Day 1 without MODO

Looks like v3 is up for review today, just in time for them to pause the countdown again. Worth is “highly confidant” that “[they’ve] got their ducks in a row,” whatever that means. At any rate, the v3 client is still ugly as hell, even after reverting the UI to the v2 layout. It’s a good thing this process has some oversight: without their bosses there to talk them off the ledge, they might have actually released this “work in progress” to their paying customers.

Day 2 without MODO

Well, it looked like someone didn’t get the memo, because MODO has “gone dark.” Maybe it’s for the best. Forcing white in LLM was starting to get a little dull. Besides, it’s the middle of rumor season. Maybe I’ll check out MTGSalvation and see what Shadowmoor has in store for us.

Day 3 without MODO

It’s been a couple of days since the last time I attacked for two. I admit, it’s a little stressful, but this experience could work out for the best. The players at MTGSalvation are happy to share their insights about the new cards, which could give me the edge I need to start winning Shadowmoor drafts as soon as the set is released online. That Twilight Aura card looks like a lot of fun, but some of the Salvation posters are concerned that it’s too good and might be banned from draft. We’ll see what happens.

Day 4 without MODO

I cracked a pack today. It’s been four, maybe five years since I quit, but as soon as I caught that new card scent, it was like I was back in 1994 again, tapping creatures with Icy Manipulator and finishing them off with Royal Assassin. Anyway, my first pick was… all of them! I opened a Cryptic Command, which I couldn’t resist rare-drafting, but then I put the rest of the cards down, and they just stayed there. It was the strangest thing. Next, I took a Nameless Inversion, which was really the “right” first pick, except that I knew I could get a bunch of tickets for Command and would still end up playing it if I were passed enough blue. After the Inversion, I took a Wizened Cenn. Bad signaling, maybe, but I never miss an opportunity to draft white in this format. Next, I grabbed a Lys-Alana Huntmaster. I thought green might be open, but I didn’t see anything else good in that pack. I was concerned about going after white: the Goldmeadow Harrier I’d passed came back around, but I didn’t see any other good picks for the kithkin deck. That theme continued through the next two packs, and this turned out to be my worst draft ever. My pool was divided more or less equally between all colors, I had to play a bunch of bad cards for lack of playables, and, naturally, my mana base was a mess. I was sure I’d take an embarrassing first-round loss, but, somehow, my match never started.

Day 5 without MODO

My nerves are getting worse. I’m cracking packs every couple of hours now, but every deck I draft is the same: five colors, not enough playables, hardly any tribal synergy. Have I lost my touch? Will I still be able to 3-0 when MODO comes back up? At least Salvation is living up to its name. I don’t know what I’d do without it. I’m working on a post-Shadowmoor standard deck called “Twilight Elf Stompaz.” As you might have surmised, it’s based around that new card, Twilight Aura. Between that and Gaea’s Anthem, even my Llanowar Elves will be able to stomp face. (Hence the name.) I’m hoping to pick up some Mossbridge Trolls. The Twilight Auras will make my creatures huge, and when I have ten power’s worth, I can double that into +20/+20. I hope that Troll won’t be a chase rare like they’re saying or, worse, banned. I think I speak for all of us when I say that we’re sick and tired of losing to unfun decks like Faeries and Reveillark. It’s time Wizards gave fun green decks a chance to compete and win in serious tournament play.

Day 7 without MODO

I nearly threw up when the thread was closed. Twilight Aura, a fake? Sure, the text didn’t line up exactly right and the picture didn’t match what we knew so far about the Shadowmoor world, but I can’t believe that Wizards would fail to print a card that so perfectly fits into my favorite deck. My new friends at Salvation try to console me, but they can’t fill the hole in my heart where Twilight Elf Stompaz had until now resided.

Day 10 without MODO

Last night, I dreamed that my opponent had Oona, Queen of the Fae out, and activated it right after I declared attackers. Fortunately for me, he didn’t remove enough green cards to stop the lethal damage coming his way, but then, all of a sudden, the Twilight Aura on my tapped Forest disappeared and he was able to survive at 3 life. Then, he attacked back for the win, and when combat damage went on the stack, I woke up in a cold sweat.

Day 16 without MODO

The shakes have gotten unbearable. I’m only able to eat at all because, right after I open a Lorwyn pack, I can hold steady long enough to dial Sal’s Pizza and order enough to keep me going for another day. Raúl just shakes his head at me when he comes to drop my pies off. We went to high school together, Raúl! I was the class president! What gives you the right to judge me?

Day 22 without MODO

I don’t even look at the cards anymore. How can I face them, those noble kithkin and mighty giants staring back at me? I just let them spill onto the floor. I spend hours huddled in the corner, trying to remember what it felt like to alpha strike. I can’t; all I can do is sit there and cry and cry. My money’s running out. What I am going to do when I don’t have any packs left to open?

Day 47 without MODO

Fake! Fake, fake, fake. You’re all fakes! What’s that, you say? Your text checks out in the Orb? You can’t fool me! You think I didn’t notice that your text was misaligned? You think I didn’t notice that you’re a human, when in fact there are no humans in Shadowmoor? Or did you think I’d believe you were a planeswalker? Ha! Don’t make me laugh. Ha! Don’t make me laugh again. Ha ha ha ha ha! No, really, please, I don’t think I can stop. No! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…

This was the final entry. Please take a moment of silence, in remembrance of this anonymous MODO player and all the dudes he left behind. He’s drafting in a higher queue now.