Friday upon us again folks. Another week behind, and another weekend ahead.
Ended up playing some Cockatrice with @theBG_D, and i'm getting tired, so going to cut the chitchat and dig in, because there's a few things on the agenda today.
Hall of Long
Lot's of #mtghof talk lately, and rightfully so. For those selected, there is a great responsibility to conduct due diligence with respect to submitting a ballot. I applaud the conversation and effort that I've witnessed, which I'm sure dwarfs what actually goes on. I am not in the group that thinks people should vote privately and without lobbying... It's silly to think Pros, Writers, Judges and other members of the election committee(s) aren't going to talk to one another.Hall of Fame speculation is covered heavily in the press for major sports, so I'm not surprised that's what happens on Twitter for MTG. Further, I don't think @mtg_law_etc's post on his website MTGlampoon.com was that out of line. I understand why some people were offended, but to be brutally honest, he didn't really say anything negative about anyone. Just stated his opinion repeatedly that most weren't worthy. It's just one opinion people, ON A FUCKING LAMPOON SITE. Excuse my language. Wait don't. Don't excuse it if it bothers you, let me know, so I can direct more curse words at you.
Digressing... digressing... digressing... Digresed. Really, the post just wasn't funny, so people didn't get that it was supposed to be funny. We've seen this before from Sperling, when he made the Pro-player Fake MTG Cards and posted them on his blog. Felt attention deprived so he pissed off enough people so that people talked about him for a couple days. Shit, its effective, can't blame him for going back to it. (See, THIS is how you troll/lampoon someone and actually be funny... Just sayin')
Well, the part of the Hall of Fame discussion I want to talk about, is one that apparently comes up every year. @maro254 has been known to encourage people to vote for him. Many of the community quickly dismiss him as a cheat. I wasn't in anyway following Pro-Magic at the time Mike was around the pro-tour. I was playing magic at the time, I was about 13-14 when his famous Pros-Bloom deck was born, and was months before I stopped playing the game. I remember losing to someone who showed up with the Pros-Bloom deck at our local tournament, my understanding of the rules was pretty loose, and was mostly a casual player. I still liked going to the LGS to play in the tournament, mainly just to find new opponents. After losing to the Pros-Bloom guy, I gave up magic. Whether it was directly related to that match, or not, I dont know. But was probably part of it. I didn't understand what was happening in the game, i was confused, and intrigued at the same time. The other part of it was coming of age, and all that other good stuff, but none-the-less, i distinctly remember playing against that deck...
Fast forward to 2005-2006. I'm a recent graduate from UCSD. I had spent my college years, along with my buddy (who just won his first WSOP bracelet this year, grats to John Monette) working labor as movers. Johnny did most of the advertising and found us work to fund our party lifestyles all the way through college. After he discovered poker (this was when you could only play Limit poker here in San Diego, NL just didn't exist) he basically passed the reigns on to me, and I found other help. I couldn't do it long, once I finished school, I got a real job in Marketing, and was also just getting my feet wet in tutoring. I'd ocassionally still get calls for moving jobs, and depending on how hungry i was that week, I'd take them. One day I get a call from a lady, who said she's the personal assistant to a couple of guys who need my help. They are moving to San Diego from out of town, and they need some labor. I show up, and I meet Mike Long. He was not very interested in chatting with 'the help' (which is fairly common) and was busy settling in to his new place. Me and my friends are unloading endless amounts of stuff, when I open a box with a Magic: the Gathering World Champion trophy. I set it on the Mantle, and ask him about it. I kinda chuckled, I mean, I played this as a kid, thats like the World champion of Chutes and Ladders, right? He sorta brushed off my question, and I went about my work. At the end of the day, he, and his co-workers who were also moving to San Diego with him, paid us (very generously) and we were on our way. That night, I googled Mike Long, and found out he won $10,000 as world champion, WOAH! That was that, or so I thought. Two days later, Mike's assistant called me again, saying they had some more work for me. Ocassionally people would do this, they'd realize i'm not just dumb labor, and I'm capable of handling lots of little projects, so they'd ask me to do something else. They had me pick up Ikea furniture and build it. Ummmm okay, I was pretty stoked with my $40 wage to sit on my ass and build furniture. After a few other similar jobs, I got to know Mike and his co-worker Dave pretty well. Dave had a lot more mini-projects for me. These guys were doing some marketing work for Mystery, the pickup artist. You've probably seen him before, but he's faded from the limelight a bit since then. Dave had me help him fix up his bachelor pad per Mystery's direction as part of their plan to get a VH1 show for Mystery (it worked). Infact you can see the video they did afterward on Mike's Youtube, but it says you can find the 2nd half (the good part) on some other website, and I wasn't able to find it. Bummer. We basically made this "dream room" dave called it. THe floor was covered in Love Sac's and the ceiling we covered with billows of off-white sheets, with colored disco lights underneath that pulsed to music. We blacked out all the windows with dark canvas, and set up a sound system. Dave's only goal: "I dont want people to know it's morning yet..." After getting to know these guys better, I asked Mike a bit more about his Magic career, and he told me about how when he started playing it was all mind games and shuffle tricks, and you had to know the game too, but the real edge was outside of that. He showed me some shuffle tricks, none of which I now remember, and I didn't think much of it. Months later, at Dave's house, I saw him playing Magic Online. What? You can play this online? I watched him play through a single match of a draft, and was surprised, that from my rudimentary understanding of the game prior, I understood what was going on pretty well. I scoped out Magic Online, but the program was a bit too initimidating for me so I approached Mike about it later. I asked him to teach me a little about the game, and told him about my brief history with it as a kid. He broke out a couple decks and we talked a bit. He showed me a pros-bloom deck and I started laughing. I said, "This was your deck!?" It all came full circle to me at that time, and the Planeswalker's spark was back in me. Not long after Dave left town, in an apparent hurry not on the best terms with Mike, but I"m not here to speculate nor slander either one of them. They were great clients of mine. However, after all I witnessed, the conversations I had, and the information I gleaned, I have no doubt Mike Long has the ability, skill and knowledge to cheat successfully. I cannot personally vouch for whether or not he did so, but he was quick to show me how to do it. Would I vote him into the Hall of Fame? FUCK YES. With out Mike, I would not be playing Magic today. Without Mike, we wouldn't have epic stories about someone sideboarding out their only wincon in their deck just to next-level someone into scooping. CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT?! I do. Mike could do that. For realz. For those of you who don't know the pros-bloom deck, it basically generates stupid amounts of mana by using prosperity and cadaverous bloom. I believe it also used Squandered Resources too to help fuel the engine. After chaining a few prosperities, you could draw your whole deck, making enough mana for a lethal drain life. Apparently in his world championshiop match, he boarded out his Drain Life, and was able to bluff his opponent into scooping, by discarding every card in his deck but the drainlife, so his opponent assumed it was in his hand. Another version of the story, was that he bluffed his opponent into thinking he had 2 when he only had 1, and I dont think that's been confirmed in any way. Without deciding to take that moving job, I never would have pulled a Magic trophy out of a box, and meet some long term clients who taught me a lot about a lot of things, and mostly things I probably never needed to know. Thanks Mike and Dave. I'm certainly not vouching for Mike's moral character, as the circumstances underwhich they both left town was suspicious to say the least, and I don't know much about their business other than online marketing schemes (most of which appear to be complete ripoffs in my opinion)
As far as I know, the stuff I saw, participated in, and heard about was not deemed to be private or secret, but I used my best judgement on this, and kept it as surface level, and relevant to how I feel about Mike Long with respect to his place in the Hall of Fame. In some slim chance Mike or Dave happen upon this blog post and they object to anything I say here, let me know, and i'll gladly edit.
Color Me Shamed
I read some alarming news Thursday on Twitter, and apparently I seem to care about this more than most. I hope by spending a few words on it here, some of you at least take a peek at a different perspective. I'm not going to rehash the whole story, but its here. Read that, if you're too lazy to read that, then don't bother with the rest of this section. I said my piece in the comments, and also left a blurb in the forums of the most recent article from the offender, and spouted off on Twitter. This is a pretty interesting Game Theory problem.
Robby has two options in this game, He can Express his discontent quietly, and attempt to cooperate with Sean, or he can Rage and try to bring awareness to the issue. Sean also has two options, or decision alternatives or strategies, he can take. He can comply/cooperate and change the name of his column, or he can resist, and tell Robby to take a hike.
There are 4 possible outcomes here, let's look at the payoffs, or outcomes associated with each outcome.
They both cooperate. In the Prisoner's dilemma, this is where the two prisoners don't rat each other out. They both get off scott free! In this case, Sean maybe has a minimal effect on his new coulmn, as it was brand new when Robby first approached him, and Robby is no longer slighted, and the world goes on. Essentially we can call this a $0 gain over all, and in reality for each player individually as well.
They both Defect. In the Prisoner's dielmma, this means both players actually rat the other out, so they get huge jail times. In this case, Sean is resisting the change, and Robby is making the public aware of the issue, and using his influence to show the community what we /can/ do about it (which is not visit SCG's website). Sean loses a portion of his potential audience, many of which are supporters and fans of Robby. Robby loses his quiet stoic "Switzerland" appeal, and possibly alienates some readers, some of whom may be affiliated with SCG, or otherwise loyal. In this case, Sean probably loses out more than Robby does, but Robby's bruised ego is certainly part of the loss to him in this situation as well.
One Cooperates, the Other Defects. In the Prisoner's Dilemma, the one who defects is the one who gets off the sentence easy for helping authorities, while the other serves a ton of time. This is similar to if either Robby or Sean tried to cooperate, but the other refused. If Robby approached Sean, and Sean said, "Take a Hike" Robby is still out his brand, and Sean is in no way affected. Viceversa, if Sean said, "Hey man, sorry i did xyz, i'll stop." and Robby said, 'I don't forgive, GTFO." Then he loses the connection, and likely more the brandingi he was once trying to protect.
From a Game Theory Standpoint, the Nash Equilibrium says that both players will defect, even though its in their best interest to cooperate. Advanced computer simulations have shown that if this game is repeatable (like it is here) you should cooperate with your partner until they defect on you. This is a very interesting take-away for every day life, by the way. Robby is playing this optimally, as far as Im' concerned. He attempted to work things out behind the scenes but was turned away a number of times. since his opponent has now defected, he's basically eating up all the jail-time in that prisoner's dilemma example, and in order to force Sean to share a piece of that, he needs to change strategies.
Anyway, just a a game theory aside. My comments in the article explain my feelings as a whole. There's just no need to not cooperate here, even if you think you're entitled to it. Just pick something else. Done.
#sdcc
I normally attend, since its in my town, but this year I couldn't go. I went to high school with MCLars, and he usually can hook me up with some passes, but this year he's on Warped tour, so he didn't come. I didn't want to shell out the dough, so I'm riding the pine on this one. I didn't think i'd be that disappointed until i felt the energy downtown SD yesterday. Wow. So much fun. I'm terribly jealous of everyone who got to go. Fuck you all.
No time for FF's this ran way too late. All of you follow each other!
Friday, July 22, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
#FF Blog - Cubism for Dummies
I really hope some kid searching for stuff on Cubism for a Art History class happens upon this blog. I hid all sorts of relevant keywords in here just to trick them. Hey, College Student from the future, you've been rick-rolled. LULZ.
Friday again. Just finished up a cube draft with @wmap's online cube! LORDHAVEMERCY.
I drafted this monstrosity (in pick order, *'s did not make the main deck:)
After that i played @thebeme. I pretty much got there with figure of destiny game 1, and g2 with a couple dudes while he was mana screwed. Not a very exciting one. :( sorry robert.
Then i played @semisober, if that isn't sweatin it, I also have spectators including @marshallLRcast and @meta_knightmare. I win the first one easily, as Tom moans about misclicks in the chat box. He wins the second one by dumping a mana vault into an upheaval while he's at 4, and I have an inferno titan in play. He plays an oona and passes back. I have a journey in my hand but i need two turns to play lands and cast it. Ultimately thats what happens, en ends up getting a single token off of oona before i can kill it with journey, and he adds more dudes to the board, as i'm struggling to keep up. not much later i was dead. The 3rd game was very similar, except after the upheaval he had 2 life, and i has 17, he had a kira in play (coming off my journey after upheaval) and i had the sorcery speed shock with flashback in my bin, as well as an inferno titan i discarded after upheaval so i could karmic guide it. I also had a keldon mauraders. So i just needed to survive to post upheaval-turn 4 to start ploping down must answer threats to his 2 life total. I topdeck incinerate before that happens, and win the game. Tom says his Elspeth Tirel in his hand would have saved him, but I was "on the play" in the post-upheaval world in terms of lands, so if i play marauder on turn 4, i plow up his land drop, and i can cast 2 5 drops before he can cast an elspeth, so i think he's just whining. :)
So, 2-1, was tons of fun, i played red, which isn't my favorite color. But i really love ajani vengeant, never drew it though. Thanks so much to @wmap for facilitating it. Tappedout.net, the site she normally uses to run the drafting protion was down, but she audibled and it ran very smoothly, despite @meddlingmage whining every 2 minutes about how slow it was. I guess HoF'ers are too busy for that. &sigh&
Release this weekend, #FF to all my cubing pals today. Also in the cube was @jakeantonetz (was on my left in the draft). see ya'll next week.
Friday again. Just finished up a cube draft with @wmap's online cube! LORDHAVEMERCY.
I drafted this monstrosity (in pick order, *'s did not make the main deck:)
Pack 1 Ajani Vengeant Bloodbraid Elf Slagstorm Duplicant Mox Diamond Ghitu Slinger Treetop Village* Beast Within* Journey to Nowhere Harrow* Molten Rain Crystal Ball* Aftershock Arbor Elf*
Troll Ascetic*
Pack 2 Path to Exile Inferno Titan Wild Nacatl* Volcanic Fallout Joraga Treespeaker* Qasali Pridemage* Incinerate Figure of Destiny Avalanche Riders Kor Skyfisher Karmic Guide Stomping Ground Keldon Marauders Pouncing Jaguar Black Vise Pack 3
Swords to Plowshares Imperious Perfect* Earthquake Chandra Nalaar Wheel of Fortune Harmonize* Comet Storm Forked Bolt* Masked Admirers* Grim Lavamancer Kird Ape* Nantuko Vigilante
Temporal Isolation* Firebolt Carnophage*The deck was a R/W/g mid-range, not a ton of dudes, but lots of removal and lots of burn. My strategy was to land a 2-3 power dude, and bash and remove, hopefully force them to commit into one of my sweepers. I'd then rinse and repeat, ideally landing a Chandra, Ajani or Inferno Titan in a long game, using Land Destruction to attempt to edge ahead. It was mostly successful. This was my first cube match, and I was really uneasy as what to expect. Since so many of the cards in the pool I was unfamiliar with, I was having trouble remembering all the cards I passed. I can see that's crucial. In my first round, I played @mtglegacy. He had a very classic style control deck. A ton of counterspells, and won both games easily off hte back of a puppeter clique. I punted really hard, thinking i was making a sick play, because I had forgotten how the wording on puppeteer clique worked.Drew Puppeteer'd my Keldon Maurauders, i should have killed the clique in response with volcanic fallout, but decided to let mauraders come in, and do it mid combat, so that he couldnt' attack with both of my creatures (assuming he'd clique my karmic guide off a persist trigger), and I kill the maurauder before damage. However, as most of you who have already face palmed by now know, if i kill the creature before puppeteer cliques ability exiles it, it goes back to my graveyard... And he clique's it again. So i got double stone rained there, and was so embarrassed i just scooped. Obv feels great in R1 of your first cube, and have one of the games top players saying, "Hmm... I think i would have played that fallout differently." was the most humbling experience in my time playing Magic. I played fine the 2nd game, almost had it, when i landed a chandra when he tapped out for either a tutor or a draw spell, I can't remember. It looked like CHandra might go the distance, with me picking off any threats he might have to deal with her. Instead, he cryptics a spell to counter it and bounce my chandra. which i never even recast. I saw at least 5 different counterspells in his deck, as well as a thieving magpie, and the puppeteer clique. I think thats all i saw. Also a couple draw spells/tutors. His deck was solid.
After that i played @thebeme. I pretty much got there with figure of destiny game 1, and g2 with a couple dudes while he was mana screwed. Not a very exciting one. :( sorry robert.
Then i played @semisober, if that isn't sweatin it, I also have spectators including @marshallLRcast and @meta_knightmare. I win the first one easily, as Tom moans about misclicks in the chat box. He wins the second one by dumping a mana vault into an upheaval while he's at 4, and I have an inferno titan in play. He plays an oona and passes back. I have a journey in my hand but i need two turns to play lands and cast it. Ultimately thats what happens, en ends up getting a single token off of oona before i can kill it with journey, and he adds more dudes to the board, as i'm struggling to keep up. not much later i was dead. The 3rd game was very similar, except after the upheaval he had 2 life, and i has 17, he had a kira in play (coming off my journey after upheaval) and i had the sorcery speed shock with flashback in my bin, as well as an inferno titan i discarded after upheaval so i could karmic guide it. I also had a keldon mauraders. So i just needed to survive to post upheaval-turn 4 to start ploping down must answer threats to his 2 life total. I topdeck incinerate before that happens, and win the game. Tom says his Elspeth Tirel in his hand would have saved him, but I was "on the play" in the post-upheaval world in terms of lands, so if i play marauder on turn 4, i plow up his land drop, and i can cast 2 5 drops before he can cast an elspeth, so i think he's just whining. :)
So, 2-1, was tons of fun, i played red, which isn't my favorite color. But i really love ajani vengeant, never drew it though. Thanks so much to @wmap for facilitating it. Tappedout.net, the site she normally uses to run the drafting protion was down, but she audibled and it ran very smoothly, despite @meddlingmage whining every 2 minutes about how slow it was. I guess HoF'ers are too busy for that. &sigh&
Release this weekend, #FF to all my cubing pals today. Also in the cube was @jakeantonetz (was on my left in the draft). see ya'll next week.
Monday, July 11, 2011
MTG Review Presents: Billicent San Juan
Hey Everyone, thanks for stopping by! Today I want to introduce you all to a good friend of mine, Billicent San Juan. I've known him as Billy for a couple years now, but I found out today, that Billy was not short for William, but Billicent. "The More You Know. ™"
If Billy isn't busy with his Psycology Externship counseling people, he's teaching his "Kitchen Table" playgroup how to draft, or hanging out at the LGS drafting, playing EDH, making perverse jokes that make everyone extremely uncomfortable, or otherwise making everyone happy he's around. When Billy told me he was interested in trying out some writing in the MtG realm, I was excited. He's got a very sharp sense of humor, and he really relates well to all types of players. He sent over his first piece, about the casual player's view of the Draft Pod Landscape, and I know He and I would both really appreciate any feedback you can provide him. I expect we'll see much more from him. Billy brings smiles and laughs like its his job.
Without Further Ado...... Billy..... San..... Juaaaaaaaaaaaaan....
Silver, Gold, and Platinum
Drafting. A simple word which can evoke so many emotions. Excitement. Fear. Confusion. Joy. Perhaps even a hint of nausea. For many Magic: The Gathering players, drafting is the ultimate experience. It's the excitement of buying cards, building decks, and playing games all condensed into a few hours.
Many people assume that the ultimate goal of a draft is to win, and they'd be right. But there are different motivations to card-picks, and varying definitions of a "victory." For some people, drafting is about pulling rares, or trying to make Shriekhorn a win condition. Some people will lose in round-zero, laughing their butts off.
I haven't drafted for very long (I started in the Shards of Alara block), but I've noticed three demographics arise in a pod. [Note: Most people will accuse me of "biting" off of Mark Rosewater's landmark article: "Timmy, Johnny, and Spike." Mea culpa.]
Silver Drafters: For Fun.
A Silver Drafter is in it for the fun. The silver medal is fine, as long as you were in the race. The process of drafting is where enjoyment lies, not in victory. They pay the money to sit with friends, pick cool cards, and play a few games. Cards are chosen not merely for the draft deck, but also to round out Standard and Legacy decks sitting at home. Sleeving cards is optional, and free mulligans are often given.
The majority of drafters are Silvers [Not to be confused with Slivers, which would just be creepy]. I suspect that in any draft pod, 3-6 players will be Silver players. They want to have a good time, relax, and play some Magic. Can you blame them?
Gold Drafters: For Win.
Gold Drafters know their DCI numbers. Gold Drafters study spoiler lists and read signals. Gold Drafters, as their name implies, are in it for the gold. They can be heard muttering phrases like, "Really? Fifth pick?" or "I'm sending you some good stuff." They often have playmats bejeweled with Top-8 pins, and their sleeves are worn with scars of battles passed.
Having Gold Drafters in your pod may seem intimidating, but it's the best thing possible for an amateur player. Gold Drafters offer great advice, so don't be afraid to ask. They've been in the beginner's seat before, and they've already made every mistake that you will make. After the draft, show your deck around and ask what they might "cut" or if you made any play mistakes. In my personal experience, Gold Drafters are happy to help anyone in the Magic community.
For the Gold Drafter, the thrill is in the victory. They put their pride on the line, and each play is a crucial moment in the tide of war. Every pick is important, and can fall into one of three categories: Main Deck, Sideboard, and Hate-draft. They are efficient and deadly. Beware.
Platinum Drafters: For $$
Every now and then, a draft pod will have a person looking for money. If, while drafting, someone is checking prices on their iPhone or constantly asking a card's trade-in value... well friend, you've got a Platinum Drafter.
People often misunderstand the Platinum Drafter, thinking he/she is after a lazy profit. After all, in an eight-man single elimination pod, you've got to get through three matches to break even. Why do all that work when you can just draft rares or foils and sell them (or trade them in, depending on your local hobby shop)? Ah, but there's more than meets the eye.
For the Platinum Drafter, the thrill isn't in the profit. It's in finding gems and treasures. It's about the release of endorphins when we encounter something promising. Every player has experienced the thrill of opening a pack, tossing aside the commons, and heading straight for the rare. The same feeling happens about 24 times in a draft, and it's what the Platinum Drafter thrives for.
***
It doesn't matter if you're a Silver, Gold, or Platinum drafter. It doesn't matter if you're a Timmy, Johnny, Spike, or Volrath. It doesn't matter if you're a beginner, casual player, or Pro. In the end, we all come together for the same reason: To play a game we love with people we can mildly tolerate.
If Billy isn't busy with his Psycology Externship counseling people, he's teaching his "Kitchen Table" playgroup how to draft, or hanging out at the LGS drafting, playing EDH, making perverse jokes that make everyone extremely uncomfortable, or otherwise making everyone happy he's around. When Billy told me he was interested in trying out some writing in the MtG realm, I was excited. He's got a very sharp sense of humor, and he really relates well to all types of players. He sent over his first piece, about the casual player's view of the Draft Pod Landscape, and I know He and I would both really appreciate any feedback you can provide him. I expect we'll see much more from him. Billy brings smiles and laughs like its his job.
Without Further Ado...... Billy..... San..... Juaaaaaaaaaaaaan....
Silver, Gold, and Platinum
Drafting. A simple word which can evoke so many emotions. Excitement. Fear. Confusion. Joy. Perhaps even a hint of nausea. For many Magic: The Gathering players, drafting is the ultimate experience. It's the excitement of buying cards, building decks, and playing games all condensed into a few hours.
Many people assume that the ultimate goal of a draft is to win, and they'd be right. But there are different motivations to card-picks, and varying definitions of a "victory." For some people, drafting is about pulling rares, or trying to make Shriekhorn a win condition. Some people will lose in round-zero, laughing their butts off.
I haven't drafted for very long (I started in the Shards of Alara block), but I've noticed three demographics arise in a pod. [Note: Most people will accuse me of "biting" off of Mark Rosewater's landmark article: "Timmy, Johnny, and Spike." Mea culpa.]
Silver Drafters: For Fun.
A Silver Drafter is in it for the fun. The silver medal is fine, as long as you were in the race. The process of drafting is where enjoyment lies, not in victory. They pay the money to sit with friends, pick cool cards, and play a few games. Cards are chosen not merely for the draft deck, but also to round out Standard and Legacy decks sitting at home. Sleeving cards is optional, and free mulligans are often given.
The majority of drafters are Silvers [Not to be confused with Slivers, which would just be creepy]. I suspect that in any draft pod, 3-6 players will be Silver players. They want to have a good time, relax, and play some Magic. Can you blame them?
Gold Drafters: For Win.
Gold Drafters know their DCI numbers. Gold Drafters study spoiler lists and read signals. Gold Drafters, as their name implies, are in it for the gold. They can be heard muttering phrases like, "Really? Fifth pick?" or "I'm sending you some good stuff." They often have playmats bejeweled with Top-8 pins, and their sleeves are worn with scars of battles passed.
Having Gold Drafters in your pod may seem intimidating, but it's the best thing possible for an amateur player. Gold Drafters offer great advice, so don't be afraid to ask. They've been in the beginner's seat before, and they've already made every mistake that you will make. After the draft, show your deck around and ask what they might "cut" or if you made any play mistakes. In my personal experience, Gold Drafters are happy to help anyone in the Magic community.
For the Gold Drafter, the thrill is in the victory. They put their pride on the line, and each play is a crucial moment in the tide of war. Every pick is important, and can fall into one of three categories: Main Deck, Sideboard, and Hate-draft. They are efficient and deadly. Beware.
Platinum Drafters: For $$
Every now and then, a draft pod will have a person looking for money. If, while drafting, someone is checking prices on their iPhone or constantly asking a card's trade-in value... well friend, you've got a Platinum Drafter.
People often misunderstand the Platinum Drafter, thinking he/she is after a lazy profit. After all, in an eight-man single elimination pod, you've got to get through three matches to break even. Why do all that work when you can just draft rares or foils and sell them (or trade them in, depending on your local hobby shop)? Ah, but there's more than meets the eye.
For the Platinum Drafter, the thrill isn't in the profit. It's in finding gems and treasures. It's about the release of endorphins when we encounter something promising. Every player has experienced the thrill of opening a pack, tossing aside the commons, and heading straight for the rare. The same feeling happens about 24 times in a draft, and it's what the Platinum Drafter thrives for.
***
It doesn't matter if you're a Silver, Gold, or Platinum drafter. It doesn't matter if you're a Timmy, Johnny, Spike, or Volrath. It doesn't matter if you're a beginner, casual player, or Pro. In the end, we all come together for the same reason: To play a game we love with people we can mildly tolerate.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Non-#FF Blog - Another week in the life of a magic player...
Here we are, thanks for spending a fraction of your Friday (or whatever day you decide to read this) with me. I'm moving away from the Follow Friday format for today, because I realize, i often #FF the same people weekly, as those are the people I "chat" with as i scroll through my feed from the past week. But in reality, #FF's should be people I appreciate listening to, more than talking to/with. I'll come back to #FF's next week, I'm thinking of making it a 2-4 person limit, so I don't get overwhelmed trying to include everyone who included me in a mention that week, and I can also say a little more about why they deserve a follow. (As always, if you feel you're not getting love, make sure i'm following you!)
Last weekend, a friend of mine, who is a casual player, wanted me to help him out with preparation for the Overextended game day at our LGS Jul 3rd. He's primarily an EDH guy, who's just beginning to dabble in building his cube, and I planned to show him how a spike prepares for a tournament. I show up at his house, and he's got nicely printed proxies for his deck sleeved up, and he's ready to test out his Astral Slide brew. I brought 12 printed decklists, a sharpie, and about 200 basic lands. I said, well, what's your worst matchup? I was anxious to take the U/W/B stoneforge control list for a spin, and figured it would be sharp enough to knock any johnny dreams out of his eyes, and we could get down to brass tacks to fix his homebrew. He kind of scoffed and said something like, "Eh, that match up should be easy." I chuckled, and said, well if I'm going to play in this tournament, I'll likely play this, so do you mind if we run a few quick ones with this. He was busy fiddling with his deck, he didn't even notice I was about 90% done proxying the deck, and he agreed. After 10 games, I finally won one, on the back of manascrew, none-the-less. Woah. He wasn't joking. He told me he hadn't even tested the deck against anything, but it sure as shit crushed any equipment based strategy. It made my value-bears seem like Eldrazi Spawn tokens. My only way to win was to try and jace him out, but eventually a storm of Qasali Pridemages and Eternal Witnesses would knock me down. Next I proxied up the 12-post U/G deck, and woah, my first run through was T1 Cloudpost, T2 Cloudpost, Signet. T3, Tree of Tales,into a Primeval Titan, to get a 3rd and 4th cloudpost T4 Eye, hard cast Emrakul. with a couple mana left for condescend if something unforseen happens. While, that's basically the nut-hand, I fell in love. It reminded me of casting Emrakul off a Brilliant Ultimatum not too long ago in Standard. This matchup was not as good for him, but i was able to point out some key flaws in his game play that i think will help him. After running this game for 10 tries, i started to proxy up a Zoo deck, and he said he'd had his fill. At first i was disappointed, he seemed really motivated to try out the decks, and i had driven a long way and taken the time to organize a gauntlet for him, so I was bummed he wasn't willing to really test the deck. Then I realized, He just wanted to play some magic with me. "Oh Yeah, we play this game cuz its fun, sometimes." We chit-chatted a bit longer, and after i looked at the 12-post deck more closely, and my friend mentioned 20 proxies were allowed, I decided to try and throw it together. Within a few days I'd traded for all the pieces I needed (allowing for the 20proxy space) and have tested with anyone willing at our LGS. THis format is so much fun, and while I had no intention of playing in the event (because the prize support is so poor with respect to the entry fee), now i just want to play in the event. During the week I also helped a friend brew up a Melira Combo deck, and man, i wouldn't be surprised if he takes down the whole event with it. If i had the cards to play it also, i probably would. He was testing it against people's legacy decks (because most people didn't have overextended built) and was crushing it. I did manage to win a test game where he had an arbitrarily large amount of life, though. I had 6 or 7 cloud posts in play after a long drawn out game, as well as an eye of ugin, and i basically had to continously tutor an emrakul, take an extra turn, attack, tutor my 2nd emrakul to take an extra turn and legend bomb, and keep repeating the process as my emrakuls would shuffle back in. I said, "I'll just keep doin this till you're dead, right?" he said, "well won't you still deck out before you kill me?" I pointed at my Acadamy Ruins in play, and my expedition map in my graveyard... "nope." Pretty cool. I love decks like this that are so powerful but can find interesting ways to win in unusual circumstances.
It turns out that I may not be able to play in the event, which is a bummer, but oh well. I may catch up with my closest friend from youth, for the 4th of July weekend. I keep reminding myself that i didn't even want to play in this tournament a couple weeks ago. It appears my casual-player friend really rubbed off on me that day.
Further, Sunday marks the Planeswalker tournament on MTGO. Thanks to the Community Cup team, i got a free Planeswalker pack, and entry to the Planeswalker tournament on Sunday at 9am. Just for participating I'll get a M11 booster, and if i manage to win a few games i'll get a few more. I checked out this format, and boy is it weird. I'm actually kinda curious as to why this is the format that was chosen. My speculation is its a non-monetary prize for everyone, but you have to participate in the event to get something of value out of it. That part makes sense. What doesn't make sense is this format. Even @modogodot didn't understand my explanation of what this format is. Essentially there are 4 planeswalker packs you can buy on MTGO, and they are Gold Bordered cards, like collectors edition. These cards can only be used in Planeswalker format online. Each pack has a hanful of precon configurations you can run, but it appears each one is geared towards one of the actual Planeswalkers. THe one I got thanks to the #mtgocc, is the Nissa Revane pack. I'm assuming everyoen got the same one. It is the original planeswalker pack. It has a decent Elf deck included, with pieces available to splash into any of the other colors. This format also has no Sideboard, but includes many cards that should really belong in the sideboard. This was hard for me. Could I really have Terror be my only removal spell? What if i play against a black deck. Am I really going to maindeck some Deathmarks? What about Natrualize? My pool has a Loxodon Warhammer in it, so I assume I'll be seeing that card a lot. What deck isn't going to include that card. I toyed around with the elf precon, tweaking and tweaking, and took it for a test spin in the New Players room (which is the only place i could find people playing this format). My first go around, I died to a T3 Emeria Angel, followed by a T4 Baneslayer Angel. My next match was a Kor equipment deck that involved a Kor Duelist wearing a Kitesail and followed by, you guessed it, a loxodon warhammer. That game didn't last long either. Because these games are without sideboard, most players are looking to play single game matches. I'm assuming thats what the format will be like this weekend also. I double checked my cardpool to make sure I didn't have a Baneslayer Angel that I had just overlooked, and this is when I realized there were other Planeswalker packs than the one I had. Now it makes sense, of course wizards needs some kind of way to encourage me to buy something for this event. I was starting to worry about those guys up there, but the fact that i almost considered buying another one, so that I could have Vampire Nighthawks, Baneslayers and more at my disposal was telling. It also was obvious to me that this is an awesome tactic for teaching new players the way this game works, and getting them used to buying more product. I overheard (overread?) some people in the New Players room asking ORC's how to buy more cards. To be so naive again.... *wanders off wistfully* I digress. I realized even though an additional planeswalker pack is only $5, I'm only playing for a few boosters here, and you can't use these cards in any other MTGO format, so I slapped myself in the face and wisened up. I re-evaluated my pool, realizing I needed to be prepared for more than just the cards I see here. I had thought everyoen was looking at the same pool as me, but that was not the case. I loaded up on removal, and my elf deck had less elves, and more black cards like Nekrataal *drool*. Eventually i scrolled down to the gold cards and saw there was copies of Sprouting Thrinax. Most cards didn't have more than a couple copies each, so this was a good find. I had also already come to accept that Rampant Growth was going to be a 4of, and there was also a Rampant Growth on a stick that gave a 1/1 body for an additional mana, as well as civic wayfinder. Those three became my only non-gold green cards, and I built a Jund deck, maximizing my playset of Blightnings by also runing two copies of The Rack. If i wake up early enough on Sunday, I'll be playing this:
Jund Rack - A planeswalker format (using only cards from the original Planeswalker Pack1)
4x Rampant Growth
4x Blightning
4x Rampant Grown on a stick guy
2x Civic Wayfinder
4x Mind Rot
1x Mind Shatter
1x Nath the token making elf
2x Broodmate Dragon
3x Terror
1x Final Revels
1x Destroy Target Non-Elf
3x Incinerate
1x Flameblast Dragon
2x THE RACK
1x Loxodon Warhammer
1x Nekrataal
1x Naturalize
and a bunch of random dudes, i'm having trouble remembering now, and the *.dek file doesn't show me the card names. It's a surprisingly decent Jund deck. I did find that i was not very good against pacificsm, and apparently thats the white removal spell of choice in this format. I rolled a bunch of people in the New Player room, and while that's nothing to write home about, i did steamroll the mirror match twice, with the Rack being the key player to break the blightning mirror. I basically used it to outrace an opponents Thrinax. There is also a Thieving magpie deck that apparently has 12 counterspells in it, which makes a bloodbraid-less Jund pretty embarrassing. I have to get a dragon down to win that match. Mind Spring and Tidings mainboard essentially negate my Racks. Did I mention these are 1 game matches without sideboard? so awkward. The deck is decent, but the format just isn't that much fun to play. It feels like a busted sealed pool, but you're battling against other busted sealed pools (or someone who bought all 4 sealed pools). At a minimum i'll try to at least log in to collect my single pack, and play if I'm feeling up to it.
Finally had some success with drafting in the past week. Had a sweet G/W infect deck, that i'll certainly try to draft again at my next NPH draft. Starting with a1st pick triumph of the horde 2nd pick Shriek raptor, and a 4th pick infect Bear, I commited to the archetype early. I normally wouldn't suggest doing this, but because its a fringe archetype, you're rewarded for choosing it and sticking with it. I ended up with 2 Shriek Raptors, 3 Lost leonin, 3 Tine Shrikes and 1 priest of norn. That's a solid amount of White infect guys. I didn't get many of the green ones, instead focused on pumpspells, and grabbed artifact dudes in pack 3. It turns out there was a green infect player on my right, he'd take a green infect guy, and i'd take the pumpspell right behind him. It was actually pretty awesome. It's also pretty sweet knowing you can get a couple Seize the Initiative in Pack3, as this card gains a ton of value in Infect strategies. I easily ran through my opponents with this deck, and you're able to table extremely awesome commons in packs 1 and 2 like Tine Shrike and Shreik Raptor.
The next draft I also opened a Triumph and immediately thought to build the same deck, but was passed an Act of Aggression and went into Red. I had a number of Razor swines in this deck, as well as a late voltcharge. I was able to get a ton of green guys to fill out my curve, and my deck was pretty aggressive. A late Trigon of Rage Pack 3 sealed the deal.
I also won a draft with a typical G/B infect deck. I passed a Red Sun Zenith for a Flesh Eater Imp, here, and many ridiculed me with things like, "You never pass fireball!" I tried to tell them that Flesh Eater Imp was an infect Fireball, and actually had synergy with my deck. I didn't like passing it, but i'd do it again. I really do think the top tier infect guys are more important than removal in an infect strategy. While you certainly can't forgo removal all together, you need to have threats to apply. That deck had 3 blightwidows in it too *drool*. There was a point where I had 2 Blight Widows, a Scourge Servant and a Flesh Eater Imp on table. I had just cast the imp and bashed with 1 servant and 1 Blightwidow, and my opponent was at 8 poison. My opponent tapps out for Cerebral eruption, and I'm at 12 life, and I have a mutagenic growth in my hand. What do? I mentioned this on twitter, and got some interesting responses. It turns out it wouldn't matter what I had done, but it's a really intersesting choice. My deck had 1 5-drop remaining in the library, as well as a spinebiter 6 drop. It was pretty thick at 3 and 4 drops, with a some 1-2 drop pump spells. I think What i did was wrong. I paid 2 life for Mutagenic growth to fall to 10, and pumped my imp, and let the Eruption resolve. Of course it hits the Spinebiter, I lose my board and fall to 4, and die to an attack of a myr token and a Furnace Scamp (+sac). I likely should have also sac'd my servant to the flesh eater, if i was going to pump it up to 6. That way I still have a blocker in the worst case scenario of the 6 drop coming, although i'd be forced to trade it with the furnace scamp. Was a tough call. I ended up winning the match anyway, but that was such a blowout and interesting decision.
I also had a G/U ramp deck, featuring vorniclex, Maul Splicer, Green sun zenith, 3 mana myr, a Emmisary, and a sphere of the suns and a bunch of 4 and 5 drop fliers and a myr battlesphere. I lost single handedly to the white chancellor both games, and it was pretty embarassing. I was staring at this chancellor with 6 lands in play staring at a maul splicer, Phyrexian Juggernaut, and the 6-drop 4/4 flier in my hand wanting to die. I boarded in two pistus strikes, but never found one game 2, and died in the same fashion. This time I had ramped up to 8, and died with vorniclex in my hand without being able to pay the 1 for chancellor.
The chess game with @Bgardnerdurbin is near completion. Looks like i might lose this one. I felt like i was ahead the whole game, but he turned it around late with a move I wasn't expecting. I think we're pretty well matched opponents, so i'll be trying to get my rematch! Anyone else who is interested in some correspondence chess, sign up for an account at Chess.com and add me (user name ChadHavas).
Have a great weekend, all!
Last weekend, a friend of mine, who is a casual player, wanted me to help him out with preparation for the Overextended game day at our LGS Jul 3rd. He's primarily an EDH guy, who's just beginning to dabble in building his cube, and I planned to show him how a spike prepares for a tournament. I show up at his house, and he's got nicely printed proxies for his deck sleeved up, and he's ready to test out his Astral Slide brew. I brought 12 printed decklists, a sharpie, and about 200 basic lands. I said, well, what's your worst matchup? I was anxious to take the U/W/B stoneforge control list for a spin, and figured it would be sharp enough to knock any johnny dreams out of his eyes, and we could get down to brass tacks to fix his homebrew. He kind of scoffed and said something like, "Eh, that match up should be easy." I chuckled, and said, well if I'm going to play in this tournament, I'll likely play this, so do you mind if we run a few quick ones with this. He was busy fiddling with his deck, he didn't even notice I was about 90% done proxying the deck, and he agreed. After 10 games, I finally won one, on the back of manascrew, none-the-less. Woah. He wasn't joking. He told me he hadn't even tested the deck against anything, but it sure as shit crushed any equipment based strategy. It made my value-bears seem like Eldrazi Spawn tokens. My only way to win was to try and jace him out, but eventually a storm of Qasali Pridemages and Eternal Witnesses would knock me down. Next I proxied up the 12-post U/G deck, and woah, my first run through was T1 Cloudpost, T2 Cloudpost, Signet. T3, Tree of Tales,into a Primeval Titan, to get a 3rd and 4th cloudpost T4 Eye, hard cast Emrakul. with a couple mana left for condescend if something unforseen happens. While, that's basically the nut-hand, I fell in love. It reminded me of casting Emrakul off a Brilliant Ultimatum not too long ago in Standard. This matchup was not as good for him, but i was able to point out some key flaws in his game play that i think will help him. After running this game for 10 tries, i started to proxy up a Zoo deck, and he said he'd had his fill. At first i was disappointed, he seemed really motivated to try out the decks, and i had driven a long way and taken the time to organize a gauntlet for him, so I was bummed he wasn't willing to really test the deck. Then I realized, He just wanted to play some magic with me. "Oh Yeah, we play this game cuz its fun, sometimes." We chit-chatted a bit longer, and after i looked at the 12-post deck more closely, and my friend mentioned 20 proxies were allowed, I decided to try and throw it together. Within a few days I'd traded for all the pieces I needed (allowing for the 20proxy space) and have tested with anyone willing at our LGS. THis format is so much fun, and while I had no intention of playing in the event (because the prize support is so poor with respect to the entry fee), now i just want to play in the event. During the week I also helped a friend brew up a Melira Combo deck, and man, i wouldn't be surprised if he takes down the whole event with it. If i had the cards to play it also, i probably would. He was testing it against people's legacy decks (because most people didn't have overextended built) and was crushing it. I did manage to win a test game where he had an arbitrarily large amount of life, though. I had 6 or 7 cloud posts in play after a long drawn out game, as well as an eye of ugin, and i basically had to continously tutor an emrakul, take an extra turn, attack, tutor my 2nd emrakul to take an extra turn and legend bomb, and keep repeating the process as my emrakuls would shuffle back in. I said, "I'll just keep doin this till you're dead, right?" he said, "well won't you still deck out before you kill me?" I pointed at my Acadamy Ruins in play, and my expedition map in my graveyard... "nope." Pretty cool. I love decks like this that are so powerful but can find interesting ways to win in unusual circumstances.
It turns out that I may not be able to play in the event, which is a bummer, but oh well. I may catch up with my closest friend from youth, for the 4th of July weekend. I keep reminding myself that i didn't even want to play in this tournament a couple weeks ago. It appears my casual-player friend really rubbed off on me that day.
Further, Sunday marks the Planeswalker tournament on MTGO. Thanks to the Community Cup team, i got a free Planeswalker pack, and entry to the Planeswalker tournament on Sunday at 9am. Just for participating I'll get a M11 booster, and if i manage to win a few games i'll get a few more. I checked out this format, and boy is it weird. I'm actually kinda curious as to why this is the format that was chosen. My speculation is its a non-monetary prize for everyone, but you have to participate in the event to get something of value out of it. That part makes sense. What doesn't make sense is this format. Even @modogodot didn't understand my explanation of what this format is. Essentially there are 4 planeswalker packs you can buy on MTGO, and they are Gold Bordered cards, like collectors edition. These cards can only be used in Planeswalker format online. Each pack has a hanful of precon configurations you can run, but it appears each one is geared towards one of the actual Planeswalkers. THe one I got thanks to the #mtgocc, is the Nissa Revane pack. I'm assuming everyoen got the same one. It is the original planeswalker pack. It has a decent Elf deck included, with pieces available to splash into any of the other colors. This format also has no Sideboard, but includes many cards that should really belong in the sideboard. This was hard for me. Could I really have Terror be my only removal spell? What if i play against a black deck. Am I really going to maindeck some Deathmarks? What about Natrualize? My pool has a Loxodon Warhammer in it, so I assume I'll be seeing that card a lot. What deck isn't going to include that card. I toyed around with the elf precon, tweaking and tweaking, and took it for a test spin in the New Players room (which is the only place i could find people playing this format). My first go around, I died to a T3 Emeria Angel, followed by a T4 Baneslayer Angel. My next match was a Kor equipment deck that involved a Kor Duelist wearing a Kitesail and followed by, you guessed it, a loxodon warhammer. That game didn't last long either. Because these games are without sideboard, most players are looking to play single game matches. I'm assuming thats what the format will be like this weekend also. I double checked my cardpool to make sure I didn't have a Baneslayer Angel that I had just overlooked, and this is when I realized there were other Planeswalker packs than the one I had. Now it makes sense, of course wizards needs some kind of way to encourage me to buy something for this event. I was starting to worry about those guys up there, but the fact that i almost considered buying another one, so that I could have Vampire Nighthawks, Baneslayers and more at my disposal was telling. It also was obvious to me that this is an awesome tactic for teaching new players the way this game works, and getting them used to buying more product. I overheard (overread?) some people in the New Players room asking ORC's how to buy more cards. To be so naive again.... *wanders off wistfully* I digress. I realized even though an additional planeswalker pack is only $5, I'm only playing for a few boosters here, and you can't use these cards in any other MTGO format, so I slapped myself in the face and wisened up. I re-evaluated my pool, realizing I needed to be prepared for more than just the cards I see here. I had thought everyoen was looking at the same pool as me, but that was not the case. I loaded up on removal, and my elf deck had less elves, and more black cards like Nekrataal *drool*. Eventually i scrolled down to the gold cards and saw there was copies of Sprouting Thrinax. Most cards didn't have more than a couple copies each, so this was a good find. I had also already come to accept that Rampant Growth was going to be a 4of, and there was also a Rampant Growth on a stick that gave a 1/1 body for an additional mana, as well as civic wayfinder. Those three became my only non-gold green cards, and I built a Jund deck, maximizing my playset of Blightnings by also runing two copies of The Rack. If i wake up early enough on Sunday, I'll be playing this:
Jund Rack - A planeswalker format (using only cards from the original Planeswalker Pack1)
4x Rampant Growth
4x Blightning
4x Rampant Grown on a stick guy
2x Civic Wayfinder
4x Mind Rot
1x Mind Shatter
1x Nath the token making elf
2x Broodmate Dragon
3x Terror
1x Final Revels
1x Destroy Target Non-Elf
3x Incinerate
1x Flameblast Dragon
2x THE RACK
1x Loxodon Warhammer
1x Nekrataal
1x Naturalize
and a bunch of random dudes, i'm having trouble remembering now, and the *.dek file doesn't show me the card names. It's a surprisingly decent Jund deck. I did find that i was not very good against pacificsm, and apparently thats the white removal spell of choice in this format. I rolled a bunch of people in the New Player room, and while that's nothing to write home about, i did steamroll the mirror match twice, with the Rack being the key player to break the blightning mirror. I basically used it to outrace an opponents Thrinax. There is also a Thieving magpie deck that apparently has 12 counterspells in it, which makes a bloodbraid-less Jund pretty embarrassing. I have to get a dragon down to win that match. Mind Spring and Tidings mainboard essentially negate my Racks. Did I mention these are 1 game matches without sideboard? so awkward. The deck is decent, but the format just isn't that much fun to play. It feels like a busted sealed pool, but you're battling against other busted sealed pools (or someone who bought all 4 sealed pools). At a minimum i'll try to at least log in to collect my single pack, and play if I'm feeling up to it.
Finally had some success with drafting in the past week. Had a sweet G/W infect deck, that i'll certainly try to draft again at my next NPH draft. Starting with a1st pick triumph of the horde 2nd pick Shriek raptor, and a 4th pick infect Bear, I commited to the archetype early. I normally wouldn't suggest doing this, but because its a fringe archetype, you're rewarded for choosing it and sticking with it. I ended up with 2 Shriek Raptors, 3 Lost leonin, 3 Tine Shrikes and 1 priest of norn. That's a solid amount of White infect guys. I didn't get many of the green ones, instead focused on pumpspells, and grabbed artifact dudes in pack 3. It turns out there was a green infect player on my right, he'd take a green infect guy, and i'd take the pumpspell right behind him. It was actually pretty awesome. It's also pretty sweet knowing you can get a couple Seize the Initiative in Pack3, as this card gains a ton of value in Infect strategies. I easily ran through my opponents with this deck, and you're able to table extremely awesome commons in packs 1 and 2 like Tine Shrike and Shreik Raptor.
The next draft I also opened a Triumph and immediately thought to build the same deck, but was passed an Act of Aggression and went into Red. I had a number of Razor swines in this deck, as well as a late voltcharge. I was able to get a ton of green guys to fill out my curve, and my deck was pretty aggressive. A late Trigon of Rage Pack 3 sealed the deal.
I also won a draft with a typical G/B infect deck. I passed a Red Sun Zenith for a Flesh Eater Imp, here, and many ridiculed me with things like, "You never pass fireball!" I tried to tell them that Flesh Eater Imp was an infect Fireball, and actually had synergy with my deck. I didn't like passing it, but i'd do it again. I really do think the top tier infect guys are more important than removal in an infect strategy. While you certainly can't forgo removal all together, you need to have threats to apply. That deck had 3 blightwidows in it too *drool*. There was a point where I had 2 Blight Widows, a Scourge Servant and a Flesh Eater Imp on table. I had just cast the imp and bashed with 1 servant and 1 Blightwidow, and my opponent was at 8 poison. My opponent tapps out for Cerebral eruption, and I'm at 12 life, and I have a mutagenic growth in my hand. What do? I mentioned this on twitter, and got some interesting responses. It turns out it wouldn't matter what I had done, but it's a really intersesting choice. My deck had 1 5-drop remaining in the library, as well as a spinebiter 6 drop. It was pretty thick at 3 and 4 drops, with a some 1-2 drop pump spells. I think What i did was wrong. I paid 2 life for Mutagenic growth to fall to 10, and pumped my imp, and let the Eruption resolve. Of course it hits the Spinebiter, I lose my board and fall to 4, and die to an attack of a myr token and a Furnace Scamp (+sac). I likely should have also sac'd my servant to the flesh eater, if i was going to pump it up to 6. That way I still have a blocker in the worst case scenario of the 6 drop coming, although i'd be forced to trade it with the furnace scamp. Was a tough call. I ended up winning the match anyway, but that was such a blowout and interesting decision.
I also had a G/U ramp deck, featuring vorniclex, Maul Splicer, Green sun zenith, 3 mana myr, a Emmisary, and a sphere of the suns and a bunch of 4 and 5 drop fliers and a myr battlesphere. I lost single handedly to the white chancellor both games, and it was pretty embarassing. I was staring at this chancellor with 6 lands in play staring at a maul splicer, Phyrexian Juggernaut, and the 6-drop 4/4 flier in my hand wanting to die. I boarded in two pistus strikes, but never found one game 2, and died in the same fashion. This time I had ramped up to 8, and died with vorniclex in my hand without being able to pay the 1 for chancellor.
The chess game with @Bgardnerdurbin is near completion. Looks like i might lose this one. I felt like i was ahead the whole game, but he turned it around late with a move I wasn't expecting. I think we're pretty well matched opponents, so i'll be trying to get my rematch! Anyone else who is interested in some correspondence chess, sign up for an account at Chess.com and add me (user name ChadHavas).
Have a great weekend, all!
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