GPSD: Swept under the table.

So were all done talking about worlds right, right? No seriously I can't put this off much longer.

If you ever gone to any large event for limited, whether it be like a ptq or a gp, you have to fill out a listing for your pool. And not just your pool but someone else's pool, the process is much faster, and it's supposed to prevent cheating...SUPPOSED TO. The process for those of you who don't know goes as followed, seating goes up and 1000+ unshowered fat guys dry hump stickly looking men as the try to quickly tape paper to poorly supported banners of awful cards no one plays. The cows find their seats and are given the product, in this case 6 packs. The cattle is supervised by the head judge to ensure everything is recorded and accounted for, all the while the largest of cows, like Cedric Philips get to yammer on some muffled nonsense unscathed like the tournament floor is his local movie theater, because hey he's Cedric Philips he's fucking special right? After that's settled the mouth breathers exchange lists and start shouting at fanboy judges to get their "not opponents" in trouble for things that they are suppose to correct themselves, like their inability to keep everything in alphabetical order, marking 6-7 slots incorrectly, and the brain damage, well some things obviously can't be corrected. Sip up that coffee porky because counting is obviously hard and you need to know how to start at 20 and go backwards 3 or 4 times until you go home and do whatever it is you do when I don't have to look at you. Anyways...after it's checked for the SECOND time, players begin playing oh please let this be my deck as they are instructed to exchange pools multiple times like Catholics shaking hands on sunday mass, I'd rather touch the homeless people there over a mass majority of you *coughajcough*. Once you have your pool you yourself then check and report anything that might of been missed by bessy and his inbred cousin sitting across from him and deck construction begins.

Now that we got that outta the way, I have a question for the class. What happens when something is discovered incorrectly later on in the day? Well according to the poor girl sitting next to me round 3 it meant a game loss. What if it was something more severe though, like having a 7th pack in your pool. And lets say it went unnoticed until after round 7, and this individual was x-1, and not once considered "hey I seem to have a lot of rares". Let me tell you what happened...absolutely nothing, nothing was done. Sure the pool was "corrected", an equivalent to the contents of one booster was removed and then given back to the player to rebuild. 6 players that day lost their chance at day 2 because of this, zero punishment, 0, none, nada, it was deemed that he just didn't know. He got away with it because he was just to dumb to count, the DCI has apparently adopted no child left behind during a Grand Prix.

I'm sure the Judge's position can be argued but it still doesn't change the fact that 6 people who took time, money, and energy to compete were all cheated because all 4 people that directly handled this pool couldn't count. And what's to prevent someone for deliberately adding extra cards during registration, to cause these sort of problems, because it looks to me like I could get away with something like that if I really wanted to.

Sometimes I wonder where my tax money really goes.

M12 10/15 mythics confirmed

I assume that every magic writer is already working on a similar piece. Being that NPH reviews aren't as "new" as they are trying to be sold off as, and having to explain why competitive magic players scoop is only going to agitate the general populous of honorable self righteous casuals. Who generally believe it's better to not play Jace than win.

Back in March we got to take a look at the promo cards that were going to be bundled with the upcoming duels of the planeswalker game.

http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/678

With no other information, and rotation being so far away, it could easily of been argued that the Titans weren't going to be reprinted...

Anyways, GameSpot released this trailer today.

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/puzzle/magic-the-gathering---duels-of-the-planeswalkers-2012/video/6314180

If coming from Gideon's perspective wasn't enough, re watch 1:50 again. You'll notice the 5 planeswalkers rumored to be in M12, which is, and most importantly, also advertised along side the game. This would in fact confirm that the titans are most likely in m12. Why give promos that new players, duels of the planewalkers target audience, can't use once they decide to make the jump into the TCG?

Of course this still doesn't actually verify that we will see the ROE, or Sorin's ZEN version. Jace TMS, has already been confirmed, by Foresythe, that it is not in M12.

Without official confirmation we do get into speculation, and I'm sure that the community will have a huge spectrum of it as this week progresses. Many have argued that Gideon's design is to complex to be part of the core set. While this may be true, WotC could be breaking new grounds, trying to free the core set from being so basic. M10 and M11 had selling points that made them far more successful than their predecessors, but if 10 of the 15 mythics are reprints than whats going to be the new hype?



Here's hoping otherwise.

Another survival post.

Is it safe yet? The only person still wishing happy new years is my boss, and I imagine he will follow his awful habit to continue to do so all the way through the end of March. It's 2011, and we got past the first of "one's days" that have excited many of today's binary aroused generation. I was wrong about survival, suffering zero loss as I only have one to my name, still groan as more articles have been written trying to innovate a format that is no more than a regurgitated carbon copy of post ban mystic tutor era. There are a plethora of topics to cover, and I loathe the clipping many torture the community with as their editors demand a criteria of minimum word count. I'm not entirely sure if it's grammatically correct to quote yourself in any fashion but I still find this to hold merit.

"The philosophy that banned sotf is one that can be used against any legacy card. Can't wait for dual lands to be banned."

I don't necessarily believe that come March everyone's underground seas are going to be worthless but lets look closer into this.

Strait from the mothership:
"In recent months, Survival of the Fittest decks have been outperforming other decks in Legacy. This has caused the competitive format to become significantly less diverse. This has reached a point where the DCI concluded that it is appropriate to ban a card.

Survival is a card that gives the decks a lot of resilience to potential answer cards. Some combination decks fail when they draw cards intended as answers to opponents' decks instead of cards that are part of their winning combination. However, with Survival of the Fittest on the battlefield, a drawn Qasali Pridemage can be replaced with any other creature in the deck for one mana."

This isn't that far fetched:
In recent years, Underground sea decks have been outperforming other decks in Legacy. This has caused the competitive format to become significantly less diverse. This has reached a point where the DCI concluded that it is appropriate to ban a card.

Underground Sea is a card that gives the decks a lot of resilience to potential answer cards. Some combination decks fail when they draw cards intended as answers to opponents' decks instead of cards that are part of their winning combination. However, with Underground Sea on the battlefield, a drawn fetchland can cost you the game vs stifle, and on the same note, lacking multiple hand fodder will put you in a poor position versus thoughtseize.

A few dozen legacy staples can fit this premise.

From mystical to now survival, the card I would next foresee to be targeted by the ever whining community would be enlighten tutor, assuming that countertop gains some head weigh in the coming months. Although twitter suggests a resurgence of reanimator, an underground sea deck...just saying.

And speaking of whining, which is the real basis behind this heavily customer dictated r&d, the kind of attention this had gained was but a mere fraction of what planeswalker control, Jund, or faeries had ever received. Standard is the format that new players are first introduced to before the pursue the eternal formats, and a majority of what the casual crowd supports due to their lack of spending, so going over legacy with a fine tooth comb trying to fine tune it and completely ignoring standard is...for lack of a better word...ass backwards.

Banned and Restricted early announcements

I need this to go on the record so I can safely say "I told you so".

The banned and restricted announcement for December approaches. And while I do believe this is the time to speculate and examine constructed I believe the community has been overly biased. I like to apologize for your financial problems, inability to trade, or to be able to grow from 2007.

Jace will not be banned. WotC publicly denies any association with secondary market prices. We currently have no legitimate agro deck in this rock paper scissor world of standard, this is a power creep issue from transitioning into the new standard (something I would like to address in a later entry).

Survival will not be banned. Legacy was tossed on it's head less than 6 months ago, and while I do appreciate kicking something when it's down, the likely hood of it happening again is next to impossible. Cards in legacy receive banning when they end games in absurd ways, 1G + G and G to activate with a good draw? There are staples that cost 0.

Vengevine will not be banned. If a card were to actually receive banning from the deck it would be rootwalla, as the deck would still function without bringing forth an uncanny herd of vengevine, but that won't be banned either. The deck is balanced in terms of a format that has been dominated by blue cards since it's incarnation.

There are plenty of cards that should be on the chopping block long before any of these, sensei's diving top, lion's eye diamond, force of will, etc. None of these are going to be banned, not yet at least.

Nothing is going to be banned. The next week will be full of people complaining about how no one is really listening to them, and how WotC is an evil corporate empire, and WAAH WAAH WAAH!

Magic Player Rewards Program Discontinued, a blessing in disguise for dummies.

Obligatory "if you haven't heard yet" blah blah blah This

Quick grab some tissues and put on your angry face.

I'm sure there's a lot of people moaning, sobbing, delicious tears. While I do enjoy the collective misery that this has and will ensue I have a few constructive thoughts as to why this is a good thing even for those who are still mourning their WotC welfare.

Chaos theorist type people, this has almost no relation to the recent WPN changes, I'm sorry your upset and it's easy to point at big ole Hasbro, but that doesn't make any sense. Yes cards are involved, and yes people are angry, but I could use the same argument for...well anything, the governme...WOTC isn't out to get you. You have to remember they are a business, they want your money.

I get it, most of you are probably still in the denial phase and just easing into anger. You might not care because your free cards, that your not actually entitled to, causes you to break into a fit, I can't reason with you. Can't say I didn't try.

What PRP was suppose to do.

WotC has had a history of promotions that rewarded players for participating in tournaments and in some cases teach the game itself. These ended with much fret. And like arena and the guru program, PRP had a goal. A goal with a projection that obviously was met.

Magic is in a very heavily place right now. The increase in tournament attendance through years of "magic is dying" speaks for itself. Programs are put into motion to create this state.

But why remove them?

It hurt LGS's, which in turn hurts WotC. Do you remember Day of Judgment pricing at $6.00? That promo is pretty awesome, wanna buy some m11? No? Why's that? Pack EV has became to low. What's that? Google it, learn something. TL;DR with more desirable promos in circulation there becomes less of a need to buy packs. Again, WotC is a business, they want your money. I think the old expression "why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free" applies here.

It can also be argued that tournaments have grown to big, many LGS's struggle to maintain the capacity to support their player base. Magic is hitting puberty late, but it's happening whether you like it or not. The community is growing at an alarming rate that it can seem awkward at times. It's grown to fast, so fast that a simple hobby store can't support this kind of growth, not yet at least. Think of this as the next step in maturity, comic stores became games store, and now game stores feel as if they are cribs. The game is no longer in diapers, it's tall and lanky, covered in acne, horribly misunderstood, and has no desire to be coddled. We should take a page out of a parenting guide and realize that this is natural and remain supportive.

They grow up so fast.

MTGO's future(s)?

I may have been playing Magic since the mid ninety's but the online experience is fairly new to me. I finally gave into the two things keeping me from MTGO: buying digital merchandise, or what most refer to as imaginary cards, and buying everything twice. The second of the two, seemly easier to address in theory, becomes even more difficult as more and more invest into their second collections, compensation comes to mind. With the lack of any development for the foretold browser only v4, I can't imagine WotC refunding a cent.

We may eventually see a future set that addresses the issue, where paper packs come with a digital code for a MTGO equivalent, and a digital pack will also order yourself a paper pack that would be delivered in a matter of business days, this change due to postal delivery services, easily changes the price of a pack, something that would cause more complaining than the release of mythics. Of course this option in itself brings about it's own problems from hacking. Nothing like finding out that the pack you just bought was already used by some PC performing script of trial and error. Another possibility would inquire the use of data scanning devices, additional hardware that would need to be purchased in order for additional digital devices not needed to be purchase. A way for this to be marketed toward the causal crowd would need to be addressed, as the current incarnation is plug and play, one of the many features that shouldn't be removed regardless of any improvement.

As it's been stated WotC continues to look for ways to bring the MTGO closer and closer to paper in hopes that one day they are one in the same. Even though there is a two week gap between the release of a paper set and it's online version, at 4 sets a year...that's 8 weeks, 1/6th of the year where the two are no where in sync. The answer that the ORCs are told to give normally has something to do with the lines of code necessary for programmers to add. I like many others have to call bullshit. Most sets are finished, tested, and tweaked months in advance prior to actual release. Spoilers of future sets became public well over a month prior to the pre-release, this finalized product could easily be given to the programming team.

So is WotC willingly preventing it's online product the opportunity that they themselves project to reach in order to save the sanctity of a pre-release? Or does this go to show that Hasbro being a gaming company of 87 years isn't willing to invest additional money in what would be experimental innovation in the industry they literally monopolized? Most likely. But the squeakiest wheel gets the oil, as time goes on, less will believe the copy/paste tripe that is feed, the sale of digital product will be affected, and Hasbro will take action as they have with the eye sores of MTGO versions prior.

Jace's price is everyone's fault.

One of the most common trend with mythics and their prices is finger pointing. The "it costs money, I don't have any so I'm angry, its so and so's fault" gets old. And instead of having to listen to another random spout unrelated garbage whenever someone mentions anything having to do with standards poster child I figured it was time to make another reference blog.

His designer Mike Turian, his design philosphy on him here http://www.youtube.com/user/mrorangeguy#p/u/43/dNGVCZXU1Jo. If it was up to him, tectonic edge would of actually been a wastleland reprint. Grieving your opponent is awesome. Hes the kind of guy that most nostaglic has beens and never beens like, completely fair, turn 1 birds of paradise, turn 2 stone rain, turn 3 port, balanced. It's his fault.

Mythics, limited printings as opposed to rares, the supply was smaller. It's at fault.

Evan Erwin, Star City Game's hype man, host of the Magic Show. Weekly reporting the in's and out's of the game. What's to come, and what is and what will be amazing. Evan announced Jace's pre-order price at $22.49, and stated how you should pick up your set before his price went up. Many "I told you so's" followed, and many who missed out were enraged. It wasn't mrorange's context it was the reoccurring flame war his statements instigated that drew even more attention to Jace. It's his fault.

Everyone that did in fact pre-order Jace, with 0 supply and back orders of demand there was no reason for price to not go up. It's their fault.

The naysayers, people who responded to the hype with legitimate arguments that without any top 8 results cards can't have any real value. Gas to the fire. It's their fault.

Conley Woods, generally upsetting easily up-settable people with his own brand of deck building, finished top 8 in Grand Prix Oakland running not 1 but 3 Jace's. It's his fault.

The hoarder, someone who keeps anything he opens just in case he decides to play it. They are the kind of people who haven't gotten rid of their Elspeths, Hell's Thunders, and Sovereigns of Lost Alaras yet just in case they decide to build a new deck in the next 3 weeks. He might of opened one during the pre-release or in the one box he purchased, he doesn't know what to do with it but he knows its worth money, time to save it just in case. It's his fault.

Rise of Eldrazi, for being a stand alone set. The amount of Zendikar/Worldwake drafts coming to a near halt. Less Worldwake being opened resulting in less new supply circulating. It's at fault.

People who buy singles, because despite what some may believe Jace is in fact being purchased. Demand effects price. It's their fault.

People who buy packs, in doing so you support the product, even if they aren't worldwake packs, you are buying merchandise that have a potential to contain mythics. It's their fault and go back and re-read mythics.

Anyone that plays any in their decks, in doing so you are advertising, regardless of how it came into your possession. It's their fault.

You, for whining, your rash, ignorant, foul mouthed response regarding anything that had to do with Jace, the Mind Sculptor. You came into contact with someone prior to your listing and in doing so generated more advertisement on what upsets you. Or you encountered another like yourself, you clash and began a large flame war which attracts someone prior to your listing. Also for still not getting it, or being in the denial phase about it. It is your fault.