Opening a sealed box of Antiquities (2014)

Watch this sealed box of Antiquities get opened.

This is something that not many (or likely any) of us will ever get the chance to do so thought I would share.

Note - if you don't want to watch the whole thing then skip to the last 5 minutes to see the cards that were opened/graded.

-Cheers-

Updated Mono Red for SCG: Dallas

Here is where I am with my current standard SCG: Dallas decklist. There are no major changes from my SCG: Invitational deck. The addition of frenzied goblin makes blocking a little harder for my opponents and the addition of one searing blood main is because of how strong it was for me at the invitational. Letting my puny creatures trade with your larger (better) creatures all while lightning striking your opponent made me want to hedge slightly. It is also absolutely amazing against Mutavault and mana dorks.  

Standard Decklist

Maindeck:

 

Creatures (28)

4 Firedrinker Satyr

4 Foundry Street Denizen

3 Legion Loyalist

4 Rakdos Cackler

4 Burning Tree Emissary

4 Firefist Striker

4 Ash Zealot
1 Frenzied Goblin

Lands (17)

17 Mountain

 

Spells (15)

4 Madcap Skills

3 Lightning Strike
1 Searing Blood

4 Shock

3 Titan's Strength 

 

Sideboard (15):

 

1 Harness by Force

2 Borderland Marauder

3 Searing Blood
4 Skullcrack

1 Mizzium Mortars  
1 Stoke the Flames

1 Seismic Stomp

2 Forge Devil
 

 -Cheers-

Comments on the New Path to the Pro Tour

We have some big PTQ changes to talk about today. I have never been a PTQ "Grinder" but I have driven 3-4 hours to go to a  couple of PTQs before. Living in Texas is both a blessing and a curse (in many ways). The drive to other PTQs is often long but on the plus side there are several PTQs within Texas. Compared to Asia and Europe that is a huge bonus.

Here is Wizards announcement.

First, lets take a look at the Preliminary PTQs:

Preliminary PTQs Summary

• Each advanced store can run one Preliminary PTQ per season, open to anyone who wishes to compete.
• Ok, so I think this is great other than stores need to be incentivized into signing up to put on these events. I have been to many, many stores where store owners "forgot" to sign up for GP Trials, FNM foils, etc. In short, if you have diligent local TO/Store owners then you should have plenty of events to go to.  
• Stores can choose between running a Standard, Modern, or Sealed Preliminary PTQ during each season, regardless of the format the Pro Tour it leads to is.
• This is a really nice bonus for both the stores and the players. As long as the stores support the format you enjoy the most then this should be a selling point for you. It also lets stores not have to run Sealed PTQs if their players are not interested in sealed events.  
• The winner of a Preliminary PTQ will qualify for the season's Regional PTQ.
• I see a potential problem here, since you only qualify for that season's Regional PTQ (of which there are 16 for US and Canada). If the timing of that event doesn't work in your schedule your invite is worthless.

Second, lets take a look at the Preliminary PTQs:
 Regional PTQs Summary

• These will be run by hand-selected advanced and advanced plus WPN stores, based primarily on accessibility and the ability to host over 100 players.
• How this process works will be very interesting. Will it be a similar process to how PTQs are run now or more like the GP process? What is the solution to people who are geographically isolated i.e. Alaska or Iceland?
• Regional PTQs are planned to be held at least four weeks after the end of the Preliminary PTQ season (the first one ends in February).
• If that time period doesn't work for you then you forfeit your invite? I think a system more like SCGs Invitational system would be an improvement over this. SCG Invitational invites allow you to go to any of the next 4 Invitationals. Are all of these Regional PTQs held on the same date?
• 31 Regional PTQs will take place worldwide, and qualified players may choose which they compete in.
• Just to note that there are 16 Regional PTQs for the US and Canada. How they carve up the US will be interesting.
• Each competing player will receive an exclusive participation promo card.
• Don't care unless it is super rare and worth cash money. Which you will need to sell to make back the cost of driving/travelling to the Regional PTQ.
• Top 4 of Regional PTQs receive invitation and airfare to the qualifying season's Pro Tour; 5th–8th receive invitations to the next Pro Tour's Regional PTQs. If attendance is over 128 players, Top 8 receive airfare and invitations to the qualifying season’s Pro Tour.
• This is a nice gesture. A question I have that will only be answered by time is whether the Regional PTQs will be huge or quite small since many people may be unable to make it due to distance or timing.

Overall, I think the changes definitely make it much more challenging to get on the Pro Tour, if only by making you 100% have to travel to at least 2 events. There may be a few lucky people who manage to win a preliminary PTQ and play in a Regional PTQ in the same city but the vast majority of people will be unable to do so and will have to do some travelling. For individuals that win a preliminary PTQ but are unable to attend the Regional PTQ it is bad news bears since your invite is totally useless if you cannot attend one of the Regional PTQs. 

If I could make one change to the new process it would be to have the Regional Invites be valid for 12 months so that people with busy lives/families/work/school,etc. can still feasibly attend the Regional PTQs. As mentioned above this is how the SCG Invitational system works and I think it is working pretty well.

-Cheers-

Magic the Collectible Gathering

I think that the player part of Magic players sometimes forgets about the collectible aspect of the game and I wanted to share a few of the high end collectible items that I have come across recently. I often come across interesting cards while I am hunting for miscuts and misprints (my personal collection passion) so I will from time to time try and share some interesting cards with you guys.

First -

Sale Link.

I think I can safely say that this is the most expensive Wooden Sphere out there. The first thing to note is that this is a 10, 10, 10 & 10 (take a quick look at the picture again). There are not very many cards in Magic history that get those grades let alone from the very first Magic set. What you are paying for here is to have the only Quad 10 graded card from Alpha. Though $3555 (+$6 shipping) does seem like an expensive way to get that. Shipping seems quite cheap though, I feel like I would want to pay at least a little more to make sure this card does arrive. To put into perspective just how rare a quad 10 graded card is we have to look at the list of cards with that grade from ALL of Magic - 1 Alpha card, 1 Antiquities card, 1 Revised card, 1 Mirage card, 1 Champions card and 1 Zendikar basic that are graded straight 10s. That is not many cards from throughout the history of Magic.

Second -

Sale Link.

This one is an interesting oddity, the front is a Pokémon card (in German) and the back is a Magic back. The story that I have heard about these says that there are only 9 of these cards in existence. As you can see from the picture it also has square corners.

-Cheers-

Simon says Sligh

 

In preparation for SCG: Dallas (really Fort Worth but ok) I have been looking over standard decks to play.

 

My last foray into standard was at the Ohio Invitational with the below decklist:  

 

Standard Decklist

Maindeck:

 

Creatures (27)

4 Firedrinker Satyr

4 Foundry Street Denizen

3 Legion Loyalist

4 Rakdos Cackler

4 Burning Tree Emissary

4 Firefist Striker

4 Ash Zealot

Lands (17)

17 Mountain

 

Spells (16)

4 Madcap Skills

4 Lightning Strike

4 Shock

4 Titan's Strength 

 

Sideboard (15):

 

3 Gore House Chain Walker 

4 Searing Blood

4 Skullcrack

2 Mizzium Mortars

2 Seismic Stomp

 

For Dallas the three decks that I have been looking at with the most interest are Mono Red, Boss Sligh and Mono Blue. None of these got anything super flashy from M15 but they got a few small role players to fit into the deck or sideboard. I have played 0 games of standard since the invitational so my preference is to play a deck that is the same or similar to one I have already played before (thus Mono Red, Boss Sligh or Mono Blue) and all the better if it happens to be well positioned.

 

Here are the lists that I am thinking about trying out:

 

Simon says Sligh Decklist

Maindeck:

Creatures (27)

4 Firedrinker Satyr

4 Foundry Street Denizen

3 Legion Loyalist

4 Rakdos Cackler

3 Burning Tree Emissary --> Not running 4 seems really odd...

4 Firefist Striker

3 Ash Zealot

2 Frenzied Goblin --> I want to make blocking as difficult as possible for my opponent but I don't want to reduce the power of my creatures too much.

Lands (17)

17 Mountain

 

Spells (16)

4 Madcap Skills

4 Lightning Strike

4 Shock

3 Titan's Strength

1 Hammerhand  -->  Again I want to make blocking as difficult as possible for my opponent but I want to be able to get the opponent dead. Hammerhand is good at stopping your opponents creatures from blocking while you get your Frenzied Goblins and Firefist Strikers online.

 

Sideboard (15):

 

1 Harness by Force --> Harness seems like a good out to huge monsters. I think it is probably good on the draw versus decks with giant monsters. Allowing you to undo them trying to race you.

2 Borderland Marauder / 2 Eidolon of the Great Revel --> Borderland Marauder seems like a strict upgrade to Gore House Chain Walker. Eidolon is better in many ways BUT he doesn't get played off of Burning Tree Emissary.

4 Searing Blood --> Searing Blood + Skullcrack were the best cards in my sideboard at the Ohio Invitational. I probably wont be leaving home without these little guys.

4 Skullcrack

2 Mizzium Mortars / 2 Stoke the Flames --> Stoke the Flames goes to the face which may give it the nod over Mizzium Mortars. Though I am unsure about tapping down our team to be able to kill their Blood Baron, etc.

1 Seismic Stomp

1 Scouring Sands / 1 Forge Devil --> Hedging somewhat for the mirror esque matches and even versus mono blue.

 

 

Boss Sligh

 

Creatures (25)

 

4 Akroan Crusader --> I have not yet played with this little guy so it is quite tempting to try this deck out.

4 Ash Zealot

4 Firedrinker Satyr

3 Frenzied Goblin

4 Legion Loyalist

4 Rakdos Cackler

2 Rubblebelt Maaka

 

Lands (18)

 

18 Mountain

 

Spells (17)

 

4 Dragon Mantle

3 Hammerhand

4 Madcap Skills

2 Stoke the Flames --> This seems very well positioned in this deck since you can just convoke it out. I don't like losing all of the other removal though.

4 Titan's Strength

 

Sideboard (15):

 

2 Phyrexian Revoker --> Not sure how much I like this little guy though he is very disruptive.
2 Forge Devil
2 Goblin Rabblemaster --> He seems very powerful v. control though his high mana cost is a little worrying.
3 Eidolon of the Great Revel
3 Skullcrack
1 Harness by Force
1 Seismic Stomp
1 Mutavault

Mono Blue Decklist

 

Creatures (28)

 

4 Cloudfin Raptor

4 Frostburn Weird

4 Judge's Familiar

4 Master of Waves

4 Nightveil Specter

4 Tidebinder Mage

4 Thassa, God of the Sea

 

Lands (25)

 

20 Island

4 Mutavault

1 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx

 

Spells (7)

 

1 Domestication

1 Cyclonic Rift

3 Rapid Hybridization

1 Hall of Triumph

1 Bident of Thassa

 

Sideboard (15):

 

1 Claustrophobia

2 Domestication
1 Dispel
2 Dissolve
3 Gainsay
1 Mizzium Skin
2 Negate
1 Bident of Thassa
1 Jace, Architect of Thought
1 Jace, Memory Adept

Oh did I say mono blue got anything from M15...well it didn't aside from Jace, the Living Guildpact. Which does have potential but I am not 100% sure how good it actually is. He seems excellent when you are ahead or at parity on the board since he allows you to out tempo your opponent but in every other position he stops you losing but doesn't really add much to the board. I think Jace, Architect of Thought is probably just better at the moment.

I will also be looking forward to picking up my Tom Ross token (though I am going to need 10 of them). :)

-Cheers-

Why I hate Garruk .

Why I hate Garruk .

Because http://magic.wizards.com/ and http://www.wizards.com/magic/planeswalkerpoints are completely unusable when everything is completely black.

Ugh. Wizards why you so silly?

-Cheers-

RUG Box Review

RUG Box Review

 

I have played more games with RUG / Canadian Threshold than any other deck in Magic. Whenever I show up to a store or tournament with RUG I usually have another deck box with me. Inside my bag is my "RUG Box." While the main deck's 55-60 is pretty set in stone, the sideboard of RUG is quite malleable; though you wouldn't necessarily know it from looking at the regular top 8 RUG sideboards. 

 

 

RUG BOX LIST (for completeness main deck cards are also in this list):  

 

Ancient Grudge

Artifact Mutation

Brainstorm

Chain Lightning
Counterspell

Daze

Delver of Secrets

Destructive Revelry

Dismember

Divert

Fire // Ice

Flooded Strand

Flusterstorm

Force of Will

Forked Bolt

Gitaxian Probe

Grafdiggers Cage

Green Sun's Zenith

Grim Lavamancer

Hydroblast

Krosan Grip

Life from the Loam

Lightning Bolt

Mindbreak Trap

Misty Rainforest
Negate

Nimble Mongoose

Phyrexian Revoker

Pithing Needle

Polluted Delta

Ponder

Price of Progress

Reality Ripple

Rough//Tumble

Scalding Tarn

Scavenging Ooze

Snapcaster Mage 

Spell Pierce

Spell Snare

Submerge

Sulfur Elemental

Sulfuric Vortex

Surgical Extraction

Sylvan Library

Tarmogoyf

Tormod's Crypt

Tropical Island

True Name Nemesis

Vendilion Clique

Volcanic Island

Wasteland

Wooded Foothills

Young Pyromancer

Zuran Orb

 

First let’s talk about the strategies you need to beat:

 

Artifacts/Enchantments
 

The big ones here that you are worried about are Batterskull, Blood Moon and Rest in Peace.

Ancient Grudge  

Artifact Mutation

Destructive Revelry

Krosan Grip

Reality Ripple

Sulfuric Vortex - Note this also comes in against blood moon decks

Blue Cards
 

The cards you care about here are Jace, the Mindsculptor, Show and Tell and True Name Nemesis.

 

Divert - Note this can serve as an additional spell pierce in a counter war

Red Elemental Blast

Pyroblast
 

Control
 

Primarily decks with Islands and Jace the Mindsculptor.

Counterspell
Envelop - Versus Terminus
Negate

Red Elemental Blast

Pithing Needle

Pyroblast

Spell Pierce

Sylvan Library

 

Combo
 

Against Combo your goal is to prevent them from getting A + B. This can be show and tell and a fatty, rituals and ad Ad Nauseam or any other 2 or 3 combination of cards.

 
Counterspell

Dismember - Against painted stone

Divert - Versus Cabal Therapy and Thoughtseize not Duress

Envelop
Fire // Ice - I like Fire // Ice against Ad Nauseam because it pitches to force of will, can Ice them for tempo on upkeep and also can be used to kill Xantid Swarm if they side that in.

Flusterstorm

Grafdiggers Cage - If they are elves or dredge

Mindbreak Trap
Negate

Red Elemental Blast

Phyrexian Revoker - Primarily against A + B combo that use permanents such as painter+ grindstone, etc

Pyroblast

Surgical Extraction - for A + B combo when they only have 4/8 pieces of the combo

Vendilion Clique - for A + B combo

Creatures

The most problematic creatures are Deathrite Shaman, Knight of the Reliquary and Tarmogoyf.

Chain Lightning

Dismember

Fire // Ice

Forked Bolt
Grim Lavamancer
Rough//Tumble

Scavenging Ooze - Against decks where your life total matters because of racing or you can control their graveyard to your advantage.

Submerge

True Name Nemesis

Young Pyromancer - This can come in as a wall against some creature decks that just want to keep attacking you with small dudes.

 

Graveyards
 

Dredgers are probably the most worrying graveyard card that you can come across though Life from the loam and goblin welder can also be troublesome.

Grafdiggers Cage

Green Sun's Zenith - Not great but if you are running Scavenging Ooze you side it in.  

Scavenging Ooze

Surgical Extraction

Tormod's Crypt

Mirror/Mirrorish

Being out tempoed is probably the worst thing that can happen to your tempo deck. Other decks that also have delver of secrets will try and do that and you need to stop them.

Chain Lightning

Fire // Ice

Forked Bolt
Grim Lavamancer

Life from the Loam

Red Elemental Blast

Pyroblast

Rough//Tumble
Scavenging Ooze - To help shrink their graveyard and also to potentially get rid of their life from the loam.
Submerge

Other

I have lumped any other narrow or metagame sideboard cards here.

Green Sun's Zenith - For when you need more dudes but want to flip Delver of Secrets
Hydroblast - When you play against too much Burn
Price of Progress - If you have lots of Jund and Lands in your metagame
Snapcaster Mage - If you need more copies of Lightning Bolt and/or Spell Pierce
Spell Snare - If there are a lot of Stone Forget Mystics and other powerful 2 drops in your metagame.
Zuran Orb - For against burn

  

Swarms

RUGs primary game plan is to 1 for 1 your opponent while pushing your advantage. This  game plan is pretty weak against swarm decks like elves and death and taxes who can deploy more than one threat or answer in the same turn.

 

For ease of use I have grouped the cards into hate cards related to beating specific strategies. Some cards are much more obvious that others, so I have not added any additional info, for others I have added a few notes or comments.

 

Chain Lightning

Dismember

Fire // Ice

Forked Bolt

Grim Lavamancer

Rough//Tumble

Submerge - If green

Sulfur Elemental

 

It is worth noting that you need to be careful not to over sideboard. Also be diligent about what cards your opponent does and does not play around - Daze, Stifle, etc to help in your sideboarding decisions.

 

If there are any cards I have missed then let me know!

-Cheers-