My next move.

The year is coming to a close in 2 months, so I'll do a short wrap up on a few things while disclosing what I am personally thinking and aiming for the next year. It will take time to prepare, so I might as well get ready now.

Budget and Funding:
As I did mention earlier about some errors I made within the year, I figured that it is better to restart my trading. For the past few months, I have been planning, tying up loose ends and clearing out tabs. From there, I would be looking to save up a good amount as capital. Nevermind the the quantity as capital as from there, I will work my way back up. So far now I am back on track to do trading

Decks

I think this one is rather straightforward. I intend to break the format with my 5C reanimator deck. Ally decks really deserves more spotlight as a tribe. Yes, the support for the tribe eventually fell flat, but hey, Return to Zendikar or Zendikar something? There is a very hot speculation that the storyline will go into Zendikar next. Maybe we would see Allies.. My very guess is that Allies would see additional support or some sort of new prints in the next block if it features a return to Zendikar Planes, or if not maybe in the last core set. 

I do have an EDH deck which I am in the process of foiling it. So that takes priority for the next couple of years. It would be hard on my wallet, but I will consider this as a very long term investment into the game. Building the full deck at foil and the "final upgrade" will be the most expensive spending project. I intend to target the original Dual-lands, foil fetchlands and a couple of cards that are crazily expensive due to casual demand.

My modern deck? Let's just say that once I am able to break the format in one way or another, or I actually do perform well as a dark horse, I'll start foiling it. Even if I am unable to foil it, 80% are already Japanese cards so I considered it pimped. It's not a priority to foil it as I don't see myself going very competitive with it in the near future. Hence, I would rather foil my EDH deck.

I actually have another deck in the works as and when I can find the pieces. It's relatively more expensive than my Ally deck currently, and the core of the UW deck I was playing a couple of weeks back is transferable to the new deck. 

That deck is also an underdog deck, which had seen performance and wonderful plays. It is currently not in the meta (obviously) and I'm intending to work with the deck more IF Deathrite Shaman gets unbanned. Not because I will use it, but the Reanimator deck will crumble with Deathrite Shaman getting unbanned. No, I have no immediate plans to foil that deck. Though it would be good to start now actually.

Trades - 

Trades will be relatively simple to discuss, but complicated to explain my exact moves as to what I am going to do to reach there. I am currently doing trades in Pucatrade.com and Deckbox.com 

My direct links are as shown;

Pucatrade: https://pucatrade.com/invite/gift/6429

Deckbox: https://deckbox.org/users/xxDSJJxx

I do enjoy trading there, just that the shipping fees do take up some part of the actual trade amount in the end. I am also looking to get in a few cards at cheap prices as short-term and long term investments. 

Some of the targeted pieces are as shown; 

Shocklands: Mid-term (2-3 Years)

• Once the lands go up to an average of $14 a piece for player's price, I'll let go the excess for other stuff.
• Reprints not possible for this coming 2 years, but it is not impossible to see reprint after that to hold the price down for Modern. 
• I'll look to trade for foils. Those will be the ones I'll be keeping for longer term.

Abrupt Decay: Short-Term (~1 Years)

• This is somewhat the Vindicate of Modern. It hits just about most of the cards played in modern. It's also seen in play in Legacy and in EDH due to its versatility.
• The ceiling for Abrupt Decay is predicted to be around $15, with the current price to be at about $12. However, I refused to believe to be so low. I think there is a good chance to hit around $18-$20 during modern season.
• This will have a high chance of seeing reprints. Once I see it hitting around $14, I can consider letting go or trading it for other stuffs.

Fetchlands: Not now

• I personally doubt that this is the right time to invest in fetchlands. Let people hoard for all I care. The boxes will continue to be opened like no tomorrow and the supply will still exceed demand. 
• I would start buying in once the prices dip a little more. That would be the best time to start buying the required pieces. In fact, If budget permits, I would target the foil ones for $50/$70 for non-blue/blue fetches.
• Zendikar Fetches reprints are inevitable. It's coming; just a matter of when. When it's reprinted, I won't make the mistake of buying the boxes; I'll grab the singles.

Snapcaster Mage: Long-term (~3 Years)

• This multi-format staple has hit blue decks immediately it was released; I loved this card for what it does and yes, I am well aware of the power. If Vendilion Clique is justified to be a $70 card at the point of writing, I feel Snapcaster Mage do have a high potential to hit $50 easily! I'd buy him in at $30 and hold them or as trading chips
• Reprints for him is very unlikely; Maybe only for premium sets like FTV or Modern Masters 2.

Voice of Resurgence: Long-term (~3 Years)

• Similar to Snapcaster Mage; this card is severely underplayed. I'll look to trade into this as much as possible.
• However, this is not a priority to pick up yet. 

Ghostfire Blade: Short-term (~6 Months)

• Currently Ghostfire blade is a dollar rare which I am taking in at $0.50 a piece. If any chance it goes up to $3 or $4, that's the best time to let go. I'm also taking in foil ones at $1-$1.50 where possible. 

Actually, this will see immediate release if the second set is confirmed to be revolving around Ugin or colourless stuff.

Monastery Swiftspear: Mid-term (~1 to 2 Years)

• Monastery Swiftspear is a card which I may hold longer. It's a good card that has seen play in Modern and Legacy. $1 (at the point of writing) for that card is too cheap for its power. I'm speculating that it will hit the same curve as Aven Mindcensor within a few years. 
• I will have to tank the prices if it dips, which is unlikely, but if the trend of pack opening continues on like this, the possibility is there. It is very unlikely foils for Swiftspear to hit below $10 mark if the demand meets the supply. For now I would assume supply will exceed demand, so I'll grab the foil copies for longer term investments

(It has broken the $2 mark at the point of writing)

EDH (???)

• Not a big fan of holding out EDH staples after a lesson learnt unless I am starting my own shop; I don't have the capacity and the budget to hold out EDH staples. It is a format that is thriving on the casual demand.
• Honestly as I did mentioned in an older article that EDH is a good format to invest; I still stand by my ironic comment, but that is IF I have the capacity and budget to hold the cards; I have to remember that EDH is a VERY long term investment, so it doesn't make sense for me, as a growing trader, to horde EDH cards so early in my trading and sit there without the capability to move the cards.
• Also, priority investment in EDH goes to the staples like tutors and good removals. Foils are also very highly sought after!
• I'm working on a project to foil out my EDH. This includes the foil fetches and even acquiring Revised Dual Lands as it is the only EDH deck that I will be having and making for the current period of this coming few years. 

Foil Planeswalkers: (Long Term)

• I started this blog mentioning this is my end point; Initially I wanted to make a blog on the journey of myself collecting the planeswalker (much like Pokemon, where you go collect everyone of them)... Well, to an extent, I am still collecting them, but not as a priority now as my budget is tighter when I go up the collection list.
• Just to note, I aim to trade for those rather than to buy directly, so this is meant to be a long term project...
• All else fails, this becomes a good trading chip for other staples.

Speaking of trading....

This leads to..

Project-Zer0

I'll be honest here. I don't intend to do this at the scale I am doing now for long. It is either I work my way up to find a bigger source of bulk rares and move them faster or I will slowly cease this project, bringing it to a closure. It is not because that I have no sources or unable to continue the project for any reason. It is that the collection will overtime slow down in the movement capacity and financially it's not very viable. Sure I can hold the card stocks, but if I would do that, I rather hold out in hundreds to make the holding sustainable and justified when the prices do spike.

I will keep this in view; I enjoyed working this project, but eventually it would not be possible for me to lug around boxes of cards to game stores without causing any rift. So, if I were to do it from home, I have to find more publicity. It's a good thing that the local scene here knows of the branding of the Project. Now the next step up is to work on building the value of it. 

For as much as possible, I will continue to blog. I used to blog about my personal life for 5 years before closing the blog. So I had experience writing blogs on a daily basis, but due to the school work and other commitments, I can only push out 5-6 entries per month. (4-5 if I have to do some research before posting.)

I haven't had the eligibility to sign up for Adsense, but I am currently using Nuffnang as advertising campaigns to support my endeavor. I don't expect to get paid via the advertisements doing this due to the relatively lower traffic as compared to the other blogs out there, but I am looking to do commision-based articles if I have the opportunity to fund my work and trades.

So what's my next move? I personally think that the capital building is the most important right now. I've decided to take 5 months to save as much as I can before hitting the buylist again. The goal for me is to get about $400-$500 in capital. From there, it just voice to which card to buy for investment value.

Modern Gameplay Review: 25th October 2014

Yea, I've gotten a bit lazy to update. Because this is going to be long. 5 games to cover! So let's go!

This is the coverage for the Modern event at MTG-Asia @ Aliwal Street. Again, it's my Ally deck.

Deck: 5C Human-Ally Reanimator

I did a fair bit of changes. I've maxed out all the enablers to increase consistency. Sideboard requires a few works here and there, so I'm still tweaking and trying out a few stuff. Slaughter Games is a very powerful card in the right deck, and I feel it's a good card against Control matches. I'm still looking for aggro match-ups and a few ideas came into my mind; Night of the Soul's Betrayal, Supreme Verdict and Engineered Explosives made the cut, but I am not convinced.

Any case, let's review my game play!

Round 1: UWR Gargadon (2-0)

Game 1:

I faced a very interesting deck for my first game. The opponent first appears to play Hallowed Fountains and I'm skeptical at first, whether it is a UWx control deck. Well I didn't know what deck he is playing until post-game.

I just played out my creatures and hit into a few removals but that didn't stop me from setting up my combo pieces. Eventually I managed to pull off my combo, pulling Angel of Glory's Rise and milling the opponent 42 cards. My opponent later conceded. 

SB:
-1 Harabaz Druid
-1 Reflecting Pool
-2 Izzet Charm

+2 Choke
+1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All
+2 Slaugther Games

Game 2:
You remember how I was mentioning that Empyrial Archangel is a sick card to target from graveyard and landing in turn 4? This game just showed me that.

Apparently my opponent still didn't manage to get close to showing me his deck. I wasn't sure what was the deck, but I know he had Cryptic Command in his deck (he cast that in game 1 as a counter and to tap my creatures). So I tapped out to cast Slaughter Games, naming Cryptic Command and also to see what is his deck actually is.

It turns out to be Jeskai Gargadon, which utilizes Greater Gargadon as a time clock. The opponent then proceeded to control the game and when the time is right, he will stop the suspend and land the Gargadon for the win. He didn't managed to do that.

I reanimated Empyrial Archangel and proceeded to swing in a beatdown plan. 2 turns later, I reanimated the other and my opponent conceded with 10 life. It will be a lethal swing the next turn.

Round 2: UWR Control (0-2) [Toshi]

Game 1: 
I think every match coverage will feature this gentleman here. Wizards really love to friendly fire much...

The first game is quick. As I did some changes to the deck, so did the opponent. He tuned the deck to be much faster and true enough, I was overwhelmed before hitting my 4th mana.

SB:

-2 Izzet Charm

-1 Harabaz Druid

-1 Kazandu Blademaster

-1 Angel of Glory's Rise

+2 Choke

+1 Engineered Explosives

+1 Night of the Soul's Betrayal

+1 Supreme Verdict

Game 2:

This game allowed me to test a few of my sideboard cards. For one, Choke is counter-productive to my deck. Two, never go 1-off in sideboards unless you have sure-fire ways the card will be easily found.

I couldn't find my combo pieces; my opening hand went aggro and I chose to keep it. My opponent easily removed my creatures and tried to "Blood Moon" me by casting Magus of the Moon. Thankfully for the basic lands, but in the end, I lost due to the army and the incoming damage.

Round 3: RDW (0-2)

Game 1: 

Generally, against RDW, it would be something like this,
land a creature, beat, burn and burn until game over.

So basically, the game went as said. my opponent landed a Vexing Devil on the first turn and I paid 4 life to get him out. He later landed another which I allowed him to resolve.

I held the game long enough to pull off my combo, which actually enabled a 50-card mill. However, my opponent managed to remove 1 halimar excavator on the trigger stack and ended up mill-ing him 16 cards. He took the game by casting 2 boros charm, dealing lethal to my 8 life left.

SB:

-1 Angel of Glory's Rise

-1 Harabaz Druid

-4 Izzet Charm

+1 Engineered Explosives

+1 Night of Soul's Betrayal

+1 Pithing Needle
+2 Slaughter Games

Game 2:

I lost the second game is even faster. The opponent incinerated my creatures; I'm perfectly fine with that. However what I am not okay with was that I could have reanimated a turn 4 Empyrial Archangel, which effectively could have shut the game down.

But, I'm not okay with the turn 1 Tormod's Crypt. It just completely shuts down my game plan. He prevented my plans and later landed another. However, I won't play on the game on as it basically just a slow "death" for me. Maybe, rather, a quick one soon.

Round 4: Rakdos (1-2)

Game 1: 

Lost the game fairly quickly due to the lack of my combo pieces. The deck ran Dark Confidant, Gatekeeper of Malakir and Liliana of the Veil. The more interesting card that this:

Tymaret, the Murder King has a bunch of utility that may be another Deathrite Shaman in the right deck. But, from what I have seen, basically he's a more annoying Reassembling Skeleton. Yet to see potential from the card, but gives me a few ideas to run into.

In the match, I lost from the aggressive beat down. I have no combo pieces and no creatures to hold back the beat down.

SB:

-1 Unburial Rites

-2 Izzet Charm

-1 Harabaz Druid

-1 Angel of Glory's Rise

+2 Slaughter Games

+3 Pithing Needle 

Game 2:

The second game is more interesting. The opponent managed to cast Surgical Extraction, naming Angel of Glory's Rise. Quite surprising to  him was that I sided out one piece. Doubt if he was aware of my other alternative plans.

Nevertheless I managed to reanimate Empyrial Archangel, later cast a Mirror Entity. I eventually managed to take the game through a beatdown.

SB:
-2 Izzet Charm

+2 Path to Exile

Game 3:

I took too much life from the Fetch/Shock set-up. Also, with the beatdown from my opponent doesn't make it any better. I made a mistake by activating the reanimator too early. The difference was the Liliana of the Veil in the opposing board and his creatures he was playing..

I was at 4 life with 2 opposing creatures to beat for lethal. I could have survived another turn by flashing the reanimation on combat step to survive a turn. However, I was too rush to play it. So upon that turn, I conceded.

Round 5: UB Tezzeret (2-0)

Game 1: 

The first game is really quick. I was roughly in mind that the opponent is running some form of control, but the initial idea wasn't clear until I start seeing artifacts and I did overhear someone playing UB Tezzeret, so the aim basically is to combo off as fast as possible.

Thankfully my deck opened with a good hand and I managed to combo, pulling off the mill with 40+ cards. The opponent conceded quickly after that.

SB:

-1 Unburial Rites

-2 Izzet Charm

-1 Harabaz Druid

-1 Angel of Glory's Rise

+2 Stony Silence

+2 Slaughter Games

+1 Pithing Needle

Game 2:

The second game is much more interesting; I landed a turn 2 Stony Silence, which I managed to shut him down for a couple of turns. He ended discarding his mass removals and basically could not do anything. This gave me some time to set up my combo (my opening hand wasn't great).

My opponent managed to boardwipe using Engineered Explosives*, but luckily it fed my combo. So, I

Eventually I managed to pull off the combo with Angel of Glory's Rise, then later casting Mirror Entity. The next turn I swing in for overkill, making everyone 11/11.

*Overlooked this fact; Stony Silence shuts down Engineered Explosives.. So actually there is no way that he could have removed my board in this game.

I finished 16th, with a final score of 2-3. Hence, I got only 1 prize pack;

Pack Prize: Sultai Ascendancy... + Foil Zurgo Helmsmasher

Pointers for this week;

• At best, hold the opening hand with the cards for digging. In fact, I should be holding an opening hand which helps to dig the library for cards; not anything that seems on the aggro side. 
• Hold the game for half a turn if needed; if I can pull off the instant reanimator, it's best to do it on my opponent's turn unless it's necessary.
• Choke have to go. Its drawback is too much for my deck in most conditions as I do play a significant amount of Island.
• My thoughts for anti-aggro decks in sideboard would either to add in more removals or disruptions. Conventional disruptions won't help much, so I figured Engineered Explosives and Chalice of the Void may do the trick as most threats are cmc 1 or 2. 
• My other ideas included Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite and Iona, Shield of Emeria as reanimating options
• The other point to take note of is the abundance of graveyard hate. Tormod's Crypt, Relic of Progenitus, Rest in Peace and Scavenging Ooze are all major threats. 

Modern Gameplay Review: 21st & 22nd October 2014

Back with a double Modern Gameplay review! But, this time round I'm not going to go into details in the 2 games (the next one will be in full details as much as possible!). This article will focus more on the flaws of my deck and how I will want to tackle to improve the deck.

21st October 2014 @ Aliwal Street

The deck underwent a massive revamp to tune and increase the consistency of pulling off the combo. Some of the obvious changes is the inclusion of Makeshift Mannequin, Izzet Charm and Taigam's Scheming. These cards will help to push the deck to improve the consistency in its reanimator strategy.

Empyrial Archangel was added in as a 1-off to test against the meta. 5/8 Flyer with shroud is very powerful, considering that she can block anything. In fact her second ability makes it the reason why I want to play her in my 75. Plus, getting her in turn 4 is really powerful as a threat.

Round 1: UR Delver (0-2)

Side Note: The pilot of the deck is, again, Toshi!

Game 1 & 2: 

I think by now we pretty much know how the deck goes against UR delver. It's a given match to the opponent cos it's too fast! I basically could not pull off the combo any time in the game because my pieces are lacking... Great...

SB:

-1 Angel of Glory's Rise

-2 Izzet Charm

-1 Gifts Ungiven
-1 Harabaz Druid

+1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All

+2 Choke

+2 Engineered Explosives
+1 Empyrial Archangel

I lost both games are pretty much for the same reason;

• Messed up land base. Didn't manage to acquire 
• No reanimator options when I have the reanimators
• No reanimators when I have options
• Sideboard cards are not effective

In short, the deck was still inconsistent with its combo pieces. Now, before going out and ask why don't I play the griselbrand reanimator deck instead? It's simply because it's a known and established deck. There is nothing to improve on and also, it's expensive to build. 

Round 2: Jund (0-2) [Arnold]

Game 1&2: 

Yea, if you get the pattern for today's game, you realise I'm just going to report the 2 games as one paragraph again.
Primarily, I lost the game due to mana-jam and wrong colour sources or land type. Also, being stuck at 2-3 mana for a few turns against a disruptive decks can really strip away your options and basically, you're waiting to concede the game.

SB:

-1 Izzet Charm
-1 Gifts Ungiven
-1 Angel of Glory's Rise
-1 Harabaz Druid

+2 Meddling Mage
+2 Path to Exile
+1 Empyrial Archangel

I think I can elaborate more from here about the land issues. My land count is 20 cards, which gives me a 1/3 chance in drawing a land when I need it. I "cheat" the odds by playing cards to dig and filter my deck. So as to what I need and what I do not, I know beforehand.

That's ideal case actually. In reality, a lot of factors affects my draw rate. Can you actually believe that for one of the games, I actually have to struggle through 5-6 turns without a digging card like Faithless Looting or Taigam's Scheming? Stuff like this happens sometimes.

• multi-coloured lands but cannot activate at the right time
• wrong lands at the wrong time.
• shuffling problem leading to land screw

Also, when I did the tuning, 21 lands seems to flood me with lands, while 20 lands seems to be a bit on the edge. Well, that always happen; at 21/22 or 22/23 lands. My thought for 20 lands is basically to thin down the deck for more options or cards to play. Afterall, this deck actually just requires 4 lands to work. Again, ideal scenario.

Round 3: Merfolk (0-2)

Game 1: 

Merfolk deck is a deck which I personally think that there is no proper sideboard against it. This variation of Merfolk is more aggressive (great...)

In the first game, the game is very quickly over with the army of Merfolks. Bascially so long as 1 merfolk is there, the next one will either receive the buff or the other way round. Seriously, it's basically an army of "Lords". Making things worse is the islandwalk; I play 5 colours, so that really hits me hard. 7 damage, 8 damage, and.... I'm dead. On my side? I couldn't find a reanimator.

SB:

-1 Kazandu Blademaster

-3 Izzet Charm

-1 Gifts Ungiven
-1 Harabaz Druid

+2 Engineered Explosives

+2 Choke

+2 Pithing Needle

Game 2:

I could slow the opponent with choke and Engineered Explosives, but the real threat here is Aether Vial. I managed to sunburst my Engineered Explosives for 2 charge counters and 3 turns later, activate it to blow up 2 merfolks before they get out of hand (This game was slower for some reason). I landed Choke on the following turn, which theoretically should shut him down, but thanks to Aether Vial, the threats still enter and yep, that's the game.

Pack Prize: Utter End

22nd October 2014 @ Superstar Gaming

Not much tuning from the previous day; I was too tired to think of any changes for the deck. I only change the Sideboard to include Kitchen Finks and 1 more Pithing Needle.

Round 1: RDW (0-2)

Game 1 & 2: 

I lost both games for a simple reason; I cannot handle aggro decks. My sideboard can be used previously to hose most decks, but the changes in the deck would also the sideboard to be updated.

Basically against aggro decks, I need to combo by t5 latest. I made a grave mistake in throwing the wrong reanimator card into the graveyard. I am supposed to throw Unburial Rites instead of Makeshift Mannequin. Guessed which one I ended up throwing by mistake.

For the Second game, I have kitchen finks, but Eidolon of the Great Revel is a threat too annoying to handle while trying to pull off the combo. In fact, I could not find a single reanimator option for my Empyrial Archangel, which was in the graveyard by t3. 

• Messed up land base
• No reanimator options when I have the reanimators
• No reanimators when I have options

SB:

-3 Izzet Charm

-1 Harabaz Druid

+3 Kitchen Finks

+1 Empyrial Archangel

Round 2: BG "the Rock" (0-2)

Game 1: 

The game went off strong on my side at first; I was pummeling the opponent with a good deal of damage until he manage to draw options and threats. He removed my Kazandu Blademaster and Hada Freeblades with Abrupt Decay and Maelstrom pulse, pulled out a Tarmogoyf, and quickly hit me for a great amount of damage. I could only take that much beating until I gave up.

SB:

-1 Izzet Charm
-2 Harabaz Druid
-1 Kazandu Blademaster
-1 Gifts Ungiven

+2 Path to Exile
+3 Pithing Needle

Game 2:
I just hate Scavenging Ooze. Period. Turn 2 Ooze thwarted my plans and my Pithing Needle was removed. I lost the game when the opponent starts buffet.

Round 3: Jund (1-2) [Arnold]

Game 1:

Similar to round 2, Game 2, Scavenging Ooze goes on a Buffet and his brother Tarmogoyf went on rampage.

SB:

-1 Izzet Charm

-2 Harabaz Druid

-1 Kazandu Blademaster

-1 Gifts Ungiven

-1 Angel of Glory's Rise

+2 Path to Exile

+3 Pithing Needle

+1 Empyrial Archangel

Game 2: 

This game truly show me the potential of my deck. It managed to withstand the early game and I pulled out the combo. (FINALLY!) And basically I hammered the opponent with just the right amount of damage. Mirror Entity really takes the game here.

SB:
No Changes.

Game 3:

I managed to pull off the combo, but not to my luck, I milled him 30 to 40+ cards, but it isn't enough to take the game. The problem was that I milled everything but his removals, so I lost the game after the following moves: The opponent casted surgical extraction targeting my remaining Unburial Rites, removed them, and managed to kill off my threats one by one. Eventually he managed to land a Tarmogoyf. I conceded after not having enough mana to cast the Empyrial Archangel on my hand (2 mana short...) and I'm not willing to drag the game.

Round 4: Bye~

I got a Bye in the last round, so yea... 

Prize Pack: Dragon-Style Twin....

Pointers for this week;

• Think if you have read the games, a glaring issue is the consistency of the deck to pull off the combo; either by lacking the reanimator or the target cards. 
• Against Aggro deck, I don't have the capability to race against the clock. Hence, I need find some sort of control elements in sideboard to slow them down.
• I will definitely explore options like Iona, Shield of Emeria, Linvala, Keeper of Silence to hose opponents. 
• At the moment now, the main thing is for my deck to tune its consistency.

Modern Gameplay Review: 14 October 2014

Back with another Game-play coverage!

I played at MTG-Asia @ Aliwal Street. So no changes to any thing other than my deck. I decided to use back my Ally deck.

Deck: 5C Human-Ally Reanimator

I did a fair bit of changes since the last game. I took some cards from my UW midrange and added into the Sideboard. On top of that, I added some cards to test out like Domri Rade and Ghostway. I think I want to play a home-brew deck instead of relying on primers. For my UW deck, I'm eventually building to a tri-coloured deck. Just now is not the time yet.

Any case, let's review my game play!

Round 1: B/G "the Rock"(1-2)

Game 1:

The first game is very interesting. I was in a mad rush to get my combo pieces as quickly as possible. The opponent had a 4/5 Tarmogoyf, thanks to my graveyard-feeding engine. I manage to land a couple of Ally cards in the graveyard along the way. I hard-cast a few like Halimar Excavator and Harabaz Druids to block the Tarmogoyf while waiting for the correct cards to be in place.
When I finally managed to get the pieces in place, it was roughly turn 6-7. I pulled off the combo with 4 Allies on board, plus 8 more from the graveyard pulled by Angel of Glory's Rise. With that, the resolved triggers finish off the game by milling the opponent 192 cards.

SB:
-1 Ghostway
-1 Dangerous Wager
-1 Gifts Ungiven
-4 Spell Pierce

+2 Meddling Mage
+2 Pithing Needle
+2 Path to Exile
+1 Immortal Servitude

Game 2: (I can't exactly remember what happened here.)

I got screwed over in game 2 with a turn 2 Scavenging Ooze by my opponent. I managed to cast Path to Exile to remove the Ooze, and land a Pithing Needle, naming scavenging ooze. However, my pithing needle got easily removed and on top of that, my combo pieces are not coming out. I lost this game by combat damage. I think I did cast Immortal Servitude as a desperate attempt to stop his Tarmogoyfs for a few turns before losing to lethal damage.

Game 3:

Again the Scavenging Ooze. I have no answers to the Ooze and the Ooze continued to eat my creatures, as I continue to fill my graveyard, making it bigger. Up to a certain point of time, I just conceded the game. I cannot pull off the combo in time to salvage the situation.

Round 2: UWR Control (2-1) [Arnold]

Game 1: 

This game is rather quick to end off in a very similar fashion in Round 1, Game 1. However, instead of 192 cards, I milled my opponent around 40-50 cards in turn 6. So just nice. The point the game was quite quick is that he didn't manage to draw a single Cryptic Command in mid-game to push the tempo to his favor. Also, the cards he had on hand, by my guess, couldn't do much to stop me.

SB:

-1 Ghostway
-1 Dangerous Wager
-1 Gifts Ungiven
-1 Ghost Quarter
-1 Stinkweed Imp
-1 Eternal Witness

+2 Meddling Mage
+2 Choke
+1 Immortal Servitude
+1 Boseiju, Who Shelters All

Game 2:

Put it this way, the game is hands down a good example of what a control deck does. I could have landed a t4 combo, but I hesitated as he was open for mana. Eventually I just tried and yes, I got countered. I went ahead to reanimate my Angels twice, but each time the board got Wrath-ed.
Hey twice! Once, by a hard-cast Wrath of God, another is via a flashback! I would say my deck is very resilient to boardwipe, but this is just epic in new proportions in the timing of the spell. The opponent did managed to get the upper-hand after the mass removal and with my deck exhausted all my Unburial Rites and Faithless Looting, I eventually lost to the damage output.

Game 3:

By the time Game 3 started, we had 7 minutes left. Yes, 7 minutes for the last game. We did like a speed-run and basically played as fast as possible. In that 7 minutes, I manged to assemble my combo while dishing out damage to fight for the lowest life total. I actually got a slightly higher life total, but irregardless, we agreed to finish the game with the last-5-turns. I managed to pull off my combo, but with no mill because Halimar Excavator isn't in the graveyard. Mirror Entity was an All-Star here; pumping my creatures from weenie 1/1s to massive 6/6s during combat. I took the game for dealing lethal just as when the 5th turn approaches.

Round 3: UR Delver (0-2) [Game given to me in reporting score as (2-1)]

Game 1: 

The first game is really quick. I lost the game fairly quickly to a flipped Delver of Secrets, a Monastery Swiftspear and a lot of instant and sorcery spells to buff the latter. Basically I didn't aim to pull off my combo. I was trying to fight with damage war. It was a close fight; until the opponent Vapor Snagged my creatures and my tempo is losing out. Ultimately I lost the first game due to the speed of the deck; I could not handle it.

SB:

-1 Ghostway

-1 Dangerous Wager

-1 Gifts Ungiven

-1 Domri Rade

-1 Stinkweed Imp

-1 Eternal Witness

+2 Meddling Mage

+2 Choke

+2 Path to Exile

Game 2:

The second game is even faster. I lost the game fairly quickly with a Monastery Swiftspear, a Young Pyromancer and not much reaction on my side while I was trying to pull a turn 5 combo. My creatures and combo pieces didn't come out in the right manner and eventually, the only option I have is to play my creatures as blockers. Vapor Snag did the trick again here and I was overwhelmed by the tokens spawned by Young Pyromancer. I conceded the game after counting out the damage output can win me in 2 more turns.

Grave mistake of siding in Path to Exile. I should be siding in Rakdos Charm instead. The former is good at dealing single targets. But Rakdos Charm can deal a powerful return- damage to the opponent due to the numbers.

Again, the prizes are booster packs; I picked 2 Khans of Tarkir Booster Packs; so here we go!

Pack 1: Sultai Ascendancy...
Pack 2: Windswept Heath!

Gave away Sultai Ascendancy to my third opponent, Traded Windswept Heath + Polluted Delta for 3 Shocklands.

Pointers for this week;

• A very different deck from my Allies deck. This deck requires a lot more tuning to optimize the deck's performance. I've adjusted the deck list almost immediately with some of the advice given to me. Big thanks to the helpful advice given by my friends. I will be tuning the deck in a very different manner. Consider it as an upgrade. 
• Domri Rade and Ghostway are severely underwhelming in the deck. Maybe Domri Rade have yet to see more play to know, but Ghostway is not fitting in the deck; all the times I drew it, it's a dead draw.

Modern Gameplay Review: 7 October 2014

Back with another Game-play coverage!

A change in venue this time round. I'm playing at MTG-Asia @ Aliwal Street. So no Bounty Loot. Just straight up packs!

Deck: UW Midrange
It is a deck that I have build but not yet really tested. I threw in this list that looked solid, but I don't expect to win. Instead, this is a testing ground for the deck for additional tweaking.

Okay, new place means new meta, so let's see how I fare this time round!

Round 1: UR Delver (1-2)

Game 1:

The first game is quick. I lost the game fairly quickly with a flipped Delver of Secrets, a Young Pyromancer and not much reaction on my side. My counterspells didn't come out, I didn't get to draw my Path to Exile. The only option I have is to play my threats, but they were easily stopped by my opponent's counterspells and removals. I was then beaten in 2 turns after the Pyromancer spawned the army of tokens, capable of dealing 7 damage in an alpha strike.

SB:
- 4  Blade Splicer
- 1 Aven Mindcensor
+ 1 Geist of Saint Traft
+ 2 Spellskite
+ 2 Supreme Verdict

Game 2:

The second game gave me a better chance. I managed to land a Geist on 3rd turn, followed up by Elspeth, Knight Errant on the 4th turn. It's a 2-turn clock from there with my 5/5 Geist of Saint Traft and his 4/4 Angel before my opponent conceded the turn.

Game 3:

I mulligan-ed to a 4-card hand, while my opponent mull-ed to 5-cards. My opening hand saw 5 lands and 2 counterspells. I could go on with that hand, but it is very risky as my next top-deck needed to be a threat or I can easily lose the game. I decided to mull to 6, which saw only 1 land; 5-hand saw no lands. I eventually settled for 4-cards with 2 lands, 1 Echoing Truth and 1 Geist of Saint Traft. I  managed to draw my third land, but my Geist of Saint Traft got countered. I still drew no counter-spells or removals other than Echoing Truth. I managed to stall for 1 turn, but I still lost in the end due to the pressure on board.

Side Note: The pilot of the deck is none other than Toshi! Shout out to him!

Round 2: UWR Control (0-2)

Game 1: 

I lost the game with again, no reach and lack of counterspells. Essentially I lack the gas a midrange deck should have. Also, as pointed out by Toshi (Yes, the same guy! I asked for advice to improve the deck) that the deck is jammed at a mana slot and the deck needs some tuning to get rid of the clunky spells. More to that later. 

I tried stabilizing at turn 3 with a threat, but it gets countered easily. So no threats for awhile and I basically got beaten in the face by 2 Snapcaster Mage, then followed by Celestial Colonnade, then finishing up by casting Cryptic Command on my available creatures to tap them down and swing for lethal.. Not funny, but it's a good game.

- 4 Blade Splicer

- 1 Aven Mindcensor

- 1 Echoing Truth

+ 1 Geist of Saint Traft

+ 3 Kitchen Finks

+ 2 Meddling Mage

Game 2:

Pulled this one off with a strong start. I landed a turn 2 Meddling Mage, naming Snapcaster Mage. I figured that should hold him back for awhile which in my third-turn draw, I top-decked a Geist of Saint Traft, which I happily cast and.... it got Mana Leak-ed.. From there, it's basically downhill struggle trying to land threats, but getting countered or burn is not a joke. Eventually the game ended with the opponent playing Thundermaw Hellkite; to which, I conceded the game as there is no way to recover the board.

Round 3: UWR Control (1-1)

Game 1: 

You know, I saw turn 1 Scalding Tarns in EVERY single game I have played... Similar to the first game, but this time, my deck is on top form. I admit I'm not playing 100% for this match as I'm just out to disrupt without the clear intention of winning. I manage to land a turn 3 Geist of Saint Traft, which followed on to be the most epic counter-war I had to date. I basically countered every spell he tried to cast and I was admittedly laughing my head off. Not because of some evil intent or anything, but just how the game turned out and yea.. sorry for that! Eventually, because of the protection of the counter-war, it's a 2-3 turn clock before I won the game.

- 4 Blade Splicer

- 1 Aven Mindcensor

- 1 Echoing Truth

+ 1 Geist of Saint Traft 

+ 3 Kitchen Finks

+ 2 Meddling Mage

Game 2: 

For some reason, my deck decided to play itself out. I started out as how I started in the second round, with a turn 2 Meddling Mage. Eventually, she was removed by Lightning Helix (Again!) and well, basically it's just a long hard war to establish board dominance. I got Kitchen Finks out in both games, but both got removed by Path to Exile and Wrath of God respectively. In any case, my deck lost eventually due to the man-lands, Celestial Colonnade (Yes, again...). This time round, I tried holding off the attacks, but I eventually lost the game as my "steam" ran to almost a complete halt.

Game 3: 
We dropped game 3 as the results of the match basically had no advantage in the prizes.

No bounty loot as of this week, so I opt for Theros Booster Pack.

Pack loot: Titan of Eternal Fire......... 
+$40 later...

Yes... I'm an Idiot... Move on... 

 Pointers for this week;

• A very different deck from my Allies deck. This deck requires a lot more tuning to optimize the deck's performance. I've adjusted the deck list almost immediately with some of the advice given to me. More testing is needed for tuning the entire 75-list.
• I realized that while rewind works for some other variants of U/W or U/x shell, it doesn't work as well in my deck. Point being that most of the cases I don't actually need the extra 4 mana. I just need a cheap counter or spot removal to help maintain my deck tempo.
• U/W deck is an extremely tempo-oriented deck. I was given the advice to look more into can-trips and reduce the curve to have more efficient spells. I will look into that.
• For whatever sake, I need to learn how to use Meddling Mage properly. Twice that I named something that is not a bad choice, but it's something that can be better improved on. For the first time is because I thought Snapcaster Mage will be a threat... It's not. The bigger threat of the deck to me is the removals not Snapcaster Mage itself. Second time, I should have stuck to my instincts and said Remand or Mana Leak...
• Shadow of Doubt is still untested. I also have yet to re-allocate 3 slots for sideboard against combo decks and control mirrors.
• It is not that Blade Splicer is weak; it's just that in control-mirror match-ups, I prefer having Geist of Saint Traft on board rather than Blade Splicer. The former is harder to deal with.

Shop Preview: MTG-Asia / Asianmagickards (HobbySG)

MTG-Asia

Store Venue: 
Main Store: 135 Middle Road #02-19 Bylands Building

Nearest Train Station(s): Bugis MRT (EW12) (5 minutes walk), Bras Basah MRT (EW12) (5 minutes walk)

Branch / Event Centre: 1A Aliwal Street, Chenn Leonn Building S'pore 199894

Nearest Train Station(s): Nicoll Highway MRT (CC5) (5-6 mins walk), Bugis MRT (EW12) (10 minutes walk)

Bus  Services:
Alighting at Beach Road: 100, 107, 961, 980, 107M, 961C
Alighting at North Bridge Road: 7, 32, 51, 61, 63, 80, 145, 175, 197

Mural in the Event Centre. Designed by Toshi

Operating Hours:
Sun - Thurs, 1pm to 9pm (extended with events)
Friday and Sat, 1pm to 10pm (extended with events)

Online Store: http://www.asianmagickards.com/
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/mtgasiaeventcentre


Events @ MTG Asia Event Centre:

• Monday Legacy
• Tuesday Modern
• Wednesday Night Standard
• Friday Night Magic [FNM] Standard / Drafts
• Saturday EDH Event

This was the first shop I went when I started MTG. It used to be located near Parkway Parade, before shifting to Upper Serangoon Road, and later to the current locations at Middle Road (Main branch) and Aliwal Street (Event Centre).

When deciding which Local Game Store to frequent, I would consider the following factors as priority; location, space, card stocks, community and other amenities around the shop like food places or other places of interest. Hence, the main factor that I would frequent to MTG-Asia is primarily its location. Throughout its history in location, it's relatively closer to the east side of Singapore, which is a good thing for me because, well, I stay at the east too.

Actually if you look at the maps it's more central than east, which this brings me to another point. It is not easy to find a spacious shop located near the city area with affordable rent. While the main branch at middle road is relatively small as it serves as the Headquarters and a local pick-up point for orders and purchases, the Event Centre at Aliwal Street is fully air-conditioned and spaciously capable to seat comfortable about 60 people without much squeeze.

Speaking of Aliwal Street and Middle Road, the shops are actually located very near to other amenities such as shopping centres and popular eating places such as Bugis Junction, Bugis+ and Bugis Street and Eatplaylove Cafe.

Another point why I would recommend you should visit MTG-Asia is the affordability of cards and their prices in the buylist. At first glance, the card prices are relatively on the high end, especially for the staples. However, they have a membership privilege program, which entitles regulars discounts and rewards. So factoring that, the prices would be cheaper if you buy more regularly from them.
Plus, do note that most of their stock are considered premium cards; you can find cards that are relatively rare or hard to find outside. If you are looking for some foils or cards in other languages (and foiled!), for me, this is the best bet as the first stop! Also, the store does take in overseas orders! So just click on the link I have provided above and start ordering! I think that is a unique point of the shop that I should highlight; not many LGS are willing to go through the postage hassle and offer cards for sale internationally.

MTG-Asia host a variety of events to cater to the many groups of people. The shop owners and the regular community is also another factor. Most of the people who frequents to the place are seasoned players with years of experience playing various formats. They are also very friendly and willing to teach new players (and relatively new players like me!) if approached. To me, that's one of the factors, which would not only draw new players, but that is a retention factor as well.

This concludes my shop preview article. I do hope that you find this article informative and enough reason why you should head down to MTG-Asia. If you do get the chance, drop by MTG-Asia for a visit!

As usual, comments and feedback are welcomed!