Blog

  • Magic Online Bugs: Real or Fake?

    We all love Magic Online! And one of the best things about Magic Online is that, 4 out of every 5 times, it works exactly like you’d expect, without any bugs to get in the way of your digital card experience. Of course, nobody’s perfect, least of all the vigilant MODO programmers, so we created this quiz as a little tribute to the things that slip between the cracks. We’ve mixed up some real and historic Magic Online glitches with some we just made up, and it’s up to you to figure out which is which!

    ______________________________

    1. Zooming in on a card exiled by a land with hideaway shows an additional basic Swamp.

    2. Knight of the Reliquary incorrectly allows the player to sacrifice any permanent when activating its ability.

    3. Mishra, Artificer Prodigy will freeze the client when used as a Commander.

    4. Fact or Fiction allowed the player casting the spell to arrange the piles, instead of an opponent.

    5. Unhallowed Pact incorrectly returns token creatures to the battlefield.

    6. If Balance causes a player to sacrifice lands, that player won’t be able to activate abilities of permanents for the rest of that phase.

    7. Stomp and Howl unable to select the same target twice if it’s both an artifact and enchantment.

    8. You can no longer use both halves of split cards to pay a total of 2 mana for Delve costs.

    9. Costs that include a snow mana symbol require an additional snow mana.

    10. Magmaw incorrectly allows the player to sacrifice lands or discard cards from their hand to activate its ability.

    11. Chandra, Pyromaster’s -7 ability no longer restarts the game when Exquisite Firecraft is the only instant or sorcery exiled this way.

    12. The triggered ability on the promo version of Relic Seeker does not function correctly. The non-promo version of this card, however, works as intended.

    13. Spellweaver Helix would freeze the game if used to cast a card without a mana cost.

    14. Fatespinner’s triggered ability would halt the game after an opponent makes a choice, forcing them to either concede or time out.

    15. Daru Spiritualist made you sacrifice Clerics instead of giving them +0/+2.

    16. Mogg Assassin’s activated ability no longer restarts the game.

    17. When rules text is added to Unhinged lands and then zoomed, the client crashes.

    18. In some scenarios, casting Mulch would crash Magic Online.

    19. Spellskite incorrectly allows a player to redirect spells or abilities to the Spellskite, even if it’s no longer on the battlefield.

    20. Field of Souls incorrectly makes Eldrazi Spawn tokens instead of Spirit tokens.

    Want to see how you did? Scroll down!
    ______________________________

    GOBLINGAME

    The fake bugs are numbers 5, 7, 10, 13, 15, and 20. All of the rest are real bugs that exist or have existed.

    If you scored…

    16-20: You are the Magic Online Bugmaster! You should be part of the bug-finding team. I bet they’ll love you!

    10-15: You scored slightly better than chance. That means you probably knew at least one bug! Was it the Fact or Fiction one? That’s one’s my favorite.

    5-9: You scored worse than chance! That means you probably guessed at random. I don’t think you’re taking this seriously.

    0-4: You are fuel for the Magmaw! That’s not related to your performance on the quiz, it’s just a general fact.

  • The New Flavor of Magic

    Mark Rosewater

    What up dawgs? Just MaRo Monday poppin’ in to let you know we here at Wizards pay close attention to what our customers want. Magic is a game of the people! And according to our research wizkids, junk food and MtG are inseparable! While me and Hasbro were pondering this connection at a Bohemian Grove soiree, the beings that puppet Frito Lay approached us with quite a chill idea. So for this Fall of 2015 I’m pleased to announce that the cards you love are teaming up with the taste you crave to bring you:

    Mark Rosewater

    atacolypse

    Atacolypse is a stand alone product for both the Magic: the Gathering and Frito Lay brands; we’ve combined, or flavortwisted, the short-burst excitement and rich taste of Magic cards with the diversity and collectibility of Frito Lay’s Doritos Corn Chips. Curious to see what I mean? Well munch right in boi!

    limespiral

    Dang that’s tang. Lime Spiral perfectly captures the experience of eating Chile Limón® Doritos while playing midrange. Notice the new ability snackrifice. When you snackrifice a permanent, you get the drop on your opponent’s dad’s spending money by forcing that ‘dult to purchase a delicious Frito Lay product of your choice. “Pump the breaks!,” you may say. “What use is even more Doritos mouth sensation to me?”

    spiceofknowledge

    Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa? Let me tell y’all about livin’ la Vida Loca; MaRo knows about livin’ la Vida Loca. And now players like you can too! Think of la Vida Loca as like multikicker for your taste buds; the more you enjoy, the better the spell. But enjoy responsibly (the squares at the FDA made me put that jazz in. Pbbbftft, whatever). Hey, yo, how do you know which flavor of Doritos best fits your spending habits/lifestyle? Wisdom in 3…2…1…

    flavorbolt

    Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa? You’re probably thinking, “Those dudes at Wizzers must have lost their darn minds!” But that’s not true pleeb: we opened our minds. Speaking of opening things, open and then eat lots of Doritos to make this spell more powerful. But huh? Duh? Whu? Snackback? Yeah son, flashback to the snack Samurai Jack! This is called conserving design space. Burn that creep, stop to eat, and repeat! Just call me Snackcaster Mage! Just call me Think Spice! Just call me Rescoop. But you shouldn’t double dip, that’s not cool- you know what, MYTHICS!

    chiliconflux
    Snack

    atacolypsechime
    Crackle

    jacetheopinionsculptor

    Stop the presses! What’s this buzz about a contest? For a limited (lol) time we’re teaming up our team up to give one lucky person FREE MAGIC CARDS FOR LIFE!!!* If that isn’t enough to whet your appetite than maybe you should go eat some flippin’ Pringles you Yu-Gi-Oh tweenage scrub for brains. Alright, that’s all I got for this week. Look forward to seeing you brosefs on the convention floor/tipsy at a gas station at midnight on a Wednesday. Peace and may the taste be with you!

    *Free Magic cards is limited to less than a penny draft fodder and all non-Hymn to Tourach cards opened from slightly damaged Fallen Empires packs found under Ken Nagle’s bone pile in the supply closet of R&D. Offer available for a limited time, results may vary. Snack responsibly.

  • GoodGamery Exclusive BFZ Prevew: Brutal Expulsion

    Hoo boy, we here at Good Gamery LLC are h*ck of excited to have an Extremely Exclusive, Real Preview that was given to us, and no one else, these statements have all been true!

    Without further a-doo, let’s see wh-

    brutalexpulsion

    Haha, okay, real funny. If we could just close the tab for MTGSalvation’s Kustom Kard Kreation and get serious here?

    *receives whisper from offstage*

    Oh well that’s not good.

    Okay. Okay. Deep breaths. Let’s try to be charitable for a second.

    Eldrazi are ALIEN INVADERS! Their spooky alien tech makes no sense to us hoo-mans. Therefore, the designs of their cards are purposefully nonsensical.

    It is a callback to one of the most beloved sets of all time, Apocalypse. You see, much as Yawgmoth is not Gerrard’s Hannah, neither is a gigantic tentacle monster.

    Each choice on the card represents a different theme of Battle for Zendikar: the Eldrazi care when things are exiled, and no one cares about good design.

    Good Gamery LLC apologizes for that last remark. We really appreciate this preview card that was so kindly given to us (totally was, by the way).

    Brutal Expulsion, the name, is a reference to the new R&D intern Jeff’s metal band. The design of Brutal Expulsion is a reference to his complete inability to create a Magic card.

    Okay that one was really mean. We again apologize, and acknowledge that our last apology wasn’t completely sincere. While we, as a website that has definitely been given this exclusive preview card, given to us by Wizards of the Coast, the real one, don’t want to say anything nasty about it, it is possible that hypothetical equally nasty things might be passively said about this card (not by us).

    So! Thankfully, we also have exclusive access to the archives of The Great Designer Search 2. Did you know that Brutal Expulsion was originally a submission to that contest? That fact was only a little bit just made up on the spot!

    Let’s take a look at the original response:

    “Well, this one has some issues, to put it mildly. First of all, why is ‘Devoid’ on this card? Mechanics, when present on a card (especially a rare) must have a reason to exist. I understand that colorlessness is a theme of your set, but if that’s the case, then the colorless-centric design needs to be present on this card as well. To continue: “choose one or both” is certainly a templating that should be used more, and it’s good that you identified its potential. However, there’s nothing you’re really doing with it here. What connection does bouncing a creature, or returning a spell, have with two damage to a creature or planeswalker? Why does your card allow the same thing to be targeted twice, but actively discourages the player from doing this? The halves of your card have nothing to do with one another. It doesn’t feel rare, it doesn’t feel big, and it certainly doesn’t feel colorless. If you’re designing a four-mana multicolored card with a new mechanic, it had better do all those things effectively. Yours does none.

    And no one liked playing against Jilt in the first place.”

    Wow! Sure is good that someone else said that, and not us!

  • SEPTEMBER 14, 2015 COMMANDER BANNED LIST UPDATE

    Sheldon Menery

    BANNED LIST
    No changes

    RULES UPDATES
    Everybody buckle up, we’re tweaking how the rules for color identity work!

    With the upcoming introduction of the devoid mechanic in Battle For Zendikar, we’ve had a lot of questions about what this will mean for the deck construction rules. Since devoid cards have the colorless color identity, they can only be played if your general also has the colorless identity. It’s as simple as that. Note that the restriction on mana symbols still applies.

    There are three major points in how we arrived at this decision. None of them were individually enough to convince us, but together they managed to tip the scales. In alphabetical order:

    A) After the controversy over hybrid mana costs, we needed to ensure that players around the world have a consistent play experience. Whatever ruling we would eventually make, we knew it would be important to decide before players had an opportunity to provide their own input.

    B) The heart and soul of EDH is the flavor inherent in your deck. Your awesome general being restricted to only commanding cards of his or her (or its) color just makes sense to us. Similarly, restricting devoid cards to only colorless commanders feels like the most “right” decision. You wouldn’t see Nicol Bolas using eldrazi drones to do his bidding anyway.

    C) This cleans up some corner case rules that confused players. We will be applying this rules change to previous cards with characteristic setting abilities like Ghostfire, Transguild Courier, and Kobolds of Kher Keep. Not only does this clarify the rules by explicitly listing all of the exceptions, we feel like it will have a positive impact on the power level of the format as a whole.

  • The Unexamined List

    What is a deck? Is it the sum of its parts, or is it somehow greater? Perhaps, in some cases, could it be lesser? We all understand the value of cards within the context of a game of Magic, but let us examine what those cards say in another context.

    fnYRSjL

    4 Architects of Will

    These creatures believe themselves to be shaping their own future, but in truth, time is an illusion and the exercise of the will futile. As we will see as we delve deeper into this deck, the ultimate fate of all life is death and the only architecture we can shape is the brutalist angles of our own misery.

    4 Deadshot Minotaur

    The minotaur mythos comes to us from ancient Greece, where the singular beast, an aberrant offspring created by a blasphemous union, dwelt forever alone at the center of a complex maze and devoured the companions given to it. It was eventually slain by a self-styled hero. Now we see a troupe of minotaurs, no longer singular but a quartet, forever seeking vengeance. However, they are confounded time and again, for as they target a flying hero, they find that once again that hero has flown too close to the sun, and rather than the minotaurs being the instrument of death, they are reduced forever to nothing but witnesses of it, helpless in the face of another catastrophe, ad infinitum.

    1 Faerie Macabre

    This faerie is macabre, yes, but can we blame it? The faeries of Lorwyn are forever cursed to watch as over and over again their idyllic dreamscape is reduced to a dark reflection of itself. This is a curse, but is also a gift, the gift of clarity. For in fact the dark reflection is the true world, and the only rational response to the cruel oblivion of reality is unrelenting nihilism. This faerie understands this, for it has cast off its family to inhabit the decklist alone, a singleton in the first game of each match.

    4 Fulminator Mage

    The fulminator mage is a cautionary tale against primitivism. They tell a story of a desire to return to a simpler time, but in truth it is a fiction. They desire only to see the trappings of the modern world burned to ash and smashed to rubble, they dream of a graveyard that will spread to contain all lands.

    2 Jungle Weaver

    The jungle weaver has both cycling and reach. In reach we see a desire to touch the sky, to feel the flutter of wings. But the destiny of the jungle weaver is instead cycling, to be sent to the house of the dead before it has even lived. This is the fate of all who reach for their desires, for the world is cruel and cannot abide success.

    4 Monstrous Carabid

    What is it about the carabid that renders it monstrous? It must attack, yes, but is that truly monstrous? I say it is a virtue. For all creatures have a purpose, but only the carabid is driven to fulfill it. The carabid has reduced existence to a simple binary. It will kill the enemy, or it will die. Perhaps it is not unusual for those with a grim clarity of purpose to be called monsters, but if the carabid is monstrous for removing our choice to attack, are we not then a thousand times more monstrous when we send creatures to battle that could have followed a path of peace?

    1 Pale Recluse

    The recluse, too, has admitted defeat in the fight against its own nature. It does not seek companionship, but instead resides in the deck alone. Like the jungle weaver, it reaches for lofty goals, but also like the jungle weaver, all too often its dreams are thrown into the refuse heap of reality. Sent to lie in a shallow grave until it can be called upon, the recluse rarely blocks but is instead sent to do battle time and again, until it barely remembers its tower home.

    3 Simian Spirit Guide

    While the other creatures in this deck have long grown weary of the mortuary stillness they often inhabit, the spirit guide yearns for it. Only he knows what it is to be denied death and life simultaneously, to exist outside of time for a brief eternity. We must consider, is life a gift we are given, or is it but the wrapping paper we must peel from the true gift, death?

    4 Street Wraith

    What is life? What is death? For the street wraith, one is a coin, the other a destination. The street is metaphorical, a highway to the grave, paved with unmet expectations. The street wraith promises nothing, but leaves something in its wake nonetheless. What does it leave? Different each time. Only you can know if you have been given a reward or a punishment.

    4 Demonic Dread

    What is the dread here? Is it dread of demons, or is it instead the dread that there are no demons, no evil, and thus no good? That our decisions are our own, that we bear the full burden of their responsibility. That there is no God, no Heaven, No Satan, No Hell, only a brief unfulfilling life and then oblivion?

    3 Living End

    Is this the end, or the beginning? Life and death are forever entwined here, but in truth they have always been entwined, everywhere. They are two sides of the same coin, and we have no choice but to flip it, over and over, until the wrong side comes up and we pass into the dying light.

    4 Violent Outburst

    We can react to the knowledge of our own demise with violence, with stoicism, with fear or longing. But in the end, our reactions, as our lives, will be forgotten. None will mourn our passing for more than a brief span, just as we mourn those we remember only until it is time to forget.

    3 Beast Within

    Beast Within is a good answer to graveyard disruption such as Leyline of the Void, but it is also strong against Tron and Splinter Twin. You can use it to break up the third Tron piece, destroy a Karn, or blow up a Deceiver Exarch in response to a Splinter Twin or Kiki-Jiki.

  • Behind the Veil

    Swamp, Innistrad – I’m sitting in the home of Liliana Vess, the infamous planeswalker. There are no black cats, no demonic blood runes. The furniture is pedestrian with a bit of Ravnican flair. A single print hangs on the wall, a Meloku original, the table and chairs a dark Llanowar pine. Liliana hands me a mug of tea and pulls a strand of long black hair away from her eyes, “I like to think that, overall, I had a positive effect.”

    She is, of course, referring to the long and tangled history of Sexy Necromancy. How did something so innocent as animating dead bodies take on such a hyper-sexualized aesthetic? And how does the queen of exanimate action, increasingly shunned by her own subculture, fit into the Multiverse today?

    How did you get your start in necromancy back before it was sensual?

    “I think it all started with Animate and Raise Dead. I remember hearing about them in church. My parents didn’t really talk culture beyond Avacyn’s annoying brand of glam so it was actually my Preacher that brought them to my attention. The whole slippery slope argument: if we let people animate dead bodies, what’s next? Artifacts? Lands? But try and find me one teenager who wouldn’t want to resurrect a corpse to slay their enemies; it comes naturally with the frustrations you feel then. It drew me in. Then came Hell’s Caretaker, Dance of the Dead, and the whole cult of personality around Lim-Dûl. It got main-stream. I dabbled and of course my parents didn’t like it but they were divorced so they weren’t exactly providing me with a stable home environment. I was doing magic at the time with the whole wholesome white mage thing. Healing Salve, Martyrdom, people called me Becky. But somewhere down the line, reanimation got racier.”

    What was the state of necromancy like when you joined it and what was the erotic turning point for you?

    “It was under the non-knee-high, non-stilettoed boot-heel of conservative culture. No pentagrams, no demons. But boobies were fine so already things were pushing towards Adult wizardry. Mainly a lot of guys sitting in basements trying to look sensual. But if I had to identify a particular moment, it would be when I saw Coffin Queen. I was all locked up in my own preconceived notions of life and death and titties and here comes this woman who uses her sexuality as a weapon, you know besides the armies of the dead.”

    One Nighter of the Living Dead_zpsdoz2bn0o

    It was around that time that Liliana’s spark ignited, but that only made her burn out faster. Traveling around the Multiverse, Liliana’s trademark black heels and boob window became synonymous with come-hither hocus pocus.

    How did people react to your unique take on zombification?

    “There was the usual outcry that you’d expect. White and green mages who of course forgot about Elvish Ranger and Serra Angel. Support from some really nice guys like Deathrite Shaman and even Scavenging Ooze, who I didn’t consider Mature but with the internet things have opened up a lot. I even remember Squire said something like, ‘I geese that all these kids care aboute is nipples and skulls, and I gesse that that’s the Dominaria we leeve in nowe.’ I put that on my fridge. It was exciting.”

    Listen All You Basic Witches_zpsnpzmilcl

    But at a certain point, things began to fall apart.

    “That’s the real tragedy of art isn’t it? People always want a bigger zombie and a hotter spell. You can’t keep up; no one can. I was performing huge revivals weekly, little Chainer was on the way, Sorin had totally checked out. I had just done Sex and Drugs with Chandra and was becoming very aware of how I perform for mortals. I had put myself in service to my fans, when I should have killed them and made them serve me. When that specter of fear comes over you, you just have to put your foot down and say, ‘I have to make this abomination for myself.’ It really is okay to let things go.”

    Sex_zpsobwg9pqe

    How do you think people view your work in retrospect?

    “My earlier work seems to be my most popular. People seemed to be confused by Liliana Vess because it just sort of came out of nowhere. But with Liliana of the Veil, then people knew that necromancy was going to be steamy. I think I’m the most fond of Liliana of the Dark Realms though. That started with a concept, ‘What if instead of reanimating one dead body, I reanimated all dead bodies?’ It was so much fun to work on and Nicol Bolas is a wonderful producer.”

    You seem to have slowed down in recent years in part due to Sexy Necromancy’s popularity waning.

    “You get derivatives like that Markov’s Servant girl; all Sexy, no Necromancy. It just comes across as desperate. And I’m very public on my stance that vampires aren’t even undead. They’re a disease or something right? And everyone is ramping into those Eldrazi things.”

    “But I’m being too harsh; I’m very grateful for all the pain and suffering and despair I’ve been able to cause. I have enough stored away to work on the classics that I love, the Megrims and the Snuff Outs. I think that midnight loving will always have a place; wherever a boy thinks that a girl should be a pair of gray boobs, I’ll be there to support him. I’m just ready to put this all behind me and live forever.”

    Do you have any comment on your relationship with Garruk?

    “Who is that? What did you say? Garrook? Geruk?”

    Liliana of the Book Deal_zpsgiomwhlt

  • Exclusive Magic Origins Preview: Vorthos Rejoice!

    Hello and welcome to Magic Origins preview week here at Good Gamery! We’ve got a doozy of a preview card for you here today! If you’re the least bit Vorthos, today’s preview card is right up your alley!

    In recent sets, the creative folks at Wizards have decided to be more proactive in including pivotal story moments in playable cards. Relevant story scenes encompased in card form that all players can enjoy, such as the defeat of Xenagos at the hand of Elspeth in Deicide or the nexus of two different possible futures in Crux of Fate.

    If you’ve been the least bit attentive to the few Magic Origins spoilers that have been trickling in the past few weeks, you ought to know Magic Origins will continue this new trend in Magic story telling. Our preview card today depicts one such important moment. If you’ve read last week’s Uncharted Realms on the Wizards website telling the origin story of our beloved necromancer planeswalker Liliana Vess, you might already be familiar with this scene. If you haven’t, I highly recommend you go and read it but in short, Liliana made a deal with four demons to gain power and stay young forever. One such demon is Kothoped.

    cardart_6uealrQZVL

    Now, our preview card today isn’t Kothoped himself, but he is featured in the art. That’s because our preview card depicts the moment he infuses Liliana with his demonic power, etching her skin with enchanted runes that give her knowledge and power. Without any further stalling, I present to you our preview card:

    Demonic_Tutor

    Amazing, isn’t it?! Pity it’s just a Johnny-fodder uncommon, but you gotta give it credit for the flavor. Wow!

    In addition, we sat down with a Wizards employee and were able to ask him a few question about our awesome preview card. The interview went as follows:

    Won’t Demonic Tutor be kinda broken in Modern?
    It is our understanding that yes, it will be. Which is why we’re preemptively banning it in Modern, to maintain the integrity of the format. The official Banned and Restricted Announcement will be posted on July 13 and more information will be available at that time but basically Demonic Tutor will be banned in Modern as soon as Magic Origins is released.

    Okay, but won’t Demonic Tutor be kinda good in Standard as well?
    While not as powerful as it would have been in Modern, it is still a concern. We strive to strike a delicate balance in Standard as it is our most played format by a wide margin. Which is why, to ensure the health of the format, we’re preemptively banning the card in Standard as well. Once again, the official Banned and Restricted Announcement will be posted on July 13 and more information will be available at that time but yes, Demonic Tutor will also be banned in Standard as soon as Magic Origins is released.

    The card is still uncommon though, won’t that warp Limited in a bad way?
    After careful playtesting, we realized that yes, Demonic Tutor does warp limited in a bad way. Which is why, to keep the format fresh, we’re also preemptively banning the card in all limited formats, including prerelease events. The official Prerelease Primer will be posted July 8 and more information will be available at that time but suffice to say, Demonic Tutor will be banned in Limited as soon as you are able to get your hands on it.

    What the hell, is the card being banned everywhere?! Why did you put it in the set in the first place?
    Not everywhere, no. Demonic Tutor will not be banned in Magic Origins block constructed, for instance. There aren’t really any good cards in the set to search for, so there’s that. There’s also what, Tiny Leaders I guess. It’s already banned there? Good for them. Look, honestly? We were too busy drafting Modern Masters 2015 so we kinda just let Creative do whatever they wanted with the set. I say we got off relatively scot-free, considering the original idea for the set was to tell the origin story of Magic’s antagonists instead. Can you imagine Yawgmoth’s Bargain and Will in Standard again? Man, did we dodge a bullet there!

  • Magic Origins Preview: Playtest Cards Unearthed

    Hey! It’s the gang from Good Gamery. We didn’t get a week of preview cards to run this time around, so we used our time off to take a road trip from the Good Gamery offices to Wizards of the Coast headquarters and see if we could persuade Mark Rosewater to give us some Magic Origins cards to show off.

    Unfortunately, we ran out of gas right behind the building, so we had to dig through the dumpster instead. At first, we thought there wasn’t anything worthwhile – our search revealed a pile of carwash punch cards, a bag of razor blades, and a box simply labeled “Fuel”. We started a fire and threw the junk in so we didn’t have to put it all back. Underneath everything else, we found a binder. Lo and behold! Playtest cards! The holy grail! We didn’t actually find the holy grail, it’s a metaphor.

    Here’s what we found:

    GGPHOTO_001

    Wow! That’s an effect that’s probably playable in Limited! It’s the powerful “Incite” effect stapled to a very solid 3/2 body for a measly 4 mana. Just imagine this scenario: You have a really big creature, like maybe a 6/6 or even bigger. You’re ready to start crushing your opponent’s face, you push the creature forward and start to tap it, but then you read your card again. It’s got defender! Your opponent rolls her eyes, as if to say, “Didn’t you read that when you put it in your deck?”, and then your opponent says the same thing using words. It feels a bit more condescending when your opponent says it with words.

    So you sit back and figure, maybe she’ll attack into it or something. But your opponent is smarter than you expected, and just builds a board presence while you grind your teeth. Several turns later, as you’re running out of teeth, you draw a Goblin Provocateur! One by one, you target your opponent’s creatures, and they’re forced to attack into your big defender. Gradually, you clear your opponent’s side of the board, and prepare to start attacking with your goblin. Then, your opponent plays a big creature with flying and haste and you’re dead, but it’s the thought that counts.

    That’s just half of the effect, though! Let’s say you have a Possessed Barbarian. Of course, that card’s absolutely useless unless your opponent has red creatures. And the odds of that are slim. Enter Goblin Provocateur! First off, it’s a red creature, so that’s one target already. But it can make any creature red, and that lets you kill any creature!

    I mentioned Incite above, and you’ll be glad to hear that it’s back:

    GGPHOTO_002

    The effect is the perfect marriage of mechanics and flavor – forcing an opposing creature to attack is an interesting tactical decision that can completely shift the flow of a game, and turning the creature red tells a story about how angry the creature becomes!

    Of course, the “red attacks each turn if able” theme isn’t restricted to just your opponent’s creatures – if you’re building a deck, you can put in some cards from older sets to join in on the fun. If you just want to force your opponent’s creatures to attack, you can put Alluring Siren or Rage Mage into your deck. If you want to turn your opponent’s creatures red, Crimson Wisps is perfect for the role. But what if you want your creatures to be red and attack each turn if able?

    We all remember when Liliana planeswalked to Innistrad for the first time. What did she see there? Vampires! Magic’s vampires are red – the color of blood – and they attack each turn if able, just like the vampires of legend. Bloodcrazed Neonate is a great card to add to your deck, just as one example. It’s not in Magic Origins, but it fits the theme perfectly – it’s a neonate, which means it’s new!

    And just in case you get a Goblin Provocateur but your opponent doesn’t have any creatures, check this card out. It’s a great example of how a simple mechanic can be turned into a cohesive archetype:

    GGPHOTO_003

    I hope you enjoyed this look inside the Good Gamery dumpster. Until next time, may your trash be treasure!

  • Get Ready For Epic Packs!

    Wizards of the Coast is announcing a new feature which will debut with Magic: Origins. Get ready for Epic Packs!

    While previously nothing could top the thrill of opening a highly collectible Premium Mythic Rare, Magic players will now have a small chance of finding an EVEN MORE valuable item in their pack, sometimes even from outside the game of Magic!

    Check out what this lucky player received:

    fXD7XJ6

    That’s right, instead of the usual rare, it’s a genuine United States one hundred-dollar bill. Imagine the jealousy at your favorite game store when you open THIS Epic Pack at an FNM draft!

    And it’s not just cash you’ll find in this ultra-premium product. Epic Packs can contain a wide variety of unexpected wonders!

    Take a look at the contents of this Epic Pack.

    MGiHXPu

    It’s not cash, but it’s definitely not a Magic card. What could it be?

    dDeXCEw

    A frequent customer punch card from a Long Island car wash! And the first punch is ALREADY complete! Someone’s well on their way to a shiny vehicle.

    But we’ve saved the best for last. What’s this strange-looking pack?

    YLSXNhk

    If you’re thinking it can’t just be cards, you’re right:

    SaS0vX9

    You just opened a 2015 Honda CR-V!

    A short FAQ:

    Q: How will new Epic Packs affect limited formats?

    A: Limited was, of course, one of the primary reasons for the new Epic Pack. Research shows that players love challenging decisions during draft, and now players will have to make the most challenging decision of all: Should I take this Doom Blade that fits nicely in my blue/black control deck, or should I take this original print from Spanish artist Francisco Goya? We’re excited to see these decisions play out at your local game store as well as the top Pro Tour tables!

    Q: Doesn’t this basically make opening packs gambling? Is that even legal?

    A: Yes, and probably!

    Q: For oddly-shaped Epic Packs like the Honda Pack above, won’t they be easy to pick out of a booster box?

    A: Yes, some Epic Packs will have distinctive shapes. To be sure no one else will be able to get their hands on an Epic Pack before you, we encourage players to buy their cards in sealed booster box or booster case quantities. Also, don’t be so sure an oddly-shaped pack is always a good thing: some Epic Packs are Epic Traps! Your friend might beat you to a bulky-looking pack, but imagine the laughs when he discovers what’s inside: a bundle of razor blades!

    Q: Will Epic Packs change the MSRP of Magic products?

    A: Yes. The new standard MSRP of a Booster Pack starting with Magic: Origins will be $24.99.

    We hope you are as excited as we are about the future of Epic Packs. Be sure to preorder with your local game store today!

  • Glistener Elf Disqualified in Cheating Scandal

    Pro Tour competitor Glistener Elf has been disqualified after testing positive to performance enhancing pump-spells.

    Officials first become suspicious after they noticed heightened power and recklessness, a common side-effect of illegal pump-spells. An on-the-spot drug test was performed, and Glistener Elf’s maindeck sample confirmed the presence of Berserk, a banned steroidal pump-spell. This was enough evidence to warrant an immediate disqualification.

    Following this, an investigation was launched, which uncovered footage from GP Omaha that showed a fifty-foot tall Glistener Elf encased in savage vegetation and leaking a viscous black liquid all over the feature match area. Glistener Elf’s sideboard sample, taken and stored after the top 8 at GP Omaha, was tested and found to contain elevated Invigorate-levels – consistent with illegal alternate-cost enhancement effects. This raised serious questions about the validity of the Phyrexian elf’s second place finish.

    berzerk

    Calls for Glistener Elf to be banned have been around for a long time, dating back to the controversial Pro Tour Top 8 that the Elf earned on the back of an earlier alternate-casting substance called Blazing Shoal. While technically legal at the time, Blazing Shoal was quickly added to the prohibited substances list and the stigma of having knowingly used a zero-mana power-booster has cast a pall over Glistener Elf’s results ever since. Melira, Sylvok Outcast, spokesperson for the Mirran Pro Tour Organisation and vocal critic of Glistener Elf, has publicly said that allowing Phyrexians to compete on the Pro Tour “has tainted our great game and was obviously a misstep”.

    This scandal, coming so soon on the heels of Deceiver Exarch’s recent cheating incident (the so-called Artifactgate), is yet another blow to Wizards of the Coast’s flagging public perception. WotC released a statement about the suspension of Glistener Elf: “We here at Wizards of the Coast take cheating incredibly seriously, and for engaging in egregious, repeated, and pre-meditated rules violations at the highest level of play Glistener Elf has been given an 18 month suspension and will not be fined. WotC looks forward to seeing Glistener Elf back on the GP Circuit in 4th quarter 2017, and we hope they enjoy the many MtGO (Magic: the Gathering Online) events they participate in during their suspension.”

    Glistener Elf declined to comment for this article.