Legacy week #13

Its been just about 2 months since I played Legacy on a Thursday night. Lots of things happened on Thursday nights. Thanksgiving, wife taking some time, kids events, etc. It just piled all up during November and December.

I also noticed during my downtime, I tended to be less active on trading and acquiring. I still was very much staying on the input phase of the world- podcasts, some message boards, and YouTube recordings. Twitch is nearly impossible for me to get to watch, carving out a time to watching live play just doesn't fit my life.

During my off time, I had been thinking about what to do with my credit at the store from the last night I was there. The best thing I could think of was another Sneak Attack.


I spent some time during my break to adjust D&T, dropped a R. Port for an Ancient Tomb. Also put in a Remorseful Cleric and Thalia, Heretic Cathar. Both seem like solid choices for now.
The downside to tinkering with D&T, the deck is in a bad place right now. I believe if you are a good pilot of the deck, you can get some wins. However, in a room of good players who know their decks- D&T is average at best right now. Too many grindy decks trying to out value everything you are doing. D&T just can't combat that strategy effectively at the moment. I think tinkering with splashing red might be best. I do like the idea of the Goblin Cratermaker build. It intrigues me.

Then November 21st hit. I had been eyeing up a set of Chalice of the Void for nearly a year. The Masters 25 edition had been lagging behind because, well, Masters 25. I found a playset on eBay being offered at buy-it-now for $139.99. Then two things happened- I sold an unused snowblower for $100, and an eBay 15% off sale occurred. I snapped up the set for $118.99. (less than $30 a card)

Woot. Upgrade complete.


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I wound up taking Sneak and Tell to Legacy. I had been painting for two days, and my brain and body were not up to thinking too hard. Besides, who doesn't want to sling spaghetti? (the Timmy in me loves just doing stupid things with broken cards)

I made two adjustments to the deck- I removed 1 Omniscience to go down to 2, replacing it with Sneak Attack. And the second was in the sideboard- removing 2 Blood Moon for 2 Defense Grid.
Why Defense Grid? Because Jerry Mee said it was good. (Sneak and Tell expert, and co-host of my favorite Legacy podcast, Leaving a Legacy) I briefly reviewed his published sideboarding plan on the Sneak & Show FB group, and the Defense Grid caught my eye. Also, his comment about how many players never consider taking the Lotus Petal out against grindy matchups also caught my eye. Both moves proved to be very very good.


Round 1 vs AK Miracles  (Adam)

Game 1- Lost game 1, just out countered me. I should have waited 1 turn because I would have had another counter which would have likely won me the game. I knew it was on the top of my deck because of Ponder. I've got that problem- being inpatient.

Game 2- I believe I got there with a quick Griselbrand and he conceded.

Game 3- I dropped a turn 2 Defense Grid which really slowed his answers, but allowed me to cantrip my way to victory. He said he ordered his land drops incorrectly which helped lead to his demise, but my tired brain wasn't sure to be honest.



Round 2 vs Pile, I think (lots of shiny cards)

Game 1- Lost to counterwar.

Game 2- Countered an early Leovold, and followed by a quick victory with a Emrakul.

Game 3- Got Hymned out of existence. Hard to come back after all your key pieces are in he bin. It happens.



Round 3 vs Grixis control

He knew I was on either Sneak and Tell, or D&T. That's all I ever bring to Legacy. Good for him to remember cause I have a hard time even remembering people's names. lol.

Game 1- Solid opening hand, blew the hinges off the doors. Quick game 1 victory.

Game 2- COMPLETELY stupid keep. It had solid draws, but 1 land- a fetch. I thought I could cantrip my way to land, and was completely wrong. He picked apart my feeble attempts to get out of the hole I had dug. It was sad.

Game 3- I had 3 digging cards and a Defense Grid. No threats, but with the D. Grid in play, I felt safer to locate what I needed. I dropped a Sneak Attack, and then found an Emrakul. That emptied my hand and he was left with an empty board and 5 life. I've seen this play before where I lose because I can't peel off a creature. I was just waiting for death to Baleful Strix. Maybe I could cantrip in to a creature? Instead I top deck another Emrakul. Muahahahaha.


Summary- the Defense Grid was massive in grindy control matchups. It did exactly what I needed it too. Much more so than the Blood Moon would ever do. If Eldrazi becomes a thing locally, I might switch back, but with Grixis and Miracles dominating, Defense Grid is a must have for now.
Also of note- I finally saw someone playing TES. It wasn't against me, and the guy is super nice. I think people hate combo and that deck and combo. It just takes too much thinking for my liking. I like doing big stupid things.

Next week- I am going to nail down an Eldrazi-Post build. Something like this. My sideboard is going to consist of 4 Leyline of the Void, and 4 Leyline of Sanctity. Lol!

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2-1, $20 in store credit. So I had $35 in store credit. I was going through binders between rounds because, well, Sneak & Tell gives you lots of down time.  lol.
I found a signed Alpha Swamp for $20. I looked up the value and it was up to $35. I did not have any Alpha swamps for basic land collection. And at $20, it was free from my victory. So I grabbed that and a Sneak Attack for $5.35 total.

As you can see below, while off center, the card is in amazing shape- LP!

One of those days

Legacy has been off the table due to family conflicts since Thanksgiving. Just not well positioned to play those nights for now. It hurts a bit because I think I started getting in to a good place with decks and understanding the local meta.  Oh fudge.

I went the past two Fridays to draft Guilds. First time I drafted, I did HORRIBLY. Like not even a rare in my deck bad. No wait, correction, I did have one rare- Nacromoeba. (i.e. Not the rare of choice) I had never drafted Guilds to be honest. Then I went back this past Friday. It was a small crowd, like 4 players showed.

*screeching brakes sound*

First, let me say this. I had a really good Friday. Had some amazing stuff happen at work. Perfect timing for a draft night. Got to the shop early to jam some stupid legacy decks. Hung out, and did things.
Ok, that all said, I even figured out my lane in the road in terms of guild to draft- Dimir. Honestly, with my extra cards I might have been able to play a whole second deck of Boros. It was a good call. It also turns out, if you land playable rares- you have a fighting chance. I wound up in Dimir. I had like 4 Darkblade Agents. lol.
My MVPs were, without a doubt, Connive//Concoct, and Quasiduplicate. Man sakes alive. Just crushed hopes and dreams. I did all the things I could hope to do. Countering spells, stealing stuff, copying stuff, and recycling cards. Oh, it was uberfabulous. I even managed to beat the best player at FNM draft. I thought I had screwed the pooch with Quasiduplicate in hand and blocked with my Nightveil Predator.

It was just a good day all around. Only won 3 packs, but I will take it! Winning felt good that night, and all day.


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Hoping to land some cheaper Ultimate Masters card I need while the prices are depressed. Some have already rebounded, but not for cards I need like All Is Dust. (already ticking back up over $5)

Decisions were made

I'll admit it, these are all proxies. White core, cheap proxies. This is also not all the Force of Will cards I have. I believe I have another 4 in another deck I am slowly compiling. That makes about 22 Force of Will proxies for some reason.

They are blatantly obvious proxies. Waxy finish, white core. However, when you sleeve them up, and don't pay too close attention- they are perfect for play testing and turning them sideways with friends.

I have a problem with falling for interesting deck ideas. Seriously. Another problem- I like legacy best. Not Vintage, not Modern, not Standard. Heck I have only one commander deck which is a pre-constructed.
Currently, I have a fully paper legal D&T deck with plenty of options. I have a 75% paper legal Sneak/Tell deck. (missing the most expensive bits) I have 60-7-% of the Lumberjack deck.

I also forgot I had a fully proxy deck of Lands and a almost all proxy version of RUG Delver.

Now I am building out the mono-blue Wizards deck. I'm crazy. There is no good reason for making this wizards deck. Actually, there might be one, I am putting it together to annoy someone. Seems like a good reason to me. LOL!

Pause in playing

Life happens and my enjoyment of the game hasn't changed. I haven't been to legacy in a month now, and I won't get back to until next week I believe. Thanksgiving happened, other events overtook my game time, and generally scheduling did not work out in favor of playing the game.

I have been tweaking my D&T list a smidgen. I took out one of my Ports and put in an Ancient Tomb. I've noticed Thraben U has added a Tomb as well, however he only runs 2 Karakas. I am still in favor of 3 of those. Yes, it is a feel bad to have 2 at times, but I like the better odds to fight off things like B/R reanimator, Dark Depths critters, and various Sneak/Show attacks.


Speaking of Sneak/Show- there has been an uptick in the results players have seen with the deck. I don't want to seem too selfish, but stop bringing the light to the deck! I love other players not having any sideboard for me. Muahahahahahahahaha!



Auction update- nothing. I dabbled in a VERY high end one over the weekend, but I just could not commit hundreds of dollars to various cards I was interested in. The "value" of one set of cards was about 1500, and I just couldn't justify putting out 500-700 to secure that then sweating to offload enough to get the rest for free.
[Editor's note: my entire goal with these auctions is to get magic either super cheap or free. Generally I like to be able to either get sets of cards which I can flip some of it to pay for the rest. I know it seems silly, but when I have young kids at home, budgets are needed or in my case- find a way to have the effort support itself while being able to grow.]


Last note- I've been doing some playing on Arena. I am still not loving the Standard meta, but I want to keep grinding to pick up a card base. Eventually, I hope, there will be a time in the future when cards start to rotate out creating a new meta.
I have no clue how Arena will address that meta when you can no longer get the 'older' cards. Wild cards only? There is no way to trade, buy, sell.... so, lets see how they handle it.
[If you want to challenge me directly on Arena, LET ME KNOW!]

Legacy week #12

This is my last weekly Legacy for a couple weeks, got some vacationing to do! So with that in mind, I brought a fun deck this week, Omni/Sneak/Tell.
I had incorrectly assumed there was less counter magic floating around locally, boy howdy was I wrong. After my first round, I walked around to see what folks were running and I saw too much counter magic and the sideboards were flush with red-blasts.

Oh well.

Round 1 vs 4 color pile. (I think)

I honestly am not sure what he was running. What I saw from his deck in a later round and what I saw initially were two different things. Go figure. I took it 2-1, but I don't even recall how I won it 2-1. I do recall having a bad line play, and a Diabolic Edict. Though I do also recall Sneak Attack winning me game 3.

Round 2 vs br reanimator

First game I knew it was going to be tough when he announced "pre-game effect." Then displayed a Chancellor of the Annex. I threw a Lotus Petal at the effect, then countered a reanimate and promptly scryed my way to a Omniscience Griselbrand and he scooped.
Second game I threw in my 3 Faerie Macabre and Graftdigger Cage. I did mull due because of too many lands, and still never saw a sb card. He had a super sick opener and I never saw turn 3.
Third game, we both mulled. I kept my hand simply because I had 1 land, Ancient Tomb, and G. Cage. I could play through the Chancellor trigger if need be. He did not show, so I dropped it... he promptly Unmask me, grabs one of my two Griselrands, then attempts to Reanimate it. I simply point out the G. Cage would cause the spell to fizzle. He seemed extremely flummoxed. Needless to say, I won.

Round 3 vs Grixis

We split to guarantee good payout.

He won game 1 when I couldn't land anything.

I won game 2 because I landed Sneak Attack with Griselband, drew in to Petal and Emrakul.

He won game 3 because I didn't have a 2nd blue source to pitch to FoW to counter his second Spell Pierce. Damn.


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Finally won an auction. Not sure if it will be good stuff, but the price was right- cheap! Not expecting a lot, and if I make my money back after fees and shipping, I will call it a win.

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Deckbox has been slightly more successful recently. Got decent trades, nothing earth shattering.

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Win my win streak at Thursday night magic, I paid $10 3 weeks ago, haven't put any more money in. Got a pack of KMC perfect fits one week, and likely when I get back will play for free again and pick up something like a Life from the Loam with the winnings. Seems like successful magic!

Legacy week #11

Back at it... I considered playing Sneak/Show/Omni this week. However, I got my Hallowed Spiritkeeper in and wanted to give it a go. Turns out, it could be good, but need more reps with it.

I also threw out my 2 Cataclysms in favor of testing 2 Chalice of the Void. Spoiler alert, in the games I brought them in from the SB, I never drew one. Ouchers.


Round 1 vs Grixis control

In the current meta, this is DnTs toughest matchup. (thank god elves is not played locally)
Game 1 was slim chances, but just got out valued.
Game 2, kept a marginal hand and got land punched in the head. Damn you deck!

Note- I did get to vial in the Hallowed Spiritkeeper to block a Snapcaster, and produce 6 tokens. Too bad he already had a True-Name down, and I was at 6 and he was at 18. Damnit.


Round 2 vs Tin Fin Depths

Game 1, we both mulled to 6, and he kept a sketchy hand that could have gone off if he drew in to it. I produced enough threats, to overwhelm his Children of Korlis. I kinda felt bad, but it was a race that I won.

Game 2, he just went off on turn 2 and there was nothing I could do about it.  *slow clap*

Game 3, I drew all the answers all the time. My opening hand had both Rest in Peace and Faerie Macabre, plus StP. I felt REALLY good about his threats. The turn he Wished for Rec Sage, in the hopes of getting rid of my RiP, I topped my SECOND copy of RiP. At the end of the game I showed that I had just all the answers he could possibly throw at me. Yeah, all the answers showed up.



Round 3 vs Punishing Maverick

We both decided to split the round so we both got something for showing up, but played anyway.

Game 1, I had lots of answers for his threats. Just beat him down before he got his engine going.

Game 2, He overwhelmed my threats, his Bob did work. I also completely punted by not putting my Walking Ballista in from my SB. When I Recruiter'd, and I couldn't find it, yeah- I punted hard.

It was at this point I said, I am done. I was exhausted from the day and said I didn't want to play game 3. The rounds were taking forever, and I had been up since 5. My punt on the SB move showed me I was mentally fried, and just wanted to head home.



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Personal point of pride, just as I got my last card for my paper legal DnT deck- Surgical Extraction, I go and think about new cards- Chalice of the Void. Damn you Magic and changing things.

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I am fairly sure I am going to run Sneak/Show next week. The lack of counter magic currently in the local meta makes me want to do it. Just for the grins and giggles.

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I briefly talked with a guy who was running a Bonus Round storm deck. He had some interesting insights. He was also very happy with the lack of Flusterstorm in the current meta.
He was annoyed that his friend decided to 'adjust' the sideboard a bit... for some reason taking out Empty the Warrens.
The explosiveness of this deck makes it HIGHLY interesting to those who love math and storm counts.

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With my "winnings" from last week, I got to play for free this week and picked up a set of perfect fit sleeves. Needed more, and perfect timing.

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There are a couple auctions I am keeping my eye on. One I put a bid on, the other I am trying to figure out bidding. Its an absentee bid condition. Could be some VERY interesting cards, but I need some more information.
The auction well has been rather dry recently for me.

Legacy week #10

I've made it out to 10 weeks of Legacy since the start of my journey to regular play. I missed the past two weeks due to family stuff and Guilds pre-releases.

For this week, I went with a fairly stock DnT list. This time around, I ran 3 Crusaders to help fight through some of the Grixis and Death Shadow match-ups.

Admission time- *sigh* This is a hard one for me, and don't laugh too hard. Double strike is two separate damages. Which I just wasn't aware of, well, sort of, but not really. This is VERY important to equipment based attacks like Jitte, SoFI, and even SoWP. If a Crusader has one of those things on them, they trigger each time they hit- once for First Strike, and once for regular damage. *double face palm* I honestly didn't notice that.

Ok, back to regular Magic and pretending I know what I am doing.


Round 1 vs DnT

Ah the mirror.

Game 1 I lost eventually due to a SoFI on a Flickerwisp. It was a toss up for a while, but he drew more Stoneforges than me.

Game 2  A bit of a gaff on his part allowed me to swing through. He had a Brightling deployed, and I got rid of his Mom after he got greedy and used her for attack damage. He totally missed that he had a land up to return Brightling, and I won the race from there.

Game 3  It was an ugly affair. Board stall for a while. He got rid of my SoWP, I got rid of his Jitte. I kept dropping threats. He kept pulling lands and that made all the difference.



Round 2 vs Grixis Control

Game 1 He overproduced as Grixis does, and overwhelmed me. I had slim windows, and just couldn't get there.

Game 2 My deck decided lands and Vials were not worth showing up. Opening hand had 2 lands, and nothing for about 5 more turns. I got crushed.



Round 3 vs Maverick

We intentionally drew to make sure we both got paid instead of one of us getting nothing.

We played a few games to see how it would go, and I took some notes from TJ because he plays a CRAP ton of magic and is awesome.
I believe we split the games we played, and the games I won I had multiple things in my opener- multiple Moms, multiple Wastelands.


For next week, I hope to have my Hallowed Spiritkeeper in my deck to help with the control matchups. Likely to drop the Wingmare. Also going to put a Gideon in SB, drop one of the Cataclysm.

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Great tournament writeup on DnT at duel for duals.

Guilds prereleases

That's right, plural pre-release! I made it to two. The first was from my favorite draft shop- MTG Duel. Its a phone/computer shop by day, and MTG store at night. The owner Eric used to have a much bigger store, but due to changing environments, rent, etc, it was moved to a smaller location and things changed. He still does a great job with supporting the strong regular group that shows.

For the first pre-release I went with Boros. Lets smash face!

My promo was the EXACT same pack as my buddy who showed up and played Boros as well- Legion Warboss. I think I played him once in 3 rounds.

First- I lost to the best deck in the shop. He had everything. I did manage a game win when he just couldn't find answers and kept drawing lands.
I did remove a single land, and my deck seemed to like that idea.

Second- I don't recall, just smashing face and didn't bother taking names.

Third- The mirror match, the MVP easily was Skynight Legionnaire. Boras vs Boras means flying does huge work.

For my efforts I got 2 packs.

HOWEVER:  I did open some sweet sweet value- Assassin's Trophy, Ral, Caller of Storms, and Overgrown Tomb.

I showed Eric my super duper value, and he was excited to see Ral. He wanted to build a Brawl deck off him. So I just gave him the card. I knew it would only sit in my trade binder and slowly decrease in value. Was perfectly fine with that because of all the effort Eric does to keep the little community afloat. Besides, I have abused the value chain at that store. (Hell foil Scarab God, foil Mana Drain, etc)

I will be playing in their release draft party. They are a hoot, and it lines up nicely because I can't make Legacy this week.

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Second Pre-release, I should have never gone to it. I went to MTG First, my Legacy haunt of choice. I got Selesnya because the synergy should be super sweet.

Everything fell apart- I had ZERO synergy. Nothing worked the way it should have. I ran one of my 6 possible rares- Vraska. She did win me my only game out of 5 I played. I quickly dropped because of how utterly BAD my pile of cards was. Eek gads.
I had no good way to produce a small army to use convoke, I had no ramp, I had nothing that looked like it worked.
4 of my 6 rares were in black, and 3 were completely unplayable in my deck. It was awful. Just super sad faced panda.

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I could NOT get Assassin's Trophy out of my hands fast enough. I found someone through DeckBox to trade it to. Landed a Natural Order and a Brightling. I think in 2 months you will be able to get that card for $10-$15. The supply will need to catch up with demand, but that's how Wizards wants perception to occur for now.

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Investment note- Walking Ballista was rediscovered after it rotated out of standard. Its a Modern and Legacy staple now. Good luck finding it for under $20.

Also, Recruiter of the Guard- keeps ticking up.

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Last note, I only paid $11 for both pre-release events. Not $11 each, but $11 for both. Thanks to store credit!

Legacy, week #9

I picked up my Walking Ballista for my DnT sideboard finally. Thanks MTG First! I also rotated out the Palace Jailer for a Spirit of the Labyrinth, in the hopes of hosing some blue decks. I had never cast Palace Jailer in the previous 3 weeks of it being in my deck. So theres that.

Round 1 vs Reanimator
Ok, first let me say- this is week 3 in a row of playing against a Reanimator deck. Its starting to feel like the pairing gods have it out for me. The guy sits down and says, "I just put this together, so I am sorry if I mess up"
He proceeds to just completely crush me game 1, as Reanimator does. First turn Griselbrand, 7 more, then Sire of Insanity. I had Swords for the Grisel-daddy, but the second card just ended me.
Second game, I locked him down and out. He reanimated a Chancellor, went down 7, I swords it. (had 2 in my opening hand) Then dropped a Thalia, Wasted his one land, and then dropped a Karakas for good measure.
Game 3, I gambled on an opening hand with 2 Swords again, Mom, and a Rest in Peace. I locked him down again when he dumped his hand to 2, and I removed his only threat.

Seems my fears of playing against reanimator has been for naught. I haven't seen anyone play storm locally, I'm more worried about that.

Round 2 vs Maverick (TJ)
Super nice guy, plays this deck endlessly, and is one of the better players in the shop.
Game 1, he simply overwhelms my team. Gets many more threats than I can handle.
Game 2, I side out all Thalia, some graveyard hate in, Paths in... His first turn Birds get swords, then I just tax the crud out of him, and that's game.
Game 3, my lands just avoid me. It happens. I never found a vial in all three games. Very painful.
We did play a game 4 for fun, and I just brought out an army of Flickrwisp. It was crazy. Threats for days.

I should have brought the Walking B in for his Moms. As I literally just got it an hour before, I am learning the SB.

Round 3 vs Miracles (Paul)
Paul is a great Baltimore legacy player. I kinda knew I likely lose to him, but I wanted to present the best threats I could. I knew he was playing Miracles. He knew what to respect in DnT.

Game 1 took a very long time. I think he might have had about 15 cards left in his deck when it ended. He answered all my threats. Turns out there was a window where I had a chance, and I missed it because I didn't play my SoFI. I couldn't get Jace off the field and that killed me.
Game 2 was shorter, but I did crush in for about 9 damage with a Sword of War and Peace. He had about 5-6 cards in hand when the critter crushed in, but everything got wiped off the board with a Terminus. I did cast Cataclysm twice. However, I just couldn't find another critter.

He kept me off my Vials, which could have gotten me much further. Paul knows the DnT, and what makes it tick. If I was playing against it, I'd do the same.


Recap of note:

• I NEVER got a counter on an Aether Vial. I think I cast a grand total of 1 all night, which got disenchanted in game 2 of Miracles. Very strange.
• I think I got 1 Thalia down all night.
• I must have cast about 15 Flickerwisp in total. Just crazy amounts of Flickrwisp.
• Might swap the Spirit of the Labyrinth for another Brightling... I ran in to zero Grixis/Shadow decks. I didn't see any being run, but I didn't watch all 14 matches. 
• I, somehow, have owned Reanimator. 
• A couple people mentioned how events are becoming harder to manage as they get older. I really never intend to attend a large event, but I totally understand. Funny how responsibilities and other issues take over. 

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When the heck did Scroll Rack become a $50 card? About the beginning of July is when.

MTG Finance -> Basic lands!

Almost exactly 12 months ago, I posted that I had assembled an interesting set of lands to use for my draft basic lands. I was super thrilled with the idea of getting some old school bling. It was a personal quest for no good reason to be honest.

Alpha and Beta island order from May 2017, (source: TCG order history)

The most I spent on a single card, in terms of cash, was $12.50 on a Beta basic Island.
It was something I was happy to have. Something I thought would be cool and fun....



Well, those somethings changed a couple months ago without me realizing it. (analysis reveals a large rise between Dominara and M19) And by changed, I mean the values of ALL those cards went up. Some by quiet a bit. For the following, I am going to go off TCGplayer Market Price, which is pretty much the defacto pricing. The CHEAPEST beta basic is a Plains at $15.62. Also of note- condition changes a lot of things. As always, so some might be cheaper. Also also note- I have signed cards, which might affect pricing depending on the card and if you care about such things.

[note: these prices were as of 9/17/18]

• Plains (A) $15.62

  

  6 Beta Mountain, signed

• Forest (A) $16.56
• Plains (B) $17.00
• Mountain (A) $17.07
• Swamp (B) $17.68
• Mountain (C) $18.23
• Forest (C) $18.70
• Swamp (A) $18.96
• Mountain (B) $19.70
• Swamp (C) $21.94
• Island (B) $22.67
• Plains (C) $23.40
• Forest (B) $23.61
• Island (A) $26.80
• Island (C) $29.01

3 Alpha Island, signed

All of those prices are stupid. I don't know why they are at least three times as much as I paid just last year. I've heard it is Old School Magic pushing the values- maybe?

Then there are the 3 Alpha Islands I picked up. Two B and one A.

• Island (B) $46.98

• Island (A) $67.99

In theory that's like $160 for 3 basic lands.

3 Signed beta Forest

All my islands are signed. Most of my swamps and mountains. I have 3 plains signed. And the coup-de-gracie- I have a set of forest signed by Chris Rush. Which, I believe, are valued at about $60-$70 a pop.

What I do know, is that 'draft set' of Alpha and Beta basic lands are at least $700, likely more than $1000. (likely more than that) I don't think I would attempt to acquire any Alpha/Beta basics now. Out of my realm of "fun" pickups.

I did some checking with friends and such. The conclusion was that, unless I REALLY needed to trade or sell them- don't. Magic values very rarely go down. And as for the old stuff- they are ALWASY increasing. Always.

3 beta Swamps, signed

3 beta Plains signed, 3 not

Legacy, week #8

I rolled out with my trusty DnT build. Slightly tinkering with some of the slightly flexible slots. I took Sanctum Prelate out, and put Brightling back in. I dunno... both do things I like right now, though I have found my Prelate seems to get the wrong end of a bolt or push if set to 2, or edict'd if I set to 1. Either one is fine, but it all depends on what flavor you want to give.

I still need to get a Walking Ballista for my SB. I took Gideon out for a second Cataclysm. (never used it) Put a Holy Light in for those damn pesky True-Names.

Still kicking around the idea of Spirit of the Labyrinth in the main deck. There is a lot of Ponder/Brainstorm going on still. It would be a one of.


Round 1 vs Grixis Delver

I honestly should have lost this match. But the card gods smiled on me, and made game 2 go about 30 minutes. I lost game one when I double wastelanded, and got stuck on 2 lands with a vial. The vial can take you a long way, but not far enough without some backup.
Game 2 was an epic s-storm of me top-decking removal like a champ, finding JUST enough to keep him off attacking, and finally having him make a mistake to land lethal.
I almost pulled off the old game 3 kill in super short order, but there was no way as time was called as we were drawing our first 7. Oh well- I will take the draw after that game 2.

Round 2 vs Reanimator

Normally I am not favored in this match, at all, in game 1. However, things broke my way. He didn't get Griselbrand down until his second turn. I vialed in a Mom, then cast a Vryn Wingmare. Thank god for flying and protection. That's when things started to go sideways for him. I had something to protect myself for a bit, then I got a Revoker down to stop the Grisel drawing, then I started to mount an offense. That was stopped by Tidespout Tyrant. He got a Chancellor of the Annex down. Things got sticky for me.
That's when he tilted- he started to miss a many triggers on his side. I didn't want to point things out to him, but I felt his pain. There was one crucial turn where he bounced the Wingmare, and should have bounced the Mom, and then Thoughtseized it away. He realized right after the match that's how he lost, and I completely understood. I didn't want to play his deck, but he was completely tilted and it showed.
Game 2 was ugly- I kept a hand with Swords, and RiP. Figured if he reanimated anything turn 1, I was fine, and turn 2 was lock city. Also gambled he didn't draw an Unmask or Thoughtsieze. Gambled correctly, and locked it down, took it with threats he couldn't answer.


Round 3 vs Food Chain

Honestly, I didn't know he was playing Food Chain. I had never played against it. Never really studied it. Lesson learned- play from Exile creatures, Walking Ballista, and Strix = Food Chain.
I presented all sorts of problems for him, and took it down in game 1. Never saw the Food Chain so I was completely unsure how to SB. If I had known, I would have boarded Disenchant, and Leonins.

Game 2, I got the Magnara Karakas Vial combo going and started to take him off lands with it. Rode it to victory.

Afterwards, it turns out all his anti-DnT SB material was in another deck. He also got super unlucky with his draws, NEVER seeing an actual factual Food Chain.


Hey, mistakes happen, and decks draw cold... I will take another 2-0-1.

Things I learned-

• DnT is still a really hard matchup currently. 
• Just keeping a steady demeanor can help, think more
• I STILL am too anxious to get threats down even though the NEXT turn I can use my Vial to get the creature in without threat of counterspell. SECOND WEEK IN A ROW!
• I drew my Palace Jailer once, and I mulligan'd that hand. I have never cast him since I put him in the deck. 
• My SB seems pretty darn good right now. Little wiggle room for minor tweaks as I feel them.
• I remembered to pick up my third Titania, Protector of Argoth.Muhahahahaha, time to put together Lumberjack-Loam!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Spoiler season for Guilds is in full swing.  Notes for Legacy:

• Maverick got a boost with Knight of Autumn. As one person I know put it- Green Sun Zenith just went up.
• Assassin's Trophy has single handily caused a run on Goyfs, Dark Confidents, and Fetch lands involving G/B.
• Mission Briefing feels like the poor man's Snapcaster. 

Sealed product

I will admit straight up, I have a REALLY hard time holding on to sealed product. Boosters, boxes, whatever. I love to see what the lottery has to offer. I think its one of the reasons I enjoy draft, finding cool stuff in the piles that go around. 

Today however, I have finally acquired an auction win from a month ago. Took long enough, right? I paid a grand total of about $30 US (winning amount plus fees plus shipping) to get the following:

BOOM!

Not too shabby if I do say so myself. Now- what to do with these fine pieces of sealed product?

First I point to the current values:

Onslaught booster pack goes for $14 a piece on TCG.

Onslaught 'Tournament Pack' goes for $44 on TCG.  (I might point you to the fact that there are only 9 available to buy as of writing this)

So the perceived value currently for my sealed product is a grand total of $72. The value of sealed is potential. Not what actually is in the pack, its all about potential. And why is Onslaught valuable right now? Original fetchlands! Bloodstained Mire, Polluted Delta, Flooded Strand, Wooded Foothills, and Windswept Heath. In that order, are the most valuable individual cards in the entire set. There are 6 other cards worth more than $10 each as well.

My thought, right now, is to bid my time and trade my $30 investment in sealed product for some cards I need at a later time. Who knows, the value might be increased by the time I find the right trade partner. 

And no, I am not playing pack wars with Onslaught boosters.

Legacy week #7, learning

All the GP players who had rolled out and went missing last week reappear this week and the numbers showed- 22 players at the weekly legacy.

I brought trusty DnT, with a couple tweaks-

#1 I finally gave up on Remorseful Cleric. It pained me to do so because I hate graveyard recursion so much. However, the only bits to worry about currently were not the combo kill versions. So out it went.

#2 Brightling was dropped. *sigh* Just too much edict currently. More than 1 in a deck does not seem great right now.

#3 I put in Mangara of Corondor. Felt good with 3 Karakas to get values. Even if no Karakas, to remove ANY permanent is good, stupid Maze of Ith, or Marit Lage.... etc.

#4 I put in a Vryn Wingmare. I found Thalia to be good currently, so why not make things even more difficult? Tax away!

#5 *sigh* I tried Palace Jailer. Drew him twice, never came in to play. Still seems good in general.

#6 SB changes, Gideon in, Cataclysm in. Note, I honestly didn't realize that when he became a 5/5 critter, he then became a Legend as well- which sucked in my final game of the night.


Other notes- I find myself bringing in Rest in Peace almost every game from the SB. How naughty would it be to just keep them in main? So much graveyard re-use to be honest. From Snapcaster, to delve, to etc.


On with the matches.

Match #1 vs Rector/enchantments

Game 1- he bogs me down, gets combo, I scoop.

Game 2- I keep him off land, fly around his intended needed sac outlets, and win.

Game 3- See game 1.

Lesson learned here, I should have put in graveyard hate vs this deck. I had never played against it before to be honest, and was not prepared. I screwed the pooch. Came close to taking the match though. *shrug*

Match #2 vs Esper Stoneblade

Game 1- He smack talked about his deck getting no lands, then proceeded to get no lands. He scooped pretty hard.

Game 2- I drew WAY too many lands. I tried to make a fight of it, but just couldn't get going.

Game 3- I messed up with the Gideon. He had a Karakas, which honestly won him the game- along with my bonehead understanding of the new Gideon rules. The board state was all sorts of messed up at the end and I just punted away the match as I got frustrated and didn't see the proper lines. Oh, and I never got past 4 lands in play for like 15 turns. Which is silly considering I run 23.

Match #3 vs NOBODY! I got a bye for my frustrations.


Lessons learned for the night:

• Rector decks need graveyard hate
• I really like Mangara in the deck, and being able to fetch her up was super relevant. 
• Not sure I like having Wingmare, might swap out for Brightling or 3rd Crusader. 
• Revoker is still good, and 2 seems right.
• My artifact and enchantment removal package is super relevant in current meta, at least locally. 
• I think Walking Ballista should be in my SB at least.
• Should have picked up that Titania. Maybe next week. 
• I might need to stop using dice to track life totals. 

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I have been very frustrated with my trading attempts on DeckBox recently. I've had to cancel over 50% of my offers to others because they never reply within 5-7 days. I am polite, make reasonable offers, include "lets try to make this work!" sort of messages, etc. Over the past month or so, just HORRIBLE results in getting even a response.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I lost out on a recent auction. I thought I had won it, and attempted to contact the auction house like 3 times to get payment arranged. I wound up calling, and the guy was a little confused. Turns out, the on-line was proxy bidding for an live in house auction. No on-line bids won. *DOH!*

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Finance note of the day- how and why did Recruiter of the Guard become a $20 plus card?

Legacy week #6: DnT, a victory

I was undecided about which deck to roll out at the weekly Legacy- DnT or Sneak/Show/Omni/Artisan.

I made one last minute adjustment- dropping the Gideon for a Disenchant. I felt that would be way more useful in the long run. I really didn't feel good about Gideon or Cataclysm. Disenchant is a thing which is way more effective.

Note about attendance, the past few weeks I have made it to Thursday- MTG First has gotten a very good attendance. Like in the 20-30 range. Last night had 9 people. Gee, GP Richmond anyone?
Good luck to the dudes I know going.



Round 1 vs Grixis Control

Game 1-  I didn't know what he was playing before we started, but the value train was apparent when he forced my turn 1 Vial. I wound up powering through his answers through multiple Thoughsiezes, Snapcasters, Edicts, etc. He didn't like my Jitte, that was removed. Along with a Thalia. What I did find eventually was Flickrwisp, which killed Jace, and tookover. I had three consecutive turns of Flickerwisp.

Game 2- He just removed everything. He got two planeswalkers on line, and just rolled. I couldn't find answers. Even when I attempted to value things with a Leonin targeting his Baleful Strix, he'd just removed my Leonin and got to draw a card. *sigh* I played it out, and not scooping.

Game 3- Went to turns, but I am fairly confident that I would have won if it hadn't. I dominated the board state, and he couldn't get much going. Ports were effective, Thalia helped. Just couldn't deal 20 in enough turns. I got him down to 7 and I was still at 20, moral victory right?

The same opponent went to turns in round 2. He was fairly sure he wouldn't take the deck to a GP because 8+ rounds of that would have been just mind-melting. I felt for him, and said: "Juts play Sneak/Show." He normally does. :)



Round 2 vs Reanimator

Game 1- First turn reanimated Grieselbrand really did not bode well for me. It was StP or Karakas, or bust. I played it out like a good little player. I actually had a 3rd option which got Unmask'd- a Flickerwisp. My out tree disappeared quickly.

Game 2- I threw a TON of my sideboard in, like 10 cards. Removed my entire Stoneforge package. In came Faerie Macabre, Surgical, 2x Rest in Peace, 2x Path to Exile, Disenchant, 2x Leonin Relic Warder, Containment Priest.
I was on the play- my opening hand was NUTS, Faerie, RiP, StP, Karakas. I went Plains, Vial. He went, Swamp, Dark Rit, Entomb- Griesel, Reanimate. I said- response, dropped Faerie. My turn- drop RiP. Felt good.
His second turn, 2 Petals, Show and Tell, he drops a Tidewater Tyrant. I promptly StP, and he scooped.

Game 3- I had SB answers for days. I felt bad for the dude, but that's what happens sometimes. Even though I was on the play, I still could answer stuff. He Unmasked me to take something. He then felt the path was clear, and did his drop a fatty thing. Then I promptly topped a Path to Exile, removed threat, and said go. He never presented a threat there after. I think.
All I know is that he didn't find answers, and my deck decided to reward me.

I beat the graveyard. Gosh darn that felt good.



Round 3 vs Grixis Control

(I mentioned how I was 1-0-1 and how splitting would be pointless for me. He goes, I play it out. ALRIGHTY THEN)

Game 1- I got beat up by removal, not enough threats. *sigh* Saw no counterspells of any sort- odd.

Game 2- Side in 2x RiP, 2x Leonin, and I think Faerie? Doesn't matter too much as he was stuck on mana most of the game. I had two Ports, a Vial, and was able to Waste his only dual. He was actually discarding for 3 turns. It was his fault for keeping a two lander.

Game 3- It was a hella game. His opening hand, as it turns out, had 2 Hymns in it. At one point I had a vial ticked to 2, and no cards in hand. He had 4 cards, I think. I was in top deck mode. I TOTALLY punted a winning card, I overly eagerly cast Brightling. Not waiting for my Vial to tick up, and I thought I had lost the game. If I had just wait a turn, left bounce mana up, Brightling should have sealed the deal for me. But nooooooooooooo, over-eager Magic player drops it and gets Edict. I also dropped a Prelate, and seriously debated between 1 or 2. I put it on 1 thinking about brainstorm, ponders, and lightning bolts. He Fatal Pushes it. I gambled and lost.
On the positive side, he could NOT find threats... so at least he was in total reaction mode. I kept rolling things out.
I dropped a Jitte just to have something, then Vialed in a Leonin targeting nothing. I equip the Jitte and shot his Snapcaster and Strix. He killed the Leonin, I vial in a Flickerwisp. Then I closed things out with a Sword of Fire and Ice. I got that on and equipped. Oh man, cleaned up his board, and just had all the things. He went to 9 to get enough mana to play an Engineered Explosives which he could not activate until his next turn. I vial in a Crusader and he scooped.

w00t. I felt REALLY good about recovering. The deck made me look good today. 2-0-1 meant I got $25 in credit. Nice.


Thoughts moving forward for my build:

• Remorseful Cleric has been a non-draw for weeks now. I still like him. Might swap out for another Serra Avenger. 
• I need to stop being so eager and think a tad more.
• Screw graveyard based decks! SCREW YOU!  :)
• I might drop the Surgical for a second Faerie Macabre. That's up for some debate because each do similar things in very different ways. 
• I do like the Disenchant over other options in the SB for now.
• Punting around the idea of putting 2 Cavern of Souls in the deck. Haven't seen a ton of countermagic quiet yet, but it is slightly on the up-tick. The downside is that I just don't have enough concentration of creature types to make it a good decision.
• Mirran Crusader is a house in the current meta, at least locally. Its turning in to a "must answer"
• I didn't feel Batterskull had to be tutored when I dropped a Stoneforge. At least not last night. I was always searching up Sword or Jitte. 
• Palace Jailer is interesting, but being a 4 drop in my build is not ideal. Everything I have currently is 3 or less. My vial stops at 3. :)

Better lucky than good, I suppose

Went in to the draft on Friday night blind to the format. I just drafted what looked to be the best for the first pack, then settled in to the colors/themes, and went from there.

I started out black/green, but then white opened a smidge in pack 1.
Pack 2, I opened a Resplendent Angel. That sealed the deal- black/white life gain. Turns out, it was a great combo. I think 1 other person was drafting black in the group- which made all my picks so interesting to choose from.

I also got a Death Baron passed my way. While I never got to use the combo, I did have two Skeleton Archers which could have been amazing.

My deck was a tad on the 3+ drop world... but I figured this draft format was not fast. I was right, but it also helps to hit your land drops.

I wound up going 2-1, blowing out during my two match wins and getting land hosed completely on my loss. It happens. Its Magic.


Other than the Mythic, my MVP was Reassembling Skeleton. Just keep bringing it back after blocking was super sweet.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Everyone got a Core Set 2019 showdown booster for showing up. (not to mention the free pizza!)
Here are my pack results:

So yeah, that happened:
Disallow. Nice
Glacial Fortress. Nice.
Land- uh-huh.
FOIL SCARAB GOD. WOW. #Iwon

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Note- Sorry to see magicards.info go, but I welcome my new overlord scryfall.com so I can continue my card lookups. All hail scryfall!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Got to jam some Legacy with friends Saturday night for a bit. Having 3 players was hard, but it is what it is.
Played a round of pack wars with my winnings from Friday night. Sweet.

My legacy realization- even if you are favored, sometimes you can just be unlucky to a 1 of sideboard card. It happens. Its magic. Random.

Going to draft M19

I know I said I wasn't planning on drafting M19. Until now, I haven't.

However, I could not get to the weekly Legacy last night due to family schedules. It happens. My draft shop of choice has moved to the BOYB method of gaming, along with free pizza tonight, and extra prizes. Seems like a winning combination.

I briefly thought about doing some research on the draft themes and such for M19. I quickly stopped myself and said- "screw this, draft blind." Which means, I am going to draft without know much of anything about the format, themes, 'better' cards, etc.

I've seen guys show up, have never drafted before, and do decently- all the while I listened to podcasts, watched draft videos, and studied the format and scratched out a win or two. Screw that, draft bombs, removal, and let things fly. Screw it!


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Interesting/fun legacy deck I might try to cobble together in some form. There are about 5 cards I just don't have in any form- Titania or Dragonlord Atarka.
The Titania is a bit worrisome because TCG has maybe 20 of them total, and they go for about $15 a pop. This might be the case for some janky proxies.

I had started to build a Maverick deck, but that hasn't come together yet. I have several of the key pieces already... hmmmm.

(full disclosure: I ordered 4 Orcish Lumberjacks for $1. Hahaha!)

Swing and a miss

I got my box of Canadian cards in Saturday. I was eager to find out what goodies it held.

Turns out- nothing. By which I mean, NOTHING of value. All bulk. Well, at least I didn't pay that much for that lesson. Some times these gambles don't work out. However, I've had more wins than losses and my first home-run was a 2 run shot over the center wall. I am still gushing over that one.
At the least, my daughter got some sleeves for her Pokémon cards. :)


The recent swing and miss made me think of the previous auction.

What I realized is someone opened a case of Eternal Masters. I had something like 75 foils (as seen on the right), including 1 rare- which is usually 1 per box. (24 packs per box) They took out the big hits, and left everything else in boxes. I when through one last time, and even found 2 Ashnod's Alter. There were plenty of commons and uncommons from that set of cards alone to make it worth wild. So thanks to who ever didn't keep this stuff!

Maybe I will hit this good again- likely not.



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Interesting, two takes on recent fake cards.

#1 Alpha investments

#2 MTG Goldfish

Legacy week #5

Let me start this post with, you can't swing a dead Delver without hitting a Death Shadow deck currently in my local meta. (aka MTG First) Good lord. Out of 26 players last night, at least 5 were running the deck. It was likely higher, I would say 7-8. But I only had eyes on 5. Its a thing.

I ran DnT, dropping 1 of my Brightlings for a 2nd Crusader. I finally got my Leonin Relic-Warders in SB.


First round, vs U/B Death Shadow

Game 1 was very interesting in that I knew the lines and played them. Thank-be that I had two Crusaders in the main. He got down to like 8, attacked in with 2 Death Shadows. I blocked 1 with the Crusader, Swords the other, and got both off the board. I believe he scooped at that point. It was a sweet combo.

Game 2, I could not find more than 2 lands. He dropped 2 of his 3 Dread of Nights. Seriously... I can't find more than 1 piece of removal. I was running 4 StP, 2 Exile, and 2 C. Judgement. 8 pieces, 1 drawn. He finds 2 of 3 D. Nights?! *head slumps*

Game 3, I flood out. Just so much mana, so few threats. Not a great feeling. Could've/would've/bad draws. It happens.


Second round, vs R/B/w Reanimator

Game 1 was nuts. Just nuts. I should not have won. He opens with a Cabal Therapy naming FoW blind. I flop down my hand containing Karakas, Vial, Mom, Flickerwisp and other things. He groans at the Karakas. He bins a Griselbrand, reanimates. My turn, I Karakas back the Grisel, he triggers drawing cards. He goes down to 5. I throw down a Thalia as a road bump to spells. I am slowly crawling my way around this thing. He gets an Ashen Rider down, blows away my Karakas. I finally get my Vial up to 3, and I Flickerwisp his Griselbrand. He Thoughtseizes my Batterskull. I then Recruiter for another Flickerwisp, and play it, again on Griselbrand. That's 2 turns to prevent death. I get a Crusader down, and top deck a Flickerwisp. I have a Stoneforge in hand, which I then drop to grab Sword of Fire and Ice. I use my second Stoneforge to get sword out, and equip to Crusader and swing for lethal. He was flabbergasted. There was no way I should have won game 1. I didn't think I should have won game 1. It was epic.

Game 2 I get graveyard hate in, 2 Rest in Piece, 1 Faerie Macabre, 1 Surgical Extraction, 1 Containment Priest. I draw my opening had- 2 RiP, Faerie, and random threats. He forgot to use the Chancellor of the Annex trigger, which as it turns out, wouldn't have mattered. I patiently waited for him to empty his hand, and as he cast reanimate, I dropped the Faerie and removed the 2 targets he had in the graveyard. It felt amazing. Even if he remembered the Chancellor, I would have been fine. I promptly went MoM, then RiP, he scooped.

I felt amazing after that set of games, felt bad for him... but Wow. NICE!

[Update- I think I played the effect of Flickerwisp completely wrong and now feel horrible. I should have lost game 1. Sorry dude. I am a BAD DnT player who doesn't know how to play the cards.]

Third round, vs DnT

Game 1 had a great opening hand. I had Jitte. I knew he was playing DnT. I had things going my way until he StP my Jitte equipped critter, then I promptly got beat like a drum. If he hadn't had that StP, I would have likely have won. That's how these matches go.

Game 2 I side out Thalias, Remorseful Cleric, and a Revoker. In comes removal, Sword of War and Peace. First hand had 1 land, I throw it back. Second had 4 lands and 2 spells, I kept because of Wastelands. I wound up drawing all 4 Wastes, and got beat due to lack of threats. I couldn't get ahead. It sucked.



I doubt I will be able to play next week, but I might try to sleeve up an Eldrazi Post build. Feels good. Chalice needs to show up and wreck some U/B Shadow face. Big gnarly Eldrazi is not good for many things. Still kicking that or Maverick... which I am not sure about right now.



=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Auction updates

I don't understand bidding. My biggest 'wtf' moment this week.

I won this auction for $14 Canadian, with shipping and fees, came to like $30 Canadian.
I won this auction for $15 US, with shipping and fees, will likely come to about $30 US.

THIS auction, right now, a combination of Battletech and Magic, is going for $30. If it stays at that price, it will likely clock in at $40-$50.

My won boxes are roughly the same size boxes, and likely more Magic cards in total per.
One of two factors I can think of, #1 the auction listing has the word "Huge lot" or #2 it shows an image of Tempest starter.

=-=-

Oh, I also won this lot of sealed Onslaught. A 75 card "Tournament Pack" and 2 sealed boosters. The current value for the sealed product clocks in at about $60-$70 US. I won for $27 Canadian. With shipping and fees, I suspect I will have doubled my money.
I believe I will just hold on to these sealed products. I don't feel the need to open them for now.

Legacy week #4

For my Omni/Sneak/Tell/Artisan deck, I finally got my last couple Arcane Artisans in the mail yesterday. One was from a trade that took 2 weeks to show up. I took that to be a sign from the gods themselves to play the deck.

Welllllllllllllllllll, things did not go as planned. Not at all. Like horribly wrong. horribly, horribly wrong.

*sigh*  I don't want to recap, it is just too painful still.

Other notes:

• Death Shadow decks were creeping up on the local meta.
• Less DnT was present than before, I think 1.
• There were at least 2 other Sneak/Tell decks in attendance
• Still at least 2 dedicated punishing lands decks running

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I have sold off most of my winnings from the one big auction I got. There wasn't much I wanted to keep to be honest. I think maybe $20 in value I actually cared about. The rest was liquated and then used the cash to buy stuff I wanted. 

Two things are left of note:

#1 4 Voice of Resurgence. Someone buy these damn things already.

#2 A MP UL Goblin King. Hoping to hit $20 when the auction ends tonight. 4 watchers on him, 1 actual bid. 

There is another auction I won, but I don't have any details on how to pay the actual thing off. Might try contacting for the 4th time. Been fairly hard to complete the deal.

Weekly legacy, #3

Back at it this week. I decided to sleeve up red splash DnT with Shalai. Why? Two reasons, #1 I was seeing a bit more lands/loam decks. I wanted to punish the mana bases. #2 I got these cards 7 months ago, and damnit I was going to play them. Turns out, I was wrong on #1. None of the lands/loam decks were present at all last night. *sigh*

So I wound up going 1-1-1. Which means, at the very least, I got to play legacy for free. Nothing wrong with that. Better than my 0-2 drop week 1, and my 1-2 last week. Progress, right?

Round 1 vs Miracles:
Took game one with Karakas saving my Thalia. Applied pressure, and got there with P&K pumping out the hits.
Game 2 was just overwhelmed with Monks. Kept drawing lands, it was not a good look.
Game 3, I punted so hard I almost scooped when I realized. The match was going to time to be honest. I had a Thalia out, with an untapped Karakas. He StP'd the Thalia and I did nothing. It was a full minute later that I realized what I had done completely wrong. We wound up splitting, but, UGH. I should have had that one. Magic is hard.

Round 2 vs U/B Delver
Game 1, lost to reoccurring Dark Blast. Could not find my Cleric to nuke his graveyard. Lots of cantrips and ways to dump stuff. Lite mana base.
Game 2, hosed myself pretty good with Moon Man. He then dumped both Dread of Night. Sealed the deal.


Round 3 vs R/U Delver.
Game 1, he was rolling with Grim Lavamancer and a flipped Delver. For the first time all night I drew a Shalai and basically took the game over. He had outs to the Shalai, but could not find them.
Game 2, I just rolled over him with pressure, double Swords, and RiP. Locked him out of the game basically.



Lessons learned:

Vial/Karakas combo is amazing
Magus of the Moon- pretty bad in current meta. (don't yell at me, I wanted to play the damn deck)
Shalai can be great, but too expensive
Miracles is a bit of a pain, but not nearly as bad as it was with Top.
There is a lot cantrips and blue deck manipulation going on right now. At least at my LGS.

Weekly legacy result, and auction

Went to Legacy again last week at MTG First. Rolled out my Omni-Sneak-Show deck. The most satisfying moment was to bust out a first turn kill. I petered out after that, but still- it was very nice.

Turn goes like this:
Ancient Tomb + Lotus Pedal = Show and Tell
Force of Will their Daze.
Drop Omniscience.
Cast Griselbrand, draw 14. Can't find one of four Emrakul. I Ponder, shuffle. Slight of Hand, FINALLY find it, cast and win. Whew.

I finally understand why Arcane Artisan is good for this deck- Surgical Extraction. I got hosed a couple times when I couldn't get my big things in because of having my first S+T countered, then Surgicaled. It sucked. I had outs with Sneak Attack, but I think bringing in the Artisan would be a great method in diversifying the targets. (2 S+T, 1 Sneak out; 3 AA in)

I could have won all three matches, I never felt like I was completely lost. Poor draws sucked it up for me. Eh, it happens. Land floods happen.

Notes- there are at least 2 devoted DnT players at the weekly event. I feel good about keeping Batterskull out again this week, and Sword of War and Peace in main deck. I also put in the two Surgical Extractions in the SB. Need to pick up real copies of those eventually, until then- proxies are good enough.
I've also considered running the red splash version of DnT for the Magus of the Moon. The amount of non-basic lands are up again.

Stifles are everywhere.

Wastelands are everywhere.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I think I won an auction from this site in Canada. I sent them a message asking if I had, and their reply was: "We are closed until August 7th. We will let you know at that time."

WTF, how does a company operate like this?

In any case, I've got time to figure out other things I guess. Hahaha!

M19 Pre-release, and three auctions?!

I am not super enamored with Core 19. I can't tell you why to be honest. I just don't want to draft it. I am planning to start playing at a local regular Thursday night Legacy night. I have my two or so regular, want to play, decks. Its cheaper at $10, and as I don't feel like drafting.

I did catch a pre-release on Saturday at the local shop. Very small crowd, only 8-10 people total, 3 rounds. I went 2-1. Got 2 packs, and moved on. I did open one of the cards I was hoping to get- Remorseful Cleric. I need to pick up a second for the D&T deck, but super happy to have it. Graveyard-hate: hoooooooooooooo! As for my deck, it was R/B/w. Dragons were flowing which was nice. First match I just got boned by mana- it happens. Second and third rounds, the dragons flew and crushed people's souls. It was nice. It sucked I didn't get a single mythic, while everyone else had at least one. Seriously. I threw my Dragon's Horde in to my single EDH pre-con dragon deck. *shrug*

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Legacy news- I picked up 2 Brightlings for my deck after they were highly touted by Thraben U. Looks like I did the right things as they jumped up to $20 after people realized they were really good and not a lot of them out there. Silly Battlebond!
I also ordered a 3rd from TCG for $5.55 after the spike occurred. Still waiting to see if they honor the price.


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I won 3 separate auctions this week. 2 were from the same location, so I am chalking that up to the same auction. The other was from Canada.
The first two (one) were this one, and this one. I thought I did a pretty good job getting all that for like a total of $85. (auction fees included) Then there was a matter of shipping. *gulp* Ummmmm, how much you ask? Try another $45 on top. YOUCH. So for $130, I might get my money back from the cards I am pretty sure that are there- pain lands, Blood Moon, and other various cards. The real question is in the boxes of cards. I am not holding out much hope for those, likely fairly picked over. But you never know, as cards spike for no good reason.

The third/other auction had 2 cards I was aiming for- a beta basic, and a Unlimited Goblin King. Those two cards would pay for the lot easily, and everything else would be free. Who knows.

Down with the Reserve List!

First, let me say- I am no financial expert. I am also not a legal expert. Heck, I don't even play one on TV. However, I do know what my wallet says about the current state of Reserve List prices-

It is nuts, completely and utterly nuts.

As of this writing, a revised Underground Sea is about $538... Good luck actually paying that as the real costs are in the 600-700 range. TCGplayer only has 18 total Revised USea listed for their site. 18.

Supply and demand I suppose.

I don't care about the Vintage cards, really don't. They can run up the prices of Mox and Time Walk all they want, those cards are SUPER busted. Legacy cards are just busted. Besides, the format is great fun and once you get a deck, you are good for a couple years. There are a few cards to add or subtract over time, but for the most part the core cards are the most expensive. Usually.

I recommend this really good article regarding the Reserve List from Hipsters of the Coast.
There are so many reasons to getting these cards in to the hands of people who want to play them.

There is one factor that the above article did not mention- proxies. Not, print at home, or write on a land proxies. But extremely high quality proxies. Like one or two steps away from being completely perfect from the real cards. I still believe once that perfect copy is available for mass consumption- Wizards will need to do something. Either come up with a very smart way of getting these extremely expensive cards back in to the market, or ... *shrug*

[caveat: There are two type of people who get high quality proxies- #1 is the people who just want to play the game and do not have the means to pay $500 for a single card. These are the gamers, who just might want to play in events without selling a kidney. #2 are people who actually acquire with the intent to deceive and cheat people out of real cards by means of either knowingly trading fake cards for real/good ones, or selling them to make profit. Both types of people are hurting the game by leaps and bounds.]

Wouldn't it be a hoot for Wizards to make a Reserve List pack of 3 cards, with one of the cards being from the Reserve List, 2 others being some sort of fluff card. Call it "Instant Collection" packs. There are 571, FIVE HUNDRED AND SEVENITY ONE cards on the Reserve List. Many/most of these cards are pointless in any competitive deck. They could even make it a "Classic" packs and starters, complete with the old school amount of lands they included. Oh, that would drive people to drink these days. Draftable? Not if you are sane.
I'm just tossing ideas around... there are ways for Wizards to make a ton, and keep the collector's market happy.

Anyhow- its time to bring down the Reserve List, give players a fighting chance to play these older cards, and breath some life in to formats Wizards doesn't really even acknowledge exists anymore.

Addendum- the other side of the agreement is to just ban all Reserve List cards from Legacy. It would make it 'Legacy Lite.' The article linked is from 2015, so the meta has flipped a bit and the prices are not reflective of the current values... but it makes some very good points.

Buy low, sell high

I won this 1995 Duelist abacas in a 'private' auction about two weeks ago.
Most every single version of this I found was enameled with the various mana colors. This one was pewter only. I could NOT figure out how it happened. Either it was a test, or something weird happened. After more research occurred, and asking on the MTG Misprint and Oddities FB page, I came to the following conclusion:

Someone, likely a young player, dropped the thing. (hence the ding in the lower right) This drop caused part of the enamel to come off/out. Then, in a fit of being a kid, s/he removed the rest of the enameling by hand. Hence all the scratches. Even if it was a promo, it was beat to heck. And I needed cards more than I need a 20 year old abacas from the Duelist. Off to eBay it went.

I sold it for $60 plus shipping. Its a profit of at least twice what I paid. I am happy and I get to invest the money back in to some cards I need.

That's my story and I am sticking to it!