Revising Standard: Influence of Innistrad

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Oct 022011
 

Hey again,  welcome to Revising Standard.   In this set of articles we will always discuss the impact of the most recent set.   The goal is to make this a living document that changes as the format matures.  I will attempt to update each article by using the comments section of the blog.

The first installment of Revising Standard will discuss some of the impact Innistrad has on Magic the Gatherings standard or T2 format.   More specifically we will start discussing how white is being influenced or becoming an influence.

White has long since been known for its one and two drop creatures.  It also has a history of having one or two good reset buttons at any given time.   White is often splashed or used as a support color.  In fact blue and white have become a tradition among the deck archetypes of our day.

 

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Innistrad Picks Part 6 Lands and Artifacts

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Sep 242011
 

Today we look at Lands and Artifacts.  I won’t be discussing the new  lands, because they are all good. I will primarily focus on artifacts.  Most of the artifacts and multicolored cards. No, playing around onto the cards. Continue reading »

Innistrad Set Review White Picks Part 5

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Sep 232011
 

We are quickly approaching the end of this review.  Just one day left, after today.  Today we get to talk about White.   It seems that White gets the most bang for its buck in Innistraad.    Whit is full of card quality in both the constructed and limited environments.  Since, this is only a small review I will only cover a handful of these cards.

 

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Innistrad Set review Red Picks

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Sep 222011
 

It is day four of my set review.   For those of you who have not read these daily reports yet, here is what I am doing.  I am reviewing each color and sharing with you my top picks.  I am not a pro player by any means, I am just a judge who enjoys writing and playing Magic the Gathering  along with many other games.

 

On to the cards
Bloodcrazed Neonate    1r
Creature – Vampire     Common
Bloodcrazed Neonate attacks each turn if able.

Whenever Bloodcrazed Neonate deals combat damage to a player, put a +1/+1 counter on it.
While elder vampires select their meals with care, the newly sired frenzy at the first whiff.
Illus. Cynthia Sheppard    2/1

This guy is not super, but he gets an honorable mention because he grows and he is common.

 

Curse of Stalked Prey
1r
Enchantment – Aura Curse     Rare
Enchant player
Whenever a creature deals combat damage to enchanted player, put a +1/+1 counter on that creature.
“Innocent thorns can fill the air with your bloodscent. Don’t stray from the path.”
–Elmut, crossway watcher
Illus. Christopher Moeller #136/264

 

Will this card make it into constructed – yes.  It will Goblins or red deck wins a boost in their speed.  Oh and combine this with Bloodcrazed Neonate and you have a Vampiric nightmare.

Brimstone Volley  2r
Instant     Common
Brimstone Volley deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
Morbid – Brimstone Volley deals 5 damage to that creature or player instead if a creature died this turn.
Illus. Eytan Zana #132/264

I like Brimstone volley because it will be fairly easy to deal 5 damage.  Why because creatures die in Magic the Gathering.

Pitchburn Devil   4r
Creature – Devil     Common
When Pitchburn Devils dies, it deals 3 damage to target creature or player.
Illus. Johann Bodin #156/264    3/3

Our friend here is nothing special for a 3/3.  But when he dies he becomes a lightning bolt.  So he has potential.  He might see play in constructed.  I believe you will most certainly see him in limited.  I expect him to be picked as early a the third pick in a draft.  Really tough to say when a card will be pick but this guy brings some serious card quality to the limited format.

 

That is all for now.  tomorrow we move on to White and everything it has in store for us.

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Innistrad Picks Part 3

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Sep 212011
 

While looking at green I have concluded that green is just kind of blah.  Now, I don’t mean that in a negative way.  Green in Innistrad is just so similar from card to card that only a few cards stand out.  We will get to those in a moment.  Green has a couple of recurring themes that happen too frequently.  They are +X/+X where X is number of creatures in your graveyard and werewolves.   They both happen so much that it waters them down.  I do not  really like the fact that Green is full of transforming cards, and I even dislike the trigger for them more.

On to the cards.

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Innistrad Picks Part 2 Blue

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Sep 202011
 

Yesterday  I discussed the cards from Black cards from Innistrad that I thought might have some merit.  Today we will waste no time moving to blue.   As a whole I am not overly impressed with Blue.  It just does not seem to have the punch that some of the other colors are bringing to the environment.

 

My First pick is

Back from the Brink 4uu
Enchantment     Rare
Exile a creature card from your graveyard and pay its mana cost: Put a token onto the battlefield that’s a copy of that card. Activate this ability only any time you could cast a sorcery.
Illus. Anthony Palumbo #44/264

 

While I don’t think this will see a lot of play in constructed I think it will be a great card in limited.  I like all creatures having flashback.

 

Second

Ludevic’s Test Subject // Ludevic’s Abominatio  1u
Creature – Lizard // Creature – Lizard Horror     Rare
Defender
1{U}: Put a hatchling counter on Ludevic’s Test Subject. Then if there are five or more hatchling counters on it, remove all of them and transform it.
////////////
Trample
////////////
After several failed experiments, the visionary Ludevic realised he needed to create a monster that fed on torch-wielding mobs.
Illus. Nils Hamm #64/264    0/3 // 13/13

 

Ludevic will most likely not turn up in constructed.  In limited he is far to similar to  Figure of destiny to pass up.

 

Third

Curse of the Bloody Tome 2u
Enchantment – Aura Curse     Common
Enchant player
At the beginning of enchanted player’s upkeep, that player puts the top two cards of his or her library into his or her graveyard.
After seeing his life’s work drip away, the mage decided it was a good time to go crazy.
Illus. Jaime Jones #50/264

 

I like this card not because of it potential, but because of its casual feel.  I think that balancing the set with both casual cards and competitve cards.   Besides I miss Millstone, and I want to build a deck with it.

 

like i said before I think blue is weak in this set.  Those are my three favorite cards.  tomorrow we will pick on Green.

Innistrad Picks Part 1

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Sep 192011
 

With Magic the Gathering’s  Innistrad right around the corner, I have decided to do something I have never done.  I am am going to review a hand full cards from each color.  This will most likely take me 5 days and I will make mistakes.   The only thing left for me to do is select which color is first.  I think I will go Black, Blue, Green, Red, White and anything else.

 

In black I do see some potential for card quality.  My favorite cards in Black are, Blood Gift Demon, Liliana of the Veil, Endless Ranks, Morkhurt Banshee, and Skirsdag Piest.

 

Bloodgift Demon 3bb
Creature – Demon Rare
Flying
At the beginning of your upkeep, target player draws a card and loses 1 life.
He relishes the devotion of his Skirsdag puppets and their belief that it will earn them immortality.
Illus. Peter Mohrbacher #89/264 5/4

All I have to say is a 5/4 flyer for 5 is good.  In the current environment he is not that good, but keep in mind we will be changing things very soon.  But I doubt he will replace any of the current staples in Standard.

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Innistrad Mechanic Review

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Sep 132011
 

So the next Magic the Gathering expansion is on the horizon.  It will bring with it 5 mechanics.  Some of these mechanics are making a return, like Flashback and Fight (which is a new keyword).  While others are just knew.  But before you go any further I suggest you read Wizards of The Coast article on Innitsrad mechanics here.  Because this article is going to talk about rules in significant detail.

 

Transform

Of the the mechanics being introduced in Innistrad this has to be the most complicated one.

  • It will have a tournament legal proxy.
  • There is no Magic back on the card.
  • The face up side is marked with a sun.
  • The transformations are triggers.
  • Both faces are the same card.  That means counters, tokens etc stay on the card if it transforms.
  • Transforming is different from flipping.
  • Always enters the battlefield face up.
  • Copy effects only copy the current “face” of the card.

What does all of that mean for a player and for the judge?

 

Judge Perspective

While double faced cards are going to bring to the game a potential for new levels of card quality it is going to be a messy mechanic at first.  I suspect that early on players are going to miss the transform triggers left and right.  I can just see it know some random player draft 10 double faced cards and put 7 in his deck.  Can you imagine having 4 of them in play at the same time?  You might have different faces face up.  In other words the players might have four different triggers to remember on top of normal game play.  The good news is that this is most likely to happen at the casual level of play for some time – practice.   In the end I think it will force both players and judges to improve their game.

 

Player Perspective

As a player I am looking forward to the card quality that thes might bring us.  And I do believe there will be enough good double faced cards that a handful of them will see play.  Otherwise, WotC is waisting their time with this mechanic.

 

Morbid

Judge Perspective

There is not a thing that is so unique about this mechanic that we have anything to worry about.

 

Player Perspective

The trigger is going to be easy enough to pull off that you will definitely see it played.   I kind of like Skirsdag High Priest.  I used this  spoiler for information.  I kind of like putting 5/5 flying demons in play.

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Why Every Gamer Should Eat Healthy

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Sep 102011
 

I judge a lot of Magic the Gathering tournaments, and I mean a lot.  As a result I get to observe people.  One of the things I notice is players and judges ignore their bodies, especially when it comes to hydration.  It is important for you and for the players around you that you take care of yourself.  Yeah right, why should I care.  Well, there are only a handful of reasons, but they can be summed up like this; good health makes for a better game. It is really that simple.   Dehydration can have some serious effects on your game, and your body.   While not eating foods that supply nourishment can effect you body in many ways (anything from headaches to poor digestion).  the rest of this article will talk about recognizing the symptoms of things like dehydration and lack of nourishment.

 

Dehydration happens when you don’t consume enough liquid (water is the best).  Symptoms of dehydration are

  • head rushes
  • fatigue
  • loss of appetite
  • headaches
  • nausea

 

While I realize at a tournament there are a lot of other factors that can come into play dehydration is always a first in my mind because it is easy to ignore.  So here are some rules of thumb to prevent dehydration.   if your game is a light game that does not involve a lot of standing or though consume a cup of water for every hour.  If it is more intense consume closer to twenty ounces of water every hour.  That might sound like too much, but it’s not.  When you game you actually do burn a lot of energy thinking.

 

Eating improperly can cause all kinds of problems for you.  In fact, there are so many I won’t even attempt to cover them.  We should all know the common symptoms of not eating right (headaches, fatigue, light headed,).  Instead I will share what I have had great success with at events of this nature.

  • Protein shakes
  • nuts
  • protein bars
  • granola bars
  • trail mix
  • mixed fruit
  • Have even taken various canned goods

 

You might say that is a bit much, but the one thing I have learned as a judge is you just never know what is in store for you.  I have worked events where where the closest food was a twenty minute walk, and if you are understaffed it just doesn’t work.  It is about the same for you as a player.  It is better to be prepared.   I also go heavy on the grains to combat the potential irratablity from various digestive problems, besides they are a good snack.

 

If you are wondering why this article is here.  This is why.  Not too long ago I worked an event where a player did not eat foo.  His reasoning was it was too far away to get to it.  He was also alone, and had no one to go get the food for him.  As a result of not eating, he got a headache.  He made this publicly known, and that he believed it was from a lack of food.  The player eventually blacked out from fatigue and ended up not finishing the event.  I realize that the example above is extreme, but who wants to play with a headache or worse. It really doesn’t take much effort to plan for this, and in the end you will be happier.

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Magic the Gathering Mini Master this Weekend

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Sep 082011
 

I just learned that Wizards of the Coast is sponsoring Magic the Gathering Mini Masters events at select stores (Magic Celebration) this Saturday September 10th.  Here are the locations.   What is cool about, I mean what makes it different from other mini masters?  It is free, while supplies last.  That is right free Wizards of the Coast is giving back to their customers.

 

So what is a mini master AKA pack wars?  It is one of the most inexpensive limited formats you can play.  Each player receives one pack (M12 on Saturday) and three of each basic land then they get shuffled together.  That is right you play blind, you don’t look at your cards.  Each event is three or four rounds.  Each round you win earns you another free M12 booster to enhance your deck with.  On top of that WotC is supplying retailers with T-shirts and a code card for Duels of the Planeswalker 2012.   I am not sure how the code is going to be distributed, but it is for the platform of the player’s choice.

 

I will be at Freedom Games in North Canton Ohio on Saturday playing.  If you want to duel me come on down.

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