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LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer
Welcome to the "Twelfth Edition" of the Magic Megathread!
A link to the last thread

Magic: The Gathering is a collectible card game where you play as a planeswalker, a powerful wizard capable of traveling between planes, summoning fantastic creatures, and casting powerful spells. Each game of Magic represents a duel between two or more planeswalkers. Magic in the game is divided into five colors: White, the color of order and balance; blue, the color of knowledge and illusion; black, the color of death and corruption; red, the color of chaos and power; and green, the color of nature and life. Each color is balanced against the others, with their various strengths and weaknesses.

First released in 1993, Magic's years of existence as the most popular collectible card game has attracted millions of players worldwide. Tournaments of varying levels are held all around the world, and the game is enjoyed just as much at the kitchen table as it is on the Pro Tour with thousands of dollars at stake. There is an organization called the DCI that sanctions and maintains these events, using tournament officials known as judges to keep the game fair and fun.

Like any other collectible game, the components can be quite pricey. Older, out-of-print cards can be hundreds of dollars, but those aren't needed to play in the game's most popular formats. In-print and just-out-of-print cards very rarely break the $50 mark, and as there's a limit of four of any one card per deck, you won't need too many to compete. Booster packs cost roughly $4 US each, but most people will agree that buying the single cards you need is a better bang for your buck... though not as fun as the "lottery" game of opening packs.

============================================

OTHER THREADS

The Magic: the Gathering Buying and Selling/Trading Thread
Don't deal with eBay or some random third-party insecure site for your Magic card needs. This is a thread to post your haves/wants and see if any other Goon wants your poo poo or has the poo poo you really need for that big tournament coming up, you know the one.

Deck Building Brewhaus
Post and critique decklists for constructed formats here.

The Magic: the Gathering Limited Thread
Draft and sealed discussion goes in here. This is a really informative thread if you're looking for tips on draft especially, as it goes into the draft archetypes of the current format as well as a glossary of commonly used draft terms you might hear at the table.

MtG Eternal Thread
Discussion on Eternal formats Legacy, Vintage, and honorary "Eternal" format Modern.

Magic Card Generator
Discuss your terrible card ideas here and make us all appreciate Wizards R&D and how hard it is to actually design solid cards.

M:tG Cube: The Most Expensive Free Magic Money Can Buy
Share your cubes with other people without the risk of strangers stealing your foil Russian Dark Confidant you've blinged out your cube with!

============================================

FORMATS

Casual: Anything goes. Despite being the least talked-about format, mostly because it's not really a "format", casual play is probably the most popular form of Magic. We're talking kids buying precons and a couple of boosters and sitting around their kitchen tables here. There are other casual formats loved by players more into the game, such as Commander, Cube, Type 4, etc. More on those later.

Standard: One of the easiest formats to get into. Since it consists of nothing but the last core set and the last two blocks to be published, finding cards is relatively as most cards are still in print. Each October when the first set of a new block is released, the oldest currently-legal block in Standard gets pushed out and the new one comes in. At the same time, the oldest core set rotates out, though the newer core set comes out around July so there is some overlap. Since many Standard decks rely on those older cards that have now rotated out of the format, the metagame can change drastically when this happens. Standard is the most popular sanctioned constructed format.

Wizards has released "event decks" as a way for new players to get (somewhat) competitive decks for cheap. They contain 60 cards and a 15 card sideboard, and are competitive enough to stand a chance at FNM, but not much elsewhere.

Currently legal sets: Theros, Born of the Gods, Journey into Nyx, Khans of Tarkir, Fate Reforged, Magic 2015

Modern: Magic's newest format bridges the gap between Legacy and Extended. All sets from Eighth Edition on up are legal; the "Modern" name doesn't necessarily mean the modern Magic frame, as old cards reprinted in a special set with the new frame, such as judge promos, are not legal unless they've been reprinted in a set since Eighth Edition.

Modern Banned List

Legacy: Legacy is an Eternal format like Vintage, only without the Power 9 and many other overpowered cards. For the most part, everything restricted in Vintage is banned in Legacy. Legacy has skyrocketed in popularity lately, and so has the entry fee to play in this format. Legacy staples have doubled or tripled in price on the secondary market, so the barrier of entry is very high.

Legacy Banned List

Vintage: The most powerful decks that can be created reside here in "Type 1". The insanely high expense of cards that are in almost every good deck in the format - cards known as the Power 9 because of their reputation for being the nine most powerful cards ever printed - leads players to shy away from the format. Most Vintage tournaments will be run without DCI sanctioning because they allow ten or fifteen proxies in order to make the tournament more accessable to players not willing to spend $3000 on a Black Lotus. A common misconception is that Vintage is a format of turn one kills - but in a format where turn one kills are possible, decks are fine-tuned not just to win, but to stop their opponents from going off on turn one or two as well.

Vintage Banned & Restricted List

Block Constructed: Block constructed uses only the cards from a particular block for deck construction. The smaller card pool available means that cards that would never see play in other formats get to see the light of day, simply because there isn't anything better available. Unfortunately block constructed suffers from one big flaw - because so few cards are available, the format quickly becomes set with a small number of dominating decks, and the theme of a particular block leads some players to feel like the decks are "pre-built" for them.

Limited: There are two popular limited formats: Sealed Deck, and Booster Draft. High-level limited tournaments are usually run sealed deck, with booster drafts as their top 8 playoffs. In sealed deck, a player gets six packs. With those cards, and as many extra basic lands as they wish, they have to build a deck that's at least 40 cards. Sealed is part luck (what you open), and part skill (how you build and play with your deck). Booster drafting involves each player getting three booster packs and sitting around a table. At the same time, each player opens up their first pack, takes a card out, and passes the rest of the cards in the pack to their left. This continues until all the cards in each pack are gone, then the second pack is opened and passed to the right. The third and last pack goes left again. Skilled players can sense which colors are "open" and pick cards that are strong in those colors. Then players follow the same deck construction rules as sealed deck - a minimum 40-card deck using as much extra basic land as they want. Some players consider booster drafting to be the best test of a Magic player's skill.

Two-Headed Giant: In 2HG, teams of two face off against each other. Each player has their own deck, hand, permanents, etc., but each team takes their turn at the same time. 2HG is usually sealed deck, with each team getting more product than a single person would usually get, but Standard 2HG isn't unheard of.

Two-Headed Giant Rules

Commander: Commander (previously known as EDH, or Elder Dragon Highlander) is one of the most popular casual formats. In Commander, you pick a legendary creature to serve as your "commander", and build a 100-card deck (99 plus your commander) using only one of each card, excluding basic lands. You can't use any cards which have mana symbols anywhere on them that don't match the ones on your commander's card, and the format uses the Vintage cardpool with some modifications. Your commander starts in the "command zone", and you can cast it any time you normally could cast them - but each time you cast it that way, it costs 2 more to cast. If a commander would be put into a graveyard or into exile, its owner can choose to put it back in the command zone instead, so it's hard to permanently get rid of a commander short of sending it into its owner's library. And lastly, if a player takes 21 or more damage over the course of the game from any one commander, they lose the game. The official rules can be found here.

Official Commander Site

Tiny Leaders: Like a cross between Commander and Legacy, Tiny Leaders is a format where everything has a converted mana cost of 3 or less. It's been increasing in popularity because it's a cheaper version of Legacy while being a faster version of Commander that you can play between rounds. The ban list is a modified version of the French 1-on-1 Commander banlist, which makes sense, as the format is designed to be played 1-on-1 instead of multiplayer. The official rules can be found here.

Official Tiny Leaders Site

Cube Drafting: Booster drafting is fun, but it can get expensive, and players lose interest in drafting a set when a new one's about to come out... and this is where cube drafting comes in. A cube contains 350-700 of the best cards in Magic, usually including the Power 9. The cube is shuffled, and random packs are dealt out to each player, which are then drafted like a normal booster draft. Cube draft owners take great pride in their cube, and will often try to foil out every card possible, making their cube cost more than the average Vintage deck.

Pauper: While Pauper is most popular on Magic Online, it does see some interest in the real world as well. On Magic Online, the format is played with only commons, but in real life, "Pauper" is sometimes referred to as a constructed format where only commons and some uncommons are allowed as well. Here's a good FAQ to get started.

============================================

DIGITAL VERSIONS

There have been many digital versions of the game in the past, on Dreamcast, Playstation, PC, and even arcades, but the current and most popular version is Magic Online. Magic Online players buy digital cards and play online against people all over the world, at any time they want. The only downside to the program is, of course, that you're buying digital objects and the social aspect of the game is non-existant. Wizards used to have a redemption program where players who collected every card in a newer set could redeem them for paper versions of those cards, but that's since been discontinued. Magic Online costs $9.99, but once you sign up, you get a bunch of random cards, including some gold-bordered cards you can only play with other people who have them. Also, new sets come out much slower than their paper versions, with a short delay between the paper release and the MTGO release due to Wizards not wanting people beta testing products that haven't been officially released yet.

If you want to play for free/cheap, there are ways, though some are more difficult to set up than others.

Apprentice is slightly old and outdated, but still very popular. Its features aren't as robust as Magic Workstation, but if you don't care about all the bells and whistles, it gets the job done.

NetDraft is a way to draft online for free, but you'll usually only play one match each draft against whoever you're paired against. Good for testing your draft skills. You'll need to use Magic Workstation or another program to play though.

Duels of the Planeswalkers is an Xbox Live, Playstation, and PC game with multiple expansions. Hardcore players were disappointed that there's no deckbuilding available, just a bunch of precons you can unlock and new cards you can unlock for them in turn, but it's a fun, arcade-y version of Magic.

============================================

WHERE TO PLAY

Friday Night Magic (FNM): The most accessable tournaments for most players is FNM, which as its name suggests takes place on Friday nights at local hobby stores. FNM tournaments can range anywhere from eight to sixty-plus players, and usually pay out prizes in either packs or store credit. To make sure everyone who wants to play can play, FNM tournaments are only allowed to be Standard, Extended, Block, sealed, booster draft, or Two-Headed Giant Standard/sealed. That way, no one needs to worry about tracking down older, out-of-print cards. Competition is usually pretty lax at FNMs, with (hopefully) friendly players and a fun atmosphere. Each month, Wizards prins a special foil promo that is given out to FNM players at each event. Other local events can be run too, even if they're not FNM.

Pro Tour Qualifiers (PTQs): PTQs are the first big step for players entering the professional Magic playing world. PTQs are staffed by highly qualified judges, who act as impartial ways to solve rules disputes, answer rules questions, and ensure the tournament is run smoothly and fairly. PTQs used to be run in "seasons", but now any store can run a Preliminary PTQ that is Standard, Modern, or sealed. The winner of each Preliminary PTQ gets an invite to play in the next Regional PTQ, and the winner of that gets an invite to the Pro Tour.

States/Champs: States, or Champs, depending on where in the world you live, is a big, fun tournament run on the same day in every state/province/what-have-you. Every participant gets a free promo card, and the top 8 players win boxes of product and a special foil promotional card. Since no huge prizes are on the line, the environment is close to a "big FNM".

Prereleases: The week before a new set comes out, players get to experience it early in a Prerelease Event. Prereleases are always sealed deck events. Prizes are usually small, because the real prize is getting to see and play with the new cards for the first time.

At prereleases, special promo cards are available that showcase an important card from the set. The only way to get these is to play in an event, and while they're not always tournament-quality cards, they're at least high on casual appeal.

Game Day: One month after the release of a new set, stores run Game Day tournaments. These are Standard events, sometimes with special rewards given for building your deck a certain way. Everyone gets a full-art promo card, and the top 8 get foil full-frame promo cards. For many people, Game Day marks the time when players have gotten used to the new set and are ready to test out their new decks.

Grand Prix (GPs): Grand Prix are open for everyone to play in, and are the largest public events, usually getting over a thousand players in attendance. While they don't feed any Pro Tours, the prizes are substantial and competition is fierce. Most GPs are two day events, with only the players with the best record being allowed to play in day two. There are usually side-events run at GPs as well, so even players who don't want to compete or players who don't make day two can get in on some fun.

Pro Tours: This is it - this is the big leagues. Pro Tours are by invitation only; by winning a Pro Tour, or having a rating high enough to compete. Wizards pays about $3 million U.S. divided among the players, some serious change for a card game. Players travel from all over the world to play at Pro Tours. Worlds is the biggest Magic tournament there is, held at the end of every year and drawing the biggest crowds. Even players not qualified to play in Worlds get to play in the numerous side events held by Wizards.

1Ks, 5Ks, 10ks, etc.: Major tournament organizers often hold large tournament for big cash prizes. Though not affiliated directly with Wizards of the Coast, the prizes are huge, they often get attendance numbers close to a PTQ, and they're often staffed by certified judges.

============================================

RESOURCES

USEFUL LINKS

DailyMTG.com: The official page for Magic is updated every weekday with articles from some of the most well-known people related to the game, from rules managers to Pro players to the people who make the cards you play with. You can also find tournament locations near you and information about upcoming sets.

MTGSalvation.com: MTGSalvation is widely known as the source for all new-set spoilers, keeping the most up-to-date source of new rumors and spoiled cards in the weeks leading up to a new set's release.

YuGiOhDad.com: After the owner of MTGMom.com became an actual mom, she quit updating her event calendar. This one, despite the misleading name, is meant to replace it.

StarCityGames.com: SCG is first and foremost a web store, selling not only cards but play knowledge as well. Their webpage hosts articles from the most prolific players involved in the metagame, with some articles being free and others requiring a paid membership to their site.

Magic-League.com: If you want to play in online leagues without paying for Magic Online, this is the place to look. Magic-League has thousands of players, so finding a game should never be a problem.

TheManaDrain.com: One of the premier sources for Vintage information on the internet, TMD is a forum to discuss Vintage strategy and find events.

MTG The Source: What The Mana Drain is to Vintage, this is to Legacy.

ChannelFireball.com: Luis Scott-Vargas, one of the most celebrated Magic players of all time, writes strategy articles for this blog/online store. Like StarCityGames or any of the other online stores/blogs, it hosts high prices and high-value strategy articles - though unlike SCG.com, the strategy is free.

Good Games Live: Live coverage of non-WotC big tournaments.

Wizards.com Event Coverage Archive: Archived coverage of WotC tournaments.

Gatherer: The official online database of every card ever printed, with up to date Oracle text, rulings, etc. If you're playing eternal formats like Vintage, Legacy, or even EDH, this is the best resource to finding out what your old cards actually do.

MagicCards.info: Faster than Gatherer, with a proxy printing feature, a search for prices on major online card stores, etc. If you're looking for accurate Oracle text and/or rulings, I'd still trust the official Gatherer over this, but many players use this for its other features.

DeckStats.net: Type in your decklist and get details on your curve, draw sample hands, etc.

CranialInsertion.com: A weekly rules article with answers to questions submitted by players. This is the rules article that was previously on MTGSalvation.

MTGTop8.com: A listing of the top decks from various tournaments, broken down by format. A must-use if you want to follow the shifting metagame.

IRC

There's also a Goon IRC channel for Magic on SynIRC called #mtgoon where a bunch of us lurk and occasionally bullshit about Magic, draft, play EDH, etc.

If you have an urgent rules question you need answered right away, there's the #mtgrules channel on EFNet where a lot of highly qualified judges hang out.

MOBILE APPS

GoldenDelicious posted:

So here are some apps I've discovered for iOS that are for Magic: The Gathering:

Deck Builder/MTG Deck Builder: This is a deck builder app that I would definitely recommend for people who want to keep their decklists on them - it is regularly updated, is well put together, and can list relevant statistics of the deck which is very well put together. It's $3.99, but I'd consider it worth it if you want to use it.

Magic Score: A simple life tracker that can keep track of life (not poison counters) for 1-4 players (and it's the only life counter app that can do multiplayer life counting, so that's something to note). Its biggest disadvantage is that if you have to turn off auto-sleep on your phone to not have to consistently turn your phone back on. However, it's free. So if you want a free life tracker, it's not bad.

MtG Life (MTG Counter on the App Store): I prefer this life tracker to Magic Score ,as you only have to tap the numbers to reduce your life total, rather than specifically push the -X on Magic Score. It's $0.99, if you want to pay a buck for a good life counter.

iGather: TheBandit mentioned this; it's actually an iPhone/iPad app (I like using it on the iPad). Apparently I cannot find it on the app store despite it being on my iPhone and iPad, though, so vOv

Gathering: Another good life tracking app; this one turns your iPhone's sleep mode off (so turn your iphone onto airplane mode unless you want to demolish your battery life), but it has a glossary of terms that are used in magic, from */* to Additional Cost to Deathtouch to Discard to Permanent to X. It also has a way to track tokens and various counters, and it can connect to Gatherer to search for cards, search magictraders.com for card prices (good for you people who use MOTL and such for trading values!) and lists all the different sets which brings up the setlists on Gatherer. I'd recommend this one over MtG Life if you don't mind pushing + and - rather than just tapping on the life totals, since it's also $0.99. Best life counter I've tried so far on the iPhone.

Sylvan Archive: Don't get this. It's out of date, poorly made, and nowhere near worth $3.99. Only purchase for MTG apps I've regretted so far.

MTGJudge: If you're a judge or RA, this is a decent tool to help you with just that - judging! It has a quick reference guide to things like penalties, layers, what the Head Judge Announcement should entail, and other good stuff. It has an up to date Oracle listing, the IPG, the Comprehensive Rules, and also a Decklist counter! It's free, too. For people who want to be a Judge or a Rules Advisor, this is a great app.

No Dice (iPad app): I love using this for testing; it's a 1v1 life counting app that also keeps track of tokens, life total, poison counters, mana being floated, how long the current turn has been going, and how long the particular game has been going. It is crazy good, and if you have an iPad and don't mind using it for MTG stuff, this is a must buy. There's a free version too that only tracks life, but it is more than worth $4.99 for all the features it has.



LifeLynx fucked around with this message at 21:03 on Jun 1, 2015

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LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer
At the time of this posting, here's what we have to look forward to: under/over-estimating the potential of cards in Dragons of Tarkir and Magic Origins, and being disappointed with what is/isn't in Modern Masters 2 and From the Vault: Angels. It's going to be fun!

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

Rinkles posted:

BJ can we get a minute's notice before thread switching? I lost a (fantastic!) post on the understated elegance of some of the new commons revealed today.

Sorry :(

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

apistat posted:



Is this going to be a cycle of brood-specific enchantments (and the end of the Ascendancy/Siege/x megacycle), or just the general representation of the DRAGONSTORMS :black101:?

Is there a reason this doesn't say "creatures you control with flying have haste"? It's going to be annoying explaining to people that when they turn their manifested dragon face up, it doesn't gain haste.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

Wow I don't want to play against this in sealed.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

GonSmithe posted:


This makes so much sense

Oh my god. I need to erase this from the internet so I don't have the conspiracy theorists having more ammo that some cards are "more rare" than others of the same rarity.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

Angry Grimace posted:

Surrak Dragonpuncher

1G Sorcery, gives your dude +1/+2 and makes it fight another dude.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer
Sarkhan Unbroken

2GUR

+1: Draw a card, add one mana of any color.
-2: Get a 4/4 red Dragon.
-8: Search your library for any number of Dragons and put them onto the battlefield.

Starting loyalty: 4

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

Entropic posted:

What does Ojutai do, dammit.

Flying (obv), and has hexproof as long as it's untapped. When it deals combat damage to a player, you Anticipate.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

qbert posted:

Holy poo poo everyone called it so hard.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer
Holy poo poo, Liliana is an incredible Tiny Leader.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

Elyv posted:

Why can't Liliana return legendary creatures?

My guess is that Magic Origins is a top-down flavor-built set, and they don't want her able to reanimate other DFC planeswalkers, or even worse, another copy of herself.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer
It's interesting that (I assume anyway) the Khans fetchlands rotate out along with Khans of Tarkir in October, even though they can be found in Fate Reforged packs. Now I realize why they kept the Khans expansion symbol on them.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer
I regularly attend a game shop where a dozen different games are going on at any time. The over-generalization and flat out lies that players of game X will tell to explain why they hate game Y are always a pleasure to listen to.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer



This shows how much they pushed removal in this set. I can't wait to play limited!

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

Zoness posted:

I'm gonna be honest I don't think reducing mana cost by 1 on an already insanely overcosted spell is pushing it.

I get the making removal lovely at common thing but 3B is hardly pushed.

I didn't mean pushed in the sense that it's way above the power curve (so I probably shouldn't have used the word pushed), but I feel like it's a good way to show that removal is more important in this set - by having the same effect cheaper from one half of the block to the other.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer
Remember years ago when the official Magic website's April Fools joke was a joke draft simulator, and actual Alara Reborn cards were spoiled? I hope they do something that clever again.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

Entropic posted:

The best wurmcoil deck was the one in M13 super-standard with Trading Post and Ichor Wellspring.

I went undefeated in games and matches using a build of this deck in Game Day, which was the first time I've done that since UG Tron back in RAV/TSP. So much synergy!

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer
I just had to argue with someone for five minutes because they tried to convince me that an indestructible Avacyn, who had taken six damage earlier in the turn, would die if they cast a Black Sun's Zenith on 7.

"Hey BJ, we had an Avacyn that blocked a 6/6, then I cast Black Sun on 7. Should it have died?"
"Well only if its toughness was 0 or less, then---"
"See! Told you guys!"
(another player): "Uhh wait I think he's saying it WOULDN'T die."
"Wait, what? But it's a 1/1 with six damage marked on it, right?"
"It's a 1/1 indestructible. It could have six million damage on it, and it still wouldn't die."
"So when do the -1/-1 counters start counting? From 8 or 1?"

I keep walking into my LGS on Commander games and getting roped into rules questions like that, trying to convince that same person that the stack doesn't resolve all at once, that same person that there's still time to respond after "At the beginning of the end step" things resolve, etc.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer
Well I'm super glad I didn't go through with my plan of stocking up on Eldrazi Temples and Eye of Ugins in anticipation of Battle for Zendikar.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

C-Euro posted:

Considering we're going back to Zendikar for the next expansion this seems really weird. Also how many people are going to get confused and think everything in these duel decks is Standard legal come fall?

Every time a duel deck comes out, there's always some newbie who brings them in shuffled together to make one giant deck that they try to play in one of our Standard tournaments.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

Lancelot posted:

Haha the Italian guy describing his Stax deck like a mafioso. "All I can say is... it's like a Boa Constrictor... sucking the life of of you..."

Those are the Forino brothers, some of the friendliest guys in Magic.

GonSmithe posted:

Of course they feature the worst card shop on Long Island in the Vice Magic documentary.

http://www.vice.com/video/the-mystical-universe-of-magic-the-gathering-000

Actually, I just got to this part in the video. Every Magic player they feature are basically my favorite people in Magic. What's wrong with Depot, other than it being kind of cramped?

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer
I heard at least five judge calls tonight asking if first strike or double strike mattered with the fight mechanic. And I was in the other room half the night, so I'm sure there were actually more. Some assumed it worked that way, so they played their fight spell on their first striker, then said "Nevermind" and took it back (with their opponent's permission) when the judge told them it didn't work that way. I'm sure I'll be asked that question until the end of Magic.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer
Speaking of values, when do I get rid of my Snapcasters? They'll be reprinted, the only question is when. But before that announcement, are they going to go up significantly from where they already are in a post-Modern Masters 2015 world?

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer
Six years ago, a player near me was unhappy with a judge's ruling and posted on a forum I ran that he didn't like the policy and intended to abuse it. I don't think he really intended to, and was just blowing off steam, but the then judge manager came in to my forum and basically told him, "Let's consider this logging your complaint with the DCI and also your intent to cheat at the event you're planning to go to on Saturday."

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

Serperoth posted:

We have a committee for that, composed of high level judges, and wizards employees, actually :goonsay:

I was at a judge conference in Philadelphia on Saturday where this was covered in great detail. Pretty interesting stuff!

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer
A friend's Modern Masters 2 box. So much value! The good thing is she works at a comic shop, so probably didn't pay full retail.



(First time posting an image from my phone, hope the image size came out okay.)

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

Starving Autist posted:

People got married at GP Vegas.
https://twitter.com/wizards_magic/status/604109392628162560


I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Huh, that's one of two wedding pictures I've seen from GP Vegas. The other one's on the official Magic: The Gathering Facebook account.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer
I don't know who CML is, somehow. I think I like it that way?

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer
I give up on guessing whether or not these "slips" are intentional or not, I'm just going to enjoy that they happen before almost every set.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

Elyv posted:

honestly the only interesting thing about the eagle spoiler(if it's real) is that the collector number is 275/272 so it's probably in the gideon theme deck.

Oh I didn't even notice that. Maybe this is one of those learn to play deck things where it's not in the set, but it's going to be Standard legal anyway.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

mcmagic posted:

I really thought that the prices for MM15 stuff would bottom out right after the GP weekend. That isn't happening.

Everyone's expecting it to happen, so no one wants to move their stuff. I think it'll take about another week before everyone unclenches their hands from their trade binders.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer
If you're in a position to, don't update Wizards Event Reporter (WER). The update gives the player with the most points the bye, and seats higher point players at the higher-numbered tables (so not closer to table 1 as they should). It also mispairs players, so you can have a six pointer playing someone with zero points.

One of the updates in the last month wiped out your local player database if you updated, but I think that's fixed now!

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer
I never thought I'd hear "I feel like that should be a game loss, at least" from anyone who wasn't a rules lawyer trying to get a win on their opponent.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

Aranan posted:

I feel like I'm racing speculators just trying to rebuild my collection for EDH. It's frustrating.

From someone who's been selling a lot to try to get money and also condense a collection into something that doesn't take up multiple large boxes, it's frustrating. Card prices used to go up gradually and I wouldn't feel bad if something doubled in price in a year. Now that happens overnight.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

DAD LOST MY IPOD posted:

She doesn't burn the village, the guards do to blame it on her as a pretext for her execution, and apparently they did such a good frame job they even convinced you.

I hope they at least apologized afterward and gave her some gold.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

black potus posted:

*rips open BFZ booster, flips to the rare* aw it's the MTG thread :(

Laughed so hard my cat freaked out and ran across the room, then back to stare at me.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

mr. mephistopheles posted:

Has anyone guessed at a Gideon ignition card yet?

Emergency Response
WW
Instant
Summon two 1/1 white soldier tokens with haste. Exile those tokens at the beginning of the next end step.

I'm terrible at fake card design.

As awful as that is, I'd put a lot of fake Internet points on Gideon's "ignition" card making tokens. I'd like it to cost two mana, but that's probably too much to ask.

LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer

Pyronic posted:

http://wpn.wizards.com/en/event/prerelease-magic-origins

The pack's theme does not guarantee a specific Planeswalker card.

Doesn't guarantee? That kind of suggests that it's possible to pull a planeswalker in a seeded pack, so there's going to be slightly more of them around.

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LifeLynx
Feb 27, 2001

Dang so this is like looking over his shoulder in real-time
Grimey Drawer
I wonder how this bodes for Jim's future at SCG as a writer.

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