote the text and designed the deck that details many features of the terrorist attack which occurred today; almost two weeks ago. I feel very sick about it...

An Unbalanced World
28-07-2001
Wizards of the Coast's Research & Development is the ultimate cause. I know that speaking the truth isn't going to change a thing, but players at least ought to know why the situation(s) evolved and why change won't happen easily.

The Progressive Strength Deck
18-06-2001
Strength is an ability which permits the user to affect situations or people or to permit the user to cause an effect upon an object or subject. This is not a dictionary definition. This is Common Sense. We are going to use it to define, develop, and deploy a Progressive Strength deck.

The Lost and the Found
05-05-2001
7th Edition's introduction has caused a dramatic turning point in Magic's Type 2 format. Many good decks have been changed and in some cases destroyed. While this article is not a professional analysis, I think we should consider all the implications with a "Common Sense" attitude.

Avoiding A Black Eye In Magic
06-02-2001
The main objective in Magic is to beat the opponent's strategy. To avoid being punched in the eye as much as possible. For this article, I will narrate from the viewpoint of a boxer who spends his time fighting in the ring. Think of me as a trainer in the gym where you work out giving pointers...

Building A Focused Deck
24-11-2000
This isn't going to be a theoretical lecture on mana curves; third turn kills using my opening hand or any thing else "cutting edge" as posted on the Internet. Building a deck requires imagination, motivation, play testing and the proper cards!...

Everyone Can Do Land Destruction !!
30-09-2000
Type 2 is full of Land Destruction!! And to think people gripe about Necro being bad... How do you feel about decks denied mana everywhere you look? Here's a list of the CORE cards which can make any deck Anti-Land Degenerate. Let's have the drum roll please...

Grab Them By The Throat & Don't Let Go
19-03-2004
In the MUD article, I demonstrated the power of Artifact and Madness decks when turbo-charged using accelerated mana and/or card draw/search. Well, the very common-sense restriction of Lion's Eye Diamond slowed down Burning Academy & Madness decks to charred wrecks. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. But that left Keeper and Mud without a third-partner for a mutual balancing act - Think of it as the super-power Cold War days of: USA, USSR, and China - all with nuclear weapons at the ready in the name of "deterrence." When the world's political/economical arena shifted, there was a void needing to be filled - "Nature abhors a vacuum". Now we have rogue states and rogue decks just waiting to step in.

Can it be Done?
04-09-2003
Many of my readers have requested help in building decks for a while now. Most of their decks just needed fine-tuning or maybe a couple of cards to finish assembling a combo. A few had some wacky ideas that left me scratching my head ( Can you combine a Brass Man with Psionic Gift and perform multiple untaps during your upkeep phase?! ). A couple of people had innovative ideas that made me work hard (not that I don't already!) to create a plausible design. This article is about one of those decks, Neo-Stasis...

The Electric Slide
28-11-2002
I had a good laugh today. I tried out a new combo deck that made me happy. In these days of mono-black control and green / blue madness, playing a rogue-ish competitive deck is refreshing; especially when the design is flexible within the playing environment. The deck is called by some, the Electric Slide...

Russian Roulette - The Animate Worldgorger Dragon Deck
23-09-2002
What makes this combo so different and important is its flexibility to be implemented and how other cards can be incorporated to alter/not alter the Stack's ordering and final results on the game-play. My example deck demonstrates many of these principles...

The Phantoms Of Otaria
16-07-2002
I would like to share my common sense views concerning a ( strangely not spoken about ) new Judgment game mechanic based upon the Phantom Creatures of Otaria. When damage is dealt to a Phantom, a +1/+1 counter is removed and the damage is prevented. Each Green and or White phantom has varying amounts of counters placed upon them when coming into play dependent on their creature type...

I Finally Got My Wish
04-06-2002
In my opinion, dual lands belong in the Type 1 arena. If you require diverse mana sources for casting a variety of spells derived from the many Magic sets; then Type 1 fits the bill well. Just about any and every card is now available to take advantage of the different dual land configurations...

Should I Trust An Expert?
14-04-2002
In the game of Magic, what defines an expert player and should I trust his / her opinion? I bring this topic up as part of community awareness. Recently, I have read a number of articles where "experts" have been critcisizing each others knowledge and skills. These evaluations come in various forms: simple rants, long letters, and finally multi-page "congressional hearings". What's going on people?!...

An Irresistible Force Using An Immovable Object
11-02-2002
What is an "Irresistible Force?" What is an "Immovable Object?" "Can one conquer the other?" These are popular questions which have created lots of debate through the centuries. I have decided to define and exploit these principles as it applies to the game of Magic...

Something New, Something Old -- The Lord of the Rings
16-11-2001
Hi gang! I was given the opportunity to review the new Lord of the Rings CCG and I love this game!! Everyone knows that Magic is my all-time favorite. I tried a couple of other card games over the years and there was always something lacking. Now I am feeling a new excitement all over again...!

Why I Love Type One
12-10-2001
Type 1 is where the fun is at. Extended is a joke. Only combo junkies can exist there. Yes, I am starting a fight. Anyone want to comment on it? Type 1 allows you unlimited decks and variations. Has anyone really enjoyed a group game without being able to use all those good, bad, and wacky cards?

Variations -- Yes, A Kinky Article!
19-08-2001
Usually, I write unusual articles naming them "Common Sense". Today, I am going to openly discuss a few "kinky" variations. What kinds of kinky stuff you wonder? Well, you are required to sit back and let go of everything you believe a deck should be.

Something Stupid In Mind
11-07-2001
My articles are devoted in general to Common Sense - being able to perceive strategies and combinations of Magic cards working together without special enhancements or abilities. Usually this works for me so that I can promote insights for my readers.

However, I have felt a disturbance in the Force. Some new element has come into play. The opposite and equal influence of Stupidity. No one would intentionally play or do anything "stupid" -- would they?...

Can You Take Losing?
25-05-2001
Why do you play a game where it's so easy to lose? Magic is called a social game where we get together as a community of players, but most of our decks are made for duels; where the other guy is left in the dust. To continue playing again and again, you must have a special strength. You must be able to lose well...

The Library of Decks
16-04-2001
As a Magic player I have assembled numerous decks and, like you, played them fairly often. But, with so many cards taking up space, I needed a way to maintain my creations. Thus I created a Library of Decks. This article will offer you suggestions on creating your own arrangement...

Artifacts: Too Powerful For Anyone to Handle?
11-03-2001
Magic the Gathering has a love/hate relationship with artifacts. Some of the most powerful decks are loaded with these powerful devices and yet there are so many spells designed to wreck them. Quite often artifacts are weak, over-priced, and designed badly. The few that are outstanding almost always are truly rare in power, cost, and flexibility. Join me in a tour where we may see if artifacts are too powerful to handle...

Control or Not Control - That's the Question!
20-10-2000
After my article on the abundance of Land Destruction in Type 2, I promised to write about Control. The choice is either to speak about Control decks or Controlling something subtle, yourself. I think that I'll compromise and speak a bit about both topics...

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