Yo! MTG Taps! #36
I like this podcast, Yo! MTG Taps! and episode #36 is highly entertaining. You might even be able to dig on this without knowing anything about the game. Interesting to hear these guys telling stories and whatnot.
Magic Online 4 Pack Sealed
I tried out a 4 pack sealed Core 2011 Swiss thingy tonight. I dunno if I built my pool right or not, it's a wacky format and I don't claim to be a limited master. I mean, if I do 2-1 in the Swiss drafts, I'm happy.
My pool's rares were: Day of Judgment, Nantuko Shade, Reverberate and Steel Overseer. I was white-black with 1 Pacifism, 1 Doom Blade and 1 Assasinate for removal. I had a Serra Angel and a couple other 2-toughness white fliers. I maindecked the Day of Judgment and the Overseer (with dreams of piling +1/+1 counters on an Ornithopter, haha). Didn't main the Shade; probably should have put him in there.
Round one: Opponent had Chandra Nalaar and Angelic Arbiter. Lost 2-0. Even though I could Doom Blade the angel, I felt a little helpless against Chandra.
Round two: Opponent had Obstinate Baloth and Inferno Titan. Fffffuuuuuu... what?! I won this match? Thank you, Steel Overseer + Gargoyle Sentinel!
Round three: Opponent had Sun Titan and some blue-white flyers.
This costs about $2 more than drafting, and takes a bit less time. The prize payout is a little better than Swiss drafting (Swiss is my preference because I'm not the best player and I want to get my 3 matches in even if I'm losing). Overall... 4-pack sealed is okay, but I'd rather be drafting. Opening jank rares in 4-pack sealed sucks.
Dilemma on Mirrodin
Hmm. Looks like the Scars of Mirrodin pre-release is September 25-26 and the launch is the next weekend, October 1-3. Our baby is due October 5th, but will likely come via scheduled delivery a week before that due date.
Now, obviously, the birth of my child is more important than a Magic pre-release but I will see what I can work out. Maybe I can at least do a midnight pre-release if they're having another of those in town.
World of Warcraft TCG impressions
I did a World of Warcraft sealed deck thing at Comic World last night. I have never played the PC MMO game but I understand from those who have that the TCG is pretty evocative of the PC version. I'm sure you get a little bit more out of the TCG if you recognize elements from the video game.
I had an "Alliance Shaman" deck, which seemed fine. I don't really know how to evaluate these cards. I won two matches and lost one. The match that I lost went into "sudden death" overtime, where the first player to deal damage wins. I would have won but my opponent got me at his literal last opportunity with a "ferocity" attack (think "haste" from Magic).
I remarked afterward that I would have felt bad if I had won that match on the sudden death overtime rule, so I'm glad the guy killed me. I mean, I don't think I would have punted had he passed the turn back to me, but I would have felt weird about winning that way. I shouldn't, I guess: If those are the rules, then those are the rules. For all I know, there may be a legit strategy of stalling into overtime and using sudden death damage as your win condition.
The game seems pretty neat. I may play it from time to time, in a very casual manner, but nothing about the game seems "better" to me than Magic. I say that with all due respect to the WoW fans. There is a lot to like about WoW. It seems way cheaper, for one. I don't believe there's a wallet-crushing WoW equivalent of, say, Jace, The Mind Sculptor, and that's good. I'm all for more choices for people, so while I personally may not be too into WoW, I wish only the best for the game and its fans.
La la la la la la la la la
This is copypasta from some other blogs, but it's just so effing catchy!
M11 release promos
Here are the pre-release and release promos for M11. Sun Titan looks pretty cool. I can see putting him into an allies deck to recur those dudes.
Some tips on team drafting
I'm wanting to do a team draft, though I may have 8 folks instead of 6. We'll noodle around that when the time comes. Anyway, this article has some tips for team drafting.
Pictures For Sad Children
I just heard of this web comic, Pictures For Sad Children, and viewed their whole archive over the last couple days. It's really funny, so check it out.
Travis Woo on burnout / being satisfied
(update, to add another recent column covering similar issues)
I typically scoff at videos of people talking somberly into their cameras (I do my vanity whining the right way, in audio-only form) but I think there's really good stuff in this video from Travis Woo.
Obviously, he's on a much higher level than me but I can relate the feelings he's expressing down to my own level. I love MTG, it just captures my imagination like nothing else, but I've gotta keep everything in perspective. I cannot get down in the dumps when I screw the pooch at FNM. I must resist the temptation to overspend - Lord knows I've got more important things to budget for.
So it's just about striking the right balance. This game is insanely mega-fun for me and I want to make sure it stays that way. I'm planning to host a draft night amongst friends soon, I could pee my pants I'm so excited. I also started slapping together a pair of EDH decks which, I think, will be a lot of fun to whip out with pals who haven't played in a while.
So, whatever you're into, try to keep it in the right place.