My friend Mike told me I should write about spoiled cards and so I will. But I'm not going to review every card, rather only the ones I feel are interesting.
Fiend Hunter
1ww
1/3
When cardname ETB, exile target creature and when cardname leaves play return that creature to play.
For starters he obviously is a first pick in limited, is good in a white weenie deck (wish Winter Orb or Static Orb were still around. Speaking of which, how awesome is Tezz with Orbs!?), and just plain awesome in a Birthing Pod deck. It can smother a titan, sphinx, or even reset a guy if you're looking to get tricksey. If these were rare, which I initially thought it was, I would go "Medina" on your ass, and say buy four asap and grape many people to get extras to grape even more people. EDH lovers will be happy they have yet more removal for no good reason.
Mentor of the Meek
2w
2/2
Draw a card when a creature with power 2 or less ETB if you pay 1.
I really, really, really like this card. But I can't see it really being played at all in constructed. He would be the reason I would play Caw-Blade if Squadron Hawk weren't rotating. Truthfully, he's obviously really fucking good in limited, but lets pan this out with a Standard 60.
It's three mana.
When you play him, he makes all your guys Pyknites.
You don't have to always be drawing cards with him, but what else are you doing?
He could be fine in a Birthing Pod deck as pod makes things cheaper, etc, you do stuff that does stuff..
If your 60 card deck has a shit ton of one drops, then he could be awesome, but what you playing then? elves?
Slayer of the Wicked
3w
3/2
He FTK's an iconic black and white movie monster. Sounds nice, but we still live in a world of titans, unless something....more spooky is on the horizon.
Cackling Counterpart
1uu
Instant - Flashback 5uu
Copy one of your men. At instant speed, this card looks amazing! My initial thought was this would have normally been sorcery speed with the way R&D used to make cards.
EDH players will go ape shit over this card.
It lets you go bonkers with a titan, sphinx, Fiend Hunter..
Sword of Feast and Famine lets you re-buy it on cheatyface style.
Not much else to say but I wouldn't play more than 2 in my 60
He copies LORD OF THE UNREAL!
I need to borrow 4 Thoughsieze for a Modern tourney coming up this Saturday.
Deranged Assistant
1u
1/1
Tap to add 1 to your pool and mill yourself for one
I love this card as much as I loved Milliken. Blue doesn't really need fragile mana acceleration, but this is a horror set with Flashback, so the graveyard does matter! And he helps cast those Flashback cards faster!
Laboratory Maniac
2u
2/2
Dies to Shock, Dismember, Path, Swords, Bolt, double Mogg Fanatic, but If you would draw a card while your library has no cards in it, you win the game instead. Poop.
Mindshrieker
1u
1/1
Flying
Two mana: Target player puts the top card of his or her library into his or her graveyard. Mindshrieker gets +X/+X until end of turn, where X is that card's converted mana cost. I like this guy. A lot. He kind of reminds me of how good Tarmogoyf initially was thought of, which was "meh" in the sense that you didn't really have to do much to make him good. Here, the mana cost is still close to tapping out the next turn, but I am positive he will kill lots of people. Also, Flashback and stuff.
Skaab Ruinator
1uu
5/6
Flying
As an additional cost to cast Skaab Ruinator, exile 3 creature cards from your graveyard.
You may cast Skaab Ruinator from your graveyard. I like it. Zombie Infestation Is for sure the first card people have thought of. Seems like a beating. In limited, I have my doubts, but we'll see.
Snapcaster Mage
1u
2/1
Flash
Target sorcery or instant in your graveyard has Flashback equal to it's casting cost. Everyone and their mother is going to Medina this card. A lot has been said about it, but what I like most about it, is that it's a Human. For limited this is important. He'll let you reuse removal and gives any bonuses for going tribal at instant speed. Also, Stephen Menendian will give you his first born and will rub you down with hot oils for 4 foil Japanese ones.
Bloodgift Demon
3bb
5/4
Flying
During your upkeep lose one life and draw a card. At least that's what it basically says. I honestly like this guy a lot more than Phyrexian Obliterator. They both die to Go for the Throat and Dismember, but this badass flies and draws you cards. He's not even Mythic. Don't be a pansy, get a playset asap and always first pick him. Like I need to say that.
Curse of Death's Hold
3bb
Enchantment - Curse
Dudes your opponents control get -1/-1. The card is good. I'm not sure where you want this, but I would guess it's better off one in the main and two in the board. With Black Sun's Zenith, spot removal, and even Life's Finale, it's hard to justify too many maindeck. 1st-2nd pick in Limited.
Endless Ranks of the Undead
2bb
Enchantment
At the beginning of your upkeep, put X 2/2 black zombie creature tokens onto the battlefield, where X is half the number of the zombies you control, rounded down. This card is a bomb in limited. I can also see this getting some serious constructed play. But I could be wrong.
Moan of the Unhallowed
2bb
Sorcery - Flashback 5bb
Put two brain eaters into play. I loved this card In OD block when it made 1/1 squirrels. Awesome card for limited. For constructed, now that Spell Pierce is going out, I can see this getting played. One thing to remember is Sword of Feast and Famine is still a card. Who knows? Thank god Flashback seems to be mainly on sorceries. Another plus is it has the word "moan" in the title.
Liliana of the Veal (lols)
1bb
Plainswalker
+1: each player discards a card.
-2: target player sacrifices a creature.
-6: Separate all permanents target player controls into two piles. That player sacrifices all permanents in the pile of his or her choice.
This is a tough card to evaluate. For one, since we don't know the rest of the set, we can't really say how good she is going to be down the road. She is obviously made with this set in mind, but outside of that, all she really does is edict an opponents guy the turn she hits play. With how relevant the graveyard is I'm not sure how much of an impact her first ability is going to play out, which leaves one to question: "how realistic is her third ability?"
Walking Corpse
1b
2/2
A vanilla zombie. This is will be relevant for limited. But what's really cool is the art was done by some guy named Igor.
That's all for now. I will finish red, green, and the lands later this week. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.
+1
Monday, September 12, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
A Modern War.
Pro Tour Philly just happened and now people are playing copies of the hot decks/cards. Not me. Fagetta bout it. I'd rather weld some weird Frankenstein type monster to rip limbs off other decks. You see, there is a tournament coming up at my LGS, Comic Town, and I want to crush people like grapes. So I need to really dig my heals in. Rawr.
To start off, like many other "brewers" out there, I dipped my nose into The Gatherer. My hopes of finding key pieces for the deck I want to play seem to yield very disheartening results. It's at this time when you realize that some of the cards you need are either banned or just too expensive. There is some glimmer of hope, just not much.
I may have to net-deck. There's nothing wrong with net-decking, but when I am about to play in an expected field, sometimes a metagamed deck feels right. The risk that I still can get blown out is there, but I feel like if I want to win, I have to be having fun with the deck I'm shuffling.
For many people I've known over the years it's the reverse for them. They need to be winning to have fun. I've tried to push that thought process in my head. To become a wild animal and...yaa..not gonna happen. Not at the beginning of it all. I certainly don't like losing, but I also hate playing decks that lack innovation attached to competitiveness. Friggorid was a prime example of a deck I love to play, as is Maher-Oath, Counter-Phoenix, the OG RDW with Tangle Wire, Sabre Bargain, Hatred, Skies, Tog, Balancing Tings, Cocoa Pebbles, Living Death, and of course my all time favorite, Reanimator (with Welder-Reanimator right at that spot).
Deck names aside, building a deck from scratch is tiresome. Arguments with friends/testing partners, proxied cards, hours and hours wasted grinding ideas into dust, and - the worst part - finding the cards for every ones deck for the event. Let me tell you, not being able to find Mindstones and having to play a mana Myr instead, is teeth grinding. Among the worst of the worst is when you do find the card but the dealer is selling them at an insanely jacked up price. That card you bought for 15 dollars - that you could have bought from the local store the night before for $5 - won't leave your binder for a long time just on principle.
The biggest hurdle for making a deck for a "now known" format like Modern is that it really isn't all that known. It's history is being written at this very second. Not just on MTGO, but across all LGS's, coffee shops, cafeteria's, and at friends houses, people are absorbing those turn 3 kills and either loathe it or are giddy like a priest at a boys ranch.
People have cried "XXX card needs banned!" or "XXX card isn't THAT bad of a card to be banned." It's almost like they haven't really thought about why the banned list is the way it is. Some hate not getting their way (like it's fucking Burger King or some shit), and others are just the type to do a potato sack race with scissors.
Patience isn't necessarily something most players have. I remember when Extended was first announced and the banned list had cards like Kird Ape, Hippie, and Juggernaut (of all cards! the gall!). It was confusing for me. Why didn't they ban Force of Will, Birds of Paradise, Dark Ritual, or Duel Lands?
Who was I to complain? :)
We've come a long way from Extended and Legacy (a big "fuck you" to fake formats like Vintage, EDH, 5 Color, Cubing, Mental Magic, and the ever elusive Pauper). Let's enjoy what we have. Stock up on coffee, Mountain Dew, Taco Bell, and cigarettes - there's gonna be some long nights a coming!
+1
To start off, like many other "brewers" out there, I dipped my nose into The Gatherer. My hopes of finding key pieces for the deck I want to play seem to yield very disheartening results. It's at this time when you realize that some of the cards you need are either banned or just too expensive. There is some glimmer of hope, just not much.
I may have to net-deck. There's nothing wrong with net-decking, but when I am about to play in an expected field, sometimes a metagamed deck feels right. The risk that I still can get blown out is there, but I feel like if I want to win, I have to be having fun with the deck I'm shuffling.
For many people I've known over the years it's the reverse for them. They need to be winning to have fun. I've tried to push that thought process in my head. To become a wild animal and...yaa..not gonna happen. Not at the beginning of it all. I certainly don't like losing, but I also hate playing decks that lack innovation attached to competitiveness. Friggorid was a prime example of a deck I love to play, as is Maher-Oath, Counter-Phoenix, the OG RDW with Tangle Wire, Sabre Bargain, Hatred, Skies, Tog, Balancing Tings, Cocoa Pebbles, Living Death, and of course my all time favorite, Reanimator (with Welder-Reanimator right at that spot).
Deck names aside, building a deck from scratch is tiresome. Arguments with friends/testing partners, proxied cards, hours and hours wasted grinding ideas into dust, and - the worst part - finding the cards for every ones deck for the event. Let me tell you, not being able to find Mindstones and having to play a mana Myr instead, is teeth grinding. Among the worst of the worst is when you do find the card but the dealer is selling them at an insanely jacked up price. That card you bought for 15 dollars - that you could have bought from the local store the night before for $5 - won't leave your binder for a long time just on principle.
The biggest hurdle for making a deck for a "now known" format like Modern is that it really isn't all that known. It's history is being written at this very second. Not just on MTGO, but across all LGS's, coffee shops, cafeteria's, and at friends houses, people are absorbing those turn 3 kills and either loathe it or are giddy like a priest at a boys ranch.
People have cried "XXX card needs banned!" or "XXX card isn't THAT bad of a card to be banned." It's almost like they haven't really thought about why the banned list is the way it is. Some hate not getting their way (like it's fucking Burger King or some shit), and others are just the type to do a potato sack race with scissors.
Patience isn't necessarily something most players have. I remember when Extended was first announced and the banned list had cards like Kird Ape, Hippie, and Juggernaut (of all cards! the gall!). It was confusing for me. Why didn't they ban Force of Will, Birds of Paradise, Dark Ritual, or Duel Lands?
Who was I to complain? :)
We've come a long way from Extended and Legacy (a big "fuck you" to fake formats like Vintage, EDH, 5 Color, Cubing, Mental Magic, and the ever elusive Pauper). Let's enjoy what we have. Stock up on coffee, Mountain Dew, Taco Bell, and cigarettes - there's gonna be some long nights a coming!
+1
Saturday, August 13, 2011
With the announcement Modern is going to be a real format, along with 80 quintillion other people, I decided to jot down some deck ideas already spoken of and some that are a little from left field.
Tempered Steel/Affinity - Darksteel Citadel isn't banned.
RDW
Dragonstorm + Empty the Warrens
Second Sunrise
Elves is still very good,
Zoo w/ gaes might
Twin/pestermite/kikijiki/exarch
Landfall Zoo
Mythic, and other Lotus Cobra decks
Merfolk(doubtful)
Gifts
Dredgevine(maybe some new additions to it!)
White Weenie
12post/Martyr-Tron/Blue-Green Tron with primeval?
Pyromancers Ascension
Jund
Affinity/Tempered Steel
Soul Sisters(riiiight)
Elementals
Reveillark
Living End
Bonus List I want to try out :)
4 Inferno Titan
4 Demigod
3 Koth
1 Urabrask
4 Deus of Calamity
2 Wurmcoil Engine
3 Dismember
4 Magus of the Moon
4 Rite of Flame
4 Seething Song
4 Simian Spirit guide
4 Desperate Ritual
2 Phyrexian Metamorph
4 Tectonic Edge
12 Mountain
2 Gemstone Caverns
It looks fun and pretty silly as well. Hope I can get some nice games in soon :)
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Master and Commander
So my friends finally suckered me into making a Commander deck, aka "EDH". And it is a fun way to play magic, but with my past experience playing group games, as that is how I started playing, I wanted to pick something fun, not very political, and something that didn't target a whole lot of things or people.
I picked up the new Mirror Mastery pre-constructed box set from WoTC. I liked some of the cards and especially liked making copies (making copies!) and it looked innocent enough. I made some card changes here and there, packed it up, and headed to Comic Town to play a few games. I had some fun and all around good man Reuben Bresler made some top notch suggestions after I encouraged him to play my deck. He wanted to try something different anyway. Some guys and I later played some at a local Tee Jays. I liked what I had but felt something was amiss.
A few days later, and with a fresh perspective, I gathered up the deck, some cards and sat at the computer looking for ideas. I looked at things that stole opponents lands or destroyed them. That didn't seem very fun, but was an idea I could use later down the road if I felt like being "the Dick" at the table some FNM or two.
Stacking some cards together and seperating some piles, I noticed I'd forgotten about the other Generals in the pre-con. One in particular was new. Called Animar for URG, he was an interesting 1/1 with protection from black and white, and got bigger for each creature you cast. That seemed cool, but what really caught my eye was the last part of the text box: "cost one less".
So after some goldfishing and a few pick up one v one games, I had a list. It doesn't have any duels or power nine aside from the pre-con Sol Ring and a tricked up Mana Vault, but it looks solid and a loads of fun!
Artifacts
Swift Boots
Lightning Greaves
Crystal Shard
Simic Signet
Darksteel Ingot
Wurmcoil Engine
Manalith
Sol Ring
Mana Vault
Birthing Pod
Red
Bogardan Hellkite
Urabrask
Flametongue Kavu
Colorless
Artisan of Kozilek
Multi-Color
Coiling Oracle
Blue
Shrieking Drake
Augury Owl
Sphinx of Uthuun
Mulldrifter
Merfolk Looter
Phyrexian Metamorph
Keiga, the Tide Star
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
Phyrexian Ingester
Dreamscape Artist
Djinn of Wishes
Deep Analysis
Riftwing Cloudskate
Frost Titan
Consecrated Sphinx
Words of Wind
Equilibrium
Green
Chord of Calling
Wood Elves
Primordial Sage
Brutalizer Exarch
Garruk's Packleader
Garruk's Horde
Genesis Wave
Pelakka Wurm
Explore
Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
Explosive Vegetation
Kodama's Reach
Cultivate
Yavimaya Elder
Wickerbough Elder
Krosan Tusker
Hydra Omnivore
Drumhunter
Tooth and Nail
Acidic Slime
Loaming Shaman
Deadwood Treefolk
Sylvan Ranger (over Sakura-Tribe Elder for the moment. see Joraga Treespeaker)
Druid of the Anima (should be a Quirion Elves)
Joraga Treespeaker
Fierce Empath
Wall of Roots
Oracle of Mul Daya
Lands
7 Island
8 Forest
4 Mountain
Reliquary Tower
Homeward Path
Terramorphic Expanse
Halimar Depths
Strip Mine
Arena
Mosswort Bridge
Grull Turf
Simic Growth Chamber
Izzet Boilerworks
Temple of the False God
Breeding Pool
Steam Vents
Flooded Grove
Command Tower
Rupture Spire
Rootbound Crag
Vivid Creek
Vivid Grove
Vivid Crag
I don't mind not having Grim Monolith, Moxen, or any of the like in here. The few things I would like for it are the Quirion Elves and Cascade Bluffs. It's possible I have too much mana for the deck, but I really would rather be mana flooded than mana screwed. I am sure there are other cards I could put in my deck, but I've no idea what they would be. Down below is a list of cards for consideration and a wish list.
I really like the addition of Shrieking Drake. I thought about Man-O-War, but I already have Riftwing Cloudskate, which is a fine man in many more situations than just bouncing a guy. Shrieking Drake I wasn't too sure about till someone suggested it when I told them the general I was using.
I had Garruk in the deck originally, but wasn't too excited about him. The new Garruk, Primal Hunter, however, is something I would love to have. Some cards I just don't own. I assume Sphinx of Uthuun is a fine guy, but Garruk, Primal Hunter would fill that spot easily and Inferno Titan would rap up the ETB trigger.
I like Drumhunter, but Solomn Simulacrum does the same basic thing, although Drumhunter has the possibility of actually drawing more cards. Maybe both should be played?
I like Chord of Calling, but I think Green Sun's Zenith is better by miles, especially with cards like Eternal Witness, Primeval Titan, and Dryad Arbor.
I love Primal Command. It could easily replace Pelakka Wurm, but I think they can be a powerhouse together.
Over time I am sure I will figure out what's best, but I am just happy to pick up Animar over just making copies. The mana constraints are too harsh and I feel that it'd be just better to play more of a spell heavy deck with the Mirror.
Wishlist
Solomn Simulacrum <- Drumhunter
Garruk, Primal Hunter <-Krosan Tusker
Inferno Titan <-Sphinx of Uthuun
Primeval Titan <-Explore
Dryad Arbor <-Forest
Green Sun's Zenith <-Chord of Calling
Eternal Witness <-probably a basic mountain
Primal Command <-IDK
Considerations
Jace Beleren
Splinter Twin
Deciever Exarch
Pestermite
Beast Within
Predator Flagship
Asceticism
Nest Invader
Kozileks Predator
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Spike Feeder
Spike Soldier
Spike Weaver
Sylvan Library
Greater Good
Harmonize
+1
I picked up the new Mirror Mastery pre-constructed box set from WoTC. I liked some of the cards and especially liked making copies (making copies!) and it looked innocent enough. I made some card changes here and there, packed it up, and headed to Comic Town to play a few games. I had some fun and all around good man Reuben Bresler made some top notch suggestions after I encouraged him to play my deck. He wanted to try something different anyway. Some guys and I later played some at a local Tee Jays. I liked what I had but felt something was amiss.
A few days later, and with a fresh perspective, I gathered up the deck, some cards and sat at the computer looking for ideas. I looked at things that stole opponents lands or destroyed them. That didn't seem very fun, but was an idea I could use later down the road if I felt like being "the Dick" at the table some FNM or two.
Stacking some cards together and seperating some piles, I noticed I'd forgotten about the other Generals in the pre-con. One in particular was new. Called Animar for URG, he was an interesting 1/1 with protection from black and white, and got bigger for each creature you cast. That seemed cool, but what really caught my eye was the last part of the text box: "cost one less".
So after some goldfishing and a few pick up one v one games, I had a list. It doesn't have any duels or power nine aside from the pre-con Sol Ring and a tricked up Mana Vault, but it looks solid and a loads of fun!
Artifacts
Swift Boots
Lightning Greaves
Crystal Shard
Simic Signet
Darksteel Ingot
Wurmcoil Engine
Manalith
Sol Ring
Mana Vault
Birthing Pod
Red
Bogardan Hellkite
Urabrask
Flametongue Kavu
Colorless
Artisan of Kozilek
Multi-Color
Coiling Oracle
Blue
Shrieking Drake
Augury Owl
Sphinx of Uthuun
Mulldrifter
Merfolk Looter
Phyrexian Metamorph
Keiga, the Tide Star
Jin-Gitaxias, Core Augur
Phyrexian Ingester
Dreamscape Artist
Djinn of Wishes
Deep Analysis
Riftwing Cloudskate
Frost Titan
Consecrated Sphinx
Words of Wind
Equilibrium
Green
Chord of Calling
Wood Elves
Primordial Sage
Brutalizer Exarch
Garruk's Packleader
Garruk's Horde
Genesis Wave
Pelakka Wurm
Explore
Vorinclex, Voice of Hunger
Explosive Vegetation
Kodama's Reach
Cultivate
Yavimaya Elder
Wickerbough Elder
Krosan Tusker
Hydra Omnivore
Drumhunter
Tooth and Nail
Acidic Slime
Loaming Shaman
Deadwood Treefolk
Sylvan Ranger (over Sakura-Tribe Elder for the moment. see Joraga Treespeaker)
Druid of the Anima (should be a Quirion Elves)
Joraga Treespeaker
Fierce Empath
Wall of Roots
Oracle of Mul Daya
Lands
7 Island
8 Forest
4 Mountain
Reliquary Tower
Homeward Path
Terramorphic Expanse
Halimar Depths
Strip Mine
Arena
Mosswort Bridge
Grull Turf
Simic Growth Chamber
Izzet Boilerworks
Temple of the False God
Breeding Pool
Steam Vents
Flooded Grove
Command Tower
Rupture Spire
Rootbound Crag
Vivid Creek
Vivid Grove
Vivid Crag
I don't mind not having Grim Monolith, Moxen, or any of the like in here. The few things I would like for it are the Quirion Elves and Cascade Bluffs. It's possible I have too much mana for the deck, but I really would rather be mana flooded than mana screwed. I am sure there are other cards I could put in my deck, but I've no idea what they would be. Down below is a list of cards for consideration and a wish list.
I really like the addition of Shrieking Drake. I thought about Man-O-War, but I already have Riftwing Cloudskate, which is a fine man in many more situations than just bouncing a guy. Shrieking Drake I wasn't too sure about till someone suggested it when I told them the general I was using.
I had Garruk in the deck originally, but wasn't too excited about him. The new Garruk, Primal Hunter, however, is something I would love to have. Some cards I just don't own. I assume Sphinx of Uthuun is a fine guy, but Garruk, Primal Hunter would fill that spot easily and Inferno Titan would rap up the ETB trigger.
I like Drumhunter, but Solomn Simulacrum does the same basic thing, although Drumhunter has the possibility of actually drawing more cards. Maybe both should be played?
I like Chord of Calling, but I think Green Sun's Zenith is better by miles, especially with cards like Eternal Witness, Primeval Titan, and Dryad Arbor.
I love Primal Command. It could easily replace Pelakka Wurm, but I think they can be a powerhouse together.
Over time I am sure I will figure out what's best, but I am just happy to pick up Animar over just making copies. The mana constraints are too harsh and I feel that it'd be just better to play more of a spell heavy deck with the Mirror.
Wishlist
Solomn Simulacrum <- Drumhunter
Garruk, Primal Hunter <-Krosan Tusker
Inferno Titan <-Sphinx of Uthuun
Primeval Titan <-Explore
Dryad Arbor <-Forest
Green Sun's Zenith <-Chord of Calling
Eternal Witness <-probably a basic mountain
Primal Command <-IDK
Considerations
Jace Beleren
Splinter Twin
Deciever Exarch
Pestermite
Beast Within
Predator Flagship
Asceticism
Nest Invader
Kozileks Predator
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Spike Feeder
Spike Soldier
Spike Weaver
Sylvan Library
Greater Good
Harmonize
+1
Friday, July 8, 2011
Juxtaposition or The New Card Smell
That new card smell.
In the next week a lot of M12 booster packs will be cracked for drafts, titans, and new EDH staples. When M10 came out I thought "why have they not done this sooner!?" and fell in love with the base set for the first time since 4th Edition. It felt natural to me and I've felt that base sets should be special since, after all, they were the base set.
To me the base set should pull the nerd into the world of what Magic: The Gathering is: fantastical creatures, mysterious beasts, powerfully secret wizards, gritty scar covered warriors, and of course a few scantly clad ladies. The artwork should let the kid in all of us fall into an epic world! M10, M11, and now M12 are by far my favorite sets. Rise of the Eldrazi certainly holds a special place as do much older sets, but these new base sets really have me yearning for my older days of enchanting Drudge Skeletons with Feast of the unicorn.
I recently told some friends of mine I really don't like drafting the base sets, which for the most part, is true. But do I love the flavor. I love the creativity of the cards. The hard work put into their design. I can imagine the great time the boys in R&D had in making the sets. I prefer to just opening the packs in a greedy way. I need to see the cards in my hand to remind me of the days when I first bought Ice Age and 4th Edition boosters. Some love the smell of new cars, I think I get a high from sniffing crisply opened packs and the softly glowing sheen of new cards. I can't think any Magic player doesn't and would call them a liar to their face if they said they didn't.
A Standard and Legacy shake-up.
With the new base set releases has come an expectation that they are bound to shake up the environment for Standard. What's not as expected is how well they will impact older formats. It took a while for Preordain and Fauna Shaman to fully get a little bit of respect from the Legacy brewers. I still think people undervalue these two cards in the format. Not going using hardcore data to prove any thoughts on the matter will mean what I believe to be true means I have my doubts anyone will consider anything useful. That and I'm pretty much a nobody.
Most people are willing to accept the usefulness of a card in Standard or even Extended, before they accept the card in Legacy, unless it's just a bonkers card. This is a problem that many in the Legacy community has yet to admit fully either out of sheer arrogance or fear of being laughed at. It took a while for Jace, The Mindsculptor to be integrated into Vintage decks. Once that happened, people started trying him out in Legacy. It's kind of sad, in my opinion, that Vintage players are more willing to think outside of the box than their Legacy counterparts. Looking at Praetor's Grasp taking slots in Vintage makes it only a matter of time till people start using it for sideboards in Legacy. I personally can't wait for people to start playing Spreading Seas in Enchantress decks. I have weird love for this pile of shit.
One card that hasn't taken footing is Lotus Cobra. I'm pretty sure he's shown up a few times, but not become a staple like Dark Confidant. The card screams potential and is ripe for abuse especially with Mental Misstep causing many players to cry when they didn't get their way with Mom & Dad. I will guarantee this card will see serious play soon.
BTW...why is no one playing Krosan Grip as much anymore? W-T-F!?
My picks for Legacy playable cards are a little odd, but I love using cards that mirror other cards. Here's a list of criminally underplayed cards as well as picks from the new set.
Grim Discovery - Getting back Wasteland and a Stoneforge Mystic is pretty awesome. Remember the Fallen is in the same league, but less powerful in a format where Goblin Welder sees very little play. Which baffles me even if Mental Misstep is legal. Goblin Welder deserves much more love. I played Grim D. in GP Col. and it was amazing, second only to my Engineered Plagues.
The Five Deadly Titans - Sweet ass kung-fu movie references aside, these bad asses should see more play. I don't care what anyone says about the six mana cost of these cards, this is Legacy, who the fuck cares about mana cost. Make it work. Talking out my ass isn't uncommon for me, but Frost Titan on the second turn will steal games and give your opponents the "wtf did just happen look". I'm certainly not advocating that all of the Titans will make it, but there isn't any harm in trying to make it happen. Who wouldn't love to Sun Titan a Dreadnought into play?
Master Thief - A new card out from M12, I do wonder if it can find it's way into sideboards. Doubtful with cards like Krosan Grip and Trigon Predator, but I loves me creativity!
Visions of Beyond - This card is scary, but we have Misstep to help in checking it into the glass. I don't know where it would fit entirely, but just like everyone else, dredge pops into mind. Although, it could fit into the Standstill decks that are popular right now.
Vengeful Pharoah - "What an amazing card for Dredge" was my first thought. I didn't see the word "target" initially. It still kills Emrakul, which is seeing more play than Progenitals right now.
Chandra, the Firebabe - Holy Toledo...I love this card. It's just as good as the old Elspeth. There I said it. I almost want to say it's just as good as Jace, TMS, but who am I kidding? I see no reason to not try fitting this into AIR decks, Dragon Stompy, or (where it belongs) in Aggro Loam.
Doubling Chant - Wow. Is this card absolute bonkers in Elves! Not just Legacy Elves, but every friggin elf deck. Okay. Maybe I'm being overzealous. Maybe.
Sundial of the Infinite - Enough has been said about this card already. Is it playable? If it cost one to cast, then my answer would be yes. At two, possibly. It's going to be just as fringe as everything else I talk about, but has more potential for abuse just because it's colorless.
Dispatch - Affinity says thank you.
Puresteel Paladin - I really love this guy. In a format where Stoneforge Mystic, Jitte, Sword of Fire and Ice and Aether Vial are legal, he should and will see more play.
Urabrask, The Hidden - The card is pretty solid in Standard and I believe what Dragon Stompy didn't know was missing from it's list.
Birthing Pod - A new favorite for Standard, the card gets more use in Legacy with the it's cavalcade of ridiculous creatures. The downside of being an artifact is also it's upside as it's playable in any color. Couple that with the vast amount of fast mana the format has, Enlightened Tutor, etc, it's a matter of time till it scares the shit of someone. Who plays Pithing Needle anyway?
Beast Within - God, this card is sexy!
Spellskite - Will be a staple in about every fucking deck. If you haven't picked up a playset (like me) for Standard, hurry. Painter-Grindstone probably benefits the most from the "Skeet-Skeet", while Merfolk may not even want this. It's still possible Merfolk can side into a playset of Skeet-Skeets, but for what match-up I am not entirely sure. Reanimator would love this card too! SOooooooooooooo goooooooooooood!
Vault Skirge - Cranial Plating anyone?
Assuredly, some of picks of mine are completely and utterly worthless. But what's the harm and trying them out? What's the point in playing if we don't give new cards a whirl? Shrug of discerned looks, the laughs, and watch as they lose to Burning Wish being forked by Chandra or how Spellskite just fucked up their world. I for one would love to pound people in the face with Frost Titan on turn 2.
The Jace Effect.
Card prices are slowly climbing in demand since Jace and SFM have been banned. I expect the market to be more healthy than it's been in the past several months for singles. The release for M12 and the timely bannings is just what the market needed. What stores and even dealers booths at events needed, was this market fluctuation to happen. It appears, as many are starting to realize, that there was a Jace effect that not only suppressed the metagame, but suppressed the secondary market as well. I really can't remember a time this has really happened aside from Skullclamp effectively shutting out the entire metagame when it was legal. I wonder if it was blind luck that I didn't really play until the end of it's days. Even Mercadian Masques block had a lot of singles sold while in print.
Many people these days hunt for sleepers such as Skullclamp and Stoneforge as WotC gets better and better at set designs. Time will truly tell in the next few weeks how much of an impact Jace had on the format. Now that the 4th of July is over, the new set is out, and Starcity Games starts up again with a fresh breath of air, attendance will go back up at FNM, online and regional PTQ's. People will find the cards they've had stuck in their binders, decks and deck lists sitting on their shelves have potential now.
There is a contingent of thought that Stoneforge Mystic oppressed the format more than Jace did. I believed this as well. But think for a moment how dominating Stoneforge was WITH jace. Without Jace, Stoneforge wouldn't have that ability to immediately get back into the game as well with Jace in it's back pocket. Artifact and creature removal is abundant. Dismember is one of the best removal spells ever. So yea, I actually do believe the problem was Jace and that either one would have been fine for the format so long as the other wasn't available to play.
I do find it funny reading Ben Bleiweiss' article on SCG's. At some point from beginning to end I feel as though some ethics violation just happened. At the moment I'm not sure how to feel other than confusion in regards to the general acceptance with the public on how "things will go" for <cardname>. He's Magic's own Ben Bernanke. Maybe Martha Stewart could bake me some cookies to make me feel better.
+1
In the next week a lot of M12 booster packs will be cracked for drafts, titans, and new EDH staples. When M10 came out I thought "why have they not done this sooner!?" and fell in love with the base set for the first time since 4th Edition. It felt natural to me and I've felt that base sets should be special since, after all, they were the base set.
To me the base set should pull the nerd into the world of what Magic: The Gathering is: fantastical creatures, mysterious beasts, powerfully secret wizards, gritty scar covered warriors, and of course a few scantly clad ladies. The artwork should let the kid in all of us fall into an epic world! M10, M11, and now M12 are by far my favorite sets. Rise of the Eldrazi certainly holds a special place as do much older sets, but these new base sets really have me yearning for my older days of enchanting Drudge Skeletons with Feast of the unicorn.
I recently told some friends of mine I really don't like drafting the base sets, which for the most part, is true. But do I love the flavor. I love the creativity of the cards. The hard work put into their design. I can imagine the great time the boys in R&D had in making the sets. I prefer to just opening the packs in a greedy way. I need to see the cards in my hand to remind me of the days when I first bought Ice Age and 4th Edition boosters. Some love the smell of new cars, I think I get a high from sniffing crisply opened packs and the softly glowing sheen of new cards. I can't think any Magic player doesn't and would call them a liar to their face if they said they didn't.
A Standard and Legacy shake-up.
With the new base set releases has come an expectation that they are bound to shake up the environment for Standard. What's not as expected is how well they will impact older formats. It took a while for Preordain and Fauna Shaman to fully get a little bit of respect from the Legacy brewers. I still think people undervalue these two cards in the format. Not going using hardcore data to prove any thoughts on the matter will mean what I believe to be true means I have my doubts anyone will consider anything useful. That and I'm pretty much a nobody.
Most people are willing to accept the usefulness of a card in Standard or even Extended, before they accept the card in Legacy, unless it's just a bonkers card. This is a problem that many in the Legacy community has yet to admit fully either out of sheer arrogance or fear of being laughed at. It took a while for Jace, The Mindsculptor to be integrated into Vintage decks. Once that happened, people started trying him out in Legacy. It's kind of sad, in my opinion, that Vintage players are more willing to think outside of the box than their Legacy counterparts. Looking at Praetor's Grasp taking slots in Vintage makes it only a matter of time till people start using it for sideboards in Legacy. I personally can't wait for people to start playing Spreading Seas in Enchantress decks. I have weird love for this pile of shit.
One card that hasn't taken footing is Lotus Cobra. I'm pretty sure he's shown up a few times, but not become a staple like Dark Confidant. The card screams potential and is ripe for abuse especially with Mental Misstep causing many players to cry when they didn't get their way with Mom & Dad. I will guarantee this card will see serious play soon.
BTW...why is no one playing Krosan Grip as much anymore? W-T-F!?
My picks for Legacy playable cards are a little odd, but I love using cards that mirror other cards. Here's a list of criminally underplayed cards as well as picks from the new set.
Grim Discovery - Getting back Wasteland and a Stoneforge Mystic is pretty awesome. Remember the Fallen is in the same league, but less powerful in a format where Goblin Welder sees very little play. Which baffles me even if Mental Misstep is legal. Goblin Welder deserves much more love. I played Grim D. in GP Col. and it was amazing, second only to my Engineered Plagues.
The Five Deadly Titans - Sweet ass kung-fu movie references aside, these bad asses should see more play. I don't care what anyone says about the six mana cost of these cards, this is Legacy, who the fuck cares about mana cost. Make it work. Talking out my ass isn't uncommon for me, but Frost Titan on the second turn will steal games and give your opponents the "wtf did just happen look". I'm certainly not advocating that all of the Titans will make it, but there isn't any harm in trying to make it happen. Who wouldn't love to Sun Titan a Dreadnought into play?
Master Thief - A new card out from M12, I do wonder if it can find it's way into sideboards. Doubtful with cards like Krosan Grip and Trigon Predator, but I loves me creativity!
Visions of Beyond - This card is scary, but we have Misstep to help in checking it into the glass. I don't know where it would fit entirely, but just like everyone else, dredge pops into mind. Although, it could fit into the Standstill decks that are popular right now.
Vengeful Pharoah - "What an amazing card for Dredge" was my first thought. I didn't see the word "target" initially. It still kills Emrakul, which is seeing more play than Progenitals right now.
Chandra, the Firebabe - Holy Toledo...I love this card. It's just as good as the old Elspeth. There I said it. I almost want to say it's just as good as Jace, TMS, but who am I kidding? I see no reason to not try fitting this into AIR decks, Dragon Stompy, or (where it belongs) in Aggro Loam.
Doubling Chant - Wow. Is this card absolute bonkers in Elves! Not just Legacy Elves, but every friggin elf deck. Okay. Maybe I'm being overzealous. Maybe.
Sundial of the Infinite - Enough has been said about this card already. Is it playable? If it cost one to cast, then my answer would be yes. At two, possibly. It's going to be just as fringe as everything else I talk about, but has more potential for abuse just because it's colorless.
Dispatch - Affinity says thank you.
Puresteel Paladin - I really love this guy. In a format where Stoneforge Mystic, Jitte, Sword of Fire and Ice and Aether Vial are legal, he should and will see more play.
Urabrask, The Hidden - The card is pretty solid in Standard and I believe what Dragon Stompy didn't know was missing from it's list.
Birthing Pod - A new favorite for Standard, the card gets more use in Legacy with the it's cavalcade of ridiculous creatures. The downside of being an artifact is also it's upside as it's playable in any color. Couple that with the vast amount of fast mana the format has, Enlightened Tutor, etc, it's a matter of time till it scares the shit of someone. Who plays Pithing Needle anyway?
Beast Within - God, this card is sexy!
Spellskite - Will be a staple in about every fucking deck. If you haven't picked up a playset (like me) for Standard, hurry. Painter-Grindstone probably benefits the most from the "Skeet-Skeet", while Merfolk may not even want this. It's still possible Merfolk can side into a playset of Skeet-Skeets, but for what match-up I am not entirely sure. Reanimator would love this card too! SOooooooooooooo goooooooooooood!
Vault Skirge - Cranial Plating anyone?
Assuredly, some of picks of mine are completely and utterly worthless. But what's the harm and trying them out? What's the point in playing if we don't give new cards a whirl? Shrug of discerned looks, the laughs, and watch as they lose to Burning Wish being forked by Chandra or how Spellskite just fucked up their world. I for one would love to pound people in the face with Frost Titan on turn 2.
The Jace Effect.
Card prices are slowly climbing in demand since Jace and SFM have been banned. I expect the market to be more healthy than it's been in the past several months for singles. The release for M12 and the timely bannings is just what the market needed. What stores and even dealers booths at events needed, was this market fluctuation to happen. It appears, as many are starting to realize, that there was a Jace effect that not only suppressed the metagame, but suppressed the secondary market as well. I really can't remember a time this has really happened aside from Skullclamp effectively shutting out the entire metagame when it was legal. I wonder if it was blind luck that I didn't really play until the end of it's days. Even Mercadian Masques block had a lot of singles sold while in print.
Many people these days hunt for sleepers such as Skullclamp and Stoneforge as WotC gets better and better at set designs. Time will truly tell in the next few weeks how much of an impact Jace had on the format. Now that the 4th of July is over, the new set is out, and Starcity Games starts up again with a fresh breath of air, attendance will go back up at FNM, online and regional PTQ's. People will find the cards they've had stuck in their binders, decks and deck lists sitting on their shelves have potential now.
There is a contingent of thought that Stoneforge Mystic oppressed the format more than Jace did. I believed this as well. But think for a moment how dominating Stoneforge was WITH jace. Without Jace, Stoneforge wouldn't have that ability to immediately get back into the game as well with Jace in it's back pocket. Artifact and creature removal is abundant. Dismember is one of the best removal spells ever. So yea, I actually do believe the problem was Jace and that either one would have been fine for the format so long as the other wasn't available to play.
I do find it funny reading Ben Bleiweiss' article on SCG's. At some point from beginning to end I feel as though some ethics violation just happened. At the moment I'm not sure how to feel other than confusion in regards to the general acceptance with the public on how "things will go" for <cardname>. He's Magic's own Ben Bernanke. Maybe Martha Stewart could bake me some cookies to make me feel better.
+1
Monday, July 4, 2011
From the Thunderdome.
Sunday I went to a PTQ held by PES. I had went 0-3 the day before with Blue-Black control. Tears...
I ran into my friend Tam inside the hall where he heard me discussing metagaming strategy with another friend. He asked how I did and if I was going to play in the Sunday PTQ. He offered me a chance to borrow his Blue-White control deck and I hesitantly accepted. The reason being is Tam likes to make his decks sparkle and I wasn't too comfortable being responsible for the amount of money the deck cost to make. He persuaded me he had faith I would be a fine.
I Went 5-2-1 with it. Resolving Venser was actually awesome and I had a great time with all of my opponents. "The Tam" was missing two Gideon's and a FNM PROMO Wall of Omens. He told me this as he drove away, so I took that as "buy it for me."
This is what I ran:
4 spreading seas
4 mana leak
4 condemn
2 Venser
1 gideon
1 stoic rebuttal
1 deprive
2 shrine of piercing vision
4 preordain
4 blade splicer
2 day of judgement
4 wall of omens
2 sun titan
4 glacial fortress
4 celestial colonnade
2 kabira crossroads
2 plains
4 seachrome coast
4 tectonic edge
5 island
Sideboard
1 deprive
3 flashfreeze
3 celestial purge
2 rovoke existence
2 oust
2 dismember
2 jace beleren
My all-stars for the day were Venser, Tectonic Edge, Spreading Seas, Condemn, Flashfreeze, and Dismember. I liked Condemn waaaaay better than if it were Tam's Journey to Nowhere's. I cut one Venser for the Gideon Mike Beecher lent me, and let me tell ya, the planeswalkers worked their asses off.
Shrine of Piercing Vision I figured would have been better than Sea Gate Oracle, and today it was. It let me get out of holes because of the many extra cards I was able to see. That said, I don't think I would play it again. Foresee or Jace's Ingenuity would have been fine if not better.
I feel as though the sideboard needs a third Dismember, a third Day of Judgement, and a third Oust; taking out 1 Deprive, and the 2 Revoke Existence. The Revokes I believe are for Volition Reigns, Tempered Steel, and the Tezz match-up (indestructible artifacts, etc). I never sided them in, but probably should have vs Mark Walker. I still think they're "meh."
Another card I wanted to play was Leyline of Sanctity. I'm not sure what could be taken out for it, but 2-3 copies wouldn't be too bad. Maybe 2 somewhere in the main and a third somewhere in the sideboard.
Blade Splicer is a fine card, but I feel it was too gimmicky and would have been happier with Tumble Magnet. I think another avenue would have been to just play Trinket Mage with "the package" of Elixir, Origin Spellbomb, and Basilisk Collar. The fourth slot could be taken up by Jace Beleren, which I sided in often, depending on the match-up and who was going first.
1st round was Valakut. I thought I was going to lose this one, but Venser Ultimated and two Spreading Seas "Stone Rained" 4 lands in game three. Games one and two were so blisteringly fast, I can't really remember them, aside from a freaking amazing top deck from my opponent with Avenger of Zendikar, plotting ten plants and raising them into 1/2's. This was the only time Condemn looked sad in my hand, but Journey to Nowhere wouldn't have been much better.
It was after this round my friend Kevin Butcher texted me saying:
"Awesome!! keep winning bro. you're a great player. you can hang with anyone."
2nd round I lost to Greg Hilner's Red-Green LD special. This was somewhat tilting. For some reason when I play vs Greg, I always get nervous. I never know what he's gonna throw at me. Needless to say, while I was outside smoking I heard a few others lost to Greg's crazy shenanigans as well. It felt somewhat cathartic to know I'm not the only one Greg throws into life-tilt.
Game one wasn't close. Beast Within (two), Acidic Slime, Tectonic Edge, and Pelakka Wurm (WTF >_<)
Game two Blade Splicers Administered some Beats.
Game three I kept a 6 lander and Mana Leak draw. I am going to defend this keep. Greg had more than enough resource denial and I didn't want to get blown out. On top of that his was a slow deck. I was fine for a while till I made the decision to play Blade Splicer to tag along with my Jace Beleren instead of Tectonic Edging one of his Rootbound Crag's. His next turn he drew, looked at his card and immediately plopped it down. My heart sank and I saw him tap six mana for Inferno Titan. My next draw and my Spreading Seas failed to yield either Day of Judgement or Condemn. GG
I remembered what Kev said and pulled my stomach up from my feet. I wasn't going to let myself lose again if I could help it.
3rd round I lost a great match vs Patrick Hickman's friend playing Kuldotha Red(!!). I forget his name (as I do with everyone's), but we had a blast. A great opponent to play against and a nice guy! He took game one with style and I nabbed game 2 shattering the glass with two Sun Titans, Spreading Seas and his two lands.
Game 3 was a Chuck Norris kick to my face. It was over in 5 minutes, three of which was me trying to figure out a way out of the beatdown being administered.
4th round I played vs another mono red deck, but this time piloted by a less experienced player. It was his first PTQ and he was just happy to be playing and plans to go to more.
Game one was mine with Spreading Seas flooding his Mountains. Game two he took me over to the shed. Game 3 went to time. I had been setting up a Day of Judgement + Gideon turn forever, but I was short on lands coming into play UN-tapped. I finally hit the mana I needed and on the fifth and final turn Gideon and two Blade Splicers pulled a KO for me.
5th round I played Vampires. I happened to know what the kid was playing as I saw him play it the day before at the top tables of the MWM event. A few rounds earlier I saw someone Surgically Extract his Bloodghast's.
I was nervous. Sure that he was going to roll me. Well, turns out that Spreading Seas is pretty good in this match-up as well! Game one was mine. Day of Judgement, Spreading Seas, and ESPECIALLY Condemn took it home for me. The second game was too fast and easy for him. Game three came down to setting a turn up with Gideon and Condemn's. Wrath and Spreading Seas wrapped it up.
Round 6 I played vs Grixis-Twin. UGH! This can be a tricky match-up.
Game one he combo'd off and got some in my eye.
Game 2 was all about timely topdecks on my part with removal, Spreading Seas, and Flashfreeze.
Game 3 was simply, no lies, Spreading Seas and Tectonic Edge. I shut him out of Black and knocked his land count to three for consecutive turns, until he just went for it. I showed him Flashfreeze and he put his hand out. He was a great opponent. He seemed relatively new but played very well and piloted his deck expertly. More than a competent player. I want to say I can actually see him being on the pro tour.
Round 7 was another disgusting match.
I knew as soon as I saw "Forest into Bird" he was RUG-Twin. The first game I Mana Leaked his Deceiver, Spread the Sea, and Vensered.
The second game was the "ow...my eye" game, when I stupidly Dismembered his Bird of Paradise. It's natural reaction from years of seeing first turn Birds to shoot the fuckers out of the sky. I'm not gonna lie, I hated myself for doing it as I saw him tap out another Bird and pass the turn. Please be advised: Birds are not your enemy. Heh.
The third game was true grit. He had first turn Bird again and went for Deceiver at my End Step and into a Mana Leak. As the game progressed, Spreading Seas isolated his Red sources. I drew and played a Venser tapping out to one mana, hoping to have two untapped on his turn. He responded to my Venser activation with Deceiver shutting out my untapped Colonnade. My Vensered Plains sat there alone, bluffing a Dismember (or at least attempting). All I had in my hand was Flashfreeze and Mana Leak. My heart began to sink as he untapped, played a mountain, tapped four mana, and played a
URABRASK on top of his Deceiver!!!!!
I nearly fell out of my chair! I could feel my eyes well up as he looked at me waiting for me to scoop. I looked down and tapped the Urabrask with my finger. He looked down and said "omg...all I saw was a Red card and just figured it was Twin!"
Interlude: My round 7 opponent is one of the players that plays cards facing his opponents and holds his cards upside down in his hand. End Interlude.
I was so relieved I could care less when he took out my Wall with Dismember and then Venser with combat damage. It was at this stage of the game I drew another Spreading Seas, another Venser, a Dismember, and a Flashfreeze. Aside from one of my opponents friends saying I drew a card already from my Spreading Seas that I Vensered, which I didn't, it was smooth sailing from there. Good Lord, this match was awesome and my opponent was just as pleasing to play against. This is by far one of my favorite matches I've played in some time and I doubt I will forget it.
My opponents name is a different story....
Round 8 was a bit of a let down.
I was paired versus Mark Walker, a local player at the comic book store I play FNM at. He's alright fella and this was his third PTQ. Game one took forever. He molested my hand with disruption early and rightly took notes of the contents.
The game came down to me top decking a Venser and shutting out his Vampire Nighthawk with Colonnades with the Condemns sitting in my hand. I Balanced Lilian's discard by Vensering one of Spreading Seas. I have no idea why he wasn't using her -2 ability to Vamp-tutor, and I wasn't going to complain, but I was able to set up a plan.
After he made me discard my last "known" card in my hand I had to hope he came in with his Nighthawk at my Venser. And he did. I had to hope he didn't have a removal spell for my Colonnade as well or my plan wasn't going to work. Nope. :D
Block. Trade. Untap. Ultimate Venser. Play stuff. Exile all your relevant stuff.
I did forget to level my Venser for 2 turns (when I had almost nothing - no excuses though, right?) out of being so exhilarated by the aggressive Nighthawk. But he couldn't capitalize :P mise.
A turn or two later he drew and played Life's Finale. He pilfered through my deck and picked out my last three "real men". All I had left were Colonnade and a Gideon. Eventually, I was able to man-land him to death from 30, but there wasn't too much time left in the round.
Game 2 Was all his. Stuck short on lands, he resolved Memoricide on Gideon, Pilfered my hand with Duress, and landed Wurmcoil Engine while I was attempting to rid my world of Karn.
On to game 3 ....nevermind. The Clock ran out and we drew as neither of us had no real ways of beating each other within three land drops (sorry - this isn't Legacy, Bro). I was a little disheartened, but I was still glad to have finally play against Mark. He's a good fella and hope to see him more at PTQ's and other large non-Legacy events.
Overall, my day was pretty awesome. I ended it in 20th place and got paid with 6 packs of New Phyrexia. While it doesn't seem that awesome, I have noticed my plays more clearly recently, be they good or bad. And I have felt I am a little out of my league, or see a giant learning curve, when I sit down to face my opponents of late. But that doesn't mean it's true. My friends advice is exactly what I needed. If I continue to second guess myself, then so will everyone else. Including my opponents.
Btw, I opened a Karn. Snoochie boochies!
I ran into my friend Tam inside the hall where he heard me discussing metagaming strategy with another friend. He asked how I did and if I was going to play in the Sunday PTQ. He offered me a chance to borrow his Blue-White control deck and I hesitantly accepted. The reason being is Tam likes to make his decks sparkle and I wasn't too comfortable being responsible for the amount of money the deck cost to make. He persuaded me he had faith I would be a fine.
I Went 5-2-1 with it. Resolving Venser was actually awesome and I had a great time with all of my opponents. "The Tam" was missing two Gideon's and a FNM PROMO Wall of Omens. He told me this as he drove away, so I took that as "buy it for me."
This is what I ran:
4 spreading seas
4 mana leak
4 condemn
2 Venser
1 gideon
1 stoic rebuttal
1 deprive
2 shrine of piercing vision
4 preordain
4 blade splicer
2 day of judgement
4 wall of omens
2 sun titan
4 glacial fortress
4 celestial colonnade
2 kabira crossroads
2 plains
4 seachrome coast
4 tectonic edge
5 island
Sideboard
1 deprive
3 flashfreeze
3 celestial purge
2 rovoke existence
2 oust
2 dismember
2 jace beleren
My all-stars for the day were Venser, Tectonic Edge, Spreading Seas, Condemn, Flashfreeze, and Dismember. I liked Condemn waaaaay better than if it were Tam's Journey to Nowhere's. I cut one Venser for the Gideon Mike Beecher lent me, and let me tell ya, the planeswalkers worked their asses off.
Shrine of Piercing Vision I figured would have been better than Sea Gate Oracle, and today it was. It let me get out of holes because of the many extra cards I was able to see. That said, I don't think I would play it again. Foresee or Jace's Ingenuity would have been fine if not better.
I feel as though the sideboard needs a third Dismember, a third Day of Judgement, and a third Oust; taking out 1 Deprive, and the 2 Revoke Existence. The Revokes I believe are for Volition Reigns, Tempered Steel, and the Tezz match-up (indestructible artifacts, etc). I never sided them in, but probably should have vs Mark Walker. I still think they're "meh."
Another card I wanted to play was Leyline of Sanctity. I'm not sure what could be taken out for it, but 2-3 copies wouldn't be too bad. Maybe 2 somewhere in the main and a third somewhere in the sideboard.
Blade Splicer is a fine card, but I feel it was too gimmicky and would have been happier with Tumble Magnet. I think another avenue would have been to just play Trinket Mage with "the package" of Elixir, Origin Spellbomb, and Basilisk Collar. The fourth slot could be taken up by Jace Beleren, which I sided in often, depending on the match-up and who was going first.
1st round was Valakut. I thought I was going to lose this one, but Venser Ultimated and two Spreading Seas "Stone Rained" 4 lands in game three. Games one and two were so blisteringly fast, I can't really remember them, aside from a freaking amazing top deck from my opponent with Avenger of Zendikar, plotting ten plants and raising them into 1/2's. This was the only time Condemn looked sad in my hand, but Journey to Nowhere wouldn't have been much better.
It was after this round my friend Kevin Butcher texted me saying:
"Awesome!! keep winning bro. you're a great player. you can hang with anyone."
2nd round I lost to Greg Hilner's Red-Green LD special. This was somewhat tilting. For some reason when I play vs Greg, I always get nervous. I never know what he's gonna throw at me. Needless to say, while I was outside smoking I heard a few others lost to Greg's crazy shenanigans as well. It felt somewhat cathartic to know I'm not the only one Greg throws into life-tilt.
Game one wasn't close. Beast Within (two), Acidic Slime, Tectonic Edge, and Pelakka Wurm (WTF >_<)
Game two Blade Splicers Administered some Beats.
Game three I kept a 6 lander and Mana Leak draw. I am going to defend this keep. Greg had more than enough resource denial and I didn't want to get blown out. On top of that his was a slow deck. I was fine for a while till I made the decision to play Blade Splicer to tag along with my Jace Beleren instead of Tectonic Edging one of his Rootbound Crag's. His next turn he drew, looked at his card and immediately plopped it down. My heart sank and I saw him tap six mana for Inferno Titan. My next draw and my Spreading Seas failed to yield either Day of Judgement or Condemn. GG
I remembered what Kev said and pulled my stomach up from my feet. I wasn't going to let myself lose again if I could help it.
3rd round I lost a great match vs Patrick Hickman's friend playing Kuldotha Red(!!). I forget his name (as I do with everyone's), but we had a blast. A great opponent to play against and a nice guy! He took game one with style and I nabbed game 2 shattering the glass with two Sun Titans, Spreading Seas and his two lands.
Game 3 was a Chuck Norris kick to my face. It was over in 5 minutes, three of which was me trying to figure out a way out of the beatdown being administered.
4th round I played vs another mono red deck, but this time piloted by a less experienced player. It was his first PTQ and he was just happy to be playing and plans to go to more.
Game one was mine with Spreading Seas flooding his Mountains. Game two he took me over to the shed. Game 3 went to time. I had been setting up a Day of Judgement + Gideon turn forever, but I was short on lands coming into play UN-tapped. I finally hit the mana I needed and on the fifth and final turn Gideon and two Blade Splicers pulled a KO for me.
5th round I played Vampires. I happened to know what the kid was playing as I saw him play it the day before at the top tables of the MWM event. A few rounds earlier I saw someone Surgically Extract his Bloodghast's.
I was nervous. Sure that he was going to roll me. Well, turns out that Spreading Seas is pretty good in this match-up as well! Game one was mine. Day of Judgement, Spreading Seas, and ESPECIALLY Condemn took it home for me. The second game was too fast and easy for him. Game three came down to setting a turn up with Gideon and Condemn's. Wrath and Spreading Seas wrapped it up.
Round 6 I played vs Grixis-Twin. UGH! This can be a tricky match-up.
Game one he combo'd off and got some in my eye.
Game 2 was all about timely topdecks on my part with removal, Spreading Seas, and Flashfreeze.
Game 3 was simply, no lies, Spreading Seas and Tectonic Edge. I shut him out of Black and knocked his land count to three for consecutive turns, until he just went for it. I showed him Flashfreeze and he put his hand out. He was a great opponent. He seemed relatively new but played very well and piloted his deck expertly. More than a competent player. I want to say I can actually see him being on the pro tour.
Round 7 was another disgusting match.
I knew as soon as I saw "Forest into Bird" he was RUG-Twin. The first game I Mana Leaked his Deceiver, Spread the Sea, and Vensered.
The second game was the "ow...my eye" game, when I stupidly Dismembered his Bird of Paradise. It's natural reaction from years of seeing first turn Birds to shoot the fuckers out of the sky. I'm not gonna lie, I hated myself for doing it as I saw him tap out another Bird and pass the turn. Please be advised: Birds are not your enemy. Heh.
The third game was true grit. He had first turn Bird again and went for Deceiver at my End Step and into a Mana Leak. As the game progressed, Spreading Seas isolated his Red sources. I drew and played a Venser tapping out to one mana, hoping to have two untapped on his turn. He responded to my Venser activation with Deceiver shutting out my untapped Colonnade. My Vensered Plains sat there alone, bluffing a Dismember (or at least attempting). All I had in my hand was Flashfreeze and Mana Leak. My heart began to sink as he untapped, played a mountain, tapped four mana, and played a
URABRASK on top of his Deceiver!!!!!
I nearly fell out of my chair! I could feel my eyes well up as he looked at me waiting for me to scoop. I looked down and tapped the Urabrask with my finger. He looked down and said "omg...all I saw was a Red card and just figured it was Twin!"
Interlude: My round 7 opponent is one of the players that plays cards facing his opponents and holds his cards upside down in his hand. End Interlude.
I was so relieved I could care less when he took out my Wall with Dismember and then Venser with combat damage. It was at this stage of the game I drew another Spreading Seas, another Venser, a Dismember, and a Flashfreeze. Aside from one of my opponents friends saying I drew a card already from my Spreading Seas that I Vensered, which I didn't, it was smooth sailing from there. Good Lord, this match was awesome and my opponent was just as pleasing to play against. This is by far one of my favorite matches I've played in some time and I doubt I will forget it.
My opponents name is a different story....
Round 8 was a bit of a let down.
I was paired versus Mark Walker, a local player at the comic book store I play FNM at. He's alright fella and this was his third PTQ. Game one took forever. He molested my hand with disruption early and rightly took notes of the contents.
The game came down to me top decking a Venser and shutting out his Vampire Nighthawk with Colonnades with the Condemns sitting in my hand. I Balanced Lilian's discard by Vensering one of Spreading Seas. I have no idea why he wasn't using her -2 ability to Vamp-tutor, and I wasn't going to complain, but I was able to set up a plan.
After he made me discard my last "known" card in my hand I had to hope he came in with his Nighthawk at my Venser. And he did. I had to hope he didn't have a removal spell for my Colonnade as well or my plan wasn't going to work. Nope. :D
Block. Trade. Untap. Ultimate Venser. Play stuff. Exile all your relevant stuff.
I did forget to level my Venser for 2 turns (when I had almost nothing - no excuses though, right?) out of being so exhilarated by the aggressive Nighthawk. But he couldn't capitalize :P mise.
A turn or two later he drew and played Life's Finale. He pilfered through my deck and picked out my last three "real men". All I had left were Colonnade and a Gideon. Eventually, I was able to man-land him to death from 30, but there wasn't too much time left in the round.
Game 2 Was all his. Stuck short on lands, he resolved Memoricide on Gideon, Pilfered my hand with Duress, and landed Wurmcoil Engine while I was attempting to rid my world of Karn.
On to game 3 ....nevermind. The Clock ran out and we drew as neither of us had no real ways of beating each other within three land drops (sorry - this isn't Legacy, Bro). I was a little disheartened, but I was still glad to have finally play against Mark. He's a good fella and hope to see him more at PTQ's and other large non-Legacy events.
Overall, my day was pretty awesome. I ended it in 20th place and got paid with 6 packs of New Phyrexia. While it doesn't seem that awesome, I have noticed my plays more clearly recently, be they good or bad. And I have felt I am a little out of my league, or see a giant learning curve, when I sit down to face my opponents of late. But that doesn't mean it's true. My friends advice is exactly what I needed. If I continue to second guess myself, then so will everyone else. Including my opponents.
Btw, I opened a Karn. Snoochie boochies!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Woot! Glad I was wrong!
Sunday wasn't too eventful for me as I wasted most of the day watching movies on Netflix, eagerly awaiting the season finale for Game of Thrones. After watching Mortal Kombat, and regretting it, I decided to check Facebook before turning on the DVR.
Grazing, I noticed a post by none other than Joshua "X" Claytor regarding bannings. Not really reading it, I clicked over to Wizards of the Coast homepage to see what the decision was...
My mouth dropped open. My brain ceased to function (much like when playing Magic). My neck hairs tingled.
Jace was banned?! Having Stoneforge Mystic booted wasn't as much of a surprise as seeing Jace being sent to pasture other formats. It was still stunning to see both really. But Jace? How could they? He's the face of....us!
Quickly, I clicked over to Aaron Forsythes reason for the ban. After reading it a small grin creased itself into my face. I just couldn't believe it. This was awesome! My urge to play again was just starting to unfold with dire thoughts of only being able to really enjoy the format once Innistrad was released in the fall. Everything has changed so dramatically, almost like dark clouds were blown away revealing a sun-filled spring day.
I didn't think the format needed bannings with only a few months away from a new core set. But this is a welcome change! It always seems like a black mark for Magic when these things happen, not that most didn't see the current state of Standard already drenched in tar. And it certainly shouldn't appear as one for members of R&D. If anything, people should applaud these awesome guys for continuing to make great cards and strive for excitement in the game!
We love to blame someone for our own personal hatreds, but when a card is broken it should be seen as a sign that R&D does in fact have some very creative, boundary-pushing, out-of-the-box, and astute thinkers. It's fun cards like Stone Forge Mystic and Jace, The Mindsculptor that let our brains explore new trains of thought. The fresh thinking that was used to make these cards is the very same that knows when it's time to bring change or delay it, challenging the very will of the player base and creativity of deckbuilders.
It's not fun to tank a card from a format, but it goes without saying it also isn't fun when a format is dominated ubiquitously across small and large events alike. The last thing anyone wants is for the salt shaker to pop off over our food. Wizards deserves our gratitude and thanks for making this game breathtakingly agonizing and a pleasure to shuffle up. They also shouldn't be given as much flack for the Jace portion of the announcement as they are now. Aaron Forsythe said it well and not in so many words: not everyone is going to be happy. Assuredly, there is a fella somewhere throwing his keyboard across his living room or out his mothers basement window.
I am so very glad I was wrong on an entirely more greedy level than I stated above. Now I can wait to buy a set of Jaces much later and certainly won't need to fork over as much for Stoneforge. What a greedy jerk.
New decks?
Players initial reactions to the announcement strapped a rocket pack to Primeval Titan and set it to orbit the sun. And I am pretty sure most avid lovers of Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle may have, in fact, sharted their collective pants. They certainly aren't wrong in Valakut decks being good again. However, what I think some players are just starting to figure out is that cards like Lotus Cobra, Consecrated Sphinx, Splinter Twin, and Pyromancers Ascension are going to be heavy hitters as well. If they weren't before, they will now. Even fringe ideas and block decks could see play. You can see block lists here from Pro Tour: Nagoya.
With one door closing, another usually opens. And many block playable decks have the potential to be new format staples. Pat Chapin and countless others are writing pieces about the undiscovered country we call Standard. It would be foolish of me to think I could offer anything better than these great innovators, but it wouldn't be fair to myself if I didn't at least post what I plan on working on for Friday Night Magic :)
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Lone Missionary
1 Trinket mage
1 Voltaic key
1 Augury Owl
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Sunblast Angel
1 Sun Titan
1 Acidic Slime
1 Aether Adept
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
1 Llanowar Elf
2 Fauna Shaman
1 Sea-Gate Oracle
1 Precursor Golem
4 Viridian Emissary
4 Vengevine
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Birthing Pod
4 Bird of Paradise
5 Forest
1 Island
3 Plains
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Sunpetal Grove
2 Razorverge Thicket
2 Seachrome Coast
2 Glacial Fortress
2 Tectonic Edge
This Veggie Soup concoction seems very fragile, but what do I care! The only things I have concerns over are the mana base and the numbers. My initial plan with the deck was to cheat into play Some Large Fatty™, but soon realized Vengevine would just have to be in here, without a doubt. I didn't want to add Squadron Hawks, but I took Conrad Kolos' path and threw them in anyway. The support they offer might be too good to ignore, acting as fodder for the Pod, Fauna Shaman, Vengevine triggers, trash to dump off of Sphinx of Lost Truths, or simply flying 3/3 bricks (courtesy of Elesh Norn). They aren't too bad at blocking 2/1 kicked goblins or Signal Pests either.
Elixir of Immortality has two purposes:
1) to stave of dying vs monored. Nobody likes getting a Bolt to the face.
2) recur Birthing Pod fodder. One thing I'd noticed when I played vs Pod decks was there was a high chance of running out of Pod people. From removal, blocking, and activations, you can run out quick. Which leads me to the coolest thing I like about the deck: recurring Aether Adept via Sun Titan and sharting out Vengevines. Lone Missionary I'm not too sold on just yet, but he looks to work well with Titan and Birthing Pod.
Augury owl is a nod to dipping earlier into the honey pot for Pods. Basically the second Sea-Gate, which he also bridges into, Augury Owl is a nice boost if on the draw. It does seem like it would be better in multiples. I wonder if he could be better than Squadron Hawk over all...
I can't wait to play this after July 1st and I hope others are as excited as I am about the changes to Standard because it certainly feels like a new format to me :)
+1
Grazing, I noticed a post by none other than Joshua "X" Claytor regarding bannings. Not really reading it, I clicked over to Wizards of the Coast homepage to see what the decision was...
My mouth dropped open. My brain ceased to function (much like when playing Magic). My neck hairs tingled.
Jace was banned?! Having Stoneforge Mystic booted wasn't as much of a surprise as seeing Jace being sent to pasture other formats. It was still stunning to see both really. But Jace? How could they? He's the face of....us!
Quickly, I clicked over to Aaron Forsythes reason for the ban. After reading it a small grin creased itself into my face. I just couldn't believe it. This was awesome! My urge to play again was just starting to unfold with dire thoughts of only being able to really enjoy the format once Innistrad was released in the fall. Everything has changed so dramatically, almost like dark clouds were blown away revealing a sun-filled spring day.
I didn't think the format needed bannings with only a few months away from a new core set. But this is a welcome change! It always seems like a black mark for Magic when these things happen, not that most didn't see the current state of Standard already drenched in tar. And it certainly shouldn't appear as one for members of R&D. If anything, people should applaud these awesome guys for continuing to make great cards and strive for excitement in the game!
We love to blame someone for our own personal hatreds, but when a card is broken it should be seen as a sign that R&D does in fact have some very creative, boundary-pushing, out-of-the-box, and astute thinkers. It's fun cards like Stone Forge Mystic and Jace, The Mindsculptor that let our brains explore new trains of thought. The fresh thinking that was used to make these cards is the very same that knows when it's time to bring change or delay it, challenging the very will of the player base and creativity of deckbuilders.
It's not fun to tank a card from a format, but it goes without saying it also isn't fun when a format is dominated ubiquitously across small and large events alike. The last thing anyone wants is for the salt shaker to pop off over our food. Wizards deserves our gratitude and thanks for making this game breathtakingly agonizing and a pleasure to shuffle up. They also shouldn't be given as much flack for the Jace portion of the announcement as they are now. Aaron Forsythe said it well and not in so many words: not everyone is going to be happy. Assuredly, there is a fella somewhere throwing his keyboard across his living room or out his mothers basement window.
I am so very glad I was wrong on an entirely more greedy level than I stated above. Now I can wait to buy a set of Jaces much later and certainly won't need to fork over as much for Stoneforge. What a greedy jerk.
New decks?
Players initial reactions to the announcement strapped a rocket pack to Primeval Titan and set it to orbit the sun. And I am pretty sure most avid lovers of Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle may have, in fact, sharted their collective pants. They certainly aren't wrong in Valakut decks being good again. However, what I think some players are just starting to figure out is that cards like Lotus Cobra, Consecrated Sphinx, Splinter Twin, and Pyromancers Ascension are going to be heavy hitters as well. If they weren't before, they will now. Even fringe ideas and block decks could see play. You can see block lists here from Pro Tour: Nagoya.
With one door closing, another usually opens. And many block playable decks have the potential to be new format staples. Pat Chapin and countless others are writing pieces about the undiscovered country we call Standard. It would be foolish of me to think I could offer anything better than these great innovators, but it wouldn't be fair to myself if I didn't at least post what I plan on working on for Friday Night Magic :)
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Lone Missionary
1 Trinket mage
1 Voltaic key
1 Augury Owl
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Sunblast Angel
1 Sun Titan
1 Acidic Slime
1 Aether Adept
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Sphinx of Lost Truths
1 Llanowar Elf
2 Fauna Shaman
1 Sea-Gate Oracle
1 Precursor Golem
4 Viridian Emissary
4 Vengevine
4 Squadron Hawk
4 Birthing Pod
4 Bird of Paradise
5 Forest
1 Island
3 Plains
4 Misty Rainforest
2 Sunpetal Grove
2 Razorverge Thicket
2 Seachrome Coast
2 Glacial Fortress
2 Tectonic Edge
This Veggie Soup concoction seems very fragile, but what do I care! The only things I have concerns over are the mana base and the numbers. My initial plan with the deck was to cheat into play Some Large Fatty™, but soon realized Vengevine would just have to be in here, without a doubt. I didn't want to add Squadron Hawks, but I took Conrad Kolos' path and threw them in anyway. The support they offer might be too good to ignore, acting as fodder for the Pod, Fauna Shaman, Vengevine triggers, trash to dump off of Sphinx of Lost Truths, or simply flying 3/3 bricks (courtesy of Elesh Norn). They aren't too bad at blocking 2/1 kicked goblins or Signal Pests either.
Elixir of Immortality has two purposes:
1) to stave of dying vs monored. Nobody likes getting a Bolt to the face.
2) recur Birthing Pod fodder. One thing I'd noticed when I played vs Pod decks was there was a high chance of running out of Pod people. From removal, blocking, and activations, you can run out quick. Which leads me to the coolest thing I like about the deck: recurring Aether Adept via Sun Titan and sharting out Vengevines. Lone Missionary I'm not too sold on just yet, but he looks to work well with Titan and Birthing Pod.
Augury owl is a nod to dipping earlier into the honey pot for Pods. Basically the second Sea-Gate, which he also bridges into, Augury Owl is a nice boost if on the draw. It does seem like it would be better in multiples. I wonder if he could be better than Squadron Hawk over all...
I can't wait to play this after July 1st and I hope others are as excited as I am about the changes to Standard because it certainly feels like a new format to me :)
+1
Monday, June 13, 2011
But wait there's more!
A few hours after my initial post regarding Stoneforge Mystic, etc. I received a Facebook message from a local cohort. He asked me when I had made my decision in my blog post, before or after I played Eldrazi Green at a local PTQ. Here is my response.
"Thanks Danny! I actually wrote this piece initially as a response to Sam's post on the very same subject @incontention.com, but it started getting long-winded and realized it would be better off written on my blog. You actually made me realize I made some errors by leaving out a few things as I didn't check everything before I posted it.
For some time I had been listening to everyone's reaction to Caw-Blade. I knew how good SFM was as I played it in an affinity list some time back in extended to tutor up Plating or Sword of the Meek for the other half of the combo. I also played a Boros list borrowed from Beecher one FNM night and got second just as Caw-Blade was rising up in popularity. I wanted to withhold judgement on the format until I actually played it.
Beecher mentioned something to me about Eldrazi Green beating the snot out of it and he's pretty much winning a lot of packs at FNM so I felt he might be on to something. I decided I needed to play it and soon he told me how to sideboard in a few matchups and why he beat them and what he lost to in particular.
I borrowed it for a win a box at the Star City Games event and my games didn't even seem close. It was actually fun playing again! I hadn't realized how much I missed it or how powerful Primeval Titan was in play even if my opponent had a Go for the Throat. I split in the finals for the box and gave Beecher his deck back where he rolled people as well before he split for half a box as well.
It's at this point I started to wonder why people were even complaining. Everyone was packing more Spell Pierces than Mana Leaks. No one ran Journey to Nowhere. I asked around why nobody played Valakut. It had Primeval Titan as well. Why was Caw-Blade winning against it? Why was a mono green deck winning more vs Caw-Blade when the other played Bolt, access to Shatter/Crush, a land that bolted every time, and had the same basic tools Eldrazi green deck had? Spell Pierce. E-Green has Summoning Trap and Growth Spasm and isn't scared of Go for the Throat or Doom Blade.
Beecher, and his relentless love for the fatties, made me realize people were just not accepting the fact casting an Eldrazi was viable. People have had it beaten into them relentlessly from pros, grinders (Flores, Pat Chapin, Jon Medina, Gerry Thompson, etc, etc) SCG coverage, and FNM spikes, there is no other deck choice.
That night in FNM made me realize I needed to play in that PTQ. I was going to have fun no matter what. I knew that no one was going to be prepared for Eldrazi Green. And several opponents said to me as they signed the slip "Yea, that deck is awesome. I used to play it all the time but it was too easy and boring to play." That made me laugh as all I could think about is "if it's too easy to play why not play it? Weren't Caw-Blade mirrors more boring?" But I shrugged, carried the slip up, and went for a smoke."
Magic players have a sort of mental requirement for social acceptance. Most have been an "outcast" in "normal society" and the last thing they need is to feel "outcast" or "wrong" in their safe haven of feeling normal for the first time in the lives. We as magic players are not normal, we are extra-ordinary people. We are the people that change lives. We are the nerds that make life better for others.
+1UP
"Thanks Danny! I actually wrote this piece initially as a response to Sam's post on the very same subject @incontention.com, but it started getting long-winded and realized it would be better off written on my blog. You actually made me realize I made some errors by leaving out a few things as I didn't check everything before I posted it.
For some time I had been listening to everyone's reaction to Caw-Blade. I knew how good SFM was as I played it in an affinity list some time back in extended to tutor up Plating or Sword of the Meek for the other half of the combo. I also played a Boros list borrowed from Beecher one FNM night and got second just as Caw-Blade was rising up in popularity. I wanted to withhold judgement on the format until I actually played it.
Beecher mentioned something to me about Eldrazi Green beating the snot out of it and he's pretty much winning a lot of packs at FNM so I felt he might be on to something. I decided I needed to play it and soon he told me how to sideboard in a few matchups and why he beat them and what he lost to in particular.
I borrowed it for a win a box at the Star City Games event and my games didn't even seem close. It was actually fun playing again! I hadn't realized how much I missed it or how powerful Primeval Titan was in play even if my opponent had a Go for the Throat. I split in the finals for the box and gave Beecher his deck back where he rolled people as well before he split for half a box as well.
It's at this point I started to wonder why people were even complaining. Everyone was packing more Spell Pierces than Mana Leaks. No one ran Journey to Nowhere. I asked around why nobody played Valakut. It had Primeval Titan as well. Why was Caw-Blade winning against it? Why was a mono green deck winning more vs Caw-Blade when the other played Bolt, access to Shatter/Crush, a land that bolted every time, and had the same basic tools Eldrazi green deck had? Spell Pierce. E-Green has Summoning Trap and Growth Spasm and isn't scared of Go for the Throat or Doom Blade.
Beecher, and his relentless love for the fatties, made me realize people were just not accepting the fact casting an Eldrazi was viable. People have had it beaten into them relentlessly from pros, grinders (Flores, Pat Chapin, Jon Medina, Gerry Thompson, etc, etc) SCG coverage, and FNM spikes, there is no other deck choice.
That night in FNM made me realize I needed to play in that PTQ. I was going to have fun no matter what. I knew that no one was going to be prepared for Eldrazi Green. And several opponents said to me as they signed the slip "Yea, that deck is awesome. I used to play it all the time but it was too easy and boring to play." That made me laugh as all I could think about is "if it's too easy to play why not play it? Weren't Caw-Blade mirrors more boring?" But I shrugged, carried the slip up, and went for a smoke."
Magic players have a sort of mental requirement for social acceptance. Most have been an "outcast" in "normal society" and the last thing they need is to feel "outcast" or "wrong" in their safe haven of feeling normal for the first time in the lives. We as magic players are not normal, we are extra-ordinary people. We are the people that change lives. We are the nerds that make life better for others.
+1UP
Stoneforge Mystic and you.
They will not ban anything. Even if they ban SFM, it's silly to think they will do a mail-in rebate for packs/anything for the SFM's in the event deck.
There are plenty of great cards in standard and there are plenty of small reasons that could be attributed to the PTQ attendance being low. From the interest to Legacy, to FNM really only being draft or standard, and even the standard portion of Star City Games events which may have skewed numbers and perception of reality of what's viable in standard.
While it's true the PTQ attendance for Magic Online reflects low participation compared to the max amount of players for a limited event on the same day, lets not forget the reality perceived based from non-MODO events also create a pattern of belief in players there really isn't any other deck choice.
Digital card prices, even if microscopic in comparison, are a factor too if you really want to push the notion of a seemingly stagnant environment. The last thing some wish to do is shell out hundreds of dollars for Jace, The Mindsculptors when most people who play MODO may be considered "spikes". On top of that, who wants "fake" Jaces? They certainly don't help having when you can't play them in your FNM deck.
There is also the slow emergence of the casual player over the past few years. Most people really hate being told "no" and at the same time being in control of their situation. For example in WoW there is a character class called a priest. The priest can cast a spell called "mindcontrol" on other players and also cast a spell called "fear", which causes other players to lose control of their characters and watch them run away in random directions. For a long time these two abilities were absolutely hated by the player base as there wasn't anything that could be done. The games creator, Blizzard, saw this and over time in several patches, they added in-game items and adjusted the spells effects to help deal with this loss of character control. My point being is Stoneforge Mystic is a double edged sword for WotC. On one side you have people who love to "cheat" something into their side of the table and bash-face, but at the same time the same person hates to feel "cheated" when they're in a difficult moment. WotC does their best to make sure the game doesn't fall into "winters" of decks. Creating a buffet for players to create decks from their favorite new cards isn't an easy task. Something is bound to irk someone.
People have their favorite colors. Some love playing blue, some love green, and some love to hate blue. You can't control what players will feel, but you can "herd" them into what they feel comfortable with. Players who play blue love it because they love the control they feel it gives them over their game. People who play green are in love with the idea of casting the ridiculous and yet "fair" aspect of the game: big fat monsters. These same people cross-sample with those who hate blue for no other reason but because they: 1) feel the color cheats too much. 2) think it's unfair to their way of playing the game. 3) are just fucking retarded. But that's just my opinion.
Magic is a fun game when it's not inundated with chicken little squawking at every turn. Not everyone is going to be happy, but that's okay. As a player WotC will listen to your concerns. The realistic ones. Is Jace too good for the format? No. Is Stoneforge too good for the format? No. They are both very very good. And borderline absurd at moments, but lets be realistic, so is spending hundreds of dollars on this game we love.
If you really think things need to be banned that's fine. Great! If you think Caw-Blade is the only deck to play, that's fine as well. I certainly won't point you in a direction where you'll see plenty of viable, cheaper, and just as competitive deck choices. The real world isn't all in black and white and neither is your in-game world.
Just be glad Sensei's Divining Top isn't in the format.
There are plenty of great cards in standard and there are plenty of small reasons that could be attributed to the PTQ attendance being low. From the interest to Legacy, to FNM really only being draft or standard, and even the standard portion of Star City Games events which may have skewed numbers and perception of reality of what's viable in standard.
While it's true the PTQ attendance for Magic Online reflects low participation compared to the max amount of players for a limited event on the same day, lets not forget the reality perceived based from non-MODO events also create a pattern of belief in players there really isn't any other deck choice.
Digital card prices, even if microscopic in comparison, are a factor too if you really want to push the notion of a seemingly stagnant environment. The last thing some wish to do is shell out hundreds of dollars for Jace, The Mindsculptors when most people who play MODO may be considered "spikes". On top of that, who wants "fake" Jaces? They certainly don't help having when you can't play them in your FNM deck.
There is also the slow emergence of the casual player over the past few years. Most people really hate being told "no" and at the same time being in control of their situation. For example in WoW there is a character class called a priest. The priest can cast a spell called "mindcontrol" on other players and also cast a spell called "fear", which causes other players to lose control of their characters and watch them run away in random directions. For a long time these two abilities were absolutely hated by the player base as there wasn't anything that could be done. The games creator, Blizzard, saw this and over time in several patches, they added in-game items and adjusted the spells effects to help deal with this loss of character control. My point being is Stoneforge Mystic is a double edged sword for WotC. On one side you have people who love to "cheat" something into their side of the table and bash-face, but at the same time the same person hates to feel "cheated" when they're in a difficult moment. WotC does their best to make sure the game doesn't fall into "winters" of decks. Creating a buffet for players to create decks from their favorite new cards isn't an easy task. Something is bound to irk someone.
People have their favorite colors. Some love playing blue, some love green, and some love to hate blue. You can't control what players will feel, but you can "herd" them into what they feel comfortable with. Players who play blue love it because they love the control they feel it gives them over their game. People who play green are in love with the idea of casting the ridiculous and yet "fair" aspect of the game: big fat monsters. These same people cross-sample with those who hate blue for no other reason but because they: 1) feel the color cheats too much. 2) think it's unfair to their way of playing the game. 3) are just fucking retarded. But that's just my opinion.
Magic is a fun game when it's not inundated with chicken little squawking at every turn. Not everyone is going to be happy, but that's okay. As a player WotC will listen to your concerns. The realistic ones. Is Jace too good for the format? No. Is Stoneforge too good for the format? No. They are both very very good. And borderline absurd at moments, but lets be realistic, so is spending hundreds of dollars on this game we love.
If you really think things need to be banned that's fine. Great! If you think Caw-Blade is the only deck to play, that's fine as well. I certainly won't point you in a direction where you'll see plenty of viable, cheaper, and just as competitive deck choices. The real world isn't all in black and white and neither is your in-game world.
Just be glad Sensei's Divining Top isn't in the format.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Modern Magic
Today on the mothership, Tom LaPille wrote an article about the new Community Cup format called Modern. You can read the article here. They hope to test out the viability of the format and how people react to it. My hope is it will become a supported format for FNM, Pro Tour Qualifiers, Grand Prix, and even the Pro Tour itself.
I personally believe the format would be accepted with open arms because there is not that much room left for people to fully enjoy Legacy. As everyone knows, card availability and basic entry cost for a competitive Legacy deck can be daunting. The same applies to Magic Online. Many people simply do not want to drop money on digital copies of decks/cards they have real versions of. The investment in the Legacy format is too great for some people and is simply viewed as starting over.
The Modern format would be easy for Standard players to port their cards over with minimal costs compared to purchasing duels, Wastelands, FoW's, and an additional set of sac lands. The biggest chunk of investment for most players will be Aether Vial, Tarmogoyf, Sword of Fire and Ice, shock lands, and plainswalkers. Notable mentions being Thoughtseize, Maelstrom Pulse, Noble Hierarch, and a few sought after cards used by CUBE and EDH players (Kokusho, Gifts Ungiven, etc).
The banned list makes deck creation almost utopian for lots of creative minds.
Ancient Den
Seat of the Synod
Vault of Whispers
Great Furnace
Tree of Tales
Chrome Mox
Dark Depths
Sensei's Divining Top
Skullclamp
Sword of the Meek
Umezawa's Jitte
Golgari Grave-Troll
As you can see some very powerful cards have been axed. Interpreting the list, you can see some powerful combination cards are very viable. Decks such as Dragonstorm, Time Sieve, Seismic Swans, Scapeshift/Valakut/Omen, Hypergenesis, Pyromancers Swath, Dredge, Tooth and Nail, Splinter Twin/Pestermite/Deciever, and even Enduring Ideal. Some of the old strategies will make it and some won't, but the important thing how great they are as options! It's certain there won't just be combo decks running rampant. Aggro, control and even mid-range decks will be a smorgasbord for people looking for a new snack to feast on :)
My eyes will be glued to the Community Cup to see what pans out.
Amos C.
I personally believe the format would be accepted with open arms because there is not that much room left for people to fully enjoy Legacy. As everyone knows, card availability and basic entry cost for a competitive Legacy deck can be daunting. The same applies to Magic Online. Many people simply do not want to drop money on digital copies of decks/cards they have real versions of. The investment in the Legacy format is too great for some people and is simply viewed as starting over.
The Modern format would be easy for Standard players to port their cards over with minimal costs compared to purchasing duels, Wastelands, FoW's, and an additional set of sac lands. The biggest chunk of investment for most players will be Aether Vial, Tarmogoyf, Sword of Fire and Ice, shock lands, and plainswalkers. Notable mentions being Thoughtseize, Maelstrom Pulse, Noble Hierarch, and a few sought after cards used by CUBE and EDH players (Kokusho, Gifts Ungiven, etc).
The banned list makes deck creation almost utopian for lots of creative minds.
Ancient Den
Seat of the Synod
Vault of Whispers
Great Furnace
Tree of Tales
Chrome Mox
Dark Depths
Sensei's Divining Top
Skullclamp
Sword of the Meek
Umezawa's Jitte
Golgari Grave-Troll
As you can see some very powerful cards have been axed. Interpreting the list, you can see some powerful combination cards are very viable. Decks such as Dragonstorm, Time Sieve, Seismic Swans, Scapeshift/Valakut/Omen, Hypergenesis, Pyromancers Swath, Dredge, Tooth and Nail, Splinter Twin/Pestermite/Deciever, and even Enduring Ideal. Some of the old strategies will make it and some won't, but the important thing how great they are as options! It's certain there won't just be combo decks running rampant. Aggro, control and even mid-range decks will be a smorgasbord for people looking for a new snack to feast on :)
My eyes will be glued to the Community Cup to see what pans out.
Amos C.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
So you think you can trade?
"Got any trade stuff?"
This is the line almost everyone starts out with when looking to trade. It's a good opener. There's certainly nothing wrong with it. But there is a lot more to an approach than just blurting that out.
Here's a few basic questions to ask yourself:
All of these actions and notations you make about a person or yourself will dictate how a trade will go. So let's start of from the beginning of the list, the smile :)
An important tool, the smile can almost suffocate a trade at times depending on the other person's mood. The majority of the time it creates a good atmosphere for a good trade to develop while fostering a good repertoire for future endeavors, especially if it's done genuinely. People can spot a fake smile the moment they see it. Or even an insincere smile. Many are uneasy with politicians and car sales men because they are so good at it the smile.
You don't want the person you're trading with to feel uneasy. As soon as they start to feel that way, the trade is almost certainly dead. This is not to say you need to smile every time you want to trade with someone, rather use a smile as a tool to break down defenses and make a friend. Even if that friendship lasts 10 minutes.
Facial expressions aside from smiling, such as having a determined look, raised eyebrows, tightened lips, smirking, and even the look of concern can determine the way a trade can go. For example, I have my back pack strapped and a binder in my arms, but I seem like I am looking for somebody in particular and then ask a gentlemen sitting down at a table if he has trade stuff, you're mind isn't on the actual trade but rather a quick turn-around or to kill some time. Chances are that the full value during that trade isn't going to be seen on your part. By full value I mean the trade stock you have gotten isn't going to be greater than what you had gotten rid of. This entails a lot more information and another blog on my part to explain. It's imperative not seem or be distracted. Give the other person the same respect you would have them give to you and not waste theirs or your time. Giving that attention means that there is a greater chance of trading with them in the future.
Don't sigh. If it's not in a humorous fashion or if you aren't using it to start a conversation with the person to gain a sort of rapport with them, do not sigh. The last thing a person wants to feel as though they don't matter or are a bothersome nuisance. Again, show respect for others for their time and yours. If the person you've approached sighs, try not to take it personally. Use it to your advantage and try starting a conversation with them. The more comfortable a person is the easier the trade session might be. If you have to listen to their problem, actually listen and don't sound like the annoyed boyfriend or son. I have gotten to know many friends this way and many hookups on trades later on!
Similar to sighing is the tone in your voice and also about what I talked about previously. Sounding annoyed, troubled, concerned, tired, happy, and all the range of emotions we have can give information to the other person. Being distracted can help or hurt you in a trade, depending. Don't let your emotions or the trade partner shark you out of a trade.
Scouting is normally a term used in looking at what people are playing in order to gain an advantage for you or your friends in a tournament and works wonders for good trades as well. When scouting for trades there are a few certain rules I go by:
About large groups.
You should always stop to investigate a group of trades happening. Often if you get into a trade with someone in a large group another person is bound to add their "expert" opinion on your trade. Don't do this. There's nothing wrong with snooping out the competition, just don't get snooped yourself. You can ruin another persons trade if you're not asked. It's best to stay quite so you can come back later if you have something saucy.
When scouting be sure note what areas are off limits for trades and where you can take a breather. Bathrooms, comfort areas such as couches, and food courts give you a chance to rest. You can sort through all the new trade stock you've gotten and put them away safely unless you are looking to turn them over in the same day. Making sure you've eaten is as important as it is when you're playing in an event.
It's important to scout quickly. People at events move quickly, rounds start up, bathroom runs, food runs, smoke breaks are due, side drafts/events, or the old fashioned "0-2 drop go get lucky with my GF" is always in full force. If you are too slow in acting on a scout another person could move in or hawk on your trade. This sometimes can work in your favor. Most people are looking for one thing and sometimes you can kill two birds with one stone of you've snooped the trade long enough. But the last thing you want to do is lose out on an insane prospect because you were too slow to hawk the scout.
Make sure you know what cards are being whispered about. Visit the dealer tables and ask questions. This will assist you in scouting and snooping for trades. I once traded a set of the same card 13 times to various people based on whispers and ended up almost out of room in my binder. The card later turned into a bust and I ended up so high on value I couldn't see straight.
Remember, dealers are your friends. Be nice to them. Don't interfere in their buy-ins. Remember to hook a dealer up and they will remember to hook you up. Most importantly do not buy cards or sell cards at events unless it's to a dealer. I cannot stress this enough. Magic players can be cunning bastards and the last thing you want is to be scouted by the T.O. because someone doesn't like your hawks, and ejected from the event which will end your trading for the day unless you want to hang outside with the smokers.
If you start a trade and a friend of your trade partner comes, this is good news. Now you have an "opportunity trade". Giving something extra to your current trade partner will entice the their friend to pull their trade stuff out. Just be sure you aren't hawking the value of your binder down too much.
Know what you are bringing to the table of trades. I personally don't own an iphone or have internet on my cell. For a very long time I have traded without access and based my trades on remembering what the current market value is for a card before I go to an event. This has rarely hurt me. Knowing that the market value can drop or rise dramatically on a card based on set rotation, current ptq season, what hot cards EDH/casual players love, collectable foils for cube, and even the prospective value of a new set release can impact the value of your collection immensely. With that knowledge you can actually hook people up by just giving them the card they need in a "bum trade", which will help later on when you need hooked up. It's happened many times where that "bum trade" turned into scrap and the card turns out be worth less than what you had traded for it originally. Nothing like a $5.00 Thoughtseize!
Listen to the whispers, rumors, and even the 11 year old talking about his deck. Listen to EDH and casual players. EDH and the iphone has changed everything, so use these to your advantage and don't shrug off the information gleaned from them or your local store. Hooking people up there will help you.
I have lots more to talk about, but those can wait for another time!
Thanks for reading and have fun trading!
Amos C.
This is the line almost everyone starts out with when looking to trade. It's a good opener. There's certainly nothing wrong with it. But there is a lot more to an approach than just blurting that out.
Here's a few basic questions to ask yourself:
- did you smile?
- how was your facial expression?
- did you "sigh" when you asked?
- did THEY "sigh" when asked?
- how was the tone in your voice?
- how long have you scouted the person you asked?
- did you scout at all?
- did the person look busy or distracted?
- does that person have friends around?
- does the person have their trade stuff in a back-pack or a traveling suitcase?
- are they carrying stuff in a box, binder, a stack of cards?
All of these actions and notations you make about a person or yourself will dictate how a trade will go. So let's start of from the beginning of the list, the smile :)
An important tool, the smile can almost suffocate a trade at times depending on the other person's mood. The majority of the time it creates a good atmosphere for a good trade to develop while fostering a good repertoire for future endeavors, especially if it's done genuinely. People can spot a fake smile the moment they see it. Or even an insincere smile. Many are uneasy with politicians and car sales men because they are so good at it the smile.
You don't want the person you're trading with to feel uneasy. As soon as they start to feel that way, the trade is almost certainly dead. This is not to say you need to smile every time you want to trade with someone, rather use a smile as a tool to break down defenses and make a friend. Even if that friendship lasts 10 minutes.
Facial expressions aside from smiling, such as having a determined look, raised eyebrows, tightened lips, smirking, and even the look of concern can determine the way a trade can go. For example, I have my back pack strapped and a binder in my arms, but I seem like I am looking for somebody in particular and then ask a gentlemen sitting down at a table if he has trade stuff, you're mind isn't on the actual trade but rather a quick turn-around or to kill some time. Chances are that the full value during that trade isn't going to be seen on your part. By full value I mean the trade stock you have gotten isn't going to be greater than what you had gotten rid of. This entails a lot more information and another blog on my part to explain. It's imperative not seem or be distracted. Give the other person the same respect you would have them give to you and not waste theirs or your time. Giving that attention means that there is a greater chance of trading with them in the future.
Don't sigh. If it's not in a humorous fashion or if you aren't using it to start a conversation with the person to gain a sort of rapport with them, do not sigh. The last thing a person wants to feel as though they don't matter or are a bothersome nuisance. Again, show respect for others for their time and yours. If the person you've approached sighs, try not to take it personally. Use it to your advantage and try starting a conversation with them. The more comfortable a person is the easier the trade session might be. If you have to listen to their problem, actually listen and don't sound like the annoyed boyfriend or son. I have gotten to know many friends this way and many hookups on trades later on!
Similar to sighing is the tone in your voice and also about what I talked about previously. Sounding annoyed, troubled, concerned, tired, happy, and all the range of emotions we have can give information to the other person. Being distracted can help or hurt you in a trade, depending. Don't let your emotions or the trade partner shark you out of a trade.
Scouting is normally a term used in looking at what people are playing in order to gain an advantage for you or your friends in a tournament and works wonders for good trades as well. When scouting for trades there are a few certain rules I go by:
- stay away from people with monster binders until later on in the day/evening
- stay away from large groups of friends
- stay away from anyone that looks like you. They are doing what you are doing.
- look for people who have their stuff in what looks like luggage
- look for people who don't have cards in binders but in boxes
- look for people who don't have monster binders. The bigger the better. The smaller the worst chance a trade might not be feasible in value. Smaller binders are usually carried by people who don't trade that often and/or carry contents that are of high value. If you carry high value trade ignore this.
- stay away from large groups of people trading. This is bad. Very bad. These people might as well have fins strapped to their foreheads unless you know how to hawk them.
- check to see who is looking up stuff online on their phones. This is a good thing if they have to keep looking up stuff if you know what range you have in value. I will go into more detail on this another time.
About large groups.
You should always stop to investigate a group of trades happening. Often if you get into a trade with someone in a large group another person is bound to add their "expert" opinion on your trade. Don't do this. There's nothing wrong with snooping out the competition, just don't get snooped yourself. You can ruin another persons trade if you're not asked. It's best to stay quite so you can come back later if you have something saucy.
When scouting be sure note what areas are off limits for trades and where you can take a breather. Bathrooms, comfort areas such as couches, and food courts give you a chance to rest. You can sort through all the new trade stock you've gotten and put them away safely unless you are looking to turn them over in the same day. Making sure you've eaten is as important as it is when you're playing in an event.
It's important to scout quickly. People at events move quickly, rounds start up, bathroom runs, food runs, smoke breaks are due, side drafts/events, or the old fashioned "0-2 drop go get lucky with my GF" is always in full force. If you are too slow in acting on a scout another person could move in or hawk on your trade. This sometimes can work in your favor. Most people are looking for one thing and sometimes you can kill two birds with one stone of you've snooped the trade long enough. But the last thing you want to do is lose out on an insane prospect because you were too slow to hawk the scout.
Make sure you know what cards are being whispered about. Visit the dealer tables and ask questions. This will assist you in scouting and snooping for trades. I once traded a set of the same card 13 times to various people based on whispers and ended up almost out of room in my binder. The card later turned into a bust and I ended up so high on value I couldn't see straight.
Remember, dealers are your friends. Be nice to them. Don't interfere in their buy-ins. Remember to hook a dealer up and they will remember to hook you up. Most importantly do not buy cards or sell cards at events unless it's to a dealer. I cannot stress this enough. Magic players can be cunning bastards and the last thing you want is to be scouted by the T.O. because someone doesn't like your hawks, and ejected from the event which will end your trading for the day unless you want to hang outside with the smokers.
If you start a trade and a friend of your trade partner comes, this is good news. Now you have an "opportunity trade". Giving something extra to your current trade partner will entice the their friend to pull their trade stuff out. Just be sure you aren't hawking the value of your binder down too much.
Know what you are bringing to the table of trades. I personally don't own an iphone or have internet on my cell. For a very long time I have traded without access and based my trades on remembering what the current market value is for a card before I go to an event. This has rarely hurt me. Knowing that the market value can drop or rise dramatically on a card based on set rotation, current ptq season, what hot cards EDH/casual players love, collectable foils for cube, and even the prospective value of a new set release can impact the value of your collection immensely. With that knowledge you can actually hook people up by just giving them the card they need in a "bum trade", which will help later on when you need hooked up. It's happened many times where that "bum trade" turned into scrap and the card turns out be worth less than what you had traded for it originally. Nothing like a $5.00 Thoughtseize!
Listen to the whispers, rumors, and even the 11 year old talking about his deck. Listen to EDH and casual players. EDH and the iphone has changed everything, so use these to your advantage and don't shrug off the information gleaned from them or your local store. Hooking people up there will help you.
I have lots more to talk about, but those can wait for another time!
Thanks for reading and have fun trading!
Amos C.
Monday, May 23, 2011
welcome!
Hi! My name is Amos and this is of course my blog. I will be writing mainly about my favorite game Magic: The Gathering with smatterings of random thoughts. I have been playing since Ice Age block with a few breaks here and there. I love to trade and play Magic in it's all forms. Hope you enjoy what I have to offer. Please feel free to let me know what you think! Thanks for visiting!
-Amos C.
-Amos C.
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