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 Welcome to the Fifteenth 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. 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. 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! Commander Thread Argue about whose fun is most important in this thread about Magic's most popular casual format. Magic: the Gathering Arena Thread Talk about Magic microtransactions here! Arena uses some wacky formats, prioritizes Best of One tournament styles, and attracts players of all skill levels, so the metagame can be drastically different than paper. ============================================ 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. Standard: One of the easiest formats to get into. Since it consists of nothing but the last two years worth of Standard-legal sets to be published, finding cards is relatively as most cards are still in print. Standard is the most popular sanctioned constructed format. 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. Almost nobody plays this anymore, sorry. 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 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 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. Using only commons and cards reprinted as commons on Magic Online, it is the cheapest constructed format available. Here's a good FAQ to get started. ============================================ DIGITAL VERSIONS Magic: The Gathering Arena is the main and official online version. As of right now, you can draft with bots (but play those decks against real players) and play Standard, along with rotating wacky online formats. Unlike the paper version, there's no way to buy singles - you'll have to open the cards in packs or trade in wildcards to build your decks. Many times, especially prereleases, Wizards will release codes for the game that allow you to unlock new cards and/or cosmetics. Magic Online is the old way to play the game online. Its upsides include the ability to play or draft twenty-four hours a day and being able to test deck brews against a variety of opponents without finding and sleeving physical cards, but its downsides are almost everything else. It's got a clunky and outdated UI, multiple bugs that persist for years, and a pricing model that isn't at all as generous as its competitors such as Hearthstone. Play on it if you want, but do some research and know what you're getting into. 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. ============================================ 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. Competition is usually pretty lax at FNMs, with (hopefully) friendly players and a fun atmosphere. There's a special promo given out to some players at every FNM, and you can see the current month's here. Prereleases: The week before a new set comes out, players get to experience it early in a Prerelease Event. Prizes are usually small, because the real prize is getting to see and play with the new cards for the first time. Magic Fests: Giant celebrations of Magic that happen in and around large cities. If you feel like travelling or there's one near you, they're insanely large events full of Magic players, side events, and Grand Prix type tournaments. Competitive Level Play: To be honest this is in such a flux right now that I can't keep track of what the hell is going on. If you want to play competitively I'm sure there are many people in this thread that can tell you why it's actually a bad idea. A full list of the official events types is here. ============================================ 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. EDHREC: A great tool for Commander/EDH players. Get suggestions based on whatever you want to play in the format! Scryfall: The best and most comprehensive search engine for Magic cards. MTG Goldfish: Another metagame analysis site. Very comprehensive! DeckStats.net: Type in your decklist and get details on your curve, draw sample hands, etc. Gatherer: The official online database of every card ever printed, with up to date Oracle text, rulings, etc. 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. 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. CranialInsertion.com: A weekly rules article with answers to questions submitted by players. This is the rules article that was previously on MTGSalvation. Good Games Live: Live coverage of non-WotC big tournaments. 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. 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. 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. MTG The Source: What The Mana Drain is to Vintage, this is to Legacy. 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. TheManaDrain.com: One of the premier sources for Vintage information on the internet, TMD is a forum to discuss Vintage strategy and find events. 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. [b]Discord[b] The official Goon MTG Discord server is here: https://discord.gg/NDKdUC3 TheKingofSprings posted:Magic: the Gathering: Faithless Posting LifeLynx fucked around with this message at 17:51 on Oct 22, 2020 |
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Aug 28, 2019 17:16
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oh hey new thread uh, how about them grimm's faerie tales for eldraine
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Aug 28, 2019 17:25
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Magic: the Gathering is cool and good. Too bad about everything else surrounding it. The magiccards.info link in the OP should be changed to scryfall.com. Also, we have an MtG goon Discord now! https://discord.gg/2M9HSa
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Aug 28, 2019 17:27
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Apparently Maro spoiled that the Gingerbread monster is named Gingerbrute
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Aug 28, 2019 17:28
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Can’t wait for the top down three little pigs card. Maybe it’s a vertical cycle!!!
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Aug 28, 2019 17:32
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More about Oko. They made it a point to ask if he can shapeshift into other Planeswalkers. Since Garruk is reportedly in the story but doesn't get a card (as far as I know, the only walkers are Will, Rowan, and Oko) maybe it's Oko pretending to be Garruk for some reason?
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Aug 28, 2019 17:35
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Is it worth trying to unload my playset of Bazaar of Baghdad now, since Dredge is effectively dead?
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Aug 28, 2019 17:40
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Kalli posted:Apparently Maro spoiled that the Gingerbread monster is named Gingerbrute Goddamn it. I loving love it. PLEASE be a red aggro creature. 
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Aug 28, 2019 17:41
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If I was a shapeshifter I would also have abs like that
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Aug 28, 2019 17:43
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Tubgoat posted:Goddamn it. I loving love it. PLEASE be a red aggro creature. It's a green black creature that returns from the graveyard.
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Aug 28, 2019 17:44
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Cynic Jester posted:It's a green black creature that returns from the graveyard. With flying and vigilance and convoke and delve
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Aug 28, 2019 17:47
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Ate My Balls Redux posted:Magic the Gathering: Fred Flintstoneforge just to drive that one guy even more crazy
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Aug 28, 2019 17:50
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I'm getting excited for spoilers to start
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Aug 28, 2019 17:51
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Why does Forbes get the scoop on Oko
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Aug 28, 2019 18:08
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I also manage the SA MTG Discord server, and it would be great if LifeLynx added the link to the OP. https://discord.gg/NDKdUC3
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Aug 28, 2019 18:11
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When do actual spoilers start and not just names?
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Aug 28, 2019 18:15
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Elyv posted:If I was a shapeshifter I would also have abs like that He can look like anything, so of course he defaults to a humanoid appearance about the same build as the rest of the Planeswalkers we have.
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Aug 28, 2019 18:15
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please include all star formats to the OP, historic and brawl
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Aug 28, 2019 18:16
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Magic Underwear posted:When do actual spoilers start and not just names? This weekend at PAX, probably on Saturday
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Aug 28, 2019 18:24
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Op please consider adding untap.in to the op under "digital versions"
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Aug 28, 2019 18:30
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Cockatrice is good but the people are terrible, much like paper magic.
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Aug 28, 2019 18:45
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OP you should probably add the magic arena thread too: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3870609Justin_Brett posted:He can look like anything, so of course he defaults to a humanoid appearance about the same build as the rest of the Planeswalkers we have. yeah bc then the magic players who play as human male warriors in RPGs wouldn't feel connected to him and sales would plummet, apparently
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Aug 28, 2019 18:49
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The Clowner posted:Op please consider adding untap.in to the op under "digital versions" What's this? This is the first I've heard of it. Zephirum posted:Why does Forbes get the scoop on Oko Yeah I don't know why either, I thought they were for finance and business stuff but it seems they hired a token millenial to write articles you can't even find from the site's front page because they would confuse the boomers who want to work on developing their yacht envy.
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Aug 28, 2019 18:50
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tinaun posted:yeah bc then the magic players who play as human male warriors in RPGs wouldn't feel connected to him and sales would plummet, apparently personally I'd just assume he's too queer coded for them to care anyway
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Aug 28, 2019 19:05
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LifeLynx posted:Yeah I don't know why either, I thought they were for finance and business stuff but it seems they hired a token millenial to write articles you can't even find from the site's front page because they would confuse the boomers who want to work on developing their yacht envy. Forbes lets a bunch of randoms write for their site now. There's still financial and business, but loads of offtopic random stuff that's written by basically anyone.
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Aug 28, 2019 19:12
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MTG podcasts: The Dive Down (hosted by goon ShaneB) - Modern, very engaging Pro Points - Pros discussing high-level tournament magic. Can lose focus sometimes Limited Resources - Granddaddy limited podcast Lords of Limited - Limited Top Level - Mostly standard and modern, this is the most unhinged one to me Post your recs
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Aug 28, 2019 19:13
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motedek posted:MTG podcasts: arena decklists (formerly the GAM podcast) is the best constructed podcast by a mile
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Aug 28, 2019 19:21
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little munchkin posted:arena decklists (formerly the GAM podcast) is the best constructed podcast by a mile
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Aug 28, 2019 19:43
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I like the two loadingreadyrun mtg podcasts
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Aug 28, 2019 19:45
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little munchkin posted:arena decklists (formerly the GAM podcast) is the best constructed podcast by a mile I have to respectfully disagree and say it is MTG Grindcast.
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Aug 28, 2019 19:47
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C-Euro posted:Magic: the Gathering is cool and good. Disagree. Brownhat posted:Is it worth trying to unload my playset of Bazaar of Baghdad now, since Dredge is effectively dead? Lol yes the deck that didn't even play Misstep 2 years ago is dead because some of its dredges will be minus one now.
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Aug 28, 2019 19:48
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LifeLynx posted:What's this? This is the first I've heard of it. It's another mtg platform, similar to mtgo. None of the bells and whistles of arena, you have to move cards around manually and stuff like that
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Aug 28, 2019 20:01
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 This is some next level trolling.
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Aug 28, 2019 20:14
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Cynic Jester posted:
This is even worse than mismatched art, mismatched language Tron lands.
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Aug 28, 2019 20:36
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motedek posted:MTG podcasts: Seconding the mention of MTG Grindcast - SCG Tour & constructed focus, one host is on Team Lotus box and they regularly have other guests from the team Also seconding Arena Decklist Podcast as another great resource for constructed content Love The Dive Down too, great modern content that is perfect for (as they tag it) the casual spike. Also probably has the best audio production / sound out of the podcasts listed and that is big game. Pro Points is great content when it is great but the audio quality can be okay or unlistenable unless you’re in a quiet room with some of the speakers being muffled or far too quiet. Also suffers from a lack of a real “host” to keep people on track (or maybe it is a lack of editing?)
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Aug 28, 2019 20:51
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Dehtraen posted:
I love The Dive Down specifically for the Causal Spike moniker, because it is literally me.
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Aug 28, 2019 20:55
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Cactrot posted:I love The Dive Down specifically for the Causal Spike moniker, because it is literally me. Lol Anyone going to pax? All the locals I know are kind of over it, and the side events have been declining for years but I'm sure there'll be a bit of stuff.
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Aug 28, 2019 21:09
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Cactrot posted:I love The Dive Down specifically for the Causal Spike moniker, because it is literally me. Glad to hear you aren't violating causality.
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Aug 28, 2019 21:34
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suicidesteve posted:Lol yes the deck that didn't even play Misstep 2 years ago is dead because some of its dredges will be minus one now. It didn't? Because I sure remember playing at Eternal Weekend 2017 with Misstep, after seeing it start getting played in like April/May of that year.
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Aug 28, 2019 22:53
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https://twitter.com/OwenTweetenwald/status/1166837429690494977?s=19 Huh. This might be the first actual apology I've seen for this type of thing. Also it taught me that apparently I hadn't unfollowed him on Twitter. Brownhat posted:It didn't? Because I sure remember playing at Eternal Weekend 2017 with Misstep, after seeing it start getting played in like April/May of that year. I've been defeated by rounding off a few months!!!
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Aug 28, 2019 23:33
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