Sunday, June 24, 2012

8th Pauper Deck – Green, Red, and Colorless


Colorless Creatures
4 Hand of Emrakul

Green Creatures
4 Nest Invader
4 Kozilek’s Predator

Green Enchantments
2 Spider Umbra

Green Sorceries
4 Commune With Nature
4 Ancient Stirrings

Red Creatures
2 Emrakul’s Hatcher

Red Instants
2  Spawning Breath
4  Sonic Burst

Red Sorceries
4  Blood Birthing
1  Book Burning

Land
13 Forests
12 Mountains

1.       The strategy is to play Hand of Emrakul using Eldrazi tokens, which in essence is like paying 4 mana for a 9 mana card.
2.       Blood Birthing, Spawning Burst, Emrakul’s Hatcher, Nest Invader, and Kozilek’s Predator are in the deck so that hopefully Hand of Emrakul can be played.
3.       Since Hand of Emrakul will not likely be played with mana by itself, Spider Umbra is used to protect Hand of Emrakul.
4.       Commune With Nature, and Ancient Stirrings are in the deck to make sure that a Hand of Emrakul is drawn for play at some point in the game.

7th Pauper Deck: Green and Colorless


Green Creatures
4 Timbermaw Larva
4 Overgrown Battlement
3 Skyshroud Ranger
1 Sakura-Tribe Scout

Colorless Creatures
2 Steel Wall
3 Wall of Tanglecord
4 Ulamog’s Crusher

Instants/Sorceries
4 Commune With Nature
4 Kodama’s Reach
2 Cultivate
2 Unnatural Predation

Land
27 Forests

Game Strategy:
1.       Get 2 or so winners of a cards, Ulamog’s Crusher or Timbermaw Larva with the assistance of Commune With Nature.
2.       The deck has lots of defense: 9 Wall’s, 4 of which are great for mana acceleration.
3.       The deck has lots of cards that play forests, such that more than one land will be available to be played after the first turn each turn.
4.       The deck has plenty of land.

** Ancient Stirrings – Search for Land or Colorless Creatures

Published 6/24/12, Updated 11/5/2012

This card comes from the Eldrazi set,  which seemed to focus on colorless cards.  Eldrazi are colorless.  That said, when this card was made it might as well have said, “Look at the top 5 cards and if you reveal a colorless Eldrazi…”  This card is a hooker.  It works great with Eldrazi, but most likely will be of no use in other decks that do not have several Eldrazi.

Ancient Stirrings also works with lands, as lands are colorless permanents.  That was something that seemed odd to me, but nevertheless it is a rule, as who has ever heard of a colorless forest, but alas that is a digression.  Even though I have only heard of green forests, in MTG forests are colorless.  Also, perhaps I should consider autumn and winter, where the real land has less color.

That said, I did find a use for it in one of my pauper decks that focuses on playing Hand of Emrakul through sacrificing four Eldrazi tokens.  I increased my odds of drawing a Hand of Emrakul through including 4 Ancient Stirrings, and 4 Commune With Nature in the Pauper deck.

I am a fan of cards that cost 1 mana, and this is one that is a 1 mana card that is good, especially if you are playing Eldrazi.  In that way, Ancient Stirrings might even work well in both the Legacy and Pauper formats, because chances are for spending 1 mana, you will get something good.  Why?  Because my guess is that you have lands, and colored cards in your deck, such that actually revealing a colorless card after drawing 5 cards is not much of a gamble.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

** Boar Umbra – Might Able to Fit Into a Deck that Contains a Card That Boosts Umbras


The main reason why Boar Umbra is only a two star card as I am writing this is that it is an uncommon card instead of a common card.  Boar Umbra might have been good if possible to play in the pauper format, and it might be good if MTG decides to create a format that revolves around the use of uncommon cards.  However, my guess is that a format that revolves around the use of uncommon cards will most likely fail to gain any sort of popularity, where if MTG wants to sell cards it seems as if currently it would be that I would be more eager to see what common cards I got, as opposed to the uncommon rarity.  Totem armor is pretty cool as far as abilities go.  However, if totem armor is what you want, then I suggest going for a card that gives totem armor that costs only 1 mana to cast.  The reason totem armor is so cool is that through using it with say a card that cost 6 or more mana, it is almost as if you had cast 1 and a half of that card, in my opinion.  As far as +3/+3 goes, for a cost of three mana, that is definitely something to sneeze at.  Thus, it takes the combined effect of totem armor and +3/+3 to make Boar Umbra a decent card.  All hail the wisdom of Madden.  lol

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

***** Blighted Agent – Take Your Opponent Out on Turn 3


Blighted Agent is an unblockable card that deals its damage as poison counter.  Stop and think, if that doesn’t sound like this card is one of the best that there is, I will explain.  In the past, before this card came out, blue and green decks were rarely played.  Thus, I can understand why some people didn’t see how great this card is at first.  In fact, I have still yet to find someone who thought of using Blighted Agent, a blue card, in combination with a card such as Might of Oaks, a green card, such that through using this combo, you can blast 8 unblockable poison counters on your opponent in one turn, such that in some formats, with the use of Blighted Agent it is practically easy to win by turn three.  In fact, with Blighted Agent there are so many ways to blast 10 poison counters on your opponent by turn 3 that this common card might even be considered for the Vintage format.  If you are able to cast this card on turn 2, or even possibly turn 1 depending on the format, the only major obstacle with this card is that like most creatures it is subject to summoning sickness.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

*** Prey’s Vengeance – One of the First I Ever Owned, and Possibly Capable as a Winner Using Poison


Prey’s Vengeance predates the idea of dealing damage via poison counters, and at the time it came out is was not a very useful card.  Likewise, all the reviews of cards I write are dated, of course.  That is all MTG cards are usually to a certain extent, as MTG can seemingly resurrect any card it wants and make it an awesome card, especially as later sets come out, which of course is subject to the idea that Magic the Gathering will always continue to put out newer cards.  Paying 1 mana to deal 4 damage is a pretty good deal.  If you are using poison, then it is a fairly awesome deal.  The problem with this card is that it deal the damage over 2 turns, and if you are using poison, you should be thinking of winning during turn 3, where Prey’s Vengeance may be consider of falling short of that, as it will most likely require at least 4 turns to win if you are playing poison.
Using the formula I discussed in my review of Contagious Nim, if you are playing poison then it is possible to consider that Prey’s Vengeance is a card where it is as giving +4/+4 for 1 mana over the course of 2 turns, a total of +8/+8.  That’s really good, but if you are not playing poison, then currently this is not a great card.  It would have been awesome if it were a common, and thus could be played in the Pauper format.  However, it is an uncommon, and to my knowledge MTG has yet to create a format that focuses on the use of uncommon cards.  However, this card is likely to become more useful if a format evolved to focus around playing uncommon cards, but in my opinion there is already enough formats though I might consider making a deck for another type of formats than the ones that currently exists. 

Monday, June 18, 2012

6th Pauper Deck – 3rd Green and White Pauper Deck Updated



Creatures
Bull Aurochs                                     2
Lone Wolf                                        1
Elvish Visionary                                2
Vault Skirge                                     3
Nip Gwyllion                                    2
Slippery Bogle                                  2
Defiant Elf                                         1
Pygmy Razorback                             1
Lone Missionary                               1

Sorceries
Revoke Existence                             2

Instants
Raise the Alarm                                1
Vines of Vastwood                           4
Titanic Growth                                  4
Double Cleave                                  2
Untamed Might                                 2

Enchantments
Pacifism                                            3
Journey to Nowhere                         2
Arrest                                               3

Lands
Kabira Crossroads                            4
Sejiri Steppe                                      1
Forest                                                13
Plains                                                 8

*** Gold Myr – A Decent Mana Accelerator That Is Most Likely Worth Holding On To.


I have heard it through the grapevine that green is soon to become the only color that uses mana acceleration.  Thus, this might be a card that you want to hold onto, especially as time progresses, and cards like this are no longer possible to be played in say Extended format.  Usually, I don’t like artifacts, but this one of the Myr series is particularly a good one although the same could not be said of the similar card Copper Myr for the reason that there are better green mana accelerators than colorless or the other colors.  Thus, if you are playing a multicolor deck without green or a monocolor deck with only white, this makes for a great card.  However, I will say this, Gold Myr probably won’t cause you to win by turn 4, such that its primary use would probably be in Commander format where it is practically impossible to an opponent out by turn 3.  I will admit that I don’t think metal craft is a great ability, and as far as artifact creatures go, Myr tend not to be exceptionally good, so far as I know.  However, the primary advantage to this card in a multicolor deck is that it is colorless to cast.  And, thus, while I think 1 mana for a card that accelerates a single mana as an ability is a great deal for a colored card, for a  colorless card, even at the cost of 2 mana, as a mana accelerator, this one is pretty good.  However, this card may lose a star if white or colorless continues to have mana acceleration.

Sunday, June 17, 2012

* Review of Kor Skyfisher – This One Is a Loser of a Card, but It May Have Educational Value


Though Kor Skyfisher may work in a Kor or a Soldier scenario, and it has flying, but the fact that it makes you return a permanent to your hand totally ruins any use of this card that is notable.  Unless, a new format is created, most games if played well are over in a few turns.  That is, if you want to win, then you need to make every turn count, and that means every permanent should count, such that you don’t have to take any back to your hand, unless something makes that card an exception to this idea.  Likewise, there are plenty of other Kor cards, Soldier cards, and flyers, such that there is nothing that makes this card exceptional or special.  Of course, this idea of taking a permanent back to your hand as a bad thing may be subject to change.

Hidden Hobbies in Wareham, MA Has Free Internet and Is a Great Place to Play Games

Increasingly there are fewer and fewer reasons to pay for wireless internet.  It is everywhere.  Hidden Hobbies in Buzzards Bay, MA has it at their recently changed their location.  The new store is much bigger and much better.  Like the original store it is on the Cranberry Highway, except it has moved to be between the Pro Team company that is where I go for car maintenance, and Wal-Mart.  That said, since Hidden Hobbies is near Wal-Mart, they have to have competitive prices.

The other day I was deciding over whether or not I would use the free internet at McDonald’s Restaurant in Buzzards Bay or check out the wireless at Hidden Hobbies.  The service provided by Hidden Hobbies was great, and likewise I made a couple purchases, and offered that I would write this blog as a thank you to the owner.

The real question as to where you go to get free internet is becoming more relative as to where a customer might like to make a purchase.  The purchase I, myself, made was a deck box for my Legacy deck, and new plastic sleeves for my Legacy deck, when I used the internet there.  However, what makes Hidden Hobbies a great business is that at that location you can play games and hobbies of all sorts.

I, myself, often play the Legacy, Pauper, and Commander formats of Magic The Gathering, where MTG is played with a trained judge from Wizards of the West Coast. 

Competition is available for prizes of store credit for winning at MTG on Thursday nights and Friday nights.  Entering tournaments costs $5, so that even if you don’t have a lot of money there is probably something available for you to.  Likewise, Hidden Hobbies has a judge for Magic the Gathering, which is the game I prefer to play, and it is sanctioned as a Magic The Gathering store.  However, there are other hobbies that one may get involved in.  No purchase is required for internet use.

Also, I had originally titled this post about Hidden Hobbies location as being in Buzzard's Bay, and not Wareham.  That was a mistake.  

5th Pauper Deck - 4th Pauper Deck: Blue and Green Updated


Green Creatures
1 Defiant Elf
1 Lone Wolf
3 Deadly Recluse
2 Ambush Viper
1 Bull Aurochs

Blue Creatures
2 Zephyr Sprite
4 Metathran Soldier
4 Aven Envoy
1 Sage Owl

Green Instants/Sorceries
4 Titanic Growth
4 Vines of Vastwood
2 Untamed Might

Blue Instants/Sorceries/Enchantments
1 Turn Aside
2 Disperse
1 Distortion Strike
3 Narcolepsy

Land
12 Forests
10 Islands
2 Halimar Depths

Friday, June 15, 2012

Offering People a Place to Stay: Churches as Models for a Way Crack through the Corporate Crust


In my years on earth, I have seen more businesses come and go enough to scare me from ever wanting to go into business.  However, I have noticed one trend, as far as businesses that have been able to able to compete such that they are able to stay in business despite that big box stores have put so many Ma and Pa stores out of commission.  As far as I can see, big box stores may offer everything but the atmosphere that may enable other businesses to succeed.  The fact is, if you sell items only and provide to place to stay for an extended period of time, chances are that your days are numbered even if your business may be considered as a part of corporate America.  Sports store, computer stores, pet stores, office supply stores, appliance stores, and stores like these probably have their days numbered, and that is because they usually can’t compete with big box stores.  Large stores can offer everything except having the feel of a small store, well maybe.
Church is probably the first example of a successful business, though it may have been a restaurant, etc, I don’t know if anyone really knows for sure, but so far as I know the drive to worship Gd is essentially what created civilization as we know it.  When I say worship, I mean houses of worship that might be called temples that have priests or other religious authorities that facilitate religious experiences, such as going to church on Sundays.   Most religions seem to like to designate at least one day of the week as special day of the week where one goes to visit a pastor, priest, rabbi, or some other religious figure.  Religious training that occurs at these churches is usually centered of the offering of euphoria by the church through the worship of Gd.  For example, Christianity teaches people how to have a euphoric experience through having faith and a relationship with Jesus.  The names of the deities change in religious circles, but the idea essentially remains the same.  For example, if you are a Jew then generally the name rof Gd is forbidden to say, especially in certain instances, such as if one is defecating.  One possible way Christianity may branch off is to have some people refer to Jesus as Yeshua, should its popularity wane.  There are all sorts of ways of getting people to worship the Gd that they like best, and some religions even say that evangelism is forbidden.
Based upon the model of churches, taverns that specialized in the sale of alcoholic beverages is another example of the same type of business that a church offers.  For example, at church euphoria is often sold through psychological conditioning, and in the same way at bars alcohol provides a religious experience for an alcoholic.  The use of drugs to facilitate a religious experience is common to many religions.  Another way places like churches, synagogues, and taverns are sometimes attempt to provide a religious experience is through providing music.  Even at a Orthodox synagogue where music may be forbidden during a service, the rabbi’s voice might be likened to a musical instrument.  And, as such there is usually special holidays which provide a special excuse to worship.  For example, perhaps the most important religious day of the year if you go to taverns is New Year’s Eve.  If you are Jewish, then the Torah teaches that Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year, which may vary in the secular humanist denomination, such that it is difficult to use words like all.  If you are Christian, then you have probably designated Sunday as a special day of worship.  For Christian’s the explanation of Jesus is like that of a drug, where if you accept Jesus into your heart, then at sometime in the future or perhaps immediately you will experience euphoria.  If you are Satanic, then perhaps Halloween provides that excuse to dress up and achieve euphoria through wearing a costume.  Thus, taverns are similar to what churches provide, especially for those that may not believe in Gd and may be seeking a euphoric experience while not having to be concerned about Gd.  For example, taverns and restaurants generally don’t make people drink alcoholic beverages, or smoke cigarettes, or maybe watch prostitutes take off their clothes but often those options are available should one want to participate in them.
Coffee shops are generally considered to be more respectable places of worship by people that attend church, but nevertheless all coffee shops that I know of deal in selling euphoria in a social setting, which is essentially the idea of a church.  Thus, the religious officials at a coffee shop might be called cashiers, trainers, and managers, etcetera.  The particular type of euphoria sold is often the drug caffeine, which is a mild stimulant, and or sugar, such that the use of these drugs is usually less harmful if not beneficial compared to drinking alcohol, especially on a regular basis in large quantities.  There may even be some forms of prostitution at these areas as well that might tempt men to sin.  Thus, there is the concept of the coffee shop as a place where people can congregate and have a fun time, much like they might at a restaurant, especially where most of these stores have some sort of vice that a religious person might indulge in so that they can get the religious experience of being forgiven by a God, depending on what God.
One of the more recent ideas, as far as I know, that has the same modal as a church are game stores.  Some games stores are arcades, where money can be paid in order to play a video game, while others are more comparable to hobby stores, such as stores that provide space for people to play card games like Magic the Gathering, Dungeons and Dragons, and Yu-Gi-Oh and other games.  These stores are primarily the descendents of chess clubs, bridge clubs, and card games associable with casinos.  Thus, the concept of store which has space for playing games is very comparable to the experiences offered or sold by churches, but that belief in Gd is not required in order to play.
Of all the businesses above, generally what they provide that makes them special is a unique atmosphere.  For example, it would be very difficult for a big box store to compete with one of these chains because usually what makes these businesses special is that they are unique and also provide ways for people that are generally like minded to associate with each other.

On the Expense of Printing MTG, Especially With Respect to the Colors Red and Black



Strangely, MTG chose red to be the color of mythic rare card’s instead of black.  As far as I know, black ink is more expensive than red ink.  Of course, it still may cost more to produce a mythic rare due to the cost of the artwork placed on the card.  That is, though quality of art is subjective, it may cost MTG more to purchase the artwork that the company uses in the production of cards that are of mythic rarity.  Thus, it is such that the cards of the color red, are generally the cheapest for a company to produce, and as such if you are playing red as a color, as I am writing this, most red cards have increased pervasiveness of red, and thus on the whole are most likely to be the least expensive to make although this idea may be compensated for due to the amount MTG pays for art on the cards themselves.  Thus, due to the unknown cost of purchasing the original piece of artwork, if is a painting, then it is really impossible to ascertain how much any card costs to print.  For example, MTG might have a certain amount of allotted money for cards according to rarity or some other factor, such that there are other variables that may be considered.  For instance, a card that is red may cost more to produce because those in charge of the red color are less able to be efficient with their money.  As I recall reading, each color has its primary person in charge of it, and each of these people are not equal and thus it is as such that a red card may cost more to produce that an black card depending on the efficiency of those that produce red cards as opposed to producing black cards.  However, the intent of this blog is to state that as a general rule, the color black is generally more expensive to produce than red, although this difference in cost may not be significant for the production of any particular card, it is likely that these production costs add up over the production of multiple series, such that they become very significant.  For example, just considering the ink of a card, these difference are almost certainly only fractions of a penny in difference, but even fractions of a penny add up.
My actual hypothesized reason that red is chosen as the color to represent mythic rarity is that in the Christian Bible, the words of Jesus are commonly in red print.

**** Contagious Nim – Not a Better Infect Creature but Possibly Not a Total Loss in Commander Format


Of all the cards with infect, if you are playing a format other than Commander at the time I am writing this, there are better choices than Contagious Nim.  The reason this may be a good card if you are playing Commander is that there are not many cards with poison, and it is likely to remain that way.  That said, there is not much difference between a 2/2 and a 1/1 even you are using poison.  The best way to think about poison is to mentally double the power and toughness, in my opinion, such that changing from the concept of playing with poison verse cards without poison is fairly easy.  That is, if you can win by dealing an opponent 10 poison counters or win by dealing 20 of the original kind of damage, just consider that when playing poison 10 equals 20.  Thus, to properly view Contagious Nim in my opinion in comparison to the other way of dealing damage consider this rather than as a 2/2, but a 4/4.  Using that formula, the transition between playing poison, and the existent ways of dealing damage, as I am writing this Contagious Nim is as a card that is a 4/4 that costs 3 mana to cast, say the Legacy format.  That is not a bad deal, but in most instances, that conversion is not sufficient to consider Contagious Nim as one of the better cards from any perspective.
Also, I’d like to mention that I am unfamiliar with the use of playing rats.  However, to my knowledge Nim was first invented in a story book called, “The Rats of Nim.”  It used to spook me as a child, but I kind of liked it when mom read it to me.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

***** Plague Stinger – One of the Nastiest Poison Dealing Creatures


I only know of one card that deals damage in poison counters better than this one, and that is Blighted Agent.  Though this is a black card, and Blighted Agent is a blue card, combining the these two cards in a deck along with a green card or cards makes it easy to blast 10 poison counters on your opponent by turn 3.  That is mostly because Plague Stinger is a low mana cost card, and a flyer, where flyers are to my knowledge the next best thing to unblockable when it comes to dealing damage through boosting their power and toughness, especially if you are trying to take your opponent out by dealing poison counters, as damage.