A Magical Holiday

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

On Monday, WotC staffer Blake Rasmussen posted a rather interesting article to the mothersite (linkage over here).  Properly titled, Magic Holiday Gift Guide and Holiday Buy-a-Box promo, this may be the first artilce we beleive that really was directed towards family and friends of the Magic: the Gathering player.  This is undoubtedly a rather difficult assessment for those individuals who know that the MTG fan in their life would be estatic to get a MTG present, but given the diverse nature (the  many and varied formats), choosing the right gift is difficult.  There may be some who think it impersonal to get a gift card at 'that store' the player goes to regularily, but perhaps it may be the best default choice.  Blakes artilce is perfect as it provides five clear choices for selecting the best Magic: the Gathering gift based upon what type of gamer they may be.

Speaking of MTG Holiday gift giving, MTG Realm popped in to our local gaming store, OMG! Games, here in Barrie, Ontario to pick up the 2016 Kaladesh Gift Box, as an early present to ourselves.

Here's a short video of the unboxing.

Rares / Mtyhic Rares Pulled
• Saheeli Rai
• Confiscation Coup (Foil)
• Blooming Marsh
• Multiform Wonder
• Syndicate Trafficker
• Midnight Oil

Promo Card 
Magic Origins and Kaladesh, illustrated by Daniel Ljunggren
Kaladesh Gift Box Promo card, illustrated by Jung Park
The foundries of Kaladesh run like clockwork under the supervision of their formidable overseers.

Contents: 
• A storage box that holds more than 800 cards
• 5 Kaladesh booster packs
• 20-card Kaladesh basic land pack
•1 premium, foil promo card (Chief of the Foundry)
• 6 illustrated plastic dividers
• Sticker sheet for customizing the dividers

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2016 MTG Gift Box

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Happy Wednesday MTG peeps,

Wizards of the Coast have been producing a Holiday Gift Box since 2012, and while it was certainly a big hit with Magic: the Gathering fans when it was first released strategically just before the year end Holidays, the appeal did wane with the last two releases.  The most common complaint from consumers essentially distilled down to the durability of the box itself.  We've heard and / or seen damage to the card storage box through use as well as product shipping.  A number of fans had also registered irritation that last year's product, the Battle for Zendikar Holiday Gift Box included an image of highly desirable full-art lands whereas the product contained regular lands in the land pack.  In defense of WotC, there was a good measure of communication and apologies for this print error prior to the product's release.

It appears that Wizards of the Coast has addressed this now.  WotC has indicated in this Wizards Play Network video with WPN Community Manager, Michael Yichao and Global Brand Manager, Brian Trunk, that there are some siginificant changes coming to the design, as well as product release date.  

Firstly, the release date - the previous four Holiday Gift Boxes were released in November of each year and corresponded to the 'large' fall set.  This year, the product, now called 'The Magic: The Gathering Gift Box' is being released in May (just a month away from today's post).  

Secondly, the Gift Box design has changed to make it more robust than ever.  The supportive neck of the box has been made taller so that the lid sits on the neck, higher off the bottom lip. This prevents the lid from overlapping and causing potential splitting at the corners.  There is to be a disposable supporting brace designed to eliminate damage to the box and contents during shipping.  In addition to this, it is reported that with the taller box neck, design allowed an 'easy-access window' to allow one improved access to the three rows of cards.

Here is the video from Michael and Brian now - 


The Shadows over Innistrad Gift Box releases May 13, 2016 for a suggested retail price of $24.99 (USD).  Here is what you will find inside -

• 5 Shadows over Innistrad booster packs
• Storage Box with capacity for over 2,000 Magic cards
• 20 Shadows over Innistrad basic lands
• 6 illustrated plastic dividers
• Sticker sheet for customizing the dividers
• 1 Alternate art card from the Shadows over Innistrad set

For reference, here are the previous gift box details and its promo card -

2012 Return to Ravnica, Dreg Mangler
2013 Theros, Karametra's Acolyte
2014 Khans of Tarkir, Sultai Charm
2015 Battle for Zendikar, Scythe Leopard
2016 Shadows over Innistrad, Ravenous Bloodseeker (spring release)

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Promo Round-Up

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Happy Monday MTG peeps,

Although it was pretty dang cold, altogether it was a rather nice weekend here.  Kicking the weekend off on Friday, we went to Friday Night Magic at our local card shop, OMG! Games (near the College here in Barrie, Ontario) and went 3 wins / 2 losses with a funky Bant Hexproof build, taking us to 7th place which meant some packs and this month's FNM promo (see below).  Attendance was not the best at all (likely due to the horrible weather) with only 20 or so players.  We played agains Duncan, Curt, Brayden, Korie and Ben and in-between rounds brought along a 'fun' experimental deck to see just how well it would perform.  One observation we made - we most definitely need to pick up some additional non-basic lands from MTG Mint Card.  We did a bunch of yard / house work on Saturday / Sunday, got in a few games at the kitchen table and brewed up a few against the grain decks.  We also popped on online throughout the weekend to catch up with the big MTG Grand Prix tournament in Santiago.  Congratulations to player Luis Navas who gamed with a Rakdos Aggro (Exava / Mogis's Marauder / Xathrid Necromancer / etc.).

Righto - back onto topic - we have for you today a bunch of Magic: the Gathering promos from various programs 'n' products.  We may have posted some of these before on our sister site MTG Realm on Tumblr but want to roll it all into a big ball here.  Let's go . . .

Theros Holiday Gift BoxWe absolutely LOVED the Gift Box product from last year (Return to Ravnica) and will most definitely be picking up up again this year (to gift ourselves!).  The box itself can hold more than 2,000 Magic cards and is available worldwide in English on November 15, 2013. You do get more than just a beautiful box to store your cards in for the MSRP of $19.99, though! To wit:

• Four Theros booster packs
• Beautiful storage box that can hold more than 2,000 Magic cards
• Twenty Theros basic lands
• Six illustrated plastic dividers
• Sticker sheet for customizing the dividers
• An alternate-art Karametra's Acolyte from the Theros set

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Theros League
The League is a seasonal Magic: The Gathering tournament organized by the DCI. The ongoing, five-week tournament is played in local game and hobby stores around the world, a month after each a new card set is released. This sealed deck tournament follows up on Game Day events and uses the Standard format.  Check your local gaming store to see when your league starts - If it already has, chances are they may have another league starting up again.  The Theros League promo is a lovely Soldier token with art form Zoltan Boros which now brings us to 3 different white soldier tokens and 1 red soldier token.

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If you've missed it, here's the recent round-up Friday Night Magic promos -

November 2013 - Grisly Salvage
Original art illustrated by Dave Kendall
Alternate FNm art illustrated by Maciej Kuciara

December 2013 - Sin Collector
Original art illustrated by Mike Bierek
Alternate FNm art illustrated by Izzy
By far, the most creepy and unsettling art in recent memory!

January 2014 - Warleader's Helix
Original art illustrated by Greg Staples
Alternate FNm art illustrated by Wesley Burt

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MTG 2013 Holiday Gift Box

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Happy Friday MTG peeps,

As it is Friday, you should consider attending a Friday Night Magic event at a local gaming store, where friends and fiends meet.  You have a chance of adding a slick alternate art Dimir Charm to your Magic: the Gathering collection.  We'll be at our fav LGS, OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario, Canada-Land where we've got a few new MTG singles from MTG Mint Card to tweak that Bant hexproof stack we've been playing.

Anywhoos - some news today from the mothersite - they've just announced that they will be producing another Holiday Gift Box this November, just in time for Christmas.  We were very impressed with last year's Gift Box (look for our article / video review over here), and are certainly going to have one set aside for us this year.

Anywhoos - here's the 4.1.1. from the motersite -

The box itself can hold more than 2,000 Magic cards and is available worldwide in English on November 15, 2013. You do get more than just a beautiful box to store your cards in for the MSRP of $19.99, though! To wit:

• Four Theros booster packs
• Beautiful storage box that can hold more than 2,000 Magic cards
• Twenty Theros basic lands
• Six illustrated plastic dividers
• Sticker sheet for customizing the dividers
• An alternate-art Karametra's Acolyte from the Theros set

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Did you see that too?  Yep - a card name for Theros - Karametra's Acolyte.  Pop your speculation hat on yer noggin!  We're thinking Karametra is either the red-aligned 'god' or perhaps a legendary creature spell from the City of Akris on Theros.  Throw your comment in below!
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Lastly, here's a few pics from last year's Holiday Gift Box -

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MTG Holiday Gift Box

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Happy Saturday MTG peeps,

On Friday we  dropped by OMG! Games here in Barrie, Ontario to pick up up the Magic: the Gathering 2012 Holiday Gift Box.  

This makes a very splendid gift for that  special gamer in your life and is an easy choice for those who may not really know Magic: the Gathering what that recipient. 

OMG! Games are holding the line on the MRSP and are selling these for $19.99 while other retailers we've checked on have these priced for $40.  This is a really decent deal and we are going to give this Wizards of the Coast product two thumbs up.

Here's the unbox video and brief review -

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Here's what you get - 
• Card Storage Box (over 2,000 card capacity)
• Four Return to Ravnica booster packs
• A pack of twenty Return to Ravnica basic land
• Six illustrated plastic dividers
• A sticker sheet for customizing the dividers
• An alt-art Dreg Mangler from RtR

Here's what we pulled in our four packs - 

Pack 1 : Isperia, Supreme Judge
Pack 2 : Pack Rat
Pack 3 : Pithing Needle
Pack 4 : Rakdos, Lord of Riots (foil), Jared, Golgari Lich Lord

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MTG Gift Box

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Happy Tuesday MTG peeps,
Last evening was some serious weather for those living on the north-eastern seaboard.  Here in Barrie, some 900 kilometers north-west of where Hurricane Sandy hit land, we had no more than strong winds, driving rains and a few trees down.  We were expecting to accumulate a pile of Halloween decorations in front of our place but unfortunately we'll have to hit up a dollar store as no windfall was delivered.

Anywhoos - we wanted to catch up with a rather old piece of news from the mothersite.  First annonced back in August on Magic Arcana, the 2012 Holiday Gift Box is set to be released to local Magic: the Gathering stores worldwide on 16th November 2012, just in time for purchase as a Christmas gift for that gamer in your life - or, if like us, we'll buy it, wrap it, and slid it under the Christmas tree for ourselves.  We will also need to get some Magic: the Gathering singles from MTG Mint Card for stocking stuffers.

Anywhoos - let's have a look at what the MRSP of $20 will get you :

• Four Return to Ravnica booster packs
• A pack of twenty Return to Ravnica basic land
• Six illustrated plastic dividers
• A sticker sheet for customizing the dividers
• An alternate-art Dreg Mangler from Return to Ravnica

The alternate art Dreg Mangler, illustrated by Svetlin Velinov is pretty sweet and we think as good as Peter Mohrbacher's original art.
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