Description

(Update 5/18/17) On April 24, 2017, the DCI announced that Gush was re-restricted in Vintage. Despite this, Understanding Gush remains a relevant, timely, and invaluable resource for any Vintage player, beginner, or expert. Even restricted, Gush will continue to power a significant and high achieving part of the Vintage metagame, as Stephen demonstrated by Top 8’ing the April 2017 Magic Online Power Nine Challenge with Jeskai Mentor. As recent tournament results illustrate, Gush is prominently featured in a wide cross-section of archetypes in the current and foreseeable Vintage metagame. While the GushBond engine has suffered a fatal hit with the restriction of Gush, the Dack-Delve draw engine was already the preeminent draw engine in Gush decks after Khans of Tarkir, and even with Gush restricted, this draw engine remains one of the strongest draw engines in the format. The guidance provided here on how to design, play, metagame, operationalize, or combat Gush strategies remains vital to success in Vintage.

Understanding Gush was always more than about one card or one class of decks. Surveying a wide range of tactics and strategies within the Vintage format, this monumental work is a practical guide to understanding the Vintage landscape, the relationship between strategies and tactics, resource management, spell sequencing, and much more. With detailed charts and reference tables as well as many illustrated examples in each chapter, Understanding Gush remains a valuable resource and learning tool for any Vintage player. Understanding Gush remains one of the most impressive and critically acclaimed books ever written on Magic strategy, and is an essential and exquisite part of any Vintage player’s library.

Eternal Central is proud to present to you Stephen Menendian’s Understanding Gush: Strategies and Tactics (3rd Edition). The Digital Download PDF is approximately 350 pages, while the physical hardcover and paperback versions have been reformatted specifically for full-color print, and come in 6×9 trim size (402 pages). All of our books are printed on high quality acid-free 70 lb. paper for longevity. Hardcover books are printed with a matte finish case laminate hard cover. Paperback books are printed with a matte finish perfect bound cover.

Author Stephen Menendian is your personal guide to Gush strategies and a wide-ranging tour through Vintage past, present, and future. Persistently misunderstood and generally misplayed, Gush requires many simultaneous decisions and precise timing. Maximizing all of the advantages offered by Gush demands deep understanding and strategic insight. This book presents a comprehensive theory of Gush, all of the advantages derivable from Gush, and a complete range of strategies and tactics. At a time when Gush decks have never been more central to the Vintage metagame, this book is a timely and essential primer to one of the most sophisticated and challenging strategies in the Vintage format.

Reorganized and expanded with hundreds of pages of new content, this book widens its scope, and has been carefully re-written from the ground up to provide better guidance, more precise analysis, and clearer explanations. No stone is left unturned, as every aspect of Gush play, design, and theory is covered, including an archive of the greatest Gush decks of all time, nearly a dozen Gush decks designed for the contemporary metagame, and a special appendix on Doomsday strategies, with more detailed descriptions of Doomsday piles than ever before. Beyond the specificity, detail, and practical guidance for Gush pilots, this book explores the Vintage format as no other author has ever done before. Whether they wish to learn about Gush decks, learn how to defeat them, or simply to deepen their understanding of the format, Understanding Gush is a timeless classic with lessons that resonate across the history of Magic, for the aspiring Vintage player, or seasoned pro.

“Stephen is one of the most important and influential thinkers in the history of Vintage. No one else digs in to the details of cards or situations with his enthusiasm or talent.” – Randy Buehler, Magic: The Gathering Hall of Famer

“A tour de force. In his best work yet, Menendian provides us a vividly entertaining and informative exposition of this iconic Instant’s occupation in the Vintage landscape.” – Brian Kelly, 2015 Vintage Championship winner

“Stephen Menendian has been producing awesome Vintage content for as long as I can remember, but this is different. Understanding Gush is not just a deck builder’s guide, mixed with a comprehensive strategy essay on card advantage, deck engines, countermeasures, and play by play scenarios. This book is also an insightful approach to one of the best cards and strategies ever printed (loved, feared, and reviled alike).” – Guillem Ragull, long time Vintage player and writer

Here is a live look-in of a small sampling of pages from Understanding Gush: Strategy and Tactics (3rd Edition).

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