So, yeah. Alara Reborn looms large. So far looking good. As a fan of multi-player and now EDH, I can't help but like some of the cards that are just under tournament playability. I mean, a 1/5 for two mana. Really. And it doesn't have defender? Nice! I can find uses for that in a big way. I've also been a big fan of cheap, large-butted walls, and the 0/8 flying shroud defender is really tempting. Granted, having Terminate back in business will remind folks of just how good it has always been and still is. Ah, all the possibilities, and so little time to play and try them out. I am just hoarding cards, biding my time until Beren (my son, age 3) is old enough to start slinging cards. Then the hour or more per day I have to spend now on parenting will change into an hour or more per day I might be able to make decks and play games. At least work has been helping.
As I stated two posts ago, there is an enrichment hour that has featured a card game session that I am going to. I've got a Padawan and just last week got another young man interested in Magic. Hey Wizards employees, listen up!!!! He said he was going to go out and buy some cards. Yay me!!! I am the king of acquisition!!! Where are my Guru cards????!?!?!
As for the old I had mentioned, I just received what will probably be the last of the older sets that I will be adding to the ULCs. Onslaught. I busted 27 packs to divy up to the ULCs that are either mine or not spoken for yet, and left the rest for the players who have claimed a ULC to bust open. Got two fetch lands (Bloodstained Mire and Flooded Strand) not to mention a Blistering Firecat, Exalted Angel, Goblin Sharpshooter, Jareth - Leoninn Titan, Ravenous Baloth, and Visara. Not bad - only about $16 short of what I paid for the box on just those cards with 9 packs left to bust open. That's a Piledriver or fetch land away from getting more out of the box than I put in just on money rares. But that's it, folks. At this point in time I can't justify going after Odyssey block. Just too pricey. Hopefully things will change. Possibly, I'll look into foreign language options - there seems to be Chinese product available for an average of about $63 per box, which is cheaper than I've ever paid for a non-Kamigawa, non-Unhinged, non-Fallen Empires booster box. In the meantime, it'll be Alara Reborn up next. And then we might actually play with the collections. So far, I think mine is pretty poor, but we'll see.
Keepin' it (Freed From The) Real,
Rodolfo
Monday, April 20, 2009
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Why I Now Hate Divine Vs Demonic
So, I got packs of Legions for the ULCs. I had opened up about 9 packs and was thinking that there wasn't much in the way of good stuff busted yet. Busted number 10 - nothing special. Busted number 11 - FOIL AKROMA!!!!!!! Sweet!!!!!!. I was very happy. I finished the set of three by busting pack 12 - A NON-FOIL AKROMA!!!!!! Super sweet!!!!!!!! Then I looked to see that DvD Akromas were pre-selling for about ten bucks on EvilBay. WHAT?!?!??!?! Well crud, that's going to sap the value straight out of what was once a fifty-plus dollar foil. That's all I've got right now.
See ya!
See ya!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
A lot has happened....
....and not much as well. It's been a few weeks and I have been busy. But nothing has really happened except MarsCon, for some multi-player fun, and a fun first - I got paid to play M:tG!
MarsCon was a blast. Not only did I get in to several multi-player free-for-alls, my favorite nerdcore rapper was there - MC Lars! I unfortunately missed mising another second set only draft with some CON-CON-CON action. A nice 5-color domain deck won. I saw good spells and lots of Exploding Borders, always for 5! No wonder he won. I think he also had Ethersworn Adjudicator as well.
At the middle school where I work, there is currently a program to give kids some remedial catch-up opportunities while rewarding those kids who are on task and up to snuff. It's called HOP (short for Hour Of Power). One of the activities this time around is Yugio, Card Games and Other Games. One student I am acquainted with was in this HOP and prompted me to bring my Magic cards in. I did. I sat and played an hour of Magic with him as I helped 'supervise' the classroom. So I actually got paid to do Magic. Am I a professional now? LOLOMGNB! (laugh out loud, oh my God, Nicol Bolas)
On the ULC/Limited EDH front, I am pleased, after a few more acquisitions of product, to list the sets involved as of this date:
Mirrodin
Darksteel
5th Dawn
Champions of Kamigawa
Betrayers of Kamigawa
Saviors of Kamigawa
Ravnica
Guidpact
Dissension
Time Spiral
Planar Chaos
Future Sight
Coldsnap
Lorwyn
Morningtide
Shadowmoor
Eventide
Shards of Alara
Conflux
Unhinged (only one booster, to avoid too much silliness)
That's twenty sets! Woohoo! I only wish I had started the ULCs earlier. I do have a box of Legions on it's way and have been keeping an eye on Scourge and Onslaught. I'm not really sure if I can justify to myself going back any farther with the cost of boxes. Most of the older sets I have acquired have been priced similarly to newer sets, or maybe up to $10.00 a box more. I'm not sure I want to pay much more than that at this point. Alara Reborn comes out soon as well. I am also contemplating whether or not to pick up basic sets, as some of those can be picked up on the cheap. Thoughts? Sound off!
Another great thing that has recently happened: My wife has picked up cards again. I have been stating for some time that she needs to get back to playing some and that I would help her to get up to speed. When it is not competitive, she is more willing. If it's competitive, I don't really give any quarter, so she gets frustrated as my knowledge of the rules and combat tricks, etc. seem like cheating to her. This time I am teaching her. We'll see if it takes enough for her to get in to it. I will try real hard and keep my fingers crossed.
Here's a few neat links:
Neal's blog: Lifegain is bad!
The MTGCast network where Tom does his thang
Starcitygames.com - for all your magic needs (buying and reading)
MTGSalvation.com - where there are good forumns, spoilers, nice card creation contests, and a few good articles wnow and then
Joel's blog - he does a lot more console gaming and shares his thoughts
Until next post,
Rodolfo
MarsCon was a blast. Not only did I get in to several multi-player free-for-alls, my favorite nerdcore rapper was there - MC Lars! I unfortunately missed mising another second set only draft with some CON-CON-CON action. A nice 5-color domain deck won. I saw good spells and lots of Exploding Borders, always for 5! No wonder he won. I think he also had Ethersworn Adjudicator as well.
At the middle school where I work, there is currently a program to give kids some remedial catch-up opportunities while rewarding those kids who are on task and up to snuff. It's called HOP (short for Hour Of Power). One of the activities this time around is Yugio, Card Games and Other Games. One student I am acquainted with was in this HOP and prompted me to bring my Magic cards in. I did. I sat and played an hour of Magic with him as I helped 'supervise' the classroom. So I actually got paid to do Magic. Am I a professional now? LOLOMGNB! (laugh out loud, oh my God, Nicol Bolas)
On the ULC/Limited EDH front, I am pleased, after a few more acquisitions of product, to list the sets involved as of this date:
Mirrodin
Darksteel
5th Dawn
Champions of Kamigawa
Betrayers of Kamigawa
Saviors of Kamigawa
Ravnica
Guidpact
Dissension
Time Spiral
Planar Chaos
Future Sight
Coldsnap
Lorwyn
Morningtide
Shadowmoor
Eventide
Shards of Alara
Conflux
Unhinged (only one booster, to avoid too much silliness)
That's twenty sets! Woohoo! I only wish I had started the ULCs earlier. I do have a box of Legions on it's way and have been keeping an eye on Scourge and Onslaught. I'm not really sure if I can justify to myself going back any farther with the cost of boxes. Most of the older sets I have acquired have been priced similarly to newer sets, or maybe up to $10.00 a box more. I'm not sure I want to pay much more than that at this point. Alara Reborn comes out soon as well. I am also contemplating whether or not to pick up basic sets, as some of those can be picked up on the cheap. Thoughts? Sound off!
Another great thing that has recently happened: My wife has picked up cards again. I have been stating for some time that she needs to get back to playing some and that I would help her to get up to speed. When it is not competitive, she is more willing. If it's competitive, I don't really give any quarter, so she gets frustrated as my knowledge of the rules and combat tricks, etc. seem like cheating to her. This time I am teaching her. We'll see if it takes enough for her to get in to it. I will try real hard and keep my fingers crossed.
Here's a few neat links:
Neal's blog: Lifegain is bad!
The MTGCast network where Tom does his thang
Starcitygames.com - for all your magic needs (buying and reading)
MTGSalvation.com - where there are good forumns, spoilers, nice card creation contests, and a few good articles wnow and then
Joel's blog - he does a lot more console gaming and shares his thoughts
Until next post,
Rodolfo
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Sometimes Magic Is Too Fun
So, yeah, we got together. Me, Neal, Joel and Tom. Tom was a little late thanks to a vet appointment for his feline friend. We played constructed EDH and some constructed multi-player. We lost track of time and when Neal and Tom had to bail, there was not enough time to do anything but randomly assign ULCs to each person and hand out the Mirrodin boosters.
Neal left before opening his Mirrodin boosters. I didn't see much of what Joel got, but I busted an Isochron Scepter and Tom scored big with a Platinum Angel and an Icy Manipulator. Both are auto-includes in the limited EDH decks we are building.
On the plus side - I got the art cover sleeves to use with the LEDH decks yesterday. Kinda nice to have bling bling sleeves for once, even if it's for the experiment. I should be able to lay hold of some more out of print boosters soon. I am trying not to spend more than I do on current sets, meaning that I might not be able to do Invasion block, though I would truly love to. It looks like I will be able to complete the Mirrodin block and Ravnica blocks. We'll have to see about Odyssey. I already have Kamigawa block. I didn't buy much when it came out, but scored on it later when the price deflated. You know, sometimes crappy blocks don't seem as bad when you pay $1.50 to $1.80 per booster for them.
I tried to get my 'abuse a crap mythic card' deck going, but never hit the pieces in a couple games. Essentially it has a combo-style element that is grafted in to another deck that plays like a regular multi-player deck. I didn't want to make it a dedicated combo-deck, though I surely could have, because I like my combos to come out of left field. One nice side-effect of having some combo pieces in a deck they usually wouldn't be in is that I discovered being able to use Spitting Image to make four or five copies of Iridescent Angel with a Wall Of Reverence on the table spells good times. But I still got smushed at least once by Joel's big beefy green deck. Man, I thought I had that thing under control for a while, but Primordial Sage is good card drawing. Pshaw!
Until next time, put your brazos to the cosmos!
Neal left before opening his Mirrodin boosters. I didn't see much of what Joel got, but I busted an Isochron Scepter and Tom scored big with a Platinum Angel and an Icy Manipulator. Both are auto-includes in the limited EDH decks we are building.
On the plus side - I got the art cover sleeves to use with the LEDH decks yesterday. Kinda nice to have bling bling sleeves for once, even if it's for the experiment. I should be able to lay hold of some more out of print boosters soon. I am trying not to spend more than I do on current sets, meaning that I might not be able to do Invasion block, though I would truly love to. It looks like I will be able to complete the Mirrodin block and Ravnica blocks. We'll have to see about Odyssey. I already have Kamigawa block. I didn't buy much when it came out, but scored on it later when the price deflated. You know, sometimes crappy blocks don't seem as bad when you pay $1.50 to $1.80 per booster for them.
I tried to get my 'abuse a crap mythic card' deck going, but never hit the pieces in a couple games. Essentially it has a combo-style element that is grafted in to another deck that plays like a regular multi-player deck. I didn't want to make it a dedicated combo-deck, though I surely could have, because I like my combos to come out of left field. One nice side-effect of having some combo pieces in a deck they usually wouldn't be in is that I discovered being able to use Spitting Image to make four or five copies of Iridescent Angel with a Wall Of Reverence on the table spells good times. But I still got smushed at least once by Joel's big beefy green deck. Man, I thought I had that thing under control for a while, but Primordial Sage is good card drawing. Pshaw!
Until next time, put your brazos to the cosmos!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tomorrow Is Always A Day Away
Some rapdid-fire thoughts and updates:
Tomorrow we gather and sling the cardboard for great justice! Take off every Zur! I hope to have a good review of how the LEDH experiment went for the first time out. I will also try to introduce the play group as it currently exists.
Ah, the excitement builds. I just sleeved up a hastily, very unfocused BGW EDH deck. Not sure if I want to go cheesy and run Doran as general or use Teneb. Those are my only general choices for that color combination unless I go with a five color legend. If I do that, I won't be able to resist a redesign to utilize those extra colors.
My next design for a multi-player deck involves casting Conflux on the cheap and then going near-infinite with it. I love breaking crap mythics! I'll let you know how the Mayael deck turns out.
Wall of Reverence seems like a really good multi-player card. And like most cards that work well with Doran, it really works well with Doran. Duh!
I ordered fancy sleeves to use with the LEDH decks and they won't arrive in time. Bummer.
I scored great prices on some Fifth Dawn and Ravnica boosters to add to the ULCs - very cool.
Looks like I'll only get three other folks tomorrow. I was hoping for more, but it should be pretty good with four of us. With one other person who might normally make it, that would make five fairly-regulars to play at least once a month. That will be nice. I may be able to play one or two Thursday or Fridays as well. Thursdays would be casual stuff and Fridays would likely be FNMs. I would kinda like one of those Cryptic Commands but I've got a long way to go.
I have to bug Tom to get a mention on Monday Night Magic this week, seeing as it didn't get in last week. It would be nice if some people were reading this. Which reminds me, I have to email Bennie Smith, he might be interested and might give it a mention. I think he has some readership.
High five on the fly-by!
Tomorrow we gather and sling the cardboard for great justice! Take off every Zur! I hope to have a good review of how the LEDH experiment went for the first time out. I will also try to introduce the play group as it currently exists.
Ah, the excitement builds. I just sleeved up a hastily, very unfocused BGW EDH deck. Not sure if I want to go cheesy and run Doran as general or use Teneb. Those are my only general choices for that color combination unless I go with a five color legend. If I do that, I won't be able to resist a redesign to utilize those extra colors.
My next design for a multi-player deck involves casting Conflux on the cheap and then going near-infinite with it. I love breaking crap mythics! I'll let you know how the Mayael deck turns out.
Wall of Reverence seems like a really good multi-player card. And like most cards that work well with Doran, it really works well with Doran. Duh!
I ordered fancy sleeves to use with the LEDH decks and they won't arrive in time. Bummer.
I scored great prices on some Fifth Dawn and Ravnica boosters to add to the ULCs - very cool.
Looks like I'll only get three other folks tomorrow. I was hoping for more, but it should be pretty good with four of us. With one other person who might normally make it, that would make five fairly-regulars to play at least once a month. That will be nice. I may be able to play one or two Thursday or Fridays as well. Thursdays would be casual stuff and Fridays would likely be FNMs. I would kinda like one of those Cryptic Commands but I've got a long way to go.
I have to bug Tom to get a mention on Monday Night Magic this week, seeing as it didn't get in last week. It would be nice if some people were reading this. Which reminds me, I have to email Bennie Smith, he might be interested and might give it a mention. I think he has some readership.
High five on the fly-by!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
A Trip Back to Mirrodin
The Mirrodin packs arrived today. Hooray! Was very nice to bust a few. Hopefully it will be nicer for those playing Saturday to bust a few. All the new sets I get I bust, because they're still my cards. I pilfer rares out of the collections if I need them. I have plenty of Mirrodin from back in the day, so I 't feel the need to know what's in there yet.
I also have a line on a good deal for some Fifth Dawn and some Ravnica from a gaming store doing a sale. Hopefully I can add some of those to the collection.
One last, quick idea. I could always use a random generation program to build boosters from older sets and then I could assemble them from my collection and filter them into the ULCs. I own a lot of cards and this could work out. Just hope I don't randomly generate too many cards of high value that I don't have, I'd be inclined to get them on the secondary market if that happened. But how many Reflecting Pools, Sliver Queens, Serra Avatars, and fetchlands could I possibly randomly generate? Probably three times as many as I busted, no doubt.
Feliz nieve (Happy snow - the weather outside, not Ice Age Block)
I also have a line on a good deal for some Fifth Dawn and some Ravnica from a gaming store doing a sale. Hopefully I can add some of those to the collection.
One last, quick idea. I could always use a random generation program to build boosters from older sets and then I could assemble them from my collection and filter them into the ULCs. I own a lot of cards and this could work out. Just hope I don't randomly generate too many cards of high value that I don't have, I'd be inclined to get them on the secondary market if that happened. But how many Reflecting Pools, Sliver Queens, Serra Avatars, and fetchlands could I possibly randomly generate? Probably three times as many as I busted, no doubt.
Feliz nieve (Happy snow - the weather outside, not Ice Age Block)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Writing About Magic
Writing about Magic can get tough at times. Seriously! Those folks who consistently put out good content and easy to read articles deserve big kudos. I am trying to write up a post about how Magic players manage their collections and how that is related to alternate formats and, of course, my own personal biases. It's not terribly easy. My thoughts tend to get chugging along and then I side track out of the zone, realize it, and get a little frustrated. I bet those really good writers either A) have more practice or B) do something crazy like outline their thoughts ahead of time to keep them on track. Maybe I'll try that. Tomorrow.
Chicka-Chicka-Bang-Boom and I'm outta here!
Chicka-Chicka-Bang-Boom and I'm outta here!
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