Seems to be doing something

I've been playing Moon Stompy at the local for the past few weeks, and it has served me well. To the point that I have a decent credit at the store. Not sure what to do with it yet- likely pick up some cards I want. But I want to make sure I am still playing for free for a bit. So after next week I will know where I stand with things and be able to figure out what to pick up.

At last nights event, there were at least 4 others on Mono Red stompy versions. I am sure each was slightly different than the other.  So I am glad I didn't audible to playing Eldrazi like I thought about on the way over. The amount of moon effects floating around in the room was higher than I expected.

On the flip side- I was battle an illness and I had a mask on. I had at least two people say thank you for wearing a mask. After dealing with being sick in January for a couple years running- I might just start wearing one for Dec/Jan when I go to the weekly. For my own health.

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Rd 1 vs Canadian Threshold (Danny)

Game 1, Felt like I was off to a decent start with Tomb, Mox, and a Fable. He Dazes my Fable and wastelands my Tomb. To which I do not find another mana source. At all. Nada.

Game 2, Turn 1 Trini, he goes- "oh no." Turns out, he kept a very mana poor hand dependent on filtering for more mana. I dropped turn 2 Rabble, and a turn 3 Rabble which gets the scoop. 

Game 3, He found like all his lands in his deck I think. Which is not much. I found just enough pressure, and dropped some lock pieces between Blood Moon, and Magus he couldn't cast his answers. Kinda felt bad for him, but I get it.

Rd 2 vs Scott W on Delver 

Game 1, he was a turn ahead of me the entire game. I didn't find any road bumps to slow him down. My hail mary was answered and that was that. He was just better.

Game 2, Again didn't find any road bumps and he had all the answers. Yeah- it was a mercy slaying.

Rd 3 vs Brady on Nadu 

Game 1, I knew what he was on, which is fine. He knew what I was on. My game plan was to kill all the idiots than came out before the Nadu. Which mean Nobles, Bristly Bill, etc. I didn't want him riffling through his deck. I found my answers, he removed some of mine, but I felt more controlling and rolled through with damage.

Game 2, I found an early Moon which he was ready for, but turned out he fetched for the wrong land ultimately. He needed white, not green. Welp, whatcya gonna do? I kept up answers for things, feigning not having various answers... but he did get a Nadu down but didn't have the many to cast the answers he found. So Win.

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In other news- I sent my largest sell order off to Card Kingdom. Packed up a bunch of things I just don't see myself playing any time, and got a fairly juicy list of trade material. I have goals if things work out, but fall back if they do not. I lost some value on some things- but got plenty of value back from others. I don't feel bad for shoving off what I did. I can still play just about every deck I want to without problem. Plus I don't see myself in a paper legal tournament until............

Very excited. 

Still debating if I want to send a second tranche of cards off to add to the value train.

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Card Sphere news- I threw a bunch of things back into the mix and had over $200 in credit. 
One thing I didn't realize was the collapse of value for Chalice. Guess I will be getting a set of retro-frame Chalice for use. Like it. (two already shipped)

Do I need 2 sets of Chalice? Probably not, but I can wait for the value to go back up if I want to dump the other set.

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I did watch someone buy 3 masterpiece Mox Opals last night. Sure- why not.

Stompy...

 While I am a self admitted Timmy at heart, god I love a good Emrakul, I realize that stompy seems to my play style of choice. Whether it is Moon stompy, Eldrazi stompy, etc.  I like the pace, I like the pressure and faster games... I generally like most things about it. 

Ancient Tombs, and belching my hand out is a common theme for all these decks. Its mostly, "here, you figure it out." 

What I have found the is opposite of play style- slow, plodding, thinking about lines, ducking/weaving, etc. I don't want to draw 15,000 extra cards to find THE ONE answer to everything. Not my thing... Crushing hopes and dreams with a 3/3 flyer is not my style. (I'm looking at you Delver and DRC)

There are several friends I know who love nothing better than to cobble decks together. Spend time tinkering around card lists, finding obscure answers to their deck's woes... They will spend HOURS and hours crafting ideas.

Thats never been my thing since I started playing and found places like The Dojo where deck lists were posted. I HIGHLY dislike crafting my own deck. Never been my thing. Which is odd because I like to draft... which is EXACTLY that. Sorta. Kinda.
I love to find a deck that speaks to me, and build it from what I have. Half the quest for me at times is getting all the cards I need. Acquisition/trading for the missing pieces. Or part of the time saving up for larger pieces like a dual, or reserve list card that makes the deck sing.
What I equally despise is spending over $20 for a currently in print rare/mythic. That really grinds my gears. 

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Speaking of finding cards for the collection- I think I found some bargains to add to the war chest for trading. Found an auction with a serious of 9 card pages they were selling. Some were silly cheap for like $1, while another I think I might have overpaid at the top end at $35.
All in for like $85. If I can sell that Sliver Overlord for $40, I'd be very happy with that result. But we shall see what condition everything is in when it shows up.

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Lastly- I was getting some cards from a LONG LONG time player. He has minty Beta basics I love to add to the collection. I thought he was sending me a Revised Mind Twist along with a couple Beta Mountains, because- why not. Its an iconic card from the early days. And its like $6. Anywho, I get the cards and I am looking at the minty Mind Twist and I realize its Unlimited. (could tell for sure because of the text layout) The price difference between an Unlimited and Revised is about the value of the Unlimited- lets say $150. Needlesstosay, I reached out to him to alert him to to the error and he paid for it to be sent back. While I could have EASILY just kept it and pocketed the value- not how I operate. I understand errors happen, and I'd rather be honest than greedy.