MTG Salvation

The Socceroos came into the world cup with a solid squad spear-headed by two world-class players, Everton key-man Timmy Cahill, and former Liverpool, now Galatasaray player Harry Kewell.

Harry sat out the first came due to injury, as Australia set out to squeeze a point out of Germany. Germany took an early two goal lead but Australia were applying pressure and looking close to a goal until the whole nation's heart sank. Tim Cahill slid in towards Schweinsteiger, who kicked the ball away. Tim, seeing this, pulled his legs out in attempt not to hit Schweinsteiger, but momentum carried him into the German playmaker.

It was a minor foul that barely warrented a yellow card - but instead, he was given a straight red. German went on to dominate and won 4-0.

Australians were outraged. The rest of the world told us that referees make mistakes. We had lost our best player.

Hopes were raised however when star Harry Kewell was announced fit for the game against Ghana.

The game just yesterday started off well, Harry Kewell's presence making an immediate impact. The socceroo's attack, spear-headed by Kewell was all but scoring and eventually, in the 11th minute Australia put one past the Ghanaen defense and were in the lead!

The referees could not allow this, however. Ten minutes later the Ghanaens struck at goal, bullet-shot ball flew from point-blank straight into the shoulder of Harry Kewell... red-card, penalty - all equalised.

Australia went on to dominate the remainder of the game, but the lack of players were evident and a finishing touch couldn't be found.

Australia is again outraged. Don't tell us that Referee's make mistakes, because this is not a coincidence and we demand an answer.

Match-fixing seems somewhat apparent in these world cups. The total disarment of Australia is just one example; the USA were stolen of a last minute equaliser for no apparent reason, German striker Klose was red-carded for two soft yellow cards.

This is a deck that I'm going to pilot in PTQ Amsterdan/Nationals Qualifier soon. Its got a lot of work to do, but I'm happy with it so far as its putting up some good results. It basically cycles and hides behind Nighthawks and Jar Jars whilst blowing up lands over and over again with Tectonic Edge and Grim Discovery - whilst also reusing Nighthawks/Cyclers! Its a bunch of fun to play and comes out of the blue to take your opponent by suprise, whilst maintaining a great matchup against Jund (which has a really tough time against Tectonic Edges). An interesting pick is Wretched Banquet. This card works very well in standard, as my testing so far has suggested, whilst being one mana removal - in a deck that needs to use basically all its mana every turn. I'm running a 2/2 split with Countersquall and Soul Manipulation which changes post-sideboard. Opinions?

Alright, I have my list up and ready:



I've done some testing and really haven't lost yet, which is very good. The worst performer, suprisingly, has been Blightning, however its still worthy for the slot. Ajani's have been GG every time I've played them. Against Control, Burst Lightning's go out for Mind Rot. Terminates go out for Duress.

Starting with a T2 tournament this Sunday. I have no idea what to run... :/

I'm contemplating a couple of decks, for one an Esper deck that aims to drop crap loads of cheap Artifact creatures and then a game-breaking Master of Etherium... its been playing very well of late, and half the cards being fliers is quite handy.

The next is a Naya Control deck, splashing black for Blightning. It basically removes everything your opponent plays before overwhelmming them with undefended goblin tokens via Goblin Assault. It also has tested very well... the amount of removal is... amazing.

The final contender is an R/G classic beat face deck, with Collosal Might... it has a scary curve, and anytime you drop a Might, it's bounc to be truly gamebreaking.

I have no idea what to run, but if you want to help, check out the lists... they're in Developing Competitive:

"Etherium Quick Beats:

"Naya Assault Control"

"R/G Might"

All opinions will be highly appreciated

I got an infraction

Anyway...

I'm near 700 posts yey! And to think, a couple of months ago I was in the mid hundreds

I wonder if Five Colour Elementals will ever be viable in Extended :\ They are soooo fun to play... and turn three 5/5 Haste, Trample, Vigilance, Rise from the Grave ability is pretty damn sweet. But maybe that's just my opinion.

Hey guys,

Today was my perfect day (this story hasn't been changed to seem more perfectly awesome).

First of all, its the first day of the school holidays - which obviously means NO MORE SCHOOL for three weeks! I am thinking to myself, what shall I do to honour this great day? and decided that I would at last spend that fifty bucks I had on buying... Assasins Creed!

I had heard great reviews of the Xbox game and really wanted it, so walked up to the local shopping centre and into a wonderful shop called Gametraders.

Upon entering the shop, I realised they now sell Magic booster packs! It was a shame, I thought, that I wouldn't have excess money to spend on any....

Anyway, I asked the main guy dude how much Assasin's Creed was and he said fifty bucks, but he had a pre-played COLLECTOR'S EDITION (which means it comes in a cool tin with an art book and DVD included) for only twenty bucks! Less than half price!

I do a mental fist pump and say, "Sure!". He grabs the tin, fills it with the game, DVD and art book and exchanges it with a fifty dollar note. Then, I remember the Conflux Booster packs.

I ask him for four and he hands them over and gives me exactly four bucks change! Which is exactly how much the shop right next door was selling Milkshakes for four dollars! So I get myself a large chocolate one and drink it as I walk home.

And eventually it comes to the opening of the booster packs!:

Pack Number.... 1:

[CARD]Valeron Outlander
[/CARD]Sylan Bounty
Aven Squire
Pestilent Kathari
Dark Temper
Infectious Horror
Worldly Counsel
Quenchable Fire
Rotting Rats
Asha's Favor
Ancient Ziggurat
Scarland Thiranx
Scornful Aether-Lich

RARE: Telemin Performance

The commons in this lot are pretty bad, but I was very happy with the Ancient Ziggurat as I was in need of another one for my Bant deck. Scarland Thiranx is also fairly good. The rare, Telemin Performance is alright, but won't see any play in any of my decks.

Rating: 4/10

Pack Number Dos:

Aven Trailblazer
Toxic Iguanar
Traumatic Visions
Mana Cylix
Beacon Behemoth
Zombie Outlander
Rhox Bodyguard
Wandering Goblins
Might of Alara
Valiant Guard
Manaforce Mace
Countersquall
Fleshformer

Rare: Cliffrunner Behemmoth

This pack is a bit better. I really ike the Countersquall as an Esper deck I am working on could do with another. The Cliffrunner Behemoth is great, and although dosn't fit in any decks I am working on, it will trade well at the local shop!

Rating: 6/10

The Penultimate Pack!:

Parasitic Strix
Aven Trailblazer
Kaleidostone
Ember Weaver
Faerie Mechanist
Rupture Spire
Vectis Agents
Molten Frame
Celestial Purge
Unstable Frontier
Esperzoa

Rare: Exotic Orchard

This is a much better pack than the previous two. I like the common Parasitic Strix as it completes a set in my Esper deck. Celestial Purge is a great card for my Bant Sideboards and I got some great lands such as Rupture Spire, Unstable Frontier... and more importantly, a card that will go straight into my Jund deck... the Mountain! Wait, I mean Exotic Orchard!

Rating: 8/10

Last but DEFINITELY not Least!:

Pestilent Kathari
Valeron Outlander
Armilary Sphere
Drag Down
Aven Trailblazer
Toxic Iguanar
Nacatl Savage
Valiant Guard
Grixis Illusionist
Vagrant Plowbeasts
Fleshformer
Volcanic Fallout

Rare: Banefire!

This is by far my favourite pack. The commons are much the same, yet another Aven Trailblazer! But when I saw Volcanic Fallout I jumped up as it was the last uncommon from a so far terrible pack... and I needed another for Jund.... and then I saw the Banefire and danced around literally! I need a single one for Jund because it finishes well, but sucks to cascade into! And they this one 6.50 pack saved me paying 25 bucks for a Banefire and Volcanic Fallout!

Rating: 9.5/10

Although I didn't get a PtE, these were some great pulls!

Oh joyous day for me, I managed to wiggle (not literally, especially due to my retarded back) my way into a tournament. I was piloting my fore mentioned (in the previous blog post) Bant Exalted deck and made some real improvements to it - namely Kitchen Finks, Finest Hour, Ardent Plea, Quasali Pridemage and Knotvine Paladin, most of which really suprised me.

Kitchen Finks is a great advantage card - really dropping this deck in the Aggro-Control range - and hell, I even can't resist ramming it into my opponents every now and again!

Finest Hour is brilliant. Especially seeing as though the exalted stacks, if you're swinger has evasion then its game. With Cold-Eyed Selkie and Islandwalk I swung for 42, which means I drew 42 cards pretty much decking myself!

Ardent Plea is great seeing as though there is only 1 card I would find underwhelming to get with it's cascade ability, and that's Akrasan Squire. Even so, for three mana I'd be getting at the very worst a 1/1 creature and two instances of exalted!

Quasali Pridemage is a legend! He owns Esper, he owns Bitterblossoms, he even owns Oblivion Ring. And yet he's a G/W bear with exalted!

The deck heavily suffers against fast decks, but with cards such as Kitchen Finks and/or Ajani Goldmane, this deck can run its opponent out of steam and still have enough fuel left to finish them off!

Regards,
Daniel.

The title might sound either corny, or much an axiom - but I assure you its true. I guess I could say I'm a Godsire ;).

Anyway, enough egotistical statements and excited exclamations, let me relate my interesting story.

Last year I all but failed maths, this year I have to improve and my love mother is going to burn me with the Breath of Malfegor and Tarfire. I am only on seven life at the moment and thus can't afford such tarnishes. Therefore I must study, everyday.

And having only just begun high school (or as the American's call it Middle School), this is quite a new experience.

Nevertheless, after a week of persistent study I needed something bigger to show my mum if I wanted to prove my worth and thus earn my rights to attend the tournament tomorrow.

This was on Thursday and I though all was lost - simply saying I studied all week would not suffice. And that's when it began!

Friday, during Spanish I got the results to a test I can't even remember doing..... and I topped the class. I was pretty elated and wondered if this would be enough to impress my mum.

Then I got home - and in the mail was a letter from a Public Speaking Course I attended during the holidays (or as your Americans call it, Spring Break). It essentially said that I was a very natural speaker/leader and had a very analytical brain (thank you MTG!). It also continued saying that I should use my speaking skills as often I can in the future.

And my mum was impressed alright.

The next is a bit more subtle - and painful - but can be used to my advantage.

During my football match today (which we unfortunately lost), their keeper fouled me badly. I literally flipped and landed on my backside sending a spasm up my back which is still hurting now - 3 hours later.

Although this is by no means good, I can truthfully claim that I need a days rest tomorrow (sitting down etc.), and what better way to spend a day sitting down than playing MTG!?

This is definitely the work of God - only on Thursday I prayed to him in hope I could attend the tournament and he was quick to answer!

So, all you non-believers and non-practicers, if God helps your MTG exploits, why do you not pray to him? Why do you shun him?

WOOOT FOR GOOOOODDDD!!!!!!!!

Now warm and fresh from my shower, I type to happily report on the Alara Reborn PreRelease.

I will start off, first by saying that it was great. In fact the best prerelease I have ever attended.

All the cards are playable to some extent in limited and every cracked booster was brilliant, which means you're left with a smile on tons of faces - and your left to face a ton of smiles.

The games were all immensely exciting and every deck was evenly matched.

I ran a four colour RBGW deck with a splash of blue.

I got some great cards such as Thraximundar, Spellbreaker Behemoth ,Broodmate Dragon and an overall gist of how the set runs.

In limited, the Borderposts are really good and in Esper, constructed or limited, they are insane. Not only do they pump Master of Etherium, but they pump Esper Stormblade.

Talking about stormblades - the 'blades' are generally all great in limited, but some excel more than others in constructed. Esper Stormblade is brilliant in Esper especially seeing as though most Esper decks will now run the borderposts - meaning they will more often than not have a multicoloured card turn one and thus pumping Esper Stormblade when it gets out. Bant Sureblade might find spots in some versions of Bant but I feel the rest just don't cut it in there respective decks.

A really great card is Soul Manipulation. It will definantly be replacing my Remove Souls in my Esper deck. Another is entitled Lorescale Coatl. In limited this card is nuts!

My first round was very tough, but I ended up losing 2-0. Funnily enough, I took him right to the line in both games, only to be smashed to the pulp by the aforementioned Lorescale Coatl equipped with a Behemoth Sledge - reaching heights of 11/11 lifelink trampler.

My second round was my unfortunate only win. I combined the likes of Sewn-Eye Drake, and Putrid Leech, eventually finshing off with a Bloodbraid Elf cascading into a Blightning.

The second game was a beatdown with Thraximundar, which he couldn't answer to.

The third round was agonizingly close.

I won the first game and he won the second, and it was to be decided in a third. I had a 3/3 creature and a 2/2 creature - he was at 5 life and had his only blocker was tapped down - a 6/6 and I was at 12 life.

I alpha striked, seemingly for game until he smiled and replied with a Resounding Silence, bouncing my 3/3. He went to 2 life.

The next turn he played a Mage Slayer and equipped it to his 6/6.And that was game right there!

My final round was a giant disappointment. In both games I couldn't find one mountain, and thusly lost very quickly. I still won a booster for my efforts and overall enjoyed myself.

I really think Alara Reborn is a great set!

Regards,
Daniel.

Well, it looks like I will have a blog post for three days in a row, come tomorrow - when I will report on the results of my Prerelease.

Wait, did I just say 'Prerelease'?

Why yes I did, and that is because the tournament I was going to attend on tomorrow has been replaced by the second Alara Reborn Prerelease, which means that thirty five dollars I was going to spend on my decks is now going to be spent on a bunch of Alara Reborn and Conflux boosters.

This kinda annoys me as I have not much interest in what Alara Reborn is going to bring to my decks - the only cards I would really like to get are Ardent Plea, Finest Hour (man do I love that card!) and Enigma Sphinx.

This does, however, mean I will be playing some sealed which I thoroughly enjoy and seemingly excel at, which most likely means I will be getting a couple of free booster packs at the end - which should be good.

I really do like cracking open packs though - and I guess there will be plenty of people around to test my decks out on, so all I guess is well.

Tomorrow I will type up a report, listing all the great cards I get and all the jank cards I get and what cards surprised me and what cards disappointed me etcetera.

Well hello and welcome to this third installment of my blog.

Today I shall discuss the two deck possibilities I might take to the upcoming tournament on Sunday - thus the title. If you now wonder what the 'or not...' means, I shall talk in depth about that later on.

Back to the tournament.

I have two decks which I think both are pretty equal in power, a Bant and an Esper. A clash of shards.

Esper: If you have read my previous blog post and have memory of any effectiveness you will know I, last week, ran Esper. It was fairly good, and I feel with a little tweaking I can improve it even more so.

Here is the list I ran last week:



Now, I felt my most prevalent problem was speed. Sharding Sphinx, although could be great late game, is only so if I already have control of the field adding only insult to injury.

From this ideal, I have decided to ditch both of them. This gives me two more spots to fill.

Executioner's Capsule is really great against anything thats not black, and can be sideboarded out for Oblivion Ring if I face anything that is black. Therefore, I am going to add one more.

Tidehollow Strix, although rare in most Esper decks is absolutely brilliant against any creature based deck. It single-handedly stopped my opponents 7/7 Wake Thrasher from swinging until my opponent got Sygg, River Guide and turned his Thrasher pro-blue. Against any other deck that wants to swing, they find it very hard to break through a Strix without losing something good. And they most likely take a turn or two to find something they can suicide into him - giving me time to get something dangerous out. So, another one of him is going to fill out that extra spot.

4 Sanctum Gargoyles, is simply too much. Although I can't get my hands on Sharuum the Hegemon, and need the Gargoyle for recursion, three will suffice. And yet again we have another spot open.

I have spent much time, figuring out how to deal with my opponents threats, but what about my threats? The best defense is a good offense.

When I look at my list, and ask myself 'What is my biggest danger to my opponent?' Master of Etherium immediately comes to mind. But really, Master of Etherium is more often simply a Lord. He makes threats.

But really, my biggest beef is Tower Gargoyle. It wins me games and escapes your Agony Warps, Volcanic Fallouts and Incinerates.

He also stares down the face of Faeries and says 1/1 Faerie Tokens, bring it on!

And so I up him to a four of.

This is the (for now) final list:



Which concludes my tweaks to the deck - but you guys can give me your opinions below ;).

-> isn't it so cool?

Bant:



That's the deck I propose to build, but haven't yet.

Basically, it abuses the draw power, control, damage and lifegain of Augury Adept, Cephallid Constable, Cold-Eyed Selkie and Jhessian Infiltrator combined with exalted to do lots of cool stuff.

Cephallid Constable and Rafiq on the field, plus a Wings of Velis Vel, means 10 damage (if they've no flying blockers) and bouncing 10 permanents (like all their lands?). The same goes for Cold-Eyed Selkie - except ten draws! And with other exalted creatures out, your bound to win the game on advantage alone!

I have tested it out much on MWS and have decided that if you can get some damage through early with a Cephallid Constable you almost certainly win the game. It's really fun to play and when it goes off, it REALLY goes off!

That concludes both my decklists and I would appreciate any comments below.

If you have read this far, congratulations, but there is yet a little more to come.

I have officially gone into 'Oh God, School Holidays Are All But Over, NO! School! *depressed*' mode and its really getting to me.

This Sunday marks the last late night of the Holidays and I'm fortunate I have Magic to make the day good - but time goes faster when you're having fun and I am sure that before I know it - even just because its the Holidays - the tournament will be over, the day will be over, the holidays will be over and the only thing (bar my life ;)) not over will be school.

I am officially dreading Monday, and I'm hating Sunday because its gonna end.

You know, I think I'm gonna *do something mean* the people who created such statements such as:

- Time goes faster when your having fun.
- All good things come to an end.
- Go to school.

I better win that tournament!

Hello and welcome to my second blog.

I write largely to report on my first tournament running Esper midrange.

It went 2-1 (in a fairly small and un-sanctioned tournament), winning against Kithkin, and Angels whilst losing to Merfolk Aggro.

Kithkin 2-0: Kithkin tries to be fast and get through the game before its opponent can get a start, but in both games, thanks heavily to the control of Agony Warps and Executioner Capsules Esper survived the early game, countersqualling Kithkin's last hope (Ajani Goldmane). In both games, it used an onslaught of beefy, pumped up fliers and Tezzeret to win.

Merfolk Aggro 0-2: Merfolk was simply to crazy. In both games, it combined Wake Thrasher and Sygg to blast through my defenses and deal massive amounts of damage, effectively silencing me before I could get any creatures on the board. I put up a tough fight in the first battle, countersqualling, Broken Ambitionsing and swinging my way through my dieing moments.

Angels 2-0: I was very surprised to face Angels, and at times during the first match it gave me a few shocks, seemingly putting me in the driver's seat swinging for loads of damage before gaining all the life back right in my face and itself swinging with fliers. But it couldn't handle my onslaught of Executioner's Capsules and I finally finished it off largely due to my Tezzeret. Game two was a breeze.

So there you have it, my entertaining tournament exploits.

In other news, I have put together a budget Bant deck - comprising mostly of cards from two Shards of Alara Intro Packs. I did however put in my spare money for two Rafiqs. It is an exalted themed deck - a mechanic I really enjoy - and it is quite fun to play, what swinging in with my 10/11 double striking Rhox War Monk, tapping down their loan blocker due to Angelic Benediction!

I'll keep you updated

Feel free to leave a comment below!!

Regards, Daniel.

Hello lads (and ladettes).

I am writing this blog, as a way to express my feelings about my day - which I think will be a nice experience.

Well, today started early, I had a football (soccer, as you yanks refer to it as) game at 8:15 in the morning, meaning we had to arrive at the venue at 7:30 for pre-match training exercises.

The game started slowly, as both teams were still waking up and unfortunately the other team aroused before us, speeding past our lazy defending and scoring a quarter of the way through the game.

Up front, was Aaron, a very good state football player and I (my first game as striker!). Due to many such formations played at lunch-time games - Aaron and I had a very good chemistry and brought up some nifty challenges at their goal although to no avail.

We paused for half-time feeling good about ourselves and determined to equalize. I had been sharp upfront, using my pace and tricks to make space where I would either shoot or play it through to Aaron. I felt as if I had a goal coming for me.

The second half started much the same as the first, slowly. Nothing happened and all seemed lost. That was until about the eightieth minute when it happened. Our right mid made a break down the wing and decided to cut in just outside the box. I was facing him (back towards our goal) with my back against a defender and ultimately pointing towards their goal.

I think I must thank MTG for the next happening, for it has trained my brain to think tactfully and quickly. I realised that by pushing my back against the defender, he would widen his legs to balance himself. Thus, when I received the pass from the winger, I turned with the ball in one motion tapping it between his legs and running around him - and from just outside the goal box..... I took a shot.

At first I was wondering whether I was crazy, but by some miracle it floated over the keepers head and into the net!

And so the game ended all square, at one goal apiece. This has given me the confidence, I believe to continue as a striker and not be shy of the ball, or the goal.

In other news, I am now watching Youtube Live '08. An online concert that was streamed live late last year, comprising of numerous youtube celebrities. It goes for two hours, and although takes a little while to load is well worth the watch. I suggest you do (after this of course ;)) The odd thing is, prior to this, I had slouched down (in jeans) on my couch and slept for five hours straight, through the middle of the day - I must have been tired!

A la Magic. Tonight I wait for my cousin to come over, for some late night play testing. Tomorrow we are attending a standard tournament and we hope for the best.

He is running my old kithkin deck, that took me to a 1-3 record last tournament. He likes it however. I am running Esper, which isn't the best deck to run, but fun nevertheless.

I am considering compiling a nice little bant exalted style deck, as it seems fun, although it won't be very competitive on my budget :(.

I just hope we don't get too bored of playtesting, which we usually do (and resort to FIFA 09)!

Well, thanks for reading this whole thing, hope it wasn't to long and monotonous,

Daniel.