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Since my girlfriend and i were invited to a wedding on friday, i couldn't go to fnm. Since i like to play at least once a week, i tried to look up other LGS in my area and found one 1h away which was having a t2-tournament on saturday.
There were some things that are bothering me and i'd like the opinion of some fellow magic players and/or store owners, esp. if i take things too srs or if my critique is causeless. If you disagree with me, i'd be happy about your opinion and not only a short "downvote".
When i arrived at the store, the manager asked me to check through my deck to look if it was a t2-deck. I told him i play a totally normal b/w-control deck but he still wanted to go through my things. since we didn't have a judge there i suppose that it was his duty to do so? or am i wrong? while he checked he commented on my cards (playing a m12-common-doomblade instead of the m14-uncommon-db). i guess i generally don't like ppl going through my property, but if it is his right as organizer, i can deal with it.
Generally, time between rounds took like 30 minutes. Not only bc he talked to customers who came around to ask questions (which is fine to me, thats how a store works after all), but also because he was involved in playing games or painting his warhammer figurines - more or less the store was kind of warhammer/tabletop-orientated. They had a theros booster box (where we got our packs from), a m14-booster box and some intro decks. Looked like mtg wasnt the core business of that store. The play-area was relatively small bc most of the place was filled by tables for tabletop games.
Since we payed 8€ entry fee for 2 Boosters and i chose to spent my time there as a customer, i expected some more service since this is a relatively high entry fee for a t2 tournament with around 10 players. the other lgs i play at takes 3€ for 1 booster.
so |
I'm a casual MTG player, though I've played for 15 years or so. Mercadian is the last series I followed seriously, so I'll probably seem a bit out of touch. When my friends started playing the same decks as top tournament players, I stopped having fun with the game and stopped buying cards unless we played drafts. To me, most of the fun was taking what you were given as an empty slate and designing something effective, not robotically following someone else's strategy with its predefined playstyle.
This leads to my question: how differently would good players play decks given the same hands. For example, in a game like Bridge, tournaments are set up so that people all play the exact same hands and the "skill" is how well you play it compared to others. Magic is, at the core, a very algorithmic game with a good amount of randomness thrown in. Each game is a series of fully discrete steps. Given certain inputs, most players will probably respond in similar if not identical ways and someone inevitably has the advantage in each game.
When you play essentially the same deck against four or five others for months if not years, I simply don't see how every reaction hasn't just become common knowledge among anyone who takes the game seriously at a high level. Compared to a dynamic game with elements of timing and precision, I'm left confused how there is anything more than a lack of skill until you've learned how all of the common decks and their variants play. Are these differences manifested in a professional's play or in his deck variations?
So |
I see so many arguments inside of this subreddit about how people don't think modo cards hold any "real" value, and I just want to look into why people think this, and maybe explain some things ppl didn't know.
I don't think a lot of people understand the cash value of a ticket or the redemption system. (Yes, the price increase on redemptions is going to change the market a bit, but still, for foil sets of cards it is still considerably cheaper to build a set on MTGO and then redeem them for paper cards)
You can sell your Event Tickets to other people. (Most of the time for between .95 and .98 cents on the dollar) You can find a lot of these people in the current classifieds section
WotC's stance on selling your digital objects: "Many players have adopted event tickets as the unofficial currency for Magic Online. Although there are no rules preventing you from selling digital objects for money outside the Magic Online system, Wizards of the Coast cannot assist you with these transactions. If you make any deals or arrangements outside the system, you do so at your own risk. We advise extreme caution and common sense so you don't get scammed." ^ |
Hey guys!
So there's been a VERY interesting conversation taking place [here]( and especially [here]( that is getting a little buried now and straying off the topic of the OP a little bit. I thought I'd start a new thread to raise some questions, because it seems to me there are a lot of really cool relevant questions here and this is very much an active and controversial debate.
My first impetus to start this thread was that several days ago I had my own "rules lawyering" incident about a week ago which I was going to ask about here, but [u/Freemantic]( beat me to it. However, as the debate grew between the seemingly very fine line between a rules lawyer and simply making a good play, bringing up my own example which teeters the line a bit more seemed like a good idea so here it is:
Both I and my opponent are at 7 life. My board is a 3/3 (Invasive Species, M15 draft), Titanic Growth and lands in hand. Opponent has 4 creatures, representing lethal (I know he had a Krenko's Enforcer and an Accursed Spirit, I forget the other two but for some reason I'm imagining it's a Will-Forged Golem and a Child of Night.) My only route to victory is attacking with my species, praying for no blocks, and then growth-ing.
-I think for a while, then attack.
-Opponent thinks for a while. Opponent hasn't said much all match, usually just one word responses like "okay" or something like that.
-After a while in the tank opponent grunts something like "yeah" or "okay" and then moves to his spindown, indicating to me that he has no blockers and is taking the 3 damage.
-I say hold on, before combat damage, during declare blockers, titanic growth my guy.
Now at this point, my opponent tries to back out of it, explaining to me that he played one of his creatures specifically to block, and he also gave some other excuse, I think he just said something like "I really won the game" or something like that. Anyway, I told him he indicated to me that he wasn't blocking and that he no longer has the opportunity to block. I then said, look I don't want to be "that guy" or anything, so if you want let's absolutely call judge. Opponent sits for a while not saying anything and thinks, then just scoops up his cards, leaves, and starts calling me nasty names, behind my back as well.
Since the level of communication seems to be the issue with "rules lawyering" I brought up my example because I'm not sure where it falls on the line. My opponent was generally uncommunicative throughout the match (this was game 3). I had taken one-word responses from him all match as relatively clear indicators. It seemed clear to me that his response indicated the exact misplay I was playing for, ergo I didn't think my mistake was in the wrong. My opponent certainly did.
Here are the questions I've been milling over and don't really have any solid answers for:
1) Is crystal clear communication absolutely necessary for every situation? Is the onus on me, for example, in my example for not clearly confirming the board state; should I have said something like "no blockers? no blockers really? Really?!?"
2) My opponent clearly explained his intent to me after the situation (which seemed obvious to me was at the very least after he decided not to declare blockers). However, intent and play are not the same. I make misplays all the time, where I intended to do something but I, say, miss a trigger, or just forget about something. Just because I wanted to doesn't mean I get to. At what point can we just give everybody what they want, and when do we have to suck it up and say no, you made a mistake?
3) This occurred at a local low level event, but still with some significant albeit not earth-shattering prize support. I am a competitive gamer, I admit, but I allow my opponents all the time to get away with stuff, because hey it's just a game. In this specific case I decided to act a little stricter because I had a decent record and it was my only route to victory, and as far as I'm concerned a completely valid one. Does this make me "that guy" at an FNM? How about a ptq? Pro Tour?
Cedric Phillips was brought up as as well (see [here]( I'll let y'all read it for yourselves but basically the |
The reason I specified so much in the title is because it is vital as to why this is an issue.
I'll try and put this in the easiest-to-understand way that I can; if I have Sanguine Bond life-loss to all opponents, how does this all pan out?
each of my 4 opponents loses their 3 life in turn and, when I gain the life, I am allowed to assign who loses the (3) life for it and then the next opponent loses their life, and so on?
each opponent loses 3 life, I gain 12, and I am then allowed to assign that 12 lifeloss to a single opponent?
some other obscure ruling on this that I can't think of?
Help is appreciated.
EDIT : swapped life-loss with damage, thank you for the correction, logicalnoise
EDIT^2 : |
Sorry for the blatantly newbish question, I just started playing at the pre-release of EMN. I suppose it's kind of embarrassing at this point, but I have been seeing the CN2 signs at all the local stores and had thought it was a completely separate game.
So far, I've assumed that these cards won't be something I will see in standard, etc...but I was hoping someone could give me the |
I got into Magic for the first time at the tail end of the Return to Ravnica set. One of my friends, who had played for years in the late '90s/early 2000s, found his old decks and offered to teach me to play. I was initially reluctant, but upon trying it out, I realized what depth of strategy went into the game.
As we kept playing, I got more and more into Magic. It wasn't so much the competitive scene or the deckbuilding that I enjoyed, but rather, it was the chance to spend time with one of my best friends. I'd come over, we'd pour some drinks, break out the decks, and have a good time. Each game was different, and each game was just a social opportunity. As time passed, my friend's interest in Magic dwindled until finally he stopped wanting to play. At that point, I stopped as well.
Shortly thereafter, I realized that I missed Magic. Even without someone to play with, Magic provided me with an escape from my personal life. I got into deckbuilding, and created a few decks that I enjoyed playing (though weren't competitive in the meta at all). I found a playgroup of like-minded individuals--people who weren't interested in going to PTs or GPs or even FNMs, but just sitting around and socializing over a game. I was finally having fun with Magic again, but I still felt like something was missing.
I started buying cards to create new decks, thinking maybe I just needed more than my normal two decks to revive that feeling of freedom and excitement when I play. What I realized, though, is that it wasn't just new decks or new friends that brought me pleasure through Magic--it's the cards themselves. The art of the cards, the texture, the ink, the font, and even the way they feel in my hand makes me happy. I wanted to collect. Somehow, over the short amount of time I've been playing Magic, I fell in love with the cards. They kindled a passion that I don't feel for anything else, and I made it my mission to collect a complete set.
I am well aware that collecting a complete set of Magic cards will be time-consuming, expensive, and really sort of pointless. But it's what makes me happy. Some people play Magic for the competition, some for the deckbuilding, some for the fun they can have on Friday nights at a shop. I play to collect the cards. In my mind, that's the most fun part of this exciting and gorgeous game. So...with my new goal in mind, I started to buy. About the time JOU was released, I had just finished acquiring a complete set of Return to Rav, Gatecrash, and Dragon's Maze.
JOU was released in May this year. I had been collecting since...probably May of last year? I don't know; the timelines are a little hazy. This past May, I had to leave town for three months to complete an internship in Ohio for school. I talked to my landlord, and she let me store most of my stuff in her basement during the summer. Since I was going to be mostly broke and very busy, I left my Magic cards (which were packed in a box, which was wrapped in a plastic garbage bag, which was placed in another box) in her basement. I came back home a few weeks ago, and just yesterday found the time to pull all my boxes out of storage.
This morning, I opened my boxes. Everything I owned was covered in a bright orange mold. All of my winter clothes, all the books I own, my records, my bedding, all of the hard-copy photos I have...and my cards.
At some point over the summer, my landlord says her basement flooded. A pipe broke somehow, and by the time she found it, there was a good foot of standing water in her basement. I didn't know any of this until I found the mold and asked her. I don't care about most of my stuff. Really, I can buy new clothes, bedding, and books; most of my photos were just prints from a digital file; I didn't own any particularly valuable records (I'm kind of a vinyl junkie, but most of my collecting went to Magic). But the few personal mementos I had (a first edition of a book my grandmother gave me, a photo of my mother I have no copy of, and a few others) and my MTG collection are gone forever, and I am crushed.
I know that I can buy the cards again; most of my collection is even still in print. I know that I will buy them again, given time. But this hurts; I loved those cards. I put energy into their acquisition and care. I cared about them.
I'm taking them to the dump now, and then I have a class to attend. Thanks for reading, if you made it this far. I just wanted to tell someone how upset I was before I see my playgroup in class and have to tell them. I'm not sure they'll understand.
Edit: |
I literally have no idea what to do or how to build a deck. 3 draft packs each I think.
Pls quick tips halp. I read 19-20 mana is usually pretty good?
Any tips on what cards to take or avoid - I heard ally decks were pretty strong but the people I'm going with are so autistic about magic they probably already know that and it might be hard to draft allies.
update:
OP here,
So I thought I'd let everyone know the draft went well. I made it to the final round with an aggro deck and lost to an enchantment I didn't realize I could remove with ulamog. I had 2 hp left and he had 1 card after I made him ditch 20. His enchantment allowed him to sacrifice 2 monsters and kill my 2 hp.
So |
Friday was my brothers and I first prerelease. I've been playing casually off and on since 1999 and my brother just started playing a month ago. He is 15, very awkward and we don't have a lot of the same interests, I'm 27. So when he expressed interest in MTG I was really excited.
What I came here to say was Friday was one of the best times of my life and my brothers too. Everyone was very nice and helpful and we met some really awesome people.
One person in particular was very generous with his time and his cards. He was the first person we sat next to when we got there. When he heard this was our first event and that my brother just started playing he offered to let us look at his binder later and give us some cards. I was like cool a couple cards would be nice for my brothers morph deck. When he found out I was using Dromoka he gave me a whole pack of six sided die and said, "you're gonna need these." And man was he right.
So long prerelease short he finds me and my brother afterwards and shows us his binder. He says he's selling a lot of his collection so he wanted to get rid of a bunch of bulk rares that he couldn't get much money off of and would never use. He then proceeds to give my brother all the cards he needs for his morph deck and even more so he can make a midrange temur deck if he wants. All in all I'd say he gave us over 30 cards from his binder mostly rares and mythics. Then he looks at my brother and gives my brother all the cards he got from the prerelease. What an awesome guy. I never thought in a million years I'd meet someone like that at an event. So I just wanted to say, thank kind stranger. You made this almost 30 year old feel 12 again and you hooked my brother into this fine game. My brother is still walking around with a dumb grin on his face and as I write this, I have to admit, so am I.
Edit, |
Dragon Week Day 5 is here! Entering is simple, just reply to this thread with your answer or tweet it at us @CommandCast. At the end of the week we will be giving out a full box of Dragons of Tarkir and a Fat Pack to our winners!
Today’s Question:
What is the best, most powerful, & spikiest dragon for EDH and why?
For the remainder of the week, if you use #DragonWeek on Twitter you’ll be entered to win new single booster packs daily!
What is Dragon Week?
The Dragons of Tarkir have arrived and it's time to celebrate! The Command Zone podcast ( is releasing two special Dragon themed episodes and giving away tons of BOOSTER PACKS to our listeners! Anyone can enter as long as they're subscribed to the podcast. All the information you'll need to know and more in one handy |
Like in the title. Are Khans something great or not? Notable bannings? Etc.? Right now I'll be able to do actual research in like 30 minutes, I'm on a phone at the moment. I would love if anyone of you would to a quick |
Talking with a few folks around the LGS during FNM there was a thought that Wizards may be forcing slightly better cards into Fat Packs at a higher frequency than average booster boxes because it's a more common way that new people buy cards when getting into the game.
So I ran a little experiment with the complete caveat that this is a small sample size and needs more data to prove anything. I opened all the boosters from one FP and all the boosters from one booster box and tallied the counts of Rares, Mythics, and Foils with additional breakouts for Planeswalkers and Foils by rarity. The counts are here:
But for the |
DAY 2 IS OVER! Our winner today is from... REDDIT! Congrats /u/Bionisam, you're in the Top 7! Guaranteed 3 Booster Packs... and potentially 12! :)
Winners so far:
Today is the 2nd day of Dragon Week! To enter into our booster giveaway, all you have to do is reply to this post with your answer to this question:
We've talked a lot about Josh's Cromat deck on the show... What dragon would you suggest is the best fit for it and why?
BONUS: If you tweet your answer at us, use #DragonWeek and we'll be doing an additional drawing today for anyone answering for more DTK booster packs.
We'll be back every day with a new question and more chances to win booster packs from Dragons of Tarkir. Thanks everyone! :)
What is Dragon Week?
The Dragons of Tarkir have arrived and it's time to celebrate! The Command Zone podcast ( is releasing two special Dragon themed episodes and giving away tons of BOOSTER PACKS to our listeners! Anyone can enter as long as they're subscribed to the podcast. All the information you'll need to know and more in one handy |
The winners for today have been decided! We'll be back tomorrow morning with our next question.
Dragon Week Day 3 is here! Entering is simple, just reply to this thread with your answer or tweet it at us @CommandCast. At the end of the week we will be giving out a full box of Dragons of Tarkir and a Fat Pack to our winners!
Today's Question:
What is your favorite 2 or 3 card interaction that features at least one dragon?
For the remainder of the week, if you use #DragonWeek on Twitter you’ll be entered to win new single booster packs daily!
What is Dragon Week?
The Dragons of Tarkir have arrived and it's time to celebrate! The Command Zone podcast ( is releasing two special Dragon themed episodes and giving away tons of BOOSTER PACKS to our listeners! Anyone can enter as long as they're subscribed to the podcast. All the information you'll need to know and more in one handy |
Dragon Week is almost over! Entering is simple, just reply to this thread with your answer or tweet it at us @CommandCast. At the end of the week we will be giving out a full box of Dragons of Tarkir and a Fat Pack to our winners!
Today’s Question:
In your personal experience, what is the most underrated dragon in EDH? Give us a story or short explanation why you think so.
As a reminder, if you use #DragonWeek on Twitter you’ll be entered to win booster packs daily!
WINNERS SO FAR
What is Dragon Week?
The Dragons of Tarkir have arrived and it's time to celebrate! The Command Zone podcast ( is releasing two special Dragon themed episodes and giving away tons of BOOSTER PACKS to our listeners! Anyone can enter as long as they're subscribed to the podcast. All the information you'll need to know and more in one handy |
So I loved tappedout and I do use deckbox as well but for the last few days I haven't been able to get on tappedout, which is frustrating because I've been trying to build a few decks I had finished on the site. Anyways |
Hello Dear Magic players.
As of the New Gatecrash and Recently Released Return to Ravnica Block Allot of New players are Confused about the Land Distribution. Whether you have Played For Years, or have played only once,
This Guide will help Clear up some of the Sticky Common Questions like: How many lands/Colors should I run? Should I invest in Shock lands? What the Main Budget alternatives are for Dual Color lands?
The Key To Land Distributing!
The First Thing You Want to do is to Decide on a Deck!
Key Factors to think about When Deciding on a Deck is:
Budget (Your overall Price range to spend)
If you’re trying to spend as little as possible, You Probably want to Look Away From Shock lands as they can Easily Run you a Pretty Penny. Alternatives to shock lands will have its Own section Further Into the guide.
Speed (Mid-range/Fast Pace)
Agro is good For a Fast pace Play style But, With the Right Control Deck, if you can’t win by Turn 5 Its Pretty Much Game over.
Function (What The overall Theme you are Trying to accomplish?)
Are you trying to pump out a bunch of Creatures, Or Control the Field Locking down a player’s ability to play? And Are there Combos You want to play? What Could Help a Combo Out?
Color (Mono-colored Dual-colored or Tri-colored)
If you Go Mono-colored You will have a Steady mana flow, But Dual/Tri-colored lands allow you to Further strengthen your deck as each color has there individual advantages. Like how White is commonly known for its flyers and Vigilance whereas, Red is commonly known for its Burn spells and Haste/Low mana cost Advantages. Sometimes Tri-Colors can make all the Difference in the world. An example of this is how “Bant Control” a Blue Green White Deck Eats Face!
For More help on Building your Deck / Picking a Pre-constructed Deck Check out The Following Links
Build your Own
[Starting Out]( (by HaplessMagician)
[Starting Out]( (by RabbertKlein)
[Deck Archetypes]( (by aciddrizzle)
Or for Pre-constructed Decks Turn to
[TCG Player Deck Search}(
[TCG Player Deck List}(
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What Is Mana Fixing?
Mana Fixing is only Fixing a Problem that Land Distribution Didn’t Accomplish. With The Correct Land Distribution Your Deck Can Achieve Greatness With Little or No Mana Fixing.
The first thing you want to Remember is The Mana Ratio. For a 60 card Deck The standard land Distribution is
24 lands to 36 cards, Or one/third your deck as you may decide to go over by one or two cards. However, The way your deck is Built It might be Beneficial to add or remove mana as needed Based on your Play style and Deck Arch-type.
A good thing to do when distributing land is to First Evaluate your Mana Ramp/curve . Your Mana Ramp/curve is your Average amount of Mana or Average amount of Colored Mana. By adding up the total amount of mana of one color and doing the same for each additional color you can get an idea of the dependency on one color over another your deck needs. Compare the Figures of each color’s Total land dependency to Weigh the color’s Need in the Deck. By Using this simple math Problem you can simplify land distribution issues Quickly without too much worrying about mana fixing.
Total cards with Color 1 = W
Total cards with Color 2 = R
(Remember to add 1 to the number set for each Colored Mana on each card. I.e. 1 (R) (R) = +2 to R
R / W = %
Devide The Larger Number into the smaller Number. I.e. (R= 12 and W = 23) 12/23 = 0.52 so Around 12W and 12R Whereas (R= 56 and W = 12) 12/56 = 0.21 Which makes the Lower number needing only 20% to 21% of your set lands. So the distribution would be Land Total (L /100) finds 1% of lands 24/100 = 2.4 * 0.21 = 5.04 So the land Distribution would Be 19R 5W
When Adding Dual lands Remove 1 of the Bigger Number for each land, or just remove .4 of the sum of the number, for each Dual Land. Then Recalculate Round to the nearest 1.
BUGET SECTION
A Quick Budget Dual land
Guild Gates are A Success. In a Game where you are playing Mid-range The Best type of land is a land you can use. When adding and playing cards remember what type of deck your playing. If your playing an Agro Deck Like Boros (R/W) You Might not want to play a Gate on first turn as you could have a 1 drop Creature or spell. However Gates come into play Tapped. However playing a Mid-range Deck It would Be Benifical to play gates first as it helps in mid- late game.
Another GREAT card is “Evolving Wilds”. “Evolving Wilds” says “sacrifice this card and Search for a Basic land. Put it on to the Battlefield Tapped.” Gates Are NOT Basic Lands. This is a very common mistake. Please be sure to read the “Types of land” your lands are i.e. Land ~ Gate. However Regular lands are Basic. This method is great as you can decide what color Land you want, However The Draw Back is that it is a one color mana so you can’t change your mind later. As well as Evolving wilds counts towards your 1 land total per turn because it is a land.
Food for thought When using a Fetch land (Evolving Wilds) or similar Cards like such. If you Grab a Forest. Using “Arbor elf” to “untap target Forest” helps a lot.
Another way to get lands are to use Sorceries, Instance to “search your library” for Lands of specific types. Forest, Mountan , Plains, Island, or Swamp. This works similar to Evolving Wilds However Shock lands are labled Land ~ mountain forest. Or Land - Color 1 color 2 Meaning you can Fetch Shock lands for play As well as Use there “sub-type” to your advantage. Like when playing Innistrad Dual lands, Which state the card has to be tapped if you don’t own a Color 1 or Color 2 card . I.e. Isolated Chapel says “Isolated Chapel comes into play tapped unless you control a plains or a swamp.” The down side to using lands that are “sorceries or Instants” is mana Cost, to play and the ability to be countered. However an upside is you may play a land for turn and cast this ability whereas Evolving wilds counts as a land per turn
The last way to produce mana is to use Creatures to produce mana or help Untap mana. Like Arbor elf that untaps a forest or. Avacyn’s Pigrim that Taps for one White mana. Like Sorceries, Instance, the down side to using lands that are “sorceries or Instants” is mana Cost, to play and the ability to be countered/removed. The upside is you may play a land for turn and cast this ability As well as use Your Creatures as a Chump Block or a quick swing, on the result of a Empty field or Game finishing Move. (You can Arrange your creatures on field how you want. As long as you follow the Setup Being your Deck / Graveyard is to your Right and Lands are at the Back wall of your Field. This is important as I take my land producing creatures and put them in a second row in front of my lands, and a row Right near the middle field or (invisible Front wall) of my side of the battleground. So that there is a 50/50 chance someone will forget your other mana producing creatures as your not attacking or blocking with them. Then when they try and attack with there finishing x/x where x is your life total I.e. You lose. you can Chump Block them and make them whep. There Good to attack with to get that last point of damage in as well
I hope this guide helped inform a little about Dual lands, Budget Alternatives and basic land distribution. If you have any comments, Questions or concerns I will try to check back at the comments Fairly Regularly. Please Feel Free to Give me Feedback on this Guide as its my first Guide and I don’t know What else to put in this Guide Thanks and have a Fun magical experience.
P.s. please don’t post |
I'm going to my first big magic event (Philly) this weekend. Is there anything I should keep in mind? I'm a pretty casual player (mostly play with my boyfriend, who is... less casual, haha) but I have done pretty well at fnm's before where the people were very competent\competitive (I went 3-1 once, that was cool c:).
I guess my biggest hang up is that I'm pretty shy and if I mess up I feel bad and it effects the rest of my gameplay. I also have an irrational fear that I'll accidentally mess up and the judges will dramatically rip up my dci card (do I need to bring that?).
So I guess the |
Do you like the weirdness of EDH but hate waiting for the take-an-extra-turn guy to finish playing solitare?
Do you like the card pool of Modern but hate shelling out $$$ for a deck full of rares?
Do you like the tight lists and high impact of each card in Legacy but can't convince your friends to make the switch?
Regardless of what you answered, you should play TOY BOAT MAYHEM
The |
Professor Buzzkill here. Yeah we get it. Magic is an expensive game. Especially considering what you actually get when you buy product. And it adds up really really quickly. Yeah, prices can be out of control, but here's the reality: you control what you buy. You control what is important to you. And it's not wizards fault if you're unhappy. It's your own fault.
However there are ways to avoid the economic hype bubble. And it's actually really simple. Have a plan. Don't act on impulse. Enjoy yourself. Here are the ways you get there
1) Write down your magic goals
Have a short, medium, and long term goal. Think about how much money it's going to cost to achieve them. As a rule of thumb, short term goals should be something you should be able to do right now, medium goals are strong goals that you can see yourself completing, and long term goals can be pipe dreams that you don't really have a plan for. My goals right now are: Get rid of my [[Dramoka's Commands]] and complete a playset of [[Abbot of Keral Keep]], complete the shell of affinity, and collect a copy of each reserved dual land.
2) Write down your budget
Something you should be doing in life anyway, but actually budget how much money you're going to spend every month. I write it down on a per month basis, but its up to you. Think about if that budget is going to be enough. Think about if that's how you want to be spending that money.
3) All money spent on magic is gone
Don't speculate. 99 percent of you don't have the time, knowledge, and intuition to make money on the market. Do not expect any of the money you spend in the game to come back in the form of cash.
4) Competitive play is exponentially more expensive
Being competitive means buying into the most in-demand cards when they're expensive. You're essentially paying a tax to play the perceived best decks. Decks change quickly in Standard and Modern too. So you can expect to be buying into the most-expensive cards regularly. As you move up in the competitive chain as well, costs go up to. Grinding events every other weekend means spending the gas, paying a hotel fee, and registration fee. That is really where the big costs lie in competitive play.
5) Stick to your goals
So you go to your Oath of the Gatewatch pre-release, and you're the luckiest guy in the room. You pull a promo [[Kozilek's Return]]! The big problem is, how does that help you with your goal? If your goal isn't to build a foil eldrazi or tron deck, then you should take that promo chase mythic, and sell it immediately while it's price is as high as it will be. And this is where most everyone messes up. You sit on big expensive cards that have minimal chance to hold onto their value. Don't fucking do that! Work towards your goals; always. The nice cards you have sitting in your binder? They are not helping you.
6) Trade smart
It's easy to trade smart. Trade out of standard staples 6 months before they rotate out of standard. Trade for modern staples when they rotate out of standard. Trade out of modern/legacy staples if you can get a reserve listed card. Sell all the cards you don't want out of the new set. All other trades you're making are moving the chairs on the bridge. They're personal preference/speculation on what you think a card's going to do. Stop worrying about whether [[Goblin Dark-Dweller]] is going to be a standard staple. What you should have wondered about instead is why didn't you sell your [[whisperwood elemental]] in October? What this means for you right now is: do you think your going to miss your Ojutai if you trade it in a few months?
7) Eternal Formats are designed to reward long-term players
If you've been collecting since 5 years ago, you have had standard access to
Every fetchland
Every shockland
Every staple creature in modern
Almost every staple removal spell in modern
Almost every planeswalker played in modern
Modern might be a mess right now, but the goal of rewarding those long term players has more-or-less bore itself out. As modern grows, there's going to be a bigger card pool, a more diverse profile of players, and there are going to be more players that have collections similar to yours. Wizards will eventually figure out a way to make your collection more playable, and thus, more valuable.
The |
Hey everyone! I wanted to see if i could get some good responses in terms of what to get a Magic player for xmas?
Id like to get a boxed set, or something similar in terms of something that looks nice, but has a ton of stuff to enjoy. I am not super keen on the game, and have been looking at the Khans of Tarkir Holiday Gift Box, but from what ive been told its mostly a "begginner" kind of thing.
So, the |
My Deck - B/G Constilation](
This is the updated version of my deck from last week. I was able to add some key cards such as Courser of Kruphix, Toughtseize, and Erebos.
My deck went 1-2-1 last week. I was pretty proud of that, only losing to W/U Control in game 3. I am loving each player in this deck. Vraska kills Planeswalkers, Maggot removes threats, Herald and Boon Satyr finish games, Blossoms gives me advantage, Grim Guardian pings to make one swing leathal, Doomwake clears the board, and Pharika makes Constilation broken and gives me a fighting chance after Divine Virdict.
With this deck, it seems to do best when I can drag out the game until I get a strong board state and swing for lethal or near lethal. I am able to do so pretty well against most decks that I faced. My deck has two problems.
My biggest was W/U Control. Between Divine Virdict and Sphinx Revelation they are just unstoppable. I haven't played against that deck since adding Erebos and Golgari Charm, so I will see how different the game goes with these in deck.
Herald of Torment is the other problem. When I swarm with them, it puts me to a strong board state, bestow or not. The problem is the life loss each turn adds up quickly with three or four of them on the board. Courser helps but people seem to prioritize removal on Courser and others over my Heralds.
I was thinking of adding Bow of Nylea and/or Whip of Erebos. Both of them activate Constilation and both give some kind of lifegain. I am just not too sure what to take out.
Thank you for reading everything at this point. If you skipped here, |
Having had a connecting flight through Chicago to get back to campus, American Airlines(ugh) decided to be incompetent and not know how to use their own equipment. Because of this, I missed the final flight of the evening to my destination. So I leave the airport and board up in a hotel for the night
The next morning, I get to the airport and hop through security, only to get pulled aside... A typical looking white/Hawaiian graduate flying to Kansas doesn't seem like the type to be too suspicious i thought. I get pulled into a private room, and they start ruffling through my bag. They reach their mark - my Deck boxes. They ask if they can take my boxes to search them, and I just look at them. They open them up, take everything out, and just start laughing.
TIL / |
The winner for today has been crowned! Congrats to /u/Seeker0fTruth! Tune in tomorrow for the next question.
Dragon Week Day 4 is here! Entering is simple, just reply to this thread with your answer or tweet it at us @CommandCast. At the end of the week we will be giving out a full box of Dragons of Tarkir and a Fat Pack to our winners!
Today’s Question:
What dragon would you suggest for BDM's (@Top8Games) Sidisi deck and why?
BDM's episode can be found here:
For the remainder of the week, if you use #DragonWeek on Twitter you’ll be entered to win new single booster packs daily!
What is Dragon Week?
The Dragons of Tarkir have arrived and it's time to celebrate! The Command Zone podcast ( is releasing two special Dragon themed episodes and giving away tons of BOOSTER PACKS to our listeners! Anyone can enter as long as they're subscribed to the podcast. All the information you'll need to know and more in one handy |