Theros, AND BEYOND! (a pre-release)

I really wasn't sure I wanted to attend the pre-release, but I thought better of it. I haven't missed one since I got back in and I was glad I did go.

The area I live in was expecting some nasty winter weather on Saturday, and the Friday pre-release came in really handy. I went to the 630 release at Games and Stuff. Glad I got there early, as the line was liteally wrapped around the inside of the store. The game area was completely packed with Modern firing, RPG players, tabletops, and the pre-release. It was crazy warm, boarding on hot.

First- I knew nothing about the set other than some of the bigger cards. Even then, I only listened to Legacy impact podcasts to have a clue. Only card considered for "new deck type" sort of card by everyone has been Underworld Breach. There is already talk for it to be banned due to the interaction with LED. (graveyard hate, hooooooooooooo!)

Sat down, got my box, and realized I couldn't even move to a different place to take my time and read. It was that packed. We had 25 minutes to open, sort, and build a deck. Gads! For cards I have no clue what I am looking at.

My foil promo was pretty good for limited: Erebos's Intervention
I will note- I didn't realize this was an instant until half way through the evening. Seriously. *sigh*


I was hurrying along, opening packs, until... well, this one:

This was the same pack. I kid you not.

I landed a lottery card. Insanity.
I actually had to look it up to even understand what I had gotten. At the time of the event, it was about a $92 card. Since then, it has fallen to $84. I put it up on eBay right away, and finally sold it for $70. This is about right for the card, and it is staring to see play. Which is fine. There will be a ton opened, especially with the collector's boxes out there. I am not willing to wait 2-3 years to see if maybe it will go up 20%.

What did I get with that? I went to FB for Sick Deals, and found myself someone selling a LP Zendikar Scalding Tarn for $55. w00t.


THANKS ASHIOK!

[Updated]  After shipping the card out, I thought about if I should have just kept the card. Naaaaa... Looks like I was right in getting rid of it as fast as possible. Currently, you can pick up the same card on TCG for about $36. Price PLUNGED. Feel bad for the buyer, but good news for me!

Gunk and Tentacles

I went to Titan on 1/11 for a 5 round Legacy event. I had hoped to go 3-2 to be honest, that would have been better than my previous showing.

My Eldrazi stompy deck with Once Upon a Time had been doing fairly well at the weeklies I was able to make it out to. I named it Gunk and Tentacles because of the Chalices, Thorns, and sideboard Sphere affects. Often if any two hit the board at the same time, the other player was just in a world of hurt.

Three other friends joined the fray and we wound up with a total of 25 playing for the hopes of making top 8.

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Round 1 vs Miracles (Adam)

Every time I play him he announces- "you are always my worst match-up. No matter what you play." Always a good guy to play, and only plays a version of Miracles. So props to him for sticking with it.

I stomp all over him to be honest. Both games I got a Chalice out, and he was pretty hosed. Eldrazi does what Eldrazi does.

2-0 in games, 1-0 over all

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Round 2 vs Elves (buddy Dan)

We knew this would happen after our other two buddies played each other in the first round. Kinda funny to be honest. We knew exactly what each other were running, and had played against each other countless times on random weekend Legacy plays.

Won game 1 with stompings, some minor gunk.

Lost game 2 when he got a Hexdrinker to level up to 6 and I had next to nothing.

Won game 3 convincingly with a turn 1 Chalice, and Smashers. He said he screwed up in a turn 2 play but I have no clue how.

2-1 in games, 2-0 over all
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Round 3 vs Death Shadow

Game 1 when he Fetched and shocked I knew exactly what he was on. I couldn't find a Chalice to lock him out to save myself. He never found a Death Shadow, but got there with an angry fish and a Delver.

Game 2 I locked him out of casting most things. He Forced my Chalice, then I played a Sphere and promptly stomped him

Game 3 I kept an ok hand with two lands and NEVER SAW ANOTHER LAND. UGH... I kept turning over cards and it was another 4 after I died before I would have seen an Eye. I mean, seriously. Ugh. If I had won that game, I could have drawn into top 8.

1-2 in games, 2-1 over all

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Round 4 vs Oko Miracles (Paul)
Widely regarded as one of the best players at Titan, and I had razor thin chances at him. None of which worked out.

Game 1 I thought for sure he was on his r/u delver build, nope. It was a fairly long game in which he played 3 Mystic Sanctuary and won him the game off their backs. I had him down to 1 and had hoped to top a third Smasher but thats not where I wanted to be.

Game 2 Just got stomped. I plopped down an Eye, Mimic, then saw a Chalice. Miss played my lands, but I don't think it would have helped. He wound up with like 5 Angels from a miracle. It was bad.

0-2 in games, 2-2 over all

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Round 5 vs Sn-Oko (Jay)
Local player I run into at MTG First usually. I usually give him fits with this build, and I didn't care a damn bit and my deck reflected my distaste for even being at 2-2

Game 1 He whooped up on me with Elks, I had a small chance but he got an Oko on line and just crushed my soul.

Game 2 He countered a Chalice, and a Thorns, but the Sphere got to the board and just hosed him. I closed it out with bit weird creatures.

Game 3 See game 3 of match 3. It was embarrassing. My deck hated the idea of lands.

Little bits

I only realized this past week that I have been back into Magic for about 4.5 years. I mark my return with the attendance of my first Pre-release: Battle for Zendikar.  (September 26th, 2015)
Since then, I have slowly, oh so slowly, built my Legacy collection up. I attended many drafts to play cost effectively. I bought some auction collections hoping to find some hidden gems. I have gotten some money and bought stuff. Mostly though, it has been via trading up, lots of material for the bigger cards I really needed. Its a hard road to slog, let me tell you.

Over this past holiday, I sold a couple household things (for those playing at home, it was stuff I could never use again) and found myself with about $75-$80 to use. And for the first time in a long while, I had to stop and think of what I wanted to get.

I know I want a complete play set of duals, and likely fetches. Those go without saying, but my 'cheaper' want list was pretty much empty for a minute. I was flabbergasted.

I considered various things:

• Getting 3 Italian Karakas with the original art
• Several beta Plains to up my count there
• A Scalding Tarn, to help my SnS deck get one step closer to being paper legal

I also had to weigh where to buy the cards. I could go to the FB group of "Sick Deals" which is supposed to be 10% lower than TCG. (players selling directly with no fees and overhead) Not always, but you really need to stay on top of it. TCG where the buys are a bit more protected than a FB group. Local card shop, where the "card in hand" satisfaction is nice. Though taxes has to be considered, and the travel.

I wound up asking a couple mtg player friends about deals and where to aim the money towards. Both of them said the Scalding Tarn. Fetch prices are suppressed due to holiday season, and people selling cards to help pay down debt. Makes sense. Oh, and Modern players have been selling off since the announcement of Pioneer as a format that bans fetches. Prices are at a good place for me!

The idea of pimping a little with old art Karakas was very interesting, but totally unnecessary right now. That idea was pitched out the window. 

The Scalding Tarn was taking the race by storm when I looked up the prices and found that I could get an original printing, light play, for about $62 via TCG. That sealed the deal. (see pricing history, which has been favoring me for now)

Then I thought- "self, get some more of that Beta bling. Get two beta Plains!" Which I did for $7 a pop. Sweet.

After all was said and done, I paid about $5 in cash for taxes and got a LP Zendikar Scalding Tarn and two LP Beta Plains. Welcome to the collection kids.