What I bought and why? [May 2015 - 22 June 2015]

A rather active period for me, as I decided to hit hard in some of the specs. The main target as you can see are the God cards from Theros expansion. I'm looking to trade heavily into them. Both foils and Non-Foils due to the casual appeal.

In the same time, I have moved out a lot of unused modern staples like Snapcasters, Leyline of Sanctity, etc. to acquire these cards and as well as to build up my liquid asset. As I did bring up a couple of times when I first started the blog, the biggest issue for me is to balance out liquid and solid assets. Hence, I'm moving towards that as the goal for the year.

As I am still studying, my finance flexibility isn't rather rigid and I can only spend that much on cards. Sure, I can don't spend any of it on cards; that's one way. But, I have to remember that I have a lot of cards that may worth value that are still sitting in my binder. I have to move them asap in order to clear out and restart the collection. I'll talk about this in a later post after GPSingapore.

Meantime, this is what I have been trading:

Cards purchased / Traded	Prices per piece
1x Heliod, God of the Sun 1x Karametra, God of Harvests 1x Keranos, God of Storms 1x Xenagos, God of Revels	Trade With: 1x Scute Mob  1x Vedalken Shackles (MMA)
2x Kruphix, God of Horizons 1x Karametra, God of Harvests 1x Ephara, God of Polis	333  Points (PucaTrade) 195  Points (PucaTrade) 143 Points (PucaTrade)
1x Abrupt Decay 1x Ashen Rider 1x Krosan Grip 1x Rakshasa Deathdealer 1x Silumgar, Drifting Death 1x Terastodon 1x Utter End	Trade With: 1x Bloodstained Mire 1x Fracturing Gust 1x Tyrant's Choice (Foil)
2x Breaking // Entering 1x Conjurer's Closet 2x Dictate of Kruphix 1x Medomai the Ageless 1x Pithing Needle 2x Rakshasa Deathdealer 1x Rattleclaw Mystic 2x Strionic Resonator	Trade With:  1x Bloodthrone Vampire (Foil) 1x Cavern Lampad (Foil) 1x Congregate (Foil) 1x Dazzling Ramparts (Foil) 1x Dragon-Style Twins (Foil) 1x Erase (Foil) 1x Fortify (Foil) 1x Fossil Find (Foil) 1x Highspire Mantis (Foil) 1x Meandering Towershell (Foil) 1x Mind Sculpt (Foil) 1x Monastery Flock (Foil) 1x Nature's Panoply (Foil) 1x Poison the Well (Foil) 1x Scion of Vitu-Ghazi (Foil) 1x Sidisi's Pet (Foil) 1x Sigiled Skink (Foil) 1x Smite (Foil) 1x Tormenting Voice (Foil) 1x War-Name Aspirant (Foil) 1x War-Wing Siren (Foil) 1x Whirlwind Adept (Foil) 1x Windstorm (Foil)
3x Jace, Architect of Thought (Duel Deck)	$4.13 each ($12.39)
1x Chromatic Lantern 3x Erebos, God of the Dead 1x Purphoros, God of the Forge	1x Leyline of Sanctity (M11)
2x Chord of Calling 1x Ephara, God of the Polis 1x Erebos, God of the Dead 1x Heliod, God of the Sun 1x Karametra, God of the Harvests 1x Pharika, God of Affliction 1x Tasigur, the Golden Fang 1x Thassa, God of the Sea	1x Boseiju, Who Shelters All 1x Leyline of Sanctity 1x Persecute Artist (Unhinged) 1x Spell Pierce
7x Kruphix. God of Horizons	$4.00 each ($28.00)
1x Prophet of Kruphix (Foil)	$5.00
8x Karametra, God of the Harvests	$2.50 each ($20.00)
1x Feed the Clan (Foil)	$1.00
1x Become Immense (Foil)	$6.00
3x Nettle Sentinel (2 NM, 1Ex)	NM: $1.50 each Ex: $1.27 ($4.24 after disc)
1x Ephara, God of the Polis 1x Karametra, God of the Harvests	$1.98 $2.50
Small Collection from a friend quitting MTG	$75.00

Yes, as I said, it's quite an extensive list. I won't be posting my sell-list however. If not there will be no end to this post!

In a quick summary of my trades:

• Gods acquired are for extremely long-term investments. I'm talking about holding them for 3-5 years at least. I have calculated the ROIs and stuff and I'm expecting them to hit at least $8 at that point of time.
• Feed the Clan, Jace, AOT and Become Immense Foils are extremely situational. I will want to keep them, but am willing to trade them if the trade value is good. This includes any other unmentioned Modern-usable cards.
• Nettle Sentinel and the other rares are strictly for trades and resale. 
• EDH staples like Prophet of Kruphix Foil, Chromatic lantern is meant to be kept for future EDH decks.

So, what do you think? Did I make good trades or I made a bad move moving out the cards like Leyline? What have you traded/bought in the past month or so? Comments and share! I love to hear your discussions and thoughts!

Keep a lookout for this binder during GPSingapore! I'll be using this as my main trade binder! Just... dont' expect any high end cards from me alright? I'm still doing mainly bulk rares and cheaper cards :)

3 Reasons Why Kolaghan's Command Deserve the Spotlight [Flash!]

I can assume this series has gained enough popularity that I'm back with another? I'll go easy with this still, so I'm presenting another Command in the Dragons of Tarkir expansion!

Now, I'll be honest. Initially, I didn't look much at this card. Partly because B/R colours are not my thing and I didn't really paid much attention to it as it's being 3 mana. I did ask myself if that would be a real deal. Eventually I pass on this. But, to redeem myself, I'm going to give you 3 reasons why this card deserves the spotlight it is in now:

1. B/R/X Decks are on the rise. Jund is making its move back into Modern after a slight hiatus. Meanwhile, Grixis control is also giving Modern a run for its money. Both decks centralizes a B/R core with the third colour being green and blue respectively. No mardu decks yet? Ah well.. Give it time.
2. Similar to Dromoka's Command, I praise this card for its utility and cost efficiency. None of the 4 options are not relevant in the format. 
   - Returning a creature back to hand is somewhat a black/green colour ability. Goyf or Siege Rhino in the grave? No problem!
   - Discarding a card is definitely black ability. Coupled with Liliana of the Veil, Inquisitions, and Thoughtseizes, it's just icing on the cake!
   - Destroying Artifacts is kind of the go-to to any side or mainboard material. Affinity, Tezzeret control, and to an extend, TRON can really have a set-back from this ability.
   -2 damage to either the creature a player is always relevant in any format.
   Now, having being broken down in its options, its a very versatile card and is never a dead draw in most scenarios. Also, it's a 2-for-1 in most situations, so that's value for mana and deck-slot there!
   
   
3. Played in Standard, Modern and even started to show up in some decklists in Legacy. While I'm not too sure about the card in the last format being real, as in the card being a real thing there, I'm quite positive that this nifty card is being played in the former two formats. Even so much as to the card popularity is rising these couple of weeks.

Okay, so that's the 3 reasons. I'm sure there are more reasons why this card is loved, or even hated. Drop your comments below and feel free to share this post to others if you like this or any of the other content that I have written so far!

Key Art for Battle for Zendikar!

Okay, so this picture was circulating around facebook. I was really amazed to see this beautiful art and several details caught my eye upon seeing this art.

Key art for Battle for Zendikar Expansion

Based on the picture alone, there are 3 things I would like to cover. There's a lot of details to cover, so let's jump in!

• Emrakul, Kozilek and Ulamog

The very first thing that caught my eye is the 3 Eldrazi titans. With that being the most significant feature of the image, I can very safely assume that the 3 Titans will make a return in the new expansion. Of course, this is really a no brainer as we all expect them to return. It's their world now! 

Now, the question is everyone's mind is this; will the Eldrazis return as a reprint or as a new card with new abilities altogether? I personal stand is that the Eldrazis would make a return as a new card. Note that the art here shows them in a form like statues. Coloured in pale greyish white and not like their original art. It is unlikely to see them in this colour as the new art for them. Also, note that the landscape doesn't seem to have rocks falling off or trembling, which is a sign of them moving or arriving to the scene. It just sits there with these beings on them. This hence make me think that these are statues rather than the actual Eldrazi titans.  

Furthermore, take a look at this picture:

It's a little pixelated but I think it serves its purpose. We obviously see Gideon here. I'll talk more about him later. I'm focusing the background at the moment. What it seems to be is there are 2 Eldrazis. It seems to be either one of the lesser Eldrazi titans like Spawnsire, Crusher, etc, and the other being Ulamog in another pose and angle. The features of it matches Ulamog more than the other 2 titans. The image above can be easily split into 2 cards. One probably being Gideon's new Planeswalker picture and the other being an instant or sorcery. Of course, it's all just a guess. 

A more cleaned up version of the picture. But I don't think this is an original artwork by Wizards.

So as to what is the deal with the picture? Look at the Hedrons. Unlike the key art, there is some hedrons present in the art, but they aren't any circling around Ulamog himself as shown in the first picture.

• Planeswalkers

Sorin, Ugin are rather familiar planeswalkers after appearing in the recent sets. If you missed the boat in Commander 2014 or if you are not up to date with the storyline, you may have overlooked Nahiri, the Lithomancer. These 3 planeswalkers form "the three", whom decided to get rid of the Eldrazis. I won't go too indepth with the lore here. You can go read it up in the links I've posted around in this post.

So based on the few pictures I have looked around, we know there will be the following planeswalkers in the storyline and possibly in this expansion:

1. Ugin
2. Sorin
3. Nahiri
4. Gideon

It would seem unlikely that we have two versions of Ugins and Gideons in the same Standard season, but take note that this happens before! Throughout M14-RTR, and even in the most recent KTK-DTK expansions have different versions of Sarkan in the same Expansion Block. (Okay, that was time travel... but my point is made.)

There will be definitely new planeswalkers being introduced. As mentioned, I won't delve too deep into the lore (no cards in graveyard..) and just by the artworks that are circulating around, those four planeswalkers will definitely be seen in the new expansion. 

• Landscape

Somehow the landscape subtly reminds me of Celestial colonnade, Raging Ravine and Dread Sanctuary. Hey, maybe. Just maybe, we have new manlands that are shaped of the Eldrazi Titans?  Either that or Fetchlands are highly likely to be back due to the nature of the theme of this plane.

I'm really curious to know what are your thoughts? What interpretations can you draw from this key art? More to come soon!

3 Reasons Why Dromoka's Command is Insanely Good in Modern [Flash!]

Quick post. I want to try something new on this blog by creating short posts like this rather than my usual long-winded ones and see which is a better response with you guys! I'm kicking off this with one card that is has picked up value and seen play across Standard and Modern Format recently!

1. The application of four modes of the command is extremely relevant in the meta. In my opinion, it may be the strongest command in the DTK cycle in Modern meta applications, alongside with Artaka's Command as a close second as the latter may require specific decks to properly utilize its all of four utilities. In my opinion, Dromoka's Command has a slightly more versatile set of utilities that is able to be played in most decks running the colour.
2. Speaking of Powerful or versatile utility, it just builds on the previous point in regards to relevance. The most used modes you would choose is the last two. Having a +1/+1 counter and fighting another creature as a pseudo-removal does wonders in many games. Especially since Modern is looking to be a creature-dominated format, the chosen modes as mention do help push the stalemate board. However, the first two do have very surprisingly flexible options as utility against certain match-ups (eg. RDW, Twin, Boggles, Prison, some control variants, etc.). You do know that this stops damaged-based boardwipes right? Similarly, this actually removes Keranos, God of the Storm in Twin Exarch decks and as well as Eidolon of the Great Revel in Burn decks.
3. Having the Command with 4-choose-2 utility choice at cmc 2 is very much value for the mana you are investing for that turn. I did mention this earlier, but it is rarely a dead card in hand. It is an extremely powerful utility in early game but still a good top-deck draw in late games to help break stalemate. In early games, having 2 utility choices gives you a tempo advantage in terms of answers. Think of it as being able to cast an additional 2 spells to help your board or game state in that turn. In late game, it's cheap enough to allow you to follow up with bigger, and flashier spells.

Note, I'm not screaming this to be the next big thing in modern (It might?). I'm merely a fan of this card in the new command cycle and I feel that the card is rather underrated still in the Modern Format. If it does not fit the bill to be a mainboard card in most decks, I think that having this as a 1-off in sideboards do help change games in post-sideboarding. 

What do you think? Did I make a sound argument in getting you interested in the card? What are your opinions regarding this card?

A Modern deck write-up.

Hello! My name is Slark and I am here today to introduce you to this modern deck! Its my current deck at the moment and it’s a standard Modern Wilt Leaf Liege deck.

This deck is rather easy to play, but is rather expensive. However, if you’re someone who suffered the banhammer of Birthing Pod, this  deck can be built relatively cheaply! Especially since Noble Hierarch and Wilt Leaf Liege has been reprinted, their prices have fall significantly! If you have interest in building this deck, I suggest you get the cards NOW. (as of 3/6/2015.)

This deck works as a selesyna beatdown aggro. However, there are 2 variations of this deck. This being the Mana dork one, which focuses on early ramping and beating down fast. There is another version that focuses on discard and control which I will mention below.

Playing this deck is rather simple. Turn 1. Land, Mana dork, Turn 2, start filling up your field, and start whacking away! The dork version listed here is rather aggro-oriented, and can dish out big creatures early game.  Most of the creatures listed here have a lot of value for their cost. With Noble Hierarch, which is a mana dork that provides like 2/3 of the mana you need for this deck’s monsters, not only that, it has exalted, which gives a lone creature attacking + 1/1, doesn’t sound much, but early 4/3 Kitchen Finks can help in the beatdown in the long run.

Loxodon Smiter (or affectionately named, Elephant man.) is a 3 mana for a whopping 4/4. Whats best about it is that it doesn’t just stops there. It cannot be countered, and if your opponent wants to discard it, it comes into play for FREE!

Voice of Resurgence is a 2 mana for a 2/2. That sounds like average doesn’t it? But it probably has one of the best effects in the Ravnica block for a 2 drop. If your opponent casts a spell on your turn OR it dies, it gets a Elemental token that’s Power and toughness is equal to the number of creatures you have.  As a Mana Dork deck, we tend to play a lot of creatures and elementals will big REAL big.  If you get this card on the field early, your opponent has to either get rid of it when you summon it, or it will become rather deadly later in the game, At worst, it summons a elemental token. At it’s best, its Control’s worst nightmare.

Siege Rhino is hands down one of the superstars in Khans of Tarkir. A 4 mana for a 4/5. I fell in instant love when this card came out. 4 mana for 4/5 is a instant above average. But with Trample,  and a effect that drains 3 health from your opponent, Siege Rhino is a versatile creature with a great body. In this deck it can be a 6/7. And also helps yourself against Burn.

Kitchen Finks is a 3 mana for a 3/2. Sounds bad. Doesn’t it? But its effect is AMAZING. When it comes on the field, 2 gain 2 life. When it gets destroyed, it actually comes back with a -1/-1 effect and its “entering battlefield” trigger activates, giving you 2 life.  You can negate this effect with many cards that give you +1/+1.

Wilt Leaf Liege is a 4 mana for 4/4, its average, but its name is on the decklist itself. Why? Because of its pump effect. It gives white creature +1/+1, and green creature a +1/+1. This gives Selesyna creatures +2/+2, which is Loxodon Smiter, Siege Rhino, Qasali Pridemage, Voice of Resurgence and Wilt-Leaf Liege.

The rest of the deck, are removal, typical modern removal. I threw in 2 thoughtseize to counter some combo decks.

Lingering souls- A lot of value packed in this card.  A 3 mana that spawns 2 1/1s sounds bad, but the fact that it has flashback for 2 makes it really valuable. Also, these tokens really fit in nicely with your resurgence elementals.

Now for the Sideboard:

Choke- Huge counters against Blue decks, its fun to shut them down with this.

Feed the clan- I know what you must be thinking, seriously? Feed the Clan?! But I would beg you to think about using this card. 5 life isn’t a mearge sum, and if you have a rhino or boosted creature, you’re getting 10. Its nearly a second chance against burn matchups.

Stony Silence & Fracturing Gust- Both are in my sideboard for extreme affinity hate. If you get Stony Silence on the field, Affinitiy will be shut down for the moment. It should give you enough time to aggro them to death. Fracturing Gust on the other hand may be rather slow, but it literally wipes affinity clean. And also, Fracturing Gust also helps against Bogles.

Dromoka’s Command – Usually, people would like to replace this with Leyline of Sanctity, I think its alright to play this in exchange of some of the sideboard cards here. However, I feel that Dromoka’s Command is an excellent card. The first mode is a Leyline for a turn. The second mode can destroy an enchantment, especially strong  against land tappers and Blood Moon. The Third mode gives a creature +1/+1. It helps to repair finks and also make your creatures bigger. This helps in the beat down.  The last mode is actually removal, but be careful using the same creature to attack!

Sorin, Solemn Visitor: This planeswalker is actually rather relevant to the deck. At 4 mana, you can give all your creatures a boost and lifelink, now this in combo with  Lingering Souls tokens can get you a lot! Sorin also has the ability to protect himself with a 2/2 vampire token.

Zealous Persecution- B/W token’s worst nightmare. It gives everyone a -1/-1, and can wipe some small creatures  and buff yours for a beatdown.  However, its duration is only for the turn  you play it. So be wise when you use it!

Engineered Explosives: Charge it up, and blow up those smallies! Really strong against merfolk, It’s a really nice card but it may be slow on the earlier turns, so be wary of how you use this.

SpellSkite- I actually upgraded and swapped this for Aven Mindcensor, which I will be writing below. Nevertheless, SpellSkite is rather versatile as it can redirect bolts and other kind of spells from your wilts. Heck, a two drop that can survive a lightning bolt sounds REALLY good!

Aven MindCensor- Oh boy, this guy- or bird. Hands down one of the most annoying effects for your opponents when they use fetchlands, it also shuts down tutors and lower their effectiveness, heck it has flash even to the point that your foes wont even see it coming.  A flying 2/1 can also help in the beatdown.

Scavenging Ooze- This card is really good in that it can help weaken your foe’s tarmogoyf, and also become really big overtime, it also helps to clear cards that can come back from the grave.

                                                                                                                                                           

Well, that’s it for my deck, there are many other Sideboardable cards like Inquisiton of Koz. Thrun the Last troll, but the’re more of an sideboard option, till then, I hope to see you guys soon!

On The Stack

The past four weeks have been very enriching. Because GP Singapore is imminent, and therefore the frequency of my games intensified. The learning values were there of course, but it also offered many excruciating experiences for me, most of the time.

I received hard lessons on top-decking (or rather, not top-decking at all) when you needed it the most. Imagine having the luxury of drawing over thirty cards off the top of your library when your opponent has a massive board presence of ten lands and nothing else, simply waiting for you to make things happen.

And suddenly it seemed like I was playing this unfamiliar Twinless Exarch.

Or your opponent sneaking in a very brilliant Illness in the Ranks just before you cast your Blood Moon to screw up the land colors for his Collected/Chord of Calling. Twenty turns later I concluded that I had swapped out my one and only Repeal that I was patiently waiting to draw.

But the most important lesson this weekend, was that I finally learnt to use the golden phrase," On the stack.”

A typical combo match-up is capable of ten-minute games. You either win, or lose. Which is also the reason why I always have time for two cigarette breaks between rounds and sometimes, even a 25-minute lunch break.

And then I figured out that I have also been giving away longer coffee breaks to my opponents. I am actually giving away games far too easily.

I hold the stack a lot more nowadays. I make an increased amount of calculated moves between the stacks for better gameplays.

I used to let Abrupt Decay resolve when it targeted my Deceiver Exarch in the midst of tapping for the combo, since there was no way I could counter it and I should naturally let it go. But because I held the stack, I took a second look at my hand and realised that I have a Pestermite and I can flash it in response with Abrupt Decay on the stack, untap my Deceiver Exarch and trigger off the combo a million times before Abrupt Decay resolves.

I held an Aether Vial trigger on the stack and Repealed it before any counter can be added on it. I placed my own Serum Visions on the stack and resolved a Telling Time so that the Serum Visions would effectively draw me the second card that I needed. Sometimes I even go to the extent of flashing in a Deceiver Exarch with my opponent’s fetchland ability on the stack, just to avoid him getting a blue land source to counter my creature.

There was this recent encounter where I was playing against a Jeskai Aggro deck with Geist of Saint Trafts and flipping Delvers. We got ourselves into a midgame beatdown, his one 3/2 Insectile against my two Snapcaster Mages. With his life total at 2 (I was at 3), I had a Lightning Bolt in hand and could easily deal for lethal to his face, which some players might do. But my opponent had two untapped lands in play and I decided to pass my turn, allowing him to survive on 2.

That move proved to be crucial as my opponent took his opportunity and cast a Lightning Helix targeted at me for his own version of lethal. In response, I cast my Lightning Bolt which went on top of the stack and resolved first. State-based effects checked, opponent ends up dead first, and I won the game.

My games have gradually evolved from losing in 10 minutes to grinding out my opponent for 20 minutes and eventually finding ways to turn the tide and win that game instead.

Because when you hold spells on the stack, there is time for you to consider your options and make better decisions rather than blindly allowing spells to resolve. On-the-stack plays are excellent opportunities to catch your opponents off guard and pressurize them into making misplays that could be beneficial to your game.

Remember that once you have allowed spells to resolve, there is no way of retracting your moves.

I smoke a lot lesser now though.