Nothing is going right. Even my sleeves are going against me recently. Sneak and Show was running hot for me, then massively cold. I swapped decks and got run over last night.
Maybe the meta is against me? Maybe I need to find a new deck to play? Maybe its just my time to lose for a bit? Or maybe my loses are magnified because I don't play as much as I would like? Maybe I am playing poorly? Maybe my opponents are just that much better? Maybe variance is getting to me?
Or, more likely, its a combination of all of them...
I don't play Magic Online. I don't need another money sinkhole (no pun intended) in order to play. I have spent a grand total of $5 for the intro-pack on Arena. That's all I intend to spend on the on-line version.
My point being, I don't get a ton of reps in. I see others who play in 2-3 local legacy weeklies, and are on-line. I get it, you play a TON of magic. There are several others who play just at the weekly, like me. This is our bowling league, or weekly round of golf. (I would argue, Magic is a nerd's golf, but with money after we are done with playing)
My two go-to decks currently craping the bed for me... what do I play? For me, I am likely going to "plow" ahead with Death and Taxes. Yes, I know its not a top tier deck. However, it has a decent game against most decks, and it is likely more consistent than the mercurial SnS. My Eldrazi stompy needs an overhaul, almost TOO much mana in it right now. (eeps!) I did get two Blast Zone for the deck, and I kept drawing both of them last night.
In the meantime, I am very curious/interested in the 2nd place deck in the weekly challenge:
Creature (14)
4 Delver of Secrets
2 Dreadhorde Arcanist
2 Grim Lavamancer
3 True-Name Nemesis
3 Young Pyromancer
Sorcery (5)
1 Forked Bolt
4 Ponder
Instant (23)
4 Brainstorm
4 Daze
4 Force of Will
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Spell Pierce
4 Stifle
1 Vapor Snag
Land (18)
1 Bloodstained Mire
3 Flooded Strand
2 Island
1 Mountain
4 Scalding Tarn
3 Volcanic Island
4 Wasteland
Looking at Modern Horizons, I am currently interested in the following cards for the pile of things to play:
- Echo of Eons, just to have 1. Love the artwork.
- Shenanigans, GREAT name and solid buyback.
- Sword of Truth and Justice, another card for DnT. Didn't say it was great, just for the pile of possible.
- Giver of Runes, adding to the pile of possible DnT.
- Force of Negation, could pitch or could just cast. Slightly more narrow focus, but interesting.
- Prismatic Vista, I think this is the sleeper of the set. People, its ANY basic including Wastes. Currently clocking in at $21 for pre-order. If it settles below $10, gobble them up.
Friday, May 31, 2019
Thursday, May 16, 2019
Weekly tidbits
No legacy for me for this week. Hope to be back at it next week, though I might not run SnS after its complete dress down from Sunday free event. Eldrazi with Ugin and Blast Zone needs more testing. Note to self, get Blast Zone.
I was looking through my DCI history recently and found this fun result:
First off, yes, this is from 1997. Second, yes, it says Vintage, in 1997. Fairly sure that is incorrect. Likely a change in database data over time.
Lastly, the guy I beat, or says I beat anyhow, was this guy- Michael Pustilnik. Apparently he was pretty good even when I beat him. Though as I can't remember the event other than going to it, and it has the wrong format listed- I might have beat him for all I know. Go figure.
Other notes:
I was looking through my DCI history recently and found this fun result:
First off, yes, this is from 1997. Second, yes, it says Vintage, in 1997. Fairly sure that is incorrect. Likely a change in database data over time.
Lastly, the guy I beat, or says I beat anyhow, was this guy- Michael Pustilnik. Apparently he was pretty good even when I beat him. Though as I can't remember the event other than going to it, and it has the wrong format listed- I might have beat him for all I know. Go figure.
Other notes:
- I drafted last week, VERY poorly. Though I did get a Karn passed to me. So I won at that.
- Been looking at this new u/w Omni-Tell deck with the new Teferi. It looks/feel like a Miracles deck but with the Show and Tell -> Omniscience -> Emrakul -> Win package. However with the Teferi, it adds big wrinkle to winning.
- Also of note from the Omni-Tell deck, there is a Cunning Wish package with it in some builds. I am still not 100% on that.
- I am going to be watching the Modern Horizon spoilers like a hawk. Dubbed "A love letter to Time Spiral"
- Has anyone else had problems keeping mental separation between your Arena cards and physical cards? I swore I had more than 1 copy of Ugin, oh wait- I have 3 on Arena, 1 physical. Damnit.
- As more and more copies become available, I might look at picking up a copy of the alt art of Ugin. Kinda cool.
Monday, May 13, 2019
Free legacy touarment report- I bought new sleeves!
I honestly didn't think I was going to the event Sunday at Game Hunters. They moved their Legacy appreciation event once already to, mothers day. Seriously, who does that?
Saturday my wife says, "I talked with the kids, and we think for your birthday, you should go to the event." Well- ok.
It took a couple contacts, but I managed to secure the required high value cards I needed to run a paper legal version of SnS. Thanks! Huge props- not naming names here. You know who you are!
I get there plenty early because the last one had about 52 people, and parking was not great. I show up, and well, there might be 10 people. We wound up with 18, which is fantastic odds for making top 8. Course, David Long shows up, and I am like- well there is one of the top 8.
First round opponent, Travis, from The Legacy Pit. I knew that he would be on Pox. Game one showed me horrible. According to my notes- "Couldn't find critter." Which means no creatures. I had a window and missed it. Game two was worse, I total wiffed on my sideboard plan, and forgot my Goblin Cratermakers when he landed the Ensnaring Bridge- ugh.
Eye'd up the room, not a single delver player. Ok. Long was on Depths again- ok. At least 2 Eldrazi players, both on post. One was doing the Mycosynth plan. Not sure if the other was just smasher or what, but at one point I saw him have 3 Cavern of Souls out against Merfolk.
Second round vs White Eldrazi
Game 1 did not start well, mulled to 5. I got Sneak Attack out, and wiped his board with Emrakul. Then it was just top decking until I found a second creature. Turns out, that was my best game of the entire tournament on a mull to 5.
Game 2 He curved perfectly from Thalia to Prelate on 3. I had the nuts 1 turn too late. Well, where is my sneak attack now? Nadda,
Game 3 My ENTIRE sideboard showed up, but that was it. He had the right amount of pressure and answers to what I was trying to do. *grumble* stupid Containment Priest *grumble* Oh, and Thought-Knot Seer can go f-yourself.
The one thing I still don't understand, he kept all his Swords and I think put in Paths. From what I can recall, DnT, I mean White Eldrazi, wants to remove those spot removals. Very weird. Worked for him I suppose. But still.
Third round vs the OTHER Pox player
Game 1 Mull to 5 again, and then death to Biterblossom.
Game 2 Picked apart, then drew into lands and Sneak Attack. He Extirpated my Brainstorms, then Surgicaled my Ponders. Seriously, at the very end I drew 5 straight mana sources and then 3 Sneak Attacks. I had to laugh because it was SOOOOO bad.
notes about the day:
It was so bad, I bought a new set of sleeves to burn my old ones to remove the stink of that attempted rounds of magic. Er-mer-gerd it was bad. (ok ok ok, I needed to get new sleeves anyhow. Should have bought them with the time I had waiting. Damnit)
If you notice the comparison between old and new sleeves- something I didn't notice until I sleeved, the new batches are a millimeter shorter allowing for no extra edge at the top.
Saturday my wife says, "I talked with the kids, and we think for your birthday, you should go to the event." Well- ok.
It took a couple contacts, but I managed to secure the required high value cards I needed to run a paper legal version of SnS. Thanks! Huge props- not naming names here. You know who you are!
I get there plenty early because the last one had about 52 people, and parking was not great. I show up, and well, there might be 10 people. We wound up with 18, which is fantastic odds for making top 8. Course, David Long shows up, and I am like- well there is one of the top 8.
First round opponent, Travis, from The Legacy Pit. I knew that he would be on Pox. Game one showed me horrible. According to my notes- "Couldn't find critter." Which means no creatures. I had a window and missed it. Game two was worse, I total wiffed on my sideboard plan, and forgot my Goblin Cratermakers when he landed the Ensnaring Bridge- ugh.
 |
Double Tomb did 85% of the damage.
|
Second round vs White Eldrazi
Game 1 did not start well, mulled to 5. I got Sneak Attack out, and wiped his board with Emrakul. Then it was just top decking until I found a second creature. Turns out, that was my best game of the entire tournament on a mull to 5.
Game 2 He curved perfectly from Thalia to Prelate on 3. I had the nuts 1 turn too late. Well, where is my sneak attack now? Nadda,
Game 3 My ENTIRE sideboard showed up, but that was it. He had the right amount of pressure and answers to what I was trying to do. *grumble* stupid Containment Priest *grumble* Oh, and Thought-Knot Seer can go f-yourself.
The one thing I still don't understand, he kept all his Swords and I think put in Paths. From what I can recall, DnT, I mean White Eldrazi, wants to remove those spot removals. Very weird. Worked for him I suppose. But still.
Third round vs the OTHER Pox player
Game 1 Mull to 5 again, and then death to Biterblossom.
Game 2 Picked apart, then drew into lands and Sneak Attack. He Extirpated my Brainstorms, then Surgicaled my Ponders. Seriously, at the very end I drew 5 straight mana sources and then 3 Sneak Attacks. I had to laugh because it was SOOOOO bad.
notes about the day:
- I never cast Show and Tell
- I countered, I think, 1 thing
- Pretty sure Griselbrand never saw the battlefield
If you notice the comparison between old and new sleeves- something I didn't notice until I sleeved, the new batches are a millimeter shorter allowing for no extra edge at the top.
Tuesday, May 7, 2019
18 years later
First, the bulk trade with Card Kingdom went smoother than I expected. It did take about 2 weeks to complete, start to finish. Out of the 400 some cards I sent in, 5 were returned in total. Not too shabby.
I seriously debated which version of the volcanic to order, NM or EX, or GD. I settled on EX which let me acquire a couple other things as well. No way I was getting a City of Traitors, but did fill my SnS sideboard with the last 3 cards I did not have in legal paper.
Second, I found a small stack of more tradable cards in a drawer after I got the cards in. I don't think it would have mattered TOO much, but that annoyed me.
Third, my trade stock is pretty much null. Unless you really want less than $1 bulk rares, in which case I have a whole 800 count box to sell you. :)
Fourth, I really need to review my DeckBox trade list. Still feels off after removing all the cards I shipped off to CK.
Other notes-
- Looks like I will be able to attend this weeks local legacy.
- No CHANCE I can make the free tournament Game Hunters is putting on Sunday, Mothers Day? really guys?
- I made about 90% of Gul_Dukat's Orzhov Knights deck for Arena, it is a BEAST. I am buying whatever that guy is selling.
- Looks like I just missed the boat on True-Name. Caught 1 before it is back up to almost $20. Still might use some store credit to pick up another Thursday depending on their price.
- Interesting prospective regarding Legacy and the London Mulligan. I am still of the camp that if/when it gets adopted, the ban hammer is coming and well- Grisel-daddy takes one on the chin.
- Modern Horizons might shake up Legacy more than War of the Spark, which isn't really hard to do yet. If Wizards implements both the new mulligan and the new set at the same time, gonna be a confusing time.
- If you haven't caught the Narset hype-train, we still have seats for you. Thank goodness she is an uncommon. Good luck finding a decent priced Foil of her.
Sunday, May 5, 2019
How to change images of basic lands in Arena
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| I wanted THIS land in my deck |
I play Arena mostly because its free, and gives me something to kill some time waiting for kids to get stuff done. I have been playing since invite only beta was out. One of the things that has really annoyed me of late- why can't I change the basic land card art? I see other people with other versions, what is preventing me from doing it?
Thought about it for a minute one day and realized the basic land type you have available is likely to reflect the type you got when you started playing Arena. That annoyed me. About the only bling I have ever purchased for my legacy world is Beta basics. I love the old school. So why not be able to select the art you like best in Arena? GAH!
There is a work around, and it is a bit of a pain in the butt to be honest. Here are the steps:
Import this list of cards as a new deck. It represents the 'coding' Arena uses for each individual basic land type. All 60 of them.
- Copy to clipboard
- import from clipboard
- save deck as something like "basic lands"
With the "basic lands" deck open, this is the pain-in-the-butt part, remove everything but the land (editions) types you want. Click on the plus symbol on the left of the name of the land to increase the numbers to you want. THEN you need to add your spells and such. Save as a deck name, and there you have it.
Friday, May 3, 2019
Legacy week #26
One of my greatest purchasing debates in Magic has just occurred- I got my credit from Card Kingdom. It was closer to 500 than 600, which I am not sneezing or laughing at. My initial set of cards clocked in at just over $600 in trade value, so I lost about $100 in value through their verification methods.
My problem is, I am not entirely sure what I should get. Yes, it should be 1 Volcanic Island, but a NM one would basically eat the entire trade value. (still makes me giggle a little bit) But if I drop down to EX condition I could pick up a third Cavern of Souls, paying $10 in cash for both. Or do I just pick up smaller pieces that I currently need, aka under $50.
GAH! Decisions....
One other consideration, I doubt I will have much trade stock to send in again this year. It very well could take me another year or two to build up enough to send in again. There is no need to keep the spare money sitting there. none.
[update, I pulled the trigger. One thing I did not account for- Sales Tax. Man that hit and sucked.]
Round 1 vs b/u delver
I know the guy, he runs this deck every week. Not a great matchup for SnS, at all.
Game 1- One land opener- mulligan. Draw 6, no lands. UGH! Seriously deck. 5 cards, kept but awful hand. I flounder around for a bit and I just get killed by flying creatures. [Editors note- I am starting to think my deck hates producing lands on demand] The only good note, it took about 3-4 turns for him to flip the delver. So I had that going for me.
Game 2- Throw in Grim Lavamancers and Defense Grids. Mulligan again, but in my 6 I had the Lavamancer. Cool, cool. He gets out a Delver, I land the Lavamancer with support. He makes it so I ping the Delver, then he top decks a Lightning Bolt to kill the Lavamancer. And that is how the game goes, he just has the answers for threats. He had two wastelands, which didn't hurt me as much as it could have. He is down to 2 cards, I cast Show and Tell, he had a Force. Seriously?! Ugh, just ugh. He had all the answers.
Round 2 vs Maverick
A very pimped out version, FBB duals, foils, and FBB other cards.
Game 1, He had the weirdest opening hand, and showed me afterwards. (3 Green Sun, Dryad, and no other ramp. It was weird) We both mulligan. He has a bird first turn, then into Thalia. Huh. Slowed me down a SMIDGE. Why? Cause I had turn 2 Show and Tell in to Omnscince, into Griselbrand otherwise. I had to wait until turn 3 to find another piece of mana. Show and Tell, Omniscience, he put a Knight in. Which, honestly, could be the difference for him if I let him have another turn. But I dug and found Emrakul. Game 1.
Game 2, I didn't have to mulligan. It was a miracle. However, my hand was not great, 2 Sneak Attacks but a Griselbrand. I managed again to dig to my combo of Show and Tell, Omniscience, Griselbrand dig into Emrakul. I don't think it made him feel better when I told him I was only running 2 Omniscience.
We played a 3rd game for fun, and he turn two'd a choke, drop a Karakas, and basically just had all the hate I didn't see in either previous games. Go figure.
Round 3 vs Mono-red stompy
Game 1: His turn 1, Chrome Mox, Chrome Mox, land, Chalice on 1, turn 2, Trinisphere. (empty handed at that point) I was like, huh. Looked at my hand- Griselbrand and a bunch of cantrips. However, he had no pressure. I did what SnS does here and just waited, I couldn't do much else with the soft lock he had. He wound up getting out Magus of the Moon and Legion War Boss. He got me down to 8 life. I had to Show and Tell (with help from a Lotus Petal) in a Sneak Attack because I had low mana issues and he was going to kill me in two turns. I had an Volcanic and a basic island in place. I had both the Griselbrand and Emrakul in hand, but only 1 red source to activate Sneak Attack. Activate Sneak Attack, draw 7, find red source. Deal 22. Whew.
Game 2: Turn 2 I Show and Tell in an Emrakul because I know he can't stop it. My only fear would be he had a Goblin Cratermaker, but I didn't peg him to have it. Turns out, I was right. He scooped.
He said he hadn't played a match of magic so quickly in a long while.
Thoughts from the night-
I only drew and played Lotus Petal once all night and it was super critical when I did.
My deck needs a stern talking to about this land drawing issues in the first 7. Two weeks now it has hindered me.
Won't be able to play next week due to family obligations, it happens.
The local store I play weekly Legacy was sold in the past week, lets hope the new owners keep up the support for the Legacy community. Would suck if they changed it.
My problem is, I am not entirely sure what I should get. Yes, it should be 1 Volcanic Island, but a NM one would basically eat the entire trade value. (still makes me giggle a little bit) But if I drop down to EX condition I could pick up a third Cavern of Souls, paying $10 in cash for both. Or do I just pick up smaller pieces that I currently need, aka under $50.
GAH! Decisions....
One other consideration, I doubt I will have much trade stock to send in again this year. It very well could take me another year or two to build up enough to send in again. There is no need to keep the spare money sitting there. none.
[update, I pulled the trigger. One thing I did not account for- Sales Tax. Man that hit and sucked.]
Round 1 vs b/u delver
I know the guy, he runs this deck every week. Not a great matchup for SnS, at all.
Game 1- One land opener- mulligan. Draw 6, no lands. UGH! Seriously deck. 5 cards, kept but awful hand. I flounder around for a bit and I just get killed by flying creatures. [Editors note- I am starting to think my deck hates producing lands on demand] The only good note, it took about 3-4 turns for him to flip the delver. So I had that going for me.
Game 2- Throw in Grim Lavamancers and Defense Grids. Mulligan again, but in my 6 I had the Lavamancer. Cool, cool. He gets out a Delver, I land the Lavamancer with support. He makes it so I ping the Delver, then he top decks a Lightning Bolt to kill the Lavamancer. And that is how the game goes, he just has the answers for threats. He had two wastelands, which didn't hurt me as much as it could have. He is down to 2 cards, I cast Show and Tell, he had a Force. Seriously?! Ugh, just ugh. He had all the answers.
Round 2 vs Maverick
A very pimped out version, FBB duals, foils, and FBB other cards.
Game 1, He had the weirdest opening hand, and showed me afterwards. (3 Green Sun, Dryad, and no other ramp. It was weird) We both mulligan. He has a bird first turn, then into Thalia. Huh. Slowed me down a SMIDGE. Why? Cause I had turn 2 Show and Tell in to Omnscince, into Griselbrand otherwise. I had to wait until turn 3 to find another piece of mana. Show and Tell, Omniscience, he put a Knight in. Which, honestly, could be the difference for him if I let him have another turn. But I dug and found Emrakul. Game 1.
Game 2, I didn't have to mulligan. It was a miracle. However, my hand was not great, 2 Sneak Attacks but a Griselbrand. I managed again to dig to my combo of Show and Tell, Omniscience, Griselbrand dig into Emrakul. I don't think it made him feel better when I told him I was only running 2 Omniscience.
We played a 3rd game for fun, and he turn two'd a choke, drop a Karakas, and basically just had all the hate I didn't see in either previous games. Go figure.
Round 3 vs Mono-red stompy
Game 1: His turn 1, Chrome Mox, Chrome Mox, land, Chalice on 1, turn 2, Trinisphere. (empty handed at that point) I was like, huh. Looked at my hand- Griselbrand and a bunch of cantrips. However, he had no pressure. I did what SnS does here and just waited, I couldn't do much else with the soft lock he had. He wound up getting out Magus of the Moon and Legion War Boss. He got me down to 8 life. I had to Show and Tell (with help from a Lotus Petal) in a Sneak Attack because I had low mana issues and he was going to kill me in two turns. I had an Volcanic and a basic island in place. I had both the Griselbrand and Emrakul in hand, but only 1 red source to activate Sneak Attack. Activate Sneak Attack, draw 7, find red source. Deal 22. Whew.
Game 2: Turn 2 I Show and Tell in an Emrakul because I know he can't stop it. My only fear would be he had a Goblin Cratermaker, but I didn't peg him to have it. Turns out, I was right. He scooped.
He said he hadn't played a match of magic so quickly in a long while.
Thoughts from the night-
I only drew and played Lotus Petal once all night and it was super critical when I did.
My deck needs a stern talking to about this land drawing issues in the first 7. Two weeks now it has hindered me.
Won't be able to play next week due to family obligations, it happens.
The local store I play weekly Legacy was sold in the past week, lets hope the new owners keep up the support for the Legacy community. Would suck if they changed it.
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