Unstoppable Christmas

~Sorry . . . nothing really to see here - just a random post.
As Christmas is now descending upon me with full trample, I paused to remember that I did not get you, the loyal Blog Reader a Christmas card yet . . . not to worry - Here it is.

You may realise from this modified piece of art that Treefolk are not particularly fond of Christmas and especially Goblins bearing tree ornaments . . .

Card Name: Unstoppable Ash
Mana Cost: 3Green
Creature — Treefolk Warrior, 5/5
Expansion: Morningtide (Rare) Morningtide
Artist: Brian Snoddy

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Also - just another plug for the upcoming Wizards Novel . . . Interested to see if Jace, Liliana and Tezzeret will play well together.

The next exciting new venture is Agents of Artifice, a novel by Ari Marmell that represents the first of a new series of "planeswalker novels." Agents of Artifice details the rise of Jace Beleren from promising young mage-prodigy to world-hopping planeswalker. Jace can wield the power of his mind like a weapon, but quickly finds that his powers get him embroiled in schemes that surpass everything he knows. The book also features the black-aligned planeswalker Liliana Vess and the artificer-planeswalker (and Esper native!) Tezzeret. And the events in the novel not only tie in with the plot surrounding Alara's shards, but also the fate of other planes you know from Magic's past and locales that we won't visit for years to come. It is truly a planeswalker novel—character-driven, and not tied to any one setting. And it's an excellent kickoff to a new tradition in Magic: The Gathering books. Agents of Artifice releases February 2009 in bookstores and many gaming shops everywhere.

Tournament Packs R.I.P.

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This announcement is expected to be posted soon at Wizards . . .

"After an in depth analysis of the current sealed deck tournament format by our R&D and Organized Play departments we have decided to discontinue production of tournament packs. Intensive play testing clearly showed that the booster only format provides an equal, or even better game play experience.

The Shards of Alara tournament packs were the last ones produced; as of Conflux there will be no tournament packs.

As of the Conflux Pre Release events and Launch Parties, sealed deck format will be played with boosters only, 3 booster packs will replace a tournament pack. All organizers will receive a sleeve of basic land to be distributed to their players.

The details of the product mix for the Conflux events will be announced to the players when the Pre Release Fact sheet is posted on our website early January. The information is currently only available for distributors and organizers."

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Some mixed emotions here . . . I rather liked the sealed tournament packs and usually got one from the first set in each block.

MTG Slang

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Timmy likes 'em big, Johnny likes 'em cool, and Spike doesn't care what it is as long as he takes the prize.

The phrase was coined by Wizards' R&D department in order to define the types of players and the cards they like.

Player Types

Johnny
A style of player who wants to win via the coolest way possible, preferably with cards that nobody else has seen before; it has been said that Johnny doesn't mind losing nine games in a row as long as his five-card combo comes together in the tenth. Johhny likes to find interesting combinations of cards that can win the game or give him an advantage. Johnny may be a player who seeks niche cards, or cards widely reputed as bad, and tries to "break" them, exploiting them in ways to give abnormal power and win the game.

Spike
A style of player who enjoys winning, and nothing else. Spike's cards are effective, designed to secure a fast and effective victory over opponents. If spike plays several games and loses only one, but feels he should have won it, he may be less than pleased.

Timmy
A style of player who enjoys beating down with BIG creatures - the bigger, the better. Timmy is most associated with playing for fun, and all kinds of huge creatures, fantastic spells, and mythical enchantments.

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As we are now firmly on the path of Magic the Gathering Slang, let's have a look at some other popular terms you may have heard at FNM but were too shy to ask. (For a great slang list, check out resource over at the MTG Sally Wiki)


Bounce
A spell that returns a card to your hand, like Boomerang, Repulse, Unsummon, Wash Out and a thousand other annoying blue spells. Incidentally, if a token is returned to your hand, it disappears forever, removed from the game; tokens cease to exist when they're not in play.

Broken, or"Buh-ROKEN!"
A card that's overly powerful - usually a card that you can't afford to play without if you're playing in those colors.

Burn
Any red spell that does direct damage: Urza's Rage, Lightning Bolt, Shock, Fireblast, and so on.

Chump, Chump-Block
To block a large creature with a smaller one, generally to buy time. A hallmark of a good player is Alpha Striking back when someone's attacking with a large creature, leaving only a chump blocker or two back on D.

CIP
Short for "comes into play", used to refer to a variety of abilities which trigger when a creature comes into play.

Combo
A creatureless deck that kills in a single turn, generally with a set number of cards that work together. Note that a deck that kills you over several turns is not a combo deck; combo decks generally"go off" in a single turn, usually between turn 3 and 5. Also note that combo decks are extremely rare in today's environments, since Wizards of the Coast has determined that combo decks don't encourage interactive play

Control
A style of deck that relies heavily on dealing with threats, generally by countering them, and then dropping a creature backed with some sort of protection to win. New players and casual players alike hate control: Pros love it.


To Deck
To run someone out of cards. To 'deck' someone is to run their library out of cards, thus causing them to lose the game for being unable to draw cards when required to do so

EOT
End of turn. Good players always wait until the last minute to play instants, especially card drawing ones, in order to maximize their options; the last moment that they can possibly do so is at the end of your turn.

Fatties
Large creatures, generally 5/5 and over. Using a lot of fatties in a deck is considered a Timmy-like quality. The opposite of a Fatty is a Wennie and if you are playing standard, would often refer to a Kithkin deck.

Mana Burn
Mana Burn is when a player loses a certain amount of life equal to the amount of unused mana in their mana pool at the end of a phase.

Mana Curve
A concept that all beginners must master: A good deck has a number of low cc cards that ramp up to a very few number of higher-priced cards. A common newbie error is to create a deck with all high-cc creatures and few lands, thus guaranteeing you that you'll never be able to do anything in the early game.

Mana Screw
Mana screw refers to when a player doesn't draw enough land cards and/or acceleration for his or her deck to work effectively.

Metagame
Understanding the number of specific decks that will show up at a given tournament. The metagame is difficult to describe, and even harder to predict properly, but it involves knowing what decks are likely to appear at a tournament on a given day, then choosing a deck that is likely to beat those decks.

Permission
A style of deck that is heavy on counterspells and control. So called because you have to ask when you cast anything:"Mother, may I?"

Sac
To sacrifice.

SB
Sideboard, either as a noun or as a verb.

Stompy
A mono-green deck consisting of outrageously-cheap fatties, generally with a mana curve topping off at two. Several Stompy decks run only nine lands total.

Sligh
One of the first modern tournament decks, Sligh is a mono-red deck with a low mana-curve, a boatload of threats, and the ability to burn a player out quickly. Sligh shows up in every format sooner or later, even block formats, and always has some success, though it hasn't been a top-tier deck in years.

Tim
Prodigal Sorcerer. So named because he looks like the wizard from the Holy Grail; well, no he doesn't, but he's been called that anyway."You may call me... Tim." Sometimes this may also refer to any card which may tap for a point of damage.

Topdeck
To draw the card you absolutely needed at that time. Used as a noun or verb, depending on how you feel at the time.

Conflux Spoiler 4

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Here is an yet another interesting piece of spoiled artwork purportedly believed to be from the next Shards of Alara release, Conflux. The artwork is from regular Wizards of the Coast card-art contributor Anthony S. Waters which he had named 'Tar Pit'. This is the same artist who had brought us such recent Alara card-art as Blister Beetle, Ooze Garden, and Tar Fiend.

Now onto the speculations !

Quite obviously a 'Tar Pit' and possibly a land card.
From a review of the spoiled Conflux card names, we are left with only one name which fits with this art . . .

[CON] "Drag Down"

From this, definitely not a non-basic land card, which leaves us with an instant, enchantment, or sorcery.

Here is my speculation :

"Drag Down" {B}{G}
Uncommon
Instant
Target creature loses all abilities and becomes 0/1 until end of turn.

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Please feel free to comment or provide your own speculation

Alara Alternate MPS

sporvan from the forums blew the dust off this interesting piece of Alara goodness.

MPS are Japanese Promotional basic lands distributed as the prize of FNM / Arena League / draft and so on. These beautiful / stunning alternate lands are from artist John Avon.

Bant - Plains

Esper - Island

Naya - Forest

Jund - Mountain

Grixis - Swamp

What are MPS?

Magic Premiere Shops are
- A shop where you will always find Mtg product
- Gain the latest information
- A store that runs weekly/annual events
- Where they'll teach you how to play
- Where you can find players to play test
- Where you can be a better player
- Where you can get promo cards

MTG Budget Deck

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Building a Budget Deck - First off . . . Some general rules of thumb.

Rule # 1 : A chase-rare bomb and the most expensive card or deck does not guarantee a match win.

Rule # 2 : Use uncommons and commons as the foundation to your deck and add the rares only as accessories.

Rule # 3 : Think 'outside the box' by developing new or underused synergies and combinations.

The main reason why I develop budget decks is rather obvious . . . I have not yet won the lottery. Priorities are to provide the basic essentials for my three kids. After scrapping together a budget deck soon after a set's release, I continue to evolve it by replacing the less-expensive 'downgraded' cards with the more-expensive rares. I then begin to substitute cards and slowly over the months upgrade my deck.

The second reason I really do not mind playing a budget deck is the fun factor. By using wit, thiftiness, and brilliance (which do not come often enough to me), I am able to 'MacGyver' a deck through to a win much to the noticeable chagrin of my opponent who has a deck sets of rare awesomeness which fizzled.

Pulling a desired rare out of a booster pack is something akin to winning a scratch lottery ticket or perhaps (if you are Canadian), like winning a gas-guzzling SUV on a Tim Horton's roll-up the rim to win.

Here is a bit of a break down on the chances of getting that rare you wanted if you did not want to pay for a single or trade with a fellow player . . .

Booster Pack - $ 5 : This nets you one Rare, three Uncommons, ten Commons, and 1 Basic Land. There is a solid chance of getting a foil card in this mix which may be any card from the set.
Sealed Tournament deck - $ 15 : This will typically give you three Rares, ten Uncommons, thirty-two Commons, 30 basic lands
This means that three Booster Packs are roughly equivalent to one Tournament Pack
Remember that Mythic Rares replace approximately 1 in every 8 Rares.

My EPIC WIN . . .
I was playing at an FNM a few weeks ago, got a booster pack which I promptly opened. I like going through the commons first, and then the uncommons. Just like desert after a dinner, I look at the rare (which was decent) and then saw the foil . . . A foil Elspeth, Knight-Errant ! ! The non-foil versions are going for about $ 28 and the foil ones (if you can find any) for almost $ 60. This indeed was winning the MTG lottery.

Here is a bit of a break-down of the more expensive Shards of Alara cards. Remember that, just like any commodity, the prices of these cards are subject to supply and demand and will change and these are approximate prices only.

Sarkhan Vol - $ 30
Elspeth, Knight-Errant - $ 28 (I actually have two of these!)
Tezzeret the Seeker - $ 25
Rafiq of the Many - $ 13
Hellkite Overlord $ 10
Ajani Vengeant - $ 10
Empyrial Archangel - $ 8 (I have one)
Master of Etherium - $ 8
Sharuum the Hegemon - $8
Stoic Angel - $ 8 (I have one)

Hey - On a side note, if you are a store owner / supplier, I am quite willing to plug your business for any of these cards - -> drop me a line at CopySix (at) gmail dot com.

While we are yattering about prices, here is some interesting facts about the values of sets (from Lorwyn foreward) as pegged by StarCity Games. (Prices in USD)
Set Value:
Lorwyn - $ 174.99
Morningtide - $ 134.99
Shadowmoor - $ 184.99
Eventide - $ 139.99
Shards of Alara - $ 224.99


Further on to this discussion of comparison, here is a quick run-down of the number of rares worth more than $ 5 from each set.
Lorwyn - 16 / 80
Morningtide - 5 / 50
Shadowmoor - 15 / 80
Eventide - 13 / 60
Shards of Alara - 15 / 68 (this includes 11 mythic rares)

Conflux Speculation 1

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This is the first post of many to follow where I issue mad, unfounded and unsupported conjecture as to what the various new Conflux cards may hold for us in the second set of Alara.

We will start off with the interesting 'Scepter' cycles.

Scepter of Dominance
Scepter of Fugue
Scepter of Insight

+ They are all artifacts.

+ They will have multiple coloured mana costs.

+ Each Scepter will provide an effect you may tap for.


Scepter of Dominance, {1}{U}{B}
Uncommon, Artifact
{1} Tap : Target creature cannot block until end of turn.
{2} Tap : Target creatures you control gain fear until end of turn.


Scepter of Fugue, {1}{U}{B}
Uncommon, Artifact
{1} Tap : Target player discards a card.
{2} Tap : Target creature you control is unblockable until end of turn.


Scepter of Insight, {1}{W}{U}
Uncommon, Artifact
{1} Tap : Draw a card.
{2} Tap : Look at the top three cards of your library, then put them back in any order.









Feel free to comment and provide your own speculation . . .

WIN GOLD !

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So . . . imagine you are carrying around a bar of gold stuffed into your backpack along with your magic cards and a half-eaten lunch. The weight of it would be similar to that of a one-liter bottle of water. The weight on your mind however would be astronomical.

You start to wonder to yourself, just how many other people here at the Memphis bus station know I have a $ 10,000 bar of gold in my back-pack . . . Perhaps you start to think that although so very kewl, it may have been safer to have Wizards cut you a cheque with your name on it.

Anywho - these are the two choices you if you win at the WIN GOLD tournament next month in Memphis. As I am Canadian, and am not eligible, you have my envy. I will just have to settle for a replica gold bar 1 GB USB drive instead.

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The WIN GOLD Championship tournament will take place Sunday, December 14, 2008 at the Magic: The Gathering World Championship Tournament at the Memphis Cook Convention Center in Memphis, TN, USA. The format of the tournament will be Shards of Alara Sealed Deck. The winner of the tournament will have the option of winning a $10,000 engraved 14K gold bar or the equivalent in cash. There will be no entry fee.


PRIZES:
The winner of the Win GOLD tournament may choose 1 of the following prizes for which he or she is eligible.

Option A:
Magic Gold estimated value $10,000 (at the date of purchase approximately November 1, 2008)
1 bar of 14 carat gold with the Worlds logo embossed onto it. Prize will be on site, winner must take custody of it on day of winning tournament.

Option B
Prize: $10,000 USD.

Winner may select either prize so long as the selection is made immediately upon being named a potential winner in the Championship Tournament.



http://www.vavolo.com/productdetails.asp?productID=4161 usb
Classy Design-Gold Bar USB Drive-1GB for $ 32.00

Duels Trailer

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You may recall this POST, where during Pro-Tour Berlin, we were provided with some spoilers of the new Duels of the Planeswalkers, to be released for XBox Live Arcade sometime in 2009.

Wizards just posted a trailer for the game today on You-Tube . . .

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Here is the propaganda from WoTC marketing . .

Enter the multiverse of Magic: The GatheringDuels of the Planeswalkers. Challenge immensely powerful planeswalkers, expand your arsenal of fantastic creatures and devastating spells, and destroy online foes in your quest for domination. Available in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish. The ultimate strategy game comes to Xbox LIVE® Arcade and PC in 2009

New Mana Colour !

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Get ready to overhaul all your decks Boils & Ghouls . . . A 6th manna symbol has just been discovered. The colour is purple and it is called . . . Amélie ( ? ).

Kjeldor snapped this image at Avalon Valladolid a gaming store in Valladolid, Spain.


Perhaps not that much of a stretch to consider purple the sixth mana colour as we can see in this WoTC article from Paul Sottosanti back in January, 2007. WoTC were toying with the idea in which to portray an alternate reality for the Planar Chaos release.

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And now for something completely different . . .

Want to pimp out your deck boxes ? Check out these very cool storage boxes you can fit your decks, tokens, and dice into.



Mathieuarts is a Canadian artist who also teaches art and drawing and is also an avid Magic: The Gathering Player.

Unfortunately, he has not been commissioned by Wizards for any work yet. Until that time, you can find him buing boxes and executing beautiful work which he sells on his eBay Store. Just give him the name of your fav card and he will get it on a box for you.

The New Gatherer

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Gatherer is the Magic Card Database. From a skim of my internet browser history, you will find that this is the site that most often I visit and use for hours on end researching new evil combinations.


The much anticipated new beta version of Gatherer is now up and appears to be operational. The new dB has a number of improvements, including the ability to use an advanced search to do complex filters on all aspects of a card, a more visual and sortable interface for search results. I also appreciate that a new section has been added which allows you to rate, comment on and rate comments on each card.

Here's a short list of some of the new features you'll find in the new Gatherer:

> You can sort your results using multiple successive sorts. So for example, you could search for all Goblins in Magic, and then sort them by color, then converted mana cost, then name. Sort options are in the "Search Options" expandable area on the Search Results page.

>You can view ANY set of results as a Visual Spoiler! So for example, you could look for all of the Planeswalkers in Magic, and then switch to Visual Spoiler view to see them as a grid of cards. Visual Spoiler is a link in the same "Search Options" expandable area on the Search Results page.

>You can get a random card by clicking Random Card in the top navigation. (This is one of my favorite things to do on the new Gatherer.) You can also see the entire set in which a card was printed, or the entire works of that card's artist, by clicking on the links on the Card Details page.

> You can see statistics on another user's ratings and comments by clicking their name next to a comment they've made on a card.

Since I am always determined to be the first kid into the sandbox, I had already provided a rating and some individual card comments / discussion for Deathbringer Liege as shown below.

Thanks Wizards !

Nissa Revane Elf PW

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You may recall this POST, where we caught news of a new Planeswalker by the name of Nissa Revane on video footage from Pro-Tour Berlin. We caught only a glimspe of her during a demo of the soon to be released Duels of the Planeswalker Xbox 360 game.

During other coverage at Berlin, Nissa was spotted again elfing it up and adorning a wall while the pros battled. BTsume was able to use some of his photoshoppery magic to provide a better view of her.


As Nissa's name was not on the passenger list of card names from this Conflux spoiler HERE, we can only assume that she may make an enterance in Alara Reborn or another future MTG set release.

From the still image above, it is rather obvious that Nissa is an Elf, and most likely Black and Green. As to her abilities, let the wild speculations begin . . . Here are mine.

Nissa Revane {b}{b}{g}{g}
Loyalty 4
+1 : Put a 1/1 black and green elf warrior creature token into play.
+1 : Target player loses 1 life and discards one card.
-8 : Target player sacrifices all creatures and loses life equal to each creature's toughness.

What do you think ? > > Leave a comment with your speculation . . .

FNM Holiday Promo Card

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I am sure that you may just received this eMail yesterday from the WoTC yesterday from the DCIAutoEmailer, but we thought we should post in case you decided not to get propaganda fro Wizards.

Free promo Hyppies !

Play Friday Night Magic Get a Promo Card

Forge your destiny! Play Shards of Alara in at least two FNM tournaments between November 14th and December 12th, 2008 and receive one Hypnotic Specter promo card in your next MPR mailing!

Magic Player Rewards is a free program that rewards DCI members for their participation in sanctioned Magic: The Gathering tournaments with never-before-seen textless spells.

All registered MPR members, with up-to-date mailing information on file, are welcome to participate. FNM results will be reported to the DCI by all Tournament Organizers on or before December 18, 2008.

To learn more about MPR, register, or update your contact information, please click HERE.

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Also, another announcement from corporate world for fans of HeroClix (and other games).

The Topps Company announced today that WizKids will immediately cease operations and discontinue its product lines.
Scott Silverstein, CEO of Topps, said “This was an extremely difficult decision. While the company will still actively pursue gaming initiatives, we feel it is necessary to align our efforts more closely with Topps current sports and entertainment offerings which are being developed within our New York office.”

Upon notifying our partners, Topps will immediately pursue strategic alternatives so that viable brands and properties, including HeroClix, can continue without noticeable disruption. To that end, WizKids will continue supporting Buy it By the Brick redemptions for Arkham Asylum, and the December Organized Play events for HeroClix.

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Anywho, my theory . . . I think that corporate bean-counters already knew that they were going to splash WizKids when they took over in 2003. I think Jordan Weisman will not be sending Arthur Shorin a Christmas card this year.

Alara Combos 1

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Welcome to another post at MTG Realm. We would like to discuss some Shards of Alara card synergies and combinations here which we will limit to Standard. We would also enjoy hearing from you the reader about what you have seen or played recently which worked out well for you.

+

First up is a Archdemon of Unx + Goblin Assault combination. Archdemon is a great card to play when you wish to create a bunch of 2/2 black Zombie tokens. The drawback to this is that at the beginning of your upkeep, you need to find a non-Zombie critter to feed the Archdemon. The fun stops rather abruptly when the only non-Zombie critter left on your side is the Archdemon itself. The way to get around this is by supplying this hungry Zombie token-generating monster with an endless supply of 1/1 red goblins which are produced with the Goblin Assault enchantment.

To crank up this interesting combination, try using the Tenth Edition Grave Pack. Grave Pack will send one of your opponent's critters to the graveyard at the beginning of every turn at the same time your 1/1 Goblins take a dirt-nap and wake up a Zombie.



You may also want to send in Death Baron to pump up your newly created Zombies by +1/+1 and give them deathtouch. This way, you will be quite sure to have your opponent's side ploughed under and pave the way to win.


Here for your consideration is yet another synergy this time from the Shard of Bant which will provide you with a way to prevent all combat damage every turn. The drawback here is that you would have to wait until turn five to set this up.

+

At turn four, drop in your Bant Planeswalker, Elspeth, Knight-Errant who promises to supply you faithfully with a 1/1 white Soldier creature token every turn. Next turn, send in a Knight-Captain of Eos, which already comes into play with an extra two 1/1 Soldier tokens. As your opponent starts swinging, you need only to have an extra white mana on hand and a DOA Soldier token to prevent all combat damage.

Anywho, lets hear from you as to what your devious minds are cooking up with Alara and Standard combinations.

Jace vs. Chandra 2

You may recall this POST on the Jace vs. Chandra Duel Decks back on the 16th of December.

Just this last Monday, Kenneth Nagle (evil WoTC staffer) gave us the skinny on the contents of this much-anticipated special set.



Chandra's Deck - 60 Cards

LANDS - 25
1 Keldon Megaliths
24 Mountain

CREATURES - 20
1 Chartooth Cougar
1 Fireslinger
2 Flamekin Brawler
1 Flametongue Kavu
1 Flamewave Invoker
2 Furnace Whelp
1 Hostility
1 Ingot Chewer
2 Inner-Flame Acolyte
2 Oxidda Golem
1 Pyre Charger
1 Rakdos Pit Dragon
2 Slith Firewalker
2 Soulbright Flamekin

OTHER SPELLS - 15
1 Chandra Nalaar (Planeswalker)
1 Cone of Flame
1 Demonfire
2 Fireball
2 Fireblast
2 Firebolt
1 Flame Javelin
2 Incinerate
1 Magma Jet
2 Seal of Fire


Jace's Deck - 60 Cards

LANDS - 24
23 Island
1 Terrain Generator

CREATURES - 24
1 Aethersnipe
1 Air Elemental
1 Bottle Gnomes
1 Brine Elemental
1 Errant Ephemeron
2 Fathom Seer
1 Fledgling Mawcor
1 Guile
2 Man-o'-War
1 Martyr of Frost
2 Mulldrifter
1 Ophidian
1 Quicksilver Dragon
1 Riftwing Cloudskate
2 Spire Golem
1 Voidmage Apprentice
2 Wall of Deceit
1 Waterspout Djinn
1 Willbender

OTHER SPELLS - 12
1 Jace Beleren (Planeswalker)
1 Ancestral Vision
2 Condescend
2 Counterspell
1 Daze
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gush
1 Mind Stone
2 Repulse

I'm certain that most of you would tinker with the decks a bit but this set on first glance appears to promise to be a blast to play . . .

Agents of Artifice

You may recall this previous post about the MTG novel 'Alara Unbroken', by Doug Beyer. If you were not aware, there is another novel titled, "Agents of Artifice: A Planeswalker Novel", by Ari Marmell to be released on February 3, 2009.


Here is the skinny from WoTC marketing . . .

It is the dawn of a new age in the Multiverse. The balance of power is shifting and Agents of Artifice brings readers to the heart of a planeswalker struggle.

In Agents of Artifice, Ari Marmell reimagines planeswalkers, taking fans deeper than ever into the lives of the Multiverse's most powerful beings:

Jace Beleren, the prodigal son, a powerful telepath whose choices now will forever determine his path as a mage;
Liliana Vess, a temptress whose beauty belies a dark secret and even darker associations; and
Tezzeret, leader of an interplanar consortium whose quest for knowledge may be undone by his lust for power.

Follow these characters in their quests for knowledge and power. Will Jace's choices lead him astray of the right path? Will Liliana's past finally catch up with her? Will Tezzeret allow hubris to obscure his vision?

Conflux Spoiler 3

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Yurei from the forums had this to share recently from WoTC directed to merchants.

First off, looks like this may very well be a spell / enchantment and not really a creature. To push this further, I would say something defensive. The breach in this Akrasan fortress may have been the work of Valeron or Jhess but my speculation money is on another force altogether.

- Here is the sales propaganda for CONFLUX now -
KEY SELLING POINTS:

* Conflux is the second set in the Shards of Alara block.

* In Conflux, it is revealed that a sinister force is conspiring to reunite Alara. As this process begins, planes of reality begin to overlap, creating chaos on all five Shards of Alara.

* Conflux expands on the mechanics introduced in Shards of Alara, and injects even more powerful gold cards into the block.


SET SIZE AND PRODUCT OFFERINGS:

* 145 black-bordered cards (10 Mythic Rare, 35 rare, 40 uncommon, 60 common)

* Conflux will be sold in Booster Packs, Intro Packs, & Fat Packs (Fat Packs contain 8 booster packs).

* Intro packs are a new SKU introduced with Shards of Alara. Each Intro Pack contains a ready-to-play 41-card deck, 1 Booster pack, a strategy insert, and a Magic the Gathering rules insert for new players. Each deck comes with two rare cards, one of which is a premium foil rare card that is visible through the front of the box. There are 5 different Intro Packs in Conflux, packed 5 per box.