Pinoy MTG Fan

Gatecrash spoiler | MTG Spoiler

2012-11-19T06:22:00.000-08:00

Gatecrash spoiler | MTG Spoiler

These are not yet official but these cards got leaked on Craigslist. I'm jumping on the bandwagon on the mtg spoiler cards. It will be weeks before we get to the official previews. Here is my impression on each individual card.

Mtg Spoiler: Aurelia, the Warleader

Aurelia is rumored to be the new Boros guild master. The Boros ability is expected to have something to do with attacking considering how aggressive the guild was in Ravnica.

Aurelia is costly for a 3/4 creature. But she basically attacks for 6 with her "Relentless Assault" ability. And this doesn't matter on whether she stays on the battlefield or not after the first attack. I can see Hellrider smiling (as long as it stays on the battlefield). All in all, Aurelia looks to be a finisher for a Boros deck.

Mtg Spoiler: Borborygmos Enraged

I didn't expect Borborygmos to have a combo-like ability. He has a slight combo on his own. Seismic Assault on legs is more like it (plus a way to get more lands). He is costly at 8 casting cost though and I wonder if Gruul needs to get to that much mana to finish off opponents (pre-RtR RG Aggro didn't need to get to 8). Gruul featured the Bloodthirst ability in Guildpact. Bloodthirst as an ability returned in M12 and it was fun to interact it with Simic guild's ability to transfer +1/+1 counters to other creatures (I'm speculating a similar ability for Simic, by the way).

So much for Borborygmos Enraged. Like most of the guildmasters, I don't expect this to see much play but it still has possibilities. Those non-land cards that are in the graveyard can be abused. We'll wait and see.

GateCrash Spoiler: Domri Rade

I'm already hearing bad things about Domri Rade. But I look at it as a card drawer for a color combination that normally loses its hand because of the creatures. I don't think I play that way anymore with RG. But still, I like how Domri Rade is made despite the drawback that the top card of the library might not be a creature card. ( * And suddenly, I had a fleeting thought of pairing it with Borborygmos - just in case that the top card is a land.)

Wizards doesn't want to flood the metagame with planeswalkers that warp the Standard scene. Domri Rade made just turn out to be a tame planeswalker but I'll have to wait and see what Gatecrash has in store before making a final say. That emblem sure looks tasty though.

Mtg Spoiler: Enter the Infinite

I've always wanted to be able to pull off a Tamiyo emblem-Omniscience combo. Enter the Infinite just made it more enticing. The 12 casting cost is very hard to get to even for a control deck. Out of the blue (pun intended), this card just looks combo-rrific.

Gatecrash Spoiler: Hellkite Tyrant

The last card leaked is 2 expansions too late. I can see this in Commander decks where there's a possibility to get that far to having 20 artifacts in a game. Might also be useful in multiplayer or other variants.

In Standard, it doesn't seem to look like it's worth the trouble.

What Format to Play (Constructed, Limited, Standard, Modern, Legacy, and Vintage)

2012-11-18T00:22:00.000-08:00

First of all, all formats are playable. There are just certain considerations to be made when choosing what format should be played in a community. This post is focused on a community that's just starting out.

I'll start out with Limited. For me, it's the fairest format. It promotes deckbuilding skills and every participant is on equal footing.

There are several Limited formats and I'll try to go over the common ones.

Sealed Deck is a Limited format that involves building a 40-card deck out of 6 booster packs (15 cards x 6 = 80 total cards; subtract 6 basic lands included in all booster packs that leaves at most 74 cards as card pool). For a player (and a community) that's just starting out, Sealed Deck is attractive because it allows participants to immediately obtain some cards and at the same time play with them. Unlike Booster Draft where 8 players are more of the norm, Sealed Deck can be enjoyed even if there are only 2 players. There is a reason why Sealed Deck is the preferred format of choice for Prerelease Tournaments. Glaring need to do Sealed Deck is the availability of basic lands.

As mentioned, Booster Draft would need 8 players but it can still be played with at least 4 players. Participants in a Booster Draft each have 3 booster packs and they are opened one at a time. With the first booster pack, a player picks one card from the pack and passes the rest to the left (and at the same time getting a pack from the player to his right). Picking and passing continues until all cards have been picked. With the second booster pack, the cards are passed to the right instead of to the left. The third booster pack is once more passed to the left.

The important skill in Booster Draft is knowing what cards to pick from the packs. More advanced players are skilled in providing signals to ensure that the best cards would eventually be passed. Players build their 40-card deck out of all the cards picked (15 cards x 3 booster packs = 45 total cards, subtract 3 basic lands that leaves at most 42 cards as card pool).

New and inexperienced players tend to shy away from Booster Drafts because of fear of losing rare cards in the booster packs (rare drafting is a highly discouraged way of doing Booster Drafts and is frowned upon).

Other obscure Limited formats include Minimasters and Winston Draft. Minimasters can be played using only one booster pack. The booster pack is opened and the insert card is removed. 2 or 3 of each basic land is added which now becomes the "deck" of the player (15 cards + 15 lands = 30 cards). Players can't be milled out and the graveyard is shuffled to become the library again if the library runs out of cards.

The main debate is on the Constructed format. Hereon out I would state that Standard is the best format to play in because of the following reasons:

- Availability of cards. Standard makes use of recent cards. These recent cards are readily available from packs. Recent cards mean that it's easier to find.
- More tournaments. Most card shops promote Standard tournaments because it helps their business. Since the format uses recent cards, players would try to find such cards from the recent packs which are readily available from the card shop. Players know that if they buy such packs, all the cards are playable. The card shop sells Standard-legal packs and promotes Standard tournaments and players buy Standard-legal packs and participates in the Standard tournaments. It's the way of the Standard world.
- Lesser number of cards legal compared to Modern, Legacy, and Vintage. The legal cards are those that are included in the 2 most recent expansion releases. This reason coincides with availability of cards which makes deck building easier compared to the rest of the formats.

For a community that is just starting out, Standard is very attractive for new players. Understandably, old players would want to stick with their old cards and thus urge for Modern, Legacy, or Vintage. If a community has to grow by attracting new players, Standard tournaments are it. A new player wouldn't want to get his ass whipped from an old player who already possesses the necessary cards.

Regarding expenses and expensive cards: Standard format is understandably expensive because it expects to be dynamic rather than static. The set designers would try to warp the format as much as they can so that there would be a continuing buzz around players. No buzz means low interest.

For those who are worried about expenses, the trick is simple. Sell the cards 3 months before they are no longer legal in Standard.

Modern is the closest relative to Standard. It makes use of cards that are printed in the new card face. Modern used to be Extended but Extended became too difficult to play in because of the always changing sets of cards (similar to Standard). Modern increases in number as new sets are released and doesn't lose out on the number of legal cards.

Modern can be good. The problem is it is not attractive to new players who don't normally possess the old cards as far as Mirrodin.

Legacy and Vintage are similar formats because it includes all cards that have been printed. Legacy has a different set of banned cards compared to Vintage while Vintage also has banned and restricted cards. The argument as to why Legacy and Vintage is not that attractive compared to Standard is similar to the reasoning with Modern. New players don't have the old cards. Furthermore, old cards are hard to find.

For a community that doesn't want to move forward, Vintage, Legacy, or Modern is your choice. But decks tend to be stagnant and will not want to be changed. For a player like me who still wants to remain active, I would choose a more dynamic format. Maybe when I'll retire, I'll use only my old cards and play such formats.

Thus, in conclusion, Standard is the format to play. Expenses are expected. Again, this is not a cheap hobby and if you're reading this, you know that you're expected to be a player who buys cards as well as play them.

Note again on expenses: Tarmogoyf is one of the better creature cards out there and it is expensive. As for Black Lotus, you only need one but good luck finding one at a very cheap price.

Magic: the Gathering Buying and Selling

2012-11-14T10:02:00.000-08:00

One of the more conflicting aspects of Magic: the Gathering is the transaction involved in buying and selling cards. For as long as I can remember when I began to participate in Magic: the Gathering forums, card prices have always been a huge part in discussions to the point that it becomes a never ending argument between the buyers and the sellers.

This post will discuss on buying and selling and card prices. If ever that I feel that I want to post about trading, I might just do so if I don't get lazy.

First of, I have an outlook that "There is an essence of a schmaker (or schmacker) in every buyer and seller."

What is a schmaker? Unfortunately, it can't be considered as a real word. I can't even be sure of the spelling and I would have to make use of my best guess of its spelling. As far as I can remember, a schmaker can be described as one who tries to obtain a card at a very low price or value (to the point that he has to lie about the card's actual value) and subsequently sell the card at maximum profit. A favorite scenario of a schmaker transaction involves the supposedly lowly 0/1 Birds of Paradise:

Schmaker: That Birds of Paradise that you have with you is a bad card. A 0/1 flyer can't do much. A 5/5 Shivan Dragon is better.

Note: In its heyday, a Birds of Paradise reached a value of $10 or more. Having been reprinted several times has made it more available thus the lowering of its current price value. A Shivan Dragon though has never met the level of value of a Birds of Paradise.

Noob: But the BoP has a nice ability to add any color mana...

Schmaker: Think about this: The 5/5 Shivan Dragon can deal 5 damage. The 0/1 BoP can't do anything with its 0 power.

Noob: (begins to buckle to pressure) But...

Schmaker: Plus, the 5/5 Shivan Dragon can stop attackers. The 0/1 BoP does not have the toughness to block any creature.

Noob: Well, if you say so.

Schmaker: I'm doing you a favor. I'll buy your BoP at <shamefully low price>.

To continue with the scenario, the schmaker will sell the BoP at its actual value, sometimes even jacking up the price a few notches above the current value.

Several questions would come to mind. Is the schmaker truly at fault here? Did he "commit" a crime? Is the schmaker obligated to inform the BoP owner of the true value of the card?

Ethically speaking, the schmaker is not doing the right thing. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as ethics in Magic: the Gathering. One can probably discuss it at length but sadly it can fall into deaf ears. Besides, even professionals fail to follow the ethics of their profession. How much more a hobby that doesn't need a degree in college?

What could the noob have done to prevent the said transaction? In this hobby, the noob should have been knowledgeable enough to know how the BoP is such an important card. Knowing is only a part of being able to assess if a card is good or not.

To make the long story short: a schmaker makes a transaction unfair. Both sides can not be labeled as schmakers though both sides can accuse the other as such. Simply put, one side has to be "considered" at a disadvantage and the other at an advantage.

So, is there such a thing as a fair deal? Yes and no. It all depends on the buyer if the deal is fair. For those who are not familiar to buying and selling (or the term business, for that matter), BUYING AN OBJECT REQUIRES AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN BOTH PARTIES. Before such an agreement would occur, there might be a reduction of price. One might ask, who has the upper hand in a sale? Is it the seller or the buyer? As almost always the case, it is the seller who dictates on the price of the object. The buyer only needs to agree or disagree on that price. The buyer can attempt to ask for a lower price otherwise a decision has to be made on whether a sale would occur.

Can a buyer complain that a seller's price is too high? Of course he can but he can only do so much. If such is the price of the seller, any of the possible events can happen:

- The seller can sell it to someone else.
- The seller would not be able to sell it but would still be able to include the card (or cards) in a trade with a different player.
- The seller realizes that the said price is too high and will reduce the price. This would happen only if the said overpriced card remains unsold after such a long time. (If one realizes it, this is how a business decides upon items that will be included in a special promotion of having reduced prices. These items have been on display for quite a time and are hard to sell.)

What is the alternative for the buyer in a failed transaction? The buyer can go look for another seller or several other sellers. In business, this can be termed as canvassing for prices. If the failed transaction involves in-demand cards, it is highly likely that:

- The price is the same with the other sellers.
- The card is not available with other sellers.
- The price is different. If lower, then it's good. If higher, then it's bad.

So, the buyer AGREES to the price. The price might be considered as high or it can also be considered as low. The important point is that an agreement is made thus a sale occurs.

If a buyer continues to say that the price is too high, then this is where my point on "one side at an advantage and the other side at a disadvantage" comes in. Can the seller be considered as a schmaker? If the buyer wants to say so, then by all means he can do so. But still, the buyer AGREED to the price so such a schmaker label on the seller only reflects badly at the buyer also.

Where do these prices come from? Several resources can be used to determine card prices. One reliable site is starcitygames.com. Unfortunately, the prices are in dollars and the dollar exchange rate varies everyday.

Is there some higher being who controls these prices to be higher or lower? The aforementioned site raises its price according to:

- Rarity (a card being hard to find e.g. only 1 copy for every 2 boxes, etc.)
- Demand from players, which can be caused by
- Inclusion in top tier decks that have won international tournaments

Despite that a card would probably be priced too high, the point of the matter is, players would still buy the card/s because they need it. If I'm a seller and I know that a player would buy the card at such a price then I will continue to sell the card AT THAT price and not at a lower price. THAT IS NOT HOW BUSINESS WORKS.

To add, people grumble about how gasoline prices are way too high but they still continue to buy gasoline.

Yes, Magic: the Gathering is not the same as gasoline. But Magic: the Gathering is similar to gasoline because money can be involved in an exchange.

But wait. Magic: the Gathering should not be considered a business, should it? It would be ironic if Magic should not be considered as a business. A booster pack is not free thus it also entails that what is inside the booster pack is also not free.

To sum up this very long post: before complaining about a seller's price being too high, the buyer should put himself in the seller's shoes and think: "Would I sell at a lower price?" If so, who then becomes the schmaker and who has become the schmaked?

Magic: the Gathering is not a cheap hobby. A casual player though can continue to enjoy the game without spending too much. But one can not have the best deck without spending anything.

Return to Ravnica prerelease

2012-10-05T00:58:00.001-07:00

I attended Return to Ravnica prerelease event at Neutral Grounds Cebu at JY Mall, Lahug, Cebu City. 60 players registered for the said event.

As indicated in previous posts, I decided to play Golgari guild instead of the more favored Azorius guild.

First of, I'm highly satisfied with WotC's effort with their prerelease kits. The sticker and the 20-sided die is an improvement over previous prereleases (or rather, before Avacyn Restored). More freebies would attract more players and having 60 in an event like this is huge.

I first opened the guild booster pack and got a nice Jarad out of it. I guess it all went downhill from there. I don't think I built the optimal Golgari guild deck. I was lacking creatures to be called a swarm and there weren't much creature kill to go around. I guess the card pool was not cooperating (though I never tried to check what color combination I could have gone with if ever I didn't go green-black). I did splash white because of Collective Blessing (the only white-x card in the deck).

Return to Ravnica sealed seems like a slow format. The best way to go is to get to the bombs for the win.

I went 2-2 which isn't too bad.

Furthermore, I would say that Golgari is not really the guild for me.

I look forward to Gatecrash and this time I aim to choose the best guild.

Return to Ravnica best cards

2012-10-04T03:52:00.001-07:00

By now, players and article writers have begun to post their top Return to Ravnica cards. Here's my take on Magic the Gathering's most recent expansion.

As a note, I've written about the best cards of past expansions. I've tried to define what best really is. Honestly, it's too difficult to say. A card can be a good card on its own but it wouldn't be played in a competitive level. There are cards that can fit into tier 1 decks and there are cards that make tier 2 decks into tier 1. And so on and so forth. That said, I give up on how to define "best". This would be a mix and match of everything good and more.

Honorable mention:

1. Corspejack Menace
2. Mizzium Mortars
3. Dreadbore

Incidentally, Corspejack Menace is the only prerelease card in the list (technically not in the list but I'll just include the honorable mentions still). I tried hard to think if it was really that good. So far, it has been enough to warrant an honorable mention. The doubling of a counter would have an application for the Undying ability. But other than that, it's a useful weapon for Golgari's Scavenge ability. Even Rakdos' Unleash would be happy.

Mizzium Mortars is the only monocolored card in the list. It's not there because of what the normal casting cost can do nor is it there for what the Overload cost can do. Rather, I've placed it in the list because of the versatility it provides to the spellcaster knowing that the card is still useful late in the game against multiple creatures.

The only Rakdos card in the list is Dreadbore. For quite a long time, we get to see the word Planeswalker placed in a non-Planeswalker card again. Dreadbore is not an "I win" card but its ability to snuff out a Planeswalker is quite an ability. And again, with versatility, Dreadbore can get rid of a pesky creature just in case.

I cheated. It's supposed to be only 1 honorable mention card. Originally, I had only Corspejack Menace as honorable mention. I figured I could add Mizzium Mortars - being the only monocolored card in the list - and Dreadbore - being the only Rakdos card in the list.

10. Lotleth Troll

As a 2/1 creature for 2, Lotleth Troll is just okay. It's the added abilities that coincide with its guild that makes it worthy at the #10 position. And the best thing about getting bigger is that it has trample.

The best use of Lotleth Troll's +1/+1 counter ability is to, of course, discard creatures with Scavenge. In any case, any creature would have to do.

9. Sphinx's Revelation

I've seen instant spells that allow the player to draw multiple cards before. This might be just a functional reprint but as always it is a relevant weapon. And I just realized that it somehow "nullifies" Rakdos' Return (a card that I would think is also good).

Well, very straightforward - it nets you cards and lets you gain life. The cost is moot here and players would want to cast this at end of turn anyway.

8. Loxodon Smiter

Loxodon Smiter has initiated lots of debate on whether blue was dead. I, for one, would say "No". Loxodon Smiter is just like any other creature and as long as it doesn't have hexproof, it has a bulls-eye on its head.

In any case, Loxodon Smiter is still a good card. A 4/4 for 3 is not common (it's rare!). The other abilities are pure gravy. Still it should provide quite the beatdown not just for blue mages.

7. Mercurial Chemister

Mercurial Chemister's abilities are just what an Izzet mage should be. Again, the ability to draw cards is a major plus. The red mana ability is just splendid.

Unfortunately though, Mercurial Chemister is too costly at 5 mana. Nevertheless, I hope someone puts this in a tier 1 deck.

6. Return to Ravnica charms

Again, I'm cheating by putting in all 5 charms at #6. One particular favorite is Golgari Charm. But no matter, all 5 charms are useful in their own right. 3 abilities in one card is never boring.

5. Deathrite Shaman

Yet another creature with lots of abilities. As I'm writing this, I realize that I've been looking (and evaluating) the cards based on their abilities.

Deathrite Shaman is a wonderful work. Again, it pairs itself well with the Golgari guild. Like Mercurial Chemister, it would be hard to find a deck for it. Still, I want to see it in a tier 1 deck.

* Creatures like Deathrite Shaman and Mercurial Chemister seem to be similar to the Planeswalkers with their abilities.

4. Return to Ravnica guildmages

Aside from the trend of creature abilities, I'm also seeing a trend on the cheating. Here is another cycle with the guildmages. The favorite here is New Prahv Guildmage which can win games on its own.

All 5 guildmages are of the same power level and have useful abilities. The best thing about the new guildmages is they don't need to be tapped to activate their abilities.

3. Supreme Verdict

The new functional reprint of Wrath of God is more of a Day of Judgment reprint and comes with a "cannot be countered" clause. Considering how M13 got Planar Cleansing only (and a bad choice at that for the usual mass destruction for white) Supreme Verdict would be an appropriate mass destruction spell of choice.

2. Niv-Mizzet, Dracogenius

The only guildmaster in the list and it had to be Niv-Mizzet. I loved the original Niv-Mizzet in Guildpact. It was just too bad that being in the second set (and a small one at that), it had to go to the sidelines as other better cards got attention.

I still love the new Niv-Mizzet and he warrants a deck. The ability is directly related to the original incarnation. With the Titans gone, Niv-Mizzet heralds a new breed of "titans" from Return to Ravnica.

1. Armada Wurm

The new Broodmate Dragon is 2-colored only. Armada Wurm doesn't fly but it still has trample. The net power that is attained from the 2 wurms is enough to make it #1 in this list. And that's not the only reason: Armada Wurm enables the Populate mechanic of Selesnya.

RIP Butch Maniego

2012-10-02T00:43:00.000-07:00

I read the sad news on Butch Maniego yesterday (October 1, 2012).

Mr. Maniego and I cannot be considered as friends. It's more like acquaintances. He's the closest person I know (and do a handshake with) who is a celebrity in the Philippines.

I knew Mr. Maniego back then when I first knew about the PBA (Philippine Basketball Association). It could have been through the radio because it was my only source of live basketball before our city (and household) gained access to cable TV (and the other Philippine channels). Later on, I might have seen him on TV. These memories are kind of vague because I can't visualize his face as someone I remembered when looking back at PBA. But the name stuck.

Fast forward to my Magic the Gathering days and I was quite surprised to hear (and read) that Mr. Maniego played. There was a thread about celebrities who played and his name might have popped out.

My best memory (or memories) of Mr. Maniego has everything to do with Magic:

1. I facilitated a trade for his foil textless Day of Judgment. He wanted a Call of the Herd very badly and the DoJ was super extra. He was so thankful with how I facilitated the trade and asked if I wanted anything for my effort. I asked for his autograph. He replied that he was a nobody and asked why I would want his autograph. In any case, he sent me his calling card with his signature. Back then he was a something-something for the PBL (Philippine Basketball League).

2. After playing URzatron in Visayas regionals, Mr. Maniego called me (yes, he called me!) and asked for my firsthand experience in playing URzatron. I also gave my opinions on some of the decks that I knew about. I was like, "Wow. I'm talking to Butch Maniego!"

I got to meet him in person twice. The first time was in a prerelease in Cebu (I already forgot what expansion it was). I do remember the month and it was January because he was in town with his family to experience Sinulog. Since there was a prerelease on the weekend, he took the time to play. And he didn't disappoint with how he played. He was good. On the last round (he had a 2-1 record already), he asked his opponent (3-0) if he wanted the prerelease shirt in exchange for a booster pack. His opponent agreed and that was it. I casually asked him about the round and he said that it was a no big deal for him.

The second time I saw him I thought he had already retired from playing competitive Magic. It was the Manila Grand Prix (I forgot the year so it could be 2008 or 2010). I only got to say "Hi" and "Hello". I wonder if he remembered me.

My heart goes to him and his family. Rest in peace, Sir. It was a pleasure knowing you.

Magic the Gathering fat pack worth

2012-09-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

Previous Fat Pack post

It's been awhile that I posted a grouchy post about the Magic the Gathering fat pack. I might have even mused on whether the fat pack was worth it.

The funny thing is, I kept on buying every expansion's fat pack. My last post about the fat pack was way back Shards of Alara was released. There has been recent "improvements" on the fat pack.

To wit:

- 9 booster packs. It used to be 8. So far, I'm digging it. Any additional product that they can put in at its current price is an improvement. Sadly, I forgot which expansion Wizards started the 9 boosters per fat pack.

- 2 card boxes. I'm pretty sure this started in Scars of Mirrodin block to clearly distinguish between Phyrexians and Mirrans. If I'm mistaken, correct me. The 2 card boxes are quite important for me as containers for whatever extra cards I get that I don't place in the fat pack box (lands, tokens, other extra cards).

- 40 lands. Quite an improvement over the previous land count. This was a sweet improvement when Zendikar and Worldwake were released. The extended art lands are a favorite.

I'm still sticking to getting a fat pack from every expansion. Once started, it has to be completed.

Which of the Five Guilds to Play in the Return to Ravnica Prerelease (part 3)?

2012-09-21T01:49:00.000-07:00

Part 1 and Part 2 are right below.

Last criteria is the prerelease card. All five cards are certified bombs. Via ranking all five prerelease cards, I’m not so sold on the Selesnya prerelease card (a land). In this criteria, it is probably the worst of the 5. The Azorius prerelease card is a little bit on the expensive side but considering the guild’s Detain ability, it is still a viable plan. The Izzet prerelease card is a pure bomb and the added ability is just a plus. Golgari and Rakdos both have prerelease cards that might be more difficult to deal with given the right situation.

Based on the above assumptions, I wouldn’t go for Selesnya. Golgari and Rakdos come out on top. To add, for sheer Standard playability of the prerelease card, Izzet is a viable option as a guild of choice.

So, in conclusion, which is REALLY the better guild to choose? Azorius is a wonderful choice for winnability.

In the end, any guild of your choosing (as long as it’s any of the five) is good enough as long as you know how to play the cards out. Play towards the strength of each guild and hopefully the card pool will provide for enough firepower to be able to follow the game plan. The 14 or 15 cards in the guild boosters should help.

To add, I’ll be playing Golgari. My decision stems from the talk that the prerelease card is a possible playable Standard card and that the guild colors also provide access to Vraska the Unseen (a new planeswalker) – which are all different reasons not cited in this post. Like I said, any guild of your choosing is good enough. And if you know how to build your Sealed deck, it really shouldn’t matter. You should be able to play any of the five guilds without having to choose which is better.

Have fun in the prerelease!

Which of the five guilds to play in Return to Ravnica prerelease? (part 2)

2012-09-19T05:43:00.000-07:00

(Part 1 of my post is right below.)

Here is a more in-depth look at the guild selection situation. This time, there are only two criteria left to ponder upon: guild abilities and the prerelease foil card.

Of the five guilds, Rakdos has the worst ability. Unleash is a creature specific ability. Reflective upon the guild, the Unleash ability is an “attack or die trying” type of ability. For the +1/+1 counter, the drawback being the inability of the creature to block. Some twists can be added though. Several creatures might have additional abilities depending on whether it has a +1/+1 counter or not.

I’m not yet convinced over Izzet’s Overload ability as a convincing reason as since Overload is just the opposite of Unleash. Overload is a sorcery or instant spell specific ability, which unfortunately would amount to an average of 7 cards in a 40-card Sealed deck.

The 3 other guilds’ abilities are all easily playable. Selesnya’s Populate ability should easily be enhanced by the guild’s ability to create token creatures but it is still a scary proposition (what if there are no token creatures to populate?). Golgari’s Scavenge ability is an additional available growth for creatures which happen to use lots of in a creature-centric format. Azorius’ Detain ability is just what a control player would want to have.

Based on the above assumptions, Golgari and Azorius somehow come up on top.

Part 3 to follow.

Which of the Five Guilds to Play in Return to Ravnica prerelease

2012-09-18T04:02:00.000-07:00

There are five guilds in Magic the Gathering's latest expansion, Return to Ravnica: Azorius (white and blue), Izzet (blue and red), Rakdos (red and black), Golgari (black and green), and Selesnya (green and white). Previous expansion prereleases (and most especially Core Set prereleases) encourage the combination of allied colors (white-blue, blue-black, black-red, red-green, or green-white) and discourage the combination of enemy colors and more than two colors. A word of caution: playing more than 2 colors in a prerelease is not for the beginner because it takes quite a skill to play 3 colors with only 17 to 18 lands available in a 40-card deck. Fortunately in Return to Ravnica, such a decision is moot with the game designers putting in the above 5 guilds in the expansion.

GatheringMagic.com site recently featured an article on how to play and enjoy the prerelease. Those are only the basics in building a sealed deck. What was left out was the decision on choosing which of the five guilds to play.

Choosing which guild is important because it has to be known before the tournament starts. Return to Ravnica has added a few new twists to the prerelease play. Only 5 regular booster packs will be provided with the 6^th booster pack belonging to the chosen guild. Also, there are 5 prerelease foil cards and the player will get a prerelease card based on what guild was chosen.

Here’s a quick rundown based on previous experiences. As always, it is worth noting that threats (with evasion) and a little bit of removal are always better than lots of removal and little bit of threats. All possible threats can be dealt with but not all threats can be removed. A threat can be matched by another threat from an opponent resulting in a stalemate. Thus, threats with evasion are very important in Sealed Deck play.

All colors have the capability of providing threats. The biggest ones can be commonly found in green (always the color of creatures). Common evasion ability found in green is trample, which can be a key ability as long as the creature stays 1 point toughness ahead of opponent’s creatures. In no particular order of importance:

· White has flying, first strike, and vigilance abilities. Both flying and first strike may appear in minimal dosage among creatures. Meanwhile, vigilance, if it would be considered as an evasion ability, is almost exclusively a white ability.

· Blue has flying, hexproof, and being unblockable. Like in white, flying appears in minimal dosage. Hexproof can be treated almost similarly to vigilance. An unblockable blue creature can be a bomb in limited environment as long as it has more than just 1 point of power.

· Black has deathtouch. What black lacks in creature evasion is relegated by creature removal. Black also gets regeneration in minimal dosage.

· Red has first strike. Like black, it almost usually has a suite of creature removals by way of damage dealing. Red also has haste creatures (though this can’t be treated as creature evasion).

· As mentioned already, green has trample. Green also gets a bit of regeneration, hexproof, or deathtouch here and there.

If green is more likely to get more creatures, it doesn’t get much love in terms of creature removal. Black and red are more likely to get the brunt of creature removal. White gets enchantments as its way of creature removal (a la Pacifism type of enchantments) and a few damage here and there to attacking or blocking creatures. Blue gets bounce and counter magic.

Based on the above assumptions, I wouldn’t be surprised that most players would choose Rakdos (black-red) simply because of the availability of removal spells. I also wouldn’t be surprised that Selesnya (green-white) would be in the same debate (green-white is an easy color to choose because of the availability of large creatures in both colors). A middle ground between Selesnya and Rakdos would be the Golgari guild (black-green): removal from black and beasts from green. My personal opinion is choosing Azorius (white-blue). The availability of flying creatures and a few removal here and there is enough to sway me to that guild.

Mirrodin Besieged Prerelease Tournament report

2011-02-11T00:52:00.000-08:00

This is a delayed report from my Mirrodin Besieged prerelease. I played in Cebu at JY Square Mall.

For the first time in a while, registration was full at 60 players. I saw as many as 3 girls playing. Lots of new faces and familiar faces (especially the eventual winners).

For the Mirrodin Besieged prerelease, players were asked to choose a faction before the tournament started. I chose the Phyrexian faction because of the availability of creature kill spells and the overall strength of the Infect mechanic. I wanted to play the Mirran faction because they seemed to be the underdogs (and I must say that it's a mistake to consider them as such).

For the new expansion, the Phyrexians have Living Weapon. Living Weapon is an ability placed on several equipments that puts a 0/0 Germ token into play and the equipment immediately attaches to the token. The Mirrans have Battle Cry - a cumulative +1/+0 for other attacking creatures.

To summarize my deck, I opened a foil Geth, Lord of the Vault from my first Scars of Mirrodin pack. I don't remember the other rares from Scars. In Mirrodin Besieged, I also opened a Massacre Wurm which told me then and there that I was really going to play black.

Other key cards included in the deck were Palladium Myr, Grasp of Darkness, Spread the Sickness, 2 Viridian Emissary (the new Sakura Tribe-Elder), and 2 Viridian Corrupter (or was it just one - I don't remember).

First round:

After shuffling my opponent's deck, I had a feeling that I'd cruise this round as I asked whether he was playing a 40-card deck. He answered casually that he was playing 54 cards. I had a nice curve coming out as I was able to play Septic Rats, Rot Wolf and the suddenly wonderful Phyrexian Vatmother to finish him after just two attacks. My opponent's eyes widened as he couldn't believe that I just finished him that quickly.

The second match pretty much ended the same way. I was feeling confident that I had a great deck.

I took my opponent's deck and made suggestions on what to cut off from the original 54-card build. He was playing mono-white (and Mirran, by the way). He did have lots of good white cards. Yes, I was able to finish him that quickly because we had a lot of time to talk about his deck.

Second round:

I was paired with Mike Tiña and he was playing Mirran. Bad round for me as he played an artifact in the first 2 turns and dropped an Etched Champion on the third turn. More like game over as the Etched Champion became super god on the board. I was able to remove one of the artifacts (using a colored spell) but couldn't get a 2nd removal spell. Meanwhile, the Etched Champion got his metalcraft back online and I couldn't get my Sylvok Replica nor any other artifact in.

The second match pretty much remained the same. He got two Leonin Skyhunters out after 3 turns and the bashing was on.

Underestimate the Mirrans? I shouldn't. I congratulated Mike and commented that he had a very fast deck.

Third round:

This was sort of my best round. In the first game where I was placed in a difficult board disadvantage because he had more creatures out, I was able to wipe them all off the board with a Massacre Wurm. I had a Moriok Replica blocking an Infect creature and sacrificed it to draw two cards. The second card that I got was the Massacre Wurm. The opponent kept on casting more creatures and I had a big smile on my face. When his turn was done, he had 5 creatures and all with 2 or less toughness. I had only two creatures left (a Plague Myr and a non-Infect creature). The Plague Myr provided the 6th mana I needed to cast Massacre Wurm, wiped out his board and dealt a loss of 10 life. My other non-Infect creature attacked and I was smiling after dealing 12 total points of damage or life loss.

The second game had me casting Geth, Lord of the Vault for the first time in the tournament. I was able to get a Skinrender in one turn - killing off an attacker. A Viridian Corrupter was reanimated in another turn, allowing me to kill an attacking artifact creature. I didn't have a problem attacking with these creatures the turn after they were reanimated. If they got killed, I would just take them back with Geth.

Fourth round:

The fourth round was where I realized the value of Palladium Myr. Fourth turn Massacre Wurm was basically game over for my opponent.

MVP for the prerelease would have to be Massacre Wurm. It's just too good. I'll give out an honorable mention to my 2 Viridian Emissary and Palladium Myr. Plague Myr helped also.

All in all, I find the faction decision to be a new experience. I wonder how it will go for the third set in the block.

Top 10 Mirrodin Besieged cards

2011-02-04T03:10:00.000-08:00

Mirrodin Besieged is out! I'm loving it all the way after a great prerelease playing the Phyrexian faction. I thought that Phyrexians would win it all the way but I was wrong. Anyway, the Mirrodin Besieged prerelease is another story for another entry. For now, I'm on top of things listing my choices for Top 10 Mirrodin Besieged cards.

Honorable mention: Creeping Corrosion

The theme for my top 10 list seems to be "Destroy a lot of permanents." Creeping Corrosion just couldn't make it into the top 10 but it's a great utility card to rid of all those pesky artifacts. For now, with decks usually being color-oriented, it doesn't warrant such a need to be higher in the list.

10. Rally the Forces

Rally the Forces is one of two red cards and I find it amusing that they are both common. It seems that red is being pushed to be aggressive and creature based, a far cry from the red blasting from before. What makes Rally the Forces a little bit better from its predecessors is that it adds first strike. That is enough to gain an upper hand in a setting where there's a deadlock.

9. Inkmoth Nexus

The only land in the list makes it 1 out of 2 for Mirrodin Besieged lands (not counting the basic lands). The Infect ability that the creature it becomes has makes it a great card helping to tighten the clock on the opponent.

8. Victory's Herald

This is quite a finisher for white (and even red, if paired with the color for faction purposes). Everybody just loves it when they get all creatures to fly. What makes this card rated lower than it should be is the expensive casting cost.

7. Massacre Wurm

This is one bad ass black card. During the prerelease, I got to pull off killing an overextending opponent's 5 creatures after casting Massacre Wurm. That got me to deal 10 life loss. I turned around the game from thereon. So, my listing seems to be a bit biased but Massacre Wurm is a great salute to its predecessor. Good casting cost at good power/toughness. And, if the opponent gets to stop the wurm from attacking, the life loss ability is still right there doing damage.

6. Concussive Bolt

The second of the red cards is a doozy. It's quite the finisher and not just because of the damage it deals. The metalcraft ability should be easy to achieve and is the main reason why Concussive Bolt is smacked right around the middle of my list. Red can easily create a deck that revolves around artifacts and lots of creatures. Get it all together then BAM! Game over. Opponent has no chance of blocking the attackers.

5. Black Sun's Zenith

The Zeniths are Mirrodin Besieged's version of the Beacons from Fifth Dawn. The Zeniths, so far, are fair but two of them are in this list. Black Sun's Zenith is a killer and if it shouldn't kill all, at least it has impaired the rest that remains.

4. Green Sun's Zenith

And right next to the Black Sun's Zenith is the green version. Green is just chock full of big and powerful creatures. And why stop there? Those big Eldrazi legends from Rise of the Eldrazi are just ripe to be searched. Ditto the fatties from the other colors. And green is just the right color, with its ability to generate lots of mana.

3. Phyrexian Rebirth

White seems to get all the fun with massive creature removal. And to top it all off, you can put a creature into the battlefield, all in one smooth swoop. It's quite nice that the designers and developers decided to leak the Phyrexian faction into white otherwise it would just be too good in black. The Phyrexian faction are forced to play white.

2. Thrun, the Last Troll

How ironic that there's no blue card in my list. And in number 2 is one card that just screams, "I HATE BLUE!" Thrun is not just against blue cards. For every card out there that says "Destroy all creatures", Thrun will just reply with a simple regenerate. Making him a legendary creature hurts but a single Thrun should bring in a lot of damage.

1. Blightsteel Colossus

This card just seems to scream "I WIN" and you would just believe it. There is no other card that can do it in one attack (and even give you an extra poison counter just for keeps). Darksteel Colossus whimpers at the sight of the new colossus. Would I be seeing it in a deck soon? People are talking about using Shape Anew to get this card out faster. There are several other options like Kuldotha Forgemaster (and even Mass Polymorph). By itself, the card is a winner and rightfully so.

I find it amusing that Mirrodin Besieged, being the second set of the Scars of Mirrodin block, does not have glaringly good artifacts save for the number 1 card in my list. Power is well distributed among the colors and as usual, blue is circumcised.

I can't wait for the next expansion and you heard it from here first, it's going to be New Phyrexia. Why do I say so? Because it would be just too boring if the good guys (and I presume that it's the Mirrans who are the good guys) win. More conflict would mean more stories.

My Top 10 Scars of Mirrodin cards

2010-10-15T08:01:00.000-07:00

Magic: the Gathering's latest expansion release is Scars of Mirrodin. The sequel to the artifact-heavy Mirrodin expansion is similar to its namesake with the abundance of artifacts. The Imprint mechanic is back and with lots of improvements. No more Affinity of course (and thank goodness not so many artifact lands). Poison is back as Infect mechanic. There's Proliferate to help out on those poison counters. Metalcraft encourages the player to put artifacts into the deck. There's a sub-theme on Myrs which is uber-fun. And lots more.

I've done quite my own share of ranking the top 10 cards in expansions. As I went through my list, I knew in my mind that I might be getting a lot of heat with my rankings. First off, I'd like to mention that this ranking is just one fan's perception.

How do I rank the cards? I rank them in terms of how powerful the card is on its own. It might not be a win-by-itself card but mostly the cards do not need another card for an unstoppable combo. The card might also be a huge influence to make a deck around.

While I try to look at the whole Standard metagame for reference, it is difficult to do so considering how decks continually change. Rather than be influenced by the current metagame, I've focused on the current expansion since it can be influential for the next two years.

So, without further ado, let me begin. Note that there are a lot of bombastic cards in this set. And with artifact as a theme, a lot of the colors are left out of the rankings. The artifacts are just that good.

Honorable mention: Asceticism

Troll Ascetic has always been a bane for blue mages and every other player who can't collectively destroy or remove creatures. As the name implies, your creatures gain the Troll Ascetic ability of not allowing your opponents to target your creatures. An added plus is the ability to regenerate each target creature.

Granted that the card is a costly enchantment and does not protect itself but once it's down, your creatures get a mini shroud of sorts.

10. Semblance Anvil

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Here is an example of how Imprint has "improved" in Scars of Mirrodin. For one, it encourages the use of the card. Semblance Anvil is sort of a silent harmless artifact that just simply makes other cards cheaper. The exiled card shouldn't be too much of a waste compared to the benefits that can be reaped from the 2 less mana casting cost. And if the deck is an artifact deck, it should be more advantageous. Somehow, I'm hearing Myrs.

9. Geth, Lord of the Vault

Geth is a powerhouse legendary creature. It tries to mix two good abilities (getting a creature or an artifact from an opponent's graveyard and milling the opponent) into one. Any of the two abilities is already a good ability if slapped into a permanent. Putting them together seems just too much.

The reason why I'd rank Geth this low is because it relies on an opponent's graveyard - which may or may not have a creature or an artifact. Still, Geth warrants inclusion in my list.

8. Cerebral Eruption

Yet another tweak to mass damage dealing for red. At first glance, I thought that it wouldn't do much. At the very least, Cerebral Eruption should be able to deal 1 damage to the opponent and to each creature or just return back to the caster's hand.

One thing of note is that Cerebral Eruption continues the randomness theme of the color red with the revealing of the card from the top of the library. What makes it better is the ability to have Cerebral Eruption come back to the hand if the revealed card is a land thereby nullifying the randomness part.

On a different note, Psychic Miasma would have been included in this list. Considering that it is just a marked improvement for a discard spell, I opted not to have it among the top 10. Besides, there are still much more good cards to consider.

7. Liege of the Tangle

In the tradition of Avenger of Zendikar comes a bigger and badder version. Instead of having growing plants, how about just getting a lot of 8/8 Elemental lands. Talk about massive creatures and lots of them. Of note is that it only needs to deal combat damage and not any specific number of damage (well, it should be at least 1) to go off. Liege of the Tangle is of course too costly but 8 mana is easy especially for green.

6. Sunblast Angel

Sunblast Angel is yet another variation of white's ability to destroy numerous creatures. This time, selective destruction lets the angel destroy only tapped creatures. Somewhere there's some kind of drawback that will make an owner frown. For one, white likes to have the Vigilance ability. But nevertheless, opponents with lots of attacking creatures are sure to feel the (sun)"blast" once this angel enters the battlefield.

5. Myr Galvanizer

The only uncommon card in my list is the enabler for the Myr tribe. Myr Galvanizer can be looked at in two ways: one, go combo with the untapping all other myrs or just be a +1/+1 for all the other myrs. Are myrs a sure bet to win? They could be and the deck can surely be built.

4. Hand of the Praetors

Hand of the the Praetors is a wonderful reason to have an Infect deck. If Myr Galvanizer can be described as a myr enabler, Hand of the Praetors is the Infect version. Its ability does not need much explaining. Play it in an Infect deck and keep the poison counters coming.

3. Steel Hellkite

For me, this is how a dragon should be. It is destructive enough to destroy a lot of nonland permanents. It doesn't require a lot of mana issues. It's one big artifact that can kill your opponent and his/her nonland permanents. Enough said.

It is of note that a creature with its casting cost and power/toughness and flying ability is already worth it. Add up the firebreathing ability and the destruction ability and this is one bad ass creature.

2. Wurmcoil Engine

This is one bad ass card. 6 to cast (and again no mana color issues) 6/6 with deathtouch and lifelink. Destroy it and it spawns to other creatures albeit smaller. Still, it is a powerful creature by itself. It's probably one of the best recent prerelease giveaways and I'm sure to see a lot of creature based non combo decks to pack it in. Not much needs to be said on how this creature can be used. Just cast it and attack next turn. Gain 6 life and smile.

1. Koth of the Hammer

Koth of the Hammer is the bomb in Scars of Mirrodin. In a mono red deck with enough creatures to protect it, it's bound to reach ultimate status and ping away opponents. The first ability is typical of red in having 4/4 creatures attacking on that turn. If there's no need to attack, just hold on and blow away your opponent later. Need lots of mana now, use the second ability and cast away the biggest creatures in your hand. Koth is that good. By itself, it can win games.