Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Jund Arena deck

 This deck got me all the way to Mythic during March 2021. I am not planning to update it for Strixhaven because I took red out of it and switched in blue. 



Blue Deck Wins Arena deck

 We are used to the acronym RDW for Red Deck Wins, a very fast deck that beats face hard and wins quickly, but here is a twist: Blue Deck Wins. If I get enough unsummon effects going against any creature heavy deck, I can win fairly consistently. It's one heck of a troll deck!



Sunday, April 25, 2021

I will get with the program: set boosters

 I have been negative about set boosters because I am used to draft boosters, but I have come to the realization that I don't mind if Wizards has weaseled a way to increase the price of boosters by 20 percent. I don't consider myself an entitled player and it's OK for Wizards to make a little more money. I am not a fan of the master sets or any of the other $6 to $8 packs, and to date I have cracked exactly zero of those packs. The company seems to be run by corporate overlords who don't have Magic in their hearts, and that is bad karma. We need the people who run this game to bleed Magic, and they seem to be bleeding dollars and euros... But I will get with the program. I love the large set era, and plan to get some Strixhaven set boosters. Why not? It's a hobby. By the way, the Japanese cards in the Strixhaven collector packs are some of the most beautiful cards ever issued, period: Magic out Force of Willed the Force of Will TCG.


Here's my money, Wizards, take it, just take it, all right!

What will be the impact of Flesh and Blood on Magic?

 We are on the eve of Monarch coming out in Flesh and Blood (FaB). 


FaB has already gone into full speculative bubble mode for some of the more collectable cards, with a handful of cards valued in the thousands of dollars. The game seems to be well-managed, and is currently in the middle of a most passionate honeymoon. The game plays a lot like the World of Warcraft TCG (a hero outfitted with weapons and armor), but with an innovative pitch resource system. I plan to crack some FaB just because I want to be in the action. Let's see where FaB is in one year. Every TCG is always one set away from a major blunder: Homelands, Fallen Empires, and Chronicles for Magic; Millennia of Ages for Force of Will TCG.

Will FaB take a big bite out of Magic? It does not seem that way right now. Magic is doing well, and has weathered the pandemic in great shape thanks to Arena. FaB does not have or intend to have an online player. That's unfortunate, even if the company is selling this missstep as a feature of the game.