Magic: The Gathering 101

Long time, no see, invisible audience! Today is a very special day, because, clearly, I'm writing again. About what, you ask? MAGIC! Of course!
Now, I used to have an article I wrote on another website detailing how to play Magic, but the website has been taken down, and with it the only archive of that particular work. So, in order to let people explore the game on their own time, I'm going to write a newer, up-to-date piece here. Let's begin, shall we?

The premise of the game is this: in the infinite bounds of the Multiverse, countless worlds exist. But only a few powerful mages and sorcerers have the ability to transverse the void between them. Planeswalkers. You are a Planeswalker. And you must assemble spells from the worlds you've traveled to and allies you've made to defeat other Planeswalkers!
Cool, huh? Yeah. But seriously, what is  Magic: The Gathering?
Magic: The Gathering is the magnum opus of one Richard Garfield, a high school math teacher who designed and developed the game. Ultimately, he was awarded an Honorary Ph.D. in Combinatorial Mathematics by Pennsylvania State University for his efforts. But the real prize here is that Magic: The Gathering (or "MTG" as most of us call it colloquially; we will call it that for the rest of the article) is the first Trading Card Game. Everything else in the genre has spawned off this. What's even more impressive, is that MTG will be celebrating it's 20th Anniversary in August 2013.
In 1993, Wizards of the Coast was approached by Garfield to produce another game he was working on. He was turned down because Wizards didn't have the resources he required at the time. They did ask him to create a portable game for conventions and the like. And this is what we got. Alpha, the first MTG Set, was released that year. Now, you can find any of this anywhere else, specifically, Wikipedia. With much more detail, to boot. So that won't be the focus tonight. Here, I am going to attempt to explain the mechanics and parts of the game necessary to play it in a way that's personable and intuitive.
Setup: Each player starts with a deck of at least 60 cards and 20 Life. Each player shuffles their own deck, then cuts the opponent's deck. You then draw 7 cards. Through battle and spells, you can damage your opponent and make them loose life. If your life falls to 0 or less, you lose the game. The rest requires a bit of explanation.

Parts of a Card

This, is Canyon Minotaur. Impressive looking isn't he? I think so. Ok, so see all that stuff on the card? Yeah, it all means something. And at some point or another, it all matters. So the most obvious place to start is with the parts of the card.
Obviously, there's the name. Canyon Minotaur. Right there. See it? Good. Ok, now on the opposite side of that, in the top right corner, is the most important aspect of any card, period. Mana cost. This is how much mana you need to cast this monster. What does that mean? Well, it's actually a bit complex, but remarkably easy to grasp. Long-winded is what I'm getting at. So we'll come back to that. For right now, just keep in mind that he costs 3 and a Red.
Below the art, in that text bar, the first thing we see is "Creature" followed by a long dash. This is the Card Type. There are all in all, 6 types. They are:

• Creature
• Instant
• Sorcery
• Enchantment
• Artifact
• Planeswalker

Again, we'll come back to all this in good time. This is just the general tour. The highlights.
After the dash, there are subtypes. He's a Minotaur Warrior. Each creature has at least one subtype for several reasons. Some have several. Some subtypes only appear on one or two cards. But they all have at least one.
Across from that, there is a little symbol. That's called the Expansion Symbol, telling us what set this card is printed in. This is important for Tournament play, where certain formats only allow cards from certain sets. To conserve design space and resources, thus ensuring years of MTG to come, cards are reprinted from older sets all the time. They may change rarity, but the card is the same.
The giant text box below that is the card description. This one only has what's called "flavor text". You see, Magic is built on stories, and the cards strive to tell and illustrate the stories of the planeswalkers and their journeys, as well as provide an entertaining game. This is something else that makes MTG special. Most cards have other things printed here though. Keywords, abilities, all sorts of things. I have to explain combat first, but know that most cards don't have just flavor text. The ones that do are called "vanilla" by players.
Now, there's that box in the corner. It has two numbers separated by a slash. This is called the "Power/Toughness" box. And you guessed it, the first one is power, the second one is toughness. Power is how much damage a creature deals during combat, and toughness is how much damage a creature can sustain before being destroyed.
All good? Good. now we can really start.

Mana and Lands

Mana is the core of the entire game, and thus is the most essential to know.

What's mana, though? From a flavor standpoint, it's the unique magical energy that flows from each world that mages use to cast their spells. There are five different colors of mana, and each comes from a different kind of land, and does certain things really well. White mana flows from grassy Plains and prairies. Blue mana seeps up from Islands and rivers and sea. Black mana seethes out decaying Swamps and bogs. Red mana erupts from the Mountains and rocks. And Green mana flowers from the lush Forests and gardens. But how does this work in game?

These are very pretty full-art land cards. Basic lands, specifically. Lands that you as a Planeswalker have bonded with and can "tap" for mana. You can play one land each turn (either basic or non-basic). To cast spells with them, you have to tap them, which is turning them sideways. Tapping a land gives you one mana of that color.
Remember that mana cost thing? This is it. You use lands to play other spells! So, remember, Canyon Minotaur costs 3 colorless and one Red mana. Now, colorless just means you can pay with any color of mana. The mana symbols can only be paid with that colored mana. So you would need to tap one Mountain, and any three other lands to play Canyon Minotaur.

Combat

Alright, you've been patient. Lets take a quick look at combat.

This is Centaur Courser. For the most part, Canyon Minotaur. Except that you may notice a few things different about him. For one, he's Green. And he only costs 2, plus a Green mana. Which makes him, by extension, Green. So let's say we make them fight. 

Here's how combat works:

• The active players (You) declares who is attacking the opponent. In multiplayer, you can attack as many opponents as you are able to. 
• You tap Centaur Courser, attacking with him.

Now here, I can make a choice. I can either declare one of my creatures to block yours, where combat will occur, or I can choose to just take it like a champ and eat the damage out of my life. But that's no fun. Nor is it helpful in a demonstration. So, I'll declare Canyon Minotaur as a blocker.

• Canyon Minotaur deals 3 damage to Centaur Courser, meeting the minimum amount to kill him.
• Centaur Courser also deals 3 damage to Canyon Minotaur, also meeting the minimum 3 to kill him.
• All damage is done at once, and both creatures are destroyed.

Take heed, though.  Unless they are marked with the keyword "Haste", they cannot attack or tap the turn they come into play. After being summoned from across an unfathomable ethereal void to fight for you on some strange world, they suffer from what's called "Summoning Sickness". You would too, if it happened to you.
And that's combat! Now during combat, you can do all sorts of neat stuff like cast your Instants and activate abilities. There are also certain keywords like Indestructible, Flying, First Strike, and crazy shit like that. Don't worry, it'll all come in time.

Card Types

So we know what creatures are, But what about the other stuff? Here's a brief breakdown:

Sorcerys: 

 A Sorcery is a spell that has a one-time effect. It can be anything, like returning cards from one place to another, making your baddies bigger, or your opponents smaller, or even dealing direct damage to opponents! You can only cast them on your turn when nothing else is happening. So no combat tricks.

Instants:

Instants are just like Sorcerys, except that you can cast them at any time. Well, almost, but that's for another day! Actually, about a year ago. But never you mind that.

Enchantments:

 

Enchantments are spells that stay on the field and have either a constant effect on something, or does something whenever something else happens. Some target specific creatures or lands, others do wild and crazy stuff that effect other spells you or your opponents play.

Artifacts:

  Artifact cards are actually really crazy. They're almost always colorless, but they're all different. Some work like enchantments, some can tap for mana, some can be equipped to your creatures for boosts, and some are even Creatures as well! With a few exceptions, anyone can play any artifact cost, because you can use any color mana to cast them. Most do a good job of explaining themselves.

Planeswalkers:

Planeswalkers are the newest card type, introduced back in 2008 with Lorwyn. They are allies you call to your aid to help you in battle! They can be played at anytime you can play a sorcery or creature. Now, they have a little number in the corner. Kinda like a P/T Box. Except there's only one number. This is called their Loyalty. If shows how many Loyalty Counters they come into play with. They also have a set of abilities (usually three, though there are exceptions) that either add or remove Loyalty counters and create an effect. You can use these "Loyalty Abilities" once per turn. They can be attacked, just like a player, and damage is dealt to their Loyalty, kinda like their "Life".
Planeswalkers are remarkably powerful on the field, and can if nothing else, take the heat off you while you prepare for something else.

So now you know the basics of Magic! If you find yourself particularly interested, there are a few places you can go! You can go to a local comic shop, and usually on Fridays they have Friday Night Magic, where a bunch of people come to play MTG with eachother and test the newest decks and refine their playing skills. Just pay a visit and see what's up. Chances are they play Standard, which is a format you can find out more on in my Format Primer a post or two back.

Good luck, future spellslingers!

Live and Love, and then go Grind: A Primer for DCI Sanctioned Play

Welcome back to what is becoming a quarterly blog! In all seriousness, though, I apologize for my lack of new material when I keep promising readers something to read. I keep lying and saying that I don't want this blog to be strictly about Magic. In truth, I'm afraid that I can't regularly come up with something new to write about on a regular basis. However, since I seem to be incapable of updating on a regular basis at all, why not go with what comes naturally?

Now, this is an article I've been wanting to do for some time, now. I'm a huge fan of Organized Play, and whenever I find the time and have to money to spend on beefing up a deck, I like to run in to the nearest Open. I myself typically play Legacy, and like so many others, I play Standard on Friday Nights at the Heroes Legacy comic shop. But what's the difference? What should you be playing? How tough is it to get into each one? These are the questions we shall attempt to address today.
Firstly, there are two different methods of play sanctioned by the DCI: Limited and Constructed. Limited requires you to buy a certain number of packs, and then somehow build a deck with them. Constructed requires you to have a deck already built on hand.

Limited 

There are two official varieties of Limited play. The most common is Draft, but large events like Prereleases or Pro Tour that use Swiss Style Elimination play Sealed. In Limited, you may not use any cards other than the ones you open in your deck. The exception is during Prerelease Sealed, you may sometimes use your Promotional Card if any. All lands are provided by the House. Minimum card count in the deck is reduced to 40 instead of 60. You may use as many copies of any card you receive as you like, even if it is more than four. Any cards that you open and do not use in your deck is considered your sideboard. Remember, despite this difference from Constructed, you must still board back to your original deck between pairings.

Draft —Drafting can have anywhere between 4-18 players. The basic premise is that everyone gets 3 packs. On the Judges say, everyone opens their packs, discards their Rules Tips cards (and some House Rules have you discard your land), and chooses a card to keep. Then they pass the rest of pack to their right. And rinse and repeat. Next pack, same thing, except after you choose your card, you pass left. So on, so forth. Anything you pick is your deck and sideboard.
Drafting is the best way to show off your Magic prowess. You are given a small selection at a time, and are required to make critical, on the spot decisions. A fundamental understanding of not only the game concepts, but of central strategy and Block/Set themes is required to excel in this demanding format. So before you enter a draft, familiarize yourself with the sets being drafted, and just make sure you know what to look for. For more in-depth and frequent advice, see Limited Information, a Daily MTG column hosted by Steve Sadin (link below).
Ease of Entry: Anytime. Despite the need for skill to draft proficiently, beginners enjoy drafting too! It helps you learn the card in a set, and the set as a whole. This is a great way to move up in skill. And no matter how good you get, it always stays fun!

Sealed—Sealed events are similar to Draft, but a bit less challenging in some ways. Instead of 3 packs, you get 6 packs. You open all of your packs at once, and make a deck out of that set pool. This is easier because you already know what you have, and you can make a much more cohesive deck when you don't change your mind or stop getting cards you need halfway through. On the flipside, you have no control over what you get, and with any bad luck, your pulls may be horrible. Wizards has however made a huge leap in Limited, thanks to Mark Rosewater and Aaron Forscythe (He talks about it in his article New World Order). Sets and Blocks are now Limited-minded from Design onward, meaning Limited design now is Priority Numero Uno. So your worst Sealed Pool should still be playable, even if you can't think within the box for it.
Easy of Entry: Beginner-Intermediate. When you first dive into Limited, this is typically the preference of fresher players, as it minimizes the choices you have to make. Intermediate players appreciate the rarity structure, and the fact that because you get a larger pool, you can come out on top. But more Advanced players dislike the inability to pass unwanted pieces to another player in favor of things they need.

Constructed

Constructed is what we typically think of when we talk about playing Magic. There is a minimum of 60 cards to a deck, and can be as large as you want as long as you can shuffle it without assistance. There also cannot be more than 4 copies of and legal card, nor more than 1 copy of any Restricted card (Vintage Only). There are more formats for Constructed than Limited, each having a larger pool of cards than the last. For each format, see the Banned/Restricted List in the Resources link below.

This "nobody card" helped
Gaudenis Vidugiris make
Quarterfinals at Pro Tour Nagoya

Block—This one is pretty rare, the last professional circuit competition with this format being used was the 2010 Pro Tour Nagoya for Scars Block. Players use only cards for the expansions in a certain block, typically the most recent. Very few blocks have Banned cards, and in most cases they must be looked up individually. Notable instances are Urza's Block and the original Mirrodin Block. Notable decks vary from block to block, so do some research into both Block decks and decks that were popular in Standard Rotation at the time if applicable. Another thing to consider is how good some cards are within the set that weren't good during Standard. Reconsider the speed of the game, the threats, and answers all within the little bubble of the sets.

Ease of Entry: Beginner. If you're new to constructed, this is probably the way to go. You don't have to know as many cards, so getting familiar with the field is pretty easy. It also makes building your deck, and acquiring those pieces all the easier. Unfortunately, as mentioned above, finding an Official Tourney in this format is hard, and those you will find are almost always Invitationals. Try holding a Casual Cup with it at the Kitchen Table! 

The most versatile card in Standard

Standard—Probably the most popular format, formerly called "Type 2" before the big format splitting. This is the official play style for FNM (Friday Night Magic), and most used for Open events like SCGames.com Tours. Standard is rotating format, which means that every year the list of cards changes. This happens in the Fall, when the Motherset of a Block is released. It consists of the two most recent blocks, and the Core Set between them. The exception is the Summertime, where the Core Set between the two blocks, and the most recent Core Set are both included. For instance, this Summer, Standard will be Scars Block, M12, Innistrad, and M13. The following Fall will knock out Scars and M12, leaving Innistrad, M13, and the new set codenamed "Hook".

Standard also has a constantly shifting landscape. Each time a large Tour ends, a new deck pops up. Right now, the deck Dominating the field are Blue-Black/Esper Control, Wolf-Run Ramp, Red Deck Wins (RDW), Draw-Go, Solar Flare, Humans, Illusions, and Township Tokens. As of writing this article, these are the decks to beat. I would suggest at least familiarizing yourself with the decks. After all, know thy enemy.

Ease of Entry: Beginner-Intermediate. While this is easiest Constructed format to access, it's also the only regularly held tournament. You'll encounter all sorts of players at all sorts of levels. As far as grinding Experience in, this is the way to go.

The Card that Killed a Format
Well, one of them, anyways.

Extended— Extended was much the same as Standard, except that it has the last four blocks instead of only two. However, much to the dismay of very few, Extended has for all intents and purposes been replaced by the Modern format as of September this last year with Pro Tour Philadelphia being changed to Modern from Extended only a week in advance. Extended was generally agreed to have been a broken and not very fun format, where if a deck showed up in Standard that nobody liked to play against (for example, Caw-Blade or Valakut), we had to deal with it for another two years. For this reason and many others, Extended got the axe, and R&D has not stated any intentions of reusing it. However, these days it does make a good Casual format!

Part 2 of the Popular
Grove of the Burnwillows combo

Modern — This is the one I am really excited about. Modern is what we call an Eternal Format. Cards never cycle out. Once it's been printed, it's in here for good. The only way to get it gone, is for it to be banned. Modern includes anything that was printed or reprinted in 10th Edition or afterwards. Or, if it helps you remember, anything with the Modern card frame (auxiliary products likes Duel Decks, Planechase, Commander, or Collectors items are excluded unless they have already been included by being reprinted in a Modern Legal expansion). Now, Modern is a very new format, and doesn't have a whole lot of data in on it yet. In fact, the only two events in Modern were Pro Tour Philly, and Worlds 2011. And because it's so new, there are absolutely astounding numbers of decks fluttering about, and because there are so many decks and so few people, there really isn't too much statistical evidence on any but the top performers. However, those top performers you will see at a tournament are:
Zoo, Affinity, Storm, Bant Control, Junk, Burn, and Melira Combo. Keep in mind that you may see these make up about 35-50% of the crowd, and every other person may be playing an original deck. Your best best is to find something your comfortable with, and build it. This is all about experimentation, now. So get at it.

Ease of Entry: Intermediate-Advanced. A good solid knowledge of the card pool, as well as competition in the area and deckbuilding skills are a good sized barrier to entry. However, once you have a tentative grasp on the subject, the best thing one can do is dive in headfirst. Learning it on the fly means you learn it more intuitively. You don't just read how it works, you see how it works, and you make it work. On the other hand, a good experience in Legacy will help you find your footing in an unstable metagame, where the decks are still vying for the Top Tier titles.

Dark Horizons/Deeds

Legacy—Of all the formats, this is one with the highest learning curve. Previously called Type 1.5, and another Eternal format, Legacy includes every card ever printed, except for the Un-sets and its own Banned List. Due to years and years of refinement, strategical development, and metagame analysis, the tech in these decks is as close to airtight as possible. The deck types are very well defined, because they have proven themselves time and time again. There are even some decks that can win on their first turn given the right conditions. Before entering this format, considerable experience in some of the above formats is highly recommended. This is the battlefield for well oiled war machines. But, that doesn't mean it's impossible to get in. No, not in the slightest. It just means you must beware the competition you face. It's not that it's any more competitive, in the sense, its just that this is a hard format to learn enough of to be proficient at, given the vast number of pertinent cards, and the rapidly evolving decks and deck types. Typically, a new deck emerges with admirable results about once every 6-8 months. If it stays that way, it can be considered "Established". If it consistently wins tournaments over a larger period of time, its considered then to be "Proven". The decks you'll see in the metagame include (but are not limited to):

The King of Control

Dredge, The Epic Storm (TES/ANT), Maverick, Sligh, Fish, NO RUG, Countertop, Stoneblade, Dark Horizons, Canadian Junk, Affinity, High Tide, Zoo, Tempo Thresh, and Team America.

You'll notice that some of the decks in Modern favor these slightly. That's true! When Modern started, the first places people ran for ideas were old Extended Decks and Proven and Established Legacy decks.

Ease of Entry: Intermediate-Advanced. Much like in Modern, there is a vast card pool to learn. Even though there are far more cards included in the format, the decks here are fairly consistent, and you need only really know the relevant cards unless making a "rogue" deck with some secret tech. For this reason, it's actually a bit easier to enter than Modern. This format will teach you valuable play tactics and decision making skills. Knowing the interactions and assessing outcomes is a must, so I do suggest you make yourself both familiar with the format, and somewhat proficient in Standard or Extended before attempting a full on rush into Eternals like Legacy or Vintage.

One of the fabled Power Nine
To date, the highest selling
Trading Card

Vintage— Vintage is essentially Legacy, but more goes. In fact, there is no Banned List, there are only a few Restricted cards. However, this list means quite a bit. The games in Vintage aren't quite as tense, but are very explosive. In fact, if you can't win on the first two turns, or prevent your opponen from doing so, assume your opponent can, and go back to the drawing board. Because I am not very experienced in the land of Vintage, I have left you with a link to a far more helpful Primer on this fascinating mode of play in the Resources below. Fun fact, though: Many of the most popular and powerful Legacy decks also appear in Vintage, such as Dredge and Gush (once upon a time).
From what I do know, if you don't feel like reading the article, or just like oing your own research, check out these Vintage decks:


Grim Long/Super Long, The Perfect Storm, Manaless Dredge, Gush, Oath of Druids, Stax, Suicide, Fish, MUD, Worldgorger Dragon, Beatz, Dark Times and BUG Landstill.

Ease of Entry: Advanced-Expert. You cannot play this format with out considerable prowess and planning skills. Decks must be hermetically sealed for power and spot answers. Don't let the Power Nine factor bum you out, though. Because of Vintage's nature, most Tournaments will allow a certain number of proxy cards. And you can use as many proxies as you want if you have the physical card to back it up. Most people won't play with a real Black Lotus or Moxen or Alpha Dual Land for fear of it getting damaged. This is generally pro-player territory, but occasional Opens are still held for enthusiasts and aspiring Vintage players.


Thank you all for reading! I hope you enjoyed the tour, and maybe even learned something. Be sure to check out the links below for more!
I'm not entirely sure what I'll write about next, so please feel free to leave suggestions in the comments, on my Facebook, or in my email!

Happy Spellslinging, everyone, and best of luck in your next tournament!

Resources:

DCI Homepage

Limited Information

Banned/Restricted List 

MTGSalvation Forums

Vintage Primer

StarCityGames.com Open Series

HowTo: Get OCTGN!

Hello hello hello! Welcome back. Now that I have officially undertaken my first week of college, I am ready to get back to blogging. Financial aid gave me six different kinds of Hell, and so did my immunization records. So, I did wind up skipping my last post because I couldn't find time to get anything together on a subject.
So, because it's something that has come up in multiple discussions, I've going to go through the steps to getting VirtualBox OSE to work with Linux, and from there, getting OCTGN installed and ready on your Windows system.

Getting VBOSE To Run Windows On Your Ubunutu Computer!*

*If you don't use Ubuntu, then this obviously isn't for you. If you're using another Linux Distribution life Debian, Fedora, or openSUSE, then you can find the direct download on their Linux Download Page. If you're using a Mac, then I'm sorry, firstly. Secondly, consider Boot Camp.

A quick explanation on what an Operating System Emulator is and does is required. Basically, it creates an isolated environment that makes the guest OS think its on it's own computer. So you can use this "virtual machine" to run Linux inside Windows, Windows inside Linux, Mac OS in Window or Linux, etc, etc. We'll be look at Windows XP in Ubuntu 10.10 or 11.04.

Ok, so first thing first. Because I have so many repositories in my Software Center these days, I can't remember if Canonical loads VirtualBox. I do know that they do not update it however. So just run a preliminary search for it in your Software Center (SWC), and if nothing comes up we're going to the Linux Download Page to get the .deb file. The great thing about deb files is that they will automatically load and compile in your SWC, and it should install momentarily. Congrats! That was what we call "the easy part".

For this next part, I like to move to an empty workspace. Make sure you minimize system activity while VBOSE is running.  Open it up under Accessories (under Applications). Now, I've already installed it, but what you'll be looking at will look kinda like this.

Now you won't have a machine loaded yet. So, we'll need to make a new one! Lets hit that big blue button up there to start.

Obviously, for our purposes here, we'll call it example. Now we will need the Windows XP .iso image to do this, but if you don't have one yet, fear not. We can still setup the virtual machine and come back later to add the IDE Controller. Which is to say, our Operating System.

The rest of this may or may not be obvious to everyone, so I'm going to include visual aids anyway.

Our next step is selecting our RAM allocation. As you can see here, I have 4GB of RAM, and I'm allocating 2GB to the machine. Keep in mind that this is going to be running PARALLEL to your host system. This means two things: First, if you want your VB to do anything with any haste, you'll need at least 1.5GB of RAM; Second, You'll need to have 2GB of RAM open anytime you're using the VB, or else the machine AND your host will run slow and may lock you out until it can resolve everything. The easiest way to avoid this is to simply make sure you close other programs. 

You'll have no choice the first time. You have to create a new Virtual Drive for your Virtual Box. 

Essentially, you'll almost always just want a Dynamic Storage drive. Unless you have concerns about file size or disk space for your host, then I will always recommend using it. You'll never take up more space than you need.

 

You'll start out with a minimum file size of 4 MB. Because of issues with initially opening and installing Windows, use at least 2 GB. You can save your storage anywhere you like, but by default it goes to a hidden folder in your home directory.

Great! After a few more confirming clicks you'll be done! You now have an almost functional machine! The only thing left is actually having the disk file with Windows on it.

There are tons of places to get XP images, and all are perfectly legitimate torrents. You'll still need an access code from a legal copy of XP. Unless you have the Corporate version, which requires no key or authentication. I don't really care what you use and how, and please, don't tell me. But this next part is really simple, and I'm going to assume one way or another that you got one.

From your newly created machine, go to Settings. Under Storage, this is what you should see. The highlighted area will initially say Empty. Next to the CD/DVD Device dropdown menu, use the Directory Selection to find your .iso image and select it. Your iso is then what we call "mounted".

When you start up your machine, it'll boot just like a Windows Computer! Make sure you hit F12 so you can select your boot device. Select your "CD" and you will be on your way! 

CAUTION: When formatting your hard drive in the windows setup, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS format to FAT32! If you don't, you may format your entire drive, not just the pseudo-partition we created with the setup wizard. Why? I don't quite know, but it happens on occasion. Also, we need cross platform compatibility for our Shared Folder in a moment.

Once you're done with that, there is one more thing we want to setup in advance. Make your OCTGN folder. Make it anywhere. But make a dedicated folder for it. Now, go back to the Settings for your machine and go to Shared Folders. Use the directory tool to select your new folder.

It should look like this:

Make sure its a Machine Folder and not a Temporary Folder. Otherwise, it won't be there when we try to install OCTGN. 

Installing OCTGN on a Windows Machine

This is actually pretty easy, especially if you prepare for it properly. 

The first thing we'll need to get a download manager. Pretty much everyone I know is using Firefox, so I'll suggest a sweet little Add-On I used that makes this process MUCH easier. Its called DownThemAll. If you aren't using Firefox, then I don't really know what to tell you. We'll be working with a large number of files at a time, so setting them up with a manager makes things go much, much smoother. Google possible solutions is the best I can tell you.

Next, we will need Microsoft .NET 4 Framework support. That link will give you the download site. Its completely free, and as close to Open Source as Microsoft has ever come. Unfortunately, this is the base for OCTGN, so there isn't yet a way around this. Make sure you do this part from IE or Firefox in your Virtual Machine, not your Linux host machine, if your using that.

After we install .NET 4, then we're ready to get our program, yay!

Now, I like to download all the files first, but thats a matter of preference. But I prefer it because I find it easier. And becuase of this, I'm going to walk us through this first. If you already have OCTGN installed, then thats fine.

There are two kinds of files with OCTGN, .o8s and .o8g files. The .o8s is a "set definition", which is a collection of card files in a set. It can be an expansion, an auxillary product, or even just a collection of promos of  a certin kind. there are quite a few of these, hence the need to use a manager. You can find all of them right here on the OCTGN freeforums. Just open up DownThemAll and check off the set files. I suggest just getting all of them at once, in case someone decides to use a promo or older version for style points. Or in case you decide lter you want to try a different format like Legacy, Modern, or Commander. Make sure they all go into your new folder for OCTGN. As of the day I post this, all of these are up to date and shouldn't need patching.

Next is the .o8g file, or "game definition" for MTG. This page is important! You'll need both the Game Definition file and the Markers file. This page also has a nifty little keyboard shortcut and mouse action guide, to help you get familiar without having to experiment with right clicking too much. Also put this into your new OCTGN folder.

Ok, so we hve the necessary files, and us Ubunutu users have VBOSE up, running, and ready for action. The rest is easy. I know most of you will be rushing to the octgn.net site, but don't. We don't use that anymore, as we have a newer version on Skylabs that eliminates the need for a third-party VPN program called Hamachi (available as a back-end program on linux as well, with a front-end called Haguichi). This one includes a Lobby that will do all of your networking for you. I still suggest using the IRC chatroom to coordinate and meet new players, but I'll get into that next week. Here's the link for the newer version.

Once you get that installed, it should open up automatically. This shouldn't require visual aids, so I won't use them. Also, I'm typic from outside my Programming Lab, so I can't at the moment. Sorry. Maybe I'll come ack with them later, so ask if you need them. But anyways, the obvious choice is to go to Manage Installed Games.

You'll see two windows here: Installed Games and Card Sets. Upload a Game definition file (your MTG Game Def you downloaded earlier). Then once you've done that, add sets. You can add them all at once, and it'll go through them one by one and install them. For the number of files being processed, its fairly quick. Make sure you load the Markers file as a set. This is what lets you add things like Charge counters, Time Counters, Loyatly counters, and every other kind of counter you'll require.

Congratulations! You are ready to roll! Make your deck, and find someone to play with!

Until next time, happy dueling, Planeswalkers!

Comprehending the Comprehensive

Welcome back to another installment of my obviously exciting and popular blog-ish thing! This is where I cue you to hit any of the buttons below like Stumble, Reddit, or the +1! thingy.
Yes, yes, I know, this week we were supposed to do cartoons. And that article is still being drafted. But I need more input from my study group, so that one has been postponed. Instead, we are going to get down to the Magic: The Gathering rulebook. Them bones that make us cringe when a possibly infinite combo or quirky card or clever play comes up. The most prominent and necessary ones, anyways. That is to say, the ones you really need to know if you want to play in FNM or outside a casual circle.
The Comprehensive Rules are updated at least once every year. These are usually minor changes that involve inserting new keywords or abilities or interactions that may stump players. However, there are occasionally major overhauls to the may the game does things. Most recently we had the Magic: 2010 rules change, which made layering more intuitive, eliminated Mana Burn and took combat damage off the stack. All excellent decisions and a job well done. So check in yearly after the Core Set to see if theres a new version (Wizards will usually announce the updates on Daily MTG).
At this moment, I have the M11 Comp Rulebook on my screen in PDF format, and all-in-all, from section 100.1 to section 903.12a takes up 133 pages of rules. Not counting Table of content, glossary, etc. This is a staggeringly complex game, vastly more so than most would ever fathom. In this way, Magic is unlike any TCG previous to it. Every interaction comes back to the Rules, and some are less obvious than others, some completely unexpected. And they are strictly enforced in DCI Sanctioned Events. Whoa.
Luckily for us, though, there are the Judges.
The DCI has several levels of Judges, 1 through 5, ranging from players judging at local Friday Night Magics, to the Professional Level 5 Judges entrusted with coordinating things like Magic Weekend, Pro Tour, Worlds, Opens, and Grand Prixs. It's their job to know. To explain and help you understand, and make the calls yea or nea. My goal, is to help you and make their job a little easier.
There are 4 things you really need to know:
Turn Structure; The Stack; Priority; and Abilities
Let's begin, shall we?

Turn Structure

Turns are broken up into phases and phases further into steps. This is relatively simple, but paramount to understanding just about everything else outside of combat. 
The Phases and their steps are:
Beginning Phase
-Untap step: The very first thing you do is untap your permanents.
-Upkeep step: This is a very important one. Anything you control right now can tap, attack, or be otherwise activated this turn. A lot of cards and mechanics use this step to keep you from working around paying a cost. Anything that uses "at the beginning of your turn" can or will activate now, not during the Untap Step.
-Draw step: Draw a card. Obviously. 
Precombat Main Phase
-This phase doesn't actually have any steps. A lot happens here. You play lands, creatures, spells, whatever. We'll expand more on this momentarily.
Combat Phase
-Beginning of Combat step: Anything that uses "at the beginning of combat" activates or triggers now
-Declare attackers: You declare who is attacking whom. You can attack players or Planeswalkers (there is some contention on this part. To support my conclusion I quote "508.1b If the defending player controls any planeswalkers, or the game allows the active player to attack multiple other players, the active player announces which player or planeswalker each of the chosen creatures is attacking.)

-Declare Blockers step: The defending player decides who is to block whom. Triggered abilities like Frenzy and Rampage trigger here.
-Combat Damage step: First Strike damage (including Double Strike) is calculated first, in a separate substep before anything else. Everything deals damage at once. The attacker decides how to dole out combat damage, then the blocker decides how to deal their combat damage. Everything dies at once to as part of whats called a "State Based Action check".
-End of Combat Step: As you may have guessed, anything thats uses "until end of combat" or "at the end of combat" will or can activate here.
Postcombat Main Phase
-Essentially the same as Precombat.
End step: You declare your turn is done. Anything that says "at the end of turn" "the beginning of your end step" or something similar will trigger now.
Cleanup: Minutiae, really. You discard down to seven cards if you need to, remove combat damage from creatures, and theres another SBA check.

This is stuff that usually comes pretty naturally after you get a handle on the game, but when we get into things like "floating" mana, per se, it becomes crucial to understand the progression, since your mana pool empties itself at the end of every step and phase.

The Stack

When you counter a spell, or bolt a creature, or respond to anything in anyway, you are utilizing "The Stack". If the term seems very familiar, you may have seen it in a few places. Most recently, Sundial of the Infinite. There was also a set of card in the Time Spiral block with a keyword called Split Second that locked The Stack in place and forced resolution. This is probably the most important thing to understand about Magic at any point in your time playing. Core Sets have even included it in Rules Tips cards for beginners.
What we're going to be looking at is just some basic interactions and Rules Tips of our own. The Stack itself is pretty straight forward; it is in essence stacking cards on top of each other as they're played. Here's how it works:
I play a Lightning Bolt. My opponent responds with Stoic Rebuttal. I respond with Reverberate, copying Stoic Rebuttal, then targeting it with the new copy. My opponent passes, and the stack resolves from the top down. Reverberate is on top, as a copy of Stoic Rebuttal. The first Stoic Rebuttal resolves, countering the Stoic Rebuttal below it (meaning that that Stoic Rebuttal does not resolve). Since the original copy targeting Lightning Bolt doesn't resolve, Lightning Bolt isn't countered, and deals 3 damage to its target. 

As you can see, a lot of this is pretty straight-forward, and in moments of doubt, a consultation of Gatherer will give you the rulings on specific cards. Other than those select cards or effects, stacking is simple. Most of the kooky interaction come when you have things like Eye of the Storm, Hive Mind, and Cast Through Time all in play. Of course in a scenario like this one, everyone usually concedes after (never before) savagely beating the perpetrator(s) with blunt objects in the room.
A quick aside on targeted effects and how it affects resolution from the Comprehensive Rules:
608.2b If the spell or ability specifies targets, it checks whether the targets are still legal. A target
that’s no longer in the zone it was in when it was targeted is illegal. Other changes to the game state may cause a target to no longer be legal; for example, its characteristics may have changed or an effect may have changed the text of the spell. If the source of an ability has left the zone it was in, its last known information is used during this process. The spell or ability is countered if all its targets, for every instance of the word “target,” are now illegal. If the spell or ability is not countered, it will resolve normally, affecting only the targets that are still legal. If a target is illegal, the spell or ability can’t perform any actions on it or make the target perform any actions.

Priority

Priority directly ties in with the two previous facets of the game we just went over. Priority decides when who does what. On your turn, you have priority several different times. On your opponents turn, you have priority several different times. This matter a lot more than it would appear at first glance.
You see, you can only cast spells when you have priority. And even then, you have to make sure its the right spell. So, if you want to cast a spell before your opponent untaps, too bad. You can't because during either players Untap Step, no one gets priority.
You get Priority:

• At the end of your Upkeep
• At the end of your Draw Step
• At the beginning of your Main Phases
• After triggered abilities trigger during your Beginning of Combat step
• At the end of your Declare Attackers
• At the end of your Declare Blockers (that is to say, after your opponent declares their blockers during your turn.)
• After First Strike damage is dealt during the Damage Step
• Again at the end of the Damage Step
• At the end of your Combat Phase
• At the end of your turn, before cleanup
• Anytime the stack resolves during your turn (applies mostly to Main Phases)

Priority is what makes the stack work. You see, when you cast a spell, it goes on the stack. Afterwards, you pass you the priority to your opponent, and your opponent has the chance to respond. In Multiplayer formats, priority is passed in turn order. Then your opponent passes it back to you. If you do nothing, your opponent gets priority one more time, when they can respond again. This makes things like Reverberate, Twincast, and Double Mana Leaks possible. This goes on and on until all players pass priority without doing anything. Then The Stack resolves.
Now, we need to demonstrate why this is important. As an example, we'll use Lightning Bolt and Tezzie up there. A lot of newer players see 2 and 3 Loyalty 'Walkers, and assume they can simply 'Bolt them when they come out to kill them. This isn't always the case, especially not against a more experienced pilot. Heres why:
I play Tezz on my fourth turn. I know my opponent is playing Red, so his open mana isn't a problem. Tezzeret resolves and enters the battlefield. I have priority. I use Tezzeret's +1 Loyalty ability. Now, the finer points will be addressed in the next section here, but suffice for now to say Tezz is at 4 Loyalty when his ability goes on the stack. My opponent responds with Lightning Bolt. We both pass priority, and Lightning Bolt resolves first, bringing Tezz to 1 Loyalty instead of 0. Tezz is still alive, so his ability still resolves and I get an artifact in my hand.
Now, when we play, we don't usually hear or say "pass priority" a lot. In fact, its bypassed for the sake of brevity most of the time, with the understanding that its there and respect of how it works. Most people will just state they're playing a card and wait for a response, either another card or something like "okay" or "go ahead" to say it resolves. Polite players, as we are jokingly called (because I actually do this) will more or less ask permission. That is, state the play as a question, waiting for a "yes" or "no". More people appreciate this than you would think.

Abilities

 

We all know what abilities are, in the strictest sense of the word. They're simply ways each card affects a certain part of the game or game environment. Tapping for mana, discarding a card, destroying, creating, taking, whatever. Anything is possible. But do we know exactly what the abilities are? And what that means?

There are five different kinds of abilities: Mana Abilities, Triggered Abilities, Activated Abilities, Loyalty Abilities, and Static Abilities. Some use the stack, some don't, and some have to be paid for. These are actually pretty simple, so we'll just jump right in.

Mana Abilities: Like the Moxen, here, some permanents are endowed with the ability to tap and/or sacrifice to add mana to your pool. Mana Abilities do not use the stack, and you do not need to have priority for them to resolve. If they did, you would have to wait for that stack to resolve before even casting a spell. But that's over-thinking it. Just keep in mind that creatures like Joraga Treespeakers or Llanowar Elves can't do this immediately due to Summoning Sickness, unless they have haste.

Triggered Abilities: Triggered abilities are pretty straight-forward. They're the "if/then" statements of Magic. They don't use the stack, so they can change things mid-resolution. They make something happen whenever a specific something else happens. The most common example is seen to the left here in my favorite Commander, Sharuum. These "enters the battlefield" (or "ETB") are probably the most common form of activated abilities. But there are others. Things like the Reflection Cycle from Shadowmoor, or Megrim (now Liliana's Caress) can do all sorts of neat things based on any condition imaginable! There are even things like Dawn's Reflection from Fifth Dawn that create mana.

Activated Abilities: This is the most common ability type. Activated abilities require a cost to be paid so that you can do something else. Usually this is tapping the card (like Lux Cannon), sacrificing a card, or paying mana. Or any combination of the three. I believe it is important to understand the nature of paying costs to properly understand this section and the next. The Comprehensive rules state: "602.1. Activated abilities have a cost and an effect. They are written as “[Cost]: [Effect.] [Activation
restriction (if any).]” The activation cost is everything before the colon (:). An ability’s activation cost must be paid by the player who is activating it." So if I have say my Arcbound Ravager and Disciple of the Vault on the field, and I sacrifice three artifacts to it for three +1/+1 counters, you can't respond by destroying any of the artifacts other than the Arcbound Ravager, as they were all sacrificed as a cost to activate Ravagers ability. And even if you do destroy the Ravager, due to Disciple of the Vault's triggered ability, you still lose 4 life.

The sacrifices never go on the stack, so you can't respond to them. This is what lets the Tezz scenario in the Priority section work, and why you can't destroy a Memnite to counter a Kuldotha Rebirth.

Keep in mind this is NOT to be confused with a Mana Ability, which is defined as such by the fact it produces mana, not whether or not it taps to do so.

Loyalty Abilities: These are solely found on Planeswalkers, and can do anything an activated ability can do. There are a few ground rules. They can only be cast as Sorceries. Which is to say, on your turn, during your Main Phase, when the stack is empty. They are further like activated abilities in that they have to be paid for, specifically by adding or removing Loyalty Counters from the 'Walker. They use the stack, and can be countered with the Planeswalker dies before the ability resolves.

Static Abilities: The final ability type is probably the most useful. Static abilities work simply by that permanent being in play, and are a constant effect. These are usually found on enchantments, since they constantly affect a range or players or creatures, from the whole board, down to a single creature in the case of an Aura. Another frequent use is on creatures for what's called a "Lord" effect. Lords buff other creatures of a certain color, type, or other characteristic. Examples include the Shadowmoor Liege cycle, and Adaptive Automaton. There are also things like cost reduction (Eye of Ugin/Semblance Anvil), and even better, effects like our shining star Platinum Angel over here!

I know this is a lot of specifics to try and remember, and I didn't even get to address other things I wanted to get to. But this is getting a little too verbose, and honestly, this stuff only comes up every now and again in casual games, and some doesn't even show up frequesntly in tournament settings. But it is all extremely good to know, and will help you become a better, if not more mindful Magic player!

If anyone has any questions at all, please feel free to ask in the comments, and I will do my best to answer! Until next time, stay savvy, Planeswalkers!

What Time is It?

Yes! You're absolutely right! It is time for me to do another blog!

I have obviously take a long hiatus from the blog. It seems to me that this was because I bit off a little more than I could chew. Honestly, once a week is a bit much for a guy like me. After working and cleaning and taking care of a Young'un (as the natives here in Tennessee so quaintly call them), I'm beat! And it takes the better part of a week to write these things, since I can only devote a couple hours a night. I have standards of quality, you know.

So, here's the new new gameplan. Biweekly. Once every two weeks, and in Blue Moons (please don't hold me to that, I have no actual idea of when or how often a Blue Moon actually occurs). This gives me two things: More time to figure out what I'm writing about; and more time to think about what I decided I will be writing about. Sound good? I'll assume your silence is a 'yes'. Good.

I do have an agenda, though. There are a couple topics I want to cover in the coming weeks.
1. Cartoons. As much as I could possibly help it, I didn't want this blog to become a strictly Magic blog. Although its close to it, I feel obligated to keep that unspoken promise to myself now and again. So I'll take a topical look at some cartoons I've recently invested way more time in than I initially planned. Which ones? You'll see.
2. Tournament Formats. Formats can be complicated. Especially to a new or very casual player. So we'll explore the DCI Sanctioned Tournament Formats and some prominent decks for each one.
3. Comprehensive Rules Tips. Some things are confusing about interactions between cards in Magic. Some just get so crazy that its hard to grasp. Others are enables only by finer points and nuances in the Comprehensive Rulebook. Things like Priority, Layering, Copying, The Stack, Resolution, and just when to do what. We'll examine some of the FAQs my readers have, and I'll do my best to address them!

Until then, stay sharp, keeps your decks on hand, and be absolutely sure to check out the latest and greatest game on my personal friends originally named site, Reviews of Games!

New Phyrexia Assesment: What I like about [U]

Okay! So the New Phyrexia set has been SPOILED! And in response to this Wizards of the Coast has released the ENTIRE Visual Spoiler! And needless to say, we are all very, very excited. So how about we skip the foreplay and jump right into it aye?

First today, we will be looking at the Blue ([U]) cards from the new set. A couple really stand out here, and the offensive power and defensive force the Scars and Besieged lacked is definitely here in all its gory glory. To prove this, we have a lovely little combo to start things out with:

 

So obviously, we see where these two cards shine together. I can see both being a playset for a U/G or U/B Infect deck. But here's the really cool part. Previously, the best option for me was to cast Distortion Strike, and then after the opponent Declares Blockers, respond with as many Virulent Wounds and Vampire's Bites as I could muster out, and hope for a ravaging 5-10 poison fiesta. Won me a couple games, quite a few, even. But never any match for the Kuldotha Red or W/U/G Caw-Go decks and their Vengevines. This, however, gives us room for proliferation, and a cheap (albeit conditional) hard counter alongside Spell Peirce, Deprive or the possible Stoic Rebuttal, and a launchpad for Proliferation a la Contagion Clasp/Engine or Inexorable Tides. Or other cards I'll get to momentarily.

Now we've all seen the Phyrexian Mana, written shorthand as [P(C)], where C is the color. Obviously. 2 Life, or a specific mana. Seems easy right? Well, no. Because half of you think the 2 Life is the easy choice, and the other think its just more pragmatic to pay the Mana Cost. Yes. Okay. lets break it down. 

2 Life is deceptively large. Maybe not so against an Infect deck, but thats 10% of your Life Total a pop. It adds up quick, especially when we look at the fact that 5 Life in the game right now is a precarious position to be at. If possible and still plausible, I will always go with paying the mana. But, the situation where this arises is one which we have never seen in Magic before. Anyone can cast a Phyrexian costed spell. I can play Birthing Pod in a Mono-Blue deck without adding anything at all to add Green mana, and still cast and activate this card without "cheating" it into play. And now I will show you two reasons why this is going to have a huge impact on all formats.

Mental Misstep and Gitaxian Probe are probably going to be the most played cards in any deck, in any format, from this set. The applications are huge. Lets start with Mental Misstep. 

"Counter target spell with converted mana cost 1." In Standard, I can see some decks like U/W or Mono-U Control keeping a couple copies in the mainboard. Otherwise, I can see this being an auto-playset in the sideboard. Not only does it counter the one drops like Kuldotha Rebirth, Distortion Strike, Giant Growth, Lightning Bolt, even Green Sun Zenith and Untamed Might, but other control spells like Preordain and Spell Pierce. And in Legacy, where the games first four turns are the most vital, this card is a heartbreaker. Channel Fireball's Magic TV actually touched on how this could turn into an "attrition battle" between Mental Missteps when a card like Aether Vial is on the stack. This is a picture perfect example of a metagame changing card.

Now Gitaxian Probe is cool too (and notably susceptible to a Mental Misstep), but it has a slightly narrower niche. If only just barely though. A first turn cantrip is never a bad option -never the best, but not bad. Unless that cantrip is free. You get a free slot in your deck, and it lets you see your opponents hand. Extremely valuable information, especially early game when you need to know what to hold your Mana Leaks, Mental Missteps, Spell Pierces or Corrupted Resolves for, or when you need to know if its safe to go out on a limb and cast your critical spell, or if you need to test the water with a bait spell, or if you need to just concede there, sometimes. Whatever. The point is, this one is utterly amazing, and probably worth the 2 Life on your first couple turns to play free. I expect to see these pop up in quite a few Pro Tour decks.

 

These two are in here for one reason only. Proliferate. Tezz has a nice feature card, Divination for anyone, and Proliferate -as I talked about in the past- has many applications outside Infect and -1/-1 counters. Planeswalker Loyalty, +1/+1, Charge, any counter you could imagine! Here's why I like it on these cards specifically: Cheap, effective, or reusable Proliferation versus expensive or inefficient alternative like Contagion Clasp or Steady Progress. 

Tezzeret's Gambit costs only one more than Steady Progress if you pay the [U] instead of {2}, and it has double the card advantage. Huge if you manage to proliferate -1/-1 counter and take some creatures out, or at least out of combat. So we have a Phyrexian Divination and a Blue Priests of Norn. Pretty good, but I don't know how much competitive play these will get. 

And thats what I like about Blue. Pretty cool, counters spells and doesn't afraid of anything.

Decadent Decklists: Extended - Mindfuck Mill

So, after all this time of blogging about Magic, I cannot believe I haven't yet had a deck posted! So, it's time I rectified this issue. Without further adieu, the until-recently unnamed Mindfuck Mill:

Mindfuck Mill Extended

Main Deck:

4 Hedron Crab

1 Jace Beleren

2 Nemesis of Reason

2 Wall of Frost

4 Call to Mind

2 Haunting Echoes

1 Keening Stone

4 Memory Sluice

4 Mind Funeral

2 Pyromancer Ascension

4 Spell Pierce

2 Sword of Body and Mind

4 Tome Scour

2 Traumatize

2 Cascade Bluffs

2 Darkslick Shores

8 Island

7 Swamp

2 Vivid Creek

2 Vivid Marsh

Sideboard:

4 Archive Trap

2 Broken Ambitions

2 Doom Blade

2 Memoricide

1 Nemesis of Reason

2 Sword of Feast and Famine

2 Wrexial, the Risen Deep

So, as you can see, it's obviously a deck that is supposed to get as many cards in the graveyard as possible, without the need for the overly priced JTMS. There are a couple things I'll probably change before trying it out for Extended Season, but we'll focus on the big players for a moment.

Memory Sluice/Hedron Crab: First turn, four cards. Second turn, eight, if you have a Hedron Crab on the field. In which case, you'd get 12. So on turn three (which we hope to follow with a Mind Funeral), we can have as many as 20 cards milled out. Very nice, if I do say so myself.

Traumatize/Haunting Echoes: This of course is a combo that is as ageless as the cards themselves. After a couple small mills to start the game off, a well placed Traumatize followed up next turn with Haunting Echoes could very well eliminate your opponents entire playable base.

Nemesis of Reason: The thing I love about this card is that it never has to connect to your opponent. Like the Annihilator mechanic on the Eldrazi cards, the effect triggers as soon as you declare him as an attacker. So even if he lives one or two rounds before he gets killed by a Go For The Throat, you still managed to take a chunk out of their deck.

One thing people seem to immediately notice is the Pyromancer's Ascension, which is red in a U/B deck. Well, it is a little off-base, but I have two Cascade Bluffs and 5 Vivid Lands with 3 Charges each that can be used to cast it. So if I I have two Quest Counters on it, I can Call to Mind two Tome Scours, which in turn will mill ten each, for a total of 20 for 5 mana in one turn, and thats thinking small. Look at Traumatize or Mind Funeral. A probable mill-win.

I opted to run Baby Jace here for one real reason in particular. The Draw. Firstly, some cards can't be milled. They get shuffled back into the Library if they hit the graveyard. These don't come up often at all, but they can be a problem if I have to force a turn pass and wait to see if they can come up with a Death Throw and kill me before they receive draw priority to be officially milled. Secondly, I may or may not need an additional draw to get that last card I need. Yes, yes, JTMS would be better because he can Brainstorm, and his Ultimate is a for sure finisher. But Big Jace automatically draws attention away from you, so his ultimate rarely gets to go off. If ever. And last but not least, in fact foremost, I cannot afford the big bad Mind Sculptor.

The other thing here is that I have a set of Archive Traps in the sideboard. This isn't so much because I don't think they're useful, quite the opposite. But I really want to maximize playability. Lets say you draw 2 opening hand. If the opponent plays a fetchland like Scalding Tarn or Arid Mesa, you automatically get a 26 card mill without playing a land. Now if you draw 4, then you get 52, exactly the number of cards left in a deck after the first draw.

I have been pondering some different aspects of the deck, and I know for a fact that while being very cool to think about, it isn't yet optimized, and for the moment, I will be focusing on doing just that for this deck. If there are any suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comments.

Next time...My own Cardset!