Pack to Moat Week 13

Hello Everyone!

This week has a few very significant trades, and thankfully no actual setbacks, so I will actually be gaining value this week! There are some incredibly spicy trades that happened at the end of the week that really helped vault the binder's value towards a much more completed status!

April 25, 2012

My:
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite (25.67)
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben (3.87)

His:
Geist of Saint Traft (20.22)
Scalding Tarn (14.67)

Net: +5.35

After discovering how Elesh Norn had dropped last week without me knowing, I was glad to move it for some cards that will be much more stable in the coming weeks. Delver has been the best way to beat Ramp, so we may see a resurgence because of the printing of Cavern of Souls to fight against the ramp deck. A major part of the advantage is because of Mana Leak, but Delver does hit hard enough that they may not be able to survive long enough to untap with titan anyways, so Geist may get more popular in the coming weeks.

My:
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben (3.87)

His:
Spellskite (4.71)
Ad Nauseam (0.68)

Net: +1.52

Spellskite still sees some fringe play, so I think it should be a fine card to have on hand. Also, Ad Nauseam isn't really a risk to take on, but it is important enough to a deck that it is entirely named after it, so it should be very malleable for what it's worth.

My:
Celestial Colonnade (2.72)

His:
Hinterland Harbor (3.98)

Net: +1.26

This is the second Colonnade to go to Commander players of the 3 I once traded for. Clearly UW Tron never caught on in the local area, but Commander is getting more and more popular. No one is pimping as far as I know, so crazy rare foils probably won't get anywhere, but I will keep my eye out for random flashy cards in the future.

My:
Dryad Arbor (3.40)

His:
Woodland Cemetery (4.91)

Net: +1.51

Dryad Arbor has become much more of a fringe card recently because it sees very little play in legacy, so moving for a standard staple is a great maneuver.

April 27, 2012

My:
Scalding Tarn (14.67)

His:
Primeval Titan (17.78)

Net: +3.11

Finally I get my hands on a Primeval Titan! This card is so tradable and so easy to move I wish I could get 9 more in my binder! Especially now with Cavern of Souls coming out, Primeval Titan just became really cool once again, and I expect the price to rise a buck or two.

My:
Chandra's Phoenix (5.56)
Geralf's Messeger (7.65)
Slagstorm (4.75)
Grave Titan (9.32)
Primeval Titan (17.78)

His:
Lion's Eye Diamond (51.85)
Golgari Grave-Troll (3.14)

Net: +9.93

Now THIS was a great trade! Before we get to what I acquired, I finally got to get rid of my Chandra's Pheonix, which has lost $1.50 since I acquired it! But getting a Lion's Eye Diamond??!! Now I have 3 premium cards in my binder with the Chinese Show + Tell, Bayou, and LED! I need to get some individually high value cards, and this was a great way to do it, especially because I only traded one card that was worth over $10! The funny thing about this trade was a guy I was hanging out with sleeved up the dredge cards he had one him, which was about 80% of a final list - not bad. After sleeving up all the cards he sighed, looked at me and said, "hey, want anything in this deck? I don't feel like playing it" So I was able to get the last Bridge from Below for my own Dredge Deck, leaving everything unproxied except for 2 LED, and then I was able to do this trade. It is important to not forget about the Grave-Troll that I got as well, Dredge is very popular in my local area as it seems everyone and their mother is trying to break into legacy the inexpensive way via Dredge, so I expect this to get picked up very soon. If it does, and the person needs more for the deck, I may be able to broker them the whole thing! And of course, if it goes through this binder, I receive little royalties the whole time, which is the trick of the trade (HA!)

My:
Harmonize (1.66)

His:
Path to Exile (4.72)

Net: +3.06

I was actually a little ecstatic when one of the local ringers wanted my Harmonize and valued it at 3. I found out later that he is building a cube, but at the time I wasn't going to question his logic. Path to Exile is the premium removal spell of Modern, but even though the format won't come around again for the PTQ  season for almost a year, it is a card that everyone understands is very good and they move fairly well.

April 29, 2012

My:
Lion's Eye Diamond (51.85)

His:
Jace, the Mind Sculptor (58.46)

Net: +6.61

Right after I got the LED I txted a friend to share my excitement, and he responded "Sweet! I really need that card! Reserve it for me!" No even wound up asking for it, which is probably because it's not an incredibly flashy looking card, but I was able to make it into the Mind Sculptor himself. Jace is about to get MUCH better in legacy because of Miracle. The best card for miracle in my opinion for legacy is Terminus + Sensei's Divining Top, basically a 1 mana wrath whenever you feel you finally need it! (By the way, that is incredibly powerful) Jace, Top, and Brainstorm together make the miracle actually consistent enough to set up when needed, which was the problem with cards like Temporal Mastery that everyone lost their heads over. I think Jace will do very well for himself as he is quite the fine gentleman, and he is one of the best cards in legacy all of magic period.

8 Trades
Week 13 Net: +32.35

So after a very disappointing end and final tally for week 12, Week 13 did a great job of rebounding back. With the 3 Boom-booms of Jace, Bayou, and Show + Tell I have $175 in value across just 3 cards! Because if how consuming acquiring the LED was, the binder actually looks very thin right now, but hopefully I can thicken in all up this upcoming week. For a while, I thought it may have been possible to make it over the SCG Providence weekend. While that may still be true, I need another $50 in the binder before I even get to the $300 plateau, and then I need to sweeten it up so that Matt actually wants to do the trade. If I can, I hope to get another $50+ card to help increase the likelihood of him accepting because in all reality cards like Path to Exile really don't matter. They are just necessary to help grind their way up to cards that actually matter. Maybe if the stars align and I hit some gold mines I will have it done this next weekend, but I don't think that will be the case. I think this may end as a 15 or 16 week project when all said and done. Not necessarily a bad thing, but it definitely won't be done in 14.

That's all I have for today! Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack

Pack to Moat Week 12

Hello Everyone!

After 3 very hot weeks of trading, I have cooled down a little bit, but not too much! The project is going over very well, and I am in the process of bulking up individual cards. So instead of trading my 10 dollar card for 3 4 dollar cards, I instead want to turn 2 5s into 12 and so on. I only played Magic twice this past week - WNM and the TCQ - but I was able to do a bit of trading at each!

April 18, 2012

My:
Maelstrom Pulse (10.68)
Phantasmal Image (14.37)

His:
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite (25.95)

Net: +0.90

This trade was so much more exciting when it happened and I though Elesh Norn was still at 30. As it turns out, the hype has passed. Even though I really didn't gain much value-wise, I still was able to move a fairly cold card - Maelstrom Pulse - and I was able to consolidate 2 smaller cards into 1 bigger more attractive card.

My:
Phyrexian Metamorph (7.66)

His:
Grave Titan (9.61)

Net: +1.95

This trade is pretty routine to what I am trying to do now. Phyrexian Metamorph is actually a card that I think will continue to rise in value by a buck or two over the next few weeks, so I may try and trade for some of those. Grave Titan is a fine card too, so I expect it to move well.

My:
Thrun, the Last Troll (15.06)
Surgical Extraction (7.43)

His:
Misty Rainforest (14.35)
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn (17.84)

Net: +9.70

Emrakul has been steadily gaining value ever since Rise of the Eldrazi went out of print, and in the long long run I can see it residing at the 20-25 range. That, combined with how Misty and Scalding Tarn are inconspicuously a few dollars more than the rest of the Zendikar fetch lands leads to a good knowledge gap that I can capitalize on. He thought Misty was 11 and Emrakul was 15.

April 21, 2012

My:
Moorland Haunt (2.13)

His:
Blade Splicer (3.31)

Net: +1.18

One of the cool things about having done this project for so long and have talked to so many people is that people starting coming up to me at the TCQ to check in on the binder and see how it was going since they last saw me 2 or 3 weeks ago. They wound up talking to other people around them, and enabled me to get small trades like this one with people who didn't really have much, but wanted to support the cause.

On an extension of that, there was a guy I was talking to for a very long time at the TnT TCQ 3 weeks ago about the merits of trading. Apparently my words inspired him to make it a goal to trade his way to a set of Force of Wills. Just before I bumped into him again, I had traded my 3 Grindstones for another guy's Force of Will simply for trade fodder. So I was able to trade him his first force of will for a few staples he had been able to trade his way to including Geist of Saint Traft and a Snapcaster Mage. At first he was reluctant to trade his big cards for a Force, but then he realized that by doing the trade he was going to be a full 25% done, so he went for it.

My:
Elspeth Tirel (15.61)

His:
Geralf's Messenger (7.91)
2x Thalia, Guardian of Thraben (3.92, 7.84)
Bloodghast (3.35)

Net: +3.49

I know I am in the bulking phase, so I don't want to break cards into smaller ones, but Elspeth simply hasn't been seeing any play lately and I was worried her price would take a good hit. She has gone down since I acquired her, so trading into some staples and a wild card (Bloodghast) seemed like a very safe investment.

My:
Blade Splicer (3.31)
Black Sun's Zenith (7.09)
Woodland Cemetery (5.02)

His:
2x Blackcleave Cliffs (7.20, 14.40)
Sulfur Falls (5.38)

Net: +4.36

I doubt anyone is keeping a running tally of what is in my binder, but in case you were, you would know I already had a Blackcleave Cliffs in the pack - Moat before this trade. So why would I trade for 2 more? I was trading with another guy before going to this one and he pulled my 1 Blackcleave Cliffs from my normal binder and then asked if I had more. He mentioned he was looking for a full set, so I made this trade specifically to get the man what he wanted.

My:
3x Blackcleave Cliffs (7.20, 21.60)

His:
Umezawa's Jitte (20.54)

Net: -1.06

And then 30 seconds later this trade happened. I did lose a dollar, but he wasn't willing to throw me a bone, and I felt having 3 Blackcleaves was a much higher risk than losing a buck and acquiring a solid legacy bomb.

My:

Misty Rainforest (14.35)

Verdant Catacombs (10.08)

Knight of the Reliquary (10.75)

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn (17.84)

Chrome Mox (13.41)

Umezawa's Jitte (20.54)

His:

Bayou (66.79)

Net: -20.18

This trade. Yeah... While it is cool and all to get a Dual Land, the process and pain to get it probably wasn't worth it. Frankly my trade partner was a complete asshole. He had a computer with access to prices, but then refused to use it even as we bickered over prices. I would say one price, and then he would drop it a few dollars. He would then declare a price and I would question his pricing system. He would claim SCG, so I responded with the SCG price on all my cards, noting I had been using TCG. He denied every single thing I said. In hindsight, I really should have just bailed out, but I was too caught up in the allure of a Dual Land. Even without the Jitte in the trade I wouldn't have even made a buck! Trading for the Badlands wasn't THAT bad - I was able to recoup that in one trade. I don't know if I can recoup this from all the trades I did this week! This was my first real bad blunder of a trade. The prices here are TCG, if we were to go SCG here is how it would look:

My:

Misty Rainforest (19.99)

Verdant Catacombs (11.99)

Knight of the Reliquary (10.99)

Emrakul, the Aeons Torn (14.99) (sold out)

Chrome Mox (11.99) (sold out)

Umezawa's Jitte (19.99) (sold out)

His:

Bayou (69.99) (sold out)

Net: -19.95

In case you don't know how SCG manages sold out cards, they leave the card at the price it was sold out at until they restock. If the card sold out at the price it is listed at, then that means the card is probably worth more. A way to get people is if you ask for their card at the price SCG has them listed at even though it is sold out, you can save a buck or 2 on the trade. In the above example, I have 3 sold out cards to his 1 so even when they all go back in stock I won't have closed the gap any more.

I guess the lesson from this trade is that I can recognize behaviors of miserable trade partners better (he basically had a conversation with himself for 10 minutes while people were trying to trade with him at the event!) and get better at withdrawing... And of course I now have 1 more person I can intentionally avoid for all future endeavors.

8 Trades
Week 12 Net: +0.34

So basically, what was a +20 week went to complete shambles because of one really bad mistake. This is actually the least profitable week of the whole project, even worse than week 10 when I made only 1 trade all week and I combined the trade with the week 11 report.

But hey, what's a good tale without some twists, turns, and disasters along the way? I know I am not perfect, and I learn a little more each day, and with each event. If you have stopped trading because of similar experiences, I assure you that if you cowboy up and get back in the ring it will be worth it!

That's all I have for today! Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack

So Close Yet So Far - TCGQ *5-2 13th*

Hello everyone!

Last week I started from behind at the SCGIQ before winning my way to 9th. Today's story is the complete opposite. For starters, I didn't even know that there was going to be any big events until part way through the week when someone in our facebook group was looking for rides. I figured I would go for the trading if nothing else, so I made plans and headed town to TJ's Collectables for some standard action! I played the same exact list as last week except I changed the 2 Black Sun's Zeniths in the sideboard for 2 Sever the Bloodlines.

Round 1: Drogskol Spirits

I have been playing in more events recently and in turn I have been meeting more people. I never realized this until I sat down for round 1 and realized I recognized my opponent and the pairs of people on either side of my match. After all the hellos going around, I was completely unsurprised by the turn 1 island, delver. I was surprised though when he tapped his Seachrome, Darkslick, island and didn't play Geist of Saint Traft, but instead Drogskol Captain. I was a little taken aback, and immediately tried to remember as many cards from the Jon Finkel list from the Pro Tour. However, I was brought back to a very inspiring video I watched once: Just go kill him! As it turns out, that was my plan most of the day: present lethal every turn and make them play defensively.

2-0
1-0

Round 2: Delver

I don't even remember this round.... Delver isn't actually a very interesting deck to play against, and doesn't lend itself to memorable matches.

2-1
2-0

Round 3: RG Wolf Run

I saw this guy playing into turns the previous round and he missed lethal on board multiple times before finally going "whatever, I guess I have to go for it" and sent the opponent to negative 10. I have never had success in my life against Slagstorm-Primeval Titan decks ever in my career, so I really wasn't looking forward to this one. Game 1 I got him onto his back foot with a Phyrexian Obliterator. I then proceeded to get a free win when he decided his best out was to double slagstorm and leave himself at just 3 lands for permanents and 0 cards in hand. Game 2, he got me, but then the same situation came up again with Obliterator, and once again he decided I could basically get a free Liliana ultimate against him.

2-1
3-0

Round 4: 4c Heartless

I sat down against my opponent, and we started shuffling, I saw him flash a mana leak. That doesn't say much, but it is worth noting. He was on the play and mulliganed down to 5 while I kept my opening 7. He played a Sulfur falls tapped turn 1 before passing to me, so I had no idea what to expect between the falls and the Mana Leak. I won very quickly as he missed his second land drop, and his third land drop was a Drowned Catacomb that came into play tapped. I put him on Grixis Control, like what Patrick Chapin always tries to make work, and boarded appropriately. As it turns out he was on Heartless, and I was on all blanks game 2. I made all the appropriate changes game 3 and got the game into a complete board stall position where we were all going off the top. We were both flooding out though, so it was really up to the luck of the draw. I got a Geralf's Messenger though, and was able to recur some Gravecrawlers, and he drew too many blanks - he had 2 Heartless Summonings in play which severely weakened some of his topdecks like Solemn Simulacrum.

2-1
4-0

Round 5: Delver

I was starting to get intimidated by this point. Not because of my opponent - I had never seen him before - but simply because I was 4-0. I knew the people I would be playing against at this point would be incredibly good. I took out his Delver with a Tragic Slip, and was able to ride the tempo he lost to victory. (Sidenote: I don't like delver because it is so threat-light, and doesn't play very well through any real disruption). Game 2 was very interesting though because I had to race against his Geist of Saint Traft that was suited up with a Sword of Feast and Famine. He was able to get me down to 10 life before I was swinging in for 3 short of lethal with all my mana up. I made a spirit token and chumped to keep himself out of burn range. As it turns out the last card in his hand was Vapor Snag, and he very loudly expressed his frustration when he realized he was only going to be able to bring me to 1 life and he extended the hand.

2-0
5-0

Round 6: RG Aggro

Wow! 5-0 for the first time in my life! For the first time ever, I had to do the math out to see if I could draw into the top 8. There were 4 5-0s, and there were 18 people who had 12 or 13 points. So if I went draw-draw, I would end with 17 points. 9 players would win, giving themselves 15 or 16 points. Then 4 or 5 would win again and have 18 or 19 points. If only 4 players won their last round, I would make the top 8. If 5 did, then I would end in 9th place because I had the worst tie breakers of the X-0s. Therefor, I had to play it out.

I was against one of the local guys who is incredibly good. In my testing, I felt RG aggro was 50/50, and our games were very grindy. In the end though, he was able to win a tough one.

1-2
5-1

Round 7: UB Control

UB Control is absolutely a good matchup for me, but I lost. Why? I was so tired that I was not thinking very clearly any more. I played absolutely perfectly game 1 except in the turn I was planning on killing him. He was at 8 life, and my board was 2 Diregraf Ghouls and a Fume Spitter. In hand I had 2 Brimstone Volleys, Incinerate, and a Phyrexian Obliterator. I had 4 swamps and 2 Blackcleave Cliffs all untapped for mana. He had all lands and a Pristine Talisman. He completely tapped out at the end of my turn for a Think Twice, so I responded with 2 Brimstone Volleys bringing him to 2. The problem? I could have sacrificed my Spitter to make them both Morbid and bring him to -2. That's fine though because I was planning on sticking an Incinerate to kill him assuming my creatures couldn't get there. Black Sun X=2. I topdeck a swamp, so I play it and cast Phyrexian Obliterator with 3 mana up into his Swamp, Drowned Catacombs, Ghost Quarter, Pristine Talisman. He tapped Swamp, Catacombs and then sacrificed his Ghost Quarter to destroy his own swamp. Very clear that he has a Dissipate here. In response to the sacrificing of the Ghost Quarter I Incinerate him. He uses the 2 floating mana to mana leak the Incinerate. He gets an island, and then Mana Leaks my Obliterator. Why did I do it then? I'm an idiot. There is really no other way to say it. I just got too hasty and excited about winning and top 8ing that I forgot to actually guarantee victory. Insert Batterskull here, etc.

I was annoyed (because he pointed out my missed potential morbid after he went to 2), but this is a good matchup, so I should be fine. I was way too tired and slightly mentally tilted to play properly and I took a heartbreaking loss. After all that work to start 5-0 I had to settle for a 13th place finish.

0-2

5-2
13th place

The event was fantastic, and I really began to acknowledge my development as a player since this time last year. I felt I have been getting much better at simply playing tournaments - proper sleep, eating, hydration, mental state - and my technical play has been improving too. There are a couple players I really look up to and aspire to play as well as in my store. In the wild turn of events that was the weekend, they were the ones quietly railbirding me going into the later rounds! Whether it was the occasional pat on the back or just a simple smile at a win or good play, I really felt like I have finally joined that upper level group. Now the only thing left to do is get a real top 8!

The trades over the weekend were smaller than normal, as I was focusing more on the event, but I have been turning alot of cards into dual lands recently, so my binders are starting to get very thin. After one nutty trade with a guy that frankly was a complete asshole, I gained 6 dual lands and 2 Vendilion Clique, but I lost the majority of my trade stock. I haven't gone through it all yet, but I may just compress everything back to 1 binder, and my Pack to Moat is probably more desirable than my normal binders!

Overall I had a fantastic day that was capped off by my car having to get towed all the way home :(. But that aside, I had a fantastic day, and I can't wait to chew on some BRains again! That's all I have for today! Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack

Restored Spoilers

Hello Everyone!

It's been about a week since I last wrote about spoilers, and there have been a TON of new flashy cards spoiled! I want to cover several shorter ones here, and then go into more detail on a few specific ones in a separate posts that will probably be posted tomorrow (aka, no planeswalkers on this post). So let's jump to some interesting new cards!

Demonic Taskmaster was actually a part of the initial spoilers at PAX East, but at the time, I didn't really know how to utilize him. Obviously a 4/3 flying for 3 mana is undercosted, and as long as the sacrifice ability can be taken care of, you have a very potent threat. I finally thought of a great place for this card: Control! Whether it's UB or something like Burning Vengeance, having access to a cheap undercosted creature that has no downside is something any control player should be very interested in after sideboarding. An opponent will see a lack of creatures and will take out the majority of their removal, and then you get to slam the Taskmaster and start checking off opponents! This is especially good in the mirror when you may wait until turn 10 to play any creature because you don't want to get it countered and then have your opponent respond with their own finisher. If you land Taskmaster turn 3, you don't care if your opponent counters it or not - if they do they have nothing powerful to respond with, if they don't they die!

Here we have another undercosted flying uncommon that has what could be seen as a drawback attached. Anyone who has played for Kor Skyfisher knows though that you can usually turn this into an advantage. Obviously the difference in mana matters, especially when you remember the context of Vengevine. Skyfisher was often played as a 2-of in Vengevine decks to rebuy the vine any time. This time around though, we will have to find a time when we would rather have this over Restoration Angel. The advantage of the Emancipation Angel is that you can bounce any permanent... Maybe resetting a Mox Opal in Tempered Steel? I don't know if this will be played at all, but it may never be more than a 1-of in it's life.

I wanted to get all the mythic rares up, but I doubt any of these will be playable. I can see Bruna seeing play in Modern Mythic Conscription, but aside from that these 2 should be casual-only mythics.

It's the return of Smokestack! Well... not quite... Many of these Avacyn Restored cards have a vary important word that makes them function very differently, and that is "exile". Smokestack is awesome because you can fill your deck with cards like Flagstones of Trokair that you can sacrifice and not lose any board presence. However, this will not be an option with Descend into Madness. Also, I believe the active player has to exile first, which makes the card significantly worse. For example, let's say you played an Elesh Norn, so I Oblivion Ringed it. Then you play another Elesh Norn and I play Descend into Madness. Because I exile first, I can't be tricky and exile my Oblivion Ring to force the Norns to Legend eachother out because you can just exile your first Norn. Obviously after a couple turns with Descend into Madness you would hope to have a greater board presence and exile the bottomless staircase itself, but because you exile instead of sacrifice, we can't load our deck up with pod-type cards like Solemn Simulacrum, Viridian Emissary, and Wurmcoil Engine to accelerate our game plan. That being said, this is a bulk mythic

Now THIS IS EXCITING! This is probably the best drawing land they have ever printed since Arabian Knights! The other lands it has to beat out are Cephalid Coliseum, Grim Backwoods, Horizon Canopy, Mikokoro Center of the Sea, and Seaside Haven. All of those have pretty significant downsides, whether it is losing a permanent or giving your opponent a card, and Desolate Loothouse only costs you a card in hand. Which is discarded. This is a snap inclusion in any sort or URx Control deck like USA or Grixis. In fact, this could be enough to make me want to include blue in my Burning Vengeance deck again as I have been playing RWb since Dark Ascension came out. This land will provide so much value over the long term, it is frankly hard to explain! The most important thing that ties it all together though is that it only takes 3 mana to activate. Stensia Bloodhall is cool and all, but since when did BR ever want to tap 6 lands to do almost nothing? Just a 4 land investment to make use of bluffed mana leak mana to dig a little deeper and actually find that mana leak! I can even see Loothouse beign used in Modern in something like Pyromancer's Ascension where they are mainly playing all instants anyways, and discarding a spell means +1 counter for their namesake card. I can see this doing a lot for a long time!

Om Nom Nom! Peachy... The Anti-Inquisition of Kozelik seems very interesting, though not entirely playable. Hand disruption is mainly used to slow down the opponent so your game plan can take over, however this does do an amazing job holding down the ramp decks. From Huntmaster of the Fells to Primeval Titan to Emrakul, control decks now have a fantastic bullet to put a hole in the ramp player's game plan! This will probably be a sideboard card for now as it hits a grand total of 0 cards in the Delver player's deck, but I expect it to be showing up in sideboards in Modern and Standard. One thing of note is that the card is exiled instead of discarded, which is significantly better against Tron decks because they often only play 1-3 eldrazi period!

Wheel of Fortune? Is that you? This is so miraculous! This is one of the better Miracle cards released thus far because even if it is in your opening hand it isn't completely unplayable *cough* Temporal Mastery *cough*. This is a snap 1-of in standard RDW because 2 mana draw 7 feels a little busted in a burn deck! You never want 2, and you never want it in your opener, and you don't even NEED it to win, so a 1-of it is! With this card, I think it is safe to call the new breed of RDW "Miracle Red", especially with this next card:

At first I saw this card, and I was like "meh". But now I am thinking about it in the sideboard of RDW and it doesn't seem so bad. If a card basically reads Plague Wind, you have to look at it more than once before dismissing it. Even when this card is in your opener, if you are activating it for something small, like 1 or 2, then it really isn't too inefficient. I can forsee myself playing this in Red Deck vs the token decks and the white decks playing Timely Reinforcements. Plague Wind you, ping for 2, swing, go. Sounds like a fine turn to me! Obviously when you Miracle it, it's even better as a huge fireball that happens to also kill everything, so I am actually really excited to put probably 3 in my sideboard!

That's all I have for today! I still have a few more cards to go over like Vexing Devil and the Planeswalkers, so stay tuned! I should have that up tomorrow! Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack

Pack to Moat, weeks 10-11

Hello Everyone!

I skipped doing a Pack to Moat report last week because I basically took a week off from Magic. I skipped my normal WNM event to go to a college finance meeting, and then my weekend was occupied with Good Friday - Easter festivities. I was however able to get a grand total of 1 trade done:

April 4, 2012

My:
Hellrider (2.97)
Immerwolf (0.72)
3x Stromkirk Captain (0.99, 2.97)

His:
Grave Titan (9.75)

Net: +3.09

The guy I was trading with actually only wanted 2 of the Stromkirk Captains, but I really just didn't want them in my binder, so I just had him throw in the 3rd. While theoretically it cuts my profit margin by a dollar, cards like Captain and Immerwolf are worth so little that it is actually negligible.

April 11, 2012

My:
FOIL Lingering Souls (3.00)

His:
Champion of the Parish (4.67)
Woodland Cemetery (5.00)

Net: +6.67

This was just another sweet deal trade from the gent who has given me all the great value trades tracking way back to Wolfbitten Captive for Gravecrawler week 1. Either one of these could basically have been done as a 1-for-1, but he set the trade up, so I gladly accepted!

My:
Champion of the Parish (4.67)

His:
Phyrexian Metamorph (7.76)

Net: +3.09

Patrick Chapin has been talking more recently about how people should be playing more clones in standard right now, specifically Phyrexian Metamorph and Phantasmal Image. I was actually surprised that I haven't had any Metamorphs come through the binder yet, but I have had a ton of Images. That being said, I think this card should move fairly easily as everyone needs a clone for their sideboard!

My:
Blade Splicer (3.34)

His:
Blackcleave Cliffs (7.32)

Net: +3.98

I'm really glad I finally got to move blade splicer. She has dropped a whole dollar in the past month, which doesn't sound like much, but if you think about it as 25% of her previous value, then you see how bad that is. Lands are always a safe bet when trading, as everyone could use some real estate! Also, in the case of Blackcleave Cliffs, I have been sporting BRains for a while now, and the deck has a few cards released in AVR that already look like contenders for a few slots! I wouldn't be surprised if the deck picked up a few more followers after the next release.

My:
Celestial Colonnade (2.73)

His:
Slagstorm (5.32)

Net: +2.59

I originally picked up the Colonnades thinking that a Tron player would want them, however the Modern PTQ season is coming to a close, which means that Modern cards is where you do not want to be right now if you're shooting for short-term value increases. Thankfully, I found someone who wanted it for their EDH deck, so I was able to replace it with a standard staple that should be more liquid.

April 12, 2012

My:
World Championship Wasteland (5.00?)

His:
Mirror Entity (4.40)
Goblin Guide (5.09)

Net: +4.49

I still have no clue what to value this wasteland at, but a lot of people have been saying $5, so I guess that's what we can go with. I picked up my second goblin guide in hopes that Vexing Devil makes some people really lean towards playing RDW in an etrnal format where the Devil is simply better. Also, Mirror Entity is only played in Elves, but I feel the deck has been getting increasingly popular every year, and I want to be prepared when they come looking for random cards.

April 14, 2012

My:
Grave Titan (9.75)

His:
Surgical Extraction (7.63)
Stromkirk Noble (4.55)

Net: +2.43

I don't remember this trade happening at all, and then when I looked at my camera and all the pictures, I thought "What was I thinking?" I guess my rational, like with GG above is that Vexing Devil would make people want to play RDW in standard, and if they do, then Noble is the next best 1 drop that they would have to get to play it. Also, Surgical Extraction is just awesome and everyone (expecially snapcaster players) needs it.

My:
Badlands (49.01)

His:
Chinese Show and Tell (45.00)
Knight of the Reliquary (10.95)

Net: +6.94

It's so sad to see this trade happen. First, I really wanted that Badlands, but I wasn't able to get my hands on it. Then I got a Chinese Show and Tell that just looks awesome, and it's super pimp, and I REALLY want it, but I am not allowed to touch cards in the pack-moat binder =(. This really makes me sad to look and and not be allowed to touch...

My:
Sulfur Falls (5.09)
Torpor Orb (0.69)

His:
Black Sun's Zenith (7.38)
Bloodghast (3.52)

Net: +5.12

This trade was possible because he valued his Black Sun's Zenith at 4, pulled out his smartphone, and then just didn't check the price. If you're going to pull out a smartphone, actually use it! Normally I use my iPod to check prices, but my iPod was dead, so I couldn't help out there. The trade would have been fine without the Bloodghast, but on the other side of things if you are trading with someone and they do severely undervalue their stuff, you are not obligated to inform them otherwise. Just accept their prices.

My:
Phantasmal Image (14.31)

His:
Elspeth Tirel (16.35)

Net: +2.04

I actually thought Elspeth was 17 or 18 when I did this trade, but it doesn't matter. I still have another Phantasmal Image in my binder that can be traded out. This trade was with one of the guys at my local store who I very highly respect, and also who never trades in general, so I was glad it worked out as it did.

March 15, 2012

My:
2x Goblin Guide (5.09, 10.18)
Bloodghast (3.52)
Gravecrawler (8.84)

His:
Verdant Catacombs (10.25)
Thrun, the Last Troll (15.52)

Net: +3.23

This trade follows a lot of what I have been trying to do recently - bulk up. While gaining value is still the name of the game, now that I am reaching the endgame for the project as I am about $250 value right now, I just want to make the individual card values go up so that I have more leverage to get things like Underground Sea or Volcanic Island that may be required to trade in for the Moat. These 2 cards I traded for are obviously very potent cards and I expect them to move up well for fatter cards as both see play in every format.

11 Trades
Week 10/11 Net: +43.67

Once again, I had another nuts +40 week! This past month has been incredible for the project, and that has been solely due to going to big events to trade. I just learned that there is another 1K next week about 90 minutes from my house, which I may opt to go to, if not to play in then just to trade. If I do go to it, than I definitely expect that I will have no problem finishing for the Moat at SCG Providence! I am really excited to see how well everything has been going this past month, although at the same time I am looking forward to concluding the journey.

That's all I have for today! Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack

Getting Dream Crushed at SCGIQ *5-2 9th place*

Hello everyone!

Within 25 minutes of me, there are 2 stores that are always jockeying for players by offering better and better tournaments, prizes, and events to try and 1-up the other. Naturally this is fantastic for the players as we can always pick the better of the two options, or go to both when their special events happen two different days. 3 weeks ago, Toys held the first ever 1K in the North Shore, so naturally Harrison's responded with their own 1K just a few weeks later. I was not able to play in the Toys 1K, I got there during the 3rd round for trading, but I was able to play in the Harrison's 1K yesterday. As it turns out, they worked with Star City Games to make their event an Invitational Qualifier, so whoever won would be able to go to SCG's mini-Pro Tour. The top 8 was also going to get invited to a larger event later on in the year, and only the top 8 was going to receive any prize. So I knew going in it was top 8 or bust. I believe there were about 68 players in attendance. Here is the deck I ran for the event:

BRains
4x Gravecrawler
4x Diregraf Ghoul
2x Fume Spitter
2x Porcelain Legionnaire
2x Highborn Ghoul
3x Cemetery Reaper
4x Geralf's Messenger
2x Phyrexian Obliterator
2x Falkenrath Aristocrat

2x Tragic Slip
2x Geth's Verdict
3x Go for the Throat
2x Mortarpod
2x Incinerate
2x Brimstone Volley

4x Blackcleave Cliffs
4x Dragonskull Summit
14x Swamp

Sideboard:
2x Hex Parasite
2x Phyrexian Metamorph
3x Manic Vandel
2x Skinrender
2x Black Sun's Zenith
3x Nihil Spellbomb
1x Red Sun's Zenith

I thought of the deck name while I was writing the list for the event. It's so perfect! Simple, elegant, and a little bit of pun! I was actually excitedly telling almost everyone about that stroke of genius for about 5 minutes after I finished writing up my list. One thing I noticed about my list as I wrote it was how there seemed to be a lot of 2-ofs. After looking at the list again though, you will notice how in the creatures I have 2 Fume Spitters as 1 drops #9-10 in addition to their utility of being removal. Their are 4 2-drops split 2 and 2, and the same thing applies for the 4-drops. In terms of the removal, having a variety is very important. As the saying goes, "There is no such thing as a wrong threat, only wrong answers" so having a variety makes it more likely to be able to answer the spread of threats an opponent can present to us.

Round 1: Mono-white
I am notorious for telling myself how bad my opponent is before I even know anything about them, and that was the case here too. It didn't help that I crushed him game 1 while I just had all the answers and he was never really in it. However, Mirran Crusader + Elite Inquisitor + Angelic Destiny did a lot of work against me and I quickly lost 1-2. As it turned out, my opponent wasn't some chump but in fact won all day and entered the top 8 as the #1 seed!

0-1

Round 2-4: UW Delver
I started to get a pretty bad headache that stayed with me through round 4 when I managed to get out for a food break. I honestly don't remember much about these matches except that I won the first 2 and lost the 3rd time. My spirits were definitely lifted, although playing against Delver every round is pretty freaken annoying!

2-2

Round 5: RUG Delver

I was on the play and started with Swamp, Gravecrawler, but I was met with Mental Misstep, which was very confusing for me. "Man.... Another Delver deck?" I thought to myself as he led off with Island, Delver. I wasn't too worried though as I typically fare well against the deck, and I played a second Gravecrawler turn 2, but was hit with another Mental Misstep. I guess I shouldn't care since I can just recast them, but seriously, who plays Mental Misstep? I was eventually able to stick a Cemetery Reaper and regrow my Gravecrawlers, but he had an Arc Trail to hit the reset button once again. Inevitably I lost. This was incredibly important for me to win as X-2 has a chance of top 8 whereas X-3 has no hope. I was able to pull out both of the sideboarded games, though just narrowly!

3-2

At this point the standings went up and I was in 19th place. Probably not possible to top 8, but hey it didn't matter, I just wanted to play magic! As it turns out, all of the other top toys players were also 3-2, which was strange as I felt good for being at their level, but bad because they weren't running too hot either...

Round 6: Mirror Match

FINALLY! Not a Delver deck! I handily beat him 2-0 with almost no resistence. After the match we were talking and we exchanged decklists and I really didn't like his version. His list was more similar to the GerryT list except with basically no 2 drops, only 2 Highborn Ghoul, and 3! Mortarpod. Mortarpod is cool and all, but it's pretty terrible in multiples. Also, he was playing Surgical Extractions instead of Nihil Spellbombs which just feels wrong to me because you can draw a card vs negligible thinning. (There was one play that was funny when he very clearly had a Surgical Extraction in hand based on how he played and acted while I had 2 Gravecrawler in the yard. He opted to not cast it until after I cast another zombie. My topdeck: Gravecrawler, so I got to cast it before he surgicaled and he lost a ton of value).

4-2

I moved up to 14th place after this round. Probably can't make it, but let's try anyways!

Round 7: UB Control

It was very nice to not play against Delver for the last 2 rounds after 4 rounds of the Wild BlueCatl. UB Control is fairly easy for this deck as my threats are so resiliant and I am chock full of removal so his fatties never have a board impact. The games played out exactly as you would expect with my playing resiliant threats like Gravecrawler, Geralf's Messenger, and Cemetery Reaper, and he died despite his best efforts. It was the first match all day where I got to use the Hex Parasites, and when I unsideboarded face-up some of his friends saw it and were thoroughly confused. I felt like a prophet as I explained to them the dynamics of the planeswalker slayer when someone said, "Fume Spitter can rebuy an undyed Gerald's Messenger though" Yes, and so can Parasite!

5-2

Word was going around through the Toys players that I was in 9th place, so if any sort of fluke happened, I could get a shoe-in. Ironically at the same time word of a potential disqualification was going around. Apparently one match was trying to be decided by rolling dice. I slowly worked my way over there to eavesdrop on the judge talking to the players nonchalantly, but was saddened when I heard "Ok, so you guys aren't going to get disqualified but...." and I knew I couldn't luck-sack in. So I was solidly in my position of first loser finishing at 9th place.

Overall, I really liked the deck, and I wouldn't change a single card! The trading was fantastic too! Among other various goodies, I picked this beautiful piece of art up:

So yeah, it was an awesome day!

That's all I have time for today! Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack

Avacyn Restored Preview Season Begins!

Hello Everyone! We are only 2 days into the Avacyn Restored previews, and we already have some unbelievable cards! If you haven't been keeping a close tab on the spoilers, they basically are reprinting a piece of the power 9, and it completely sold out of all available preorders not even 24 hours after at was announced! Long forgotten rares from Portal are sold out on EVERY. SINGLE. SITE. And I'm sitting here laughing at the fools. What could possible cause such waves of emotion?

Time Walk. As the flavor text says so eloquently  - Time is in fact a marvelous plaything! The card that everyone is blowing their minds over? Personal Tutor. If you view the completed eBay listings, it's hilarious to look at the prices sold compared to the date. April 8th, the day before Temporal Mastery was released, they are being sold for $15-20 (and there was a very suspicious flood of them on ebay ending within the last 3 hours of the day... conspiracy time!), however within 45 minutes the price jumps 14% and by 8am it's up to $35! Star City Games and ChannelFireball both have them at $40.

But as I said before, I pity the fool. What does gaining an extra turn give you exactly? Another attack with your creatures? If that is so good, than how come World at War, Aggravated Assault, Finest Hour, Fury of the Horde, Hellkite Charger, Relentless Assault, Savage Beating, Seize the Day, and Waves of Aggression are all unplayable and are worth less than $1? You can play an extra land? Sick Rampant Growth bro. Draw a card too? Oh man, that looks like an Explore to me!

If you really want to gain an advantage, then you need to be using planeswalkers. And while getting bonus uses of your planeswalkers is good, it's not insane. What people don't realize is that you can't control when you're going to topdeck this card. How bad would you feel if you were on the play, and turn 2 you topdecked this? The way Miracle works is you have to cast it right there immediately or else you lose the free discount. Sure you can set it up later with a brainstorm, but it's like topdecking an Emrakul in Mesmeric Orb Combo, basically the worst feeling in the world because you can't use it until you blow a brainstorm on it.

If that's not enough, while everyone is screaming "Personal Tutor!" I'm whispering "Predict." Predict is already played as a 2-of or so in a couple decks, and now it just pwnd a n00b! If you're not into Predict (though I find it to be great against Enlightened Tutor and alongside Jace TMS and Brainstorm) There is also Thought Scour to mill your opponent's library.

Long story short - I really hope I open a bunch of these at the prerelease so I can trade them for cards that actually do something useful, or at the very least sell them and get a free prerelease! I will NOT be sleeving up this card for a long time as far as I can tell.

Also from yesterday, we have Avacyn's and Liliana's enemy #1. It's kinda sad to already know that Liliana kills Griselbrand, it takes a lot of the storyline out of the sails. But flavor aside, this card is actually pretty awesome! A flying Necropotence that feeds you back the life you lost? I can't see how it is possible to lose if you hit your opponent just once with this guy! In fact, you don't even need to hit the opponent, you just need the 7 life for a free grip! Move over Drogskol Reaver, there's a new epic fatty in town! I will absolutely have a control list up with Griselbrand, but some other applications for him are absolutely Frites, Heartless Summoning, and Solar Flare! Now there is a hilarious combo you must know about - Griselbrand + Venser's Journal! With the 2 in play, in response to the Journal trigger you can draw 14 or so cards and then immediately gain it all back in addition to a life per card you had beforehand! No maximum hand size means you will have your whole deck at your disposal is just 2 or 3 turns!

Now for some cards released today! Druid's Repository came from Gavin Verhey's new column on the mothership, and while I initially don't like this card very much, I'm not giving up on it yet... As Gavin mentioned in his article, it does take care of all your Gavony Township or Vault of the Archangel needs by itself with just a Lingering Souls. I feel that is the best use for it, not stocking up the mana to ramp up to fast titans. This way you can still play threats while utilizing your action lands to put your opponent on their back foot. Like I said, I'm not too hopeful for this card, but it is definitely worth taking a second look at before dismissing for the token decks.

Next up we have the Serious Fun preview card. Normally I can't stand Adam's column because I am not a Timmy (I am a Johnny-Spike), but I felt obliged to check just in case there was something I cared about. I looked, said "meh" and went to sleep. The next morning I checked Twitter before leaving for work (finally back on twitter after giving it up for lent) and someone asked if it is a good Natural Order target to make all your durdle guys into actual threats an win immediately as opposed to Progenitus which is beatable (believe it or not). A couple pros dismissed it because one of the allures of NO is that you can have nothing but some lands on board and then you can either cast Noble Hierarch and use it to make a Progenitus or Misty -> Dryad Arbor for the same result. Behemoth is pretty boring by himself - a 6/6 trample haste... cool? Over the course of work today though, I started thinking about it and I realized it may actually be playable in Elves! I have absolutely 0 testing with it, but it seems like it has the sweet spot at the crossroads of "counter me or else you immediately die" and "castable without being required to combo off". Assuming I play Legacy this weekend, I will be playing 1 in my deck to see how it goes! An interesting thing to point is how this could be part of a Mythic cycle. We have Avacyn and Griselbrand that also cost 8 mana including at least 3 being color-specific. Maybe there will be a blue and red mythic too?

Patrick Chapin unveiled this card on SCG today, and i was a little disappointed in his analysis... He spend a majority of the time on the "other nonblack creatures you control get +1/+1" part of this Angel, which isn't all that new or unique. The part that I find very interesting is the "Players can't pay life or sacrifice creatures to cast spells or activate abilities" line. While at work today, I made a list of every card I could think of that sees play that this would effect off the top of my head:

Standard
Buried Ruin
Gitaxian Probe
Gut Shot
Porcelain Legionnaire
Phyrexian Metamorph
Fume Spitter
Evolving Wilds
Mortarpod
Griselbrand
Shrine of Burning Rage
Birthing Pod
Spellbombs

Eternal
Fetchlands
Necropotence
Sylvok Safekeeper
Knight of the Reliquary
Qasali Pridemage
Slivers
Alluren (Cavern Harpy)
Fireblast
Force of Will
Greater Gargantuan
Tinker
Black Lotus/LED/Lotus Bloom
Lotus Petal
Wasteland/Strip Mine/Tectonic Edge
Viscera Seer
Cabal Therapy
Dread Return
Sterling Grove
Pernicious Deed
Engineered Explosives
Cephalid Colliseum
Thopter Foundry
Vampire Hexmage (Dark Depths)
Natural Order

Now there are obviously many more (not that I expect that anyone actually read that list), but those cover almost every archaetype out there! Angel of Jubilation is interesting because it also prevents you from sacrificing and paying life, so you would have to actually build your deck around her. Maybe this card is playable in a Death & Taxes type deck? I honestly don't know where this would go best... In standard I can see it replacing Hellrider right off the bat in tokens, but I don't know where it's going to go from there... This is definitely an interesting one, worth keeping an eye on.

Last but not least we have the top 8 card for the Game Day - Killing Wave! This card seems like it would be the natural replacement for Black Sun's Zenith after it rotates out, but I'm not too sure... This card gives the decision to your opponent, which is a staple of cards that seem awesome but never actually do anything. Unless if you were winning anyways, your opponent can do whatever hurts them less, and then proceed to kill you through it anyways. Cool card idea, nice artwork, not playable.

Wow! That was a lot to cover! There was also that equipment that is the pre-release card, but it's just a bulk limited rare, so I'm not going to say more! That's all I have for today! Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie
Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com
@ThingsILack

Magic PAX

Hello everyone!

While I was not able to make it PAX East this year because of its conflict with Easter weekend, I have been keeping up with the pulse of the announcements, and WOW! This is incredibly exciting! We have 5 new preview cards from Avacyn Restored including a few mechanics that got showcased. In addition we have a spoiler for Magic 2013, and the big fall set got announced! (Although I will save that for the end) So let's dive into some cards!

This card is actually a few days old, but I figured I might as well talk about it anyways. Star City Games has this preordering at $15, which is simply absurd. This card isn't actually all that exciting... Obviously an 8/8 for 8 is something that is kinda cool, but let's compare this to our Titan 6 drops and our Praetors, notably Elesh and Sheolred at 7 mana. Even if all those cards all costed the same, I would still rather have almost any titan or either Praetor over Avacyn. Sure, she has some really cool abilities and I would love to open her in sealed, but she didn't even excite me when I saw her initally... I think the future price of this card is 6 in the short term, slowly rising to 8 or 9 in the long term. This card is very reminiscent of Darksteel Forge, which is a casual favorite, currently retailing at 11.

This card is actually incredibly exciting! Besides the fact that it is a windmill slam first pick in draft (especially if damage still stacked!), I actually think this card would be VERY constructed playable! I feel like we are closing in on a proper density for a Venser control deck because Restoration Angel is like mini-Venser #5-8 which is exactly what that deck needs! I will write a whole seperate post on the deck in probably 2 or 3 weeks once we have all the data to work with, along with all my other ideas, but I think with the addition of Restoration Angel that critical mass may have been hit.

Here is another variation on an undercosted Demon, assuming you are willing to pay a price. The first thing that came to mind when I saw this card was Zombies, because sacrificing a Gravecrawler to this is a great feeling! Another option for this card would be in a WB tokens deck. One thing that is very scary about this card is that you have to be willing to sacrifice 2 creatures when you play it because your opponent could kill it the turn you play it. However in a tokens deck you are always going to have ample bodies. Lingering Souls in particular produces so many tokens that the sacrifice requirement isn't really going to be relevant. However, a 5 or 6 power flier for 4 mana IS very relevant, and may offer the go big option token decks need.

I hate this card. This card thoroughly infuriates me that they would actually print. Hexproof is too good of an ability right now, and there are already too many overpowered hexproof creatures that there's even a whole deck build around it! In case you have never seen it, HexBlade is a deck that plays mana ramp like Birds of Paradise and Avacyn's Pilgrim to ramp into guys like Geist of Saint Traft and Thrun, the Last Troll quickly. These guys are fine on their own, but then they get suited up with a Sword of War and Peace and the game ends so fast you felt like you were never in it! The best way to fight Hexproof, because you can't Doom Blade anything, is to play Liliana and Geth's Verdict. Now we don't even have that option! This means there are very few creatures that can actually do anything now. We could wrath, but that doesn't stop Thrun, and Saving Grasp might be a thing, or we can clone the legends (not invisible stalker). These are our current clone options:

Cryptoplasm
Evil Twin
Mimic Vat
Phantasmal Image
Phyrexian Metamorph
Quicksilver Gargantuan

Which really means our options are just Phantasmal Image, and if you're not playing blue: Phyrexian Metamorph. That is incredibly frustrating. I really don't like how we're being limited in such a mannor. For anyone who said the power level has been sinking in the last few sets, get a reality check!

Alright! Time for a new mechanic! Soulbond is a VERY interesting mechanic to evaluate. On one hand, we have 2 creatures with double strike. However, this is no Mirran Crusader. I can foresee MANY blowout games where you have something like Silverblade Paladin and Champion of the Parish as a 3/3 in play (Paladin is a human) paired together. You attack both of them into my untapped Diregraf Ghoul. I Go For the Throat your champion and trade Guys where previously I was going to take 10. That's not an incredible example, but it is something that will happen very often, which makes a mechanic like this misleading. However, as I mentioned with Sigarda Hexproof is huge right now and soulbinding with a hexproof creature will lead to some VERY dangerous games. This set was designed to be tense, and this mechanic does a great job of that! I think this is a great mechanic though, and I am excited to see what dynamic duos emerge!

And here's my last preview card for the day! The first thing you may notice about this card is that japanese change to the border on the top. Well..... Things are going to get a little weird. I like how this mechanic is called miracle because all too often I do say "I need a miracle off the top!" and now, you actually do get one! The FAQ hasn't come out yet on how exactly to handle Miracle, but I would guess it's handled like Delver - just reveal it off the top if you plan on casting it. It was announced that there will be no black miracles, so unfortunately we won't get the good side of a Doom Blade/GftT hybrid for B. I really hope they do print some sweet miracle cards though because a great player will be able to set these up with a Ponder or something and than cast it for its miracle cost during the opponent's turn with either a Think Twice or a Brainstorm! Imagine how nutty/busted a Cancel would be with a Miracle cost of U! These cards actually remind of Traps for their flexibility of design and all the exciting options we could have! I can imagine some of the rare ones even getting better when you miracle cast them too! Imagine a Day of Judgement that became a Final Judgement when miracled! I am really excited to see where this all goes in the coming weeks!

Hmmm.... Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker in Magic 2013? He was never really played back in his time, but he sure was awesome! If he is reprinted in 2013 it will be the first multi-colored card in a core set ever! Everyone loves multi-colored, so I really hope they let some gold into the core sets finally!

And last but most certainly not least, we have the fall set for 2013 announced!

.

..

...

....

.....

AAAWWWWWW YYYEEEAAAHHHHH!!!! How can you NOT like Ravnica? You get to play all 10 color pairs to make any deck your heart desires with amazing designs for each guild! There's so much I could talk about, I don't even know where to start! Returning mechanics? I can see all 10 guild mechanics returning, even Dredge. Dredge is only powerful as an engine for getting cards in the graveyard quickly, so any dredge cards would be dredge 1-3. We see Jace in the image, along with Niv-Mizzet. Both cards are thoroughly beloved and everyone wants to see them come back (though maybe just jace in elementary school this time). Shocklands? How awesome would a reprint of these be? Especially in combination with the Innistrad/2012 dual lands! Assuming Glacial Fortress and co get reprinted in 2013, we can have an incredible time for manabases! 5cc is back baby! I didn't really play back then - I just bought all the starter decks and jammed them against by brother - but I still can look back and see just how awesome everything is! I'm excited and you should be too!

That's all I have for today! Until next time, stay classy!

Ryan Lackie

Ryan.Lackie92@gmail.com

@ThingsILack