tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20185045013896767812024-03-18T19:58:07.738-07:00The Late PicksThe Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.comBlogger156125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-78349172083045934352016-04-19T19:55:00.004-07:002016-04-19T19:55:52.534-07:00Ambushed!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 18.2px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And just like that the blog looks to be going on hiatus again. Additional employment as a community manager means all my typing and time spent on social media will be focused elsewhere for the time being.</span></span><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 18.2px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 18.2px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Last Sundays draft left me a bit upset. After the first pack the player on my right was Green White as was the player on my left who had also taken two white flip cards pick 1 and 2 to really plant his flag. I was set up in the middle in red black. In pack two the player to my left opened and took a foil Olivia as most people would. He then completely abandoned his entire first pack (all 15 of his picks were in Bant colors) and switched to red black so he could play his Olivia. </span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Not only did this fuck me I also think it's a really poor decision (the player to his left was clearly in red too) though others at the table thought it was justified. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think it's a great card but not the type of bomb that would make me bend to fit her in an already solid deck and scramble to get playables.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Every good card in his deck pissed me off. I wasn't Mr Salty level of salt but I wasn't Mr Happy either. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I lost to eventual winner Dan who smashed me with werewolves while my deck failed to cooperate. The game I took off him was also a bit of a non event as he scooped them up on turn 4 to my T</span><span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">riskaidekaphobia. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I then won the next two which included epic justice in my eyes perhaps epic salt to others. I beat the player who had jumped into my colours pack two in about 6 minutes even when he resolved an Olivia on turn 3.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The red black dual land and a foil T</span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">riskaidekaphobia (mwahahaha) were the spoils.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="line-height: 18.2px;">Total $ Spent:</b><span style="line-height: 18.2px;"> 100</span><b>Total $ Recouped;</b> 6.80<br /><b>Balance:</b> <span style="color: red;">82.20</span><b>Total Rounds of Magic played:</b> 16<br /><b>Days:</b> 18<br /><b>Avg cost per day to play:</b> 5.55</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Who knows when next time will be.</span></div>
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The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-88281838876479537402016-04-10T20:42:00.001-07:002016-04-10T20:44:33.251-07:00Bloodless<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The 6.8 recouped is for a Sin Prodder and the expenditure was for one grade A Shadows over Innistrad draft.<br />
Opened nothing of value and didn't win any substantial prizes. A couple of Korean Promos that I guess may be worth something if you found the right person.<br />
<br />
<b>Total $ Spent:</b> 84<br />
<b>Total $ Recouped;</b> 6.80<br />
<b>Balance:</b> <span style="color: red;">77.20</span><br />
<b>Total Rounds of Magic played:</b> 13<br />
<b>Days:</b> 11<br />
<b>Avg cost per day to play:</b> 7.00<br />
<br />
The draft itself was an unusual one. I didn't really get a single haymaker but I liked my deck. It was Red Black Vampires full on tribal but unfortunately there was another Red Black Vampires deck at the table and he was sitting on my left. My deck looked much better than his but his results were far superior.<br />
I went 0-3 despite my optimism. The guy on the left made it to the finals losing to the guy on my right. I guess that makes me the patsy in the middle. I am not losing too much sleep over my card evaluation skills just yet, I did miss blue was open until far too late unfortunately but the guy on my right is notoriously uncooperative and hard to read at the drafting table. Both those player either side of me hate and rare draft a lot. It worked out for them this week but I don't think its a good long term place to be.</div>
The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-57821332937145413602016-04-03T23:07:00.001-07:002016-04-03T23:07:17.909-07:00The Dice Latte<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The Dice Latte is a new board game cafe close to Hankuk University of Foreign Studies on the subway map.<br />
They stand out as the only Magic shop I know of run by a foreigner and have their own website as well as facebook page so you can get up to date info directly.<br />
<br />
http://www.thedicelatte.com/</div>
The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-87082848569474130152016-04-03T23:03:00.002-07:002016-04-03T23:03:42.782-07:00Out of the Shadows<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBE425hTySHe1_bDI6BNZH7Xt-1vx1dfYhSRmgGstgW1kk_weRF6Kz3K2ZofWvFVubDQ__bguJkVfllR7SttyTIv4oBenRWqGZc6orjY3A6QOEK8PKmZvstGD4dQplUc64sikjjs9c8X4/s1600/20160401_234514.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBE425hTySHe1_bDI6BNZH7Xt-1vx1dfYhSRmgGstgW1kk_weRF6Kz3K2ZofWvFVubDQ__bguJkVfllR7SttyTIv4oBenRWqGZc6orjY3A6QOEK8PKmZvstGD4dQplUc64sikjjs9c8X4/s200/20160401_234514.jpg" width="112" /></a>Shadows over Innistrad did not disappoint.<br />
I played the midnight pre release and opened a difficult pool. I was lucky enough to open a foil Avacyn but didn't realise how much of a big deal that was until the Korean players lost their shit when I cast it. Apparently it's worth in the 60-80 range which is great because it was an expensive weekend of Magic.<br />
I love the new set and there is definitely a fun factor present that hasn't been in post Khans sets that I can't quite explain. The midnight pre release wasn't as fun as it could have been though. I came right at the end of an EDH game that ended quite tensely over stuff that to me is just part of the game. It was the return of Mr Salty and I was lucky not to have to play him in the tournament. Everyone was a little tired which doesn't help.<br />
<br />
All my opponents were nice though the tournament was rushed with little time for deck building and only 40 minute rounds. The whole 4 round tournament was done by 3:40 am and I finished with a record of 2-2. One of those losses would have been a draw but as the prize structure is one win earns a booster I conceded though the board looked pretty even.<br />
My pool had some real shortcomings but at least when I lost it was to something ridiculous. A flipped Thing in the Ice bounced my entire board including my Sleep Paralysis that was keeping his 7/7 flyer at bay. That 7/7 flyer happened to be a horror as were the rest of his creatures. Quite the beating.<br />
<br />
I didn't plan to play again but late Saturday night word got out we could draft instead of having to play sealed. I was in and we ended up doing two drafts. The mood was a lot better and draft suits this set a lot more. It's seriously twice the fun of sealed and only half the price. The local level two judge was in attendance to show us all how to draft double faced cards correctly as well as be an awesome opponent.<br />
<br />
I went 1-1-1 with a green deck splashing red blue thanks to fantastic mana. The next draft felt like a bit of a train wreck and was Blue Black madness based deck. When I had my enablers the deck felt awesome but when it didn't it was just a bunch of underwhelming 5 drops. I ended up 2-1 and my loss was another story. If you are going to die then losing game 3 to a player qualified for PT Madrid using Triskaidekaphobia is a nice way to do so. I also dropped a game to Nahari's Machinations along the way.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDvlcBgdNicqkrQfvftd0cVVbVeLdAsTKe1Sr-Qc6go8d5s3jS7L3JnkDD-CpJCmOev772hg3KRNwuuYHoXnuSYopQW7kChm6A-WuIjkt8FqFkbTqyU6PFi8HjztHfArKFIklN1rlT5Bk/s1600/nahirismachinations.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDvlcBgdNicqkrQfvftd0cVVbVeLdAsTKe1Sr-Qc6go8d5s3jS7L3JnkDD-CpJCmOev772hg3KRNwuuYHoXnuSYopQW7kChm6A-WuIjkt8FqFkbTqyU6PFi8HjztHfArKFIklN1rlT5Bk/s200/nahirismachinations.jpg" width="143" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUNj9oYJzQ_CuYTvW08TNum_cGnX5OjAZlbmCXoB-8h5mgqReFb26368tsnfO7qKdUl_CYBqQixaWlyq_nBMbtRJieyY8OtUE6yDh9stnBLyqvZDErAqtxD1lekJjA0num1yNkgVcFhnc/s1600/thingintheice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUNj9oYJzQ_CuYTvW08TNum_cGnX5OjAZlbmCXoB-8h5mgqReFb26368tsnfO7qKdUl_CYBqQixaWlyq_nBMbtRJieyY8OtUE6yDh9stnBLyqvZDErAqtxD1lekJjA0num1yNkgVcFhnc/s200/thingintheice.jpg" width="143" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEf1lAnCQ03RXsrniPWqOMK3WSP1uUoJOZqlblFVRxU1yz77IaJt4vZz71v2UOuFrhqfW0T0T_YEolDwj8S3TSvHhWdy-eUYmvVVfFFQor3DGc6fduJ5URBqOr0Gv9C-wRcnhr_zKUMX8/s1600/triskaidekaphobia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEf1lAnCQ03RXsrniPWqOMK3WSP1uUoJOZqlblFVRxU1yz77IaJt4vZz71v2UOuFrhqfW0T0T_YEolDwj8S3TSvHhWdy-eUYmvVVfFFQor3DGc6fduJ5URBqOr0Gv9C-wRcnhr_zKUMX8/s200/triskaidekaphobia.jpg" width="143" /></a></div>
<br />
I feel like I got a whole sets worth of stories out of a single weekend.<br />
<br />
As for Pay to Play, what a blowout. I can't sit too long on my Foil Avacyn if I want to recoup most of the money spent. Was a lot of fun though but the lesson is definitely to avoid sealed. It's expensive and I could have easily missed it and still had a great weekend.<br />
<br />
<b>Total $ Spent:</b> 68<br />
<b>Total $ Recouped;</b> 0<br />
<b>Balance:</b> <span style="color: red;">68</span><br />
<b>Total Rounds of Magic played:</b> 10<br />
<b>Days:</b> 4<br />
<b>Avg cost per day to play:</b> 17<br />
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The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-13438711875890323872016-03-31T21:52:00.004-07:002016-03-31T21:52:59.239-07:00All New Pay to Play Challenge.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
My last Pay to Play challenge sort of petered out when I sold a huge chunk of my collection for enough money to draft for a couple of years. There was also the fear I would soon stop playing paper Magic much as attendance numbers were falling hard in Suwon and I didn't have the motivation to travel further. It was the 'Eldrazi Winter' and I think that block is going to be looked back on in a pretty poor light despite Marshall and LSV continuously defending it on Limited Resources.<br />
With Shadows over Innistrad those problems look gone for the time being. I expect the set to be really popular as I know I am excited.<br />
<br />
Now that things have settled down and I have a bit of time to myself it's time to restart it. I wanted it to be a fair reflection of how much it costs to play Magic and what you get for your money. This is not pack to power where I am trying to game the system and end up with a tier one deck in each format for only 10c a day or some rubbish. Just an average player whose only advantage over a newer player is experience.<br />
<br />
Starting from April 1st (that's today) I will track how much I spend, how much I get back from any sales (not counting my cards from prior to Shadows) and how many days it has been. I will also keep track of how many rounds I played as some sort of crude measure of "bang for your buck". To start with I have a deck box, an empty card portfolio and some sleeves which have seen better days.<br />
I have a couple of other portfolios (conveniently coloured differently) with older cards but those transactions will be kept separate.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyzw1vY2e6sGx7BdXnCBX7z1M4z_lCk3A6WohHtq3uhAWAoXxRldH09NalZB3R0UFX5Dt_iptGKKC_RiWr-CH6sWXnscNQ-H0Wnr0-QIG5Y-97Sgn5SOzTF4i6HKXY49-cXPJVc3cKmCg/s1600/20160401_102823.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyzw1vY2e6sGx7BdXnCBX7z1M4z_lCk3A6WohHtq3uhAWAoXxRldH09NalZB3R0UFX5Dt_iptGKKC_RiWr-CH6sWXnscNQ-H0Wnr0-QIG5Y-97Sgn5SOzTF4i6HKXY49-cXPJVc3cKmCg/s320/20160401_102823.jpg" width="180" /></a><b>Total $ Spent:</b> 0<br />
<b>Total $ Recouped;</b> 0<br />
<b>Balance:</b> 0<br />
<b>Total Rounds of Magic played:</b> 0<br />
<b>Days:</b> 0<br />
<b>Avg cost per day to play:</b> 0</div>
The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-74893961682691524862016-03-29T20:29:00.001-07:002016-03-30T21:31:51.430-07:00Bye bye Zendikar<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The return to Zendikar is over and it seems I am not alone in being happy about that. I would say it was an interesting set with a lot of things to think about, but interesting doesn't always equate to fun.<br />
Attendance was down and there were some real flaws in both sets design.<br />
It's actually felt like a pretty mediocre year and a bit of Magic as everything has been significantly less fun to play than triple Khans.<br />
<br />
The final two weeks of Oath//Battle draft did not fire at my store and I wasn't bothered. We played EDH one week and I was fine with doing that instead. EDH!!!<br />
The EDH games were a little bit excruciating though as one of the players was new to the format and was very slow. You quickly learn that you shouldn't perform your operations the same as you would in a duel but he hadn't realised that so still made us wait while he searched for a card and then he passed the turn. Shortcuts like "I'm fetching a forest, go" are essential to keep the game moving as is thinking about what you are going to do on your turn BEFORE it starts. The going into the tank on upkeep is infuriating.<br />
I don't like it in regular Magic but when 4 other people are waiting, sigh.<br />
<br />
All that glumness is set to get blasted away by positivity though because I am super excited about the new set. So much so I plan to make the effort to attend the midnight pre release event.<br />
Duels of the Planeswalkers has the Shadows over Innistrad expansion scheduled to hit on April 6th which is pretty soon. I have some coins in the bank and plan to take my time scaling the ladder this time while experimenting with some new Innistrad themed decks. </div>
The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-13564615327519817742016-03-13T19:53:00.002-07:002016-03-30T21:35:35.913-07:00Monday Magic #19<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
While I have been enjoying Duels of the Planeswalkers and the increased payouts for both quests and PVP play, for actual play with real cards i'm not quite feeling the 'Magic'. I don't know why, it's probably just mental tiredness as I'm happy but busy an with plenty of mental stimulation at work each day. As opposed to my last job where it was pretty dreary and days seemed to take forever.<br />
<br />
I missed playing Magic the week before and hardly felt it and only went this week because I had other stuff to do in Suwon that day. I did really enjoy it while I was there even though I did poorly (1-2). I had a lot more fun going 1-2 than I did a couple of weeks ago when I went 3-0. I don't think I need to get great results to have fun but if I am not enjoying the set then I usually don't get very good results.<br />
<br />
As always with Magic a new set is coming and that is always a shot in the arm. I do agree with another local player who voiced some reservations about the current R&D team. Recent sets have been pretty mediocre. I guess Khan's might have spoiled us but I feel disappointed to be stuck with worse sets for an entire year. It hasn't been awful and I like Origins but it hasn't been great either. A very forgettable year for Limited overall.<br />
<br />
Between Conspiracy 2, Innistrad and Eternal Masters surely there will be a good one. Hopefully its not Eternal Maters because that's going to be a hard to find $50 draft.</div>
The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-4757547337197436282016-02-14T19:45:00.001-08:002016-03-30T21:37:49.324-07:00Monday Magic #18<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
With new and improved employment secured on Saturday it was going to be considered a good weekend regardless. Was it topped off with a crushing 3 nil draft win?<br />
No it was not, I think I had a good deck, but a combination of it not cooperating and some awful play on my behalf meant I went 1-2.<br />
<br />
Annalise popped in prior to draft which is always nice and I picked up a Myr Battle Sphere for my cube. We finally got to meet Felipe as he managed to wrangle some free time on a Sunday so the spirits were warmer than the weather which was friggin awful.<br />
<br />
I won the first round even though I drew my deck in all the wrong order thanks to multiple fireball effects. In round 2 I lost the decider through a combination of bad play and a lack of lands. Later I kicked myself over some pretty awful side boarding. I purposely took Tears of Valakut and Aligned Hedron Network as great sideboard options over low end playables and then didn't bring them in for a match up they would have been great in. On board mistakes as well as spell order mistakes were disappointing. I haven't played that bad in a while.<br />
No explanation for it but I just wasn't feeling "on". Round 3 were two non games with a mull to five and a mull to six which should have been five. The matchup wasn't that great to begin with. This really stood out as an abnormal amount of bad luck for me because my % of non games (on my side) feels so low overall. It happens. If I had of won the second round I wouldn't have even had to play the last round as there would have been a split. So in a way that bad luck could have been avoided by me not punting the second round.<br />
It's totally illogical to think like this but I guess it's a plus to use up the bad luck when I am playing badly anyway.<br />
<br />
Next week the shop looks to be hosting a W50,000 original Zendikar draft. I plan on passing on that so a break will probably be good and allow me to come back more keen and focussed. So far only 4 have signed up and the person bringing the box wants a guaranteed 8. The Korean players don't seem interested as at W50,000 it's not good value if you are looking for cards and you are really paying for the experience. The kind of decks that I remember drafting in Zendikar were mainly very quick beat down decks or blue based control decks (that double bounce spell comes to mind). Nothing really special that I need to relive and I think MTGO represents better value for flashback drafts than the high price of real life boxes.<br />
I am still enjoying Oath of the Gatewatch drafts so if that is the format I probably will make it out there.</div>
The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-8900171271005480652016-02-10T20:25:00.000-08:002016-03-30T21:45:51.579-07:00Magic Monday #17 How does my Dictate<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEI8ZXunXSCa244P1a0UvOLDBfbigKbM8aGiMSgs2EUrweSfLSJLR8L8oHMNsVVMfInqmUIa_KHCMGstjmXVah0p3smEg52_Ajq9auCra7xyK3r6n-FLZuoohDR-JwlHoNNvJDeocsOw/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEI8ZXunXSCa244P1a0UvOLDBfbigKbM8aGiMSgs2EUrweSfLSJLR8L8oHMNsVVMfInqmUIa_KHCMGstjmXVah0p3smEg52_Ajq9auCra7xyK3r6n-FLZuoohDR-JwlHoNNvJDeocsOw/s1600/images.jpg" /></a>Pro tour Oath is in the books and the decision to ban Splinter Twin looks a bit silly. My super secret Faeries tech of Dictate of Erebos for the new post twin meta looks ridiculous now.<br />
I don't feel upset about recent events as my over riding feelings are relief at getting out of Modern. I am not keeping up with that shit show.<br />
<br />
From a spectators point of view it's been a while since we have seen pros actually "break" a format, it was kind of exciting. Eldrazi Mimic of all cards. None of the armchair finance experts predicted it and the secondary market went bananas as a result. I really enjoyed watching it up until LSV got knocked out in the semi finals. Nothing against the deck but the players left were quite methodical (polite for slow) so it was time to grab some sleep.<br />
<br />
It will be interesting how this all plays out at the next bunch of GP's and right now I am enjoying all the previously bulk Eldrazi rares in my binder getting a massive boost. I also found a foil Eldrazi Sky Spawner I had stored in a box of otherwise bulk. Nice.<br />
<br />
This has added a little bit more spice to our Oath of the Gatewatch drafts. I am enjoying the format but opening valuable cards is a lot of the attraction for most people and thrilling for everyone but those with the coldest of hearts. I am on a bit of a run of getting decent cards in either the draft or my prize packs. This week I took home the big boy Kozilek to go with my Kozileks Return from last week. Flavour win.<br />
<br />
I drafter a red blue deck this week but didn't really go in for any surge shenanigans, instead focussing on value. My biggest mistake was thinking I was the beat down because I picked up cheap goblins pack one. It turned out I was instead the deck with inevitability and after losing round 1 I won the next two fairly easily. Much the same story as last week though that time I was playing green red.To be honest I really enjoy red in this (and most) formats so I was happy to get a first pick Fall of the Titans and not have to pretend I am not drafting red.<br />
<br />
I also got to draft my cube last weekend. I judge it a success as people couldn't stop talking about their decks, what they drafted and what they wanted to draft. Powered cube is great in small doses and it had been a while. I skipped the trip to Kindle the other foreigners were going on. With most of my valuable cards sold my main motivation for going was gone. Playing two headed giant sealed sounded fun but it's just so far away.<br />
I do want to get there again though, if just to approach Min Yeong about writing articles, proper ones like I wrote for Paper-Gamer not the rants I put here, for his new website. My contract runs out at the end of this month and a new one isn't secured so the next few weeks are full on and not the best time to start making more promises but once things settle down I want to take a crack at trying to be the "Korean Magic coverage guy".<br />
<br />
Pay to Play: Not much to report, my Magic coffers are overflowing after selling out of modern and I haven't been tempted to spend on anything more than our weekly draft.</div>
The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-58529281403660416352016-02-03T20:57:00.001-08:002016-03-30T21:47:40.218-07:00Magic Monday #16<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Mission accomplished in regards to trimming down my collection. I sold pretty much all my Modern cards that weren't in my Faeries deck and some that were (bye bye 1 mana discard spells).<br />
I sold it all for 65% of the Card kingdom value which I felt was pretty fair and am still happy with. I was previously aiming for 70 - 75% but one person offered to buy the entire binder and I was saved a trip to Seoul so I think giving a discount was fair enough.<br />
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I am not sure what he plans to do with the cards, I expect him to turn it over for a profit or it may form part of the stock when the Suwon store finally launches singles. Collected Company spiked the next day so hopefully he will do well out of the transaction. He is better connected to the Korean Magic community, I consider him a friend and the timing was fantastic for me and my family so I genuinely want this to be a win win transaction. I am in that sticky part of the year where I only have one month of my contract left and new employment hasn't been locked in yet. This deal was a couple weeks worth of wages for me so a nice breather.<br />
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My binder now looks really barren and it's questionable if it is worth taking at all. It's at the point where it's time to add expensive uncommons like Young Pyromancer and Gitaxian Probe to fill it out. I kind of suspect those may move quicker anyway.<br />
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I am really enjoying the new set even though I am kind of struggling with it. Not results wise (2-1 each time) but it's just hard. So much going on but aggro is much better than it was in triple Battle so I am happier. I wouldn't touch an ally with a 40ft barge pole before but I have taken my fair share this time. I even drafted green and didn't want to shoot myself.</div>
The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-86009344297344440712016-01-24T19:52:00.001-08:002016-03-30T21:49:51.709-07:00Monday Morning Magic #15 Coldsnap<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Over winter I switch to a morning schedule with zero extra time in the office. Now that I am back in my very very cold office I feel like typing something if just to check that my fingers still have feeling in them.<br />
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Thanks to selling some Puca points I have nearly $100 credit in the theoretical bank that is my Magic allowance despite breaking down and buying a card for my cube (Treachery for $13). I think the $2 a day series is flawed because I already have a pretty big collection that I could use to pay for Magic for the next couple of years.<br />
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The recent Splinter Twin ban and my own situation (raising a kid with autism is expensive) have me looking at my collection in a different light. I love my cube, it's good to have a couple of EDH decks but what about Modern and Legacy. In Legacy I have the one dredge deck that I never get to play but have some weird compulsion to keep. Perhaps selling that only as a lot makes sense and not parting with the cards otherwise.<br />
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As for Modern, sigh. I only had the Splinter Twin deck together for a short time before it got hit with the ban hammer but I had fallen in love. Play style wise it felt very much like my favourite deck Faeries and with it's parting I'm a lot sourer on Modern. I am siding with keeping Faeries and selling the rest but what about that one Modern WMCQ a year I keep threatening to play in, don't I want a competitive deck for that?<br />
Just typing that out has answered it for me. I don't need a great Modern deck. I only have time for draft and keeping all these extra modern staples is not necessary.<br />
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I plan to head to Kindle shop soon to really lighten my collection and restart the $2 a day challenge at $1 a day without a huge bank of spare cards backing me up. I have also enjoyed not taking my binder to events lately and taking the subway without a back pack. I do feel like I am giving up value if I leave my binder behind though, all those standard cards pulled from draft just sitting there. Off loading all the playables will be a load of my mind, an early spring cleaning if you will. The space my collection takes up seems to keep growing with each set so it's not far off the mark.<br />
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Magic wise I am enjoying the new set and Duels of the Planeswalkers (especially with the improvements to quests). <br />
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The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-23052955489253019822015-12-07T20:47:00.002-08:002016-03-30T21:53:32.141-07:00Monday Morning Magic #14 - It's fucking Chaos<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSjdci3gClerYuItNyxXlECqhi4kGlkSVDB1CrtDdOQZJFMRh3JVpmzvm1XTEc_c4chRMqGYKqhKxDdMwmFiSi61_WRI7iWUclx5CrgjxYPZ4EAqrq2pvp1VJ_ge0F5zPBVb53LB7zIyI/s1600/12348075_10153189570531466_1957382562332225869_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSjdci3gClerYuItNyxXlECqhi4kGlkSVDB1CrtDdOQZJFMRh3JVpmzvm1XTEc_c4chRMqGYKqhKxDdMwmFiSi61_WRI7iWUclx5CrgjxYPZ4EAqrq2pvp1VJ_ge0F5zPBVb53LB7zIyI/s320/12348075_10153189570531466_1957382562332225869_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">With the improving weather I nearly broke my resolution to stay away from any BFZ drafts this December. It got up to 7 degrees on Saturday. That's nearly not freezing!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The weather is expected to go bad again by next weekend but I will make it out as a chaos draft is on the schedule. I really enjoyed the last one.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Not everyone is enthralled, one guy who I haven't met asked some questions about price and such. When told it was free but you didn't get to keep the cards he gave a passive aggressive reply about "if I can't keep the cards, I'm out". I think he is new to Korea so maybe he thinks Chaos drafts are on tap here. I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he is new to Magic overall because I haven't ever seen a decent chaos draft that didn't involve one individual hosting.<br />Packs from different sets don't cost the same, players have different goals and budgets. If you set an average price the guy opening Battle For Zendiker feels ripped off and if you let people choose then you end up with 9 Khans of Tarkir packs because some people are chasing fetchlands.<br />It heavily skews the actual drafting as well if you are worried about card values.<br />I'm a fan of keep what you draft as well but it just doesn't work with so many variables.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I nearly skipped the last one because I expected a ton of whining about the value of what was drafted as the host was very value obsessed. Thankfully some decent stuff was opened early to placate him and he didn't get too miserable though he did ask me to concede because he organised "all this". I said no and that was the end of it. I had to be pushed to sign up because I feared shit like that. <br />This time the host is much cooler about things like that. He is rather spikey though hates ID's so we might get some weird rules in regards to prizes but that's not stuff that hurts my enjoyment much. If we are lucky he ends on the wrong half of it and appreciates why I like the based on wins and flatter prize structures where tie breakers don't decide who gets 4 packs and who gets none. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Actual Magic played this week was confined to Duels of the Planeswalkers. The new Battle For Zendikar update started promising and was generous with it's quest rewards. I finally started getting the first win for the day bonus 20 coins. It made playing for half an hour and getting at least a pack pretty easy. No more of those deck wizard archetype quests which felt like a chore as you can complete all the quests playing your own decks.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The payouts seem to have all blown up though and what you are promised and what you get are now all over the place as it seems full of bugs. Disappointing.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Pay to Play: Magic on $2 a day</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">No real Magic this week means the kitty has grown. Not really though because it's Christmas and there are lot's of things competing for my money. My work contract runs out in February so until new employment is secured I feel poor. Around March when I receive my bonus and have started on my new contract is when I feel like a king and can actually take advantage of any excess in the kitty.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.2px;">Current Position: </span><b style="line-height: 18.2px;">$52.70</b></span></div>
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The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-64312505403530758872015-11-30T20:09:00.002-08:002015-12-07T20:09:11.253-08:00Monday Morning Magic #13 - Unlucky for some<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Outside is too cold and the subway too hot. I drafted Black White and perhaps forced it as the player to the right was also Black White and to my left was a blue black drafter. In his case he had a couple of mythic opens in Drana and Sire of Stagnation which kept him in black.<br /><br />My deck didn't have over riding synergy, it was a mess of beat down, defence, processing and requiring life gain. I had a lot of removal and this week I drew it and ground out a 3-0 result. I didn't solve the format, just got very lucky. I have had better decks go 1-2 in this format.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I think I am done with battle for Zendikar. Such synergy driven decks have a limited life span to me as they feel they either work or they don't. You don't only have to draw a good mixture of creatures, spells and lands but the order you draw them also matters. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The actual drafting part is fun, a lot going on and trying to sculpt a deck to combat those problems is a great challenge. Actually playing can be frustrating though as you don't get the results you feel your deck deserves. Hey sometimes you get to 3-0 with a pile haha.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The combination of the cold and my lack of enthusiasm for drafting this set any more means I can't see myself playing again this December. I braved the Ice and such for Khan's of Tarkir because it was a fantastic set. Battle for Zendikar, you get a pass, you were different, you were creative but just a little bit under done.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I am hoping Oath of the Greatwatch fixes things. I still haven't opened a Drana for my cube but at this point I think I will just spend Puca points for her. It's not like those points are doing anything anyway as my wants list of Modern and Cube wants sits unfulfilled for months now. The Puca point deflation has hurt the economy and the roll out of new features will be make or break for me. If it doesn't revive the economy and I start receiving cards again I will walk away from the site. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Pay to Play: Magic on $2 a day</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The usual $16 for draft means I'm down $2 but If I don't play much in December it hardly matters. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">Current Position: </span><b style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">$40.70</b></span></div>
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The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-28771936971685489882015-11-26T19:48:00.001-08:002015-11-26T19:48:05.494-08:00Cookie<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Located near Gunja station this store was started by an ex Kindle employee and is pretty close to Kindle shop itself. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Their business hours are 11:00 to 24:00.</span></span><br />
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<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Address : Seoul, Gwangjin-gu, Gunja-dong, 473-17 3F</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<a href="https://goo.gl/maps/g5njr6r9Xnx" rel="nofollow" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">https://goo.gl/maps/g5njr6r9Xnx</span></a></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Number : 070 - 8692 - 5218</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #141823; line-height: 19.32px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-top: 6px;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They have seats for 60 players and sell singles.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of my friends has already visited and given it the thumbs up. I do approve of advertising your store with a neon sign. This trend of actually being a store a normal person could find started with the new Kindle shop and it seems Cookie has taken it to the next level. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What's next? Street level premises? A website that matches the stores name? Where will it end?</span></div>
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The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-84489429060448079122015-11-22T19:18:00.001-08:002015-11-22T19:18:25.644-08:00Monday Morning Magic #12<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I am excited about the future of the Suwon shop and plan to really get involved once January comes. Right now though things feel a bit dead. The cold weather didn't help and they let it get a little too cold in the store. Mr Salty was whiny and while Dan tried to rally us we all just went home within minutes of the draft ending. Beejay won the draft and is still thinking of taking a break after next weeks draft as he didn't have a great day. Stephan went 0-3 which isn't a great feeling but normally wouldn't be something that would make him "feel shitty".<br />
<br />It's really strange that the mood has changed so much from a couple of weeks ago. I'm starting to come to the hypothesis that Mr Salty is a little bit toxic for the community. He doesn't cheat or steal so I am not going to give up on him. He also organised a chaos draft and has built a tower for us to play. Both at considerable expense to himself. He's a walking contradiction which makes it hard when your sitting on his left in a draft (which I seem to always have to be).<br />
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I really don't know how I feel about the format. I think I like it, it's complex and you don't have to try hard to get some funky stuff in your deck. Just drafting normally will mean making some unusual choices and unexpected synergies. There are clear archetypes which is something I am not a huge fan of but they don't have a samey feel to how the decks play out.<br />So I guess it's a thumbs up but I kind of feel like it's already explored even though I have never got to draft allies or the black white deck. The thought of 6 or so more weeks of BFZ draft followed by Oath kind of leaves me feeling a little dull. Oath of the Gatewatch really needs to bring something else to the format but it will only be one pack.<br /><br />
I have started playing Duels of the Planeswalkers again now that the Battle for Zendikar update has hit. I didn't have any coins saved up as I only just finished unlocking all the origins cards. I can't really build any new decks but I still enjoy my thopters deck so that's not a problem yet. I can't think of many BFZ cards that would add to that deck or my elf deck though. I wouldn't mind trying an allies deck but with 78 boosters of Battle left to unlock that feels a long way away.<br />
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With my cube nearly finished we have started on a new project. A Korean language cube, It never ends.<br />
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<b>Pay to Play: Magic on $2 a day.</b></div>
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The usual $16 for draft was all the expenditure for this week. It's been a long time since I sold a card though as there is little demand for Battle for Zendikar cards and very little trading in general. With such a barren trading environment any purchases for Suwon's secret Santa could put me very close to going into the red. Call me crazy but I also really want the red white Commander deck. It has a few cool cards but it's the Anya, Fumiko and Gisela that are really tempting me. If I want to stay in the black then I will just have to be patient and disciplined. </div>
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Current Position: <b>$42.70</b></div>
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The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-34361913255460923352015-11-15T19:35:00.000-08:002015-11-15T19:35:04.728-08:00Monday Morning Magic #11<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
We had ten people for draft on Sunday and were greeted with the good news that next year there would be a change of ownership (the Manager will take over). This is great news because while Robbie was an ok owner the Suwon shop wasn't really his baby and was a little neglected and we all expected the shop to close in December. <div>
Hopefully the store starts keeping better stock of certain products and starts selling singles.</div>
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The draft went fine, I felt I had a good red black which is what my seat wanted to be in. I probably muffed a couple of close call picks that cost me but I had 3 great matches that all went to a third game against good opponents. I had good side boarding options that really taxed me between games.<br /></div>
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Result wise I went 1-2 which I felt didn't do the deck justice but I probably made a couple of play errors I was oblivious too. While a good day I don't remember that much because around round 3 I realised "fuck, I've got the flu", which really pissed me off as this coming week is very hectic.<br /><br />If I survive I will be very relaxed next week.<br /><br /><b>Pay to Play: Magic on $2 a day.</b></div>
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This week was a total blowout. There was the $16 for draft and then $2 for penny sleeves which I had needed for a long time as I had gotten to the point where I had more rares than sleeves. I was having to pick Hunger Games style which cards got to be sleeved and which were left to bang unprotected against what ever cardboard box I left them in. </div>
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On top of that Mr Gu with his incredible binders were in town and I spent $3 on a Goblin Welder for my cube and $9 on various full art promos for my full art EDH deck (12 cards from finished). The deck sure is pretty but virtually unplayable as it's five colour with little synergy and no fixing except for the Rampant Growth I got yesterday. </div>
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Current Position: <b>$42.70</b></div>
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The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-53690465393540390062015-11-09T20:37:00.001-08:002015-11-09T20:43:21.779-08:00Magic Monday #10 All good things.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sitting on 8 consecutive wins before this draft the big 10-0 was in sight. I blew it in spectacular fashion going 0-2 before getting a bye last round. My last round opponent had dropped and he was the poor soul sitting on my left during the draft. I drafted a base red deck as did he except his was devoid themed while I snapped up all the landfall creatures. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I had blue and green splashes, the blue for a coastal discovery, some clutch of currents and gold cards. The green because I was too stubborn to draft black as I was red black the week before.<br />One of the things that holds me back when it comes to winning is my desire to fully explore the format. I drafted red black the week before so the deck i wanted to end up in least was red black even though I had won last weeks draft with that combination. I wanted something new, something exciting. I took some black cards that just couldn't be ignored but jumped out of black at the slightest hint of an opportunity. I would have had a pretty sick deck but there is just so much of the format I have not explored yet it feels like a waste.<br />I have not drafted allies of any combination, I haven't tried GB sacrifice, converge (though that's what I was going for this time) or the BW life gain deck. These are all things on my Magic bucket list that I want to do before the set is no longer drafted. And of the things I have drafted I always felt like I got an undercooked version apart from the red green landfall deck and so want to draft those decks again to get to play them at full strength. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />This is what is fun for me and I am not trying to win the pro tour. I don't think i need to curb that desire to explore a format rather than master it. There is money on the line though so one thing that could help is if Stainless got their act together and came out with the Battle for Zendikar update to Duels of the Planeswalkers. It's a half limited half constructed environment that is a good way to experience all the different archetypes to your hearts content for free.<br />I never had to draft the black red sacrifice deck because I got to do it on Duels.<br />When I sat down to play I just went with the cards and I had a much better win rate during Origins than Dragons of Tarkir.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Back to the draft deck itself. It was alright and could do some nice things if the mana worked. Both losses were game 3 affairs and close. In round 2 and already a game up I blew game 2 as I thought Barrage Tyrant could sacrifice itself and it dead set decided the game. I could have cast Tajuru Beastmaster pre combat for the lethal pump but didn't as I thought I already had it with Tyrant's ability.<br />I let out a barrage of fucks (pun intended) when I realised I had lost and karmic justice made sure I lost game 3 without getting to do much at all. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I made some trades and I have experienced the 3-0 followed by the 1-2 or 0-3 many times because of my needing to explore "flaw". Didn't stick with me as the day was fun but short as we finished in under 3 hours. I won a months free of MTG Price Pro Trader and did some solid trading towards the RallyFenza deck. Mr Gu went ahead and opened a Scalding Tarn expedition and some new people popped in and there was just a happy vibe around the shop in general despite or maybe because of how cold it was outside.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Pay to Play #5</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">No incoming funds and a $16 draft is pretty easy maths. Starting to get costly ideas though. I really want to build a cube based on the custom Star Wars set floating around on Reddit. <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/3ovqwh/star_wars_the_gathering_complete_1st_draft/">https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/3ovqwh/star_wars_the_gathering_complete_1st_draft/</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">While the cards would be free I would need more sleeves. A couple more packs of Dragon Sleeves would take out $32 from the budget.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">Then I saw the RallyFenza videos put out by Saffron Olive and have the itch to build another modern deck that I will hardly get to play (</span><span style="line-height: 18.2px;"><a href="http://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/much-abrew-about-nothing-modern-rallyfenza">http://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/much-abrew-about-nothing-modern-rallyfenza</a>)</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Oh and new Commander product, I do like the look of the Green Black deck and Anya, Merciless Angel makes me think an aggressive commander deck might actually be possible. Maybe. </span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">These are all dangerous and expensive thoughts that are probably kept more in check with the fact we just bought a new fridge and a computer rather hurting the real budget rather than restrictions on the Magic budget. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">I'm still holding onto that Steam Vents expedition though and </span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">the only real plan I have at the moment is to draft again next Sunday </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;">The current position is <b>+</b></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18.2px;"><b>$58.7</b></span></span><br />
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The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-67287521289483813952015-11-01T20:40:00.001-08:002015-11-01T20:52:32.965-08:00Monday Magic #9<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a 4-0 at Game Day the Sunday prior I sat down to the left of Mr Salty as always (DCI reporter bug for sure) hoping to extend that run. Pick one pack one I took a Barrage Tyrant over a foil full art Mountain which is apparently a huge mistake if you care about value at all. Those mountains are worth a pack and a half and that Barrage Tyrant was only a 40% chance to make my deck. It did end up making it as I drafted a Red Black deck when I had a Blue Black drafter on my right who hate drafted a Rolling Thunder and a Red Blue drafter to my left.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I don't and never will understand hate drafting a card you are 0% to play with such a high pick. That strategy is not completely frowned on by pro's though and I remember one guest on Limited Resources being in favour of hate drafting. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It would have been my second Rolling Thunder though, which is a little ridiculous. This is the first time I really got to see the power of that card as previously I had always needed to use it to kill one big scary threat. This time I got to wipe a few boards and it felt glorious. Despite being in red black I didn't feel super aggressive as I lacked in creatures to the extent I played Dutiful Return because I was going to need my best ones to do some real work. I had doubles of Complete Disregard and Touch of the Void to back them up.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some games I curved out, others I just killed everything and then stuck a guy. After losing game 1 to a really cool Bant eldrazi deck that is easily the most intriguing I have seen in the format, I didn't drop another game. I crushed the finals and we had time to play another 2 games for fun which I also won and my opponent playing a nice red white allies deck called for mercy. My deck was certainly good against aggro but I feel a little lucky to have got the points against mid range. That extended my win streak to 7 and I randomly chose 1 English Pack and 2 Korean packs for my prize. Beejay asked me why I didn't just choose all Korean packs and I responded with "I wanted to see who loved me more". That seems utterly ridiculous now but that's the magic of painkillers kids. It turns out English loves me more, which makes sense since I teach English for a living.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Who the fuck cares what was in the Korean packs because that English pack had a Steam Vents in it.</span><br />
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I felt like I owned this city. Winning the draft and a Steam Vents is pretty high on the list of my best Magic days in Korea. The draft is pretty relaxed, but everyone is a decent player. Certainly know easy 3 pointers. Some of the game day matches got pretty intense but $100 - $120 bill in a pack is pretty sweet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thinking back to Australia there were PTQ top 8's (which always ended pretty sad) and Nationals qualifications etc which while not as monetarily rewarding were very satisfying and gave a real sense of accomplishment. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Good day.</span><br />
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I didn't have to play against Mr Salty but got to watch him a lot as all 3 of his matches were the last to finish and either went or brushed the time limit. Each round he would only be on game 1 or just starting game 2 while the rest of us had finished. He has a strange mix of playing slow but then playing very fast when something actually happens. It's infuriating and frustrating even as a spectator. He even complained about his round 3 opponent playing slowly! To be fair his opponent was slow but definitely not the culprit, it was ponder vs ponder.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think all players don't realise how slow they are playing, when you are in the moment you feel like a lot is happening because you have a lot to think about but that's the challenge. You got to keep moving. The biggest problem Mr Salty has is he should be thinking about what he is going to do during his turn while the opponent is going through their process. It seemed every turn he would draw his card and look like he has never seen his hand before. He had a Mist Intruder and seemed to think about whether he should attack with it every single turn.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My slow play rant out of the system he was definitely less salty than normal. In fact he lost game 3 of round 3 to a big Rolling Thunder and held it together where others would not have. I guess just like me he is up and down mood wise and has his moments either way.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hope for us both.</span><br />
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Back to that Bant eldrazi deck, blue green X has been called the converge deck but maybe it's also the colour combination that actually lets you cast eldrazi and be competitive. The black green eldrazi deck hasn't seemed to really work out but 3/4 Tajuru Stalwarts, Stonehaven Medics and Courrier Griffins clogging up the board and Lifespring Druids working their magic were a nice combo. I thought I was in game one until Breaker of Armies followed by Jace's Insight blew me away.</span><br />
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<b>Pay to Play #4</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">$2.5 a day isn't a very catchy name, now that I am an expedition pulling millionaire I think I can aim for $2 a day. I have an extensive collection of cards and accessories so me playing on $2 a day is very different than someone new to the game. To play for free would involve either not drafting or going much deeper into speculation. Deeper than I want to considering there are limited cash outs here in Korea. No local buy list or TCG player. Puca Trade has been fantastic but that is digital bit coin style profits that you can't pay a tournament entry fee with.</span><br />
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</span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjypQUvjkzzf6bia9Q-Hkj_PH-cQK1M4Kw1SmK3oE8jyjHRmFT6wmXXBD4xkkrTCYFqRfPUegDhQ1Z-u6p6TZav7P58BkKUnQC1cUMkm21m2U66ZIxQuwlFFKyAjOALhYSyVX3HumqJBLk/s1600/download+%25284%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjypQUvjkzzf6bia9Q-Hkj_PH-cQK1M4Kw1SmK3oE8jyjHRmFT6wmXXBD4xkkrTCYFqRfPUegDhQ1Z-u6p6TZav7P58BkKUnQC1cUMkm21m2U66ZIxQuwlFFKyAjOALhYSyVX3HumqJBLk/s1600/download+%25284%2529.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While my collection value got a bump from that expedition I didn't pick up any cash so my $2.5 a day just covered the $16 draft entry fee. The current position is +<b>$60.7</b></span></div>
The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-7122792210287156952015-10-25T20:28:00.000-07:002015-10-25T21:16:32.017-07:00Magic Monday #8<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a week away I was allowed to play both Saturday and Sunday this week. This coincided with Game Day which wasn't a fluke on my part.<br />Game Day is the only time of the year playing standard makes sense to me, a crippled old washed up grinder. There is much higher EV than normal, the schedule is set far in advance, it is at my local shop and it's in the middle of the day so it's easy to get public transport. I drive a lot during the week and don't enjoy it. My drive to and from work has a nice view but on a road where it's easy to do 80 on there are lots of speed humps scattered throughout.<br /><br />I actually had two decks built enough that I could get away with only having to ask for a few cards from friends. The first was Jeskai mill and I had been practising with that deck in Grixis form for a few weeks. The change to Jeskai was done the night before, so naturally I crushed the tournament. Oh no, sorry, now I remember, I went 1-3 but had a lot of fun. My opponents seemed to really enjoy the Tutelage triggers as it definitely appeals to their love of gambling. I think they see it as milling 4 cards is the base and if it's only two cards they won but if it's six cards they lost horribly. They still enjoy the losing horribly part, just as long as someone is watching. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After four rounds though I was kind of over new standard, I played against a million Hangerback Walkers and if they didn't have Dromoka's Command and Den Protector they had Felidar Cub and Ojutai's Command. After missing draft last week I was starting to get the twitch, I wanted to bust some packs and sweat on some picks. I got tot he store at 1:00 but with everyone preparing for another game day there was no draft. That's two weekends in a row without drafting, I'm going to have to look into some lesser drug like morphine or heroin to help get me through this stretch. if I miss another week maybe something worse like Magic Online.<br /><br />For Sunday Game Day I suited up my other deck. Flip flopping on decks isn't usually a winning strategy but it worked this time. I played Atarka Red and beat the mirror twice and two other decks that played a lot of colourful lands that I had no idea what was coming next. The combinations of battle lands, fetch lands and four colour decks had me trying to play around every sweeper I could think of and studying their lands for what they could NOT do rather that what they could. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I managed to go 4-0 which in Korea is enough to win Game Day as they are only interested in playing the swiss portion. I think the elimination rounds are where it get's fun but they just seem to get in the way of a good time for the Korean's. Five minutes after the prizes were allocated they were carving up a box playing the value game (the player who opens the least valuable card pays for everyone's packs) and making some real noise. I have to admit it did look more fun that everyone having to watch four guys playing in near silence and shuffling a lot.<br /><br />Despite winning I only used about four of my fifteen sideboard cards because I quickly realised during round one I was probably doing more harm than good with every sideboard decision. I am much butter but still don't have the sequencing down pat for my own deck but at least learnt to respect Temur battle Rage by the time it mattered. In pre tournament testing and the first two rounds I was firing it off way to quickly, I now realise it's criminal not to use it in conjunction with a pump spell. I also learnt that instant speed one mana +5+5 (Become Immense) is incredibly fun to cast but totally unfair to be on the receiving end of. I love that card.<br />So I was a long way from mastering my own deck but was getting in the groove enough to pick up on other peoples mistakes. That's something to take home, along with my Drana playmat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In round three my opponent made a mistake where he thought his creature would survive rather than trade with my own. He had a pump spell so wanted a take back but I had to be that bad cop. I won the next turn so it wouldn't have mattered but I knew he was feeling awful and I promised him a pack. The worth of one loose pack is pretty negligible really and more often than not contains rubbish. So fuck it, it's a small community and I don't have the killer instinct any more, though I am not soft enough to allow take backs. Then when I arrive over for the top 4 the store manager was in the process of dividing the split. The playmat is worth some amount of packs but they had trouble deciding. The first offer was 9 - 9 - 9 - playmat +1. No one wanted the playmat at that stage, I wasn't even there when that offer was on the table and by the time I had arrived it was 8 - 8 - 8 - playmat + 4 which was at the point I thought everyone would want the playmat. Two of the players still just wanted the boosters so they were set but another player wanted the playmat. The manager was about to give it to him without hearing from me even though I was the only undefeated player. I piped up that I wanted the playmat and an awkward stand off ensued. I suggested a dice roll which the other guy didn't like (mustn't be Korean) and the fact he wanted it means it was probably his first playmat which makes me feel a little guilty but I had beaten him in the swiss. Or perhaps he just likes value because 4 packs plus a playmat seems a lot better than 8 packs to me. I offered 9 - 3 and the playmat between us and after confirming that's what I said, he was ok with that and wanted the packs. I then handed out one of my packs to my round 3 opponent and felt like father Christmas giving out packs left and right. When you go 4-0 you generally feel pretty good so a couple of boosters to make let everyone else feel better about the day is a small price to pay. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thankfully none of them opened expeditions or I might have a totally different view on altruism. A previous incident where I was in the pity prize pack roll off and my roll fell on the floor and I just let the other guy have it cost me a Nissa. I don't feel so great about that one but it was a cool story and my rolls will never ever fall off the table again.<br /><br />I now have four playmats which makes me kind of regret buying one. I say kind of because it is the Eturtle Witness mat from Star City Games which is still my favourite mat. My friend Beejay who leant me some key cards to make playing the deck possible won on Saturday so it was cool when we were taking the subway home Sunday night as back to back champions. It's a far cry from the pro tour but being an MTG Dad isn't easy so you got to enjoy these moments. We both had work to look forward to the next day.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It shouldn't but a good result at Magic gives me a lift going into the start of the week which is way more important to my self being than it should. I had been under a cloud for a while after just missing out on a job in the video game industry which seemed an opportunity I probably won't see again. I enjoy teaching, it's a good job but in my current situation it's hard to be passionate about it. I work a lot of classes straight in a bunch of different classrooms so it wasn't the luxury set up I had last year where the material was 90% my own, in my own classroom with lots of time to craft it. Getting a large mouse pad and $16 worth of cards shouldn't make up for losing out on a sweet job, and it doesn't but it got me out of a funk and turned me in the right direction mentally. Beejay's trying to convince me to get into the grind again and play some PPTQ's but agghh, fuck that travel is tiring and takes up a lot of family time. I also think as good as going 4-0 was, a 2hr standing room only trip back from Seoul after scrubbing out would be the pits.<br /><br />I might be up for the Suwon PPTQ's though although it sounds like the shop might be gone in December :(</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pay to Play#3<br />A pretty good week as I only spent $10 all week after doing a trade which involved me getting enough cash to cover my Sunday entry fee. I'm in the black to the tune of $60 right now. In my prize packs was a Foil Korean Cinder Glade which looks pretty and might even pay for a draft in the future.</span><br />
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The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-32628581851615889622015-10-11T20:21:00.001-07:002015-10-11T20:21:31.159-07:00Magic Monday #7<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I will no longer bother with the explicit language warning on this site. All bets are off from now, especially as I have finally gotten around to watching The Wire (still holds up).<br /><br />Last weekend I missed the Sealed PPTQ that took place in Suwon on the Saturday but made it for the Sunday draft. The PPTQ was the first one in Suwon so it was pretty unexpected. The W30,000 would put me way over my Magic playing budget but also I hate going in to just make up the numbers. There is a lot going in on this set and I haven't been excited about it enough to learn what they all do. For Khans block I got super pumped and 2 weeks in I was confident enough to do a draft in Korean..<br />
Nowadays with no electronic devices allowed it means I can't look at the spoiler on my phone. I have to both learn a little bit more Korean to at least be comfortable on all the keywords and be passionate about the set.<br />
It sounds like they consider the PPTQ a success and they will continue. The only thing up in the air is the format, sealed and I'm in but if it's standard I can't really compete.<br /><br />I am preparing for game day though but I feel my hearts not really in it this time. A little bit like I am going through the motions because I haven't bothered trying to trade with anyone and if not for BJ insisting on getting the Radiant Flames I need then I probably would have skipped it and given up on standard for good.<br /><br />I did fairly well at last Sundays draft, it was a 10 man draft and I lost the finals in heartbreakingly close circumstances in game 3. That's exactly what you want in a match of Magic, everything on the line, it was close with both players drawing enough spells and lands to play the game. My finals opponent hit me for 12 which left me at 2 life and facing lethal next turn. I could do 14 to him which would have left him at 2. I would have been able to wipe his board if my Serpentine Strike didn't get ingested as a result of his big attack. That was that, he won the draft and opened a Gideon.<br />I can't complain though, during the draft I took a couple of lands to have the draft pay for itself in theory, though likely they will sit in my binder until they are only worth a couple of dollars and then get thrown in a box to never see the light of day.<br /><br />Pay to Play #2<br />
Sunday was a good day budget wise, I sold the last of my Puca points (8,000) for W60,000 to put my Magic budget back in the black. As of today it sits at +34.7 and next weekend I am of camping so it will be over 60 before I next play. Game day will skim a little bit of but those points in the bank should hopefully keep me in the black all the way to the Pre Release of the next set.<br />
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The big question I have to ask myself at this juncture is what is my next move with Puca Trade. I don't have any points coming to me in the mail. I know I will eventually want them but I just don't feel the yearning for any singles right now. The older stuff I had on my want list was taking for ages to come but if I want to finish my cube want list from Origins or Battle for Zendikar Puca is the best way to do it. I need to play some Eye of the Tiger or whatever young people listen to these days and get my ass to the post office!</div>
The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-9830778291994450842015-10-06T19:14:00.001-07:002015-11-01T20:42:54.675-08:00Pay For Play<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For a long time I have tracked how much I spend on Magic with a strict budget in mind. Even when I had a lot of discretionary income (pre child) I would track my spending. This type of OCD about money is probably why I chose to get a Commerce degree from University.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My budget at the moment is $2.5 a day which adds up to a lot in a year $2,281.25 but feels like a small amount daily and weekly (17.5) to spend on my primary hobby. That yearly figure though is 3 weeks salary and for a family man with a lot of responsibilities it makes me feel guilty.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think trying to get Magic to pay for itself entirely would be an interesting experiment and there certainly are ways to play for at least nearly free but I really enjoy drafting and I don't want to give up my weekly draft for the benefits of science just yet. I'm not in the business of actively punishing myself and then later regretting it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That $2.5 covers a draft (which must be paid in cash) but doesn't stretch any further. Things like sleeves, tournament fees and singles will put you in the red. Right now courtesy of buying a Battle for Zendikar fat pack I am in the red to the tune of $24 even after recouping $15 by selling my promo Serum Visions. Later this month I will miss a couple of drafts due to a camping trip and such which will make up for that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Puca Trade has really helped in regards to singles, I don't plan to ever pay cash for singles again for as long as Puca Trade works. I have slowed down on using it due to a lack of cards I really want right now. My modern decks are pretty much finished apart from gaping holes like Scalding Tarns which I am waiting on to be properly reprinted in a form that is accessible.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In Puca trade it's easy to forget about the postage fees and associated costs (top loaders, envelopes and printing) but I don't. Thanks to selling my points a couple of times I have those costs well covered.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sleeves and Tournament fees as well as my fat pack addition (I like to get one each set) are the primary pressure on my $2.5 a day Magic Budget. It feels like I always need new sleeves for something, oh and I could do with some more commander deck boxes if they were sold locally. I plan to document my $2.5 a day challenge with a weekly status amount in "Magic Monday" to keep the pressure on myself to stick to it. I knew that fat pack figure would push me over but I brought it anyway, just so I could make a fraction of my cube lands full art.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It was worth it, because fuck half art lands. But the line has been drawn.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Maintaining a cube, multiple modern decks, a few EDH decks, drafting each week and hoping to participate in game days (standard) each quarter is not easy on $2.5 a day. It's an expensive hobby.</span><br />
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The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-68262622811065477762015-10-04T19:57:00.001-07:002015-10-06T19:14:24.685-07:00Magic Monday #6<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I got a little bit personal and to the point in the last post about Mr Salty I have contemplated the name change. I don't think I was out of line objecting to his behaviour but doing so in writing rather than face to face doesn't sit right with me. On the other hand I am a selfish person and the putting it out in writing is quite therapeutic for me. It avoids me exploding and saving it up because I feel like It has been said even though he more than likely didn't read it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On last Sunday in the ultimate of ironies I took a first pick Ulamog and he drafted a very disciplined Black White life gain deck. Then we were paired first round and I lost game one. While his deck had a lot of synergy it was a very very slow kill so I brought in Ulamog and wrecked him with it game two. The opposite of nearly every match we have ever played.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In game 3 my deck actually worked as I managed to exile some stuff to process and beat down quite quickly. I heard rumblings about that Ulamog for the rest of the day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Back on topic, The Angry Hermit with it's list of Magic Shops and how to find them is supposed to be a community resource. Me complaining about other players or embarking on voyages of self discovery and giving out bad pick orders is not helpful for the community.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So I will split my writing with this site "The Late Picks" (trademark pending) being for everything and the Angry Hermit whose name is already out there sticking to just the positive stuff and shitting out rainbows.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I enjoyed the new format even though I didn't do that well. The deck just didn't quite come together and the Mist Stalker plan wasn't a good one. It was great to see an old face return to the scene after walking across Korea and travelling throughout South East Asia. I didn't think I would ever see him again but luckily/unluckily his wife got home sick and their plan for eternal travel and living by the beach got nixed and he is back in Seoul. </span></div>
The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-47729431547650788842015-09-29T20:56:00.000-07:002015-10-06T19:14:41.394-07:00Magic Monday #5 (Explicit Warning)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Despite having the flu, 2 hours sleep the night before and feeling the effects of coming down from one brand of painkillers and starting on another I made it to my stores pre release.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even though I felt like shit I still preferred the new/old/traditional dose of no seeded packs. I built a black/red deck I am hesitant to call aggro as it had an 8 drop in it. The corner stones were 3 Nettle Drones a 3/1 for 3 that can ping your opponent and untaps when you play a colourless spell. In a couple of games my opponents had mana problems and I started hitting them quite hard but most games were really me grinding them down and winning through having superior removal. In one game I played all 3 Nettle Drones which represented a lot of damage, sadly though one was promptly killed.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My semi comatose state managed 3-1 and getting away with swearing at an opponent. One of the regulars had been getting progressively more salty at missing out on the expensive FNM promo's and the losing streak that comes with that. If I think back he always was a bit of a grump when things weren't going his way but that was forgotten during the back end of Khans through to the middle of Dragon's of Tarkir because he did quite well.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He had become unpleasant to play with as soon as he was losing but not over the line and I had not gotten involved previously. Another player had brought it up it but we were on our way to eat and the conversation never really progressed</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On Sunday he was upset at having mana problems even while sweeping my board leaving me with no non land permanents. I went to read the card that just swept my board and he got snappy with me that my creatures are dead. That's when I told him to "Calm the fuck down". I just wanted to read the card and he continued to protest but much less aggressively "don't you trust me" and "you have this card in your deck too". I didn't have the card in hand though so it's not like I was allowed to start rifling through my library. It was round one of my first and only pre release, being able to know what is going on is a core part of the game. If I'm not allowed to even look at my opponents cards something is seriously wrong.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And no, I don't exactly trust the guy who killed me by activating Rogues Passage on Gaea's Revenge without even apologising afterwards. I don't think this player is a cheat but he is highly strung and only has one year's experience of competitive Magic with no higher level event experience. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">His excuse for his behavior is that no one likes having mana problems and it's really frustrating. Yes, but it happens to all of us and he is the only one that is ruining other peoples fun. I won the deciding game against my round 4 opponent while he sat with 5 plains on board and a hand full of red creatures. Apart from the "I had all these" at the death blow you wouldn't have known. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I apologised for his bad luck he replied with the Korean equivalent of "shit happens". </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think the new format with colourless bombs that don't punish rare drafting and the viability of the slower mid range to control decks he prefers will probably suit Mr Salty and his results should improve. If not then a line has been drawn in regards to my tolerance with his behavior. To his credit he seemed to improve from then on and I think Dan stepping in to back me up was a big factor. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I still consider Mr Salt a friend, because one negative is about 50 less negative personality traits than I possess. </span></div>
The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-23299591315719279012015-09-23T20:47:00.000-07:002015-10-04T19:34:15.287-07:00Magic Monday #4 (Warning:Explicit Language)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pre release is upon us and it seems a lot of people are down on this set. It looks fine to me but once they announced enemy fetchlands were not going to be reprinted my anticipation levels hit zero. Since then the spoiling of new cards can't possibly reduce my excitement for the pre release and it has slowly ticked up.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The limited environment seems hard to gauge as there is so much (perhaps too much) going on and coupled with the death of seeded packs it feels like the mystery is back. Stepping into the great unknown is what used to make pre releases stand out as a special tournament. While the first time you play with cards is great fun, with seeded packs it means there is not a huge difference between your first sealed deck and your last one in a format. You know more about the cards and should hopefully be better at building a deck but that is cancelled out by your packs not being as stacked.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I understand and struggle to disagree with the argument that seeded packs make it easier for new players and pre release is supposed to be about them. There is zero reason to deny the former but the later? Pre releases are probably the best tournaments for new people but there aren't many alternatives and I can't think of any tournaments that are designed just with new players in mind. Pre releases have won the tag as best introductory tournament by default.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think it's easily the enfranchised players who get the most excited about pre releases. We are the ones checking the spoilers' every day, put the release date in our calendar and debate cards weeks before you can play them. We certainly aren't going to "maybe" go to the pre release depending on the weather.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A strong reason the pre releases are so new player friendly is the enfranchised players are so excited it becomes contagious. We are bursting to talk about it and I knew many people who practically drag friends or partners along in order to get more of those new cards we can't acquire anywhere else yet. We can't wait that 5 or 6 days until release :)</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Things like 2 headed giant are good tournaments for new players and they also hopefully make up for the lack of seeded packs if one of the heads is more experienced. So while I hope that new players can still enjoy the event I am glad us oldies and enfranchised players have got something back.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The expeditions have been received a lot better than I thought they would. My initial reaction was "fuck that", I am not opening or ever owning one even though full art lands are the sweetest things since Korean Garlic Bread*. I never opened a planeswalker during the entire run of Magic Origins and have to go all the way back to Innistrad before remembering anything like a decent ratio of playable to bulk from packs I opened.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I didn't understand people who planned to buy more sealed product than they normally did. Even MTG Finance people I respect like Chaz V were talking about buying a case just to try and crack an expedition whereas he normally forgoes buying sealed product. Madness!</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To me, huge variance is a turn off because I feel like I am unlucky. It seems I am in the minority amongst Magic players. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even I do enjoy gambling and one thing I have observed amongst the Korean player population is a good percentage of them are massive gamblers. Far more loose packs get opened than can be justified in order to play the "value game". The "value game" is where 2+ (usually 3 or 4) people open packs at the same time and whoever opens the pack with the lowest value pays for both of the packs. It's hash but pretty exciting.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This swathe of negative feelings towards the new set is probably just a correction from unjustified and illogical hype based on the expeditions. It seems a lot of people are still high on the expeditions though but are just taking their wrath out on the rest of the set.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even if it is less powerful than normal we are losing 4 sets from standard so there are lots of opportunities for BFZ cards to find a home in standard. The headline cards Ob Nixilis, Gideon, Greenwardern, Drana and Ulamog all look the goods to me. Wizards could have thrown Standard a bone and seeded some allies in Magic Origins. Just enough for a tier 2 deck would have generated a lot more hype about each ally reveal. Instead we got most commentators saying "wait and see" and quickly moving on.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If standard really is less powerful it will give my Sphinx's Tutelage/Ulamog reanimator brew/pile a chance to shine at game day**. The first Star City event post release day, the Indianapolis Open is going to be fascinating.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">* Involves sugar for those lucky enough to only have eaten regular garlic bread.<br /><br />** A man can dream, and by the way can anyone lend me some Ulamogs'?</span></div>The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2018504501389676781.post-4057237451421735492015-09-22T07:45:00.000-07:002015-10-04T19:34:15.301-07:00Duels of the Planeswalkers BFZ sneak peak<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_xhPikl4HKTgVsX3smB5PbzlYtdgQbN4rjPeKutwA3PE3UQ0nj7Y-AV1YSfceMm3kI5SuMgXoHcVtxUNLT3v_k7ZLsM8TQo8xvm8WNgTQ1KCsLt1ap99yo3S-tvGnZrM1o-qPk-jDPro/s640/blogger-image--199415967.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_xhPikl4HKTgVsX3smB5PbzlYtdgQbN4rjPeKutwA3PE3UQ0nj7Y-AV1YSfceMm3kI5SuMgXoHcVtxUNLT3v_k7ZLsM8TQo8xvm8WNgTQ1KCsLt1ap99yo3S-tvGnZrM1o-qPk-jDPro/s640/blogger-image--199415967.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Edit:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Added the French Preview brought to my attention by a Reddit User.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8eSGqq4AJMEHNmwgQ_XX515kmLmbDE9WeoOj8l9XEF-xV7WI9mTMJdqdN0c20HfWKHhVsfHfS2m8GQlXzbhR2DZsFrOzOpyHVc-faXKyYH9yuJlYwDFVBEiLhi6_Xb6OgS8GlcDIlGdI/s1600/magic-duels-la-bataille-de-zendikar-image-screenshot-4_0903D4000000818942.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8eSGqq4AJMEHNmwgQ_XX515kmLmbDE9WeoOj8l9XEF-xV7WI9mTMJdqdN0c20HfWKHhVsfHfS2m8GQlXzbhR2DZsFrOzOpyHVc-faXKyYH9yuJlYwDFVBEiLhi6_Xb6OgS8GlcDIlGdI/s320/magic-duels-la-bataille-de-zendikar-image-screenshot-4_0903D4000000818942.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div></div>The Late Pickshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07388901721616818636noreply@blogger.com0