Urza's Mine

They're coming along....

So this is a quick one but I'm building a conspiracy cube set for true drafting )11 commons, 3 uncommons, 1 rare) randomised into packs etc.  What set basic land to use though? Hmmm! 

Boros Burn, Analysis.  Decklist as follows 2 Grim Lavamancer 4 Monastery Swiftspear 4 Goblin Guide 4 Eidolon of the Great Revel 4 Lightning Bolt 2 Lava Spike 4 Rift Bolt 3 Searing Blaze 4 Skullcrack 4 Lightning Helix 4 Boros Charm 2 Volcanic Fallout 4 Wooded Foothills 4 Bloodstained Mire 4 Sacred Foundry 1 Stomping Ground 6 Mountain Sideboard as follows 4 Destructive Revelry 2 Shattering Spree 3 Ensnaring Bridge 2 Anger of the Gods 4 Deflecting Palm So I took this deck to a 17 player casual tournament today and went 3-2... The two defeats seemed harsh but the record is as it is... The deck plays well and the obvious burn strategy still has many lines as I remember well. This deck is awesome, it's not as clear cut and obvious as jam the burn spell every turn, one must know the exact sequence of spells and exactly when to hold and when to play burn... For example you don't just hit Skullcrack to give Monastery Swiftspear +1/+1 with p...

Reinforcements have arrived.... This feels like somewhat of a downgrade in power, but I feel the deck will play better (and by better I mean it'll feel like a swingy game of MTG, not just board sweepers and landslides)  Remember I'm trying to build a deck which is up against someone doing the exact same deck approach (all nu-new boarded) and I want it to look just awesome on the tabletop. Perhaps my Warhammer like love of nicely painted armies transfers over to MTG.  So here's the list and the why... -1 Cataclysm (Strictly an un-fun Commander card) -1 Virtues Ruin (Seems really poor when 80% of my games are against Sultai) -1 Aggressive Mining (The card design is sweet, it's application in this deck is not) -1 Burning of Xinye (Wildfire in Commander is balloni because mass LD is a little tedious)  -1 Longshot Squad (Bye bye dog archers, you are meh at best) -1 Sultai Flayer (The lifegain just isn't needed and we're replacing you) -1 ...

Cure for the Itch.... I've been wanting a craft a cheap legacy deck for god knows how long now.... Perhaps it's time to indulge.... I picked up a collection the other day which I feel may help me realize my first truly competitive deck in Legacy... If only I had Cabal Coffers I'd be laughing... Here's the decklist in mind... 4 Carnophage 4 Sarcomancy 4 Nantuko Shade 2 Ichorid 4 Braids, Cabal Minion 4 Duress 4 Cabal Therapy 4 Hymn to Tourach 4 Dark Ritual 3 Diabolic Edict 3 Vendetta 19 Swamp 1 Volrath's Stronghold SB: 4 Phyrexian Negator SB: 4 Engineered Plague SB: 2 Hatred SB: 2 Planar Void SB: 2 Tormod's Crypt SB: 1 Perish The only concern I have is this stupid need to know all the cards in the deck are either Legacy or Modern boardered. I can't be dealing with both in the same deck, it looks terrible. Perhaps if I got over myself I could add in Inquisition of Kozilek in place of Duress, I could run Phyrexian Obliterator i...

Recieved these today!!! Holy smokes I'm gonna b e busy!

It's not magic but the fella on my left is my updated version of the paint job on my right...

Session with the lads, Brewin' too! Session 2 with the team and we've done a set review with Fate Reforged, as usual I disagreed with most things (I disagree with most things in life and play Devil's advocate too much) but some of the info the team mates were giving has sunk in. The team is getting there and I'm working out how to communicate better with some of the members I don't know too well. The banter (jokes) have kept things feeling good and sooner or later they'll work out I'm not actually that great of a magic player but until then I'll keep turning up and throwing my 2 cents in. We've found a few great under the radar cards and that's cool because travelling 20 odd miles to hear that Monastery Mentor is a solid card isn't really worthwhile, but getting insight into how the team looks at cards is well worth it!  Our captain has expressed urgency on getting the team sorted with mats and shirts etc, it's all pretty excitin...

Yep, it's the magic players food of choice, life shortening and unhealthy as heck!  Ideas off the top of my head.... Mono White Devotion for standard... Mono Green Aggro for modern....

Humiliation suffered in the Greenhouse, Luke's 5 coloured army bested by the Sultai commanderless forces. Back from the monday night magic and a few cool things happened. One I got to play Jon in our inaugral game of pimpmander, blingmander or commander with all foil cards to those not in the know!  The first 2 games I massacre'd Jon, my deck is sporting many big threats, Soul of Zendikar and Soul of Ravnica showed up and did some serious milage, Soul of Ravnica with my commander Child of Alara is absolutely immense and my permission of Cancel and Disdainful Stroke helped out in the initial games.... Then the next 3 went differently, Jon went on the aggro, knowing long game my deck packs the inevitability (probably more suited to multiplayer commander) he went full force into my deck, hitting up Chasm Skulker and doing the rounds with it utterly broke my deck. We also formed an official club with paperwork and stuff.... Where have I heard all this before?  ...

Haven't I been here before? So it's 3pm and I'm prepping myself for the day (you see I don't get up early when I don't have to work or play MTG) and later on we have a meeting at my local gaming club to bring it more in line for better events and the like.  Gareth Ward has negotiated a contract with a supplier to get us booster boxes at an amazing price allowing us to run events with decent prizes while keeping the cost down... ...Still all I can think about is the latest MTG team I've got into. The name is currently looking like team storm count and we're going to be evaluating Fate Reforged this Thursday, hoping of course Simon Skipper is cool to drive.  We've got a great venue at Shrunken Terra in Burgess Hill, Sussex and the owner Jake Hutchinson is accomodating, providing us with hot drinks and food at a fair price. (£1.00 for a tea with a re-fill!) The venue it's self hosts webcams and is a good environment for us to play as th...

Update to the Commander deck.... -1 Kin Tree Warden (rubbish for commander) -1 Decree of Annihilation (not a commander card!) -1 Fracturing Gust (going into my modern cruel control) -1 Feed the Clan (dirge) +1 Villainous Wealth +1 Utter End +1 Jeering Instigator +1 Soul of Zendikar -1 Forest -2 Plains +1 Bloodstained Mire +1 Nomad Outpost +1 Swiftwater Cliffs Trading at Maidstone is goood!

Ok so this isn't what I promised but that is coming.... How to make my commander experience fun!  So I'm not a massive commander fan, it's got silly.. I'm not a fan of 4/5+ hour games where it's all about who can convince who to do what. Magic is a skill testing amazing game and Commander for me in my area has some good players but vastly it seems to me something I'd only want to indulge with friends or when it's put into a more competitive environment forcing players to stop being silly. That would work for me.  Don't get me wrong, I've had some great commander games, but generally the best place to play commander is somewhere private, not public. For me it's like having a few mates together and you can gang up a bit on the gobbiest of the lot and then feel sorry for them and betray the person you first were in cahoots with! all that sounds cool right? I guess that's the silly part of commander, but perhaps I prefer not to leave m...

Entry the first. So this is going to be a chilled little project for me to document what I'm up to in the world of MTG!  Today I went to Maidstone, Kent for a tournament which has a big prize payout with my team of Henry, Steve and Skippy. We've been testing with our other guy George at Shrunken Terra (Burgess Hill) and we're all at a good level of magic and wanting to push our game to new levels.  The decklist I went for was blue black control as I'm confident with control and enjoy locking up games of Magic and tinkering my way to victory, usually completely on my terms with my opponent having to just sit and watch me do what I do. This deck pretty much wins via a millout from Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver by using value spells to sweep, counter and exile enemy threats.  The 75 were solid..... Let's take time to talk about how great Ashiok is..... This card paired with Bile Blight, Hero's Downfall and permission means that we can essentially tick...