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  • A Guide to Trading

    It’s been a long night at FNM. Your trusty blue/white deck crapped out on you in the quarterfinals, and all you have to show for it is your 8th place prize of one M10 pack. If only you had more Glacial Fortresses, you wouldn’t have been color screwed! Not to mention, you’re using Serra Angels, because you can’t afford Baneslayer Angels. You mutter a silent prayer to yourself as you peel open your prize pack. You toss out the tip card and s l o w l y slide up the card in the back, hoping beyond hope that karma will favor you after your last match. You first see the color of the card – it’s white! – and your heart beats faster. You turn the card some more and reveal the casting cost. One white symbol, two white symbols.. and a 3! Could it be? You quickly pull out the card, elated that you finally pulled the Baneslayer you’ve been dreaming about…

    …only to find you just pulled your fourth Lightwielder Paladin.

    “DAMMIT,” you yell a little too loudly in the confines of the store. “How am I ever supposed to get good cards when all I ever pull is stuff I don’t need?”

    You don’t need to spend a fortune on packs or singles to get everything you want. You can turn all the bad cards you’ve got into useful things, with a little knowledge and some work. This series of articles is designed to show you how to trade your way into gold. (Or mythic!)

    Part 1: Why am I trading?

    It seems like a rhetorical question, but it is important to understand what your goal in this process is. Are you in it just for money? Are you trying desperately to get only the cards you need for your FNM deck? Do you want to have a little of everything, so your deck building options are open? Are you willing to trade everything away, just so you can get that Black Lotus you always wanted?

    This goal should be your main focus. If your biggest need is Baneslayer Angels, you should say so at the beginning of the trade. If they don’t have any, you should trade for other things you need, or things that could be helpful in trading for Baneslayers.

    Part 2: How should I value my cards? How should I value your cards?

    One of the biggest complaints from people who don’t trade very often is that it’s so difficult to keep up with card prices. The good news is, depending on your goal from Part 1, you may not need to know more than the card you’re looking for and the good cards you have. If you’re looking for a wider range of cards, you will need to do your homework. Just remember, the more effort you put into learning card prices, the more it will pay off. You don’t want to lose an opportunity to bulk up your trade binder just because you don’t know what Stifles are worth.

    So how can you tell what cards are worth? The keys are to use several different sources, and to understand the concept of ‘ranges.’

    Sources

    Let’s say you’re looking for some Ajani Goldmanes for your Kithkin deck. You know you can pick up a playset on eBay for $40, but you don’t want to deal with the hassle. Your favorite online store sells them for $15 each. Your local card shop has them for $17. Even if you’re not interested in buying them, it’s crucial to understand each option.

    eBay: This one will tend to be the cheapest option, but it is also the biggest effort. On a normal auction you will need to wait until it finishes, and hope nobody outbids you before then. Somewhat risky, but potentially the best deal.

    Online stores: This will run you a lot more than eBay, but it’s far more trustworthy. You still need to deal with shipping, but things are guaranteed to be in stock somewhere.

    Local shop: More than likely the most expensive option, but you get your cards immediately. You may need to worry about cards not being in stock. Possible discount if you trade or sell cards in, as well.

    So, trade-wise, knowing these three sources can help you out tremendously. If someone is willing to trade you Ajanis but value them at 20, you know you can get a better deal elsewhere. Likewise, if someone thinks your Liliana Vess is only worth $4, knowing that a playset runs about $22 on eBay will limit your losses. Using one source for everything is usually a good idea, as everything will be relative.

    In summary:

    Cards shouldn’t be valued less than the cheapest purchase option.

    Cards shouldn’t be valued more than the most expensive purchase option.

    Ranges

    So, you’re prepared with the prices on the cards you’ve got, and the cards you want. Armed with this knowledge, you can now ascribe a “fair value” for your cards.

    It’s important to understand that different people will value their cards differently. In the course of a day trading, you might hear values on Ajani from, say, 12 to 20. So, obviously trade with the guy who values them at 12, right?

    It’s not always that easy. That 12 is still an arbitrary number when you’re not dealing with cash. What’s important is how that value compares in relative terms to what you’re trading away. For instance, let’s say Mister Ajani at 12 wants Wilt-Leaf Lieges at 4 each. You can thus trade three Lieges for one Ajani. But, Miss Ajani at 20 also wants Wilt-Leaf Lieges, and is willing to value them at 8 each. You can trade three Lieges to her for an Ajani, AND a Siege-Gang Commander. Even though one person valued Ajani much lower than the other, it was still better to trade with the lady who valued Ajani the highest.

    The key here is ranges. You want to try to trade for cards on the low end of a range, and trade away cards on the high end of a range. Ajani for 12 sounded like a great deal, but you weren’t getting the right value on your cards to make it worth it. Finding the right mix of cards that lets you take advantage of both sides of a deal is an important concept when trading, and will lead to a big trade binder over time.

    In summary:

    People value things differently. Don’t just leap at the first deal if you’re desperate, try to get a good one.

    Part 3: What should I trade away? What should I trade for?

    Even armed with all this pricing knowledge, you still need to know what your customers want. It does you no good to trade with somebody if you don’t have what they want. Typically, the cards someone will want will be closely related to what formats are popular in the area. If your FNM every week is Standard, you should expect Standard cards to be in high demand. During an Extended PTQ season, maybe you should put those Academy Ruins back in the binder. Going to a Legacy Mox tournament? Equip yourself accordingly, and so on.

    Likewise, it is also good to know what your customers DON’T want. You are going to have a much easier time getting those Leylines of the Void from a Standard player than from someone who actively plays older formats, and that Legacy player probably cares a little less about their Bloodbraid Elfs than most people. Try to ‘feel out’ the trader. Mark Rosewater’s Timmy/Johnny/Spike/Vorthos paradigm will help tremendously here. If he’s looking for some Kalonian Behemoths, he’s probably not going to worry about trading away those Ethersworn Canonists he doesn’t use. Johnny will LOVE the Doubling Season that Spike doesn’t care about. Know thy customer.

    Another small note on non-rares: It is often very much worth it to put good commons and uncommons in your binder. Believe it or not, people are going to want those extra Volcanic Fallouts a lot more than the Scepter of Insights you’ve been carrying around forever. Even an extra Mulldrifter as a throw-in could make the difference between a completed trade and a lost opportunity. Sort out those old draft decks and you could find a gold mine you never knew existed!

    In summary:

    Put things in your binder that people want!

    Part 4: Trading up vs trading down

    “That’s all great,” you say, “but all I’ve got are a bunch of crap rares. The only guy left who wants my Manabarbs has even worse stuff than me! What should I do?”

    While card values are the most important piece of knowledge when trading, it’s also relevant to know how much demand there is for cards. Baneslayer Angels are worth so much right now through a variety of factors:

    • It’s mythic, and thus difficult to open (Low supply)
    • M10 is in somewhat limited quantities (Low supply)
    • It’s an angel (Timmy Demand+)
    • It’s really good (Spike Demand+)
    • M10 just came out, and Angel’s not a reprint, so people don’t have them yet (Demand+)

    Manabarbs, on the other hand:

    • Normal rare, not mythic (Supply+)
    • Been reprinted many times (Supply+)
    • Doesn’t see play in major decks (Demand-)

    You should understand the following: the lower the supply, and the higher the demand, the more a card is worth. The supply factor is going to change the value of a card, but the demand is what you’re interested in. It won’t be difficult for you to find someone that wants your extra Baneslayer Angel, so you should try to get the best possible deal for it. But if someone happens to want your Manabarbs, you should really try to get something useful for them, even if it seems like you’re not getting a great deal. If you find someone who will take that playset of Manabarbs at 1 each for a Ranger of Eos, even if the Ranger is really only worth around 3, you should consider it. There are lots of people who play or want Ranger of Eos and not so many that want Manabarbs. You might not get the opportunity again to trade that crap rare away, and a card that never leaves your binder is always worthless.

    Trading several lesser valued cards for one or few higher valued cards is called ‘trading up.’ You will typically have to trade a little more than the value you’re hoping for to do this, mostly because the higher valued cards could at least be sold for some decent money, where you’d be lucky to get a quarter each for those One with Nothings you’ve had for 5 years. Conversely, doing the opposite, or trading a big card for several small cards, is ‘trading down.’ You can often get a little something extra out of this for the exact same reason. If you are trading away that super awesome foil textless Cryptic Command at 20 for some $5 Sanity Grindings, you can probably get them to throw in that $2 Time Sieve you want too – the $2 card isn’t likely to deter them from getting a $20 card.

    In summary:

    If someone wants your crap rares, get whatever you can out of them. You might not get another opportunity for a long time.

    If someone wants your expensive cards for cheaper cards, you can usually get more value out of them.

    Part 5: Why are cards worth this?

    As shown above, supply and demand are the major factors in determining a card’s value. But how can you determine these?

    In general, demand is going to be directly proportional to the popularity and number of decks running the card. Cryptic Commands have been in huge demand in Standard, because so many decks run them – and they typically need four each. Cruel Ultimatum, on the other hand, is a fantastic card, but is seemingly very cheap for how good it is. Cruel has several factors working against its value; it’s not in very many decks (indeed, only decks that can support UUBBBRR!), decks that do run it tend not to run the full 4 (sometimes only 1 or 2), and it’s in an Intro Pack (meaning it’s in very wide supply and trivial to obtain).

    Try to pay attention to new decklists that spring up. If a new deck suddenly starts making a lot of PTQ top 8s, expect cards in it to jump in value. Same with Pro Tour and Grand Prix winning decklists.

    Preconstructed decks/Intro Packs: These increase the supply of certain rares, but some of the very best cards are still unaffected by these, the major example being Umezawa’s Jitte – it merely increased the price of Rats’ Nest! The cards to note here are the middle rares, stuff in the $3-7 range – see Mystic Snake and Mirari’s Wake for older examples.

    Notes on foils: Some people really like them, and some people really don’t. In general, a foil version of a card is worth roughly double what the non-foil version is worth. A major exception will be any kind of promotional cards, which will have a different supply – for instance, they gave out promo Figure of Destiny cards like candy at Halloween, but there are very few Extended art Mutavaults in existence. Consult your favorite price source to get a bead on these.

    Vintage and Legacy foils are also a notable exception in value. These players really love to pimp out their decks, and someone who’s got the money for a full set of Power 9 usually has the money to get those sweet foil Goblin Welders too. Especially take note of cards that are only good in the older formats due to card interactions, such as Forbidden Orchard.

    Rare sets: Alpha and Beta were the first sets in Magic way back in 1993. Cards from these sets command a large premium over later reprints of cards.

    Arabian Nights/Legends: These sets were in somewhat short supply and have a number of highly sought after cards. There was more Italian Legends printed than English, and thus English is worth more.

    Portal 3 Kingdoms: This set was only printed in the APAC territories, and there is much more Chinese and Japanese product in circulation than English. English tends to be worth more.

    Foreign cards: Generally, people seem to prefer English cards. Cards from Asian countries can be an exception, especially in foil. Asian foils are some of the most expensive card varieties you can find.

    Card condition: It should go without saying, cards in worse condition will be valued less. Don’t ever keep those old draft decks in your pocket, or in rubber bands! These are great ways to ruin the value of your collection. One note to mention is that with the most expensive old cards (power, especially) people may actually look specifically for played versions of the card, in order to pay less for it.

    Part 6: Format rotation

    You’ve finally managed to trade your way into playsets of every special land in Standard. Your trusty blue/white deck’s been doing well at FNM and you’ve got all the cards you could ever want for it. You could even build two more decks with all the cards you’ve managed to collect.

    Then, suddenly, a new block comes out. Half of your cards suddenly plunge in value. Those 7 dollar lands you had no trouble trading away before have dropped to $2 each. What just happened? How do you avoid this?

    The trick is knowing when to “get out” of a block. You will have to balance the utility of getting the best trading value out of your cards versus being able to use them in tournaments. If you wait until the week before the prerelease, nobody’s going to be looking to build decks for a format that will rotate in two weeks. If you dump your cards just after the final set of a block comes out, you’ll get great value but might get stuck without good trade stock or having to play a bad deck for three months until the rotation comes.

    It may be wise when nearing the end of a block to do some lateral trades for cards that will remain legal for longer. This way, you’ll be better prepared when the rotation comes.

    After a rotation happens, those traders who forgot or neglected to get rid of their now rotated stock will be looking to dump it as quickly as possible. You can take advantage of this by trading for cards that you think will hold their value – because they are good in older formats, for instance. When the original Revised dual lands rotated out of Extended, people were ditching them at unheard of prices, as low as $8. People who picked them up at that time made a fortune in the long run.

    In summary:

    Be aware of formats rotating and try to make trades with rotation dates in mind.

    Part 7: Where should I trade?

    If you are lucky enough to live somewhere with lots of Magic players, you should partake in all the different types of tournaments. As alluded to in part 3, trading at a Standard tournament and trading at a Legacy tournament will give you different prices on cards, and you can put this to your advantage. Take the Standard player’s cards that are good in Legacy, and trade them to the Legacy player, who then gives you good Standard cards to trade back to the other guy.

    If you mostly just trade at the same store, for instance your local FNM, you may run out of potential customers very quickly as week to week most people’s collections and desires won’t change much. Maybe once a month, drive a little further to that other FNM. You’ll diversify your collection, which is always a good thing.

    The bigger the tournament, the more lucrative the trading opportunities. If you can, try to venture out to those big prereleases, and Pro Tour Qualifiers. You’ll be surprised how many people can show up to these! If you’re REALLY lucky, there will be a Grand Prix or a Pro Tour within driving distance, which can be a gold mine.

    If you’re planning on attending a major event, try to trade for cards relevant to its format in the weeks preceding it. Someone who shows up with a dozen of the biggest chase rare in Standard is going to get whatever they want at a Standard GP.

    In summary:

    Standard players often don’t care about their older cards. Get them at a discount!

    Part 8: Don’t be a douche

    “Man, I totally wrecked that kid. Not only did I just crush him round 3, but I traded with him afterwards and he had no idea what his Reveillarks were worth. I got a full playset for a Lurking Predators!”

    ‘Dude, that was my little brother. You’re a douche, and we’re never coming back to this store.’

    You just lost yourself two potential repeat customers and made a bad name for yourself at your favorite FNM hangout. You make yourself look bad when you act like a punk and help give all traders a bad reputation. Don’t do it. You want to encourage participation, not discourage it. One bad deal with somebody and they will never trade with you again.

    If you have a good reputation, you can really get some good deals. Make a little kid happy by trading him 10 crap rares for that dual land he just drafted. Trade fairly with your friends. When word gets out that you give good deals, people will come to YOU with the goods.

    Part Extra: Miscellaneous tips

    DON’T EVER LOSE TRACK OF YOUR BINDER. Take extra, overprotective care of it. If you’re playing a match, put your chair leg over your backpack strap, so nobody can pull it out from under you.

    Try not to trade with more than one person at a time. It’s trivial to make sure one person’s not palming cards from you, but it’s much harder to keep track of multiple people/binders at once. Don’t get too greedy!

    The best times to trade at a constructed tournament are just before it starts, and just after it ends. You can get some really great values on cards people desperately need for their decks. After the tournament’s over, either people are disillusioned with their deck and want to trade away the pieces, or they switch from ‘play mode’ to ‘trade mode’ and are more willing to bust out the binder.

    If a store has a buy list, make sure you know the prices. You might get lucky and be able to trade cheaply for cards that you can directly sell.

    I hope some piece of this article was helpful to you. Keep it fair, and keep it fun!

  • Fall 2010 preview: Pirates and Wenches and Rum

    We here at goodgamery.com have done it again! Our crack agents* have infiltrated R&D and have come back with notes from 2010’s fall expansion. The block is code named rape/burn/pillage and its theme is pirates, proving once and for all that Wizards is out of good ideas.

    Extensive focus group polling** has shown that players cannot get enough of islands, so this set will have an “islands matter” theme. We are moist with anticipation. ***

    Important rules changes for rape block:

    • “Battlefield” renamed to “Spanish Main.”
    • “Destroy x” retemplated to “Make x walk the plank.”
    • “Graveyard” renamed to “Davy Jones’ Locker.”
    • Players do not have libraries because pirates cannot read.

    Ready to dive in?

    White

    James Goodhead, Pirate Hunter – 2WW
    Legendary Creature – Human Hunter Fop (Mythic)
    First Strike
    Whenever a pirate enters the Spanish Main or attacks, exile James. Return him to the Spanish Main at the beginning of the next end step.
    3/3

    Goodhead’s Love Interest – WW
    Legendary Creature – Human Harlot (Mythic)
    At the beginning of your upkeep, if you control both James Goodhead, Pirate Hunter and Goodhead’s Love Interest, and no pirates are on the Spanish Main, you win the game.
    All creatures have: “T: Gain control of Goodhead’s Love Interest.”
    0/1

    Path to Davy Jones’ Locker – W
    Instant (Uncommon)
    Make target creature walk the plank. Its controller searches his or her library for an island card and puts that card into play tapped. (Libraries don’t exist.)

    Catholic Schoolgirl – 1W
    Creature – Human (Common)
    Sacrifice a rum: Catholic schoolgirl is a harlot in addition to her other creature types until the beginning of the end step.
    2/2

    Blue

    Stingray – U
    Creature – Fish Assassin (Common)
    Islandhome
    T: Bury target hunter at sea.
    Too soon?
    1/1

    Moby Dick – 6UUU
    Legendary Creature – Fish Cetacean (Mythic)
    Islandhome, Protection from Ships.
    Power and toughness are unknown. (Nobody has ever gotten to the end of Moby Dick.)
    */*

    Blue Balls – 1U
    Enchantment – Aura (Common)
    Enchant Creature
    Enchanted creature doesn’t untap during its controller’s untap phase.
    Tap a Harlot you control: Make Blue Balls walk the plank. Any player may play this ability.

    Black

    Smooth Criminal – BB
    Creature – Human Pirate Rogue (Common)
    Fear
    Smooth criminal wishes he were white.
    At the beginning of your upkeep, if an opponent cannot prove they are over 18, put a +1/+1 counter on Smooth Criminal. (A valid state driver’s license is acceptable proof.)
    Defnitely too soon.

    2/1

    Blackbeard, Goodhead’s Nemesis – 3BB
    Legendary Creature – Human Pirate
    At the beginning of each player’s upkeep, that player makes target non-pirate creature they control of their choice walk the plank.
    If a Hunter or Harlot walks the plank in this way, put a +1/+1 counter on Blackbeard.
    “I know what you’re thinking and yes, the carpet does match the curtains.”
    3/3

    Bukkake, Whore’s Wage – B
    Enchantment – Aura (Uncommon)
    Enchant Harlot
    At the beginning of your upkeep, put a -1/-1 counter on enchanted harlot for each other creature in play. It becomes white until the beginning of the end step.

    Unkill – B
    Sorcery (common)
    Return target creature from your Davy Jones’ Locker to your hand.
    After the first time his spell was renamed, the necromancer was merely demoralized, but after the second time he said unkill.

    Red

    Pirate Pillager – 4RR

    Creature – Human Pirate

    1RR, T: Make target artifact or land walk the plank. Masticores that walk the plank this way cannot be regenerated.

    4/4

    The Beast – 4RR
    Legendary Creature – Demon (Rare)
    Whenever a Harlot you control becomes the target of a spell or ability an opponent controls, that opponent sacrifices seven creatures.
    “Avenged.”
    4/4

    Persuasive Recruiter – 2RR
    Creature – Human Pirate Harlot (Uncommon)
    Whenever a creature enter the Spanish Main under your control, that creature becomes a pirate in addition to its other creature types and target opponent sacrifices a permanent unless they pay 2.
    “Join us and all this booty could be yours!”
    2/2

    Fusillade Cannonnade – 3R
    Sorcery (Rare)
    Until the beginning of the end step, permanents you control gain “T: This permanent deals 2 damage to target creature or player and 3 damage to you. Draw a Card.”

    Green

    Thai Hooker – 1G
    Creature – Human Harlot (Common)
    When Thai Hooker enters the Spanish Main, flip a coin. If you win the flip, draw a card. If you lose the flip, put an indestructible green Herp token into play that has “At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life.”
    2/2

    Pegleg Privateer – 2G
    Creature – Human Pirate (Common)
    Pegleg Privateer enters the Spanish Main with 2 leg counters.
    If pegleg privateer would be dealt damage, prevent that damage and remove a leg counter from it.
    When pegleg privateer has no leg counters, sacrifice it.
    3/2

    South Pacific Bachelor Party – 2GGG
    Sorcery (Rare)
    For each harlot you control, each opponent puts one indestructible green Herp token into play that has “At the beginning of your upkeep, you lose 1 life.”

    Trojan Man (TM) – 2GG
    Legendary Creature – Human Superhero (Rare)
    Protection from Harlots.
    4/3

    Artifact

    Captain Morgan Black – 1
    Artifact – Rum (Uncommon)
    T: Target creature thinks it can fly until the beginning of the ends step. Come next turn, that creature will never want to drink Captain Morgan Black ever, EVER again.

    Roofie Delight – 2
    Artifact – Rum (Uncommon)
    T: Target creature doesn’t untap during its controller’s next untap step.

    Yo Ho Ho and This – 4
    Artifact – Rum (Rare)
    At the beginning of your upkeep, put a 1/1 Pirate creature token onto the Spanish Main.
    If you control 15 pirates and your Davy Jones’ Locker contains a pirate, you win the game.

    USS Constitution – 6
    Creature – Ship (Rare)
    Islandhome, Indestructible
    3/3

    RMS Titanic – 8
    Creature – Ship (Mythic)
    Islandhome, Not Indestructible
    Probably not too soon.
    9/9

    Land

    The Lost Island
    Legendary Land – Island (Rare)
    Phasing
    At the beginning of the end step, a random player gains an extra turn after this one.
    “Ben decides that the island is no longer secret enough and turns a big underground dial that moves the island, teleports him to the Sahara desert and back in time three years, and screws up time on the island.” -skamunisM

    The Best Little Whorehouse
    in the South Pacific

    Tribal Land – Harlot Island (Common)

    Australia
    Legendary Land – Island (Mythic)
    You receive an additional 2 armies per turn.

    Join us next time when we spoil 2011’s expansion, “drinking/dancing/sodomy.” That third set is a doozy!

    * And by that we mean agents that are addicted to crack.
    ** Focus group membership: LSV and Wafo-Tapa.
    *** Like your mother was last night.

  • Lighthouse Scientists Prepare Large Hedron Collider

    TAZEEM, ZENDIKAR — The Large Hedron Collider was successfully loaded yesterday with a second White Mana Octahedron, say Lighthouse scientists.

    The Octahedron, a whopping 5 zendi-meters in length, was placed in the hammer of the device located on the foothills of East Ulzhet. Its twin, installed last zendi-January, rests upon the woodlands of Hul’Morag.

    The successful installation of the second hedron comes after the “Doom Quench” earlier this year, where a Black Mana Spheroid was loaded into the Collider with catastrophic results.

    “Rather than smashing open the target hedron, the spheroid just exploded with swamp goo,” said Mituantir the Knowledgeable, project coordinator at Lighthouse. The spheroid was, it turned out, an ancient prison for a dark vampire lord prophesied to unite the vampire tribes in an apocalyptic conquest of the whole of Zendikar.

    The stench of the goo lent weight the hypotheses of other merfolk scientists: that Black Mana Spheroids are the droppings of ancient, colossal zendi-bunnies.

    “We’re past that now,” said Mituantir. “We’ve cleaned up the goo, and we hear there’s a prophecy about a destined Promised One who’ll take care of the dark vampire lord we unleashed.”

    The goal of the Large Hedron Collider project is to smash open the target hedron and expose the contents within. Said Mituantir, “It’ll probably be the massive scalar elementary particle predicted to exist by the Zendard Model of particle physics: a Planeswalker spark.”

    “The idea is to force a severe landfall using what amounts to an oversized zendi-mouse-trap,” said the goblin artificer Dromms, head engineer, who has allied with the merfolk for the duration of the project. “Hopefully we’ll progress enough on this quest to enable some beneficial effects.”

    “Kicker,” he added.


    The Large Hedron Collider is set to activate on zendi-November 1st, the day after thousands of little Korlings dress up in costumes and quest for zendikandy.

  • Tournament Report: Spirit Mountain Vintage Open – *Winner*

    Last month, a local Indian school held a Vintage tournament with an interesting twist. They decided to take advantage of their status on the reservation and allow Ante cards, since gambling is perfectly legal there. I brewed up the following list:

    It’s a typical Mana Drain control shell, but with an Ante package added in. The suite of Fiends and Bronze Tablet combine with Dance of Many (animating Tablet via March of the Machines) to break the symmetry, allowing you to exchange a token copy instead of the original. Timetwister effects allow you to reuse the combo, eventually exchanging tokens for every card in their deck, assuming they don’t scoop before then. I used glass beads for tokens, but really, you can use anything.

    Round 1

    Facing a total scrub playing affinity. I get Dance of Many going on Timmerian Fiends, and I can basically take his deck at will. Amazingly he plays it out, and finishes game 2 with 14 cards left in his library. Good luck next round, champ.

    Round 2

    Dude playing a Parfait variant. Land Tax presented a bit of a problem, until I could steal it with Tablet and Tax the living shit out of him. Notable sideboard included Peace Talks, which held off some activations of Tablet. It wasn’t hard to wait out the Peace Talks, and then ambush him for everything. So long, chief.

    Round 3

    Zoo. Dropped game 1 to a fast start, but I brought in Massacre, and really, what can you do when your whole race gets Massacred? Nothing, that’s what!

    Round 4

    Mana Drain mirror. I came prepared with Smallpox+Blankets out of the sideboard, and he can never build up his manabase enough to gain control. Nice try, kemosabe. Have a handful of glass beads, and I’ll enjoy keeping your lands.

    Round 5

    Dredge. I’ve never seen anyone splashing red for Gamble before. He must reeeeeaaaallly like Gambling. Anyway, Dredge doesn’t have much in the way of permanents anyway, and I make short work of him.

    5-0, and in the top 8!

    Round 6

    Oath. I don’t play a creature until I can simply steal his Oath, and that is. Nice Oath, dude. Here’s a hint: any deck based on keeping a promise probably isn’t going to get you far.

    Round 7

    I don’t even know what he was playing, because he scooped as soon as he saw me. Funny, cause he had a date with some Bottle Gnomes.

    Finals

    It’s the Zoo guy from round 3! His deck is pretty sparse at this point, and he doesn’t put up much of a struggle. Matter of fact I think he will fight no more forever.

    So that’s that, and I take home a couple boxes for my trouble. More importantly, I stuff my trade binder with a couple hundred Vintage cards that I scalped from my opponents along the way. (The one scrub from round 1 asked if I’d do trade-backs. I said yes, but as if!)

    In the unlikely event that you find yourself with the opportunity to play in this sort of tournament, I highly recommend the deck. It’s good enough that I found myself banned from the tourney venue. I can only assume it was due to the overwhelming performance of the deck.

  • Dominion Comix #16

    Crime doesn’t pay.

    Mouse over the image or click here to view the comic in full size.

    Good, I didn’t want that copper anyhow. They only accept Rupees at the corner store.

    Here is the card in question:

  • Dominion Comix #15

    Ghost Ship is a card that makes your opponents re-live their most terrible hands, over and over again.

    There are some ways to work around it, though.

    Mouse over the image or click here to view it in full.

    Here are the cards in question:

  • Announcing: Magic: The Gathering: Dice Game

    WIZARDS OF THE COAST PRESS RELEASE

    October 24, 2009 -– Renton, Wash. — Wizards of the Coast today announced a new game product
    just in time for the holidays — Magic: The Gathering: Dice Game.

    “Wizards of the Coast is committed to supporting all sorts of gamers, not just those who play games with cards, or those who have friends with which to play,” said Scott Knoblich, VP of Sales for Wizards of the Coast. “The result of that commitment is this dice game.”

    “Like the Catan dice game, the Magic: The Gathering: Dice Game will capture every ounce of the flavor, nuance and strategy of the original, but deliver it in a compact, elegant form,” he continued.

    Players will be delighted to play Magic: The Gathering without the need for cards or even opponents! Game progress will be tracked on game sheets like the following, which is oddly included in this press release:



    Magic: The Gathering: Dice Game will be easy to learn but tough to master. Strangely, this press release contains a copy of the rules:

    1) YOUR MAGIC PERSONALITY

    First, roll the MAGIC PERSONALITY DIE to find out what kind of player you are: a “Timmy,” a “Johnny” or a “Spike.”


    2) BEST DECK

    Roll the COLOR DIE repeatedly until you get a MaRo symbol. If you rolled each color, start this section over. Otherwise, note each color you did NOT roll by circling those colors in the “BEST DECK” section.


    3) YOUR DECK

    Roll the COLOR DIE repeatedly until you get a MaRo symbol. Note each color you DID roll by circling those colors in the “YOUR DECK” section.

    • If you are a Timmy, you may stop rolling after any Red roll, because all that matters is having some dragons in there.
    • If you are a Johnny, you may stop rolling after any roll that does NOT match a BEST DECK color, because as long as you’re different, you’re satisfied.
    • If you are a Spike, you may stop rolling after any roll that matches a BEST DECK color, because duh.

    4) METASCORE

    Subtract the number of colors that do NOT match between YOUR DECK and the BEST DECK from the number of colors that DO match. Write this result or zero, whichever is greater, in the METASCORE box.

    5) PLAY!

    Roll the PSYCHE OUT DIE until you get “YOU WIN!” Every time you are affected by a PSYCHE OUT EVENT, cross out a PSYCHE OUT BOX on your current round. If the round becomes filled with PSYCHE OUTS, mark the FROWNY FACE box instead of the HAPPY FACE box and move on to the next round.

    Each round, you may reroll X times, where X is your METASCORE.


    • If you are a Timmy, you are not affected by HOT CHICK, because you have not reached adolescence, and not affected by ROGUE DECK, because your questionable deckmaking defies expectations.
    • If you are a Johnny, you are not affected by ROGUE DECK, because everyone knows that Johnnies share a bond of kinship with one another, and not affected by TOP TIER DECK, because you’re here to stick it to those conformist netdeckers!
    • If you are a Spike, you are not affected by TOP TIER DECK, because you’ve played against it like a billion times on MODO, and not affected by HOSTILE JERK, because everyone knows that jerkwads share a bond of kinship with one another.

    After playing all of the rounds, mark the appropriate EVENT RESULT. Your result is a victory if you have max 1 FROWNY FACE. If you won, move on to the next event!

    Magic: The Gathering: The Dice Game will be available at retailers November 20, 2009 for $19.99 (MSRP). The purchase includes a storage box and small piece of paper, on which will be written the URL of a page on MagictheGathering.com containing sheets and dice images to print out, and instructions for how to cut out, fold, and glue the dice images into usable dice.


  • PTQ San Diego Tournament Report

    10/17/2009 – PTQ for San Diego in Rockville, MD

    First, let’s start off with the sealed pool I received.

    A few lines borrowed from the Chat Dump while you think about how to build this pool:

    13:54    iConn   how does your sweet pearl trident deck beat
                     a pyroclasm
    13:54    Seeker_ counterspell
    13:55   Seeker_ memory lapse
    13:55   Seeker_ ...mana leak?
    13:55  Seeker_ force spike!
    13:55   iConn   also
    13:55   iConn   more importantly
    13:55   iConn   how do you cast coral merfolk with a straight face
    
    [19:09] [wcb] or encyclopedia brown
    [19:09] [wcb]
    [19:09] [RHat] encyclopedia brown was fucken badass
    [19:36] [prolep] hey rhat
    [19:36] [prolep] and whoever else is around
    [19:36] [prolep] [RHat] [19:09]  encyclopedia brown was
                     fucken badass
    [19:36] [prolep] I have concrete proof of this fact
    [19:37] [theStu]  present it
    [19:37] [RHat] i am around
    [19:37] [prolep] what is encyclopedia brown's first name
    [19:37] [RHat] i forget
    [19:37] [prolep] you are allowed to wiki it
    [19:37] [RHat] leroy!
    [19:37] [prolep] BADDEST MAN IN THE WHOLE DAMN TOWN
    
    [crickets]
    
    [19:38] [prolep] god
    [19:38] [prolep] i just realized you guys might too young
    
    [Peebles1] man selling all these pokemon cards is going
               to be ANNOYING
    
    mary: i wrote a song
    reuben: what is it
    mary: it's called the people you work with
          are stupid douchebags
    reuben:
    reuben: how does it go?
    mary: "the people you work with are stupid douchebags.
           the people you work with are stuuuuuupid douuuuuuuchebags"

    A quick analysis shows that the correct build of this pool is probably blue and black, since they have removal, bombs and evasion.

    The first runthrough gives the following cards for a deck:

    I would prefer to play 18 lands in this type of deck (with Ob Nixilis, the Fallen, double Whiplash Trap, Merfolk Seastalkers and double Windrider Eel, getting flooded isn’t a huge issue).

    I filled out the last three slots with Ior Ruin Expedition, Shoal Serpent and Bog Tatters.

    My reasoning on the Serpent was that I wanted a big fat wall to block while attacking with evasion guys, or building up Ob, Nixilis to lethal them.

    Tatters seemed better than the alternatives (Crypt Ripper and Hagra Diabolist) since it will usually have evasion vs the best sealed decks (which tend to be black).

    Ior Ruin Expedition was extremely sketchy, and probably should have been Cancel in the maindeck.

    As for the swiss rounds:

    I went 6-1-1 (loss in round 4, drew in round 8). I believe it is correct to draw in this sealed format. The games themselves weren’t very interesting, since they all played out in the same sort of way: I would stabilize the board with my removal / bounce and kill them with a evasive guy or Ob Nixilis.

    So I’ll fast forward to the deck I drafted in the top 8.

    Round 1, I played vs the only other UG drafter at the table. Game 1, I set up a board state where Seastalkers locks down his guys and lethal him over the span of 2 turns. For the record, I almost died to quadrupule Scholar targetting me, but the Seastalkers let me kill him before this happened.

    I board out Gomazoa and Gladeheart for Hedron Crab and 1 Mountain (since he had mold shamblered my only red source in game 1).

    Game 2, his deck did nothing, and I took over quite easily.

    Round 2, I played vs RW with bombs (such as Hellkite Charger and Felidar Sovereign). Game 1, he gets manascrewed and double Whiplash Trap + fatties finish him off.

    I board in 1 Lethargy Trap for Frontier Guide, because his deck seemed to be a bunch of small guys + Teteering Peaks.

    Game 2, I get him to 3 life, but his Sovereign arrives to stabilize him completely because I had already spent both Traps trying to kill him. Game 3, he smashes me easily with Hellkite Charger.

    I am only slightly upset, because his deck was pretty good, and my deck didn’t have many ways to beat his.

    However, I am more upset that he conceded to the other guy in the finals after losing game 1.

    I will probably not be PTQing again this season, but here are a few notes:

    I believe the best sealed decks are B/x, and that you should draw.

    18 lands is correct for most of the sealed decks, but I can see a case for 19 if you have a TON of landfall guys.

    This is a much more sane draft format than the previous two, so I recommend sticking to two colors with possibly a splash in draft.

    Good luck in your sealed and drafts in the land of Zendikards! (couldn’t resist it).

    –llarack

  • Dominion: Seaside Spoiler

    Dominion: Seaside is the latest set released for Donald X. Vaccarino’s award-winning card game, Dominion.

    After you look at the cards, you should also check out this preview article about Dominion: Seaside.

    Hover your mouse over the cards to see their full size.