Monday Morning Magic #12

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".

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).

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.
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.

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.

With my cube nearly finished we have started on a new project. A Korean language cube, It never ends.

Pay to Play: Magic on $2 a day.

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. 

Current Position: $42.70

Monday Morning Magic #11

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. 

Hopefully the store starts keeping better stock of certain products and starts selling singles.

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.

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.

If I survive I will be very relaxed next week.

Pay to Play: Magic on $2 a day.

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. 

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. 

Current Position: $42.70

Magic Monday #10 All good things.

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. 
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.
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.
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. 

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.
I never had to draft the black red sacrifice deck because I got to do it on Duels.
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.

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.
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. 

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.

Pay to Play #5

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. https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/3ovqwh/star_wars_the_gathering_complete_1st_draft/

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.

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 (http://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/much-abrew-about-nothing-modern-rallyfenza). 

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. 

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. 

I'm still holding onto that Steam Vents expedition though and the only real plan I have at the moment is to draft again next Sunday 

The current position is +$58.7

Monday Magic #9

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.
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.
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.
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.
Who the fuck cares what was in the Korean packs because that English pack had a Steam Vents in it.

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.
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.
Good day.

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.
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.
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.
Hope for us both.

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.

Pay to Play #4
$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.

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 +$60.7

Magic Monday #8

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.
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.

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. 
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.

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. 
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.

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.
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.

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. 
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.

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.
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.

I might be up for the Suwon PPTQ's though although it sounds like the shop might be gone in December :(

Pay to Play#3
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.

Magic Monday #7

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).

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..
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.
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.

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.

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.
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.

Pay to Play #2
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.

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!

Pay For Play

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.
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.

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.

It was worth it, because fuck half art lands. But the line has been drawn.

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.