Anyone here play Magic: The Gathering?

[Ixmucane2]

I think a lot of people (including me) are just happy to see Lorwyn leave already. Yes, anticipation about what is gone is higher than what is left - go figure.

Go Figure of Destiny! (Only one of the annoying cards I won't miss.)

[MR_Soren]

I think a lot of people (including me) are just happy to see Lorwyn leave already.

Indeed. Me and a few of my friends feel the same way about Standard right now.

[Cthulhu]

Indeed. Me and a few of my friends feel the same way about Standard right now.

Although people who don't play tournaments (or MtG at all) usually give you a funny look when you try to explain how cards leaving is a good thing for the players, times like this reaffirm that it indeed is good for the game. For a nice contrast, take a look at extended, where even though a block is cycling out (Onslaught I think?) very, very little is changing.

Incidentally, now might be an amusing time to bring up just how oversold Zendikar is. The owner of a fairly large local store (and organizer/sponsor) of some of the larger state tournaments here in CO was venting to some of us at how hard it was to get the cards in stock. He actually had other wholesalers trying to contact him and buy his (non-existent) extra stock at fairly inflated prices. His shipments of fat packs were about half of what he actually ordered. The next wave of Zendikar orders was to be accepted a few days after the release tournaments, but they've already been warned that not much may be available. Apparently M10 selling like mad didn't teach them...

Incidentally, from the conversation I also learned that wholesale cost on a booster box is usually somewhere between $70 and $80, usually around $73 if you order enough. I'd been wondering that for a while.

[KindGrind]

I don't think Figure of Destiny is that annoying. Kitchen Finks takes the cake for me in that department

[MR_Soren]

I don't think Figure of Destiny is that annoying. Kitchen Finks takes the cake for me in that department

I wasn't as bothered by Finks because they were uncommon so it didn't cost that much in a "if you can't beat them then join them" mentality and there were plenty of cards that could get rid of it immediately. Figure was obnoxious because it was good at all points in a game. Early copies were strong but easy to kill, but a mid-late game topdeck would usually be swinging for 8 the following turn. That was obscene IMO. You had to always keep strong removal available or risk being killed by this guy from out of nowhere.

What bothered me about Standard was the high number of weenie decks in the format. Elves, Kithkin, Merfolk, Faeries, Rogues, Goblins, etc. It prevented a lot of cards from being played because you were almost required to play a weenie deck or devote a lot of deck space towards beating one which would leave you completely defenseless against random crap like Sanity Grinding.

[Cthulhu]

I don't think Figure of Destiny is that annoying. Kitchen Finks takes the cake for me in that department

I wasn't as bothered by Finks because they were uncommon so it didn't cost that much in a "if you can't beat them then join them" mentality and there were plenty of cards that could get rid of it immediately. Figure was obnoxious because it was good at all points in a game. Early copies were strong but easy to kill, but a mid-late game topdeck would usually be swinging for 8 the following turn. That was obscene IMO. You had to always keep strong removal available or risk being killed by this guy from out of nowhere.

What bothered me about Standard was the high number of weenie decks in the format. Elves, Kithkin, Merfolk, Faeries, Rogues, Goblins, etc. It prevented a lot of cards from being played because you were almost required to play a weenie deck or devote a lot of deck space towards beating one which would leave you completely defenseless against random crap like Sanity Grinding.

I played both Figure and Finks in a lot of decks, as they were both absurdly good. Did get old seeing them in sooooo many things though.

At any rate, yes, the number of weenie decks was pretty large. With Kithkin gone and Elves and Merfolk effectively gutted, some of the big ones are definitely no longer viable. Soldiers isn't good enough yet as far as I can tell, and neither are Allies. Goblins are poised for somewhat of a comeback thanks to the Guide (2/2 with haste? Prepare to take two before you have laid a single card against mono-red...) but they lack a good endgame. Vampires are a shoo-in for popularity, but I'm still iffy on how good they'll actually be overall.

[Cthulhu]

Time for some Zendikar impressions!

I played in two prereleases and ... well, did rather poorly at both. Oops. I then bought a whole bunch of boosters and figured out how things worked better by going over some strategy articles online and reviewing the card lists more. I then placed 2nd and 3rd in some launch day drafts. Also tried a combo-ish landfall deck in a constructed tournament.

Overall conclusions:
- Zendikar is a very good set in both flavor and content.
- There are enough powerful constructed-usable cards to encourage new decks, but it's not as over-the-top as Lorwyn. (Yet?)
- A lot of effort was put into making the set fun for limited events too. It mostly worked out, the set is indeed fun for sealed and draft.
- The preconstructed decks are better than the Alara ones, about the same as the M10 ones.
- Blue got a mostly mediocre set of cards and, with most of its good stuff leaving with the Lorwyn block, seems to be a low-tier color right now. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, we can live with a season of non-blue decks. I'm sure it'll bounce back after a few more sets.
- Green got enough good stuff that it will probably see more play than before in constructed.
- Day of Judgement is effectively a 1-for-1 replacement for Wrath of God since almost nothing with regeneration is in Zendikar.

[Never_Scurred]

LOL @ my multiplatinum thread.

Update: I left that Magic shit alone. Pharmacy school and getting married has taken up all my free time.

[Square King]

I played it pretty heavily, but never competitively, up until high school. I left right after the Urza block (probably still my favorite) but recently jumped back in late last year. It's weird how so much has changed -- I still nerd rage over the 'new' card style and the difference in art quality/aesthetic.

Anyway, I'm bumping this old thread to see if anyone here plays mtgo at all. I dropped the $10 a few months ago and it's great for getting a fix every so often.

[MR_Soren]

Anyway, I'm bumping this old thread to see if anyone here plays mtgo at all. I dropped the $10 a few months ago and it's great for getting a fix every so often.

I've played a few sealed deck events and booster drafts, but I prefer to play with real cards and in person. I have no intention of ever playing constructed events on MTGO because I cannot afford to buy a second card collection.

[Square King]

I've played a few sealed deck events and booster drafts, but I prefer to play with real cards and in person. I have no intention of ever playing constructed events on MTGO because I cannot afford to buy a second card collection.

I'm the same way -- never thought I'd play online because it's such an interactive and socially centric game, and I certainly wouldn't play constructed online. I didn't like the idea of spending money on digicards, but there's a healthy trading system in place and I've made a few decent decks with the starting mass of cards. And the free card bots makes playing Pauper that much easier.

[BryanM]

I was tempted to jump on MTGO pauper happyland too, but the software is a pile. I've never seen anything update so awfully - an external .exe patcher that often just chokes to death after downloading dozens of MBs. It's like the exact opposite of the reliability of Guild Wars's client.

Since it died forever for me, I'll wait on this new client. The one using Silverlight or whatever, which will also never be feature complete. Version 3 seems to have had the lifespan of a bottle of milk - lord even I hurt from the hours of work they've done that're going into the bin.

[Square King]

Since it died forever for me, I'll wait on this new client. The one using Silverlight or whatever, which will also never be feature complete.

New client, eh? Thank the jebus. The current junk is possibly the most unstable, ugliest and user-unfriendly excuse for a game client I've ever seen. The circa '96 Microprose thing was sexier.

[Davey]

Anyway, I'm bumping this old thread to see if anyone here plays mtgo at all. I dropped the $10 a few months ago and it's great for getting a fix every so often.

I've been thinking about signing up for it. The XBLA game has rekindled my interest in MTG, but being as limited as it is, I'm not sure if it'll hold my interest for much longer (I'm currently trying to see how far up the leaderboard I can go).

I was thinking about doing the occasional draft on MTGO. Does anybody know how much money you can expect to recoup from the cards if you're not interested in keeping a collection (except maybe the commons for pauper)? Of course it'll vary depending on what you draw, but I was wondering if it'd typically be a significant percentage of the cost of the packs. I've read that most online cards don't carry as much value as their paper equivalents despite the fact that the packs cost the same.

[BryanM]

Here's a sample article about how they're going with the new version. You can find one or two more with googling, just mention the magic word siloverlight. The biggest deal for people on lowband is streaming cards in as you encounter them instead of as a big lump.

I was thinking about doing the occasional draft on MTGO. Does anybody know how much money you can expect to recoup from the cards if you're not interested in keeping a collection (except maybe the commons for pauper)?

This is all theoretical because I am a poor little man:

It's like ~$24 for a draft right? Didn't they raise the price of boosters a bit? Erm.

Finding a chase rare like the old Tarmogoyf or Baneslayer can net ~$20-50. Anything not a chase rare is going to sell for squat, because they're poop. There only ever seems to be around 4-10 cards like that a set. So um, I guess the singles you break out would be worth about $2-5 a pack?

[Ixmucane2]

I spend hundreds of euro on actual cards, but I never touched MTGO and I never will.

[Davey]

This is all theoretical because I am a poor little man:

It's like ~$24 for a draft right? Didn't they raise the price of boosters a bit? Erm.

Finding a chase rare like the old Tarmogoyf or Baneslayer can net ~$20-50. Anything not a chase rare is going to sell for squat, because they're poop. There only ever seems to be around 4-10 cards like that a set. So um, I guess the singles you break out would be worth about $2-5 a pack?

$24 sounds high; I thought it was $4 a pack plus two tickets, so $14. That could be outdated or wrong, though. If you can average $2 per pack by selling off the rares, that'd bring it down to $8. I'm leaving any winnings out of the equation because I'm sure I won't (if for no other reason, my metagame knowledge is 15 years obsolete ).

I know a lot of people don't like the idea of MTGO, but I don't have any friends that play MTG, and I'd like the convenience of playing MTG once in a while on a whim. I don't own any cards anymore, so I'm not losing anything there.

[BryanM]

I thought it was $4 a pack plus two tickets, so $14.

Holy crap I was tired - ursorite.

[Cthulhu]

Wow, resurrection of long-dead thread is go!

I saw M11 and it looks pretty good, but there's too many rare reprints for me to want to buy packs. I'll get some singles eventually. Relics box looks neat but ... I dunno, haven't bought any of the others and haven't missed em much. Scars of Mirrodin looks really cool.

I haven't had much time to play these days, so I guess I haven't thought about MtG much. If only days were 30 hours or something...

[KindGrind]

Thread necro FTW.

Anybody still plays this?

[BryanM]

You know, I had forgotten that this thread exists. And now I'm reminded why I linger still on these forums like a smelly poo.

I would be all over online pauper if the current client wasn't a sack of shit and getting replaced.

Haven't been reading their articles on their site either. Just kind of zoned out with this infection set or whatever. If they did something cool, tell me about it sir.

[Davey]

I finally took the plunge and started playing MTGO a few weeks ago. The client isn't great, but it's not as bad as I thought it'd be based on its reputation.

I've done several drafts, which would be really expensive except for the fact that I've been really lucky getting chase rares to fund the next one (one awesome moment: late game, opponent plays Duress. I have two cards in hand: Sun Titan and Frost Titan . But I only got 5 lands that game, so I guess the joke was on me). I think I've made it to the third round once, second round once, and lost the first round the rest of the time (6 or so times, usually 1-2). I'll blame my poor performance on being less familiar with the current metagame... yeah, that's it.

I played a lot of Planeswalker games at first since I was familiar with those cards from playing a lot of DOTP. But since it's beginner-oriented, I was winning like 80% of my games, which is a lot considering my meager skills. Now I usually only play Planeswalker when my girlfriend wants to play.

I bought a shitload of commons on eBay so I can play Pauper. Complete 4x common sets are about $5 each for the most part, so I spent about $150 to get most of the sets. I skipped some of the older ones since they're more expensive; I figured I could always buy those cards individually if I find something I need.

It's kind of daunting since the only cards I'm familiar with are from Homelands or earlier (when I played paper) or from DOTP. Fun, though, and my Kiln Fiend/Wee Dragonauts deck does ok in the casual room.

[BryanM]

I finally took the plunge and started playing MTGO a few weeks ago. The client isn't great, but it's not as bad as I thought it'd be based on its reputation.

If it sticks around long enough, it's pretty likely you'll have to reinstall the thing from scratch eventually.

Been pretty brutal for those guys who liek leagues these few years..

[KindGrind]

I sold my entire MD-JP exclusives back in 2009 to finance my comeback to MTG. I've been cherry picking cards left and right (mostly Legacy staples) since. Most old cards have skyrocketed within the last year and a half or so making this a stupid good investment so far. Buying back 40 dual lands wasn't exactly fun, but looking at where they are now I'm glad I picked them up at roughly a third of their present price. I don't know what's going to happen to Legacy as a format, honestly. When Wastelands and Force of Wills (both uncommons!) are respectively 70 and 90$... Something is bound to happen. Thing is, people just don't sell enough and hoard the stuff. Demand is strong, supply is low... Where will it stop?

Regarding the new sets... Infest is to be avoided altogether. Drafting is quite fun though, with lots of artifacts and brokenness. I just don't have time to bother, really. I picked up a Sword of Feast and Famine, a pair of Mox Opals and a playset of Green Sun's Zenith, which is a card I truly love playing. Best card in the last few blocks, except from stuff like Jace TMS, which is overpowered / a shameless money grab.

[chempop]

Oh man, whenever I think about MTG I recall so many incredible memories. Anyone here play competitively back in the early-mid nintees?

Who remembers when the best Type-1 deck only had 2 Serra Angels and a braingeyser as means for winning. Or when Necropetence and "Vise-Age" were dominating the Type-2 scene... Man those were the days!!!

Sadly I sold off my set of Moxen and Big Blue years ago, probably the dumbest thing I ever did in my life... I still have a Mana Drain and Library of Alexandria which were my favorite cards of all time.

I miss playing magic but by the time the whole "stack" rules became customary I didn't follow any of the sets and cards just got more and more powerful making old classics like Control Magic seem primitive.

[Davey]

Who remembers when the best Type-1 deck only had 2 Serra Angels and a braingeyser as means for winning.

Interesting, I never knew Serra Angel saw competitive play. I remember her being a solid card in casual, of course.

Or when Necropetence and "Vise-Age" were dominating the Type-2 scene...

I think I quit before the power of Necropotence had been realized. I remember some CCG magazine declared it the worst card in Ice Age when it came out.

I didn't follow any of the sets and cards just got more and more powerful making old classics like Control Magic seem primitive.

Creatures are undeniably more powerful than before, but spells are a different story AFAIK. In the case of Control Magic, all of its subsequent replacements (Persuasion, Mind Control, others?) have been inferior, I think.

[Davey]

I did an M11 sealed tournament today on MTGO for the first time. Went 3-1 (ranked 3rd of 28), losing to the guy that ranked 1st. Either I got lucky, or I suck at the drafting process, not sure yet (maybe both).

[Ixmucane2]

Oh man, whenever I think about MTG I recall so many incredible memories. Anyone here play competitively back in the early-mid nintees?

I once got 4th place in an amateur tournament, in the Ice Age period, losing to high budget players with P9's and dual lands. I had a nice green and red aggro-ramp deck: Tinder Wall + Channel + Fireball FTW turn 2 twice, and many satisfying battles of bizarre lockdowns and creatures that couldn't attack.
At that time, people played 20 lands and mana screw was taken for granted; nowadays anything fun (e.g. Grand Architect shenanigans) appears to be too brittle, too slow, or both.

[KindGrind]

I played in pretty much all the broken periods. Playing during what later was called "Necro summer" was a definite blast. Necropotence is an absurd card. Once we realized how good it was there was no reason not to play it! UNtil it got banned

Also played around Urza's Saga when we could play 4x Tolarian Academy 4x Windfall and all the free spells (like Time Spiral) and killing with a lethal Stroke of Genius. It was pure ridiculousness.... for a month or so.

Last real broken format was Standard when 4x Skullclamp was legal. It was truly a blast to play, too. Sad there are no more bonkers cards like that. Fun to see these slip past R&D! =) Well Jace TMS is pretty up there, I guess...

So much sadness!

[Davey]

Bump.

Anybody still playing this? I've been drafting at a local shop pretty much every week since M12 came out. The regulars at the shop are pretty good players, so it's always a good challenge.

I play Standard on and off. For the past few weeks I've been playing Heartless Summoning, which is a really fun deck even though it's not top tier. A lot of the key cards are going to rotate out in October, though, so it might not be a viable archetype anymore. But I guess that's why Real Men prefer eternal formats.