Conflux visual spoiler and set review (White)

So this is Conflux's big pre-release party weekend. I've seen this done on a few other website's, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Without further ado, here's my set review.

Things to Note:
This is in regards mainly to Std only. I will mention some extended and Block possibilities where abilicable, but on the whole, I'm generally reviewing in regards to std.

Star Ratings are from 1-5, here's how I break it down:

*-Absolute Jank, should not have been printed

**-Casual only card, will not see tournament play

***-A good stable card. Good sideboard material

****-These are what great decks are made of

*****-Bombs! These will almost singlehandedly win you the game


Constructed:**
Limited:***1/2

A 3/3 flyer for 5 mana is just not going to cut it in std play. In a white deck at 5 mana, one can cast Battlegrace Angel or Cloudgoat Ranger. Both are better then this by far, so I just don't see this making an impact.

In limited however 3/3's for 5's are good stable cards. Shards was a set with a lot of targeted removal, so I can definitely see this in a limited draft deck, and depending on the environment, you might see it in a mono-white Block deck.





Constructed-**
Limited-**


3 mana to give a creature flying first strike and Vigilance! Wow, this is one of the most overpowered auras I've seen. Yet, it's still an aura. Aura's have the distinct disadvantage of just inviting 2 for1 trades. My other complaint is that while it gives a lot of keywords, it doesn't increase power and toughness, which helps the creature not die. I see this being played in limited only, and only if you have nothing else in your pool to choose from.






Constructed-**
Limited-***1/2

I don't see this card making it in constructed. I could be wrong, and 4 of them could appear in a 5-color variant, but the 2 power kills it I think. The most your getting is a 2/5, but only a 2/3 when you cast, and that's if your have 3 separate colors of mana. Too many ifs...

I can see this becoming a nice defender in a 5-color draft deck though.







Constructed-***
Limited-****

I can definitely see these guys in an exalted block deck. In limited, I will be happy to add this to anything playing white. He's a cheap solid card that helps your other cards later in the game. He didn't get 4 stars in constructed because exalted has had less impact in std then in other formats. He might be played, he might not, but in my experience flying with exalted is a deadly combination.








Constructed-****
Limited-****

I'm going to say it now, white, not too long ago one of the weakest colors in Magic is back in the game, in a big way. It started with Kithkin in the Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block, and this card is part of the dynamic conflux duo that's going to push it to a whole new level. Do you need a card to handle bitterblossom? Well here it is ladies and gentlemen. How bout Ajani Vengeant, Sarkhan Vol, Sprouting Thrinax, all the new five color creatures in conflux, and even the mighty Nichol Bolas is taken out by this little 2 mana instant.

And it doesn't put them back in their hand, or send them to the grave, NO SIR! They are gone, they are OUTTA HERE! They are removed from the game, do not pass go, do not see again! Instant 4 of sideboard card, possibly main if the format dictates. Oh, and the artwork is killer too.


Constructed-***
Limited-***(1/2) if in esper

I can see this being included in block and limited decks. A 2/2 for 1 is never something to sneeze at. However my gut tells me that this is not the second coming of Isamaru.

Plus it's in a a controlling shard, and it's an aggressive creature. Like I said, looks like it has potential, but I don't think it'll make a splash.







Constructed-**
Limited-**1/2

A flyer with an unexciting ability. A limited filler card if I ever saw one. Don't get me wrong, I'll be happy to have a potential 3/1 flyer in a white\black draft deck, but there's nothing to see here that's not in 12 other sets with a slight variation.










Constructed-**
Limited-***

This is a very expensive combat trick that has basic landcycling to make it usable in limited. I can see this card being played almost exclusively for the basic landcycling almost.

Next









Constructed-***1/2
Limited-***

So white gets the Memory Lapse reprint. The printing of this card not only gives white some nice tempo control, but unfortunately totally removes any reason to play Excommunicate from Shards. I know I'd rather counter the spell, then way till it's on the board, and at instant speed. It's just a better card in that respect. While Memory lapse wasn't played much in blue, I think it may catch in in mono-white kithkin and Block decks as a means to get that "one more turn" to get the kill.







Constructed-***1/2
Limited-**

I think this card should read "Win against Red Deck Wins". That's basically what this card does. I think that this card might finds it's way into sideboards to protected against RDW. This might even show up in extended, which is always a clear sign of a good card. Nice solid sideboard card. Sucks that it's a rare though, I would hate for this to be my rare in draft.








Constructed-***(*) if in block
Limited-*****

Basically, this is an "I win" card in limited more often then not. If you open this first pick in a draft, you will have a VERY clear indicator on which way to go. Being the only board sweeperin both Shards and Conflux, you will see this card in a ton of block decks.

I don't however see it being played in std much, unless wrath isn't in 11th edition.







Constructed-**
Limited-****

This is a very nice card for limited, and I would be happy to first pick this guy. With all the colors in conflux, you're bound to have a blue permanent of some kind by the time this guy makes an appearance. But honestly, the only thing I see when I look at this card is a voice saying "Please try to abuse me". I don't think anyone will be able to, but you never know. I don't think this will impact std at all. There are much more efficient 6 mana cost spells to choose from.

Cool art though!






Constructed-**
Limited-***

6 mana is too much to pay for a 5/4 vigilance creature in std. I think you'll see him as a last add on to Naya "Power of 5" decks, but other then that he's too much for too little. Draft only creature.











Constructed-*
Limited-**

This is a garbage card. A three mana 2/2 first strike with an overpriced ability. Sorry, this card will spend it's days played in a bad draft deck and then balancing the coffee table, if it's lucky.











Constructed-*****
Limited-*****

Welcome to part 2 of the dynamic duo. Path to Exile will change the way Magic is played for the next decade. When I started playing Magic 6 years ago, I heard stories being told of the mighty Swords to Plowshares, that could remove a creature with a single white mana. Well it's back folks, slightly altered, but back. It's going to be the most played removal spell since sliced bread. I just thank the Magic overlords that this isn't a 20 dollar rare. Although I do think this is going to be a 4-5 dollar uncommon the first first weeks.





Constructed-**
Limited-**

4 mana for a 2/4 and a card. Nothing particularly of note other then the 4 toughness. Limited only card.












Constructed-***1/2
Limited-****

An icy manipulator that costs one less mana. I can see this being played, especially in a std format that is encouraging players to play all the colors all the time. I can definitely see this in a 5-color control deck, it's a matter of how fast the meta-game gets.










Constructed-*1/2
Limited-*

A 5 mana combo piece that does nothing by itself...sorry, you will not be played. I'm sure some Johnny somewhere will try and break you, but I don't think he will. Bulk Rare city, moving on.












Constructed-*
Limited-***

A truly limited only if I ever saw one. It's a 3 toughness defender early. That is it's only benefit. I can see people putting this in their decks only if neccessary, otherwise it will spend most of it's cardboard life on the bottom of a trade binder.











Constructed-***
Limited-****

Now generally I'm not a fan of life gain or walls. So this should not be a card that would interest me, yet it does. I think the 6 toughness is the key here. That is a lot in today's standard. I think he might be too expensive at 4 mana, but limited decks are going to love this bad boy. Put this in an exalted or "power of five" deck, and the life gain could get pretty nuts. I see this being played, but mainly only in limited.









Well that's white for Conflux, I'll be reviewing blue tomorrow. The power level of white went up in spades in Conflux, so watch out.

Cards to look out for:

Path to Exile
Celestial Purge
Lapse of certainty
Martial Coup
Staff of Dominance

Results from the week of 1/31

MAGIC THE GATHERING ONLINE status at a glance: Week ending 1/31/09
Drafts Shards of Alara (4-3-2-2): 4
Match Record (Draft): 2-4
Queues played this week: 12
Constructed pauper 2player:1
Constructed (Ala Block):40
Constructed (Extended):8
Constructed (Standard):7
Daily events std: 1
2 player: 1
Total Queues played: 56
Match Record (pauper mono-red):0-1
Match Record (extended Death cloud):2-0
Match Record (extended Death cloud2):0-3
Match Record (extended Dragonstorm): 2-1
Match Record (extended UR Storm): 0-1
Match Record (extended Ad Naseum): 2-0
Match Record (extended mono red ext): 0-2
Match Record extended Zoo):0-1
Match Record (Bant ext): 0-2
Match Record (Bant Block): 5-9
Match Record (Glenn Jund Block):2-6
Match Record (Rich’s Jund Block):0-2
Match Record (Rich’s Naya/Jund Block):13-13
Match Record (Rich’s Naya Block):0-1
Match Record (Mono-White Block):
Match Record (Esper Block):0-1
Match Record (BR tokens std):1-4
Match Record (WR reveillark weenie std):1-3
Match Record (Cruel control std):1-3
Overall Match Record: 30-51
Packs won this week: 8
Packs won total: 33
Tickets from packs this week: 25
Tickets from packs total: 117
Net ticket gain this week: -5
Net ticket gain total: 2
Money spent this week: 30
Money spent Overall (Started on 1/1/09): 115


So this does not represent my best playing I'll admit. The week started out all right, but towards the end I started making stupid mistakes. I was playing tired, trying to race when I should have slowed down, I even missed my turn because I was distracted. The jund/naya deck I reviewed last week took a hit this week, catching up on losses to come equal to it's wins. It did win a few more times though, so I think it's the case of the deck's player rather then the deck's synergy. I have noticed an increase in land flood this week, where I would just need a creature or removal spell. It really didn't matter much, but I would draw land for 4-5 turns, and they would stabilize and recover. It happens with much more frequency on MTGO then in real life it seems. My friend and I both experience this, and we both thing that the shuffler program needs a few tweaks. However, nothing we can really do about it, so until next week remember...all work an no play.

Week ending 1/24 Magic results/ Deck review Jund-Naya

Here are this week's results:

MAGIC THE GATHERING ONLINE status at a glance: Week ending 1/24/09

Drafts Shards of Alara (4-3-2-2): 3
Match Record (Draft): 1-3
Queues played this week: 16
Constructed pauper 2player:1
Constructed (Ala Block):33
Constructed (Extended):8
Constructed (Standard):2
Daily events std: 1
2 player: 1
Total Queues played: 45
Match Record (pauper mono-red):0-1
Match Record (extended Death cloud):2-0
Match Record (extended Death cloud2):0-3
Match Record (extended Dragonstorm): 2-1
Match Record (extended UR Storm): 0-1
Match Record (extended Ad Naseum): 2-0
Match Record (extended mono red ext): 0-2
Match Record (Bant ext): 0-2
Match Record (Bant Block): 5-9
Match Record (Glenn Jund Block):2-6
Match Record (Rich’s Jund Block):0-2
Match Record (Rich’s Naya/Jund Block):10-7
Match Record (Rich’s Naya Block):0-1
Match Record (Mono-White Block):
Match Record (Esper Block):0-1
Match Record (BR tokens std):1-4
Overall Match Record: 23-36
Packs won this week: 10
Packs won total: 25
Tickets from packs this week: 34
Tickets from packs total: 92
Net ticket gain this week: 15
Net ticket gain total: 7
Money spent this week: 19
Money spent Overall (Started on 1/1/09): 85

Yes, that's right folks. As of this week, I've reached profit during the month of January. I won enough to not only keep myself playing, but earn more then I put into the game. I can tell you that I am really happy with the performance of the new deck that I made last week. It has the best record of all my decks, and made this profitable week possible. So here it is, my Jund/Naya deck.

4 bone splinters

This is the most efficient piece of removal in the format. For one black mana, you can kill anything. It really shines in this deck though because of it's combo potential with Sprouting thrinax and Sarkan Vol.

2 Fleshbag Marader

This guy also combos well with Sarkhan, and sort of counts as Bone Splinters 5 and 6. He's a nice body to surprise someone with when I sacrifice a Thrinax and get three 1/1 tokens from it and they just lose a creature. That's called card advantage my friend, and that what this deck is really all about.

4 Druid of the Anima

This is my pseudo-manaramp engine. It's also sources 5-8 for white. I only have one white spell in the main deck, along with one in the sideboard. This guy has helped cast turn 5 Broodmate dragons, along with turn three Ajani's. He's a key component, even though on paper he doesn't seem like much.

4 Elvish Visionary

This card replaces itself in your hand, and provides a chump block or sacrifice after it's done. These guys have drawn me just the card I needed at just the right time more times then I'd like to admit. Again, he's card advantage, plain and simple.

3 Broodmate Dragons

There are some creatures that just define a format. For Onslaught block it was Akroma. For Mirrodin, it was Arcbound Ravager. Lorwyn it was Mistbind Clique. For Shards of Alara, so far it's Broodmate or Double Dragon as he's usually called. For 6 mana you get a 4/4 flying dragon, who brings along ANOTHER 4/4 flying dragon when he comes into play. Can we say "Card advantage plus serious threat". In the mirror, he who draws more of these first generally wins. He is just a pain to deal with for other decks, and is my finisher. I don't run the full 4 of because I don't want 2 in opening hand.


4 Sprouting Thrinax

The tri-color creature for the Jund shard is a card advantage machine. Whether it's chump blocking another creature, being sacrifices for bone splinters or fleshbag marauder, or just being something the opponent doesn't want to kill, this creature is just solid across the board. The fact that when he dies he leaves behind 3 1/1 tokens is absolute gold in this type of deck, and I've won a lot of games on the backs of Thrinax tokens. The synergy that this card brings helps make the deck really click.







3 Ajani Vengeant
4 Sarkhan Vol
And the stars of our shows, the planeswalkers ladies and gentlemen. Ajani sets them up, and Sarkhan knocks em down. I am never unhappy to see one of these guys pop into my hand. Whether it's Ajani keeping a threat tapped, or Sarkhan making my little 1/1 tokens 2/2's before attacking. Sarkhan can grab one of there creatures, or Ajani can get the little extra 3 damage in for the win. They are both power houses, and are generally key to any victory.
2 violent ultimatum

This card should read "If all else fails, cast this". This is the ultimate finisher of the deck. If I need your stuff out of my way, this is what I am casting. Generally if the game is going right, this kind of removal draws a quick concession. If not, my attacking with unblocked creatures ends the game just as quickly. I do side these out against quicker decks due to it's casting cost. Sometimes i will draw this when I'm already too far behind, but in that situation, nothing would have saved me. I have come back from a 16 point deficit due to this card giving the time I needed to stabilize. This is a card that hits the table hard, and makes it's effect known.



4 blightning

Initially this was relegated to the sideboard. I found myself siding it in every game though, so eventually I just maindecked it. Again it's all about card advantage and tempo, so I try to Blightning when the opponent has 2-4 cards. Then you know that you are hitting the money spells and possibly opposing planeswalkers. I still wish it was instant, but I guess that would be a tad over powered.










My land suite is 4 savage lands, 4 jungle shrines, 2 Crumbling necropolis, and a variety of mountains, forests, and swamps




My sideboard is a bunch of situational cards for certain match-ups.

So that's the deck that has proven the best for me. I'm going to continue to run it for the forseeable future. However, if the Conflux previews are any indication, the whole Alara Block format is about to be rewritten. Ah well, such is life in Magic: The gathering.

Until next time, remember, all work and no play.....

Renaming and New Focus

Well, some of you might have noticed the new name. Well I had originally wanted this part of my life, the Gaming part, to be its own separate entity. I now realize that it's not going to happen. Therefore, as of now, this is going to be all Magic: The Gathering Online all the time.

It will focus on my Decklist choices, and the current "At a glance" data that I compile whenever I play now. This is in hopes of "Going Infinite", which means winning enough to support more tournament play without spending more money.

I'll be merging the other "non-Magic" focused posts into my Life Blog. Feel free to drop by and read up on what I do when I'm not playing Magic.

Week ending 1/17 Magic results

MAGIC THE GATHERING ONLINE status at a glance: Week ending 1/17/09
Drafts Shards of Alara (4-3-2-2): 2
Match Record (Draft): 1-2
Queues played this week: 17
Constructed (Ala Block):19
Constructed (Extended):7
Constructed (Standard):2
Daily events std:1
Total Queues played: 29
Match Record (extended Death cloud):2-0
Match Record (extended Death cloud2):0-3
Match Record (extended Dragonstorm): 2-1
Match Record (extended UR Storm): 0-1
Match Record (extended Ad Naseum): 2-0
Match Record (extended mono red ext): 0-2
Match Record (Bant ext): 0-2
Match Record (Bant Block): 5-9
Match Record (Glenn Jund Block):2-5
Match Record (Rich’s Jund Block):0-2
Match Record (Rich’s Naya/Jund Block):2-0
Match Record (Mono-White Block):
Match Record (BR tokens std):1-4
Overall Match Record: 16-28
Packs won this week: 7
Packs won total: 16
Tickets from packs this week: 23
Tickets from packs total: 58
Net ticket gain this week: -9
Net ticket gain total: -11
Money spent this week: 32 (60 dollars for extended cards, 20 for singleton deck)
Money spent Overall (Started on 1/1/09): 69

Yeah, so NOT my best week. I hit the worst gauntlet of extended tournaments. whatever deck I was playing, I faced the worst deck, or a sideboard card I hadn't seen before that totally wiped me out. I really have to take Blood Moon and magus of the moon into consideration more.

These two cards wrecked me more times then I'd like to recall this week.
I added a few more categories to more accurately account for the queues that I am playing. Also, one will note that I take into account that I spent money on individual cards. I account for these funds, but I don't count them in my calculations because I'm doing this to try and see if I can support my tournament playing through my tournament winnings. Spending money on cards is money that I know I'm not going to make up, I'm just not that good yet. I view it as more of an investment in my future gaming happiness. Until next week, later.

Week ending 1/10 Magic results

MAGIC THE GATHERING ONLINE status at a glance:
Total Queues played:13
Queues played this week:13
Constructed (Ala Block):10
Constructed (Extended):3
Constructed (Standard):
Drafts Shards of Alara (4-3-2-2): 2
Match Record (extended Death cloud):
Match Record (extended Dragonstorm): 2-1
Match Record (extended UR Storm): 0-1
Match Record (extended Ad Naseum): 2-0
Match Record (Bant Block): 4-5
Match Record (Jund Block):1-4
Match Record (Mono-White Block):
Match Record (Draft): 1-2
Overall Match Record:10-13
Packs won:9
Tickets from packs:35
Net ticket gain this week:+5
Net ticket gain total:+5
Money spent this week: 37 dollars (purchased at beginning of week, 12 tickets and 3 packs of Shards of Alara boosters, 7 for Sarkhan Vol, needed for Jund deck)
Money spent Overall (Started on 1/1/09):31 dollars

I really should have stopped when I was ahead, well, I'm still ahead, but not as much as I was
. Until next week.

Shift in Magic Format and Halo woes

Ok, so I've been writing this blog based on this formula.

I spend X amount of dollars on Magic->I play Magic until I win some kind of profit or run out of money.

I don't think this is an accurate representation of how I'm actually doing in Magic though. I win alot more then it seems I do on this blog. I just generally don't make a profit on it. Trading tickets one for another entry of equivilent value. So as of today I am changing the format yet again. I apologize for this, but sometimes it takes time to sculpt the right formula. I am adapting the new formula from the old "Going Infinite" series on magic.tcgplayer.com, written by Blake Rasmussen. I am updating it for Shards of Alara, as he wrote this series during the Time Spiral Era a couple of years back. Also, I am adding more detail in an attempt to try and keep a very detailed record. I'll be adding/changing the decks in the table as what I'm playing changes. As of right now I am concentrating more on Block(Shards of Alara) and Extended rather then Standard which is a Faeries fest. You either play faeries, or you play what beats faeries, and hope you don't lose to anything else you might face. I was playing a Reveillark deck to some success, then I played B/W tokens, but nothing seemed to consistently win. My favorite deck in Standard right now is the planeswalker creatureless deck. It is SO much fun to play, but impossible to make work in the current format. I'll keep you guys apprised of my progress, and be keeping the below table up to date, and I plan on including it at the bottom of my posts here, whether the post is Magic related or not. I'm also going to try and find the decklists that I'm using so that you guys can comment/critique them, or just have a better idea what I'm talking about.

MAGIC THE GATHERING ONLINE status at a glance:
Total Queues played:5
Queues played this week:5
Constructed (Ala Block):2
Constructed (Extended):2
Constructed (Standard):
Drafts Shards of Alara (4-3-2-2): 1
Match Record (extended Death cloud):
Match Record (extended Dragonstorm): 2-0
Match Record (extended Ad Naseum): 2-0
Match Record (Bant Block): 2-3
Match Record (Jund Block):
Match Record (Mono-White Block):
Match Record (Draft): 1-1
Overall Match Record:7-4
Packs won:6
Tickets from packs:24
Net ticket gain this week:0
Net ticket gain total:0
Money spent this week: 24 dollars (purchased at beginning of week, 12 tickets and 3 packs of Shards of Alara boosters)
Money spent Overall (Started on 1/1/09):24 dollars







Halo Woes:
So for the last two weeks, I think my team and I despite having new team uniforms have been
having the worst two weeks of our Halo careers. I mean this was really bad, like the best guy on our team getting 3 kills in a game, the worst getting no kills. I finally realized why this was. First, this was Christmas break, and all the teenagers and college kids who are unbelievably good at this game were off. Second, we kept drawing repeaters. By repeaters I mean people who have reached lvl 50 in Halo, get tired of facing good people like themselves, and get a new Xbox live account, and level themselves back up, troucing us (actual lvl 20s) along the way. The lack of strategy with our team is also a factor. I am going to try talking more strategy during our games, maybe get the less experienced girls to stick together either with each other or with myself. Hopefully our Halo lives will improve with these measures.