To Infinity and Beyond: A Magic: The Gathering Online Blog

Bye for now, and thanks for all the fish

2009-09-14T07:25:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone. Dude to financial reasons, I've given up Magic for a while. Since this blog is about me playing Magic, it no longer has a place. So this is bye for now I suppose. Its been fun.

My Accomplishment

2009-08-24T09:58:00.000-07:00

You see, this weekend I accomplished something that I've been working towards for the better part of 7 years. I started Playing Magic: The Gathering online in 2002. I was in the middle of my Yu-Gi-Oh phase at the time, but hate the once a week tournaments. I just didn't think I'd get better unless I played against different people. So my friend got me Magic: The Gathering Online, which allowed tournaments any time of the day or night, 365 days a year. I didn't want to play 2 different card games seriously at once, so Magic started off a casual thing that I played when I wanted to play Yu-gi-oh but couldn't. This continued till 2005.

In that year alot happened. I moved back from Florida to New York, leaving my best friend, for the hope of a better future. I met my wife. I changed careers. I quit Yu-Gi-Oh due to the format turning towards a more luck based combo architecture, and the lack of a tournament I could attend regularly. I tried to play serious Versus system card game, and actually won quite a few tournaments, but then they stopped having them. Apparently, if the same 10 guys show up every week, and the same guy trouces them everyweek no matter what deck he plays...people stop coming. Weird right?

So, with two games now defunct, I turned to my casual game to keep my skills semi-sharp, and reconnected with my best friend who'd been frosty to me for the past couple of months. He apologized for this, and admitted that I'd been a really good friend to him. This is atypical for my friend, or most guys for that matter. He also wanted me to try drafting Magic.

For those of you unfamiliar with drafts, the format is simple. Each person has three packs of 15 cards. You open the pack, take what you think is the best card in the pack, and then pass it down the line. Then you get passed another pack, and you choose the best card for your draft deck, and the process continues. In the end you have 45 cards, which you then trim to the best 23, add 17 lands, and play against the other people in the draft. This is alot more skill intensive then it seems, and it took me years to be able to win a draft. I accomplished that within my first year. I now win at least the first round of draft more often then not.

My accomplishment this weekend revolved around constructed Magic though. Now I had been a top Yu-gi-oh and Versus player, however, in Magic I've yet to achieve that skill level. The main reson that I think are for two main reasons:

A) The shuffler algorithm in the online game has something wrong with it. You get land screwed(too little land) and land flooded (too much land, and not enough spells) far more then in paper (real life) Magic playing. I can admit when I've made mistakes in gameplay, but not being able to play your spells, or not drwing any spells is just a shitty way to lose.

B) I don't see my opponent. This is very crucial to my style of playing cards, and it's taken me a long time to adjust. I can usually read people very well, and I use this in my card playing. I can usually tell whether my opponent has the card he needs in hand, and much like playing poker this skill can make or break the game. Being deprived of that, one must always play with the assumption that the opponent has basically the worst possible card for you in his hand. This leads to very cautious gameplay, a style I've had to work on as it doesn't come naturally.

So over the last two years when I started to get really serious about constructed, I joined strategy websites, played all different kinds of decks, and I saw incremental improvement, but nothing really solid. Recently, I'd been thinking about giving up the game due to it's cost. It's the thing I spend money on the most. Though it's not alot in the long run, I had come to the conclusion that if I wasn't going to improve then I probably shouldn't waste money on this. Maybe I just wasn't cut out for playing Magic. I've been thinking about this for many months now. Then, this weekend happened.

Over the past week, I've participated in many tournaments. I had found a deck that I really knew how to play well, and decided to play that this particular weekend. For the first time, I won both an 8-man constructed standard. I'd won block (less cards and skill) before as well as extended (more cards, but more defined metagame then standard oddly), but never a Standard whose metagame is extremely hard to crack. Well this weekend I did it not once, but twice. I won an 8 man, and then the next morning I won a 60 man daily. I came in first place in each and won over 76 dollars in prizes. I was on cloud 9, and felt that I had completed some quest or journey.

Now my name will be among those of the decks of the week this Thursday on Magicthegathering.com along with my decklist. This only happens to the winners of Daily's, which is something I've never done before in any format.

This achievement was a really spectacular day for me, and thanks for letting me share it with you.

BTW, here's the decklist I used

9 Island
5 Plains
4 Path to Exile
4 Cryptic Command
3 Jace Beleren
4 Mulldrifter
4 Ponder
4 Sower of Temptation
3 Gargoyle Castle
4 Glacial Fortress
4 Reveillark
4 Meddling Mage
4 Kitchen Finks
4 Mystic Gate

Sideboard
3 Celestial Purge
3 Glen Elendra Archmage
2 Hallowed Burial
1 Broken Ambitions
4 Burrenton Forge-Tender
2 Negate

My Magical month of May (Going Infinite)

2009-06-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I didn't play a lot of limited in the beginning of the month. Once 5/23 came however, all bets were off due to the new Alara Reborn Set being released. I played the release events like I always do, but alas it's my worst format, and so I didn't do so great. However, things picked up in the last week of the month, where I not only won an Alara Block draft, but got a good grasp of the format as well. One thing to keep in mind above all else is to have 4-5 sources of mana fixing. If you have those then you can easily play 4, possibly even 5 color decks. 4 is the standard though, if you get less mana fixing, then it's probably best to limit your shards options. I've tried to draft the most prominent deck in the format, which is UW aggro. I've come across this deck many times, and it trounces me almost every time. The only way to beat them is to draw a tone of early removal.

Being that Extended season is over, I haven't played too much of it. I tried my friend Glenn's Kalidescope (new all multi-colored card format) deck, and it worked pretty good. Once Alara reborn came out, I tried the hypergenesis deck where you Cascade into Hypergenesis and summon a whole swath of creatures. It's a really fun deck, but it has a ton of holes.

Now we get to the action. Standard was actually getting kinda dull for me in the beginning of May. The new set was already out in the real world, but I still sat in the pre-Alara Reborn world in Magic Online. Once Alara Reborn came out, however I had some money saved up, and got all the cards I needed to compete in the new standard. After that I took a look at the Regionals decklist, and chose my favorites. I then tested them 5 times each (unless they lost 3 times in a row, then I skipped that deck). This led to my week of over 70 games of Magic in ONE WEEK between constructed and limited. The best deck by far was BW tokens, as it was the "Best Deck" going into the testing, and it proved itself, garnering itself the best record (4-1) of all the regional decks. However, it was not the ultimate victor. That title went to the Cascade Swans deck that started popping up right after GP Barcelona. The Swan deck just took victories out of no where, and it's currently the "Best Deck", dethroning BW Tokens after only two weeks in the top spot. In the last week of the month, I experimented with a cascade deck that is decidedly anti-swans. While it works against swans very well, it loses to pretty much anything else. So I'm still tweaking that for now.

Alara block was again mostly quiet in May, due to the format becoming increasingly stale. Basically it was that you play Naya, and you face mirrors. Whoever stuck Battlegrace Angel first basically won. After the the Week o Standard however, and with Alara Reborn giving the additions of terminate, Maelstrom Pulse, and Bloodbraid Elf, to Jund decks, allowing them to reclaim their former top position. The current Jund Cascade deck that my friend and I cobbled together works beautifully. It has a 10-4 record, and my friend even played it in the Season 2 championship. However he ran into some mana issues and rogue decks which cleaned his clock making him get a 2-4 record. It's working fine for me though, so I chock that up to bad luck.

Wow, I played over 100 constructed games of Magic in a month...Maybe I need to cut back a bit.

I think this is my greatest achievement. The fact that I spent over 150 dollars on tournaments this month, but I won all of it back, and even made a little profit. I'll definitely call that a good month.

So until next time...remember...all work and no play

"Going Infinite" results for the week of 4/25

2009-04-26T15:59:00.000-07:00

So it was pretty much an all Block two weeks here in the Scott household. After trying a grixis "anti-block deck" and an esper deck that I thought looked neat; I eventually returned to playing the Naya deck that Glenn and I built together. The only difference between our builds is that I include Titanic Ultimatum for the mirror.

I can tell you one thing. The other players rarely see this coming, and I've taken my fair share of wins because of it. Glenn doesn't think it really gives me an edge, but I believe it gives me a "surprise Factor" that isn't in most Naya decks.

Also, if you'll notice I didn't spend a dime this week, which is a great sign for my goal of "going infinite". I'll be back next week with more news, and I hope more "non-spending" results.

In other news, the Alara Reborn Pre-Release was this weekend, and the entire set is now spoiled. It looks like this ALL GOLD set, the first of it's kind will really shake things up with it's powerful cards at low mana costs, and it's new keyword ability CASCADE, which looks primed to overthrow Storm as the most dangerous keyword in standard.

Stay tuned for more exciting Magic: The Gathering results and news.

And remember, all work and no play...

No results this week

2009-04-20T00:18:00.000-07:00

As a result of not playing Magic all week due to being very busy at work, there are no results to post. I'll be back next week with this week's worth of results. Also coming up is the Alara Reborn set-review which I'll be posting towards the end of the month.

"Going Infinite" results from the week of 4/11

2009-04-14T19:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry this is a little late this week, easter weekend was CRAZY!

There are no limited results this week as I stuck mainly to std and block constructed

"Going Infinite" results from the week of 4/4

2009-04-05T17:52:00.000-07:00

Trying something new this week folks. Let me know if you like it.

Man does it feel good to be playing Magic again. It really is a part of me, and I never want to go another month without it again. While this week's constructed record was sub-par, my excellent week in limited more then made up for it. I'm still in the positive, even with more losses then wins, which I think is very good. The losses numbers are skewed slightly cause if I win 1st round, and lose second I get a 1-1, so unless I win the whole event I'm always picking up a loss.

Well that's all for this week, until next time remember, all work and no play...

So where the HELL have I been?

2009-04-01T10:03:00.000-07:00

My apologies for being away for a month. This happened because I was banned from Magic Online since March 2nd. Why I was banned, well I don't want to get into it. I explained it on my life blog, and I do not wish to repeat myself. Perhaps I should have posted here sooner, but honestly for about 2 weeks there I didn't know if I would get my account back at all. Since i didn't want to think about that possibility, I kind of withdrew from all Magic related activities, this blog included. However, after a 30 day suspension, I have been informed by Wizards of the Coast that my account has been reactivated.

Therefore, starting today, I will resume my Magic the Gathering Blog, and my quest to "go infinite"

Again, please forgive this momentary blink in content, and now back to our show!

Week ending 2/28 Magic results

2009-03-02T10:57:00.000-08:00

MAGIC THE GATHERING ONLINE status at a glance: Week ending 2/28/09

Drafts and Sealed:
Drafts Played Triple Shards of Alara (4-3-2-2): 5
Drafts Played Triple Conflux (4-3-2-2):2
Drafts Played Shards shards conflux (4-3-2-2): 4
Match Record SOA(Draft): 2-5
Match Record CON (Draft):0-1
Match Record SOA/CON (Draft):5-7
Match Record SOA/CON (Sealed):1-6

Constructed:
Queues played this week: 19
4-player Constructed pauper 2player:1
4-player Constructed (Ala Block):52
4-player Constructed (Extended):14
4-player Constructed (Standard):15
100 card singleton:1
Daily events std: 2
2 player Constructed std: 8
2 player Constructed block:4
2 player Constructed extended:1
Total Queues played: 91
Overall Shards of Alara Match Record: 49-63
Conflux decks:
Match Record (extended White weenie): 1-2
Match Record (Red-White Block):0-1
Match Record (Domain Block):0-1
Match Record (BR aggro Block):3-3
Match Record (Naya ramp Block):5-3
Match Record (5 color control std):0-1
Match Record (5 color control std 2):0-1
Match Record (5 color planeswalker std):0-1
Match Record (blightning aggro std):0-1
Match Record (Dark Bant std):0-1
Match Record (esperlark std):3-1
Match Record (gw planeswalkers std):0-1
100 card singleton(white): 0-1
Overall Conflux Match Record: 9-18

Winnings:
Packs won this week: 19
Packs won total: 69
Tickets from packs this week: 47
Tickets from packs total: 250
Net ticket gain this week: -29
Net ticket gain total: +40
Money spent this week: 76
Money spent Overall (Started on 1/1/09): 210

So this week heralded the release of Conflux online. I've gotten all the Conflux cards I wanted thanks to an infusion of cash from my job giving us profit sharing(we actually made money last year). I have alot of new constructed decks to test out, but I've been mostly playing the new conflux limited format. As a rule, I am not that great of a limited player. I fully admit I need work, although I DO take pride in the fact that I have alone brought my limited rating from a 1386, it's low point during Ravnica draftr which I was utterly horrible at back up to 1600, where my current rating is. I once again demonstrated my horrible deckbuilding ability by going 1-6 in the 2 sealed tournaments I joined. The triple conflux drafts haven't gone much better. As you see, I entered 2, but only finished 1 game that I lost. That is because the Magic Online Servers were plagued with horrible lag this past weekend. The gameplay didn't suffer much, but trading, joining, and leaving games all were slow as shit. I think wizards need to put more game servers up for the next release, otherwise it's been a real blast playing magic.

In constructed, you'll see alot of 0-1 records. These are new decks that I am not familiar with, and just got stomped. Not being that familar with the deck it was hard to know what hands to keep against what decks. I will continue testing these decks in the coming weeks. The decks i did have some great luck with was the Naya ramp deck that my friend Darque built. It basically takes Noble heirarchs, Druid of the anima's, and gets to 6 mana on like turn 4 to cast Realm Razer and remove all the land. With the Noble's Exalted ability and Realm's decent stats, it is really hard for the opponent to come back. Pack in some Wooly Thoctars, a Battlegrace Angel or 4, splash removal, and you have yourself a kick ass block deck. Esperlark is the controlling version of Boat Brew, using reveillark to bring back great tempo and card advantage creatures instead of the aggro creatures Boat brew usies. Esperlark won the Richmond StarCityGames 5k, and it's proved great for me. Something that I really cannot get ahold of playing are the 5-color control decks. I know they are good, in fact the number (2) build above is the same as the one that won the recent Grand Prix. However I tend to either get horribly land flooded with these decks almost EVERY TIME. I mean I draw literally ten cards with various draw effects, and it's just land land land land land. This type of non help makes me lose whatever control I had on the game....which is really bad for a "control" deck. I'm going to try and "grow" as a player by playing these types of decks more, but just maybe in practice instead of tournament. So not off to a great start with Conflux, but it's just the beginning so stay tuned.

And until next time remember...all work and no play

Back from Vacation and changes to Magic

2009-02-22T21:38:00.000-08:00

First I'll post this weeks results, actually the last two weeks:

MAGIC THE GATHERING ONLINE status at a glance: Week ending 2/21/09

Drafts Shards of Alara (4-3-2-2): 5
Match Record (Draft): 2-5
Queues played this week: 7
Constructed pauper 2player:1
Constructed (Ala Block):46
Constructed (Extended):13
Constructed (Standard):15
100 card singleton:1
Daily events std: 2
2 player: 1
Total Queues played: 71
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 Affinity): 5-3
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 (Bant std): 1-1
Match Record (Glenn Jund Block):2-6
Match Record (Rich’s Jund Block):0-2
Match Record (Rich’s Naya/Jund Block):18-15
Match Record (Rich’s Naya Block):0-1
Match Record (Naya Block2):0-1
Match Record (Naya Block3):0-3
Match Record (Mono-White Block):
Match Record (Esper Block):0-1
Match Record (BR tokens std):1-4
Match Record (WR reveillark weenie std):2-4
Match Record (WR reveillark weenie std version 2):4-3
Match Record (Cruel control std):5-5
100 card singleton(white): 0-1
Overall Match Record: 49-63
Packs won this week: 11
Packs won total: 53
Tickets from packs this week: 51
Tickets from packs total: 203
Net ticket gain this week: +48
Net ticket gain total: +65
Money spent this week: 3
Money spent Overall (Started on 1/1/09): 139

WHOA! Do you see that! Positive 48 this week and positive 65 overall. It was a great two weeks tournament wise, but funny enough I generated all that profit on the last day. I didn't play any magic the week I was away because I was busy hanging out with my friends. The day I got back however, I managed to read about the comeback of affinity in the extended format and the lastest tech used in the deckbuilding. So I headed to the extended queues and played this new affinity deck:

4 Seat of the Synod
4 Tree of Tales
4 Great Furnace
3 Darksteel Citadel
3 Blinkmoth Nexus

4 Arcbound Ravager
4 Arcbound Worker
4 Frogmite
4 Ornithopter
4 Delay
3 Myr Enforcer
3 Tarmogoyf

4 Chromatic Star
4 Springleaf Drum
4 Cranial Plating
4 Thoughtcast

Sideboard:
4 Ancient Grudge
4 Pyrostatic Pillar
3 Relic of Progenitus
3 Trickbind
1 Tarmogoyf

The deck is very resilient to the common affinity hate. Tarmogoyf and Darksteel Citadel are in there as a non-artifact finisher and indestructible land source respectively. The Darksteel is especially nice when someone tries to Ancient grudge your land after sideboarding. Delay actually was the all-star card of the night. Even though I got criticized by one of my opponents for running it, the "bad" counterspell from future sight got me more then 1 or 2 wins. Just by intercepting that crucial Damnation or Hurkyl's Recall when I needed 1 or 2 more turns to secure the victory. While it's not a standard "affinity" card that the deck normally plays, it was a useful bit of tech. This deck was really good against the majority of the extended metagame. Oddly enough, I had the most trouble with the mirror. I chock this up mostly because I never drew my sideboard cards in either matchup. I'll continue to see if this or the Master of Etherium version is better, especially given that the extended environment just changed radically yesterday with the addition of conflux being made legal.

Ch-Ch-Ch-CHANGES!

Some changes have occured on Magic Online, this blog's structure, and with the core sets this week. There is change in the air, and I'm here to embrace it. First, Magic Online's constructed queues. 8-player queues, once the only queues available have now been replaced by 2 and 4 player queues. Now this comes as a very little surprise to me as I have been playing the 4-player queues almost exclusively almost since they came out. The reason? Value of course!

The prize structure worked out like this.

8-player:4-3-2-2 (6 tickets to enter)

4-player:2-1 (3 tickets to enter)

In 8-player queues, if you lost first round you were out 6 dollars, and if you won, you got 8 dollars off the packs that you won. So a profit of 2 dollars.

In 4-player queues, you only risked 3 dollars, and if you won the first round you made a 1 dollar profit. Here's the kicker though. If you played 2 4-player queues and only won the first round on both...then you make the same profit for the same money, but at a slightly less risky upfront cost. Once people figured this out, 8-player queues almost never fired. Wizards of the Coast noticed, and decided to change the format. The new constructed queues are:

4-player 4-2 (6 tickets to enter)

2-player 1 (2 tickets to enter)

I think that these queues are a better value in general. For 2 tickets now, I have the ability to get 4 dollars, so an upgrade from the previous 4-player queues. The four player queues improve on the 8-player by allowing 2 wins to equal a 10 dollar profit rather then a 6 dollar one. All in all I'm going to play alot more 2 player queues now, cause the value to risk ratio is just nuts. The 4-players aren't bad either, and I actually might play them more then I played the 8 player ones. So my verdict on the change is : IT'S GOOD!

Another change was that Wizards of the Coast announced yesterday that the format of the Core Set was changing. The bi-annual set was all reprints of past cards, and generally set the base and support cards for standard during it's "reign". Well, if you head over to www.magicthegathering.com, you can check out Aaron Forsythe's full article on the changes. I'll summarize them for you here, my reactions and comments will be in pararentheses.

-The Core set will no longer be called "Nth" edition, like the current 10th edition, but will be in a new yearly format. The next Set will be called Magic 2010 Edition or M10 for short.

-M10 will for the first time contain NEW never before seen cards. Almost half of the 229 non-land cards in the set are brand spanking new.(As a fan of the game I like this. As a collector that was finally at the level where the core set would contain almost everything I already had just with new art....I'm slightly peeved that I'll have to get new cards now. However, it is a smaller set, and new cards are always good.

-M10 will have more classic fantasy flavor to pull in newer players. Highly flavorful cards such as Serra Angel and Black Knight will return. (Yay, black knight is back, I hope it's part of a cycle or at least paired with white knight)

-M10 will have Mythic Rares for the first time. Of the 15 mythics, 6 will be new cards. Of the 9 reprints, 5 of them will be the Lorwyn Planeswalkers. (Oh good, they are sticking around another year. If i get the new ones in draft that would be neat, but I already have 4 of each, so no biggie)

-Core sets will now be yearly and will rotate out with the block that preceded them. What this means is that M10 will rotate out of standard with the Shards of Alara block, and for three months in the fall of 2010, both M10 and M11 (Magic core set 2011) will be legal at the same time. Another first. (I like this, 2 years was a bit too long, and I was not a fan of the "fourth sets" like coldsnap.)

-Of the 16 cards that have been in every core set...only half will be returning...will Wrath of God skip a year?

-The Core set will receive Pre-launch parties, and release events just like expansion sets.

-Some Tournaments will use M10 drafts

-There are new "pain-free" duel lands in M10. No fetch lands, painlands, or Ravnica Shocklands. (My guess is a cycle based on either Grove of the Burnwillows, Nimbus Maze, or River of tears from future sight. My money is on Grove. I also hope they aren't rare, as that will be sick on the wallet. Come to think of it, with all the land type things in alara block, we might be looking at a Grove/Mumuring Bosk hybrid)

New Format: Conflux has rotated in.

So the chief complaint I have had about the weekly results have been:

Having just the deck name doesn't reveal the build of the deck

So I will now link the builds I use to the deck names. Also, I have retired the shards of alara decks from the three major formats, and replaced them with Conflux era decks. I have retained the win/loss records from the previous block, and will hopefully give me a better view of the Magic Online metagame as it evolves. See you guys at the end of the week.

until next time remember...all work and no play

Headed South for the week

2009-02-12T23:55:00.000-08:00

I'll be heading south to see my beast friends this week, and therefore will not be posting regularly if at all. I'll return the next weekend and update with my latest Magic results then.

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

2009-02-07T20:40:00.000-08:00

MAGIC THE GATHERING ONLINE status at a glance: Week ending 2/7/09
Drafts Shards of Alara (4-3-2-2): 5
Match Record (Draft): 2-5
Queues played this week: 8
Constructed pauper 2player:1
Constructed (Ala Block):43
Constructed (Extended):8
Constructed (Standard):12
100 card singleton:1
Daily events std: 2
2 player: 1
Total Queues played: 64
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 (Bant std): 1-1
Match Record (Glenn Jund Block):2-6
Match Record (Rich’s Jund Block):0-2
Match Record (Rich’s Naya/Jund Block):15-13
Match Record (Rich’s Naya Block):0-1
Match Record (Naya Block2):0-2
Match Record (Mono-White Block):
Match Record (Esper Block):0-1
Match Record (BR tokens std):1-4
Match Record (WR reveillark weenie std):2-3
Match Record (WR reveillark weenie std version 2):4-2
Match Record (Cruel control std):4-4
100 card singleton(white): 0-1
Overall Match Record: 41-57
Packs won this week: 9
Packs won total: 42
Tickets from packs this week: 35
Tickets from packs total: 153
Net ticket gain this week: +14
Net ticket gain total: +17
Money spent this week: 21
Money spent Overall (Started on 1/1/09): 136

I had a really good week this week. The new R/W Reveillark deck really worked great, and the cruel control deck made a comeback. Also, I made the most profit then I ever have since I've been keeping records. Honestly, that just makes me feel good that this thing might be possible. I also found out that if you save up the packs until you have 3, then you get more tickets then if you sell them individually, so I am definitely going to keep doing that. Until next week, remember, all work and no play...

Conflux visual spoiler and set review (Artifact & Land)

2009-02-05T13:44:00.001-08:00

So White got the hook up, Blue was disappointing, black was ok, Red had some great hits,Green got some heavy hitters, gold got the power, and so we come to the artifacts and lands of the set. Let's see what wizards of the coast has in store for us this time.

Things to Note:
This is in regards mainly to Std only. I will mention some extended and Block possibilities where applicable, 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

So here we have a creature version of Pillar of Paruns. I think it will be played more then it's predecessor due to it being a creature deck type of format. You might see 1 or 2 in a std decklist, but I think it will stay more popular in limited and casual.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

So here the artifact basic land searcher of the set. I can see this this being a very big mana fixer in limited. In std, Shards Convergence is a better mana fixer for 4 mana. Course spreading the cost over 2 turns has it's benefits, and it will be interesting to see which of these two mana fixers will make it into std and block.

Constructed-*
Limited-**

The zero casting cost in nice on an equipment, but I don't think +1 attack is enough to replace another more useful card in any deck.

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

It's a reflecting pool for your opponents. Ok, reflecting pool is the most played land in std right now, and in this multi-color environment, you think having 4 more copies in your deck could hurt? Of course not. For any five color deck, a playset of these is almost mandatory, and I bet you'll see it pop up as a 1 or 2 of in alot of std decks.

Constructed-**
Limited-**

I've never been a fan of howling mine, and here they make a better one. Considering that howling mine is in std, some kind of decking deck might come out of it, but I doubt it. Giving your opponents cards is never relly a GOOD idea.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

I'm having trouble deciding on this card. On the one hand it's a cheap artifact that draws you a card. Late in the game is can help with all the 5 color casting costs in conflux. I think it might be played by a five color deck, but it's hard to say.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

Here we have an artifact version of Shimmering Grotto. I know it will be used in limited, but it has almost no hope in constructed.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

Manaforce mace is the equipment card for the Domain mechanic. Like almost all the other Domain cards in the set, it's just not quite there yet. I think if either the casting cost or the equip cost was reduced by 1, then we could have had something to talk about, but this is just too expensive of a mana investment to be anything more then a limited equipment card.

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

I think that we will be seeing this card in control decks for a long time to come. Yes, it is a 6 mana investment, but once it's online, the stuff you can do every turn is nuts. I mean, wanna do an incinerate or giant growth a turn. Gain 5 life, or screw with combat math, this is your card. In limited it is a legitimate bomb. It's a great first pick because no matter what colors you end up in, it'll help you.

Constructed-***
Limited-**

They made spellbook into a land...ok. I've never seen spellbook be put to any good use, but as a land it might have a different future. You might see it pop up in control decks so they can draw cards to their hearts content without discarding.

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

So here is a land that comes into play tapped, and you have to pay 1. Then when it untaps, it can tap for ANY color. Wow, that is really really good. This must be a rare or at least an uncommon...wait, it's a common! The 1 mana investment and coming into play tapped is essentially the same cost as the Karoo lands from Ravnica. This is a really good land. It should be present in a lot of limited decks, and it might even make it into some constructed decks once the Vivid lands from lorwyn rotate out.
Constructed-**
Limited-***

This is the land that drafters will pick when they are scrouging for mana fixing at the end of a draft. It has no constructed potential whatsoever.

So the artifacts were kind of a bust, but the lands had 2 or 3 winners

cards to watch:
1)Exotic Orchard
2)Ruture Spike
3)Obelisk of Alara

Flavor: Conflux continued the flavor of Shards of Alara, which was chocked full of it. The flavor was continued into Conflux in spades. First off, I have to say that I am happy that there is such an abundance of Flavor text in this set. It really shows where the different cultures of Alara are coming from and how they handle the merging of the world. It really paints a detailed picture which i appreciate in a fantasy world.

All in all I really like the set, and I'm really interested to see how it will affect standard.

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

Conflux visual spoiler and set review (Gold)

2009-02-05T13:33:00.001-08:00

So White got the hook up, Blue was disappointing, black was ok, Red had some great hits,Green got some heavy hitters, but in a gold themed set, the meat is going to be in the gold cards.

Things to Note:
This is in regards mainly to Std only. I will mention some extended and Block possibilities where applicable, 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-***1/2
Limited-*****

You know that mana ramp deck that I keep saying might make a resurgence in std. Well if it does, say hello to it's end game. This ia an example of a big Timmy card that has constructed potential. If the big mana deck that I think is coming does, you'll see 1 or 2 of these guys in it. If not, then I just see this as a dominating force in limited. Not only can you get a 10/10 for seven mana, but it can ping things as well. A good card that might become great.

Constructed-**(*) In multiplayer
Limited-***1/2

I like this card, mainly because it reminds me of rumbling slum, which was always a fav card of mine. An interesting design here is the second ability which is designed specifically for multi-player. Not many cards address the format, and it's nice to see it getting a little love. For 7 mana you get a 5/5 with flying and trample. It's not horrible, but it's not great either. The ability is what saves it from being utter trash, as this could truly impact the long game if it goes unchallenged. I forsee a bright limited and multi-player future for this card, but no std play.

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

For 7 mana, if I'm not casting an ultimatum, then it's really not worth it. the trample and 6/6 stats make his ability relevant, but unless limited slows down I don't see this being impactful in any format. i think if this and the vampire above would have cost 6 mana, then their fates might have been different in std.

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

If a 5 color deck becomes prevelant in the new std, meet one of of it's star players. A 6/6 trampler for 5 is nothing to sneeze at. And if you kill it, it pulls an Akroma's Vengeance and takes out any errant planeswalkers. It's too bad white has 2 cheap answers to this guy. I see a deck getting built that features him, and it possibly doing well, but I think that a white/red deck with path to exile will be more powerful.

Constructed-*
Limited-*

8 mana to get 5 cards into your HAND! PLEASE! This is the namesake card of the set, and it BLOWS! It's seriously the worst mythic rare yet, even over Lich's Mirror. Now, if this put them into PLAY, then it would be awesome, instead we have this sorry excuse for a spell.

Constructed-****
Limited-**

This card should read "Replace negate in all faerie decks with me", cause that's what it's going to do. If you're playing negate and black, then this card is clearly superior, and will replace negate in all decks that can support it.

Constructed-*
Limited-**1/2

A....6 mana...Aura. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Sorry sorry, but this card is absurd. In limited you might put one in to try and give some late game flying, but if you're casting this crap on turn 6, then your deck isn't that good. There is NO constructed possibilties for this. It costs WAY too much and offers no protection for the creature it enchants.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

3/3 flyer for 4 mana, nice undercosted creature for blue/white. I don't think it's good enough for std, but it'll be a nice staple in limited.

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

What do you get when you combine Rampant Growth with Tribal Flames? A darn good card that's what. This is a great mana fixer combined with a powerful burn spell to the dome. I see it finding a home in both Std and Block.

Constructed-***
Limited-****

A vanilla 8/8 creature for 5 mana. That's on the border of being good enough for std. Obviously this is going to be a bomb in limited if your going 5 color, in std I don't know if it will make the cut, but I know an 8/8 is not to be ignored.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

I've never been a fan of "kill it after it hurts you" cards. The damage has already been done, ya know. I think the Exalted mechanic gives it a little more reach, but not enough to avoid the crap rare pile.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

All of the outlanders will be playable in the right deck. So my review for all of them is that they are 2/2's for 2, and will be played if a deck evolves that has they're colors.

Constructed-**
Limited-**

Casting a repeatable pacifism on creatures is good, but giving your opponents extra cards is not. Now if the effect was permanent then it might be usable, however all someone has to do is fry this guy with any type of burn, and all the creatures he took out are back in action. Not a good spell for competitive play.

Constructed-***
Limited-****

This is a well designed devour creature that rewards the player for using the ability that they are probably going to use anyway. I don't see much standard potential, but it'll be a nice limited card.

Constructed-***
Limited-****

3 mana for the ability to make any of your creatures unblockable. Yeah i see this guy going places in limited. The white/blue combination doesn't foster many aggresive decks and therefore might limit this card's usefulness in std.

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

This card is already having extended and standard decks being built around it. In extended with it's fetch lands, this is generally a 4/4 when it comes out. It's ability can search for any land, and can get you out of color screw. This is going to be an "it" card from conflux, get 4 now!

Constructed-**
Limited-***

There are better Mana fixers that cost less, so i don't see this card making a big std splash. In limited it's a nice accelerator. If the Big mana ramp deck does develop, you might find this as part of it.

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

Another "it" card right here. The Angel's ability is just too kickass for words. Obviously it's incredibly powerful if it goes off even once. I mean, imagine casting a cruel ultimatum off of this baby, game over right? A nuts card in block, limited, and std hands down. I don't know how much of a role Path to Exile is going to play in making this card work in a viable deck, but I think we will be seeing this card show up every now and then for the next two years.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

Very interestingly designed card, but far too expensive for what it does. If it was 20 life, I'd say it was a lot better, but 10? Either you're in trouble and are stalling, or you're taking a few points off an opponent in the lead. 7 mana should effectively end the game, this barely effects it. Workable in limited, but crap in constructed.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

Discard your hand...Um no thanks, I don't like losing. So this card says, you give up your hand, which on turn six is about 2-4 cards. They sac 2-4 creatures, and then use the rest of their hand to remove this guy, and beat the piss out of the now topdecking idiot. Sorry if I'm being harsh, but this game is too dependent on card advantage to be tossing away your hand.

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

Ooh, I so want to make this card work in a deck. The effect is nuts if it gets to go off. In std, I think the fact that it can be hit by terror and all it's similar effects plus Path to Exile plus Celestial Purge, I just don't think it's going to see all that much play unfortunately. in draft though, you will FIRST PICK this guy everytime.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

All of the outlanders will be playable in the right deck. So my review for all of them is that they are 2/2's for 2, and will be played if a deck evolves that has they're colors.

Constructed-**
Limited-*****

Ah, Nichol Bolas, the biggest baddest planeswalker this side of Dominaria.
Yes, he is ultra-powerful, and his abilities reflect that
Yes, his ultimate ability wins the game
Yes, he can be an insane disruptive force on your opponent.
Yes, he will be play in std tournaments...oh wait no, this one is wrong.

While being the big "get me" card of the set, Nichol Bolas just doesn't effect the board enough at 8 mana to justify his inclusion over the cheaper Cruel Ultimatum. While the casual players and limited players will love this guy, he won't be in any constructed top 8's.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

Protection from Everything! Excuse me while i go have a Timmygasm. The Legacy circle is already trying to find ways to abuse this. I'm working on a Dramatic Entrance deck that features it even. Now, in Legacy, a competitive deck might evolve, and someone smarter then me might make Dramatic entrance work for it too. I hope it does, cause I would love to play with this card. I mean, it can't be targeted, no blocking, can block everything. Nuts card, but way too expensive and difficult to cast.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

Hmm, 5 mana for a 2/3 exalted that gives you 3 life when it comes into play. First off, at 5 mana in an exalted deck you want Battlegrace Angel, not this card. It's also way under the curve compared to it's closest relative Loxodon Hierarch, which was 4 mana, gave 4 life, and was a 4/4. This is just an overpriced underperforming card.

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

Well move over Nantuko Husk, a better sacrifice outlet was just printed. Some kind of Husk deck always makes it's way into the std metagame, and this time they'll have this big boy to make the sacs count for counters instead of just +2/+2 for a turn. Very nice card.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

Ok, so it's Ashenmoor Gouger with one less toughness, one less colored mana, and unearth. The unearth might help this card supercede it's heartier cousin, especially with all the good unearth creatures in this set, but time will tell. I think this is good enough for std, but I might be wrong.

Constructed-**
Limited-**

6 mana, underpowered, crappy ability. Crap rare, NEXT!

Constructed-**
Limited-**

So for 4 mana in esper I can have a 4/4 flying Gargoyle, or I can have this guy. He's a 3/3, and I get an ability when I cast my other esper guys. There's already a more efficient creature at his mana cost. he'll end up in esper limited deck, and then the trade binder.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

I think this card is too expensive for what it does. However, it does fetch any creature from your esper deck so it might find a home.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

This is a limited only card. It's too expensive and doesn't do enough. I think it's extremely flavorful, but just a narrow card. It'll get played in limited, but not in constructed.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

This will be a nice addition to the "Power of Five" draft deck. Regenerate is a great ability for that deck, and this card will be a welcome member. Won't see play outside of limited though.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

All of the outlanders will be playable in the right deck. So my review for all of them is that they are 2/2's for 2, and will be played if a deck evolves that has they're colors.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

This guy will be played in limited only. His ability is cheap and useful, but at 5 mana he just costs too much.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

All of the outlanders will be playable in the right deck. So my review for all of them is that they are 2/2's for 2, and will be played if a deck evolves that has they're colors.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

All of the outlanders will be playable in the right deck. So my review for all of them is that they are 2/2's for 2, and will be played if a deck evolves that has they're colors.

So gold definately got the most powerful cards of the set as it should have. Tomorrow's the atifact and land review and reflections on the set as a hole. Don't miss it.

Card to watch out for:
1)Maelstrom ArchAngel
2)Child of Alara
3)Exploding borders
4)Knight of the Reliquary
5)Apocalypse Hydra

Conflux visual spoiler and set review (Green)

2009-02-03T16:49:00.001-08:00

So White got the hook up, Blue was disappointing, black was ok, Red had some great hits,now it's big green's turn.

Things to Note:
This is in regards mainly to Std only. I will mention some extended and Block possibilities where applicable, 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-***

I like these "Power of 5 deck" helpers. Rakeclaw Gargantuan and Mosstodon were always welcome additions in a Naya draft deck, and I forsee this card just being a counterpoint to them, so it'll be played in limited.

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

This card has all the makings of a great std competitor. It's above the curve on power, and has two great abilities that shouldn't be too hard to satisfy the conditions too. Especially considering that Figure of Destiny is both colors needed and fit's fight into the type of aggressive deck that this would. The only thig that might hold him back is the 3 toughness and lack of first strike. Time will tell on this one, but I for one this it'll be in more then one decklist come the new standard season.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

Interesting ability, it's definaitely original, but I don't see it getting used much. I mean a 2 mana 2/2 is really kinda ugh in today's std metagame. The ability is cheap enough that it's worth it to use, and the added effectiveness of all copies of her getting it is a unique and powerful twist, but how often are you actually going to pull it off? I don't see this making ways, and it's rare status means that you more then likely won't be seeing multiples in limited. Crap rare I say.

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

An undercosted 3/3 first striker with a red permanent out. In a gold set, that is a really easy condition to pull off. It's above the curve, has reach, and has great stats. Will be played in limited, and might be usable for std

Constructed-***
Limited-***

Nice flavorful esper hoser. The added ability to replace itself is definitely a plus. It might replace naturalize in block deck sideboards, but I don't see it making a std showing.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

Oooh, a flash devour creature. This is a nice way to save some card advantage when a creature of yours is about to be killed. I wish it would do something with the counters, then I think it would have been playable in std. As it stands this is limited bound, where it will find a home in most jund decks.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

Ah, another Domain card that's sub par. So you cast it as a 3/3. If it survives and you have the 4th land then it's a 4/4 attacking, and if it still survives and you have the 5th color, it's a 5/5. Sorry but with all the removal in this format, this card just isn't strong enough.

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

This Domain card however is strong enough to be a std competitor. As a functional reprint of Gaea's Might, this card will find a home. Gaea's might was played in std, and is still played in extended sometimes. Excellent common to pick up.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

A good sideboard limited card for limited. Extremely fragile with the 1 toughness, and probably won't see much play unless esper takes off.

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

My first reaction to this card was something that you see in a looney tunes cartoons when the eyes pop out and stuff. Birds of Paradise is arguably the best one drop in the history of Magic, and here it is, reprinted with two less colors and no flying. What do we get in exchange, oh nothing but one of the best mechanics to appear in recent memory, Exalted. It's a 1 drop that not only accelerates, but can affect combat in the late game. Basically, in any deck that doesn't need red or black mana, and needs mana accelration you'll find this little gem there. Really great card, get 4 of them while you can, and before the price shoots up.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

This is a nice addition for the power of five deck. It allows them to keep up with the faster decks with weaker creatures, but I see this as really a limited only card, cause at 6 mana in std, your playing something that's really going to impact the game that turn, not if it stays alive for a while and you get to summon more big dudes.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

2/3 for 3 mana is a bit underpowered, especially without reach (seriously, why don't all archers have reach, by definition they have bows). The ability is nice, and should play havoc with limited combat math. i don't see anything constructed coming from him, he might be in a block deck, but I doubt it.

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

This card should read "Bitterblossom tokens and Spellstutter sprite killer". If faeries remains a well played archetype after the insertion of conflux, I imagine you'll be seeing this guy pop up in more then one place. If the Fae fade into obscurity, then so will he.

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

I like this card ALOT. 4 mana for four cards! That's insane efficiency. Yeah so, they are all land cards, but you've just thinned your deck, and most likely fixed your colors for the rest of the game. I expect to see this in some kind of mana ramp deck, and as a 4-of in any Domain deck.

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

Ah, Wizards printed an answer to the fact that green needs card drawing, and hasn't had anything good printed since Harmonize rotated out. Enter Soul's majesty, a very flavorful and powerful card drawing machine. Imagine Soul's majestying a Cliffrunner Behemoth, that's 5 mana for 5 cards, again, INSANE! The only reason I rated less then a 4 was because if the creature gets destroyed or bounced before resolution then you've wasted 5 mana, and that's a serious drawback. So good card, but watch when you cast it.

Constructed-**
Limited-****

It's 4 1/1 tokens for 4 mana if you have all four possible land types out when you cast it. If you wait till turn 5, it's 5 1/1's. I just don't see this taking off in standard. If the tokens had some kind of evasion maybe, but Spectral Procession is just stright up superior right now.

Constructed-*
Limited-**1/2

It's in the color that has the most mana fixing and it gives lifegain. Crappiest card from a crappy cycle.

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

Ok, first we had Morphling which ruled the tournament scene during it's day. Then we had the red version Torchling, which was generally ignored during it's day. This new green version has a few things going for it. First, it has an indestructible ability, which helps it's playability immensely. Trample is also very nice combined with the "-ling" ability to pump itself up or down. He'll be a bomb in limited for sure,but if he's going to be in std, I think it will be in a mana ramp deck of some sort.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

Apparently Fungi are making a comeback in this set. I like the design. This is a nice chump block that conveniently dies twice for you. I don't see many std applications till after Lorwyn/Shadowmoor rotates out. There's just too many good 1 drops right now. You'll see this in limited though I'm sure.

Constructed-**
Limited-****

I like this card for limited, 5/4 for 4 mana is above the curve, and the 1 green upkeep isn't that bad. I don't see it seeing constructed play anytime soon, but it's a nice tank for draft or sealed.

So green got some really nice pieces here. Tomorrow we get into the real meat of the multi-colored set...the GOLD cards, don't miss them

Cards to watch in green:

1)Noble Hierarch
2)Cliffrunner Behemoth
3)Soul's Majesty
4)Thornling
5)Might of Alara

Conflux visual spoiler and set review (red)

2009-02-03T16:38:00.000-08:00

So White got the hook up, Blue was disappointing, and black was just ok, it's Red's turn.

Things to Note:
This is in regards mainly to Std only. I will mention some extended and Block possibilities where applicable, 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-*****

See this card...get use to it. You'll lose alot of games to it, and you'll win alot because of it too. Expect to see this as a finisher in almost every deck that can support it. An uncounterable and unpreventable finisher to the dome...every aggressive player's dream was just printed.

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

I really want this card to suceed, I really do. I like the design, and the little Timmy part inside me just wants to see this thing survive 2 turns to get a 5/5. I just don't see it happening. Even if you have a black and green permanent out on turn 1. That means turn 2 this is a 1/1, turn 3 and it's a 3/3. Then on turn 4 your opponent can wrath, or he/she can firespout on turn 3. While I really like the card, i don't see it impacting std that much. It might see play in a Jund block deck, and it's an excellent limited creature.

Constructed-**
Limited-**1/2

Alara version of hill giant. Moving on.

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

Boy do I like this card. I know that it's three mana for 2 damage, but in a red and black deck this can destroy any creature! Not "nonartifact nonblack", but anything! I think that fact alone gives this card enough versatility that you'll see it pop up in std, block, and limited. Extended already has better removal, but you might see this floating around there after a rotation or two.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

While this card is better then it's white counterpart, I still like it's black cousin better. Honestly I think this whole cycle is just jank. The abillities are good, but one will have to either be in a pretty big bind, or just have a crap deck if he's wasting a turns worth of mana on making this guy into something that could be permanently put into play for one more mana aka basically any Dragon. Don't get me wrong though, this will be played in limited for the 2/2 first strike for 3 mana which isn't terrible. The five olor casting cost though, is just...well too damned expensive I think.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

Ok, so this one breaks the absolute crappy cycle of another basic land cycling card that is only good for basic land cycling. 6 mana for 5 damage isn't unplayable in limited, and even in block. The fact that's it's only target creature only will probably keep it off of the std decklists. If the word player was on here, I bet there'd be a bit more hype about this card. As it is, it's serviceable, and should be a nice addition to any limited deck.

Constructed-***(*)
Limited-****

This card has serious potential. It's 3/4 body will keep it alive against most removal, and it has a cheap and efficient ability. Red decks rarely need all the mana they draw, and it's ability already combos very well with Countryside Crusher from Morningtide. Definitely keep an eye on this one.

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

Another great card here. I've already seen this card pop up in extended decklists, which means it will be in std, and in block, and in draft. Spark elemental was already a pretty card, and giving it unearth just made it that much better. The increase in initial casting cost just means that this card won't have to compete with it's cousin for mana cost slots. Really great card, and you'll be seeing alot of it.

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

A watered down Incinerate that can only target white or blue creatures. The ability to target multiple creatures really saves this card from being too narrow, and it might be decent sideboard material against faeries or kithkin.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

A decent limited card with some built in protection for it's weak back end. It will be played in the "power of 5" naya draft deck for sure. I don't see it doing much else though. Limited or casual only card.

Constructed-*
Limited-**

A) It's an aura, so it's got to be really powerful or nuts to even be considered good.

B) +2+2 and can't block....nope, does not meet the above requirements, crap aura

NEXT

Constructed-***(*) is an esper deck becomes popular
Limited-***(*) if playing against esper

This is an esper hoser to keep the deck from becoming too powerful. The cucling is a nice addition, however the card really only buys you time. The best esper deck recur there creatures and spells from the graveyard so much, that I don't know how effective this card will be.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

This is a decent spells. Being that the current environment is leaning toward "all colors of mana, all the time" I don't know if you'll see this card really make an impact. Maybe after Lorwyn/Shadowmoor rotate out. Nice unique design though, and 4 mana for 6 damage is very nice if you can pull it off.

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

He's an ok card with a good cheap ability. He's also a 2/2 for 4, and his ability requires mana. So idealing you'd want to cast him on turn five so you could make an elemental right away. With that math it just doesn't seem worth it. On turn 5 I want something more then a 3/1 and a tapped 2/2. i don't see him going anywhere except the limited table.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

A good one drop that proves troublesome in combat later. Always nice to have in a limited deck. He might see std play, but only if Mogg fanatic isn't in 11th edition. As of right now, he's just outclassed in std.

Constructed-**1/2
limited-***1/2

I've learned never to underestimate a creature with the double-strike keyword. I see this guy making trouble in limited, especially if given a maniacal rage or a manaforce mace. The pump ability is nice in a limited jund deck. I'm not seeing std glory for this boy though. If he were a 1/2, maybe, but even then I doubt you'd see him make a major impression. Just not powerful enough.

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

An instant pyroclasm that can't be countered. Why doesn't this card just read "Kill all faerie decks", cause that's basically what this card was designed for. It's ahead of the curve in power, and will probably replace pyroclasm for as long as it's in standard.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

This guy was built for comboing with dragon fodder and all the goblins in lorwyn and shadowmoor. I know I'm putting one copy into my 100-card singleton goblin deck. You'll most definitely see him as a finisher in limited, but I'm getting that twinge i get when I see certain cards. And with dragon fodder, goblin assault, and siege gang commander all in std...I can see a deck where this guyu could be lethal.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

A very decent Domain mechanic card and one of the only ones not taken from an invasion inspired card. I like the design, and I think you'll see it alot in limited. I don't see it impacting std though.

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

Some people really like this card. I have no idea why. It's 4 mana for a 2/2 flyer that after it chump blocks and dies you can pay five different colors of mana to bring it back as a 4/4. I think it's just too mana intensive for this std environment, plus with all the remove from game removal in white, I'd be wary of playing graveyard dependent creatures right now.

So red got some lovin from wizards this round. With new staples like Volcanic Fallout and Banefire, red will be very popular come February 6th

Cards to watch-
1)Banefire (this will be 20 dollars, get them NOW!)
2)Volcanic Fallout
3)Hellspark Elemental
4)Bloodhall ooze (I hope)
5)Dark Temper

Conflux visual spoiler and set review (Black)

2009-02-02T17:19:00.000-08:00

So White got the hook up, and Blue was disappointing, let's see how black faired

Things to Note:
This is in regards mainly to Std only. I will mention some extended and Block possibilities where applicable, 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-***

I can't get behindthese land cycling cards. I can not see them being used for their actully effects except in the extremely rare occasion where they are top-decked late game. It's a shame too, cause i think basic land-cycling is a pretty neat ability.

Constructed-*
Limited-**

This is a neutered version of Pooling Venom from Future Sight. It wasn't played much even in limited back then when it was a better card, and I don't see this version doing even that good. crap

Constructed-***
Limited-****

Ah, the common removal spell that you'll really want to see in draft. Honestly, I see this as one of the better uses of the Domain mechanic. It might be good enough to cross over into std even, if a Domain deck takes off. Watch out for this one.

Constructed-*
Limited-**1/2

This is an ok one drop for limited, but I definitely don't see any std application for this. Sure the +3 attack and flying is nothing to sneeze at, and will work really nice if you can get it going third turn. The 1 toughness is the reall killer though, as pretty much anything can kill this thing with much trouble. I think if it would have had flying naturally, then that might have made it more useful, but even then...

Constructed-***
Limited-****

6 mana for a 5/5 flyer is decent for black. The cheap unearth cost is what really makes this guy special. His ability I can't really see making much fuss over. In all my years playing Magic, I've seen only one milling deck work, and that's when Glimpse the Unthinkable was in std. He is a great finisher in limited, and with that cheap Unearth cost, he just might make the leap to Std in some kind of Corpse Connoisseur unearth deck.

Constructed-**(*) in 5 color deck
Limited-***(*) in five color

OK, so this is a 5 color activation I can get behind. 5 mana to give your creature a boost, fear, and possibly kill an opposing creature, or at least make it too small to handle the new improved Fleshformer isn't horrible. This card has potential. I don't think std is ready for a five mana activation, but this is the kind of card that great drafts are made of.

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

Let's see, for six mana, you get a 4/4 creature. When the 4/4 is defeated he leaves a 2/2. Then he can be Unearthed for one last moment of glory and leaves another 2/2 behind when he's removed. This is the kinda math that Riley likes to do. This is going to be in Jund and Grixis deck in draft like Undead leotau. In fact it'll probably replace him if it can. Very nicely designed card. This could cross over to std or block, but its unlikely considering that the best creature in the set so far (Broodmate dragon) shares the same mana cost.

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

Ooh, a card designed for multi-player. You don't see many of these around. The 4 casting cost for a 2/2 will keep it out of std, but this will see play in draft.

Constructed-***(*) if in right deck
Limited-***(*)

Honestly, this card doesn't look that good on paper, and my first instinct is to say crap rare and move on, but you know sometimes when you look at a card and just see that this could be trouble I don't know why, but I get that feeling from this card. I'll leave the verdict open on this one for now.

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

I like this card. Especially in a std metagame with both Thoughtsieze and Raven's crime. I think the mono black discard deck might be in for a revival with this guy in the beatdown lead. Make no mistake that this card will make an impact somewhere. Almost a definite appearance in block, std, and draft. It might even crossover to extended where even more efficient discard cards are.

Constructed-***(*) If an Unearth deck comes out
Limited-***

Rotting rats is a card that really makes me think that an Unearth deck could actually work. I mean I see this card being played and putting an extractor demon or Grixis slavedriver in the graveyard, and the Unearthing it for a lower cost. Unearth being uncounterable is very useful, and I could see a deck like this taking shape along with the Thoughrsieze/Raven's combo, and Nyxathis for a finisher. Overall a decent card with the ability to be very good. Also has multiplayer pain in the ass card written all over it.

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

This card will be in esper draft decks that need a little filler. 1 toughness is just too fragile in limited, and you can forget seeing this guy in std.

Constructed-***
Limited-****

And the parts for the Unearth discard deck just keep coming. I like this card's cost, and it's ability is pretty powerful. 2 mana per turn to Raveneous rats someone isn't bad. I see this making an impact somewhere. If the discard deck takes off in std, then it will be in that, but I know I'll be playing it in block, and in draft, the card advantage this thing can generate is pretty sick.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

I think this is a nice use of the allied color mechanic I've seen throughout conflux. For 3 mana you get a 2/2 and a boomerang effect. Not hating that. This will be a nice staple in grixis limited decks. Don't see it being played in std, but maybe in block.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

This card is hard to judge. If you can cast it for 5 and get 5 cards then it's really worth it. If you can accelerate and cast it early with different lands in play, it might be great. But on the whole, I think it's too slow. By the time 5 mana comes around in std, either their hand will be empty or chock full of counters. The potential of this card will rarely pay off. I can see playing this in a draft domain deck for a late game, make them discard there hand so I can get my alpha strike off without interference. In the end, at sorcery speed and 5 mana, it's just too slow.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

Cheap narrow removal. Limited only card

Constructed-**(*)
Limited-***

Having seen the rest of the set, I know that there is a card in the gold section that combos perfectly with this, so there may be a place for it. With the exception of that, I don't see much happening with this card.

So there is black, and like usual it got the underpowered share of the pie. I like all the new unearth guys, and the spellchecker nightmare known as Nyxathid. Alot of well designed cards here, just limited in scope and use. Cards to look out for are:

1) Nyxathid
2) Extractor demon
3) Scepter of Fugue
4) Rotting rats
5) Grixis Slavedriver

Conflux visual spoiler and set review (Blue)

2009-02-01T13:31:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we handled the greatly increased power level of white, let's head into the blue.

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-**1/2
Draft-***

A 4/4 for 3 mana is well above the curve for Blue. It's basically a chump blocker in limited or a 4/4 attacker for the win with Unearth. I can see it being a problem in limited as 4 toughness is difficult to deal with on the third turn. However, I think it's just too weak to compete in std, though I wouldn't be too surprised to see 1 or 2 of these in a control deck to stabilize the early game.

Constructed-*1/2
Limited-**

So here we have a cycling version of Dizzy Spell, it was a bad draft card then with transmute, which is an arguably more powerful keyword. While cycling is a more useful ability, I don't see it being played more often.

Constructed-*
Limited-*

So we have bad blue removal that can only enchant certain creatures. This card is too limited in scope and will not see play.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

It is really hard to pin this card down. The 4 casting cost is very expensive for such a little effect in std. However in Limited which is decided much more in the red zone, this could be game breaking to some decks. I'll say that time will tell on this one.

Constructed:***
Limited:***

Esperzoa has the stats to be a a std competitor. A 4/3 flying for 3 mana is a nice package, and with the amount of come into play abilities in esper, one would think it would be an automatic 4-of in any esper deck. However I don't think this is going to be anything exciting. Esper has nothing cheap that one would want to cast again and again to keep this on the field, especially with only 3 toughness to back it up. Final verdict: Could be good, but I don't think so.

Constructed-***
Limited-****

5 mana for a 4/4 flyer is a little below the curve for blue, but the ability isn't irrelevant. Being able to do a repeatable mortify can't be ignored, and late in the game this guy could be a serious player in limited. I don't see him making a big splash in standard because of the mana intensiveness of his ability.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

I think this card should read Artifact Harbinger. It's an ok deck thinner, but it costs too much. I don't see this really amounting to anything.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

A merfolk looter with Exalted. I see this definitely being played in limited. The exalted mechanic might make it breakthrough to std, but I doubt it.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

Being one mana, I can see this being played, but I don't think it will amount to much. Sure it could be used to give you some early game land fixing, or even crueler, target your opponent's land and keep him off his colors. So it has range of use, but it's an exetremely fragile 1/1 which dies to pingers, and every other piece of removal in the format.

Constructed-**(**) with right deck
Limited-****

This is a nice late game limited bomb to draft. Providing you can hard cast him, or better yet "cheat him into play" this can win you the game. Nothing is getting through 11 toughness, in can't be targeted, and with the current push towards 5 color decks, the opponent will more then likely have an island out. In constructed, if you cast a 9 mana spell, it should end the game right there, this doesn't therefore no good. Now if only there was a card that could easily cheat it into play, then it could see some serious play.

Constructed-****
Limited-**(**) if in esper heavy deck

Well, I asked for a cheap way to get the leviathan out...and here she is. There is something about this card that just gives me a bad vibe and screams "I'm gonna be trouble". I hope Wizards of the Coast knows what they are doing, cause this card is just waiting for someone brighter then me to break it wide open.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

A nice solid limited creature. It's a flying highway robber for one less mana, and there is nothing wrong with that. For std, I don't think it's there yet.

Constructed-*
Limited-**

This is the same casting cost as Jace Beleren, and doesn't have near enough versatility. It might be used in limited for a more controlling deck, but pretty much a junk rare.

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

I think this is a very interesting card for draft. It's a nice 2/4 blocker, and has a good cost effective and useful ability. It will see limited play. In Std, I don't see this making it, but I think that it will be popular in more casual circles.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

It's really hard to judge this type of card. I think it might work in a swans type deck where there is only one creature to really find. It might help in limited if your getting mana flooded. Being a sorcery however, as well as 5 mana really hurts it in std. I'm going to go with this not getting much play, but I could be wrong on this one.

Constructed-**
Limited-***

The basic landcycling is the only thing that makes this card usable in limited environments only. This will not fly in std. I think it might have worked at 4, but then again people don't really play cancel, and that's 3 mana. Overall, not very traumatic.

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

Ah, an old friend returns. Unsummon has made appearances in tournament decks before, and it is a powerful limited card. I think it's an example of a nice tempo card, and the new art is really cool I think. Staple reprint, moving on.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

I can see this card enabling some sick alpha strikes out of nowhere in limited. The card's power level could make it viable in std even. I can't think of a deck that would need it, but if a 5 color deck is looking to get a big baddie to smash face by getting airborne, here's the card to look to.

Constructed-***
Limited-***

This is a solid deck thinner type card. The domain mechanic really helps it in older formats like extended that can have 4 land types out by second turn, making this able able to replace other searchers that wouldn't go as deep. I can see it being played in limited, by not std. Now if the domain mechanic takes off like I think it will when 11th edition (and it's rumored Rav shock lands return), then I'll have to reevauate this card.

So that's the blue review. A tad underpowered, and slightly dissapointing, but blue has had it's day in the sun before, and I'm sure it will again. So it can sit out this set.

Cards to watch:

Master Transmuter
Inkwell Leviathan
Telmin Performance
Cumber Stone
Ethersworn Adjundicator

Conflux visual spoiler and set review (White)

2009-01-31T20:44:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-31T20:22:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-25T00:15:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-19T13:34:00.001-08:00

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

2009-01-18T08:48:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-11T00:59:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-08T18:28:00.000-08:00

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.

Holiday nix tix

2008-12-19T15:43:00.000-08:00

Hey guys, So I believe the last total was -47, well we'll raise that to -69. I bought 22 dollars worth of product because it's payday, I had to drive 3 hours home in the snow, shovel the front walk and it's nix tix draft.

I'm human, so sue me

In constructed I've been doing well in both extended and standard, and just been playing off my wins. I haven't posted them here, cause they were no profit. Just pay 3 tix get 1 pack worth 3 tix.

Edit: Ok, wtf. I guess the holiday promotion brought out all the newbs. I'm getting paired with decks that I've never seen, aren't even good, and are beating me soley on either mana screw or cause I don't know what to side in for them. Anyway, I won two packs in draft and apparently a shard of alara pack went up to 4 tix, so I made 2 tix profit from the sale of them. So -67

Won 2nd in an extended queue with Death Cloud. Would have taken first if I had drawn a fourth land second round against elves. Anyway, -66 is the total. Workin my way down one ticket at a time.

Or 5, down to -62, whoohoo

Edit 12-22-08: Traded in some product to do some mirrodin drafts. They were fun, but not worth it. I won a few constructed, and got down to -58, but then had to buy 12 more tix. So -70 is the total.

Edit 12-23-08: Entered a 5-3-2-2 standard with my BW tokens deck, and won second place. so I made back +5. That's -65 headed into Christmas

December 26, 2008: I played in three tournaments and came in second in all of them. So I was awarded three packs, which made me a profit of two tickets. -63 is the new total.

Kithkin Rule

2008-12-15T18:18:00.000-08:00

So I was talking to my best friend today, and he reminded me of something. That I am not a control player. I do not like to stand by and pass my turn, hoping to counter and therefore crush the dreams of my opponents. I do not want to play spell after spell, and win through cloud of instants that do not let my opponent react at all. No, I prefer the direct approach. To summon my superior creature, and send them into the fray. And watch as then devour my opponent army, and smash his head into pulp. This is my kind of deck, the kind of deck that some may call simple, and lacking in strategy, and to them I say what my deck lacks in strategy it makes up for in fun and strength. Bring your counterspells, your elves, and your burn, for I will triumph.

Won with Kithkin and am very happy about it. -43

Edit: Played an extended tournament with an aggro Death cloud deck, and got second, so I made up what I spent, and did the same with kithkin in std. So I turned my 9 dollars into 4 packs. Each pack is 3 tixs(dollars), so i made 13 tix (packs sell online 3 for 10). So total for the evening is -42. Not the dent I wanted to make, but at least it's not higher.

On a side note, I was very impressed by the death cloud deck, and may be trying it out more in extended.

Update

2008-12-14T12:14:00.000-08:00

Ok, So with the 12 dollars I had left I played two 5-3-2-2 constructed queues, and got just blown away by faeries both games. I play Reveillark the first game, and mirror Faeries the next. The cards just didn't flow my way I had color screw in one of the Lark games, but it just was bad beats.

So I'm at -25 at this point

I spent 12 dollars to let me play a little more since this is my day off, and my last one to play Magic all day till after Christmas. I should be putting more lights up, but I'd rather do this. So I played a 2-1 Alara block tourny and watched as I brought the guy to less then 5 life both games before his 5 color control deck just took control, and destroyed me.

So -37 and heading into more. I'll update as I go along.

Edit: Tried out new BR token deck, and lost to 5 color control....grrr

edit edit: spent 9 dollars on extended deck, not counted for this tracking exercise. So with the above loss, I was down to zero tickets. So I purchased 9 more to play with. Current total -46

And we're back

2008-12-14T01:15:00.000-08:00

So tonight I got the draft inch and used my winnings to do a triple shards draft. I got a few good Naya cards, so I tried to force it, but lost first round to a near perfect Esper deck. Master of Etherium, Sharuum the Hedgemon, and more Glaze fiends then I can shake a stick at.

So, in defeat I did a 2-1 std with the reveillark deck that I've been doing so well with, and lost to a red-black-white token deck with furystoke giant as a finisher. I hadn't seen the deck before, and didn't know how to face it. I took it to three, but I lost to a ill timed torrent of souls.

So from +3 to -15 I go, let's see what tomorrow brings.

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

Reset to Zero

2008-12-11T16:50:00.000-08:00

You know, I noticed something that I'm not doing in my Magic reports here. I'm not recording the packs that I win as profit, and therefore throwing off my whole system. So as of Today I am reseting the count to 0 Dollars and starting over.

My starting funds include:
3 Shards of Alara packs = 9 dollars (They went down in value)
16 tickets=16 dollars

Total=25 Dollars
Starting value=0

I am entering into a std 4 man tournament (3 tix...22)

I am playing a jund warrior build from the Star City games 5000 dollar tournament in Philadelphia, seeing how it plays. I'm playing against faeries, and round 1 I keep a shaky mana hand, and the fae perfectly curve out, and I concede on turn 5 when the second mistbind clique lands.

We sideboard, and I side in the raking canopies and mass removal

I get a land heavy hand, but with potential. He thoughtsiezes me first turn revealing a clique, and I know I'm into a fight. He took my obsidian battle axe, therefore limiting the once explosive potential of my hand. I cast two creatures whish he agony warps and terror, but he's stuck on two land, and I have two treetop villages out. I attack with one. He gets a third land and casts a loxodon warhammer. I play a land and send one of the villages in again. He plays a mutavault and passes. I draw my naturalize. Now, I have the choice, send both villages in, or keep one back for naturalize mana. I play it safe and keep one back...he activates his mutavault and blocks with it. I fully expect an occompaning agony warp, but surprisingly he doesn't have it, and loses both his mutavault and 1 life. After he hits me with two pepper smokes trying to bait me to play my jund charm to save my treetop. I naturalize his warhammer instead. Call me cautious, but that think scares me, and I'm ahead in tempo and life. The next turn is uneventful, he passes drawing no land, and I attack with the village, he's down to 8. He plays bitterblossom next turn, leaving one mana open. I attack with the Village, and jund charm it giving it +2/+2, leaving him at three life. With bitter he's done next turn. Unless of course he Mistbind clique's the bitter leaving him at 2 life. Next turn clique's again. Bringing to 6. And cryptic's my village into submission on the third turn. What a turn around....that sucks. But onto the nxt tourny.

This time I'll join a 5-3-2-2, which is 6 tix. It's std, and I'll be using my Reveillark deck that I came in second with last night. So I'm at -9.

Turn 1: mountain, Figure
he plays savage lands tapped
Turn 2:play rugged prairie, and knight of the meadowgrain. I attack with Figure for 1
plays forest, and rampant growth fetching another forest. I think I'm playing jund mana ramp, which means I'm in a race till he starting casting stuff that I can't deal with.
Turn 3: draw and play reflecting pool, pump figure to 2/2, attack with both creatures, score 15-22 due to lifelink from Meadow.
opponent plays fire-lit thicket, and fertile ground. He then cast firespout which wipes my field
Turn 4: draw and play another rugged prairie, and play ajani vengeant tapping his fertile enchanted land.
opponent passes without playing a land
Turn 5: I play ranger of Eros fetching a burrenton forge tender and moggfanatic. I tap his land with Ajani again, and pass, at end of turn he resounding thunders Ajani for 3. Score 15-19 me.
Opponent: plays a twilight mire, and a chameleon colossus.
Turn 6: i play a windbrisk heights, hiding a reveillark under it. I play fanatic, tender, and a figure I drew. I pump the figure to 2/2, and tap his land again.
opponent: he attacks with the colossus, and I block with ranger.
Turn 7: I attack with my three creatures, and pump figure to 4/4 level. I activate the windbrisk, playing Reveillark, and then I tap his colossus with Ajani. He tries to jund charm at EOT turn and sac tender to prevent.
Opponent concedes on upkeep.

Sideboard: I haven't really faced this deck before. I side in wraths to take care of his big creatures, and voice of all's to block the big scary things in his deck. I side out mogg fanatics and rangers

Turn 1: he plays reflecting pool and passes
I play windbrisk hiding Ajani
Turn 2: he plays fire-lit, and rampants for a forest
I play a plains, and knight of the meadow grain
Turn3: He plays a kitchen finks
I play battlefield forge and my own kitchen finks, and attack for two with the knight. He lets it pass score 24-20 me.
Turn 4: He plays a swamp and fertile grounds it.
I play a reflecting pool that I draw, and cast murderous redcap. I kill his finks, it comes back. I attack with knight and my finks. We exchange finks, mine comes back, his dies for good. score 27-20 me
Turn 5: he casts firespout which only my redcap survives by persist. The goblin deals him 1 upon re-entry.
I cast a ranger searching up a figurew and a forge-tender.
Turn6: he plays a swamp and passes
I draw my fifth land and attack with the redcap and ranger. He flashes in a cloudthreasher, and blocks the ranger. I have a warth in hand, so I play it safe and play siege-gang commander.
Turn 7: he firespouts again wiping my board, activates his treetop village which he played the turn before, and swings in for ten
ajani and figure tap cloud
t8: activate vcillage to ajani, summon collossus
I wrath and tap village with ajani
t9: he plays a land, and has one card in hand
I keep the village tapped, and summon redcap, and pump figure, attack with figure 13-11, and at eot he resounding thunders me for 6, redirects to ajani.
t10: he summons shriekmaw killing my figure

The next few turns I couldn't blog as I was playing due to time constraints. But what happens was I summoned my second figure and the forge tender. They survived the turn. I attack with my three creatures (redcap, figure, and tender), he double blocks my figure with the shriekmaw and his treetop village, and i pump to 4/4 killing the village. My figure dies, but I summon Vengeant from under windbrisk, and go onto win.

NEXT game:

Windbrisk-> siege
rugged-> mindstone
He plays two vivids and reflecting, ah 5CC, good match up for me.
bant charms my mind stone
I summon finks off second rugged
he plays mystic gate and chameleon
I play plains, ranger, mogg, forge
He hardcasts mulldrifter
second windbrisk, hide ranger, play mogg, forge, and figure, pump figure 2/2
he attacks, i blocks cc with finks, he plays wrath, i sac mogg, and lose my crew.
I summon ajani and meadowgrain, tap reflecting pool
he plays finks
I attack with knight and tap reflecting again
finks attacks ajani for three
he condemns my knight, and I tap his finks
he mannequins his mulldrifter at EOT. On his turn he attacks ajani with the flying fish, and summon cameleon
I'm drawing nothing but land, and tap mull drifter to kill it
he kills ajani with finks, and me with colossus, and pumps the colossus to 8/8, hardcasts mulldrifter
i cast second ajani and tap CC
He kills ajani next turn
I draw land for the 6th turn in a row, and concede

I side in stillmoons and voice of alls and gutteral responses)

I get a quick start with a figure pumped up to a 4/4, and get him down to 6. He tries to stall with bant charm (gutteraled twice), and 2 dryptics. Finally he tried top sower my revielark to his side, but I attacked with the three other creatures I had out, activated windbrisk to reveal a redcap, which killed his sower, and he conceded.

Third game is quick with another uncontested Figure of Destiny getting to 4/4, and him getting stuck on two land.

NEXT game:

Facing Mirror it looks like, or Vengeant weenie which shares cards with me. I get a knight of the meadowgrain out, and he responds with a spectral. I'm getting color screwed getting no red. he attacks, and activates his windbrisk, getting his siege gang commander out. He attacks again, and activate second windbrick summon cloudgoat ranger. Then he summons another siege gang commander.
I concede
Side in wraths stillmoons and VoA

Second game I got him to 6 with a fast attack strategy, then he locked it up. We stared at each other awhile, then I won with an alpha into a windbrisked redcap for the win.

Third game An uncontested Figure took it down with a vengeant activation and redcap summon being the only help. My opponent had Mulled to 5, and never really got in the game.

So i won 5 packs. WhooHoo! that's 15 dollars worth, so that makes up for the 9 tix I used for the tournament entries, and I end the night at +6.

All and all a good night.

P.S.= Played a 2-1 alara block in bed late and lost to weird black and white deck. final total +3

The slump is over

2008-12-10T23:26:00.000-08:00

Ok, so not totally, but the Magic slump is. I haven't spent any more money since I last posted, so the total is still 48. I've manage to either second place or first place all the tournaments I've been in since the last posting. My ranking has gone up to an average 1604. WHOO HOO! No longer in the special Olympics category. Anywho, I joined a 5-3-2-2 tonight cause the 2-1 tourny wasn't firing and took second in that with a new Reveilark deck that I put together today. It was a blast to play and came back from certain defeat more then once. I have suspended drafting until Conflux comes out in February. It's just not profitable for me as it is for Darque.

Halo is still a little rocky. We seem to do ok in the beginning of the match, but then around 30-35 kills, they just run away with it. I am really getting tired of facing people way out of mine and the Mrs. league. Darque is really good, and is ten rankings above us. As a result of that, we end up facing better teams. Everyone says it shouldn't matter...but I really feel like I'm being forced to play at a level that I'm not at yet. Ah well, whatcha gonna do. Maybe the Mrs. and I can practice during January.

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

2008-12-07T13:34:00.000-08:00

Gaming this week has just sucked the big one. Seriously.

In Magic add 15 dollars to the last total, I think that makes it 48 dollars I've spent. I won a few games, but lose way more then I won. I think I'm just in a really bad mindset. Halo 3 has just been awful lately. I've been having the worst games of my "career", and I think I'm actually getting worse if that's possible.

I don't know what is going on. I hope things turn around soon

2008-12-01T08:02:00.000-08:00

Slight update.

I played two constructed tournaments yesterday and got second in both. One was with G/B elves, and the other with faeries. So that's -6 tix, and +2 packs. My constructed rating is now 1551. Hey at least it's going up slowly.

For those of you keeping track, this means that I have 4 tix and 1 pack as of last night. I bought 2 more packs going from my initial 25 to 33 dollars. This was to enter a draft which I'll cover in a later post. After those drafts though, my limited rating is now 1640. Tune in next time to see why it jumped so much.

Until next time,

Rememeber, all work and no play...

So how did the tourny go...

2008-11-29T23:27:00.000-08:00

Well, i decided to play Faeries again... yeah yeah yeah, I know I'm a glutton for punishment.

I start off first hand with good spells, but shaky mana. Basically, if I didn't draw a black or blue source of mana by turn three I'd be in trouble. Well it's turn 5 now, and I'm in trouble. I'm facing Red deck wins which is my absolute worst matchup other then the mirror. My shaky mana doesn't recover in time, and I concede at 3 life.

Sideboarding: + 2 Eyeblight’s Ending, 2 Glen Elendra Archmage, 1 Terror, 3 Flashfreeze
- 4 Thoughtseize, 3 Sower of Temptation, 1 Fathom Trawl

2nd game: i draw a decent hand of Secluded glen, agony warp, mutavault, remove soul, sunken ruins, island, and Mistbind clique. I keep. He starts out with a flamekin bladewhirl. That's different from the typical RDW build, and I take note of it. I remove soul his boggart ram gang, and take another hit from the bladewhirl. We play the counter/burn spell shuffle, andthen he sticks a Vexing shusher, and I stick a Mistbind clique. My next spell is a bitterblossom, and I just take control of the game from there.

3rd game: My hand is four land, bitterblossom, eyeblight's ending, and scion of oona. I keep.

He came out hard...creature creature creature, and I was on the backfoot the entire time. I managed to stabilize at 4 life and take control of the game. I lost cause I got greedy. I attacked with all my guys, when I should have left 2 blockers up. i thought about it too, but I decided to go for it, cause I had cryptic command in hand. He had gutteral response to counter my cryptic, and killed me. Just got too greedy.

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

The day after thanksgiving

2008-11-29T00:57:00.000-08:00

Hey all, hope you all had a happy turkey day. I sure did, and you can read all about it on my life blog. So the day after thanksgiving was suppose to be decorating day, just like last year. The Mrs. and I took down the xmas decorations from the attic, I brought down the lights and the tree and was getting all set to start decorating. Then the procrastination happened. I ended up playing Magic and Halo for more of the day then I wanted, for various reasons. On the plus side though, I got to play Magic, so here's the report for the day. I chose this format from one that I had seen on magic.tcgplayer.com, and it seemed to work well for that guy.

So starting value:

Since its the holidays and i'm getting close to broke buying presents for everyone, I went with a conservative amount 25 dollars.

Starting items for 11/29/08:
3 packs of Shards of Alara worth 4 tix each
12 tickets each worth a dollar.

rating:constructed: 1536 (I've been experimenting with Rogue decks lately and it's been hard on the rating)
Limited rating: 1624 ( I've worked hard to get this rating back up from a low point of 1348, I'm actually proud of this number.)
NOTE: 1600 rating is the default starting value

Here's how the games went.

First 4-man tournament I played my faeries deck. It's currently the top deck in the format, but I came up against the mirror, and the cards did not flow in my favor. He got bitterblossom out both games, and I didn't. There's not much I can do about that. He was so far ahead on tempo both games, that by the time I got into the game, it was over. (-4 tix)

2nd constructed: This on I took all the way through the strength of an old friend. G/B Elves an almost exact copy of the last seasons list. No one expects them and they are killer against faeries especially. (+2 packs)

The next two constructed I lost first round with faeries to a planeswalker control deck cause I got land screwed third game, and the next tourny I ran elves, but came across a rogue doran token/discard deck, that I didn't know how to play against. (-8 tix)

I decided to head to limited and did two drafts.(-6 packs)

The first draft i went bant with a splash of naya, and took second.

The next draft I got the weirdest five color monstrosity of a deck, that I lost first round with.

So at the end of the day I had 2 packs left and no tickets.

I've traded one of the pack for 4 tix, and am going to play another std tournament. I'll let you know how it goes

Intro

2008-11-28T17:07:00.000-08:00

Hi all, RileyScott here, and this is my Gaming and Gadgets blog. Here I'll be discussing gadgets that I either acquire or find interesting, and documenting the games I play. So here is where I'll intro you to some of the more predominant games you'll be hearing about.

Magic: The Gathering Online: Introduced to me in 2003 by Darque(best friend), I initially didn't take to it much. I mean, the business model is quite odd to say the least. You pay real money, to get virtual cards that stay on the company's servers. Then you build decks, and pay more real money to participate in tournaments. Individual cards range from 10 cents to 20 dollars per. You can have 4 of them in a deck and prices can vary daily. So what brought me around...well, there are a few reasons.

1)Since I was introduced also in 2003 to Collectible card games (CCG), I was absolutely hooked. I wanted to slip these slim pieces of cardboard into their protective sleeves and play against another person basically any moment I was awake. This is the first reason why I prefer Magic Online to playing a paper card game, like actual Magic: The Gathering or Yu-gi-OH. I can play a constructed or limited tournament at any time of day 365 days a year. Not having to wait till Friday night or Saturday afternoon to play the deck that you just built is a HUGE boon to me.

I feel that I should share some history of how I came to play these card games:

My first CCG was Yu-Gi-Oh, which I bought random packs, and kept one deck, editing it with new cards I'd get out of a pack or two that I'd buy with Darque. At first it was something to do when we didn't have enough time for a full blown Heroclix game which took time to set up. Over the course of about 2 months, we started noticing that we were buying more Yu-gi-oh packs then Heroclix boosters. I heard about the tournaments that MonkeyHead games was having, and went to play in one. I did ok, but I was totally outclassed by people with better cards. Let's just say that I don't take losing well. Especially when it wasn't based on skill, or luck, just that every card that was played against me was of higher quality. Then I found a place in the flea market that sold Yu-gi-oh singles. That was the beginning. I bought the cards I needed individually, and went back to the next tournament ready. It wasn't even close. 1st place. I continued on with Yu-gi-oh, building my collection, and continuing it in Florida after I moved there. That's when it became my main game. In NY Darque and I had played Heroclix, this was a collectible Figurine game based on Marvel and DC superheros, and Darque and I were the kings of our store. It was 1st and 2nd, and everyone else picked up after our scraps. In Florida though, the Heroclix gaming scene was just sad. The team build point totals were very low, and the competition was....not up to snuff. We quickly abandoned any hope of finding worthwhile competition, but after a few months discover that we have conviniently moved to the most populated Yu-Gi-Oh playing region in Florida. This led to a year and a half journey through the tournament ranks. Darque and I went every Saturday, and then towards the end of my two years in Florida big tournaments at convention centers. I was ok, not great, Darque having played Magic before was in his element, and even made nationals. However, it was not to continue for much longer. I moved back up north for financial reasons, and found that it did not have the competition I was looking for, and the format soon disintegrated into a luck game. Concentrating on who could combo out first rather player skill. I tried to revive my VS. system collection(Another card game I had started in Florida), but the small tournament group soon dissolved. So there I was, a card player without a game. It was at this time that I revisited Magic Online, after an almost 2 year absence. Darque still played, and therefore became a cornerstone to help our now long distance friendship flourish. That was June 2005, and I've never looked back. I now play tournaments regularly on magic online, and it is my the main game that I play.

And now we return to our reasons:

2)Storage: I have a long white box that is 3 feet by 2 feet filled to the brim with Yu-Gi-Oh cards at my parents house. I have a metal deck box and another small cloth case filled with over 18 VS decks. The amount of VS. cards I have fills 3 huge binders and another small showbox. These were the cards I didn't put into decks. With Magic Online, my collection is neatly organized on the computer, and kept intact my Wizards of the Coast IT department. They guarantee my investment, and I've yet to hear about anyone losing an account. I have almost 20,000 cards, and they take up no more space then an icon on my desktop. Now that is efficient.

3) Rule of four: In Magic, you can only have 4 of any particular card in a deck. In real life if you want 4 cards like Wrath of God in two decks, that would mean that you would need 8 actual copies. On Magic Online, you would only need 4, This is because you can make an infinite amount of decks, all of them with 4 Wraths of God, cause as far as Magic Online is concerned, you always have those 4 to use, since you can only use one deck at a time. This leads to a cheaper economy to trade with too, since everyone can trade away any copy of a card that they get more then 4 of. This leads me to...

4)Cheaper: Now granted, Magic Online is not cheap by any measurement comparing other games. I have have probably spent more on Magic Online then on any real life game. However compared to actual paper Magic, it's a steal. Card prices are only similar during launch weekends. A perfect example of this is the card Garruk Wildspeaker.

When Garruk was first released a year ago at the start of Lorwyn block, his price went something like this in real life.

Oct 2007:10 dollars
Nov 2007:20 dollars (after first tournament results in which he dominated came out)
Dec 2007: 30 dollars (for right before worlds, when everyone was looking for him)
January-October 2008: 20-15 dollars (This is the current price. Keep in mind that this card was released a YEAR ago, and appears rarely in tournament decks since the release of Shards of Alara the current set.)

Online pricing: since Magic Online gets the cards released a month after they are released in real life, Garruk was the most sought after rare in Lorwyn for a while.

Nov 2007: 15 dollars
Dec 2007: 25 dollars
Jan-April 2008: 10-15 dollars
May-Nov 2008: 5-8 dollars

This is what the rule of 4 does. Since the drafters on Magic Online can trade away any card they get extra of over 4, eventually the market is flooded, and the price goes WAY down. Also, do to the virtual nature of the card, it never eclipsed the real life price. Therefore, no matter when you bought Garruk, it was cheaper then buying it in real life.

So those are the reasons I play Magic:The Gathering online. I plan to use this blog to keep track of my rating, and my game play to try and improve my game.

Halo3: The second most played game in the Scott household, and the most social. This game is played almost nightly, and with our good friends Darque and DD in Florida. We play in "Team Slayer", both us and our wives, and play against other teams of 4. The funniest thing is that this is the first time I've actually done something like this. Usually, I would get a game like Halo and Halo 2. I'd play through the story mode first, then try online. I'd see that it's nothing but juveniles and idiots cursing and shooting their teammates, and then it would sit on the shelf till I got nostalgic one day. This changed when Darque took a sabbatical from work last year. We had played Halo 3 together online a few times, but now it was his time to "master" this game. For two months, he and his wife basically played every day for at least 3-4 hours cumulative time. My fiance (at the time) and I would join them at night. Over the two months, Darque went from an ok member of the team to the best on the team. We've all progressed at our own rates and are now in the upper teens in ranking numbers (Darque is in the late twenties). This is a great game to help the Mrs and I relax, and bond with our long distance friends. You'll hear mainly gripes about this game mostly, but maybe I'll get some tips in the comments section to help me improve.

Rock Band 2:

RockBand 2 is the music game we play. There are alot of choices out there today for music rhythm games. We were originally a Guitar Hero household. I in fact got Guitar Hero 2 for xmas in 2006. For 2007, after getting Guitar Hero 3 for my birthday and being disappointed with it. My wife and I purchased RockBand 1 for the big 2007 gift for each other. Over the next 9 months, we played RockBand almost exclusively, finding it much more friendly then GH3's ultra challenging and odd song selection. When there was a choice between Guitar Hero World Tour, and RockBand 2, the decision came down to really one thing.
RockBand 2 is backwards compatible with Rock Band 1's songs!
This meant, no losing the songs that we had beaten and praticed, and still enjoyed to play for fun. This meant over 100 songs on launch day, and the instruments were backwards compatible to boot. When we play this game this game, I am generally the drummer, and the Mrs. is wicked on the Axe.

Wii Games: This category includes Wii sports, Super Smash bros brawl, Wii fit, Mario Party 8, Mario Kart Wii, and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Generally these games come out when we hang with Hawk and Dove, or when we need a change of pace. Though they did prove quite a hit to bring over to my parent's house on Thanksgiving.

Well that's a brief run down. And until next time, remember, all work and no play...