Monthly Archives: October 2014

Magical (super late) Monday 10.27.14

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Sorry for the late post tonight but things are the nuts right now. The boy had his 15th bday on the 27th so that kept me away from the keys. Also I started a new job in addition to my other jobs of the Community Manager/Web guy for my local card shop.

I started this last Saturday (aka 3 days ago) so I have been giving it 110% of my time trying to get a website up and running, fixing things like Goggle’s info and getting the other Social Media pages in order. I still need to get about 5 more pages of content ready to go just to cover the basic website. And I need to make some phone calls to get some much needed traction with some of the game stores in the surrounding area. Most of them have next to no web presence and one of the things we are offering is allowing those stores to create a Goggle calendar and I will add those to our calender we are publishing on our site. More events everyone is more fun for all. And it wouldn’t hurt to have them go to our site and see our events when they go to look at their local shop events. 🙂

So with that in mind lets talk about actual magic for a moment.

There is a SCG Super IQ this weekend in Witcha, and I got a slew of players planing to get out and battle for glory. And they all seem to want my thoughts on their builds. I am honored to be one of those people that others can go to for to for advice.

Some of my personal thoughts on standard at the moment are as follows.

3 color control decks are not great right now, namely, Esper control. I personally feel that wanting a BB spell on 2 a 1UU spell on 3 and a 4WW spell on 6 is real hard on the mana. And I just don’t like it.

Agro decks on the other hand are sweet and the complex/ painful mana base can do real work.

Oh and yes I am really impressed with the boss sligh like decks that are rocking some events right now.

But there is still lots of room for rogue decks, my own bluemud deck is coming along nicely if I do say so myself. I am tempted to try and go Jeski Mud but I am unsure if that level of out of the box thinking is really needed. But that is the list I have for you all tonight.

2 Ghostfire Blade
4 Springleaf Drum
4 Ensoul Artifact
4 Ornithopter
4 Phyrexian Revoker
2 Seeker of the Way
2 Heliod’s Pilgrim
4 Mantis Rider
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Lighting Strike
4 Stoke the Flames
2 Hour of Need
4 Darksteel Lands
4 Tri lands
4 U/W fetchlands
2 Mana Confluence
3 R/W pain land
2 islands
2 plains
2 mountain

I am not sure if it is good or right, but Hour of Need is amazing right now with all the removal floating around the format. But if i had the cards at the moment and i had to play something right now this would be it.

 

Thoughts?

<3s

Cheif of Skullhuntering your Face

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I feel that there is a super good agro deck out there and i think it plays a lot of warriors. Lets just throw cards at the wall and see what sticks.

All the cards i want to cram in to the deck are:
Thoughtseize
Despise
Ulcerate
Gods Willing
Hero’s Downfall
Bloodsoaked Champion
Herald of Anafenza
Chief of the Edge
Mardu Skullhunter
Oreskos Swiftclaw
Tymaret, the Murder King
Pain Seer and/or Grim Haruspex
Mogis’s Marauder

Sorin, Solemn Visitor

Possibly hanging in the sideboard
Chained to the Rock
Murderous Cut
Dark Betrayal
Phyrexian Revoker
Staff of the Death Magus

So numbers/ what makes the cut?

4 Thoughtseize
2 Despise
2 Ulcerate
1 Gods Willing
4 Hero’s Downfall

4 Bloodsoaked Champion
2 Herald of Anafenza
4 Mardu Skullhunter
4 Chief of the Edge
0 Oreskos Swiftclaw
2 Tymaret, the Murder King
4 Pain Seer and/or Grim Haruspex
2 Mogis’s Marauder

3 Sorin, Solemn Visitor

22 lands
Painlands
Mardu Triland
Fetchs
Lifegain lands
Basics

Idk, i will say i had a more controlling version of this deck and it was very good.  Ideally this deck would play a 1 drop, followed up with a Skullhunter or 2 some other discard spell, then lay on the beats while keeping the field clear thanks to suicide guys and light removal/discard combo. I don’t know if it is right for the meta atm. But after watching a ton of Abzan decks win out over the last two weekends i am leaning towards yes as long as you keep 4 Dark Betrayals in the sideboard and keep the pressure up.

<3s

Magical Monday 10.20.14

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Punted.

 

Sometimes you win. Other times you lose. And once and a while you just punt super badly and you really lose.

 

It was Friday Night Magic last Friday (clearly), i was mostly tired, hungry about to piss myself and it was intense. The match was tied up 1/1 i was at 5 with 7 mana and 2 fliers in play to my opponents 12 life and 3 two power dudes. And i had a plan. It was my turn and i drew an island i could restock my Illusory Angel and  a Monstrous Growth, attack for 6 and drop my blocker. Weather the storm on the crack back  and win through whatever removal spell my opponent could have and win.

I look at my hand mid combat and i realize that this is not an Island.

Shit. Scroll back to the top of the page and look at the image of Charlie doing his best Samius impression.

 

Right away i knew that i just screwed up and lost the game. I knew what i should have done and played it safe and played my morph and the other 3 drop that was hanging out in my hand with a safe attack for 3. Then go for the win next turn….

 

What i did was let my opponent attack me to death and shook his had and landed well out side of the prize support. The Gurobo family crashed and burned for the night.

It is hard to be  good sport. But at the same time i loved watching Ari Lax play out his top 8 at the pro tour. So animated and worthy of support and well wishes. But there seems to be a conversation happening right now about how to be a good winner and good loser. In my mind there is no harm in someone having excitement bursting from the seams. When the magic gods smile upon you it can be hard to keep all that goodness contained. But here is the deal if you can’t take it, keep that shit contained. The golden rule is not just a suggestion it is a way of life.

That is all i got. Working on a ton of decks at the moment but none of them good. But i will get back to you if and when i have any ideas worth sharing.

 

<3s

Magical Monday 10.14.14

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One of the decks that both my kid and I had a lot of fun and/or success with was that tasty little Black/Red Young Pyro Control deck that I wrote about a while back. It was so good in the last standard that I often thought that I would port some variation of it to modern. But tonight I want to look at updating this masterpiece.

The old list more or less:
4 Young Pyo
4 Pain Seer
4 Nivmagus Elemental
2 Tymaret, the Murder King

4 Duress
4 Thoughtseize
3 Spite of Mogis
2 Bile Blight
3 Doom Blade
2 hero’s downfall
4 Lightning Strike
4 Mizzium Mortars

Khan Standard, like always here is the list of cards that make my maybe list.

Thoughtseize
Despise
Magma Spray
Ulcerate
Bile Blight
Lightning Strike
Magma Jet
Bloodsoaked Champ
Monastery Swiftspear
Mardu Skullhunter
Pain Seer
Goblin Rabblemaster
Goblinslide
Hero’s Downfall
Howl of the Horde

Lets look at some of the standout cards.
Thoughtseize and Despise are great right now. I think that Despise is ever better then Duress was in last year’s standard.
Goblinslide is not unlike a harder to kill if harder to get guys from Young Pyo.
Monastery Swiftspear and Bloodsoaked C is not unlike Nivmagus Elemental.
And if there is ever a deck that would make Howl of the Horde good this might be it.

So lets crunch some numbers.
4Thoughtseize
4 Despise
2 Magma Spray
2 Ulcerate
4 Lightning Strike
4 Magma Jet
2 Bloodsoaked Champ
4 Mardu Skullhunter
4 Pain Seer
4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Goblinslide
2 Howl of the Horde
22 lands
4 Bloodstained Mire
4 Temple of Malice
2 Urborg
3 Mana Confluence
5 Swamp
4 Mountain
I do think I want the Bloodfell Caves but I really need as many lands as possible to come into play untapped but the life might just be needed.
So much potential.

<3s

Villainous Wealth is Dating your Mom

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There has been some interest in what my Villainous Wealth might look like so here was go.

List one:

G/B Constellation

I start like every other green shell right now.

Mystic
Caryatid
Courser

And the normal removal

Bile Blight
Hero’s Downfall
Murderous Cut
Which makes
Pharika a must.

And lets not for get the actual Villainous Wealths, which leaves us a few slots to make things happen.

So it is hard to be a Constellation deck with out some key cards.

Eidolon of Blossoms
Doomwake Giant

I think that Genesis Hydra might be at home in this style of deck. There might even be room for a tight Chord of Calling tool box with Nylea and her Disciple. Or some kind of hand disruption like Thoughtseize, Brain Maggot and Despise. Think I like that even more then the Hydra’s and the Cord package.

So laid out build one looks like so:

4 Mystic
4 Caryatid
4 Brain Maggot
4 Courser
2 Pharika
4 Eidolon of Blossoms
2 Doomwake Giant

4 Thoughtseize
2 Bile Blight
3 Hero’s Downfall
3 Villainous Wealth

24 lands like:

4 Temple of Malady
2 Urborg
3 Mana Confluence
2 Llanowar Wastes
4 Polluted Delta
4 Forest
3 Swamps
2 Islands

Build Two: Less Detailed

Classic U/B control. But here is the main issue there are double blue spells and double black spells. But in an ideal world we can make it work….

We start with the insane power of the hand disruption that is available in standard.

Thoughtseize
Despise
Brain Maggot

Removal in standard is fairly strong right now here are my top 3 black removal.
Ulcerate
Bile Blight
Hero’s Downfall

Call me crazy but I even love even tempo based removal like Void Snare, Icy Blast and Whelming Wave.

And I think Akroan Horse and Villainous Wealth for finishers with Cranial Archive, Treasure Cruise and Dig Though Time. Man i really want some kind of Delve mana acceleration artifact.

With Dissipate and Dissolve for counter loves.

But I just can’t form this in to a full fledged list by the numbers the mana is just too bad for my sleepy brain to allow me to put a list full of 1uu and bb cards

I am getting tired, not enough to sleep yet but not enough to keep going and make any helpful thoughts.

I will say this though, i think there is a sick infinite turn bant deck right now. Could fit in a nice Bant walker shell and all that bad mana would be planed.

Peace out,

<3s

Magical Monday 10.6.14

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I didn’t get to make it to last weeks FNM do to massive amount of real life bull shit. But i did make it in time to watch 2 or 3 matches of my deck for states the next day. I learned a lot but then got less then 2 hours of sleep due to that real life bullshit and ended up bailing on going because i just knew that i couldn’t play to the level i know that i can play at with that low amount of sleep and i didn’t want to burn the cash to play/eat/drive to just loose and wish that i didn’t go.

But this weekend is StarCityGames’ states and i hope to make that one.

Okay so back to watching those games on Friday, Dan (he borrowed my standard deck for FNM) was playing Brandon. Brandon was playing a Mardu deck that got my brain turning. And i have a rough list.

First thing i do is lower the curve a ton and cut a color. Now i am just Red/White and top the curve out at 3. And i want to focus on going wide and pure speed.

2 Herald of Anafenza
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Soldier of the Pantheon

4 Akroan Hoplite
4 War-Name Aspirant

4 Goblin Rabblemaster
2 Brimaz, King of Oreskos

4 Crowd’s Favor
4 Dragon Mantle
4 Titan’s Strength
4 Lightning Strike
2 Trumpet Blast

18 lands

4 Battlefield Forge
4 Mana Confluence
6 Mountain
4 Plains

I don’t know if it is good or not. Going to say maybe… I could see having 3-4 lands in the sideboard and Purphoros, God of the Forge to get some extra reach. Stroke the Flames might also need to be included in the main but i am not sure what to cut to work them in.

Thoughts?

<3s

Random is as Random Does

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I have never stolen a dog. It seems like something that i should have done back when i was younger and drunker. Well that is not totally true i could be equally as drunk today as i was back when i was younger.

Speaking of younger, remember when the it seemed like the future was a long time away and full of promise? Right this minute besides writing this my life is a flux of terror, pain and the sinking feeling that i am letting everyone down. Does that make me normal?

Think it is this whole situation, with my job, part time *cough* so i can work on this other freelance programming project which could make me a ton of money and change my family in a super meaningful way. But if history has shown me a repeatable pattern it is that someone else profits of my hard work and i get the shaft.

Oh the other hand, Tobril keeps pushing me in to going out on my own and starting my own business. I have always had ideas that would make great products and or businesses. Not that i think that Tobril is secretly selling my ideas but a strangely large number of them seem to be crawling out of the wood work.

Think i have been talking about an online grocery/delivery service tied in with a reminder email based on things like average days between reorders of the same products and best use dates. Guess what Walmart is testing out? If you said that very logic then you can order yourself a cookie. About 3 years ago, when i first started looking at this whole aquaponics, i woke up and drew something very close to this:


Which is a fairly good deal by the way, just to learn the basics anyway grow yourself a few things and have a small fish or two. Link to PETCO

This is all about how i have ideas but i am often bad at the follow through. It always felt crazy and often like a massive waist of time, but the wife watches this show Shark Tank. And i catch it from time to time. It is full of people following through with their crazy ideas and making a go of them.

I should find the time to be more crazy.

How and the hell did i go from dog stealing to i have shitty follow through? See how my mind is working today…

<3s