Vergil's Magic Emporium

Giving into Modern Masters + Ranting About the current State of Modern

2013-05-28T08:50:00.002-07:00

With a set solely devoted to reprinting staple cards, you can imagine my surprise when some of these cards are given different rarities and such when they are reprinting, a obvious example from this set is Worm Harvest which is a rare from Eventide, it's been demoted to Uncommon due to rarity issues and such, which is weird since now it is possible to draft lands.deck for sure, or something along those lines. Modern Masters to me has seemed like vain attempts to get staples from the following formats

#1) Commander - Reprinting specific commander favorites is always nice,Adarkar Valkyrie and the 5 Kamigawa dragons are a perfect example of commander favorites, even Death Cloud is seeing a reprint in this set and it's weird to say, but EDH players wallets must have been lightened a little due to specific cards seeing reprints, the swords included, Sword of Fire and Ice and Sword of Light and Shadow are perfect examples of EDH playable cards seeing solid reprints finally, which is always good. I'm not saying this is a bad thing but this set seriously caters to the crowd of EDH players in a way not seen in a while since the original commander's precons were set on the market those 2 years ago, which let's face it sold out rather quickly over the course of a couple of days.

Though the commander market for this set is going to be small, you gotta remember the format for the major event which is taking place is Booster Draft/Sealed in Las Vegas, so the secondary market for specific reprints of these cards is going to be quite impressive, even if quantity for the product is limited.

#2) Legacy - A lot of the format's revealed cards thus far see play in legacy as well, as well as predictable archetypes like Dredge, which uses cards like Life from the Loam, Stinkweed Imp and Narcomeba to do the job a mana less dredge deck does, which is always nice, but some bombs like Tombstalker and Aether Vial being reprinted but the thing is Vial is seeing a rarity, where as it's original printing is a Uncommon, meaning that original prices may go down a bit, but that might depend on the amount of each card which sees the secondary market as a whole. Overall the legacy side of things look a bit interesting, since we have fan favorites from legacy like the previously mentioned dredge variant, storm decks and the milling machine in Worldgorger Combo, Oona, Queen of the Fae is seeing a reprint, overall these things seem like a bad thing, but always having new copies of old cards on the market seems good since newer players can pick up these singles a little cheaper then their current version of the card, which sits at a higher price then ever.

#3) Modern - Since the set is named after the format, it's going to affect modern in a way we've not seen in a while, specific card prices will either rise or drop thanks to these newer versions seeing a reprint, a perfect example of this is the first spoiled card Tarmogoyf, which sat at the 120-130 range before the announcement, nowadays it sits at about the 115-120 range depending on the store, so a slight drop in price is likely to happen with reprints, but it's overall not going to make the card prices tumble like a stone, if wizards truly wanted the format of Modern to be a thing, they'd be reprinting this particular set in more then limited quantity in my eyes, to affect both the secondary market and give newer players a chance to get into the modern format.

Wizards honestly has no idea how to handle these formats anymore, they are banning cards left and right, making ridiculous reprints of old cards which doesn't really affect the secondary market as a whole, it's becoming a point where magic as a whole is going to see prices that will shoot through the roof and detract newer players who don't have much to spend on the format and stick to the more casual formats, as it is Standard and Modern are 2 of the most inexpensive formats to get into magic wise, with Legacy and EDH being the most expensive due to the legality of the Onslaught fetch lands being legal for the format and specific other cards which are popular for the format, including Timetwister which is the only legal piece of the power nine in Commander.

Is modern masters good for the magic community as a whole, yes, as long as they print a good quantity of the product in the long run, not print it like Commander's Arsenal, where it was a one time product and that was it, let's go back to a few years back where as there was a little format known as Extended, which was modern's predecessor where as the format was diverse and didn't have that many banned cards, but had a rotational period for the format, where as it was a 7 year format, which rotated out a set every 2 years if i am not mistaken, it was a good format where the players were playing diverse enough decks to encourage play, but as word of the Modern format began to circulate, the extended format died out slowly and eventually ceased to exist as a whole, leaving Modern as a new eternal format in their eyes.

Usually a banned/restricted list warrants some time and thought, but when wizards first premiered the banned list for Modern, most people were just shock so many good cards were banned in the format as a whole to start with, a whopping 20 cards which started the ban list, eventually grew into 27 thus far, with 7 new additions over the course of 6 different ban periods, most of those wizards called the "Problem Cards" so what if they were problem cards, they were consistent, you wanted to ban consistency wizards, then ban cards like Splinter Twin, or Pestermite to discourage the twin players in a way not seen before, or perhaps it's time for Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker to get a break from the modern spotlight and see the dark void for a bit on the ban list, but the recent banned list announcements for the format of Modern proves wizards doesn't know what the hell they are doing anymore, sure you ban Seething Song, Second Sunrise and the most annoying offender of the format, Bloodbraid Elf, but where's the true reasoning behind each of these bannings, not some stupid little statement giving a BS reason as to why these cards are banned.

This is a perfectly logical reason as to why the formats of Legacy and Standard are more played then modern, since people don't want to invest in a format where they don't know if their investments will stay for another year or even 3 months, where as standard has a rotational period of every year, it's fresh and easy to understand with a limited and easy to adapt to card pool, Legacy however is a whole new ball game where as it is so diverse it literally has over 50 decks to play which are all unique and fresh to the format, modern has maybe 9 after the format banned list taking into effect as of May 3rd, 2013, with the recent banning of Second Sunrise being the last casualty of the format, since they did give a good reasoning behind this particular ban, but this does not excuse the BS treatment this format has received since it's inception, it's a joke wizards and something needs to change, let's face it, Modern can go the way of the dinosaur at the rate this format is going.

Anyways I'm going to stop now before I decide to retract this piece and throw it into the abyss of doom, which let's face it is where most of my creativity has gone over the past few weeks, so until next time this is Vergil signing off.

Commander League: June 1st, 2013

2013-05-07T08:10:00.000-07:00

Alright, so let's get down to business before we begin, this is not a return, just a slight idea being put into motion, with that let me explain what this particular commander league is going to be all about.

#1) This league is intended to be fair and fun for all EDH players in the city of Toronto and around the city, who want a consistent event that's not Duel Commander.

#2) We are using a points system for this event, which can be expanded further but with approval from everyone at the league, I will go into detail for the league's point system a little later.

#3) The location of this event will take place at the Hairy Tarantula North Store, located at 6979 Yonge, to get there, go to finch station and catch the 53 Steeles East to Steeles Avenue, the store is located within the little strip mall, go downstairs and you are there.

The start time and the event date are as follows

Start Time: 1:30 PM Eastern Standard Time
Event Date: Saturday, June 1st, 2013
Entry Fee: $5 Canadian

The points system we are using for this event is a little complex, since we are basing it off of 2-3 different point systems with inclusions from Sheldon Menery's suggested point system, so let's get down to the points system.

Basic Points

[+1] Fatality - Eliminate a player. This award can be earned multiple times, but only once per turn.
[+1] Frontline Commander – Eliminate a player through commander damage.
[+2] Last Planeswalker Standing – Win the game by having all other players eliminated.
[+1] Fateful Kill – Eliminate a player when you have 5 or fewer life.
[+1] Get Creative – Eliminate a player through a method other than damage, commander damage, or poison counters.

Basic points are considered easier to get then others, due to some creative thinking, this points system encourages a unique way of playing the game, while making it balanced and fun.

Co-operation Points

[+1] Quick Save – Save one opponent’s creature from another opponent’s removal.
[+1] Get Back In There – Save another player from being killed by another opponent.
[+1] Gift of Knowledge – Cause another player to draw 3 or more cards with a non-symmetric effect. (Symmetric effects include Howling Mine, Arcane Denial, etc.)
[+1] Gather the Tribe – Control six or more creatures with different names of the same creature type. (Conspiracy effects don’t count.)

Co-operation points are one of the more enjoyable, since each reward is based off specific situations in game, alliances will come into play more then likely to take out the strongest threat at the table during the games played.

Negative Points

[-4] Nice Game, Bro – Eliminate a player before they have taken their fifth turn.
[-2] Natural Disaster – Destroy one or more opponents’ mana base. Examples include Armageddon and like effects , using targeted land destruction to destroy a player’s only source(s) of one colour , or using Wasteland and Crucible of Worlds to prevent a player from further developing their mana base.
[-2] No Turns For You – Soft lock a player, preventing them from playing all spells for three or more turns. Examples include recurring Yosei, the Morning Star, or Silence on an Isochron Scepter targeting the same player each time.
[-1] Hog the Spotlight – Take more than 2 additional turns in a given turn cycle.
[-1] Just Call A Judge – Argue over a rules question and be wrong.

Negative points can be given as well for situations that stall the game, kill a player before a sufficent board state is accumlated and the like, this is probably not going to be changed unless we need to alter a rule or add a new rule to the points system.

End of Game Points

[+1] No Tutors, No Bribes – Finish the game without searching a player’s library for a nonland card. Effects controlled by other players that cause you to search your library do not cause you to lose this achievement.
[+1] Wild Card – At the end of the game, each player secretly votes for an opponent whose playing they enjoyed the most. The player who receives the most votes gets this achievement.

End of game points will also determine the winner, as after each and every match the game winner will be determined by the total number of points, plus the additional +1 from the Wild card which is more then likely going to swing the game win in a totally other player's way.

The points system for this event was thought up by Myself, Jay and Mike who thought of this league while borrowing the best rules system we can for it, we encourage everyone to attend for this event on the 1st saturday of June, till then this is Vergil signing off

Arcana Announcement: From the Vault: Twenty

2013-02-18T05:12:00.003-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome back to another edition of the emporium after a few weeks hiatus, I'd rather not explain why, but today Wizards announced the next upcoming product for 2013 in the form of the next From the Vault, let's see the details.

- TWENTY premium foil cards, all from magic's history, some have new art
- Spindown Life counter
- Collector's Guide
- Each card was a premier piece in a tournament winning deck.

Wow, this is not much of a surprise, let's take a look at the preview piece we were given for this set.

If that isn't Mother of Runes, I don't know what it is, it's obviously her, but the surprise this time around is that this set will contain 20 premium foil cards, instead of the normal 15, to celebrate magic's 20th anniversary. There are some other little details here, including the fact that the set will drop on August 23rd, 2013 and MSRP price is listed as 39.99, but we all know that's never going to stay as the price for long. For the full details see the link below.

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/1171

So until next time folks, this is vergil signing off.

Magic the Gathering News Volume 24: Judge Promos, Dragon's Maze Prerelease information And Much, Much More

2013-01-31T05:18:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome to the end of yet another month in magic the gathering, this month we've got quite a bit to talk about, besides the tournaments that happened, 2 judge promos were revealed this month, along with information on Dragon's Maze pre-releases as well as next month's FNM promo, so let's go.

Excited for more modern FNM's next month, well you should, how about a Foil Reliquary Tower for you folks for FNM next month, yes the M13 reprint is scheduled to be next month's FNM promo and it's something I am sure everyone is happy about, since January's was a little lack luster.

So a couple of Judge promos popped up on the net, one of them was a promo Bribery which has the collector's number 2/8, it's a very nice card and it is sure to fetch a pretty penny since the original is a hefty sum, a very nice choice wizards for commander players.

Another was this foil Swords to Plowshares which also popped up which has the collector's number 1/8 and like the previous one is a commander favorite for all white players, competitive or not, be sure to scoop this bad boy up while you can.

Dragon's Maze pre-release information was revealed earlier this month as well, it's the same as the other two, you pick a guild, but with all 10 available, you get to have a shot at any guild of your choice, this time though the prerelease card is not allowed to be used in your deck, but here's the catch, for the guild you pick, you get 4 dragon's maze booster packs, 1 gatecrash pre-release pack with the aligned colors you choose, so if you choose Azorius, you'll get a Dimir pack, then you'll receive a Return to ravnica azorius prerelease pack.

Also in Dragon's maze the basic lands are gone for the set, you'll open non basic lands, guildgates with the Dragon's Maze set symbol on them, the shock lands will also appear in this set, as their normal rarity, plus with their normal set symbol, wizards is really pushing modern here folks. As well as there's a Mythic rare land scheduled to be in this set, we will see when the time comes of course.

Over the course of the month, the next core set was announced Magic 2014, previewing what could be a brand new Chandra, let's take a look at the preview piece.

For the full set details, see the link below.

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/1141

And that's it for the month of January, with pro tour gatecrash around the corner, I will be expecting to see how good the standard format is with the brand new cards of Gatecrash in combination with return to ravnica, so until next time this is vergil signing off.

Vergil's 10 Tips to Freelance Magic Writing

2013-01-29T09:17:00.001-08:00

Hello folks and welcome back to another edition of the emporium, as we are all aware, most of the time with magic the gathering, the game consistently changes and introduces new decks/variants and the like to the format, well for you freelance writers out there, I'm here to give you 10 tips to help improve your magic writing skills, so let's begin.

#10) Writing on your own terms - Sure some of those sites which have deadlines such as Channel Fireball and the like have pro writers who write once a week every week is good, but stop, take a deep breath and remember, you play magic, you have fun, don't write because you are forced to write, write because you WANT to.

#9) Proper Spelling and Punctuation - Most magic players these days are in their early teens, finishing school or have a stay at home profession, one thing to remember while writing is to always have proper spelling and grammar, so don't forget to always remember the one of the most important keys of any good writer, proper grammar.

#8) Pick a topic that suits you - If you play a format in magic like Commander or any casual format, go for it, I always encourage new and aspiring writers out there, you can write about anything you set your mind to, or if you play a format like Modern, which consistently changes, you can always talk about that, whatever it may be, it's gonna be good, since you wrote it.

#7) Proper Editing Procedures - Always ensure to go back and check the source you use, check for updates and add them in while editing, editing is super important here, since a self edit is often the best kind of edit and helps you learn.

#6) Be sure to always credit your sources - Sure, the profession is freelance, but give the appropriate credit to the proper source material, wherever you got it from, give them the views as well, to ensure everyone is satisfied here.

#5) Spread the word - Sure you may be a rising star in the magic freelance scene, but it's always important to keep your fan base in the know, with social media these days it's often easiest through variants like Twitter and even Facebook.

#4) Be Descriptive - A article should have a fairly decent description to it, regardless, if it is a short one, try and keep a bit of a description to it, giving it some depth.

#3) Personal Experiences - Sure everyone has this on the to-do list in terms of writing, but each person's experiences vary from person to person, so try and add a personal touch, with a interesting sign off, or perhaps something else to peak interest.

#2) Enjoy the Game - Magic's been around for a long time at this point, going on 20 years now, so the game gets older and the more people who enjoy it, the better, so if you enjoy the game, you should also enjoy the writing process that comes along with it.

#1) BE YOURSELF - This is perhaps the most important tip I can give to anyone who is aspiring to write about MTG, relax, enjoy it and just be YOU.

And that is all she wrote, I hope these 10 tips will entice further readers to go out there and attempt the freelance magic scene, since it is still growing, so until next time magic fans, this is vergil signing off.

DCI Banned and Restricted List Announcement: Gatecrash Edition, January 28th, 2013

2013-01-28T05:12:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone, well since the new changes to the announcements for bans and unbans when it comes to the formats Wizards of the coast is in charge of, so without further ado let's see what happened last night in terms of bans and that.

Modern: Bloodbraid Elf and Seething Song are banned.

To be honest, the Elf banning was expected, as called by Scotty Mac of the EH team on his stream on saturday night, Jund has had way too dominant a deck, wizards basically said this about the elf ban.

While the rest of the format is quite diverse, the dominance of Jund is making it less so, so the DCI looked to ban a card, We wanted a card that was played in jund as a 4 of, but ideally was less played in other modern decks. That would give the best chance of creating a stable metagame.

It's not much of a surprise wizards has it in for Jund as a deck, it's done too damn well, it's like the Delver of the format, in that sense anyways.

Seething Song was a entirely different story, since it was one of the main pieces of the infamous U/R storm build which was second behind Jund's dominance with over 11% on MTGO, turn three was the normal time this went off thanks to the song, basically like the elf, wizards wanted to ban the biggest turn three offender here and this was pretty much it, but wait there's more.

Magic Online Pauper: Empty the Warrens, Grapeshot and Invigorate are banned

Storm is dead on magic online pauper, oh yeah it's about time, basically take storm's two win cons away and storm is officially dead, Also Invigorate is a serious offender here i'm guessing since wizards doesn't give reasons for it, it's basically infect's biggest offender on pauper, i'm guessing anyways.

For the full announcement, please see the link below

http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/232

With that, that's all she wrote, since commander and duel commander did not change anything on their ban list for this update, see you all next time this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Prerelease Primer

2013-01-22T06:42:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome back once again, this time it's the gatecrash pre-release primer with details on what is going to occur for the upcoming set's prerelease, so without further ado let's begin.

Alright, for this set you have the option to choose 1 of the 5 guilds, the Simic Combine, The Boros Legion, House Dimir, The Orzhov Syndicate and the Gruul clan, each one of these 5 guilds have different promos this time around, which i've covered on a different article, please see that for the promos. For the event this time around you'll receive 5 boosters of gatecrash, as well as a bunch of other goodies including your guild pack which you choose essentially as you sign up.

Once you choose the guild and all that, if you've preregistered, you will receive various packs of gatecrash and the 1 guild pack that you chose, if not then whatever remaining slots that are left well, you'll have to decide quickly. It's usually 6 rounds of limited, where you build a 40 card deck and go nuts in the format, which is a fun and decent format to be honest, other then that, have fun and all of that, enjoy the gatecrash prerelease and all that, next week starts the gatecrash limited review for here, till then this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 18th, 2013

2013-01-18T05:35:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome to what may be the final day of Gatecrash spoilers before the mass reveal on monday, today it's the final mythic of the set, final guild mage and a few other little cards, so without further ado let's begin.

Master Biomancer is the final mythic rare yet to be revealed for the set, it's 4 mana for a 2/4 that has the static ability "Each other creature you control enters the battlefield with a number of additional +1/+1 counters on it equal to Master Biomancer's power and is a mutant in addition to it's other types. This essentially creates a massive army in the long run and is one of those cards which i'm expecting to end up in the 2 dollar mythic category.

After 4 and a half months, we learn what this thing does, introducing Vizkopa Guildmage, whom costs white and black, is a uncommon 2/2 that has 2 different abilities, 1 is pay 1, white, black, target creature gains lifelink until end of turn, then the second one is pay 1, white, black, whenever you gain life this turn, each opponent loses that much life, so Sanguine Bond anyone on a body?

Truefire Paladin is another one of those boros cards which are unique, since it costs white and red to cast is a 2/2 and is a human knight at the uncommon rarity with vigilance. It also has 2 different abilites much the same as the guildmage i just talked about, pay red and white, it gains +2/+0 until end of turn and pay red and white, it gains first strike until end of turn, I gotta admit, this is one of those mana sinks in limited which i'm a big fan of.

Terrible rare is terrible, introducing Simic Manipulator which starts out as a 0/1 with evolve, the simic mechanic for the set, is a rare and costs 1, Blue, Blue, does anyone remember last year's Beguiler of Wills, well this was printed in a worse format, it says Tap, remove one or more +1/+1 counters from Simic Manipulator, gain control of target creature with power less then or equal to the number of counters removed this way. To be brutally honest, wizards just prints jank cards like this to piss me off, since i'm a natural blue player for life, anyways that's all the previews for today, the rest are pretty much well known as of now, until next time this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 17th, 2013

2013-01-17T04:32:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone and of course welcome back to another edition of the emporium, it's time to preview more Gatecrash cards for the upcoming set, this is day 4 for week 3 and let's get straight into this one.

Duskmantle Seer, oh boy this kind of is a little nuts, it's 4 mana for a 4/4 flyer that has the ability, At the beginning of your upkeep, each player reveals the top card of his/her library, loses life equal to that card's converted mana cost, then puts it into his/her hand. So Dark Confidant with Baneful Omen mixed together to make this puppy, plus it's a 4/4 flyer, also this is the 2nd dimir mythic for the set.

Spark Trooper, whoa this thing is kinda of sick, 1, red, red, white for a 6/1 with trample, lifelink and haste, so Ball Lightning with a seriously good power level, about time wizards, it's second ability is the same as the original basically, At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice Spark Trooper, this is only a rare too, so this could see some serious play here.

Whoa, where'd this one come from, a 7 drop, 6/6 named Gruul Ragebeast, whenever it or another creature enters the battlefield under your control, that creature fights target creature an opponent controls, removal on a stick here, but it costs a whopping 7 mana for this guy, this may not see play outside of Commander, but whoa this guy is good in creature based decks in limited.

Well these cards just keep getting more ridiculous, introducing Unexpected Results, previewed by Forbes Magazine, yes forbes, it's a 4 drop sorcery that's at the rare level, You shuffle your library, then reveal the top card, if it's a non land card, you can cast it without paying it's mana cost, If it's a land though, put it on the battlefield and return Unexpected Results to it's owner's hand. To be honest the cost is decent, it will probably see some play and is basically just another way of getting ahead, since there's always a decent chance you will land on a land.

Anyways that's it for today, stay tuned tommorow for more gatecrash previews, till then this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 16th, 2013

2013-01-16T06:52:00.001-08:00

Hello folks and welcome back to another edition of the gatecrash spoilers for this week, so without further ado let's see what we missed yesterday to start, then after let's get to today's previews.

Glaring Spotlight is one of those anti-hexproof cards for magic, here's looking at you Geist of Saint Traft which doesn't surprise me for this set at all, it's about time we had a anti-hexproof card here.

It seems like we know what that champion's playmat art is going to be now, introducing the wrath for this set, Merciless Eviction, which costs 4, white, black and is a sorcery that you choose one, exile all artifacts, exile all creatures or exile all enchantments, or exile all planeswalkers. I'm not expecting to see this played at all to be brutally honest.

A weaker Vesuva to start the day, known as Thespian's Stage which is a land that's a rare and it adds 1 to the pool, but for 2 and you tap it, you can change into whatever land you want and it gains that land's ability, talk about potential for both standard and EDH.

Slaughterhorn is another one of those seriously good limited cards here, it's a 3/2 for 2 and a green, it is a common so expect to see this every draft and it of course has the Gruul mechanic of "Channel" which is basically now being called Bloodrush, Gruul players in general are going to appreciate this one since it's so decent for limited and is perhaps one of the most solid commons to draft for a body.

And that's it, tommorow I'll talk about the missing charms as well as the other previews, so until then this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 15th, 2013

2013-01-15T05:16:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome back for another day of spoilers, so without further ado let's get straight down to business as per usual, let's start with the biggest spoiler of the day.

Sepulchral Primordial is the biggest one today, since Borbomygos Enraged was confirmed via the card gallery, it of course is a whopping 7 mana, has intimidate, is a 5/4 and when it enters the battlefield, for each opponent, you may put up to one target creature from each opponent's graveyard under your control, this right here is a very nice playable in EDH, since black now has access to it.

Undercity Informer is another one of the mill variant, but this time with a twist, it's a black card with the ability, pay 1, sacrifice a creature and target player reveals cards from the top of his/her library, until he or she reveals a land, then puts those cards in the graveyard, this right here is one of those limited bombs that will make or break mill in Dimir, plus it's a mere 2/3, holy crap this is decent.

Gruul Charm is one of those things i cannot believe they printed, it costs red, green for a instant that has 3 different modes, creatures without flying can't block this turn, or gain control of all permanents you own, or it deals 3 damage to each creature with flying, it seems decent to be honest, but we will see of course.

Orzhov Keyrune is legit though, it of course costs 3 mana, adds black or white to your mana pool and for Black and White you can animate it into a 1/4 white and black Thrull artifact creature with lifelink until end of turn, which is not that bad, it of course is uncommon as per the norm with the key runes, overall this set has some of the best ones from the block.

Soul Ransom is one of those Control Magic variants that is for Blue/Black this time around, it costs 2, Blue, Black for this puppy and it's a enchantment - aura that is a rare as well, it allows you to enchant a creature as it states, then it's other ability really prevents it from being useful, since the opponent can discard two cards, it's controller must sacrifice it and then draw 2 cards, but it could only be used by your opponent.

Anyways that's it for today, join me tommorow for another edition of gate crash spoilers, till then this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 14th, 2013

2013-01-14T05:37:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome back to the start of week 3 spoilers for Gatecrash, so let's dive straight into this week's starting spoilers.

The big bomb this day is Lord of the Void, a 7/7 mythic rare that has flying, costs 7, when it deals combat damage to a player, exile the top seven cards of that player's library, then put a creature from among those 7 into play under your control. This right here is very interesting, since Kaalia of the Vast just found herself another target come turn 4.

Blind Obedience is one of those things that perhaps may see some standard player against aggro decks, at least in the sideboard for now, it's a 2 drop rare enchantment that makes artifacts and creatures your opponents control end the battlefield tapped, holy fricking Kismet batman.

Finally, for the last preview of the day we have a enchantment known as Ooze Flux, 4 dang mana for a enchantment that's a rare, pay 1 and a green, remove one or more +1/+1 counters from among creatures you control, put a X/X Green Ooze onto the battlefield, where X is the number of +1/+1 counters removed this way, seems bad honestly, outside of limited.

Well that's it for today of course, stay tuned tommorow for more previews as always, till then this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Promotion Cards

2013-01-13T07:25:00.003-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome to a special sunday edition of the emporium, today let's discuss something that will be happening in a few weeks, which is the arrival of the upcoming MTG set Gatecrash, so let's get straight down to business.

The buy-a-box promotion card this time around is known as Nightveil Specter which is that 2/3 that does some serious shenigans, has the hybrid mana cost and all that neat stuff.

For the launch of Gatecrash, on release weekend people will receive this alternate art Skarrg Goliath for attending either a Friday Night Magic event on the day of the release of the set or as a door prize for something else, it's totally up to the store you go to for this one.

Game Day players will receive this sweet full art Zameck Guildmage for just attending this set's game day event, remember game day is all about standard, the first non GP or PT event that lets you play with the new set.

For the top 8 of the game day event, players will receive this cool alternate art Firemane Avenger for making it to the top 8 of the game day, you know the angel with Lightning Helix slapped onto her.

Finally, for the gate crash league players this time around, for doing well in your local league, you'll receive a copy of this alternate art Red/White soldier token.

I forgot to mention, the winner of the game day event will receive this sweet champion's playmat which hints at perhaps a reprint of Culling Sun, the orzhov wrath effect from the original ravnica block. Anyways that's it for this edition, till next time this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 11th, 2013

2013-01-11T04:31:00.000-08:00

Hello folks and welcome back to another edition of the emporium, today of course it's all about more gatecrash spoilers, so let's get straight into another edition

Aurelia's Fury is similiar to Rakdos's Return from the previous set, but it deals damage divided among any number of target creatures and/or players, Tap each creature dealt damage this way, Players dealt damage this way can't cast noncreature spells this turn, Holy X spells batman, this is a white/red mad house to be quite honest and it's mythic too boot.

Speaking of Boros, the Boros Charm was revealed, red and white for a instant speed spell that either Flame Rift's your opponents, Makes your permanents indestrucible for the duration of the turn or makes a target creature have double strike until end of turn, this is one of the charms that seem like it's very legit.

Luminate Primordial is another one of a new cycle of cards, it's a 4/7 with vigilance that costs 7, gee,

Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite anyone?, when it enters the battlefield, it basically exiles up to one target creature each player controls, Oh wow, Swords to Plowshares on legs

Skarrg Guildmage is the gruul guildmage for this set, it's a 2/2 for 2, that gives creatures you control trample until end of turn for red and green, plus it animates a target land you control to a 4/4 elemental, for 1, red, green and it's still a land, not bad personally for limited.

Serene Rememberance is a 1 mana sorcery that allows you to shuffle this plus three target cards from a single graveyard into their owner's libraries, this is interesting since it's another green type spell.

And finally, the Simic Keyrune has been revealed, it's 3 mana obviously, it makes blue or green mana, plus it animates itself for green and blue to turn itself into a 2/3 blue and green crab with hexproof until end of turn,
this is interesting to be quite honest, now we have to see the orzhov one.

Well that's it for this week, till next week this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 10th, 2013

2013-01-10T07:50:00.000-08:00

Hello fine folks out there and welcome to another edition of the emporium, it's about more Gatecrash spoilers this time so without further ado let's see what we got today to look at.

Ghor-Clan Rampager is a neat 4/4 with trample for 4 and it's a uncommon, plus it has the gruul keyword of Channel ahem Bloodrush, where it's blood rush cost is Red and Green and discard this puppy and target attacking creature gets +4/+4 and trample until end of turn, this is a sweet little limited bomb if you ask me.

Gyre Sage is another of the simic's creations with Evolve and boy is it a beast of a card, 2 drop 1/2 that has evolve, plus it gets the ability, tap to add green mana equal to the number of +1/+1 counters on Gyre Sage, wow, this thing is one of those 2 drops that might just see some constructed play here.

Thrull Parasite is another thrull believe it or not, it's a 1/1 for 1 black and has the orzhov keyword Extort, sense a pattern here, it has the alternate ability, tap to and pay 2 life, remove a counter from target nonland permanent, interesting this is a black flavored card, not a white or a hybrid card.

Leyline Phantom is a 5/5 5 drop that's a illusion, it's a common that when it deals combat damage, return it to it's owner's hand, but it is only returned if it survives combat, unique for limited if i may say so and well it seems like it's a decent body for it's cost, who knows.

Hello bomb mythic, a 7/7 for 7 that is known as Giant Adephage which has trample and whenever it deals combat damage to a player, put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of Giant Adephage, I like this little timmy card since green players love combat, it's a very good body and it's a nasty effect, this is a serious limited bomb if it ever hits.

And with that that's all for today, stay tuned for tommorow when we will talk about more of the unique flavor Gatecrash is bringing us with the end of week 2 previews here, till then this is Vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 9th, 2013

2013-01-09T05:26:00.002-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of the emporium, where as always during a spoiler season i'll be taking a look at all the spoiled previews for a upcoming set, today's spoilers including the final guild leader, so let's get straight down to it.

Yeah, 6 for Prime Speaker Zegana which is the simic leader this time around, she enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters where X is the greatest power among other creatures you control, also when she enters the battlefield, you draw cards equal to it's power.

Oh wow, a actual playable constructed card, introducing Frontline Medic which costs 3 and is a 3/3 with battalion but the ability which makes him shine is the 2nd one, sacrifice him and counter target spell with X in it's mana cost unless it's controller pays 3, so a Mana Leak with legs for all X spells in the format, wow, this thing is pretty good.

Biomass Mutation is another one of those hybrid cards, but it costs X, Blue/Green, Blue/Green and is instant speed plus it's a rare, where creatures you control become X/X until end of turn, where X is the cost paid of course, this gets stopped of course by the previously spoiled card, the medic with the mana leak if they tap out to cast this.

Pit Fight is sort of interesting as it's perfect for the Gruul this time around since target creature you control basically fights another target creature, plus it's instant speed, a common and costs a mere 2 mana to boot, this thing is decent for limited and should see a little play there.

Syndic of Tithes is the last card of the day, it's a 2 drop that's a 2/2 with Extort, the orzhov keyword this time around, it's a common as well so expect to see this quite often in draft in terms of the Orzhov, with that though it's time to call it a wrap, so until tommorow this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 8th, 2013

2013-01-08T07:17:00.003-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome back to another edition of the emporium and it's time for yet more Gatecrash spoilers with today's edition, so without further ado let's get down to business.

Undercity Plague is that spell that acts a lot like Smallpox in a way, but costs way more then it, it is a serious bomb drop at a whopping 6, but it also has Cipher which makes it somewhat playable in limited, I'm not too sure about this one at all, but i do know one thing, Cipher is pretty damn strong.

Vizkopa Confessor is another weird card i'd like to believe works, a 1/3 for 5 and it has Extort of course, so it's a given Orzhov card, but when it enters the battlefield, pay any amount of life, Target opponent reveals that many cards from his/her hand, you choose one of them and exile it, decent discard on a body, for limited anyways.

Rubblebelt Raiders is perhaps the most impressive card of the day, since it is a 3/3 that gets bigger for each attacking creature you control when it attacks, it costs 1, Red/Green. Red/Green, Red/Green and is a rare believe it or not, this makes pretty much anything super awesome.

Well that's it for today, since there are few unknowns at this point, Also Aurelia and Hellkite Tyrant are confirmed really, so 4/5 down it seems, well that's all so this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 7th, 2013

2013-01-07T05:41:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome once again to another edition of the emporium, let's just dive straight into it with the latest previews.

Spoiled by none other then Luis Scott Vargas, Dimir Charm will certainly be the Blue/Black player's choice card these days, it's a counter target sorcery spell, blow up target creature with power 2 or less, here's looking at you Champion of the Parish or look at the top three cards of target player's library, then put one back and the rest into the graveyard, did i mention this thing is uncommon at that.

Speaking of spoilers, it appears wizards is handing out to pro starcraft 2 casters, including one Sean "Day9" Plott who received this one, the boros guild mage, Sunhome Guildmage which either pumps your creatures or you can make 1/1's with haste for 4 mana, it's a 2/2 too, not a bad piece of limited material if you ask me.

So uh, Mind Funeral 2.0 for this set anyone, introducing Mind Grind which costs X, Blue, Black and is a rare at sorcery speed, Each opponent reveals cards from the top of his or her library until he/she reveals X land cards, then puts all cards revealed this way into his/her graveyard, X cannot be 0, it seems like next rotation wizards is most defintely pushing Mill to be a viable archetype.

Stolen Identity is another one of those Clone type spells, but this one has Cipher and costs 6 mana this time around, it's a rare and it's at sorcery speed no less, this is interesting, but for 6 mana, it's not very playable outside limited if you get it.

Finally, the Boros Keyrune was spoiled as well earlier, it's 3 mana obviously to cast, adds red/white to your mana pool and you tap Red and White to make it a 1/1 red and white soldier artifact creature with double strike until end of turn.

With that as per usual, that's the end of another edition of the emporium, also it should be noted, Enter the Infinite was officially spoiled by wizards of the coast today, so it's 2/5 so far, in terms of those super early spoilers, until next time this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Pre-Release Cards

2013-01-06T06:06:00.002-08:00

Hello everyone and it's about that time to talk about the upcoming 5 prerelease cards which are going to be handed out for the upcoming Gatecrash pre-release, so without further ado let's take a look see.

For signing up with the Orzhov, you'll get your hands on this nice shiny version of Treasury Thrull the 4/4 that returns stuff when it attacks and has the keyword Extort showing it's a part of that particular guild.

Dimir players will receive this shiny Consuming Aberration as a return for signing up with this guild, it shows the power of Blue/Black at it's finest with a mill theme going on.

For players who just want to beat faces in, Gruul's champions will receive this nice and very alternate art Rubblehulk for their troubles, it also happily demonstrates the mechanic of channel i mean Bloodrush.

Soldiers of the boros legion receive this nice alternate art Foundry Champion for becoming a part of the army, I've not really talked about him, so let's take a minute to examine him now, he's a 4/4 for 6, when he enters the battlefield, he deals damage to target creature or player equal to the number of creatures you control, plus he self pumps himself with either white or red mana to boost toughness or power.

And finally, for the simic players, they will receive this alternate art Fathom Mage for their troubles, show casing the wonderful mechanic of Evolve and the fact it can get big really, really quickly, plus it gives you cards as a reward for more counters.

With that, we are forced to conclude this edition, it should also be noted from now on, my thoughts on each set will be covered in the Limited Review, instead of full official spoilers, so you'll see more of those then official spoilers, for full spoilers i'd suggest to check out mtgrealm.blogspot.com in the mean time, as spoilers there are consistently updated, until next time this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 4th, 2013

2013-01-04T06:23:00.001-08:00

Hello folks and welcome back to another edition of the emporium, this is the first friday edition for the spoiler season of Gatecrash which has already spoiled 59/249 cards, so without further ado let's see what we got today.

Oh hey, reprinting Skynight Legionnaire, not bad there wizards, not bad at all to be brutally honest, so for those unfamiliar with the set, the original ravnica had this puppy and it was a 3 drop, flying, hasty 2/2 which did see play back then, expecting this to see play as well again.

Oh wonderful, a Nirkana Revenant that's a spirit this time around which is known as Crypt Ghast which costs 4 and is a 2/2 with the orzhov ability of Extort, it has also whenever you tap a swamp for mana, add black to your mana pool, it's a rare as well, for it's costs and all that, it seems very powerful in limited.

Blue/Green has another counter spell, it's known as Mystic Genesis, where it costs 2, Green, Blue, Blue and it says counter target spell, put a X/X green Ooze creature token onto the battlefield, where X is the spell's converted mana cost, this is a definite must for any Blue/Green deck in commander, it's a rare so don't expect to see it too often in limited, this is pretty good honestly for a balanced counter spell.

SMF Corp is at it again with another french spoiler, this one is known as Rapid Hybridization according to the semi french translation, it costs 1 blue mana and is a instant, can anyone confirm this which states, destroy target creature, it can't be regenerated and it's controller puts a 3/3 green frog lizard onto the battlefield, holy Pongify batman, this is a new staple to both blue in standard and EDH, I've fallen in love with this card.

With that of course, that's it for today, stay tuned for next week's starting spoilers and all that, till then this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 3rd, 2013

2013-01-03T05:51:00.001-08:00

Welcome back everyone and all that neat stuff, to another day worth of spoilers, only a few to talk about today, as well as a confirmation it seems, Domri Rade is legit, wizards just confirmed him for this set, so it means all 5 of the craigslist spoilers are real.

First on the list is a 6/6 beast known as Alms Beast, which costs 2, White, Black and has the ability, creatures blocking or blocked by Alms Beast have lifelink. This isn't half bad, but it makes games last a little longer then they should essentially.

Skullcrack is essentially the 2 drop burn spell of choice, I expect this to replace a specific card from Avacyn Restored in Red Deck Wins, we are looking at you Searing Spear here.

Last but not least, from the boys over at Magic Madrid, we have the unconfirmed translation of High Priest of Penance which is a 1/1 for white and black and has the ability, Whenever High Priest is dealt damage, you may destroy target nonland permanent. So Vindicate with legs it seems, not bad, not bad.

Anyways that's it for today, till tommorow like usual, this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 2nd, 2013

2013-01-02T05:52:00.001-08:00

Hello and welcome back to another edition here at the emporium, where it's still quite spoiler season, we got lots to talk about today, so let's get down to it.

Well, well, well, we finally have Gideon revealed, he's Gideon, Champion of Justice, costs 2, White, White and is a mythic rare of course, he has 3 different abilities this time around, his +1 grants him a loyalty counter for each creature target opponent controls, his 0 ability turns him into a Indestrucible human soldier which P/T equal to the number of loyalty counters on him, he's still a planeswalker of course and prevent all damage that would be dealt to him this turn, until end of turn, his ultimate is for -15, exile all other permanents, wow just straight up exile, really neat wizards.

We also got a preview of the launch card for the set, Skarrg Goliath, which is a 8 drop 9/9 with trample, as well as bloodrush for 5, green, green it's scheduled to be the launch card for release day this time around, which is kinda interesting i guess.

Introducing the game day sign up promo, Zameck Guildmage, the simic guild mage, of course he costs, Blue, Green and is a 2/2 elf wizard that has 2 abilities, pay green, blue for this turn each creature enters the battlefield with a additional +1/+1 counter on it, pay green, blue and remove a +1/+1 counter from a creature you control, draw a card, glad green and blue is playing around the whole drawing cards and +1/+1 counter vibe.

Our buy a box promo this time is known as Nightveil Specter, the one we've been looking for for a month and a half now, now we know what it does, it costs, Blue/Black, Blue/Black, Blue/Black and is 2/3 with flying that whenever it deals combat damage to a player, that player exiles the top card of his/her library, you also get to play the cards exiled with him, not bad.

We also get a taste of the promo cards for the prerelease today as well, with Consuming Aberration which is a 5 drop that it's power and toughness are each equal to the number of cards if your opponent's graveyard, then whenever you cast a spell, each opponent reveals cards from the top of their library, until he/she reveals a land, then puts those cards into the graveyard after, holy mill streak here batman, there will be a seperate article for these prerelease cards as well.

Clan Defiance is a dual colored burn spell which you can deal X damage to either a target creature with flying, a target creature without flying or target player, did i mention you get to choose 1 or more modes for this, so you can literally take out a flyer, a non flyer and burn your opponent's face off, it costs X, Red and Green and is sorcery speed and rare.

Keyrune #2 has been revealed and it's the gruul's this time around, it's 3 mana like always to cast, adds either Red or Green to the mana pool and for Red and Green it becomes a 3/2 beast artifact creature with trample until end of turn at the uncommon rarity.

Finally for today it's Hands of Binding, it costs 1 and a blue to cast and states that you can tap target creature a opponent controls, that creature doesn't untap during it's controller's next untap step, it also has Cipher which is the Dimir mechanic for this set, is a common and is a sorcery as well, very interesting wizards to be most frank.

And well that's all the previews for today, tommorow we will continue to take a look at what wizards is giving us in terms of everything, so until then this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 1st, 2013

2013-01-01T05:40:00.003-08:00

Hello and welcome to this first day of the new year and magic's continuing existence, we have 3 spoilers today to talk about, so let's get this underway, straight away.

Holy ghost council batman, Obzedat, Ghost Council is instantly one of my new favorite legends, 1, White, White, Black, Black and it is of course Legendary Creature, Spirit Advisor, it is a 5/5 that when it enters the battlefield, target opponent loses 2 life, and you gain 2 life, I can think of one thing right now in standard that can abuse this ability, Deadeye Navigator and his soul bond ability, but wait there's more. At the beginning of your end step, you may exile Obzedat, if you do return it to the battlefield under it's owner's control at the beginning of your next upkeep, it gains haste. I believe this will most defintely see standard play in the future, due to the fact it's a 5/5 for 5 and it hits for 2 when it enters the battlefield, pretty nice wizards.

Introducing guild leader #2 of the day, Lazav, Dimir Mastermind, he costs, Blue, Blue, Black, Black and is a 3/3 with Hexproof, he's a legendary creature of course and is a shapeshifter. He has the ability, whenever a creature card is put into a opponent's graveyard from anywhere, yes from anywhere, you may have Lazav, Dimir Mastermind become a copy of that card except it's name is still Lazav, Dimir Mastermind, it's legendary in addition to it's other types and it gains hexproof and this ability. You wanna know who this reminds me of, Sakashima the Impostor, except he does not have a return to hand cost printed on him, but the benefit is he has Hexproof honestly, which is pretty broken in itself, onto the final card of the day.

Introducing the first of the 5 key runes for the set, Dimir Keyrune, which of course costs 3 mana, adds either Blue or Black to the pool, it has the ability, pay Blue, Black, Dimir Keyrune turns into a 2/2 blue and black Horror artifact creature until end of turn and is unblockable this turn. Bashing for 2 every turn with this is going to be very nasty to be honest since it is so cheap to cast and all that neat stuff, anyways that's it for previews for today, tommorow we should get more, till then this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: December 31st, 2012

2012-12-31T05:24:00.001-08:00

Hello everyone and welcome to the first official full gate crash spoiler day, wizards of the coast gave us a lot of previews, so we are just gonna get right down to it of course.

Let's start with the big bomb of the day, Deathpact Angel, which costs 3, White, Black, Black and when she dies you get a 1/1 white and black cleric that basically allows you to sacrifice it and return Deathpact Angel from the battlefield for Angel's converted mana cost, the angel itself is a 5/5 flying beatstick for 6 which is pretty balanced, did i mention she's mythic?

Why hello equipment form of Rings of Brighthearth, seriously this is great to see to be quite honest, it's called Illusionst Bracers and it costs 2 to play, 3 to equip and it's rare, but whenever a ability of a equipped creature is activate, if it is not a mana ability, copy it and you get to choose new targets for the copy, not bad wizards, not bad.

Tin Street Market is basically similar form to how they printed a bunch of auras that enchant lands, but this one basically does another one of those precious Merfolk Looter effects, it's nice but for 5 mana, i'm not paying for a looter effect outside of limited here.

Of course we got another mechanic preview set of cards, starting with Zhur-Taa Swine, a 5 drop 5/4 that has blood rush, for 1, red and green discard it and target attacking creature gets +5/+4 until end of turn, not bad to be honest, a fair and decent blood rush common for the set.

Gateway Shade is similar to what we saw the last set, except this time specific cards gain bonuses from tapping gates, instead of having gates present on the battlefield, it should be noted only 1 of these abilites can be used at one given time.

Speaking of gate cards, the guild gates are essentially back as well, for the 5 guilds of this set, the preview being Orzhov Guildgate this time for this cycle.

Basilica Guards is a 1/4 defender with the orzhov mechanic of Extort for a mere 3 mana at the common rarity, so expect to see this once or twice per draft passed around, it's a decent body with a decent cost.

Gridlock is something that looks super funny to play, but it has the target word in it meaning if it has Hexproof they won't be effected. but it's still pretty decent.

Drakewing Krasis is a 3/1 flying trample body for 3 that feels very Simic Sky Swallower esque this time around, but it's nice to have a 3/1 body to be decently costed.

And we got the usual fair for mechanic and card types returning, Hybrid cards are confirmed for this set, along with the remaining of the mechanic based cards, overall a great start to the spoiler season for official previews if you ask me, until tommorow this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoiler: Whispering Madness

2012-12-28T06:23:00.000-08:00

Well since it's the last official day of the holiday spoilers, wizards has seen fit to grant us the final mechanic, the Dimir mechanic this time around and wow it is a very impressive one, let's take a look see at this one.

Holy crap, a 4 mana Windfall at sorcery speed, it costs 2, Blue, Black and basically is Windfall on a new spell, but it has the mechanic known as Cipher, where it says "Then you may exile this spell card, encoded on a creature you control. Whenever that creature deals combat damage to a player, it's controller may cast a copy of the encoded card without paying it's mana cost." Say what, repeatable Windfall's wizards, this is ridiculous, I'm expecting this to be broken somehow, in terms of mechanics, if i had it my way, I'd go Dimir cause that's how i roll.

Anyways, that's it for previews from the holiday week, starting next week is of course official WotC previews, so until then this is vergil signing off.