Extracting New Levels of Awesome

Hello Everyone! After the mass release of what is probably unauthorized spoilers, we finally got a real one from the Mothership. Brace yourself because this is deceptively epic:

So let's start by looking at this card compared to other cards printed in the past: This is almost the exact same thing as Extirpate from Planer Chaos. Almost. There is one line of text that appears on each that does not appear on the other that creates a world of a difference: Extirpate has Split Second and this costs a Phyrexian Black mana. When I was texting Mark about this, I didn't know that either card could target non-basic lands, so when Mark mentioned it to me my response was: "It can target non-basic lands!!!??? OMGWTFBBQSAUCE!!! Thats awesome!" Come to find out later that Extirpate can also target non-basics I felt a little foolish afterwards... But regardless, this card is going to be one of the premium rares of the set!

Standard: This card is going to have a big affect on standard I feel, starting with making Vengevine decks much worse. Interestingly enough, they make a Phyrexian card, Spawning Shell, to make the deck insane and then they release the perfect hoser. However, even without Vengevine, maybe this card will still see play as an anti-Vampire card by taking out their only resiliant creature: Bloodghast (good card to move right now).  Also, capitilizing on its ability to get rid of non-basic lands, Tectonic Edging a Valakut becomes a much more attractive option all of a sudden (UW Caw-Blade plays 4 Tec Edge, and can easily pack this in the board by just paying 2 life)! Speaking of this in Caw-Blade, remember when people were packing 6-7 Jaces to win the Jace war in control mirrors? Why not just win it faster by nailing your opponent's big Jace and then removing all copies from their deck? That seems good. I think this card could show up in every sideboard of every deck for a while, or at least until graveyard decks have been Extracted from the field. Last note: this + Hex Parasite laughs maniacly at all your planeswalkers

Legacy: Zendikar offered us Mindbreak Trap as an immediate sideboard card to beat Tendrils Storm (Silence/Orim's Chant is laughing at you) for every deck, and now we have Extirpate for everyone not playing Black sounds like a card that will also show up everywhere. However, I think this card will make much less of a splash in Legacy because splashing colors is so easy and in Legacy Land, the counterspells cost 0 too. Being able to get countered is far more important then dropping the cost from 1 to 0 mana, unless you're playing Belcher.

Extirpate is at 9 currently, and this card may start higher simply because of it's utility in Standard, but overall I think this will be worth less then Extirpate. Probably 7-8. Once it drops out of Standard, it will drop to 3-5, seeing play as a budget/easier to acquire Extirpate for Legacy.

On a completely different note, I am playing mono-red right now in standard with some hot tech named Cyclops Gladiator. Yeah, go look it up. I think this guy has the potential to be insane against decks like Valakut that can slow you down with their walls, or it can be the nail in the coffin against Vampires after I Slagstorm their board, then pick off their creatures as they hit play with the Gladiator. Another cool piece of tech that I still can't understand why it's not being used is Zektar Shrine Expedition. It's 2 mana for 7 damage! What's not to love?

Another completely random thought: Sarkhan the Mad and Jace, the Mind Sculptor go very nice together. Brainstorm, then draw a land with Sarkhan to keep him at 7 and you digging deeper into your deck. Then, after a while you can turn walls into Dragons with Sarkhan and beat face. Maybe it's just too loose, but it feels cool.

Until next time, stay classy!

TNT FNM/Draft 4/9/11

Hello everyone! As you may know by now, I really am not loving Standard right now. As LSV just put it in a Magic TV episode recently, there are only 3 tier 1 decks: Valakut, Boros, and Caw-Blade varients. I happen to own 0 Stoneforges, and 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptors, so I can't play caw-blade right now, and any blue deck is hard to do without all 4 big papa Jaces. This sucks because blue is my favorite color by far. That leaves Valakut, which I have turned awa from recently because it loses to itself, and by this point everyone knows how to play against it and beat it, which is bound to happen when you're the baddest guy on the block for the past 8 months. I picked up a set of Bala Ged Thief hoping to brew up some B/x allies, but I never got around to it and instead audibled to UB Shape Anew instead.

Round 1 I was paired up against Petropolis, who is one of the best players at the store right now (I would rank him third behind ADB and Heal). He was playing EsperBlade. I discovered firsthand why UW Caw-Blade is the best version to run if you have the cards: the mana is really bad, and he lost to it both games. If you want to run caw-blade, I would suggest just the 2 color version, because 3 color is a very tough mana base to pull off unles you're playing Tundra, Tropical Island, and Misty Rainforest. All you really lose is Inquisition of Kozelik and in return your numbers go up against the entire field while still having a great mirror game thanks to your 4 Tectonic Edges. But I digress, game 1 there wasn't very many tricks going down. I played my disruption, countered his spells, played a Jace Beleran to preemptively kill his Jace, GG. Game 2 he was stuck on 2 lands for what felt like Eternity, but he managed to do a lot with that mana countering spells, playing birds, the whole deal, but a turn after he got a third land, Marsh Flats, I dropped big ol' Blighty with a big Jace in play. He made some plays, and passed with only Marsh flats up, with Squadren Hawk and Stonforge for blockers. My first instinct was to just bounce Stoneforge and win, but I was worried he could have something as devastating as Condemn. All of a sudden I realized I was actually reading my opponent, so I brainstormed into 2 land, preordain. I kept preordain, pitched the lands and drew... INQUISITION! As it turns out, yes he did have the condemn, and I just closed the game down from there.

2-0
1-0

Round 2 I was against a mono-black infect deck piloted by Mr. Wnichester, who has an awesome last name and your tickets to the gun show. It was in this match that it hit me how bad Shape Anew is. After a short period of me removing all of his threats, he happined to get me for 1 poison, then proliferated me to death with 2 Contagion Clasps. The Shape Anew combo takes 4x Trinket Mage, 4x Shape Anew, 1x Darksteel Axe, and 2x Blightsteel Colossus. Replace that with 4x Phyrexian Crusader, 4x Skittles, 3x Contagion Clasp and you will instantly have a more proactive deck that never runs into the "I have 2 Blightsteel in my hand... I lose...." What a convenient segway into game 2! I had a fantastic opening hand that had both Trinket Mage and Shape Anew, a Mana Leak, Blightsteel Colossus, and 3 lands. With the Blightsteel I was on a mull to 6 immediatly, but that was probably the best 6 card hand possible so I snap kept. 2 turns later I topdeck Blightsteel Colossus #2.... awkward.... There are only 2 Jace, the Mind Sculptor in my deck and while I could draw both of my 2-of Blightsteel, I couldn't draw any Jace and promptly lost.

0-2
1-1

Round 3 I was against a GW Vengevine deck. I have practiced against it before and her only disruption was a 1-of Leonin Relic Warder. She happened to get it off a turn 3 Lead the Stampede. I Shape Anewed anyways because I had 4 lands in play, none in hand, but I had a Consume the Meek, so I could just draw a land, get back Blighty during combat and ruin her day, untap and win. The problem with the plan is right when I stopped drawing lands... awkward.... I don't even remember game 2 but I lost that too.

0-2
1-2

At this point I just dropped because I really didn't see the point of playing with a deck I knew was terrible any more. I don't reccomend this deck simply because it has many very awkward draws and is a combo that actually isn't any faster than a T3 Phyrexian Chrusader, T6 Skittles unless you curve out perfectly, at which point there's a 1 turn difference. Consistency > Raw power (read: Bant w/out Natural Order in Legacy). A bunch of people were putting together a draft, so I decided to hop in. It wound up being a full 8-man sanctioned draft, and I drafted one of the only decks I know how to: U/x control. To say the least my deck was almost perfect, I just lacked an epic finisher. Highlights of the deck:

Myr Turbine
Silverskin Armor
Sylvok Lifestaff
3x Vedalken Catarch
3x Neurok Invisomancer
Morbid Plunder
Moriok Replica
Ichor Wellspring
2x Rusted Slasher

Obviously the nuttiest cards are the 3x each of the Cetarch (mind-blowingly good) and the Invisomancer. I was a little light on the artifact count, but Myr Turbine and Silverskin Armor really helped me out in that department. The only thing I was lacking was a finisher. All I really had were my 3 Invisomancers, a Sky Eel School, and a Lumingrid Gargoyl. So when I had the board locked down and it was time to close the game fast, that never really happened. Despite that one flaw, I went 2-0 with the deck before losing to Heal in the finals against his deck that had an Ascetiscism. That card single-handedly beats my deck as it was just a mono-removal deck. So I came in 2nd in a sanctioned 8-man, which is just an epic feeling. One cool trick in my deck that I wanted to showcase that I pulled off a couple times, and have done it in previous drafts, is the 3 card combo of Moriok Replica, Sylvok Lifestaff, and Morbid Plunder. Replica equipped with Lifestaff is awesome because you net gain a life to draw 2 cards which is fair of course... and then you Plunder it back to do it again! I really like Morbid Plunder in draft because it's pseudo-removal. Just trade cards with your opponent, and then return your creatures to your hand post-mordem. It will piss them off :)

And no night of Magic would be complete without trading! I put together several trades, although I specifically remember 2: the first was my 2 Scalding Tarn for his Vengevine. I did profit by 5, but the Zen fetches, as I say time and time again, are the best Legacy cards in Zendikar and will be worth the most in 5 years. So in the very long term he did profit, but I still need one more Vengevine to do Spawning Shell shenanagry with after New Phyrexia is released... The second trade was much bigger:

My:
Wastelands
2x Grave Titan
Lux Cannon
Contested Warzone
$5 card (can't remember....)

His:
Tropical Island

I made out by about $5 in this trade, but in the past 24 hours Tropical Island has gone up another dollar. Seriously, if you haven't gotten Dual Lands yet, just do it! If you can't afford them, start trading for every Ravnica block Dual you can get your hands on. They are oftend just as effective as regular duals (if you weren't planning on using them that turn, you can just crack fetch EOT, have it come into play tapped, then untap at your turn). The scars lands are also great for Legacy, and if nothing else the Painlands cycle are all about 3 each.

That's all for tonight! Until next time, stay classy!

New Phyrexia Spoilers?! Already?! Pt 2

Well, I decided I would pick up where I abruptly left off, be sure to check out the first part here. Let me just explain what I was doing with the expected price at the end of each card. I said when Thrun, the Last Troll was released that I imagined it as no more than an $8 card. It was released as a $20 card, and has done nothing but drop in price since. I never traded for it, and immediatly sold the only one I packed. It currently sells for $8 on ChannelFireball and Star City Games. By identifying what I think the card is really worth, I can set my eyes on whether or not to invest in the card. FYI: SCG came out with pre-order prices on these spoiled cards, and they put Karn at $45. It's not worth that much.

Urabrask, the Hidden
3RR
Legendary Creature - Praetor

Creatures you control have Haste.
Creatures your opponents control enter the battlefield tapped.
4/4

At first I saw this card as an awkward combination between Kismet and Madrush Cyclops, two cards that never saw play, and I dismissed it. However, in conversation with Mark, we identified it as a serious tempo card, and could find a nice home in RUG. RUG is a tempo deck, which is a very strange archetype in which you gain small incremental advantages on your opponent each turn through more mana (Lotus Cobra), more cards (Jace, the Mind Sculptor), and disruption (Lightning Bolt, Inferno/Frost Titan) that puts you multiple turns ahead of your opponent, from which they can't come back. A big reason comes into play tapped lands are disadvantageous is because your board doesn't advance a turn to match your opponent. By making your opponent's creatures come into play tapped, it prevents your opponents from being able to create a board position as fast to prevent your Titans from crashing in. Giving your creatures haste has very nice symmetry with the Titans too...
Expected price: $4

Spawning Shell
3{pg}
Artifact
({PG} may be paid for with either or 2 life.)
1{PG}, tap, Sacrifice a creature: Search your library for a creature with converted mana cost equal to the sacrificed creature's converted mana cost plus one and put it onto the battlefield. Then shuffle your library. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.
 
This is the card that I am most excited for out of all the ones spoiled. When it first was released you could search for any creature with converted mana cost equal the the sacrificed one's plus one or less. I was excited because you could chain Vengevines into more Vengevines, while Fauna Shamaning for more, and you would have all 4 in play in no time! Obviously we will have to wait for the cards to be officially announced, but assuming you have to search for a creature exactly one more, we can still go Vengevine -> Acidic Slime -> Titan. But moving beyond this specific card, Phyrexian mana is awesome! Being able to pay life instead of using mana is an awesome way to change your turn progression. Also, note how you don't even have to be playing green to use this card! Obviously this works better with green than any other color, but why restrict ourselves?!?! Maybe we have a ton of disrupting creatures like Skinrender and Massacre Wurm that we want to drop into play on cue? Control decks can have 3 finishers that are only god against specific decks, and tutor up to the one they really want! Vampires can use this to sacrifice Bloodghasts grabbing Captivating Vampires! This is another outlet for getting rid of Abyssal Persecutor! Right now I have my mind on a Fauna Shaman-Vengevine-Green Sun's Zenith-Spawning Shell creature tutor package, like the BG one I am having some success with right now.
Expected price: $1 until it's broken, then up to $6
 
Fresh Meat
3G
Instant

Put a 3/3 green Beast creature token onto the battlefield for each creature put into your graveyard from the battlefield this turn.

I smell... combo! Need I remind you of the existence of Eldrazi Spawn? How about a whacky combo with Hellion Eruption? This card won't see play simply because it's so odd, but if the Meta shifts to a creature vs Day of Judgement one, this card very well could see play.
Expected price: $1

Caged Sun
6
Artifact

When Caged Sun enters the battlefield, choose a color.
Creatures you control of the chosen color have +1/+1.
Whenever you tap a land for one or more mana of the chosen color, add one mana of the chosen color to your mana pool.

Don't look it up, what do you think Gauntlet of Power sells for? It never saw constructed play... Would you believe me if I told you it's a $7-8 card? Gauntlet of power is massively popular in EDH and casual, and this card is the exact same, except it works with non-basics too. Trade for these off of the spikes for a buck or 2 and move them to the casual guys at 8.
Expected price: $7-8

Hex Parasite
1
Artifact Creature - Insect

x{PB}: Target a permanent. Remove up to X counters from that permanent. Hex Parasite gains +1/+0 until end of turn for each counter removed this way.
1/1

I spy with my little eyes a colorless recursive planeswalker killer. Because you can pay 2 life instead of a black mana for the activated ability, this is another completely flexible card that I expect to see in every single deck going forward. Unlike Phyrexian Revoker, this is a proactive card that even if you kill, the damage remains. Gideon is one of the banes of beatdown decks, but with access to this card, a little mana goes a long way to stopping Gideon from slowing you down too much. Also, consider this: kill Jace by draining 5 counters, which makes Hex Parasite a 6/1, then attack and kill Gideon. Sounds fair to me! I expect this card to be played in control and beatdown decks as it helps win Jace wars and keep the way Gideon-free, but Valakut doesn't want this random card, and I don't expect to see this card in RUG either.
Expected price: $3

Screamwhip
4
Artifact - Equipment
Living weapon
Equip {PB}{PB}
Equipped creature gets +1/+1 for each Swamp you control.

This is the card that got me thinking about a mono-black beatdown deck. Mind Sludge is another powerful swamps matters card. Mark sent me his mono-black beatdown deck on facebook earlier today, and I will probably touch on it in a couple days. But this card is a lot like Bonehoard, it will usually more powerful then its mana cost would suggest. The longer the game goes on, the more powerful this card gets as well, so you have a ton of reach. Any 1/1 you draw late can suddenly be a 9/9 and end the game immediatly. Also like Bonehorde, it won't be worth much.
Expected price: $1

I felt like finishing up with all of the interesting cards I didn't touch on in the first part. So that's all for now! Now I need to get my mind back to the present and prepare for SCG Boston in less than 3 weeks! Until next time, stay classy!

New Phyrexia Spoilers?! Already?!

Hello everyone! One again I am blogging to you from work as we have had nothing to do for so long today that I have read every article posted today on all of these sites:

Chennel Fireball
Star City Games
Blackborder
TCG Player
Daily MTG

And despite all that reading I am pacing the warehouse bored with another hour to go. So I am going to talk about the amazing spoilers that have been released from New Phyrexia:

Suture Priest
1W
Creature - Cleric
Whenever another creature enters the battlefield under your control, you may gain 1 life.
Whenever a creature enters the battlefield under an opponent's control, you may have that player lose 1 life.
1/1

This guy is a white Soul Warden-meets-Bloodseeker dude. I have used both to slight prophit in the past, and at the very least this guy will be a decent card for limited.

Pristine Talisman
3
Artifact
: Add to your mana pool. You gain 1 life.

As much as gaining life is cool against mono-red and the likes, the turn this sets you back relative to Everflowing Chalice or Sphere of the Suns isn't really worth it. I will probably play this card in limmited though if I'm going for a slower controlling deck, because the lifegain is awesome now that manaburn is gone!

Ok, well I wasn't feeling too inspired with those spoilers... but now I only have 55 minutes left of work today! Until next time, stay classy!
































Okay, you caught me, I'm just kidding! I got a txt from Mark last night telling me about how spoilers were getting posted up to MTG Salvation as we were speaking. I immediatly ran down to the computer and let the epic invade my mind. You can find the spoilers here. It is important to note that these might not be real, although MTG Salvation is almost always fairly accurate. I'm going to go card by card and talk about my thoughts until I abruptly stop and go home because my shift is over.

Karn, the Released
7
Planeswalker - Karn

+4: Target player exiles a card from his or her hand.
-3: Exile target permanent.
-14: Set aside all non-Aura permanent cards exiled with Karn, then restart the game. Then put all cards set aside this way onto the battlefield under your control.

Why not start with the card that is the poster child for the set first? There's a lot to talk about with Karn, and it starts with the upper-right hand corner. 7 mana planeswalkers have never been to popular in casual or competetive environments before. However, I think this guy will obviously be a boss in casual (come on, restart the game????), but he will also see constructed play, and the reason is in his -3 ability. Exiling any permanent on board recursively is INSANE. Is their Jace at 11 and really pissing you off? Good bye! Gideon laughing at your army? See ya later! Are they mana-skrewed? Let's Stone Rain every turn!
His +4 is the Lilliana Vess +1 if you target your opponent, but can get nasty if you target yourself with the intentino of going -14. I think I will exile a Blightsteel Colossus.... and another.... and a backup Karn... Oh, let's restart the game! I leyline in 22 power worth of infect and exile whatever petty threat that's in my way!
I think it goes without saying (but I'm saying it anyways) that he is only good in a hardcore control deck. Wafo-Tapa is currently buying the Delorian to jump a couple months to the future... I look forward to this guy!
Expected price: $15-20, driven by casual players
 
Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
5WW
Legendary Creature - Praetor

Vigilance
Other creatures you control get +2/+2.
Creatures your opponents control get -2/-2.
4/7

Another 7 drop, which immediatly lends itself to control and casual. I think this card is absolutely viable for control, although probably in the sideboard, against all beatdown decks. As the Boros or Vampires player, how do you beat this? The only option you have is to kill your opponent by turn 6. Insert Gideon Jura, Day of Judgement, Condemn, Wall of Omens here. Should I mention how nice this card is with Grave Titan or Hero of Bladehold? With T6 Titan, T7 Elesh Norn, swing, you're hitting for 16 damage with 3 4/4s chillin. If you have this and Hero in play with no other creatures, the 2 attacking together is 18 damage! Lose your Wurmcoil Engine, have some 5/5s! Let's make some 2/3 Eldrazi Spawn tokens with Awakening Zone (and drop the Praetor 2 turns earlier). This card is absolutely nuts, and I definitely expect it to see play!
Expected price: $4
 
Puresteel Paladin
WW
Creature - Human Knight

Whenever an Equipment enters the battlefield under your control, you may draw a card.
Metalcraft - As long as you control 3 or more artifacts, each Equipment you control has equip 0
2/2

Cool, another 2/2 for WW... Auriok Edgewright sees play too... Unlike the Edgewright, I expect this guy to see some play in Quest decks of all kinds, although probably WW Quest, because that plays all 12 Ornithopter, Memnite, and Signal Pest (and I have seen Mox Opal poke it's head in from time to time). Now Stoneforge Mystic cantripe as it grabs an artifact AND gives you a bones draw as you flash in the equipment! But that's not the cool part. The cool part is his Metalcraft ability (like I said, better in WW Quest). Nothing is worse then having your monsterous Ornithopter get Doom Bladed and you sit there feeling awkward about your Argentum Armor. With Metalcraft, you can keep opponents under serious pressure by equipping the Armor endlessly for 0 mana! Yes, there is an end to their spot removal, and it's usually after 2 shots, then you can Vindicate their board and sign the match slip.
Expected price: $1-2

Species Transplantation
Enchantment

When Species Transplantation enters the battlefield, choose a creature type.
Creatures you control are the chosen type in addition to their other creature types.

If you know me, then you know I love crazy combos! Do you see the combo yet? How about if I tell you it's an infinite combo with a Zendikar crap rare? How about if I tell it was the foil card on a starter deck? How about Turntimber Ranger? Here's the combo: Species Transplantation naming "Ally". Now play Turntimber Ranger, his ETB ability triggers giving him a +1/+1 counter and putting a 2/2 Wolf in play. Thanks to Species Transplantation, it will be a 2/2 Wolf Ally, and will trigger Turntimber Ranger, putting on another +1/+1 counter and making another Wolf Ally.... infintely! This is just like the Pestermite + Splinter Twin/Kiki Jiki combo except both pieces cost 5 and you have to untap with your board.... but it's an infinite combo in Standard! (expect this to be a featured deck when the set is released)
Expected price: 50 cents - $1


Glistening Oil
BB
Enchantment - Aura

Enchant creature
Enchanted creature has Infect.
At the beginning of your upkeep, put a -1/-1 counter on enchanted creature.
When Glistening Oil is put into a graveyard from the battlefield, return ~ to its owner's hand.

There are 2 ways to look at this card: recursive creature removal or a recursive Phyresis. I think in draft, this card will be sweet because you can just eat up your opponents x/1s and x/2s (+ proliferate) endlessly. Also, if your opponent is at a high poison status, you can Corrupted Conciense your own guy and go for it. In constructed, I don't see it. If you're playing infect, play infect creatures. If you want to kill something, use Doom Blade.
Expected price: 50 cents - $1

Phyrexian Cancellor
BBBB
Creature - Horror

Trample
Whenever a source deals damage to Phyrexian Cancellor, that source's controller sacrifices that many permanents.
5/5

The obvious comparasin for this card is Phyrexian Negator. However, there are some major differences, starting with the cost. 2B is far more managable than BBBB. The latter effectively requires a mono-black deck, or a manabase like Vampires, where the only red mana are RB duals. However, when he does stick, Lightning Bolt is the worst thing your opponent can be packing, and chump-blocking won't get there either. It's Go for the Throat or go home against this guy! I can definitely see this being part of a MB beatdown deck, as it's too insane of a clock to be ignored. This guy also plays well with Abyssal Persecutor. Maybe in a big Vampires deck, playing this guy and Abyssal Persecutor together. Cast Arc Trail dealing 1 to your own Cancellor, and 2 to your opponent. Sacrifice Persecutor to the Cancellor trigger, GG.
Expected Price: $12-15

Praetor's Grip
1BB
Sorcery
Search target opponent's library for a card and exile it face down, then that player shuffles his or her library. As long as it remains exiled, you may look at it and cast it as though it were in your hand.

This is what Distant Memories wishes it was. Ranging from stealing a major threat form your opponent's deck, to busting the Mirror wide open (grab their Jace, TMS), this card feels secretly powerful. An important thing to note is that you don't tell your opponent what you stole, so if they really know their list they have to crack a fetchland and count every card in their deck to figure it out. Even if you can't cast the card you steal, exiling a card from your opponent's deck isn't the worst, especially in limited where you can strip their bomb.
Expected price: $1-3
 
Scrapmetal Fiend
R
Creature - Construct

Scrapmetal Fiend's power and toughness are each equal to the number of artifact cards in all graveyards.
*/*

It's a red Tarmogoyf! This card is an automatic 4-of in any heavy metal breadown deck (that's actually an awesome deck name, or maybe Heavy Metal Breakdown...). Keep your eye on this one, it has the potential to be a 5/5 for R in the right deck.
Expected price: $8+

Okay, I am going to abruptly stop there as I am done for work today, I am only about halfway though though, so maybe I will finish this up when I get home tonight. Until next time, stay classy!

TNT Legacy 4/3/11 *2-1*

Hello everyone! I mentioned that I just built a Dredge deck that a ton of fun to play, and after a run down to Harrison's I have exactly 15 proxies in the deck, so I could play it in the Legacy event on Sunday at Toys. To say the deck is a blast to play is a bit of an understatement! Playing a deck you actually enjoy makes events a lot more fun, and you instantly do better due to your greater attentiveness. That being said, you need to SLOW DOWN when you play dredge, as there are triggers in every single step, and the line of play to victory isn't always in your face.

Untap - return all Undiscovered Paradise to your hand that you used for mana last turn
Upkeep - check entire graveyeard for Ichorids, Putrid Imps, and Golgari Thugs
Draw - check graveyard for good dredge target, or decide if you just want to topdeck
Main Phase - Oh yeah, we still have to cast spells...

Most of the rounds play out the same way - flip your deck over, make a Zombie horde, attack for the win. So I'm going to just highlight specific plays. I didn't have a sideboard for this event, so I was just playing some game 1s.

Round 1: Joe, Junk
I won game 1, and I should have won game 2, but in my excitement, I decided to keep dredgeing when I only had 11 cards left in my library. I wound up decking myself, and then not killing him in my swing for the turn (he had Pernicious Deed, which he blew up for 0), so he just drew and passed to me as I decked myself. Lesson learned: if you can kill them, just do it, don't worry about forcing a complete blowout. I wound up losing game 3.

1-2
0-1

Round 2: Chris, Burn
There weren't very many interesting plays, except that I almost lost because I forgot about the existence of Fireblast. I was at 9 life, and he had 2 Seal of Fire in play. I calculated that I could make a series of plays which would cost me 3 life but would double the size of my Zombie horde. After calculating my board position though, I realized I could just kill him instead of going for the blowout, and that saved me the game.

2-1
1-1

Round 3: Ed, Knights
Here is how Ed made his deck for the event: He bought Duel Decks: Knights vs Dragons and sleeved up the Knights deck. As much as it can be percieved as a crappy pre-con, it's a decent White Weenie deck that can put on serious pressure very fast. I happened to completely nut draw game 1 and attacked for 45 on turn 3 while on the play, and in about as it long as it took to shuffle we were onto game 2. Game 2 he got the 2/2 first strike lifelinker, which got him up to 37 life and me down to 0. Game 3 he beat down hard, but I got a massive Zombie horde out and swung for lethal just before I died sitting at 2 life. He had Harm's Way though and so we tied. Benzo just told us to play a game 4 as it decided prize. I wound up attacking for 30 on turn 3.

2-1-1
2-1

This short event already showcases how epic dredge is, and I can't wait to play it again. However next time I should have a sideboard built. Here's what I have so far:

4x Stifle (great vs Tormod's Crypt!)
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Angel of Despair (Moat, Ensnaring Bridge)
1x Llawan, Cephalid Empress (Merfolk)
1x Ancestor's Chosen (Burn)
1x Ichorid
2x Pithing Needle
4x Unknown

It's really just different Dread Return targets and anti-hate cards right now, and that may be all I need. The deck has so much raw power it's simply scary! The Bloodghast package helps to grind out tight games, as there's nothing better then dredging 2 to play a Dakmore Salvage and drop 8 potentially hasty power to the board in a pinch.

If you're looking for a very inexpensive powerful deck, look no further than Dredge. I think this is what I'm going to play at SCG Boston in 3 weeks, so it's all testing from here on out! Until next time, stay classy!

The Most Broken Card Not Played

Legacy is a very interesting beast. There's all kinds of ways to attack the format ranging from making a giant storm count and blowing your opponent out with Tendrils of Agony, you can flip your deck upside-down and create a Zombie army, you can get your tribe good and pissed off and beat face with goblins/elves/merfolk/faeries, and you can drop monsterous fatties into play and Annihilate your opponent to death. Just like Ken Nagle, I always like the fatties. Some great ways to get one big beast out are Reanimate, Show & Tell, Natural Order, and Sneak Attack. There's another card though that's stupidly powerful, but no one plays it for some reason. When one fatty simply isn't good enough for you, why not just get 2?

Okay, so my opponent needs to have 3 creatures in play? That sounds tough....? If for whatever reason you opponent needs a little encouragement, we can always just play Forbidden Orchard and keep going as we were planning.

So we can grab any TWO creatures? Come one, wake up and smell the combo! Sure, we can go boring and grab Emrakul and Ulamog, but there's so many more cool things to do! Like grabbing Iona, Shield of Emeria and Painter's Servant. Have them both name blue and then go to the bathroom to cleam up the inside of your pants. Having a 3 turn clock while your opponent isn't allowed to cast spells for the rest of the game sounds fair right? Oh, and by the way, even though all our cards are blue, it's only our opponent who can't cast blue spells (naming blue makes Force of Will go over the top). So we can still Swords to Plowshares whatever our opponent has left.

Yes, I am suggesting that you play this in Counterbalance. However, there is such little restriction with this card that we can play it in any green deck we want! We could have 8 creatures and our opponent 3, and this would still trigger. Maybe you can use this in your Zoo deck? The choices with this card is basically limitless! Here's what I would suggest for ths card in Counterbalance:

3x Defense of the Heart
4x Sensei's Divining Top
4x Counterbalance

4x Enlightened Tutor

4x Brainstorm
4x Force of Will
4x Swords to Plowshares
2x Krosan Grip
1x Moat
1x Engineered Explosives
1x Vedalken Shackles
2x Counterspell

2xVendillion Clique
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
1x Painter's Servant
2x Rhox War Monk

4x Flooded Strand
2x Misty Rainforest
1x Forest
1x Island
1x Plains
4x Forbidden Orchard
3x Tundra
3x Tropical Island
1x Tolaria West

Like I said, there are so many broken things you can do with this card it's not even funny! I don't think you will ever be dissapointed with this card! Until next time, stay classy!

April 2011 Secondary Market Update

Hello Everyone!

Right now I am doing the dreadful task known as Saturday overtime. Basically I have to wake up at 5:30 AM after playing FNM until midnight just to sit around for 5 hours and do nothing. Yeah, I get 5 hours of paid overtime, but I value sleep higher than a couple extra bucks. To say the least I am the walking dead right now...

But enough of my complaining! Here's what you came to see (all prices TCG Player Medium, changes less than a Quarter are -0-):

Mirroden Beseiged


Tezzeret, Agent of Bolas          45.49  -4.91
Sword of Feast and Famine     25.74  +6.58
Thrun, the Last Troll                11.60  -4.32
Inkmoth Nexus                        11.00  -0.44
Blightsteel Colossus                 10.55  -0.91
Green Sun's Zenith                   7.91   -0.77
Hero of Oxid Ridge                  8.66   +0.76
Hero of Bladehold                    7.31   -0.30
Massacre Wurm                       4.72  -1.03
Consecrated Sphinx                 4.28   -0.40
Praetor's Council                      2.20    -0-

The prices on the Mirroden Beseiged cards have settled suprisingly fast, although we still have a good amount of action up top to keep an eye on. I think Sword of Feast and Famine is topping out right now, and may go down to 20 when Sword of War and Peace comes out in New Phyrexia. As for Tezzeret, I think he will drop down to 40, and then go back up again when the colorless Karn, Planeswalker is released. The original Karn creature card animated artifacts into creatures, and so we can expect similar artifact based abilities from the 'walker which will make him pals with Tezzy. Back when Thrun was released, I though it was an $8 card, and it's quickly looking that way after losing 1/4 of its value in the past month (which had lost 20% it's value from the month prior). My sleeper card in Massacre Wurm. I had a foil one, but have traded for 7 regular ones (1 French) at $3 a piece in the past 2 weeks. The card is at 5 now, but is definitely deserving of more. Unfortunately it appears the Titans are returning in 2012, so maybe this card will never see the light of day. Another card to keep an eye on is Consecrated Sphinx, BOD is testing the card out in RUG at a 1K this weekend, so I will have data up on that soon. Lastly, Blightsteel can only go down.

Scars of Mirroden


Koth of the Hammer                22.72    +0.36
Mox Opal                                22.25    +1.15
Sword of Body and Mind        13.42     +1.48
Venser, the Sojounor              13.17     -1.19
Elspeth Tirel                            12.49     -1.39
Skithryx, the Blight Dragon      10.50     +0.99
Wurmcoil Engine                      9.67      -0.60
Molten Tail Masticore              5.90      -1.69
Ratchet Bomb                          5.60        -0-
Lux Cannon                             3.18        -0-
Indominable Archangel             2.52        -0-
Platinum Emporion                    2.09        -0-
Mindslaver                               1.92        -0-
Geth, Lord of the Vault             1.46        -0-
Liege of the Tangle                    1.38       -0-
Quicksilver Gargantuan             1.00        -0-

Okay, theres actually stuff to discuss with Scars this month! First, Koth has found himself in another deck, which I actually want to try my hand at: mono-red control. It doesn't feel like a great deck, but it's interesting and different enough for me to want to play a few games with it. I think the highest Koth could absolutely possibly go is 25, but I don't see him breaking 23 very soon. Mox Opal, on the other hand, is a card you should definitely trade for whenever it's convenient. It's very Legacy playable (and in fact it's use in Legacy is what keeps pushing it's price up), and is the only Mox that doesn't require pitching other cards to use (Mox Diamond, Chrome Mox). In the absolute long run, Mox Opal is your money card from Scars. Sword of Body and Mind is another card that can retain Legacy value. The Darksteel Swords exploded in price last month, and now Fire/Ice is 49.61 and Light/Shadow is 33.21. I'm REALLY glad I bought the 2 at a total of 31 when I did! BAM has poor protection colors and the mill ability is actually more helpful than hurtful for your opponent in Legacy, so I can't see this card breaking 20 in the long run. It can probably ascend to 15 as Stoneforge continues to receive endless play, but that's what I would put as its reasonable maximum. Venser and Elspeth will probably slowly settle down to 11/12. I tried trading off my Molten-Tail Masticores at 3 during FNM, but the other guy didn't want them that high. Get rid of this card while you still can!

Magic 2011

Primeval Titan                 33.38  -5.26
Grave Titan                    16.84   -3.44
Baneslayer Angel            12.17   -0.96
Inferno Titan                   11.62  +4.49
Jace Beleran                    9.38   +0.29
Frost Titan                      8.88   -4.27
Garruk Wildspeaker        7.50    -0-
Fauna Shaman                 7.47   -0-
Sun Titan                         6.01   -0-
Knight Exemplar              5.72  -0.30
Ajani Goldmane               5.16   -0-
Lilliana Vess                    4.79    -0-
Gaea's Revenge               4.22  -0.60
Demon of Death's Gate   4.15  -1.24
Chandra Nalaar              2.98   -0-
Platinum Angel                2.40   -0-
Time Reversal                 1.37   -0-

I started doing these monthly financial updates for me so I could stay on top of my prices across the board, especially on cards that I'm not particularly thinking about. One thing that I have quickly learned is that month to month all of the titans (except Sun) have been going up and down deending on how the meta has shifted. In this month's edition, we see the dominance of Caw-Blade forcing the beaten-by-SoFF-Titans dropping dramatically while the Titan that ruins Caw-Blade's day going up by 50%. Frost Titan still sucks and keeps on losing value. If Valakut, the Molten Pinnical wasn't ever printed what do you think Primeval Titan would be worth? $5? It's a miserable card without Valakut. Next year in standard, the titans are probably getting reprinted, but Valakut is too unique of a card to get reprinted, so Primeval will stop seeing play overnight. In extended, Scapeshift is rotating out, so the deck loses their 1 card combo that wins the game by itself. The deck is considered a fringe deck right now, and losing an instant-win card doesn't make things better. I'm moving mine ASAP and you should too. As for Grave Titan, that card is still a 2-turn clock by itself, and UB Control will be a deck post rotation with Black Sun's Zenith, so I suggest trading for these at 15 and reaping the profits in a few months. I don't think Inferno Titan is going to hold it's lofty price for too long, and I would move these in about a month from now, when New Phyrexia gets released, and the Sorcery speed Titan can't deal with Sword of War and Peace. One thing to note, only the Grixis Titans have been displayed so far, and it's very possible for WotC to switch up the Green and White Titans, because they would never do that right?

Rise of the Eldrazi

Gideon Jura                             33.93  +5.01
Vengevine                               31.34   -2.86
Kargan Dragonlord                  11.78  -1.00
All Is Dust                               10.87  -1.68
Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre          10.80  -0-
Emrakul, the Aeons Torn         10.00  -0.52
Kozelik, the Butcher of Truth    9.97   -0-
Linvala, Keeper of Silence        7.79  +0.37
Sarkhan the Mad                     6.53  -0.48
Student of Warfare                  6.05    -0-
Nirkana Revenant                    5.32  +0.26
Lighthouse Chronologist           4.83   -0-
Khalni Hydra                           4.76   -0-
Transcendant Master               4.00   -0-
Inquisition of Kozelik                3.99
Hellcarver Demon                    0.95   -0-
Cast Through Time                  0.95   -0-

So as creatures gets better, so does Gideon Jura. Vengevine is seeing less play than he aught to as he is simply awesome right now. With the format so bent on killing creatures, Vengevine is a threat that must be killed, but at the same time, he never really dies. Speaking of Vengevine, I saw an elves player pitch a Vengevine to Fauana Shaman to grab a Khalni Hydra, play it for 2 and another creature to recur Vengevine. Khalni Hydra feels really good as a 1-of in Elves if your on the vine plan. Gideon is unplayable in Legacy, so he is going to lose value hard over the next couple years. I put him at 15-20 through extended and down to 8-10 after that. As for Vengevine, he has already wrecked people in Legacy once, and he will definitely be able to do it again. Vengevine is probably going to stay the most valuable card in the set in the long run. Emrakul is also very Legacy playable, so those are the cards you want to hold onto in the very long run.If you have any Kargan Dragonlords I would move them, and trade for all is Dust mad low, and then move it to casual players, especially people making colorless EDH decks. It's way too late in the game to get Gideon, but moving him isn't too bad of an option.

Worldwake

Jace, the Mind Sculptor     99.19  -0.50
Stoneforge Mystic             23.68  +3.33
Abyssal Persecutor           11.53  -2.13
Avenger of Zendikar         11.07  -1.27
Creeping Tar Pit                7.77   +0.45
Kalastria Highborn            6.54    -1.32
Basilisk Collar                   5.22     -0-
Dragonmaster Outcast       4.34   +0.26
Omnath, Locus of Mana    3.68    -0-
Eye of Ugin                       2.84   -0.39
Admonition Angel              2.44    -0-
Comet Storm                     1.74   -0-
Novablast Wurm               1.29    -0-
Wrexial, the Risen Deep     1.17    -0-

BREAKING NEWS!!!! Jace, the Mind Sculptor has GONE DOWN in value by 50 cents!!! The rampaging increase in prices has stopped, and people are rising from the rubble looking around at the desolated grounds they once called their wallet. It was a long, casualty loaded battle, but it's all over. For now. Yes, Jace the Mind Sculptor has actually gone down in value for the first time ever. I think this trend will continue, because no one plays extended, but he won't drop lower than 90, probably not even below 95. Then Legacy will hit, and people will try to find reasons to keep on playing him, but they will fail and his value will tank down to 60. Some people have said he is like Tarmogoyf, but I disagree, and the reasoning is in the upper-right corner of the card. Mana costs are simply too relevant in Legacy. When control decks are playing 21 lands because they only have 8 carsds that cost more than 2 while preventing you from casting spells from the rest of the game, and beatdown decks that play all 3/3s for 1 mana aren't considered powerful enough, you know you're dealing with a whole new beast. A 4 mana card draw spell just isn't where it's at. As for Stoneforge, it's too late to acquire them, but if you have any extra, it's not a bad idea to move them. If you have 4, just hang on to them because that deck is solid stupidly overpowered. Also, I would move any extra Creeping Tar Pits that you may have.

Zendikar

Lotus Cobra                      17.35  -0.86
Scalding Tarn                    13.20  +0.29
Verdant Catacombs           12.63   -0-
Arid Mesa                         12.24  +0.62
 Misty Rainforest                11.99  +0.44
Sorin Markov                     11.69  -0.36
Eldrazi Monument              11.46  -1.99
Marsh Flats                        11.36   -0-
 Nissa Revane                     9.11   -0.32
Goblin Guide                       8.42   -0.55
Bloodghast                          8.37   -1.00
Iona, Shield of Emeria          6.22    -0-
Chandra Ablaze                   4.35    -0-
 Felidar Sovereign                4.10    -0-
Warren Instigator                 3.02    -0-
Ob Nixilis, the Fallen            2.66  -1.19
Mindbreak Trap                   2.56    -0-
Rampaging Baloths               2.41    -0-
Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet   2.62  +0.32
Obsidian Fireheart               1.13     -0-
Eternity Vessel                     0.96    -0-
Lorthos, the Tidemaker        0.83    -0-

Shocker, I tell you Fetches are going up, and they do. For some reason everyone I trade with is absolutely convinced that fetches are worth 10 a piece, so I'm raking in the fetches whenever they come by. Seriously, they're going to all be worth 15+ eventually. As this is one of the sets that is being shipped off to the eternal doom that is Extended come fall, there are a lot of cards to move, starting with Eldrazi Monument. I just moved this to my small cards binder simply because I want to move them that bad. Another card to move is Nissa Revane. She is a planeswalker, so that holds her value up in the casual world regardless (a planeswalker at camp is greater then gold). But she will drop to 7. Sorin Markov is a card I have people talking about in UB Control, and it feels incredibly good to me. Against aggro (everyone minus Valakut) you can pick off their creatures while gaining life and giving Sorin more loyalty. Against control and Valakut you can Mindslaver them and have them kill themselves. I have been on the losing end of a Mindslaver before, and I have seen it happen enough times to know it is simply backbreaking. All those Tectonic Edges you have? They just betrayed you. Those counterspells? Yeah, those are all gone too. Doom Blade my own creature, don't mind if I do! Missing triggers? Why Not! If he picks up, you may see a bump in price. Otherwise, he will probably go down a little when he is reprinted/rotates out of Standard. I just easily traded for a set of Bloodghast at 7 a piece. I think that's a good indication of how unpopular Vampires is right now, and how everyone is trying to move it.

That's all for Standard stuff, but since I love Legacy so much, I'm going to put up a bunch of Legacy cards that you should keep your eye on:

Sensei's Divining Top  18.38
Force of Will  81.59
Lion's Eye Diamond  40.80
Thoughtseize 23.09
Counterbalance  9.05

Scrubland  52.64
Taiga  67.93
Underground Sea  120.85
Tundra  87.69
Savannah  62.20
Badlands  56.52
Plateau  45.50
Volcanic Island  68.81
Bayou  69.42
Tropical Island  99.67

Holy crap! Underground Sea, Tundra, and Tropical Island are all exploding in price! That along with Force of Will makes blue a dradful color to break into.

Anyways, I actually have something to do at work, so I must go for now. Until next time, stay classy!