I'm not happy with you, MapMyRun. I take one step off the trail, and you lose your shit.

Why Blue will always be great

I love Magic. I have been playing the game since I was ten years old, and I am 28 at the time of writing. The people who are currently making the game are doing some of the best work in the history of the game, and are succeeding at making Magic something more than just the game with cards- they are making it an experience. The recent announcements regarding the Return to Ravnica block and prerelease fill me with joy and make me eager to register for a prerelease today, two months in advance.

It appears to me though the people who make Magic have a bias towards blue. 

Rather, powerful cards in Magic are biased towards blue, and the fantastic employees of R & D are subject to this bias.

Every color (aside from blue) as at one point been considered "worst." Currently, that honor falls to red. Red is the color of impulses, emotions, passions, and blowing shit up. The philosophy behind red hamstrings it in design, and the struggles are well documented in Mark Rosewater's blog.

Aside: This blog is fantastic. MaRo is as honest and upfront as he can be. Even when presented with questions about apparent shortcomings in Magic, he strives to be direct and it is obvious he wants to see the game succeed on more than a financial level. His heart is in this game as much as his mind, and it shows.

Recently, red has been given access to looting (drawing some number of cards and discarding some number), an ability that had previously been blue.

Shocking, I know.

To distinguish the two abilities, blue has the advantage of drawing first, while red, according to MaRo, is supposed to get looting at a slightly discounted rate in exchange for discarding first and not being able to generate card advantage. This is designed to reflect the differences in the underlying philosophies of the colors: blue plans, red is willing to get rid of something in order to see something new. No harm, no foul. The first card with "red looting" was Mad Prophet, which is an absolute powerhouse in my Pauper Cube, but also was fantastic in AVR limited. 

Enter M13, and Rummaging Goblin. Compare this to the much older Merfolk Looter. The red one costs more. 

Now, I was willing to give Wizards the benefit of the doubt: they did not know how red looting would play, and were being cautious. The guidelines presented to us would be visible down the road (Fall 2012 and beyond). 

Then Zac Hill wrote this article.

My umbrage:

"That diversity is good for Limited Magic. He's costed at  because Merfolk Looter was hands-down the most dominant common in Magic 2010, even though it seemed comparatively innocuous. Given Rummaging Goblin's far more relevant creature type—thanks, Arms Dealer—we decided he ought to both require a discard first (as is red's tradition) and cost a little bit more."

Zac Hill

"The Cards of Magic 2013, Part 2"

7/13/2013

I do not know what sort of cards are coming out in the future. I can imagine that Goblins will continue to be a supported tribe. But trying to tell us that Goblins are a more supported creature type than Merfolk feels like a boldfaced lie. Sure, Merfolk spend some time out of print while Goblins were getting awesome lords. Yet both tribes are relevant in Legacy, and a number of awesome new Merfolk were printed in M13. So Goblins are a better tribe, and therefore have to have looting at a higher price point? It is likely that Hill's article is focusing on Standard, but it does a disservice to cite Arms Dealer as a reason for making Rummaging Goblin far worse than its blue brother. 

The underlying message here is that blue is allowed to cheat at costs because it always has. And it can get away with it! Wizards could have printed a corrected Merfolk Looter in Magic 2012 and justified it with it being too strong in M10. Now red is being forced to pay for the sins of blue. Is Rummaging Goblin a fine card? Yes. It will win limited games and go into my Cube, but it is more expensive than it should be. Even if the effect is too powerful at 1C, since red is supposed to have its looting be pushed at cost, Goblin looter at 1R should exist (as per MaRo).

Blue has a history of getting effects for far too little (see Ancestral Recall). It also has a history of getting the lion's share of awesome effects (pure card draw, counter spells, "Control Magics," tutoring, et. al.). Over time these effects have become closer to correctly costed (see the abolishment of Counterspell and the prevalence of Cancel). The core of the issue goes deeper, however. 

Blue is the color of thought, it is the color of planning and outsmarting adversaries. It is about accumulating resources and generally being smarter than its adversary.

Replace "blue" with "Magic" and "the color" with "the game."

Red is a color of impulsivity and emotions and blowing shit up. Replace "red" with "magic" and "color" with "game."

Magic, as a tournament game, is firmly in the blue realm of the color pie. Yes, it has been shifting further out of this wedge for a long time. Yet underlying concepts of the game align very well with the driving forces of blue. As long as these are in line, it will be easy to give blue the best cards. 

That being said, I still  have the utmost faith that people like Mark Rosewater, Zac Hill, Aaron Forsythe, and everyone else in Magic R & D can work against the tide of history. They have taken the first few steps, they can take the next leaps. 

Writing

I got home from errands last night and saw this tweet from Lauren Lee, my editor at StarCityGames.com:

If there's one thing that bugs me, it's rambly introductions that don't get to the point of the article fast enough. Argh!
— Lauren Lee (@mulldrifting) July 11, 2012

I started in with a joke reply along the lines of "what did I do?" Lauren took me seriously, and then complimented my work. There's more to this later, including a retweet from someone I admire, but first I'm going back in time.

Trick Jarrett, the editor of dailymtg.com, has a wonderful website where he discusses Magic writing. His posts make me want to be a better writer.  This prompted me to think, why do I write? Who do I want to emulate?

What can I do to be a better writer?

A background: I went into college thinking I was either going to major in English (like my dad) or Physics (after taking it voluntarily in high school, twice, including AP). After a semester of calculus, I was determined to read books for four years. Along with that came a significant amount of writing. I got good at writing, or at least good enough to be the go to editor for my circle of friends through grad school.

When I write today, it is either here or for Star City. At work, most of the writing I do is bullet points and program proposals, which is very different from explaining the nuances of a new Magic set or format, or detailing the random events of my life. Moving forward, I have decided to come up with writers I want to emulate with the goal of becoming a better writer. 

Kurt Vonnegut: Vonnegut is my favorite author. Period. While I disagree with him on the use of the semi-colon, it is hard to beat the way Vonnegut was able to communicate humanity and humor without wasting words. If some books are slug-fests, Vonnegut's are the sweet science of jabs and parries. His work is brief and direct. Nothing gets lost.

In my junior year of college I took a class on 19th century British novels. The professor (whose name escapes me) gave this assignment to the class: I want you to write a five page paper, and I want you to do it in two pages. I would get my papers back from him covered in red marks and scribbles on my modifiers. I learned how to be brief.

Vonnegut was briefer and more direct. I can be too.

Brendan Kelly: One of the lead singers of the Lawrence Arms, and the lead vocalist for The Falcon and Brendan Kelly and the Wandering Birds. He also writes this hilarious blog, full of salty language. Brendan makes great use of metaphor and analogs to convey points. He also is not afraid of language and being offensive. I will not be talking about the same subject matter as he does, but I can still learn how to get my point across without mentioning it directly. His writing is also musical (which makes sense, since he is a musician). 

It doesn't hurt that he also has written some of my favorite songs of all time. And his live shows are always a riot (helped by the band having just the right amount of booze before hand).

Mike Flores: Mike Flores is my favorite Magic writer of all time. He has a great sense of story (regardless of how often those tales are repeated) and wonderful pacing. His writing at times has a musical quality and is always entertaining. Mike's ability to break down complex concepts, integrating examples from outside Magic (basketball, Street Fighter, Star Wars lightsaber duels, and Rock Paper Scissors for example help to ground his work firmly in reality. His output is amazing and encompasses the history of the game. He is one of the best storytellers in Magic writing, and the scope of his view is wide (often wider than that of his audience). Yet it does not stop him. 

Now for the retweet story: In early June I was taking the train to the Upper West Side to meet friend for dinner. I looked up at a stop and saw that Mike Flores had gotten on. I recognized him from my days as a Small Child at the now defunct Neutral Ground. I saw a trace of recognition when he saw me, and got the nerve to talk to him. The 15 minutes we talked changed my perspective on writing, at least for Magic. Regardless of everything else, when I write for Magic, I am a salesman (like my father before me) and I have to treat it as such. When I replied to Lauren that this convo had made me a better writer, Mike decided to send it out to his followers. That felt great.

The tie that binds these three writers together is the fact that they are fearless. There is no hesitation in their writing. Fear is the mind killer, it is the little death. This writers are all prolific. They lack fear. I have to learn that it does not matter if a piece is "bad" or "good," but rather that I wrote it. I have to like it more than everything I wrote before. 

My goals for writing are:

• Be brief
• Be direct
• Have a point, but don't be a slave to it
• Be musical
• Be fearless

Keep me honest people.

Signs you are a real New Yorker

Sometimes, when I take the subway, I see people who are obviously not New Yorkers. When they struggle with their Metrocards, I secretly wish they get on the wrong train and no one tells them.

When I struggle with my Metrocard, I get angry at the turnstile.

My M13 Prerelease

Author's note: I apologize for the formatting issues (color/background). When I changed the layout, this post got all fouled up.


This post will contain heavy amounts of Magic: The Gathering content.

I am so happy to be done with Avacyn Restored limited. I know I am an above average player, but no aspiring pro. I like playing Magic and I like getting better...and I've been playing for a while. I had never felt so terrible at Magic as I did during Avacyn drafts. I think the format needed one more removal spell at common, and some type of catch up mechanism- one misstep and you were dead. Additionally, I felt niche cards were prominent and rewarded (Thatcher Revolt) but terribly unplayable outside of those archetypes. Rise of the Eldrazi draft had fewer of these cards, but very rarely were the niche cards completely useless.

Back to the present: I was excited to be playing M13...be playing with removal again. I stopped by my local shop, the 20 Sided Store yesterday after a shopping trip and watched some friends build their decks for the second pod. My initial impressions of the format were:

• Hey look, there's removal! It is a bit slower than previously, but it is there

• This set is slower than M12 and way slower than AVR

• Exalted is a real threat

• Red seems underpowered in sealed

• The games can become wars of attrition with relatively complex board states

• I'll probably value card advantage much higher than I should

I arrived to 20 early and walked up the block to grab a bagel and some iced coffee. I was recognized quickly by some of the other gamers and we began a conversation. Turns out one of them works with my old boss. Small world.

A few minutes before 10am we head down to 20 and wait until the doors open. I bask in the AC and find my seat, wait for my packs, and finally...crack them.

One thing I never get tired of is the smell of freshly opened cards. It brings me a memory of opening a starter decks of Revised, and seeing Personal Incarnation and Underground Sea.

Here's my pool, tell me what you think you would build:

White

Ajani's Sunstriker

Angelic Benediction

Aven Squire

Angel's Mercy

Griffin Protector

Guardians of Akrasa (x2)

Erase

Intrepid Hero

Pacifism

Pillarfield Ox

Safe Passage

War Priest of Thune

Blue

Archaeomancer

Divination

Encrust (x2)

Fog Bank

Jace's Phantasm

Kraken Hatchling (x2)

Mind Sculpt

Negate

Talrand's Invocation

Tricks of the Trade

Unsummon (x2)

Watercourser

Welkin Tern

Black

Bloodhunter Bat

Bloodthrone Vampire

Diabolic Revelation

Disentomb

Duress

Duskmantle Prowler

Duty-Bound Dead (x2)

Essence Drain (x2)

Mark of the Vampire

Mind Rot

Servant of Nefarox

Sign in Blood (x2)

Tormented Soul

Vampire Nighthawk

Vile Rebirth

Red

Chandra's Fury (x2)

Dragon Hatchling (x2)

Goblin Arsonist (x2)

Fire Elemental (x2)

Furnace Whelp

Magmaquake

Reckless Brute

Reverberate

Smelt

Green

Arbor Elf (x2)

Bond Beetle

Centaur Courser (x2)

Deadly Recluse

Duskdale Wurm (x2)

Flinthoof Boar

Mwonvuli Beast Tracker

Nautalize

Plummer

Quirion Dryad

Titanic Growth (x2)

Vastwood Gorger (x2)

Artifact and Land

Evolving Wilds

Clock of Omens

Gem of Becoming

Jayemdae Tome

Ring of Kalonia

Ring of Valkas

Ring of Xathrid

Stuffy Doll

Obligatory blank space

I immediately decided I would be playing black (so deep) dismissed red (the opposite of deep). Benching Magmaquake was hard, but right. I then set aside white, probably too quickly as the BW Exalted build looked promising, even if it did lack creatures to actually attack (my main reason for ignoring it). Looking back, this was wrong- you do not need a ton of attackers in the BW Exalted deck- and I would have run a BW build if I could. I was enticed by blue and the prospect of exalted + Watercourser, two Encrust, and Invocation + Archaeomancer, but laying out the deck, it just felt wrong. When I looked at Beast Tracker, I knew I had my second color, as it helped me find my Nighthawk. After a few minutes, I had my deck, although cards 21-23 were the tough decisions.

Arbor Elf

Tormented Soul

Duty-Bound Dead (x2)

Qurion Dryad

Deadly Recluse

Servant of Nefarox

Centaur Courser (x2)

Mwonvuli Beast Tracker

Vampire Nighthawk

Bloodhunter Bat

Duskmantle Prolwer

Stuffy Doll

Duskdale Wurm (x2)

Titanic Growth

Ring of Xathrid

Sign in Blood (x2)

Mark of the Vampire

Essence Drain (x2)

Evolving Wilds

8 Forest

8 Swamp

Relevant Sideboard:

Mind Rot

Diabolic Revelation (for long games)

Naturalize

Plummet

I went 3-1, winning handily against some newer players. In round two, I had a great match against Rob with UGrw, another regular. I won game one. Game two was a fantastic battle, coming down to his large creatures with Rancor racing my smaller creatures and Stuffy Doll. He won the turn before I would have swung in for lethal. My mistake had come on turn two, when he attacked his Welkin Tern into my Deadly Recluse and I did not block. Next turn he put Rancor on the Tern and I then blocked, taking 4 points of damage. Rob won by two points. Granted, the game probably plays out differently if he's holding Rancor, but he did not follow up Tern with a creature for multiple turns (hah), so I feel that if I had pulled the trigger and blocked that first attack, I would have won the match.

I won 7 packs for my efforts, as well as a sweet deck box from a raffle. My day ended with a three person game of Commander. My Skullbriar against Shawn's Grand Arbiter Augustin IV and Alex's Niv-Mizzet. The game went long, but eventually Alex won out with his Niv-Mizzet combo. That being said, it was still a fun game of Magic, despite the combo and lock decks I was up against.

Here's my list for Skullbriar, heavily influenced by Sheldon Menery's Nath of the Gilt-Leaf list featured here. It started as a Glissa the Traitor deck, which might give insight into the artifact subtheme.

Quickly: Commander is a fun project for me. I like to trade and find cards in bargain bins. I optimize my decks to the best of my ability, but do not go crazy.

Commander: Skullbriar, the Walking Grave

Green

Woodripper

Mycoloth

Wickerbough Elder

Fertilid

Indrik Stomphowler

Bellowing Tanglewurm

Yavimaya Ekder

Lotus Cobra

Oracle of Mul Daya

Eternal Witness

Champion of Lambholt

Scavenging Ooze

Awakening Zone

Saproling Burst

Rancor

Sylvan Library

Doubling Season

Harmonize

Strength of the Tajaru

Hurricane

Black

Nekrataal

Spike Cannibal

Skirsdag High Priest

Bloodghast

Disciple of Griselbrand

Creakwood Ghoul

Blood Artist

Falkenrath Noble

Shriekmaw

Dark Confidant

Vigor Mortis

Living Death

Grim Harvest

Exsanguinate

Phyrexian Reclamation

Executioner's Capsule

Damantion

Grave Pact

Multicolor

Golgari Guildmage

Glissa, the Traitor

Vulturous Zombie

Necrogenesis

Grim Feast

Artifact

Steel Hellkite

Solemn Simulacrum 

Oblivion Stone

Contagion Clasp

Contagion Engine

Spine of Ish Sah

Horizon Spellbomb

Nihil Spellbomb

Ichor Wellspring

Mycosynth Wellspring

Throne of Geth

Venser's Journal

Sol Ring

Golgari Signet

Skull Clamp

Darksteel Plate

Sword of Light and Shadow

Lightning Greaves

Nim Deathmantle

Land

9 Forest

6 Swamp

Evolving Wilds

Terramorphic Expanse

Verdant Catacombs

Command Tower

Golgari Rot Farm

Pine Barrens

Treetop Village

Oran-Rief, the Vastwood

Tranquil Thicket

Slippery Karst

Cabal Coffers

Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth

Bojuka Bog

Polluted Mire

Barren Moor

Volrath's Stronghold
Phyrexia's Core

Temple of the False God

Wasteland

Reliquary Tower

Blasted Landscape

That's all for now. It was a good day of Magic (and the air conditioning didn't hurt). Like I said, I'm happy to be playing with removal again.

-Alex

"Done With Love"- Teenage Bottlerocket

I got shit to do
No time for hanging out and no time for you
I've got no time to waste
I'd rather be some other place

No one's getting in cause I've got a heart of stone
And it doesn't bother me to be alone
My line is disconnected to hang up the phone
I'm done with love

Yeah I don't need all the bullshit
I need that like a hole in the head
I've cut off all my emotion
Everything inside of me is dead, just like I said
I'm done with love

Living in Brooklyn

I lived in Westchester for three years. I was isolated. Yes, I had a car, but my job provided housing on a college campus. Because of that, getting out and being social was an endeavor. Going out for a drink was an event that approached Herculean levels (drive to the bar, drink, wait to sober up, drive home). My life stagnated. I hated it.

I now live in the heart of Brooklyn. When I run in Prospect Park, I literally run into people I know. Today, I decided to walk to work (something I do often, but was totally ill-advised in the heat). I stopped into a shop for an iced coffee, and saw a friend of mine from college- one I hadn't seen since graduating 6 years ago.

We caught up.

This would have never have happened if I still lived in Westchester. Not because people didn't live there, but because I just never had the opportunity to be out and see people. After moving to Brooklyn, I had dinner with a Westchester friend and his friends (a couple with a child who lived in Westchester). When I said I was much happier living in the city, the wife in the couple declared that I liked Brooklyn more because I was single.

That's only partially true.

I like Brooklyn more because there are people here. People my age. People I can run into in coffee shops, and talk to about the past 6 years like it was nothing.