Colorless Non-Artifact Creatures March 4, 2010
Posted by James in : all, fake cards, reviews, previews , 5comments
I suspected that we might end up seeing colorless non-artifact creatures after seeing Eye of Ugin. I suggested the idea on facebook but I was told that it was pretty unlikely and I agreed. (more…)
“Nix”: A Landless Magic Set February 17, 2010
Posted by James in : all, fake cards, previews, speculation , 5comments
We already know what Magic will look like in 2060 and 2070. Now I know what Magic will look like in 2063. This is the year that Magic will develop the all 0 casting cost set. They tried an all gold set in 2009. They tried an all land set in 2017. The time will come for a 0 casting cost set. No lands will be required to play Magic. (more…)
Get a free deck box at my ebay store! February 11, 2010
Posted by James in : all , add a comment
Each deck you buy at my ebay store now comes with a free deck box. (Offer until supplies last. I have over 100 deck boxes at this moment.)
I will be adding several new decks in the next week or two and many will include Worldwake cards. Go here to see my ebay items.
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Worldwake Review Part 4: Standard Top 12 February 3, 2010
Posted by James in : all, reviews, strategy, constructed, standard , 13comments
There are several cards in Worldwake that will see play in standard tournaments, but I will focus my attention to the top 12. These are the cards I expect to see the most play: (more…)
Worldwake Review Part 2: First Picks (Limited) January 28, 2010
Posted by James in : all, reviews, strategy, tips, limited, draft, sealed , 2commentsIn order to prepare for the pre-release, it might help to consider which commons and uncommons you want. When you see these it can help you decide what colors to play. I call the best commons and uncommons “first picks” because they will tend to be the first cards you take during a draft. Here are my favorite 8 commons and uncommons: (more…)
Worldwake Review Part 1: Bombs (Limited) January 27, 2010
Posted by James in : all, reviews, strategy, tips, limited , add a commentThe spoiler is now done and we already have pictures of the best draft/sealed bombs. Shards of Alara, M10, and Zendikar all seemed to allow bombs to affect the game to an extraordinary extent, and Worldwake has continued this trend. A “bomb” in my mind is a card that could pretty much win by itself. Here are my favorite eight bombs in Worldwake. (more…)
Worldwake: First Impressions January 25, 2010
Posted by James in : all, reviews , 2commentsThe spoiler is almost done and we are about 5 days away from the prerelease for Worldwake. I will take a look at the new abilities and some of my favorite cards. What do I think so far? The problem with Zendikar was that the commons and uncommons tended to be pretty unimpressive. That is not the case here. I am glad to see some great commons and uncommons for a change.This article contains spoilers. (more…)
Who is Timmy? January 10, 2010
Posted by James in : all, random , add a commentWe should all know who Timmy, Johnny, and Spike are. In particular, they all enjoy playing Magic for different reasons:
- Timmy wants to “experience something.”
- Johnny wants to express himself and be creative.
- Spike wants to win through skill.
My Top 10 Articles of 2009 December 30, 2009
Posted by James in : all, random , add a commentI have now had a website with regular updates for over a year. I was usually able to think of something I wanted to write every week, and I have no idea how I do it. It might not last forever. Not only have I had many updates, but sometimes I have something interesting to say. You probably don’t want to read everything that I write about, so I will let you know my favorite 10 articles of 2009. (more…)
Why We Like Magic December 20, 2009
Posted by James in : all, random, theory , 5commentsMark Rosewater describes how different people play Magic for different reasons. He has three main categories of people who play it for different reasons: Timmy, Johnny, and Spike. Timmy wants to “experience something.” Johnny wants to be creative and express himself. Spike wants to play because of the competition. The problem with these categories is that Spike doesn’t good reason to play Magic instead of some other game, such as Poker, Chess, Go Fish, Uno, War, and so on. Spike can be competitive at other games, and Chess would actually reward his skill level more than Magic. Here are some real reasons to want to play Magic instead of the other games out there:
- The game looks cool.
- The game creates its own story.
- It helps to know what you are doing.
- There is a random element.
- You can make your own deck.
Magic the Gathering Etiquette Part 2 December 6, 2009
Posted by James in : all, random, theory , 2commentsThis is a list of my personal etiquette rules for Magic: the Gathering. These are rules of thumb based on my personal experience. They are only rules to follow “if you want to have good etiquette” and/or “want to make Magic: the Gathering more fun.” (An obligation of etiquette is only a requirement to have good sportsmanship.) (more…)
Magic: the Gathering Etiquette November 26, 2009
Posted by James in : all, random, theory , 4commentsThe main reason to play Magic is to have fun, so etiquette demands that we constrain our behavior in order to make sure people can enjoy themselves. Not everyone will object to the same behavior, but there are some rules of thumb that will help “lead to the greatest happiness to the greatest number of people.” Although etiquette is not technically the same thing as morality, some actions of etiquette are “right” or “wrong” to a minor degree. There are at least three main categories of etiquette: obligations, above the call of duty, and indifferent. (more…)
Historical Progress of Magic November 16, 2009
Posted by James in : all, random, reviews, design , add a commentWe experience a lot of progress in our personal lives. We evolve from someone willing to touch fire and walk into traffic into a much more reasonable kind of person. Society also has progress when it comes to technological improvements. What about Magic? Is Magic better now than it used to be? Consider the following points: (more…)
Post Zendikar Red Deck Wins November 9, 2009
Posted by James in : all, strategy, constructed, standard , 3comments
I did well with Red Deck Wins in the past, but I haven’t got a chance to play it much recently. Red Deck Wins is a tempting deck to play considering that it doesn’t require all the expensive dual lands or fetch lands. Unfortunately, the best red decks probably do require 8 fetch lands. Let’s consider a red deck with fetch lands and another one without them. (more…)
Why I hate Fetch Lands November 3, 2009
Posted by James in : all, random, reviews, design , 13comments
When Revised was around, I decided that I should sell my dual lands for $5 each. They were worth too much money. Then when Ravnica came out the shock duals were worth around $20. That was pure insanity, and we had little choice but get them to play Magic because Ravnica was all about multicolor decks! (more…)
Wizards of the Coast Tried October 30, 2009
Posted by James in : all, random, fake cards, game rules, theory, design, speculation , 3comments
Zendikar has proven to have inadequate mana fixing. The inevitable advice for us is, “Play 18 or 19 lands in a 40 card deck!” Yes, that helps, but then you often end up drawing all lands the whole game. However, Wizards did try. They designed cards that would help with mana fixing, but those cards were rejected… and apparently they were never replaced with appropriate mana fixing. (more…)
Unscrewed Part 10: Gym Socks of Ma ‘Rûf (Unglued 3) October 26, 2009
Posted by James in : all, fake cards , 13comments
Ring of Ma ‘Ruf was a great card idea, but it has two problems. One, it’s too weak. Two, it was given an errata that said you can only get a card from your sideboard with it. (Why? It’s already too weak!) (more…)
Type 3: Five Color Control October 22, 2009
Posted by James in : all, strategy, constructed , 11commentsOne great thing about Type 3 (Standard without rares) is that all our favorite deck types are still viable. Uncommons are pretty essential for making a good control deck in standard, so Pauper seems to go too far. The control decks you can make without rares aren’t too powerful, but they are powerful enough to be worth playing. (more…)
Unscrewed Part 9: Hypnotism (Unglued 3) October 20, 2009
Posted by James in : all, fake cards , 5comments
Today’s Unscrewed cards show an idea that I didn’t think of myself: Triple hybrid. I actually did think of it myself at one point, but apparently other people also thought of it before me. Not really surprising. It’s just based on the idea that hybrid cards could give us even more options. You choose between three colors instead of just two. (more…)
What is Type 3? October 17, 2009
Posted by James in : all, random, rules variant , 6commentsWhat is Type 3? Standard (Type 2) but without rares. That’s it. You can play the same cards that are allowed in Standard other than the rares.
Another name for Type 3 can be “Affordable Magic.” (more…)