skip a few, Legacy weekly results #15

 First off, let me address the title there. I did play more than once in the past month. However, my results were SO poor, I actually scrubbed them from my memory. Four weeks ago, I ran out S&S to a COMPLETELY awful result of one game win in total. The deck, as constructed, was completely unplayable. It was bad.
Then, three weeks ago, I ran out Initiative again. Back to old faithful. What I didn't count on was feeling very tired, but unknown to me was that I had a RAGING sinus infection that pulled the very living life force from my brain. I promptly drew EXTREMELY poorly and bombed out. It happens. SIGH.

On to more interesting results, week #15 for me. Legacy is very healthy at Level Up Games MD, this week we had 21 players.

I ran out r/w initiate again. I am still testing Boromir in place of Touch the Spirit Realm. This is super funny because Touch is usually goo against Lands decks, which I ran into tonight. DOH. I was also running Armageddon in the side for that match up. Still unsure about that card. I also finally had my fourth copy of Forth Eorligas! available. Without making some unnoticed mark, no way to tell how that affected my results. I would like to think it did.

=-=-=-=-

Round 1 vs Lands, no Sphere

Game 1- He didn't find Loam recursion and I dropped too many threats. His Saga plan got blown up when I was swinging with big creatures. I think the key to my play actually was turn one Fable to get treasure mana going. Learned a lesson on doing better turn one plays .

Game 2- I sided in my Armageddons, Rest in Peace and Faerie Macabre. Well, I got down an early Rest In Peace, though I am think I should have waited... gotta consider that one. However, I started to get plenty of things going and I messed up with trying to out smart myself. I cast Armageddon. I didn't need to and he could just make a 20/20... I completely brain farted. I even had a second Solitude in hand but not enough mana to cast him. FRICK.
After thought, I missed an Initiative trigger which might have really gotten me there... but ugh. Lesson learned- gotta slow down and make sure all the triggers are accounted for.

Game 3- I did a thing where I presented several early threats, he swords two of them. Thats fine, I went up to like 27. I kept throwing threats out, and got him down to like 7. He then made a 20/20, and I was like- thats fine. My double Dungeoneer kills you next turn. (one of which was produced via completing the Undercity)

=-=-=-=-=-

Round 2 vs Lands, Sphere

Game 1- I did what my deck is supposed to do- and barfed up threats they really had a hard time trying to deal with. Even with two constructs that couldn't slow it down. Felt ok, but not great.

Game 2- There was a SLIVER of a hope I could have pulled out of my nose dive. His Sphere slowed me down enough to where a wasteland kept me from doing everything I wanted. I had the slightest of chances to pull out of that never ending hell, but I didn't find any graveyard hate which I believe would have gotten me there. (honestly re-thinking those armageddons in my SB for more graveyard hate?)

Game 3- My deck completely CRUSHED my hopes and dreams. Opening hand did nothing for 3 turns. Bad. Shipped. Second hand, one land. Ugh... Shipped. Third seven, ZERO MANA. 

Omg.

Breath.... going down to 4. Attempted to do things- like Chalice on 1, then found a single creature which was Swords... and I scooped. Sure he might have had nothing, but his reoccurring Wasteland was going to wreck me. Sigh.

=-=-=-=-=-

Round 3 vs Humans

Game 1- I was NOT ready for someone to be on HUMANS?! Good gravy. It took me a couple minutes to even look up Champion of the Parish to remember what that card was. ICK. He got all the synergy, and I got lots of mana. Not the way to go there... when they are attacking me, and I can't do much, its scoop time.

Game 2- There were so many triggers and tokens on the board that game. I wound up just overwhelming the board with threats. I was able to run the undercity again, and had Season Dungeoneer popout the other side... I had Fables, and Initiative, and Goblins pooping out Treasures... on man the board was CROWDED with creatures and things.

Game 3- I mulligan'd to a very daring hand, in that I dumped a turn one Caves of Choas Adventurer. When it rolls across for 7 on turn 2, followed by the Initiative trigger for 5 and it attacking again followed by a Forth x=1, and thats game... you know you are doing something right. Mind you, on turn two he dropped a Cathar Commando, and blew up my turn 2 Fable instead of my Chrome Mox... felt like I was doing something right.

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

Rest in Peace Card Sphere. I joined you WAY WAY too late. I am an idiot on several levels. Let me explain what happened to me... Before joining CS, I was fairly successful on DeckBox trading. (250 positive trades as of  writing) I transferred my haves list to CS, and off I went. Then I decided I need to clean out my CS account, dumped my earnings, and went to dump my current tradelist and deleted it by mistake. OUCH. So I wound up completely re-entering my entire trade list... like 2,000 cards into DeckBox again. Well, at least I know its accurate.

I got plenty of awesomeness from those trades. Like Alpha Mountain, Cavern of Souls, Chrome Mox... etc. I did pretty ok. Wish I had started when I made my account, but I just didn;t understand the concept at the time. Damn.

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

 During my self guided off time, I sent cards off to get artist signatures. Five per card seemed reasonable to me.This time it was for Dan Frazier. I sent off:

- 4 SL Chrome Mox
- 4 Beta Swamp
- 1 IA Jester's Cap (oh those were the days when that card rocked)

Auction results

 Took a little longer than I expected to get my auction winnings in. Lets go over how much things cost me.

I won the auction at $35 on the theory that two of the Lightning Bolts might be Unlimited editions. The auction premium brought the total to $42. Shipping and handling added another $20, so roughly $65 all in for this pile of cards.

I finally entered all the items in, and this is what I have. Roughly $200 in value. The most expensive was the Culling the Weak at about $8 each. Which is about half the cost of my endevour. 

No big tickets, just volume. Most likely I will add these to my trade piles. With the demise of Cardsphere- no clue how I will get ride of them now. Back to DeckBox I suppose. Need to wipe my have list out and re-enter everything because I didn't keep up both lists and was a big fat stupid head, and deleted my CardSphere list by mistake.

1 Aura of Silence [WTH]
1 The Rack [3ED]
1 Fellwar Stone [5ED]
1 Capsize [TMP]
3 Bubbling Muck [UDS]
1 Nature's Lore [ICE]
1 Soltari Champion [STH]
1 Winds of Rath [TMP]
1 Alabaster Dragon [WTH]
1 Quirion Ranger [VIS]
1 Upheaval [ODY]
1 Triskelion [4ED]
1 Snake Basket [VIS]
1 Jokulhaups [5ED]
2 Counterspell [MMQ]
2 Smoke [5ED]
1 Pyroblast [5ED]
1 Pyroblast [ICE]
4 Choke [TMP]
3 Snap [ULG]
4 Boil [TMP]
3 Culling the Weak [EXO]
11 Exhume [USG]
2 Wall of Nets [EXO]
2 Dwarven Recruiter [ODY]
6 Daze [NMS]
11 Counterspell [TMP]
4 Counterspell [ICE]
2 Brainstorm [MMQ]
2 Skyshroud Claim [NMS]
2 Island Sanctuary [4ED]
2 Serra Angel [4ED]
2 The Rack [4ED]
1 Lightning Bolt []
13 Lightning Bolt [3ED]

Legacy 2023, episode #12

 My Wednesdays got MIGHTY busy with school back in session. So no Level Up for a couple weeks. However, Game Haven is throwing down for Legacy on Tuesday nights. Not ideal as it is slightly further, slightly later. But it is legacy with friends. 

We had 8 as we got Jake, the owner, to jam a deck Andy brought- food chain goblins. haha.

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

Round 1 vs 8-key (Chris)

Game 1, I knew what he was on, but he won the die roll, and my deck petered out because he had just simply gone over the top of me. The key turn, in my opinion, was when he dropped the One Ring, and had protection. Pretty much took over from there. I only have so many road bumps to provide, but the deck doesn't provide follow-up, game over. Which was the case here. Removing my Archon, and I didn't have much else.

Game 2, Got things off to a faster start. Got a Dungeoneer down quick, and that ended that game fast. It was a BLAZING fast start, which doesn't bode well for a ramp deck that needs quick answers. 

Game 3, I had a Chalice and an Archon... but then my deck just throttled any bit of colored mana. I've been sensing a theme when it comes to this. I need to rethink my keeps and how I play things out like Mirror Breaker, and balancing roadbumps.

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

Round 2 vs Helm (Tweaks style)

Game 1, it was a silly game of magic.  He never got a combo off, but had enough removal to keep me horribly off balance. At one point he ran the dungeon on me, and pooped out a bad creature as he really isn't a creature heavy deck to make it work. I found my mojo, and a Forth to get Monoarch, and just completely shredded. He had one extra turn due to a fog, but never found anything to deal with my 15 threats. 

Game 2, I finally felt comfortable putting in my new sideboard tech- Armageddon. Never saw it, but felt like the perfect place for it. Too bad I slammed a very early Caves, took the Initiative, and never looked back. I ran the dungeon, by double spelling initiative creatures. It was a freaking blood bath. Sorry Rob.

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

Round 3 vs  Black storm with Beseech the Mirror (Farmer)

Game 1, I honestly didn't know what he was on. And I should have done better at presenting a threat. I had ONE good turn with Comet, Stellar Pup. Seriously. I got him down- wound up rolling 6 like 3 times, and lava axed him for about 15, and got two squirrels with haste. Funny thing is, wasn't enough to win. I got him to 2, but that was all I could do. One silly dog. Sigh.

Game 2, I had answers- Mindbreak Traps, Null Rod, etc. Never saw them. We mulliganed, and all I could find was an Archon with a Cavern to cast. After that- NOT A SINGLE COLORED SOURCE OF MANA for like 5 turns. Not a Chrome Mox, not a Petal, not a land. Sucked to suck. Fruck-edge-ugh.

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

 I wound up going to the Wilds of Eldraine pre-release Saturday morning at Gritty Goblin.  I had, what might be, my worst pre-release kit ever. Not a single mythic. Not a single card of value. I had, the WORST pre-release. If it wasn't for playing my buddy Dom in round 2, I might have just left in round 1. It was that bad. UGH. Not gonna go out of my way to draft this set at all. Not feeling it.

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

I won an online auction for $35. Not much... I based the entire auction off what I think I saw in the photos. They showed a series of Lightning Bolts. Most of which were revised, but I think 2-3 of them might have been Unlimited. If they were, then I made out QUIET well, but if they weren't then- I likely did just ok-ish.  Gonna be a couple weeks until I get the cards me thinks- not going to sort out shipping until next week. Guess they don't want my money that fast. Ha.

Too bad the auction site turned off the zoomed version of the cards after the auction ended. I would have loved to saved higher quality image for further review. Dang.

Legacy 2023, episodes #9, #10, #11

 I'm behind in posting. Very behind.

Between catching up with travel, being sick, family stuff, school starting- basically life, just haven't had time to post any updates regarding recent results. (Ironically, can't make Legacy weekly next week due to more life stuff)

I've been slinging r/w Initiative each week with tweaking every time. From trying Saga, to not, to Boromir, to trying a stock build. Each time, the land base stayed the same... it was about 8 cards that were being swapped out. I honestly never really used Forth Eorlings! successfully until yesterday. 

Interesting note about my deck- it can, crap its pants. By which, I've had streaks when I cannot find a colored mana source. Petal, Mox, or land. I've had times where I draw 1 land hands 9 out of 12 games vs my buddy Andy. To the point that I don't want to play magic. I don't know how it happens. Some matches the deck ceases to function. I don't know how to correct that other than learn how to draw better.

 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Episode #9, Aug 16th

Match 1 vs MonoGreen Post 

Very nice fella who only came back to Legacy, firs time in at least a year. I kinda felt bad because he had no clue what Initiative was. 

Game 1- I was doing what the deck does, got Initiative out later than I had hoped. Slowed him down a smidge with Archon. However, he produced a 20/20, which I chumped, but due to the Undercity, I was able to Scrye away two bad cards and topped my one of Karakas. 

Game 2- Things were progressing until I flooded the board with threats. Turns out, his deck has good answer of Glacial Chasm. Well- poop. We back and forth a bit until I topped a Magus of the Moon and swing for lethal. 

Match 2 vs Delver

My notes only have "beat delver 2-1. Chalice is a hell of a card" I have no memory of this match. But I won, which helps.

Match 3 vs Cradle Control

I remember asking if he wanted to split or play it out, or split and play for fun. He decided he wanted the 3-0 and chance for the interview as top dog. 

I know I've been able to handle his deck before as Archon REALLY screws up his game plans. But what I have in my notes is "deck shyte on itself." Which usually means color mana didn't show up. 

The positive note was- I am still playing for free. And thats the goal. Show up, play for free, have some fun... rinse and repeat. 

 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Episode #10, Aug 23th

Interesting side note from this night, someone showed up with Mississippi River.  Which is a deck like burn that can just show up, crush, and never be seen again because it will be hated out horribly. 

This is the version of the deck ran, I believe.

Match 1 vs Lands

    All I am going to say is, THIS IS A HORRIBLE MATCHUP. HORRIBLE. 

You know how? Wasteland recursion with Tabernacle. Thats how. Not talking about that matchup because I honestly don't know how to beat it right now. (Armageddon in the SB? maybe?)

 Match 2 vs Death Shadow

 Only notes I have are "Won 2-1. It was not good magic"

Game 3, he mulliganed to like 5, forced my Chalice on 1, and proceeded to empty his hand to top deck mode. He felt like he could have won if he had found a Murktide, but what he didn't know was that I had a Solitude with white card as my answer. Kinda felt bad, but it is the breaks.

I do recall after the match, him saying "I should start playing Flesh and Blood." He was extremely salty. 

Match 3 vs Painter

Again, no recall of how the games went, but I lost 1-2. Note was "game 3, drew so many lands."

What I do recall is that this version of Painter was running Reanimate, which I was not expecting. At all. 

 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Episode #11, August 30th

I decided to go with a VERY stock list from the on-line meta.  Nearly the exact same 75 other than 2 cards. I don't own a 4th copy of Forth, so I put a Stella, Comet Pup in for fun. I wanted to see what it was like to jam what people consider the best build of the deck. No other reason.

Match 1 vs Moon Stompy

Game 1 I honestly really didn't know what he was on for about 3 turns. He Fury'd my Archon on his turn one, so I thought maybe Painter? It wasn't until the Goblin Rabblemaster'd me. I kinda thought it would be back and forth, and it was. He would blow up some of my stuff, I'd threaten some of his stuff. In the end, I got there. 

Game 2, Out goes all my Chalices, in comes the Swords. Thats basically it. This is the first, and only game, where Forth shined BIG TIME. I could have won a bit earlier, but he pulled off the One Ring problem, and knocked out my other Caves. I was able to pull off casting Forth twice, the second sealing me the game. The first really put the screws to him, but he hard cast a Fury, and then a second. Thank goodness Fury doesn't have trample. Thats all I can say. 

Match 2 vs 4c Depths? 

Game 1, he had all the options to get all the methods for Depths combo and I had nothing to stop it. Without anything more than a Solitude, did not feel good. 

Game 2, 1 land mulligan into 1 land City was as bad as it can get for me. I kept based on Petal and Monkey. I drew 2 Tombs and another City. My deck REALLY didn't want me to have colored mana. Literally I had no decisions in that game. Sigh.

Match 3 vs Storm

Game 1, I gambled BIG time on a hand that could produce a turn one Caves. Turns out it was the right call as he just couldn't deal with the EXTRA fast beats. 7 than 5 and another 7... he tried to storm out, but literally caught nothing even with Echos. 

Game 2, I had all sorts of answers for his deck main and SB, I drew none in two 7s, but I felt okish to kept because he mulligan'd down to 5. Turned out to be the right call because I wound up topping a Magus and locked up his mana as he found no mana rocks and I just caught lightning to which he had no answers. Literally did nothing but played two fetch lands, and were pointless because he had no basics. 

Back to 2-1 and playing again for free.  Did pick up a single copy, the stores only, of Canoptek Scarab Swarm. Need to get a couple more for SBs

Legacy 2023, episode #8

 Took an extended time off from legacy due to family vacation and various other fun things. It happens.

While away from the weekly, I got 3 Forth Eorlingas! for my Initiative deck. I should have ordered before I left when then were under $3, but I thought "they don't make it to $20!" well, I was sorta right and pretty much wrong. Oh well, at least it didn't go higher.... yet. sigh.

I decided to run back my Initiative because I didn't feel like working on any other deck. Took out the Chancellors for the Forth and a single Comet. Swapped the Elite Spellbinders for Anointed Peacekeeper, as they are not x/1 vs Bowmaster. Should have adjusted the sideboard, but didn't feel like it. Ha.

Fun fact, the tokens generated by Forth E! are only from the LoTR commander set. (sidebar: there three other cards from the set that generate the same tokens. huh)

 

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

 

Match 1 vs Cradle Control  (lost the roll)

Game 1- I kept a hand that I said out loud, "this is likely half a step too slow, but we shall see." And that was what it was, half a step too slow. Had a chalice, but he had a turn 2 Grist, and I had no chance after that. Auto-scoop. Not playing for over a month in paper showed!

Game 2- Kept a better hand. Archon is a pain for him, so was all my other removal like Fury. I finally got a Dungeoneer out and retook the initiative with a Caves getting snuffed.  He had some small creatures to take the initiative back, and he said pass the turn- he had forgot to attack. I was slightly confused, said- "dome you for 5...?" He looked up and scooped- had totally forgot to attack. It happens.

Game 3- I got all the screws down, Archon, Containment Priest, Peacekeeper... even found a 2nd Archon. He just couldn't answer them all. The double Archon meant no double spells. Can't Green Sun.... it all fell apart. 

Match 2 vs DnT  (lost the roll)

Game 1- He literally had EVERY SINGLE answer I had. How does 80 card DnT do that?!

Game 2- I flooded on land hard. Welp, that sucks. 

Match 3 vs b/u Shadow (won the roll)

Game 1- Decided to gamble that he wasn't on FoW, and threw away most of my hand to try a hail Mary of turn one Dungeoneer- lost that gamble. He proceeded to stomp my sorry butt to the curb. It happens.

Game 2- For some un-known reason, I decided Chalice was going to be hated on VERY hard, so I ditched that idea and Comet for 2 Magus, 3 StP. Turns out that was the right idea. He removed my turn one play, shocked and burned himself down to 10, so he dropped two Shadows. Thankfully, I had a hard castable Solitude which then answered both Shadows. Nice... we derp for a turn or two, then he drops a very full Murktide, and a THIRD Shadow. I had an empty hand, and then top decked a Swords, which proved to be a 2 fer special. My Solitude was joined by other threats and beat him down.

Game 3- The most spectacular opener ever. He shocks himself for 3 with fetch and Watery Grave. I gamble a smidge by attempting a turn one Magus. He Brainstorms in response, and says, very very slowly, "resolves." He no longer has a swamp to Snuff out my guy, and no basic to bounce with Borrower. So my 2/2 proceeded to beat him into submission for about 8 turns. I never find a basic either, and my hand was full of threats when I kill him.  It was a great/stupid game of Legacy. 

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

I never succeeded in resolving Forth E! in any game. Cast it once which was quickly Forced. (game #2 vs Shadow) I did throw Comet under a Mox twice, so that felt good. 

There were at least two Initiative players, one mono-red stompy, two DnT, and a freaking storm player! Diverse crowd to say the least. Had about 15 on a random summer Wednesday.

I've got time for another week of legacy next week before I have family and work stuff for a couple more weeks. Might bring something else for the hell of it, but who knows.

Legacy 10k in Baltimore

 Two weeks ago, I did not know this event existed. Seriously. In my backyard, a major legacy event, at a major location. How the heck did that happen? I was so focused on the LoTR pre-release... thats how. (Which, for the first time since I re-joined magic... I did not even buy a pre-release kit for. Well, I might be able to fix that today hopefully. Update: I made it out to an 8 person pre-prelease, had some fun, and went 2-1)

I went in knowing the deck I was going to play- r/u initiative.  I did not need to borrow a single card for the deck, which felt great. (who knew Plateaus would ever be $300+ cards?!) I was comfortable with the build after trying others... because there were multiple ways to slice and dice the deck from uber-gas to pure white with Esper Sentinel. The true test to my deck would be, would I draw a dead Chancellor of Annex in a critical time- and I felt like maybe once? 

Here is my list of random thoughts followed by round by round summary:

• I am not sure, but I am fairly sure I didn't lose a die roll in my 7 matches. Maybe once.
• I think there were one or two hands I should have mulliganed that I didn't. Fairly sure I lost those games.
• Chalice felt good all day, only got Chalice checked once.
  
• Really gut punched myself in round 1 with game 3 missed trigger. Not sure it mattered in the long run, but ugh. 
• Lots of good conversations with people, just happy to be out playing Legacy!
• I finished 110th place out of 256. That felt good.
• Knew of a lot of other really good players who didn't even make top 32 to cash out. So, my decision to drop at 4-3 was perfectly reasonable. I just hit a wall sitting down at match 7.
• Did not see any insane decks.
• I had Emrakul in my side for two decks, Mill and S&S. Ran into a single Painter deck, and it was a roadbump in his one victory.
  
• Pretty sure Leyline of the Void would have been more effective than Faerie Macabre.
  
• I had poor draws, but also some really good top decks at times. Felt reasonable. 
• I had two different opponents thank me for having two Undercity cards, which was a last minute add to my sideboard. Small things help with the day.
• I only had one match go two games, which I won. The rest of my matches were all 3 games, which means I was doing something right all day.
• My last two rounds, and knockouts for me, were vs decks I had collectively, 1 match-up experience wise. I literally had no clue what I was doing effectively. 
• Touch of the Spirit Realm was effectively nothing. I think there was one match I drew it and actually used it twice. Otherwise, nah.
• Any game I got to the 5th room of the Dungeon, I won. (I know, you are shocked)
• I felt slightly bad for my running mate for the day- Andy. He had two straight rounds against similar styled decks. For which he played a grand total of 2 games. Mind you, both first games went to time... however, he lost both. Its the magic he signed up for though....
  

 Here is my round by round results.

 

 

Round 1 vs 4 color staff

    Game one, my notes show that I was at 33, and that they were at 12. I don't remember anything else.
    Game  two, I got hosed good. I believe mana screw was my problem.  A well timed prismatic ending removed my Chrome Mox, aka my only colored source at the time. He also had two terminus in hand. Not happening.
    Game three might have been my biggest punt all day. First, he mulligan'd, and I revealed a pre-game Chancellor. Now normally, I leave it on the table as a reminder... but I picked it up for some GOD UNKNOWN reason. I dropped a turn one Caves of Chaos, which should have put him on the back foot for about 3 turns. He blue blasted it, and well- I completely blanked on the Chancellor trigger. I mean- I brain farted hard. He didn't have a second land up... that should have been game honestly. He could have waited a turn, and have a second land... but he was super nervous and I BUNGED IT HARD. I should have had him down to like 7 by turn 3. Sigh... CRAP.

Round2 vs 8 cast

    Game 1, I was not ready for 8-Cast when I sat down. Go figure. I dropped a Chalice on 1 opener, and after he vomited his hand- I realized I choose in correctly. I mean, 85% of the time, Chalice on 1 is very good. And honestly, Urza's Saga won him the game. Creating tokens, and finding a Shadowspear. That Spear single-handedly won him that game.
    Game 2, my notes show me not losing a point, and a Chalice on 0. That followed by a very quick game.
    Game 3, My notes show I wound up drawing both of my Meltdowns. Which completely ended everything he was trying to do... so, a match win it is.

Round 3 vs Boros Painter

    Game 1, I believe I dropped a Chalice on 1, and followed it by a complete beating.
    Game 2, I nearly forgot to put in my Emrakul, the only time it was midly good. It caused him problems trying to mill me out. He had a Karn to fetch up a Tormod's Crypt to respond to the Emrakul trigger. I had an out if I could top a Meltdown, but no.
    Game 3, All I have for a note is "stomped kill." But this last win was a VERY interesting timing kill. He had a slight window when he dropped a painter, then I attacked with a beefy Caves of Chaos, which exiled a Fury. He did not block obviously... I then I hard cast Fury to kill his Painter. It was all I could ever hope for.

Round 4 vs Deadguy Ale

    Game 1, I had ZERO clue what he was on. I dropped a turn one Chalice on 1, which blanked his two StP in his hand. Go figure. I didn't know what he was on still becausehe dropped only a Dauthi Voidwalker, and I was able to Elite Spellbinder his had to remove his Serra Paragon. It was a good beatdown with no Initiative creatures.
    Game 2, I think I crushed him even faster if possible. I found multiple Initiative creatures, and his Dauthi, while hitting me for 3 a turn, didn't do anything else. I felt bad for him... just a little bit.

Round 5 vs Field of the Dead deck? (decklist is not available on Melee)

    Game 1, I never saw anything more than a single land before they scooped to my Caves of Choas. They said- Nope, I am just dead to that. I had zero clue what they were on, but based on a single dual land, I guessed and put in Magus of the Moon, and prayed.
    Game 2, I wound up drawing a Magus, and dropped it when they only had two basics in play, but not any White to cast a prismastic Ending. Their Field of the Dead was dead.. and I removed they few pieces of creatures that let me run the dungeon. 

Game 6 vs Mystic Forge (I've played against them exactly ZERO times)

    Game 1, I honestly don't know what happened, but he comboed me out.
    Game 2, I won with initiative creatures. He did not find his uber fast start.
    Game 3, my single note was "Did I even play?" Nope... my hand was actually REALLY good if he didn't have Echo of Eons. I mean, I could have even removed everything up to, and including a 4 drop artifact due to a Meltdown... but I never even had a turn. Oh well. 

Game 7 vs Breakfast (but he had it listed as 4 color loam.... shrug)

    Game 1, I won but not sure how...
    Game 2, Did not find a single piece of colored mana. Well, that sucked.
    Game 3, He found a Kaldra via Stoneforge, I did not find a Solitude. I wound up with two Faerie Macabre in my hand which were completely useless. That ended my day.

Kicking up my game

 

I am not noted for spending a lot on this game. But over 7+ years I have been back playing, I finally gotten a decent collection. (and playing legacy is a challenge unto itself) One of my acquisition mantras has been, "buy artifacts and lands, try to trade for the rest." So far, this has worked well for me.

I think I finally turned a corner this year... I'm able to run multiple, tournament legal, decks without borrowing cards. There are one or two others I would love to say that about, but I don't know if I am going to run into several thousand dollars to get the dual lands required. So I will be fine with that.

Running commentary on what I have picked up this year:

- Original Antiquities Urza-land set. A friend game me his left over lands, and I was left with 3 blanks in the set. It took me longer than I expected to trade for the missing three lands. Including an awful mistake by one very nice Canadian who sent the wrong land, I sent back, he sent the correct one. That took about 2 months to finalize. I might trade this set one day, as I don't see myself ever playing Tron in Modern, but who knows.

- Set of original Painter's Servants. I had stated I wanted to learn to play painter correctly in Legacy. Hasn't happened yet, but I have the Painters! Its a very weird/niche card that really doesn't work outside of a Grindstone synergy. In the meantime- here we go. Thanks to CardMarket and my friend who lives overseas to be my collection point for these way cheaper cards.

- Set of Secret Lair Chrome Mox. Last year when I went to the Legacy Pit Open in Richmond, I was playing mono-red stompy, and I had to borrow a set from a friend. This year when I attend the big 10k in Baltimore, I won't have to borrow any. Plus, I really like the old school treatment they gave the card.

- One VERY minty original Karakas. This wasn't on my radar, hell, it was never even listed on the guy's Facebook group listing. Re-wind. After my brief attempt at acquiring a Mox Opal, I re-invested those funds to go after an original Karakas for decks that needed it as a one of. The seller does a TON of sales via FB groups. I found a MP one for a good price, but he had sold it. He replied almost right away and said, he did just get in two VERY minty Karakas. Like opened, put into a box, and forgotten about. He very rarely calls things mint because he deals in A LOT of cardboard, but those impressed him. I should have picked up both, but I was being good and sticking to my budget.  As I told him, "I almost feel guilty sleeving it up for play."

- Set of Grindstone. Can't play Painter with out the Grindstone! Turns out, I really only needed to get 2, but I overshot a bit because they were on the cheaper side of artifacts to add to the collection.

- A single Mox Opal for Painter. This one showed up due to my activity on CardSphere. I half jokingly added it to my wants list after the first one turned out to be a fake. Same printing, but 100% correct this time.

- An Alpha Mountain- also acquired via CardSphere and likely "overpaid" for it, but considering I simply shipped out a bunch of trade material, I was fine with not getting all the value out of every cent. Now I need to get one of each kind of Alpha basics. Thank goodness they only printed two of each type in that set.

Legacy 2023, episode #7

 Made it back to Level Up Games MD for another week of testing r/w Initiative. Was nice to chat with Titan refugee Chris about his version of initiative. Though it was sad to hear about the demise of another weekly Legacy event. The other location just had dwindling participation and I think Chris marks the official death. The weekly hadn't officially fired for months. The store will be absolutely fine, as it supports Warhammer. 

This week I was testing Fable of the Mirror Breaker as a replacement for Chancellor of the Annex. My thoughts about each:

Fable:

• Pitches to Fury
• Can be imprinted to Chrome Mox, not likely....
  
• Not a dead draw
• Helps filter
• Can produce another Initiative creator with Kiki
  

Chancellor:

• Pitches to Solitude
• Can be imprinted to Chrome Mox, very likely
  
• Super annoying to play against if found in opening hand
• Can be a dead card in hand if drawn. (outside of Mox, and pitching to Solitude)
  
• A very good card to hit on the Undercity, Throne of the Dead Three.

So I think it comes down to, do I want to hopefully disrupt early... slow down another aggressive deck, or play a slightly longer game. Combat more combo, or have more game against control. 

I do not know the answer. 

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I am going to SCG Con Baltimore to play in the Legacy 10k. 

Why after saying big events are not for me? First, its in my backyard. Second, a 10k for $50 plus parking? Yes please. Third, my initiative deck has been smashing face, and doing not bad. I know how it plays and what to expect. Fourth, I finally have a deck I don't have to borrow any cards for. Seriously, thats a huge accomplishment for me.

I will mark it a highly successful day if I leave that day with a winning record. Even at 3-2. 

(as of writing this, a grand total of 15 people have signed up, out of 1,000 slots. HA!)

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Match 1 vs u/w Stoneblade

Game 1- My notes state I crushed him. Initiative just overwhelmed him, he had no removal. I think I had a Cavern of Souls to prevent countering? I think. 

Game 2- Notes state I turned into the control deck somehow. I found ways of distrupting what he had to slow me down. Turns out, Spellbinder on a March of Otherworldly Light, really screwed things up for him.

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Match 2 vs r/w Initiative (Gene) 

I was not expecting Gene to be on this deck. He was fresh off the complete destruction of his opponent Bye. (come on, jokes are needed)

Game 1- my opening hand felt ok, but my Chalice on 1 was laughable as it turned out. I played out a Spellbinder, which allowed me to have evasion which was critical because he played out a Caves of Chaos Adventurer. While he took the initiative, I just took it right back. I know how this game is played. I know him missing that one turn of initiative is basically what allowed me to win honestly. That and a couple flyers. Ha.

Game 2- Opening hand felt really good, Plateau StP for any of his early threats, and a threat of my own. I wasn't too worried about slow mana. He dropped a turn one Rabblemaster. Got me for 1, I followed up with turn one StP on that sucker. Not even allowing it to make it to his turn. He had dropped most of his hand, and when I dropped a turn 3 Spellbinder, he scooped. 

Match 3 vs Breakfast (Paul, his top deck interview)

First, I knew he was on the deck. Second, I have ZERO clue how to win against the deck to be honest. It showed. 

Game 1- I hemmed and hauled about what to do, in the end I just tried to remove all his creatures. Likely not a great plan. He still comboed me out. I should have saved my Touch the Sprit Realm for his Shuko, but I am just not versed in the deck. At all... ugh.

Game 2- My deck decided I have had enough. When the game ended, I had one white source of mana, a Karakas, and one red, my single Mountain. I should have had mulligan'd that opening hand. My Archon nearly got there, but I could NEVER find a second threat. At all. My big brain moment was using the Channel on Touch, to save my Archon from a Teferi bounce. Killed him next turn. I think if I had found ANY threat, I might have won. Damnit.

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Note of the night, I got a box of Dragon Shield Jet to replace my current sleeves as they are looking beat. 

I spend 10 minutes de-sleeving, re-sleeving. I started to shuffle, and split a sleeve. Huh.
Replaced the sleeve, shuffled. Split another one. Ok... thats not cool
Replaced the sleeve, shuffled. Split a third one. Thats it, done. Completely removed the cards... Maybe I got a bad batch? But have never heard of Dragon Shield doing that from a fresh box. Ick.

But splitting three sleeves in 5 minutes? Horrible.

Legacy 2023, episode #6 (going with it)

 After taking the week off, I brought a slightly new version of r/w initiative. The deck has been cracking face, and I felt comfortable with it. Here is v1.5. Whats the difference you say? Well- basically, I removed two Anointed Peacekeepers and a Touch the Spirit Realm for 3 Fury. I made some minor changes in the sideboard by adding a 4th Fury. I was going to remove the Meltdown for By Force, but got lazy and did not. That move actually benefited me in match 1. 

 

Match 1 vs 8-Cast

Game 1- We both mulligan, but I play a pre-game effect (THE ONLY ONE OF THE NIGHT) with Chancellor of the Annex, and proceed to find his FoWs. Thankfully I got a Chalice down on 0, which really put the screws to him mid game. He gets down a Kappa Cannoneer, but I had down an Elite Spellbinder. His Ancient Tombs do as much damage to him, as my creatures which is the only reason I was able to pull it out. He played a SECOND Kappa, but lost by 1 health. Turns out- damage is damage. 

Game 2- I left the Chalices in, which is perfect vs 8-cast, and also 2 Abrade and my 1 of Meltdown. We both mulligan, but I go down to 5 because my hands were so mana horrible. We trade stuff back and forth. At one point, he thought he had it sown up with a Kappa, but I could pay the ward cost and Solitude it. He found a Sai, Master Thopterist... but I wound up having two Chalice on 0 and 1. His hand was all that... we both flooded on mana, but I found a Caves of Chaos Adventurer. That forced him to dump his hand to make Thopters to maybe stop me, but I had been holding my single Meltdown just for this. He made 4 Thopters, I meltdown, but he sacks a bunch hoping to find a Force.. which he did, but no other blue card. CRAZY match.

 

Match 2 vs Delver

Game 1- Both Mulligan, but I found a Chalice to slow his DRC. (well, sorta) I wound up getting a Duneoneer down, which wounds up going to the distance. I don't think he ever found delirium, which really helped. With the Duneoneer having protection from creatures, it did some serious work. He would take initiative back, but that worked out find for me. Taking 10 in one turn forced him to scoop.

Game 2- Mulliganed again, but feel good about anything. But didn't want to go down to 5. He lead AGAIN with a DRC. He meltdown my chalice, so belch. I tried to stabilize, but he Dazed and FoW me out of my Chalice and attempted threat of Spellbinder. He followed up with a Murktide. Too much, and no answers and flooded with lands. 

Game 3- Oh man, I had the answers. I know he's got Meltdown and Wastelands, which turns out to play into my game plan. I found a Cavern, name human, and drop my first Dunegoneer. He brazen borrowers it. He wastelands my cavern. Fine... perfect actually. I dropped my second cavern, and after I have two Duegoneers in and actually hit the final dungeon of top 10, hitting a solitude, and removing his murktide, he scoops. 

I think he was a little salty because after game 1 he said "fair game with the initiative" or some such.  But after game 3, I thought he was super salty, but he had gotten food at the 7-11 next door. Still, I took it that he isn't a fan of the mechanic. 

 

Match 3 vs Infect

Game 1- Worse than bad. Mulligan twice, and just lose to a shadow walker massively pumped. I MIGHT have had a chance if I had found Touch the Spirit Realm or Solitude, but no such luck. 

Game 2- Almost worse than game 1. Opening hand was wrong mana for color spells. Mulligan again, 1 land. Mulligan to 5, found a Chalice, but he already had things going. I wound up drawing 2 more Chalice. It was god AWFUL. 

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Things of note from the night- 

• I think I mulligan'd every hand but 1? Maybe?
• After winning match 2, I texted Andy "this deck wrecks face" (or slightly different version) and then promptly got pooped on. 
• Might actually show up next week with a different deck, good old fashion Titan-Post. Though there were two infect players this past week, and Post is best at just going WAY over the top of control decks, not super fast combos. Gotta think about that. 
• Welcome to Chris, a refugee from Titan. Their Tuesday nights are dead. Legacy isn't a thing there anymore 
  

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My working credit at Level Up is $45. I am happy with playing for free, but I might cash some of my credit out for something. Debating what though. 

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

 Lastly, I picked up a good deal on a Mox Opal. The guy was friendly enough. Chatted back and forth about things. Got the card in, and it was fake. 

I HIGHLY recommend this video for understand what to look for on fake cards. The part explaining the off set printing alone is worth it (starting at 6:44):

Legacy 2023, episode #5 (I think)

After taking a week off, I returned to using the r/w initiative deck for some competition. For the record, I made no changes to the 60 cards, but I did switch out two sideboard cards by removing two Pyroclasm and replacing them with two StP. I did not believe that go-wide decks were still prevalent, but it turned out that I was mistaken. However, I was able to side-step the one I was worried about from succeeding. I faced the other one, but was able to effectively stop it. I still have confidence in this deck, as it is capable of applying early pressure and presenting must-answer threats.

Match 1 was against a doomsday
I was unsure of the opponent's strategy at first, even after the first game. I find it difficult to identify decks based solely on a few spells and lands. 

Game 1, I was able to win by opening with Chancellor, followed by Chalice on 1, and then Archon. He admitted that if I had not done so, I would have lost. Archon of Emeria is an excellent card. 

Game 2, my opponent successfully Doomsday'd me on turn one, and although I had a slight chance, a FoW quickly ended my hopes. 

Game 3, my opponent mulligan'd down to 5, and then used FoW to counter my turn 1 Chalice, which I was content with. I followed up with foot stomping, and he had nothing. It felt good to win.

Match 2 was against a mentor deck
I had never played against the opponent before, so I was unsure of what to expect. 

Game 1, I used pre-game Chancellor, followed by Chalice, followed by Dungeoneer, followed by Touch Spirit Realm on his Mentor. This allowed me to know that he was attempting to go wide. 

I cannot recall the details of game 2.

Match 3 was against a naya depths deck
I suspected that the opponent was using this strategy. 

Game 1, I was able to prevent the opponent's progress despite having a Maze out, through the use of Spellbinder and MY ONLY SOLITUDE THE ENTIRE NIGHT on his Knight. 

Game 2, I made a mistake by attacking with my only flyer, which allowed my opponent to create a 20/20. 

Game 3, I had numerous ways to prevent his "spaghetti monster," including 3 Magus, 2 StP, 4 Solitude, Karakas, and 3 Touch the Spirit Realm spells, but unfortunately, I did not draw any of them. Although I did have Archon out, it only slowed down his attempt to make a 20/20. Ultimately, I did not find any of my answers, but that is just how it goes sometimes.

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

On a side note, I found it frustrating when some of the players were discussing the weeklies and deck choices. As an introvert, it takes me a while to process my thoughts before sharing them. I do not support the idea of gatekeeping a hobby that we all seem to enjoy. If paper play is available, we should celebrate it. I am not sure how many of the players showing up to the weekly events are practicing for a tournament or just trying to improve, but I believe that several are happy to be playing a format that they enjoy. For those who want to prepare for big events, I suggest playing online via MTGO or finding other players to practice with.

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

In other news, I have started using CardSphere and have been slowly getting used to it. I was unsure of what to expect at first, but I have already acquired a SL Chrome Mox and have my sights. This sort of trading would almost be impossible on DeckBox. 

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

 Currently in the kitty at Level Up games- $35. Still gonna carry at least $10 over week to week to play for "free."
However, there is a Legacy 1k coming up on 5/20. The entry fee is $40. Do I think I am willing to carve out 5-6 hours on a Saturday to play? Highly doubtful... would I like to play given the opportunity? Sure... Would I keep playing this deck- yup as I am familiar with it, and it seems good.

Back on the horse- weekly Legacy

I have been on a losing streak, bigly. Having been on vacation recently and being sick afterwards, I can't recall the last time I actually had a winning weekly record. Its been awful. Last week's "lets try burn?" attempt was the top deck gods peeing all over my deck. I've also tried B/U Shadow, and even turbo Depths. None of them got me to a winning record. Seriously.

Before deciding to run r/w initiative stompy, I sent my list to a fellow player and Legacy Pit regular to see what he thought. He was running a VERY similar list. My big difference was using Chancellor of the Annex instead of more threats. My belief behind that is Legacy is a one drop/turn one format. Anything to cause them to stumble or not being able to react to my aggressive play- gives me at least a turn.
I also think Archon of Emeria is criminally underplayed in Legacy. Just throws a lot of monkey wrenches in to crafted theories and plots.

=-=-=-=-=-

Round 1 vs Infect

My opening hand was EXACTLY what I wanted to see- Chancellor, Chrome Mox, and Sol Land. He was on the play- but my pre-game effect threw everything he wanted off. 

Game 2- I think StP came in, and Magus?. He played 3 Noble Hierarch, and I controlled the rest of his board with StP and Solitude. Fairly sure he was new to Legacy, as when I got the initiative, he had to read it... and I proceeded to stomp face.

=-=-=-=-=-

Round 2 vs Reanimator  (Kevin K)

This was a matchup I had no clue how it was going to go. I knew he was on it because I saw him playing it after my round 1 ended. He could have a HUGELY explosive start, but I had some answers main deck in Solitude, Karakas, and Touch the Spirit Realm. 

I was on the play which, didn't feel all that nice... but we had both mulligan'd. 

Game 1 was silly. I had a couple answers, but I got very lucky when two things happened- #1 he Unmasked Himself instead of me, and I had a Touch to remove his Atraxa, Grand Unifier. I top decked a second Touch the Spirit Realm being able to remove his Serra's Emissary which was on creature. At that point I had two Solitudes in the bin, he attempted to Exhume things, to which I just brought back Solitude, answered his things... and took over. 

Game 2

You know you are going well, when you mulligan a 1 lander to then find 5 lands, bottom 1, and top deck your one of Containment Priest. Yeah, it was that sort of day. He removed my Containment Priest, but then re-animated it for a threat. Shrug, whatcya gonna do?

=-=-=-=-=-

Round 3 vs Kevin B (4cc)

We were both 2-0 and at table 1, I told him I am fine with splitting, or playing, or splitting and playing for fun. He chose for the later, which sealed me in for playing for free the next two weeks. Which is my goal, play for free for a while. Huzzah!

I had just seen Kevin play against another r/w Initiative deck, and saw it go 4cc in a long protracted game 3. 

Game 1- I got there, when I had a Caves out with 2 +1/+1 counters on it. A bit of back and forth with Archon providing a huge problem early, and a Chancellor giving me a good push off the block. 

Game 2- Thought I had it until I lost to Supreme Verdict. Which honestly I forgot he was running. Oh well.

Game 3- I kept a hand on the back of a possible turn 2 Magus, but I never found a red source. I could have won, I think. But instead, I left hold three red spells and an empty board of no creatures/answers. My turn on Chalice wasn't good enough to spit over.

Mid March update

 First thing first- I've been trying to get back to the weekly legacy. Not saying I am very successful, but I am at least trying hard. And I don't care anymore about which deck I run. I am likely never going to attend a sanctioned event in the next year. I am not trying that hard. Its fun to just play.

Second point- I realized... and I might be wrong about this, but most of the weekly legacy crowd are fatherless dudes. After thinking about it- thats who is playing this format, guys with time and money to burn. Its not a knock, slight, or whatever, but thats the demographic at the shop on Wednesdays for me. 

What did I run this particular week? R/G Initiative stompy based off the latest hype train. Its a bit too all or nothing for me. (says the man who ditched S&S to jam this mess) I fell on my face at least twice because I drew just TOO much mana with no action. There were at least 4 players jamming out Initiative of some flavor.

Next week I might try out a naya stompy, or maybe a Shadow deck with a Reanimate. Need to figure out answers to lightning fast starts. Legacy has gotten WAY faster than I expect at the weekly.

On to fun things- latest finds/pickups. 

While I don't think I will ever play in a sanctioned tournament, I still like acquiring cards. Its a problem. I'm fine with it. Here is the run down of what I got and why:

 

 I actually traded for this. So winning. Still thinking hard about the various flavors of Painter, but I don't know how it survives the lightning fast meta now.

Got these two Helms as long term RL holds

Got these P3K basics for free. Need any trades? :)

Lastly- Know anyone who needs some foil Undermountain Adventurers? I seemed to have invested well on January 4th... 8 extended art foil for $0.50 each, and 10 regular foils for $0.20 each.

The Magic Dojo- history

 From the first time I could- I was online trying to learn more about Magic. Decks, strategy,  buying cards, etc. Hell, its one reason why I have an eBay account created in February of 1998. (that and buying U2 stuff) I found this site called "The Magic Dojo" way back then. Accord to this site, it existed from 1995 until 2001. I don't really think I understood that some of the VERY BEST Magic players of the time were on there and posting regularly. They would pull material off the listserv I was on- "MTG-L." Thats how I got there. 

I usually remembered being credited with anything from that time, because it wasn't exactly easy to get recognized for anything. So how I missed being named as part of the "Denizens of the Dojo" I will never remember. Maybe I donated some money to help keep the site afloat? Or I was a moderator on a list? I honestly don't recall. Most likely I donated time to help with something... sounds like something I would do.

But honestly- it means a lot from my former Magic life to be there. The official stamp of "I was there man!"

Its like when I realized I kept my DCI card. I was never good enough to even consider the Pro Tour level. I was a bad local player who just liked the game, and thats how I could interact with it at the time.

The Lull of Magic: Why I'm Feeling 'Meh' About Playing

I've hit the doldrums of Magic.

I'm not feeling salty, angry, upset, or even annoyed with power creep. I'm not particularly annoyed with the prices of things either (thanks to proxies!). I can't seem to get excited about the digital version, Arena, or even my preferred constructed format - Legacy. Even the new set in draft doesn't appeal to me at all.

Speaking of the new set, let me tell you a tale about the pre-release event I attended. Normally, I love attending pre-releases. No one really knows the set, and no one knows how things will work together until you try them out. It's always a lot of fun. I skipped the Friday night version of the release at a local store and instead convinced myself that the Saturday morning version would be more low-key and "easier." I should have left when I heard this: there were no more pre-release kits, instead, you would just get 6 packs and call it a sealed event. That should have been the sign. But I carried on, crafted what I thought would be the most powerful version of the cards I had, and promptly lost both rounds 1-2. Even reviewing my card selection didn't help. I did the best I could with what I had.

I don't want to play on Arena, but I will get the free gold by doing the daily quests with stupid decks that are designed to accomplish the task. That's it.

I don't want to play in the weekly Legacy. I don't feel engaged with anything. No deck speaks to me right now. Just showing up and playing half-heartedly is not what I want to do.

I don't even want to draft, because this set doesn't interest me in the least. I might skip the entire release and move on to the next one.

All in all, my current state with Magic is just...meh.

2023, to the moon!

I am horrible at predictions. Actually, most humans are. I have nothing to share along what I think 2023 will bring... but I do have a goal or two moving forward:

 #1 Learn to play mono-red painter.  I've been poking at the "why do people love this deck so much?" edges for a while. No one one locally was a devoted pilot that I could watch/ask questions of, so I had resorted to on-line life. So far- seems like fun. Just gotta know the matchups. (stop laughing)

#2 Do not pick up the hot deck in 2023. There will come a time this year that EVERYONE is talking about some Legacy deck. (I'm looking at you initiative) I do not want to get sucked into that deck this year. I can barely function with the decks I have now!  

    #2a Take advantage of #2 hopefully by picking up hot cards before they take off, and cashing out. Its worked a couple times already for me- looking at you White Plume and Chaos Defiler. Able to flip less than $10 of investment into $75 of new cardboard I want in the collection. Most of this relies on MTGO not having the cards in time for testing.

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   Things I don't understand from 2022:

• Why didn't they re-printed Lotus Petal in Brother's War? They reprint everything else to the ground... 
• Why hasn't there been a meaningful reprint of Painter Servant or Grindstone since their initial sets?
• I am sure there are plenty of similar cards, but those are the two I am annoyed with right now.
   
• MTGO- you are my bane and savior for deck ideas... I cannot afford the time or money it would take to play you.
• The amount of Secret Lairs in 2022.  Jebus... just holy crap.
• The greed that Hasbro placed into the system of WoTC. Its sad... and changed the course of people I know. Like, changed their lives to do other things.
• The amount of people touting Flesh and Blood. I can't handle another CCG. I don't know how people do it. 

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I only just found out that Brian David-Marshall had shared one of the earliest home videos about a magic tournament. He worked with Marshall Sutcliffe to put it up on his "Magic Rewind" Youtube channel, but that no longer exists. (WHY WHY?!) Wonder what happened... sigh.