Happenings

I drafted Amonket last Friday, came in 2nd. Lost to the first place guy 1-2. He had a B/U control deck. Had a chance in first game, but Lay Claim busted it. Second game I rolled him big time. Third game I shouldn't have mulliganed my opening hand and paid dearly for it. Got a bye 2nd round, not disappointed. Third round I rolled up.
(aside: The FNM Aether Hub is sweet looking.)
I did not set out to draft R/W, but that's what came my way. I started out with U/B, then shifted about 4 picks in. Turns out to be the correct decision. I didn't have the SUPER quick agro R/W, but solid curve, and enough things to handle stalled board states.

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I've jumped on to the DeckBox trade site. Been fairly happy with the quality of the trading. Super disappointed with mailing internationally, even just to Canada. I shut down all trades outside of the US because of the crap mailing and tracking. Blech.

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Well, it was bound to happen- I actually spent cash money on Legacy only cards. In this case, a play set of Ancient Tombs. I got them for a really good price, and I have found that these are staples for most Legacy decks I seem to want to play. Solid investment for now, unless they reprint, in which case- blech.  :)
Speaking of investment, I just saw the increase in price for a Chalice of the Void, it was only $5 about three years ago. Now? $65 to $75. Yikes! Even more surprising, the original Mirrodin one is slightly cheaper.

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I hung with a couple buddies at the MTG First "Quest for Power" over a week ago. Wish I could have played in it, but that was not meant to be. Timing was bad, as I had family obligations at 1pm. Secondly, I didn't have all the legal cards I would need to play. I am gonna guess I could have gotten away with the proxies I had, but I ain't risking it. Hence why I really started trying to focus on one deck to play for now. I am slowly building out needs for a second, like Blood Moons and Show and Tell. Relatively cheap Legacy staples for now.
The nice thing was my buddies were willing to chip in the cards I might need to flesh out the deck to be legal. Felt good to be supported, but not sure how I would have done. My White Eldrazi deck seems to have missed its landing point. Still would have been fun to play.
(Note, one buddy was playing Red Prison. Started 3-0, then tumbled to 3-3 and wound up 25th in a 117 person field. Not TOO shabby.)

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Lastly, I am a sucker. A SUCKER I tell you.
I got more Beta Basic lands, and had them shipped off to get signed. That's right, I am getting basic lands signed by the artists. Why?
Here is a very sad fact, I am trying to get ten of each for my draft lands. Yup, I'm gonna be "that guy" who plays a draft with basic lands which are more valuable than anything you draft.
When I got back in, I realized I wanted beta basic lands to play with... and I am nearly there. I think I need about 3-4 more forest. (not picking up signed Rush ones, have 3, and that's good enough) And I think I need 3 more Swamp. Otherwise, I should be good.
I need to get the rest of my Plains signed up, and off to the double sleeves for use.