Moving On, Part 2

Kept you waiting? In the past month or so, I'm on a sudden hiatus because of my schedule. From the last posting of my article talking about Allys in the (not so) new Battle for Zendikar block, I'm stuck in clearing my final examinations, preparing for my overseas trip, tying up loose ends for the MTG community I'm involved with. So... While I'm inactive here, I'm VERY active outside trying to finish up things. Now that I'm more or less settled down, let's carry on where I have left off.

First things first, I'm now in Munich, Germany! It's a fantastic place and I really love it here! Any German MTG players out there? Where do you guys play Modern events or just for fun? Any card shops to recommend? I found a few places, but I want to know from you guys!

For this article, it's more about a personal reflection. So currently, the regular readers will know I own an ally deck. But, I don't think many knows that I also pilot a Living End deck. I'm not exactly tournament proficient with it, but I do get by with a few wins here and there. The reason why I am bringing this up is that I started off the blog with the intention of blogging my trades, which then slowly shifted to talking about speculation and about my gameplay. However, somehow along the way, I lost the momentum to do gameplay blogs and just focused on speculation and occasional reviews. Well, it seems that as the time passes, I have jumped around different types of articles, trying out and experimenting what works and what do not. 

Mentioned in an earlier, and similar entry, I found what works and I will continue to develop on those as my cornerstones. However, this proved to be tougher than expected for a simple reason: I failed to look up what is already around in the web. Not specifically that I'm enclosed in my own little world, but I just failed to take into account that there are many article sites and blogs similar to this competing for the same number of people. Often, sites like MTGGoldfish, MTGPrice and even on Youtube, the Mana Source and Tolarian Community College have means and resources to upload videos or articles on the latest trends, analysis and news for the players, while I can only become what is called a second-hand resource site. I took a hiatus for a month or so for a second reason; if I am continuing to do this blog, I have to find a voice among the hundreds of articles and websites that are out there and even more on those coming out. Not that I'm discrediting anyone, including myself. The amount of work and effort to generate out an article consistently is a lot and I trust that most of you who have ever wrote an article will know how much effort and time goes into making one.

I have created a Patreon site for the blog and honestly, that was the biggest risk I have done so far in terms of this entire project. To date, I stand at $0 with no supporters. The reason is simple, there is nothing I have to show. A very good comment came up on Reddit, when I started posting there 9 months ago, mentioning that I should find something that is worth people coming to my site to read. I mentioned back then that I do have content that is worth reading and there are a few that are interesting, accordingly. But, this comment came back to hit me when I realised how my content and quality stood among the others out there when I set up the Patreon site. Yes, I know that many blogs are not funded, but honestly, the entire end point for Project: Zer0 was to fund my MTG expenditure and possibly a side income. That was the ultimate goal and reason why I started this in the first place. 

I wanted to do this article as a means of self-reflection for awhile now, but being caught up in chasing the number of views, promoting my page and trying to find a unique spot in this vast internet has made me put off this article until now. Initially, I dedicated that I have to post on average of 3-4 articles a month but as time pass, it becomes tougher to dedicate that same amount of time I could 1 year ago. Hence, I sought for the Patreon as a means of sustaining the funds required to put my mind at ease to continue doing this. Eventually this comes to a realisation that I have to continue searching something that is worth people paying me.  

Ulamog. The infinite pain in the butt with an appetite..

So this has been spoiled a couple of weeks back:

Well done recreating a powerful Eldrazi Titan. It's just splendid. It looks aggressive, as well as powerful in its shear size. It demands to be noticed and it doesn't look to be trifled with. Overall, in design, it looks awesome, but eerily familiar from something.

Wait, on closer look, it looks like Deoxys in Pokemon had an offspring with the Predator? I mean like before this, the Ulamog we know has a helmet on? Now it revealed its helmet?. The new Ulamog seems to have mandibles which reminds me of the Predator or even an insect. Now let's look at the old art:

Tell me that doesn't look like a helmet now. Also, noticed that there is an inclusion of a white exoskeleton? The more I look and think about it, the more I really think Ulamog may actually be an insect.

Alright unfunny jokes aside, let's compare between the two variants of Ulamog and see which is a better card overall. For the comparison below, Ulamog, the Infinite Gyre will be codenamed UIG, and Ulamog, the ceaseless hunger is codenamed UCH

• Base Stats, casting cost
• Both Ulamogs have the same P/T and 10/10. 
• UIG requires you to have 11 mana, whereas UCH is 10 mana. It's 1 mana lesser than the former, which is more mana efficient based on the base stats alone. Point in Favor to UCH.
• Abilities

Ulamog, Infinite Gyre	Ulamog, Ceaseless Hunger
Destroy target Permanent	Exile 2 target permanents
Indestructible	Indestructible
Annihilator 4	Exiles top 20 cards of library
shuffle into library from graveyard

• It is not really a clear-cut answer as to say which is a better Ulamog. Personally I vote that the older UIG Ulamog is a bit stronger than the newer UCH overall. 
• UIG destroys a permanent, but UCH exiles 2. Point in favor to UCH.
• Both UIG and UCH are indestructible. Draw.
• Annihilator 4 is definitely stronger ability compared to exiling 20 cards. Although looking at drafts or sealed, UCH takes the cake. But, in most other cases in constructed, the Annihilator 4 places an immediate effect on the board state. Point in favor to UIG.
• UIG has 4 abilities as compared to UCH's 3 abilities. This can defend the 1 mana extra cost for UIG. The ability which mirrors Elixir of Immortality, just without the lifegain. Point in favor to UIG.
• In most constructed format, getting rid of UIG is more difficult than UCH due to its last ability. Excluding exile abilities, -X/-X abilities/effects won't get rid of UIG permanently. Whereas UCH is stuck in the graveyard. That being said, Grave strategies will favor UCH, but most reanimator strategies already have something else to play. Maybe a new deck brew? Point in favor to UIG until Ulamog, Ceaseless Hunger shows that grave strategies with it is a viable thing.

Hence, in summary this is a short explanation as to why I think Ulamog, Infinite Gyre is a little bit better than the new iteration of itself. Don't get me wrong though, the new iteration is an absolute beast on its own and it can and will hold itself alongside with the original 3 Eldrazi Titans' iteration. I think we may not see the other 2 in this set. But, if we are, I'll be comparing them as how I did with Ulamog. 

Now I have given you my thoughts, which Ulamog is better? Infinite Gyre or Ceaseless Hunger? Discuss in the comments and let me know what you think!

Finally, if you liked this article and/or my work, please consider to support me on Patreon! Help me in my endeavors to improve the blog to make it bigger and better! Thanks!

https://www.patreon.com/mtgprojectzero?ty=h&alert=2

3 Reasons why I believe that the new land cycle for Battle for Zendikar may not be Enemy-Colored Manlands [Flash!]

So with the apparent news, everyone went bananas. Zendikar Fetches spiked back to their "original" prices and Khans fetches are soon to follow the trend. Damn that wasted opportunity to find that one Arid Mesa... I am still in need of that as a singleton. Nevertheless, life moves on. And, so does card prices. 

Here is the thing; earlier I posted on twitter remarking that since the dual lands in BFZ expansion is confirmed not to be the enemy-cycle fetchlands, then what can else can it be? The first thought that I have and am sure many have already guessed, Enemy-colored Manland cycle. 

However, I have 3 reasons why I don't think it is

1. It is too easy... (to predict)
   
   Other than Shocklands prediction in the Return to Ravnica block, Did you actually guess correctly what lands are going to be printed or created in a new expansion? How did you know that Innistrad, a completely new block at that time, is going to contain a cycle of enemy checklands? Likewise, how did you know that Theros block will give you the incredibly controversial scrylands?
   My point here is that if it's something that was so easily predicted, the anticipation and the hype behind the set is not really worth right? Remember how the anticipation and hype for Khans was rather mediocre until the reveal of the Allied-Fetches? Yes, it's something we want, but because it was also because it wasn't expected!
2. Looking at the colour fixing, the new cycle has to be Allied color
   
   Note that the rotation of the sets will occur when BFZ is released. We're losing the scrylands from Theros. What is left are the enemy cycle of Painlands from Magic Origins, Allied Fetchlands and, if you wish to include, the gain-life tapped lands from Khans of Tarikir.
   But note that whatever the land cycle in BFZ must survive 2 rotations as the transition from a two 3-block set to a three 2-block set. Hence, they still must cater to the loss of khans fetchlands, which means, the Allied colors will require the necessary mana fixing.
   
   
3. Read in between the lines
   
   The key-phrase here is this phrase: "but they’re brand new designs..." If we define brand new designs as it is, it means these land cycles are NOT yet printed. Yes, Enemy-coloured Manlands are considered new, but read in between the lines. The highlight is brand new. Passing off the Enemy Manland cycle as a brand new is really misleading.
   
   Bonus: in the same reasons, I believe that the Enemy Fetchlands / Man-lands is possibly in the 2nd expansion of Battle for Zendikar Block.

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!

The little things that just piss me off.... [Reader Discretion Advised!]

I love trading. I really do. But, sometimes it just pisses me off dealing with people who are either too full of themselves or simply just ignorant. Now, I'm not here to accuse people or discriminate anyone. I'm bringing up this topic as a learning point on how people can be when it comes to trading and when especially, the deal involves cash, it's best to be aware of yourself and the people you are dealing with. 

Let's start off with the worst of the bunch; these people make it into the blacklist I have on a local forum for their selfish action and it really spoilt my day then when I have to deal with their selfishness. However, for the sake of non-disclosure of personal information, I'm only putting the scenarios and not their personal information. 

Guy A, [17/5/13] 

Blacklisted reason: 

Decided to pull out of trade after rearranging the dates to his convenience and after that irresponsibly backed out with the reason as quoted, "plans have changed. I can't make it today"; And "I think I don't want to buy already." when I called him on 17/5/13, 7.01pm, even after inquiring him for a more convenient date and time. If he genuinely have a change of plans, he should have just informed me in advance. 

(24th May 2013: I decided to entertain him once more but this guy pushed his luck. He keep changing his trade orders and timing when I told him only at 4.30 today. After awhile I simply got fed up and cancelled the deal upon request and agreement of my friend (some were my friend's cards). He went on to hurl insults and vulgarities when I told him to mind his trading ethics.) 

If in case you wonder why I did this, it's more than just to get even with him. My reasoning is simple, treat others the way you want to be treated. Throughout the entire situation, he showed no remorse despite that minor apology message which didn't sound convincing. After repeated reminder to stick to the posted message on the forum and our agreed deals, he continued to disturb me throughout the day. In the end, it was a last straw that I decided to teach him a lesson. Later I found out that he was a secondary school kid and has irritated quite a number of traders and even the more reputable ones are also afraid to deal with him for his nuisance attitude.

(3rd August 2013: Suddenly received a message in caps at around 9pm complaining that he was blacklisted and about how I think I am right, calling me names like "little prick". He then went on to quote a Shakespearean quote from Romeo and Juliet, "Thou detestable maw , thou womb of death", as an insult. literally implying that I killed him with my mouth. Ironic that he can still send me a text message and all. As seem learnt as he is, I'd rather him not waste his time on me and put his talent on better use in the society. Last checked post my 2nd update regarding him, his reputation as a trader isn't at all great.)

Guy B, [23/8/14] 

Blacklisted reason: 

I messaged him the day before asking him if trade is confirmed and called him 5x prior to the scheduled meeting time, but no reply; "M1 customer not responding". So no replies means what? You're backing out? Busy? MIA? I don't want assume anything first but please respond to my message or calls. At least let me know on your end and not leave the other party cliffhanging. If u are busy, I can rearrange another deal; If you want to back out from the deal, it's fine. But, what is the meaning of this?

So as you can see, the above 2 cases is when people decided to strike a deal with me, then decided to disappear or even better, for the first case, decided to revoke his deal and later postpone it once I threatened to make the situation public. Please, you all are better than this. Please do not follow their actions. In plain words, you're just being a dick.

-------------

Okay, in the next of the list, I have many scenarios that pissed me off when dealing with some of the local players and even some of the overseas traders that I have met. There are minor quirks that can take off the otherwise mostly positive trading experiences, but there is 2 kinds which really irritates me. As again, it's not to discriminate anyone, so no personal information will be revealed.

• Lowballing / haggling

I have met people who loves to squeeze out any amount of discount possible. Really, I have actually met people who actually haggles when buying bulk rare pieces from me! Generally I'll give the appropriate discounts to make the deal a good one, but sometimes these people will go as far as to asking for 50% or worse, even up to 80% off from the quoted price (mind you, I'm still talking about bulk rares which I sell $0.50 to $1 a piece...) 

I know and I have said in a much earlier article here about how trades should be fair; normally I don't mind being at the slight losing end to earn a regular trading partner, which I would eventually get to have better negotiation grounds for fairer trades, but some are really just out to squeeze every penny out from your well intentions... So, being nice sometimes isn't right huh. 

Let's see another scenario I have encountered; I have a regular who always want to take in my bulk rares at a very low rate compared to what prices I have posted. But, on the good side is that he will normally buy about 100 - 200 pieces. Initially I folded to have him as a trading partner (as mentioned above) then eventually, I requested to use TCG Mid or any other pricing websites to get a fairer trade deal. Then this happened. 

343 rares (bulk to $1.50) for the following:

• 1x Polluted Delta
• 1x Bloodstained Mire

This was the initial trade proposal. Just to give you a rough idea, the valuation he made was about $0.10 a piece, as opposed to the range of prices I have posted on forum. I have to admit I was annoyed and even irritated after calculating the valuation of the trades on both side. I objected to the proposal and requested for re-negotiation. The following were the other proposed trades:

• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 2x Overgrown Tomb

• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 3x Overgrown Tomb

• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 4x Overgrown Tomb

Eventually, the trade was settled with the following cards. 

• 1x Bloodstained Mire
• 1x Polluted Delta
• 4x Overgrown Tomb
• 1x Temple of the False God
• 1x Siege Rhino

At this point, I'm still at the losing end of $40 of value. However, I still accepted the trade for 2 reasons. 

1. No matter how I look, the cards I am trading out are still considered bulk or near bulk range. It will be difficult to get them at full value if I were to individually sell out. Also, given the time factor for trading and sell those cards out, my work hour will depreciate if I hold out longer. As a trader, I have to also consider those options and not just look at the face value of the cards.
2. No matter what it is, I value trading partnerships more than the face value of cards. It's better to have another ally than someone who works against you. Dealing in such trades like bulk rare is actually really simple; many people can actually just start off tomorrow and honestly, their collection are definitely bigger and have more capital than me to win me. So, business point, I rather be diplomatic in most cases unless the person is being a dick to me like the ones I blacklisted.

I'm sorry if this comes out as a rant post. The point I'm trying to drive here is that we, as a community, love Magic: the Gathering. That's already one thing we have in common as a whole that brought us together to meet, play and trade. So why try to break this community? It's really upsetting to see people behaving like this, ripping off or lowballing other people just for personal gains or even worse, for money. 

Speaking of ripping... Do read the excerpts below. Oh yeah, for the part below, I'm not censoring any names because I feel that these people deserve to be known for their actions and should be avoided.

Boxed is a black-listed post I made which summarised the entire story. The post below it is the full consolidation that MTG players in Singapore have made about his deeds and details. The case isn't closed though

The original Poster of this thread is a friend of mine; He knows the guy for a few years and looking through the post, he is known to have such shady dealings. That's all I am going to talk about...

Question is why? Why these people want to be dicks and start scamming, ripping and even go as far as to sell fakes to others? 

Seriously people, don't be dicks to other people. There is karma even if you don't believe in it. 

Abandoned....

You know the issue with people, in general, is that we tend to start off something, then ended up giving up halfway and we start again something. So basically, we end up with a lot of things started, but nothing finished.

So, in a review for 2014, I have decided to look through all the past attempted projects I have toyed around with and give a comprehensive breakdown on whether the project has been abandoned, why I chose to abandon it and what I did with the cards in the collection or project.

• Project: Zer0 Rare Trading {Still on going!}

This project is the reason why I started actively trading and going around places. It is also because of this project that I started out this blog and also, with credit to this project, eventually opened doors to overseas trading platforms like PucaTrade and Deckbox.org!

Though for the past couple of months, I haven't been active locally. So, I'll probably get back into that once I have fully sorted out my inventory of cards. At the moment now, I'm doing the same trade rates, $0.125 / $0.18 per bulk rare. $0.18 is because I view trades as ideally non-cash transactions, so In fact, I will not lose or earn anything if I go through the trades and bulk as an when. But, non-ideally or realistically, it is a loss if we look at face value if I don't bulk it at equivalent rate. Let's face it; no way I am able to find someone giving me that rate.

But, it's not just there to lose money for fun. Most of the cards in the project are mostly bulk rares themselves or a max cap at $2 rares / mythics. In that way, I can still move them easily to casual players and yes, get more bulk rare to put into the bin as a recycle or just bulk them out for staples. As of writing, I've more or less established the binders and boxes for the respective trades. However, I am unable to bring boxes into shops without drawing attention and against most LGS' regulations, it's not really nice to bring boxes for people to pick from it in front of the store. Hence, I have gradually stopped bringing them to shops. 

On the other hand, since I am not doing it offline, The stocks I made and posted online have to be accurate. Well, that will be an issue. I have sorted out the rares in the binders, but haven't had the time to sort and update the bulk rare boxes accordingly. 

Nevertheless, this project will still be around for the next couple of months at least. So that closes the case for this.

• Modern & EDH accumulation Library Project {Abandoned!}

This was one the big ideas I had when I am playing the 2 formats. The thing is that this was ended up being more of a show-off rather than having any practical uses. I still have them in the separate binders, but I decided to move them out for sale instead of building an arsenal. It doesn't make sense to hoard cards especially after the lesson learnt post Modern Banning, it just shows how volatile the Modern format is.

EDH is more stable, but it's a one-hit or miss kind of things. Honestly, I would personally invest in EDH staples, which are akin to both Modern and Legacy staples but, I have very limited budget and I cannot afford to hoard up cards without practical use or investment value.

• Foil Planeswalkers Collection {Hiatus....}

Initially, this was the ultimate end point for my Project: Zer0... As I first started the blog, my intention was to cover my entire trading journey and experiences to acquire these foils. However, as time passed, the trades were not fast enough to sufficiently reach any targets. I still managed to get a couple, but not really as easy as thought it will be. Also, some of them were bought. I mean like the prices of JTMS and Liliana? They are going to kill my wallet and push me into debt by a few years if based on my allowances! This project is put on hold and the future of it is really uncertain. The only reason is that as the expansions keep coming out, there is no way that I can keep up without doing a mass buy at one shot. The thing is this; the project has no firm boundary. Where do I stop exactly? Do I stop at just the regular foils or do I collect the SDCC promos? Speaking of promos... Is "Book Jace" count into the collection? 

Also, what about Alternate Arts? Like the Duel Deck versions and again, the promo foils given out at GP and PTs? Lastly, do I want singleton copies or multiple copies of these Planeswalkers? The project requires a firm establishment of the boundary I wish to set when collecting them before I continue working on this. I may eventually stop this. However, at the current state of things, I'm not too sure about whether I want to continue this as the end point of Project: Zer0.

• Foil God Collection {Abandoned!}

I managed to only acquire the Theros Expansion ones. The idea was to collect a single copy of all the Gods printed in the entire expansion series as the chances of them seeing a reprint is very low and the appeal to casual and EDH fanatics will definitely be a viable keep. 

However, the collection is nearly not worth keeping unless I have all 15 Gods plus the 5 weapons. It is then the collection will be complete. In comparison to the foil Planeswalker collection, this series is definitely much easier to complete. However, in comparison, the appeal is only specific to only a few of the Gods, naming Purphoros, God of the Forge and Thassa, God of the Sea in the Theros Expansion. The other Gods like Keranos, God of storm that see constructed play will definitely have their appeal. 

So what about the rest? I can keep them for long time, but they are going to rot there and do nothing for me if by then, the demand left in any of them had run out. In the 1 year span of holding, the price difference from the time I purchased them till the point I traded them out was -$26 difference. I would see the returns if I held them out longer, but then the next question will be, will it be worth it? The thing is this; if I were to buy a card and hold it out, it either has no play value to me, but will see a potential increase in the price due to demand / supply. Or, I buy a card for its play value and I maximize my reasoning for expenditure due to the playability of the card to me. For me, the planeswalkers will see more play in my decks over the Gods. Hence, this project saw the bin.

I have to admit that it was another brash attempt to do something with money. Really, money can really drive a person crazy and for this case, I wanted to invest the money I had with foils. Only that I didn't really know what I want to do with it until about a year later... Foil cards do have a rather stable price trajectory as they can hold the prices quite well. In comparison to the non-foil counterparts, the prices is considered to be held out quite well already. 

• Foiling my EDH Deck {in Progress...}

Yes, this is the move I decided to jump into mid of last year while I was doing the organisation and restructuring of the trades. I decided to foil out my EDH deck. Note that it's only 1 deck, so it's not as if it's going to be a multiple attempt under this project.

Firstly. a full disclosure is needed that while I do some trades to acquire some of the cards, I am using cash to buy most of the cards here. So if you are wondering if this is the definite end point for Project: Zer0, the answer is no. This is just something I wanted to do for awhile when I am building my EDH deck. To me, the format in general is considered casual; hence, the banned list is not as volatile as we know in Modern and Legacy. 

Hence, it is very safe to buy in the staples for the format in foils and not worry about it being banned. Also, some if not most are multi-format staples. They are either found played in Legacy or in Modern formats. Even if they are not found in eternal formats, the casual appeal and demand of those cards as staples in any EDH decks is enough to keep these cards holding their prices.

So what goes? What is next for me? At the moment now, I'm working on building a new modern deck on budget and I am around 80% completed. I hope to finish that first before deciding what to do with the other pieces. Right now, I'm actively trading out cards that I do not need for the relevant pieces.

In addition, I'm moving out moving common and uncommon EDH staples for bulk rare. No point for me to hold on to them unless they are foils or are in need. I rather use the bulk rares as alternative currency for my trading or bulking them out for multi-format staples.

I did mention this before when I discussed about the issues of parking investments in Modern format. It's too volatile to guarantee any returns, especially if it is at risk of seeing being banned. Hence, it's much safer to acquire staples that are used throughout the format or across different format.

For reference, I tend to use Eternal formats like Modern and Legacy, and Casual formats like EDH to gauge. Standard format is too short to see any long-term holding. They spike for when they are in season and upon rotation, the cards will definitely dip before any chance of recovery.

These staples used definitely will be a higher priced to buy in, but it's definitely more solid plan if we consider the risks and time involved. In the end, the staples will definitely be used to be played, so even if they do dip a little in the prices, I can still justify the buy-in to be played with. At least it gives the full money worth of why I am buying those staples at such high prices.

While I am in for buying multi-format staples, eventually it only makes sense if I were to either use them, trade out or sell them for profit. The lesson I have learnt over the year is that profiting from Magic: the Gathering is almost never there. Unless you are a solid speculator and have the capital and means to move cards, you won't really see a good sum of profit to justify your time and effort spent researching and collating data. In the end, the very thing that we want to do is to minimize our expenditure in this expensive hobby.

So as a wrap up, I abandoned some of the projects I had as it was rather impractical to have them running with such low budget. I don't have the means to either complete them or that even if I do complete them, does the money spent make sense to justify my action of acquiring or keeping them? For instance, it makes more sense to hold the foil planeswalkers over the foil Gods as I would use the prior over the latter in my casual decks, and it is easier for me to move foil planeswalkers than Gods.

In the end, it does matter in where and how I spend the money to improve my collection. I think it's a well-known fact that quality is definitely over quantity. It's easier to manage quality trades than having to lug around so many binders and doing only a few dollars for that day. Also, expanding my collection is one thing, but I have to consider my role in the game. Do I want to collect just for the sake of collecting? Or do I collect to play and have them as a reserve? To what extend that I want to hold them and how long I want to hold these cards?

I don't expect myself to make the "right" decisions all the time, but as long as I can justify why I am buying something or making that trade, it's definitely better than jumping into a project that is going to cost me a bomb just because it's an act of impulse.

The bold move...

In the light of the recent banning of certain cards, it enlightened me to see things in a different manner and I wish to share with you guys. First off, I'm quite aware that I didn't explain myself clearly in the last few paragraphs and I wish to elaborate it here. 

In the light of Banning...

All aboard... The leaving cruise.

It's no surprise that Treasure Cruise got the banhammer. As discussed in my updates earlier, it's no surprise for the reason that it is a really strong card.
- Forget the 8-mana cost. It's essentially played as a 1 mana draw 3 cards since it has "Delve".
- It's played as a mid-game booster for aggro decks to fill the hand. Hence, enabling to draw 3 cards for that kind of cost, it's almost an equal power level of one of the banned cards; Ancestral Recall.

Dig Through Time is skeptical. I personally thought that... Honestly I was really surprised... and disappointed. Despite very little play experience with Pod decks, Birthing Pod easily goes into one of my favourite green cards. It's powerful, fair and allows a diverse amount of utility and play strategies.

So to me, it can be said the banning of pod is really uncalled for. It's almost like a meta-staple. A face or poster boy of Modern Format. You have to understand that although Pod decks received a huge buff from the recent Khans of Tarkir expansion (Seige Rhino), along with the other smaller boost like Reclamation Sage and Eidolon of the Rhetoric over the past year. It adapted well to the format
because of the deck's flexibility. Not because Pod itself is overpowered. As I described earlier, the deck itself test the pilot's ability. It doesn't just win games on its own. The strategy and ability of the pilot will make a huge difference.

Bye bye....

So now with Pod decks gone from the meta, along with the weakening of U/R Delver decks and to an extend any other decks that uses Treasure Cruise/Dig Through Time, they basically face the following situations;

1. Delver and pod players have no home now.
2. Have to spend thousands to re-modify their decks or basically change their decks.
3. What is the next best deck to play?

Personally, I would say UR delver decks have a few options if they choose not to continue playing Delver. It's still fringe playable, but don't expect playing as well as it did in the Cruise Era...

• Jeskai Midrange/Control
• Splintered Twin
• Izzet Control (is this even a thing?)
• RDW (yea... just go for that if you care about budget that much...)

Birthing Pod players will face a slightly harder option; Pod deck goes off as a combo deck with an alternative win-con as an aggressive Abzan beat-down. Kiki-Pods on the other hand rely more on the combo. So it's hard for them to shift into a new deck with a similar plan at a minimized cost.

• Jund
• Junk / Abzan Midrange
• Scapeshift (kiki-pod players)
• Zoo (kiki-pod players)
• Golgari Dredge?

So as we we can see, the next closest decks for the 2 groups of players are rather off in the strategy and deck archetypes itself. So honestly, just be prepared to spend if necessary. Magic is an expensive hobby. That is something we can all agree on.

Okay, so what about the recent unbanned Golgari Grave-Troll? To be honest, I'm not really surprised to see this unbanned. But, what does this mean for us modern players? What decks will rise because of this card? Prominently, it would be Golgari Dredge/Delve decks that would see benefit.

However, the big question remains as to potentially how strong these decks are and/or how relevant are they to the refreshed format, it really depends on on the support and response they get post-banning announcement. On the top of my head, Dredgevine may see a return thanks to him. Maybe some sort of Delve decks with the new Soulflayer? What about reanimator decks? There are new possibilities and strategies, but it will depend on the popularity and if anyone willing to play them.

Also, it depends on the hate meta. Thanks to "Delve" by Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time, graveyard hate is prominent in my meta. (checking around mtgtop8, grave-hate isn't that much of a problem..) But, hey, depending on where you play, the local meta will see fit differently. But then again, I'm not surprised that the impact of Golgari Grave-Troll to be insignificant. As we recall last year, when Bitterblossom was unbanned, the hype of it caused it to spike up to around $70. But, what happens next? No tournament results and in the end, it was just that; a hype.

Where this goes financially?

Now, this guy is more important than ever...

Key modern staples are not just about the staples for a specific deck. I personally think it's time to look into staples that are capable to be included into multiples. I think that some of you will be laughing out loud at me for saying this, but yes, it took me this long to get a clear insight to actually think this way.

But, hear me out. With the knowledge of reprints in Modern Masters 2015, It's really best not to go delve into the staples too much. With the recent banning, it really shows that Wizards intend to keep Modern controlled, but volatile at the same time. If we are looking at holding staples, I'd say I really will consider the staples that can be ported easily within decks, like landbase and sideboards.

The core of decks will be hard, especially that the over-performing ones like pods can easily be targeted for the banhammer, the underperforming ones on the other hand, does not have retention value. So, it is suffice to say that if I really plan to hold out staples on this format, I have to look into staples which are flexible enough to go into at least 2 or more decks in the format before considering it to be a worthy investment.

So in the meantime, I stand by my decision to stay clear of buying into too much singular-deck staples until Modern Masters 2015. At least in the meantime I have the time to access the format; letting it grow and adapt from there while new decks emerge from the new meta before deciding what truly sticks around.

Could have been worse...

I have been reading Reddit, and Tappedout and MTGsalvations Forums quite actively in-lieu for the banning. I assured myself that the situation could have gone much worse..

• BloodBraid Elf un-banning

The power level of Bloodbraid Elf cannot be underestimated. Un-banning this will cause more of a trouble than help; sure Zoo and Jund will get a tremendous boost they deserve, but the issue of bloodbraid elf running around is that there are no strong decks to keep them in check otherwise. She is not disruptive the moment you cast her, but it is her cascade ability that gives the most issue as the curving end of a low-cost deck, anything she hits with her ability is another board advantage and usually, it's enough to turn the tide around. With Dark Confidant around looming in the same deck, this gives decks running the Jund core a lot of unfair card advantages. 

I was adamant that Bloodbraid Elf will not see an unban due to the sheer unfairness of card and board advantage it gives Zoo and Jund players. So, prior to the ban list update, I noticed my local stores here have sold out their copies at around $2.5 each on average. I decided to pass the opportunity in buying the last 2 pieces. I was right in doing so. She remained banned. However, as I did not anticipate Golgari Grave-Troll to be unbanned, the overnight spike from $1 to $11 all around the world is, well, a surprise that the prices spike so fast. However, note to self, it would not stay there for long. $11 is the initial hype on what he does. If I were to follow the hype as seen in Bitterblossom, my guess he will settle down after the hype to about $4 or $5 a piece.

As I mentioned about the no strong decks in check, think about it. Combo and control decks are scarcely around to check the other archetypes. A very good example is the recent U/R Delver and Birthing Pod scenario. Scapeshift was also prominent in the scene when UR delver took the house. The two decks, Pod and Scapeshift adapted very quickly and managed to see some Top 8 results. Eventually, Pod still manage to take the top placing in the recent GP.

My point here is that there are decks which adapted with the eventual outburst of Treasure Cruise power level, but yes, banning it is the right thing as if the meta is eventually to wrap around playing it or to counter it, it's not a healthy format. However, the point made is a focus that Pod decks were versatile. That's why they won. Okay I'll stop here about Pod decks or it'll seem this whole article is just talking about defending why Pod shouldn't be banned.

Final Thought
In retrospect, I understand why they chose to ban it. Wizards wanted Modern to be continuously volatile and engaging as such that the meta for the format is very diverse. Hence, removing a top-contender along side with the 2 format-wrapping cards will allow the diversification of the format. However, on that standpoint, I really don't see control decks out and running around in the format. Yes, it's a fast format. But, don't you agree that having some prominent control decks running around will help balance out the power-struggle between combo and aggro archetypes? Right now, the meta is dominated in aggro, followed by combo. With the recent post-banning, it would likely seem that the 2 archetypes will still stay in the power-struggle, but control just seem to lost Dig Through Time. I mentioned previously that this was the defining card that could help Control decks see top tier play.

I know Jeskai control is out and running as the dominant control deck. But, an archetype of decks doesn't just represented by a singleton deck right? What about Cruel Control? Tezzeret Artifact? Esper Gifts? I don't play control, but I would love to see more of these decks up to keep the format diverse. Maybe I am wrong, you know, that post-banning these decks will see better play opportunities for some reason. But, as to what I see so far, the meta has basically just became what was prior Khans of Tarkir release, minus Birthing Pod.

It is definitely a bold move and I understand their decision. But, I cannot help but actually wonder what happens to those players who were playing those decks prior the banning and having to spend thousands again just to keep up to the format. Modern was supposed to be an Eternal format; players are able to buy into the game at a high cost, but able to make full use of their investments to reap the benefits of having a deck which could stick to them for life. I cannot imagine how it feel to just suddenly not play the deck thanks to the banlist. Actually, I stopped playing my favourite bant deck due to cost reasons. I sold it last year before the price spike and eventually made the Ally reanimator deck.

I would reaffirm my statement that this incident is a very good learning point for me that Modern is not a place to invest for long term. Even so, I still choose to, but I will have to stick to a more versatile staple instead of a deck-restricted staple. My guess is that my buy-ins for this year would be relatively lesser as compared to last year. But, who knows what Modern Masters 2015 will bring and I look forward to that. Thankfully with the recent lesson learnt, I've made the right choice to invest in foiling out my EDH decks instead.

2015 Modern Ban-list Update: Thoughts...

Banned List 2015

Yup... Surprised?

Banned!

"Decks playing the powerful card drawers have been winning a lot, and pushing a lot of other decks down in competitive play. Blue-Red Delver decks, playing efficient creatures, card drawers, burn, and some permission spells have been the most successful. Also, decks focused on more burn, or combination decks using Jeskai Ascendancy, have done well. However, as these decks have occupied a large portion of the competitive metagame, the overall variety of successful decks has been suppressed. It is imbalanced enough that Wizards of the Coast has decided to act. In Modern, these cards are easy replacements for one another—while a Delver deck might use Treasure Cruise over Dig Through Time, banning one but not the other would do little to change the deck. Dig Through Time and Treasure Cruise are banned."

I think this one comes to no surprise? This has been in the talks for awhile and honestly, the power level of this card really wraps the format till a lot of decks are attempting splashing blue just for it. Admittedly, I didn't. (Reanimator decks.. dammit!) Treasure Cruise is just downright powerful. Even at the high mana cost, it's irrelevant. It's meant for a steam booster for aggro decks. Delving it into a single blue mana is really easy for most decks. Hence, it can be considered to be an Ancestral Recall for Modern and Legacy. 

Still, it's somewhat unexpected by many. That said, I'm rather disappointed that Dig Through Time got banned. Yes, it's an unexpected move. Is it a good move? Maybe. Depends on which side of the story you are in. Within my short experience in playing UW Midrange/Control deck, Dig Through Time was THE card that control players would need to balance out the meta. In all honestly, that is the card that will push them to be more relevant in the current meta, which is dominated by aggro and combo decks. Yes, it is powerful in the late game, but that's what it is supposed to be! A powerful spell which ends the game. That's what I thought control games will be like. So whether if it was a good move to ban the card, if you are control player, you've lost a another good card in your arsenal. If otherwise, you narrowly missed a nightmare.

Speaking of combo decks...

"Over the past year, Birthing Pod decks have won significantly more Grand Prix than any other Modern decks and compose the largest percentage of the field. Each year, new powerful options are printed, most recently Siege Rhino. Over time, this creates a growing gap between the strength of the Pod deck and other creature decks. Pod won five of the twelve Grand Prix over the past year, including winning the last two. The high percentage of the field playing Pod suppresses decks, especially other creature decks, that have an unfavorable matchup. In the interest of supporting a diverse format, Birthing Pod is banned."

No.. Just no. In the levels of expectation, this was at the high end of most people to not expect. It looms around after the game losses that how unfair the deck is and how we wish it to be banned. But in all honest opinion, is it a fair deck? Some would say yes, others, no. It was a fair deck in a sense that it tests the skill of the pilot rather than relying on just cheap combos to win flat out. It tests their decision skills and the ability to read synergy between cards and when to do what. In the right hands, it's broken, powerful and yes, it can be a little "cheating". The inclusion of Siege Rhino to the deck is quite overpowering as shown in the latest results. Hence, this card got the ban.  

Axing Birthing Pod means there goes a specific deck type. There goes the infamous pod deck. Personally, I almost build the deck. Actually twice! But, it was the mana-base and some of the cards that got too expensive that I decided against it. So yay me? Now that Pod decks are gone, what's the next best in the Meta? Scapeshift? Twin? Affinity?  Jeskai Ascendancy missed the bullet just that little bit thanks to Birthing Pod and UR Delver adapting. So with this deck gone and U/R Delver weakened, what's next?

Unbanned!

Okay boss... you're back, now let's see how dredge will fare in Modern. It all make sense that banning the prior 2, Treasure Cruise and Dig Through Time and making way for this card will not upset any form of balance (But heck! It's one hell of a fun deck to play...) So what new decks will see rise in the game? Golgari Delve-Dredge? The return of Dredgevines? We shall see. I'm not really attached to this card in any way cos I don't have any experience playing it. But I'm definitely interested to see the new decks coming up with this! (Bitterblossom was disappointing honestly)

In summary, this banned list was a surprise to many and for me, it's refreshing, but surprising to see something like this happen. It really shows that the Modern meta is still very volatile, but not for the reasons that every card has an equal opportunity. The ban-hammer, which Wizards controls, ultimately will control the meta. It's like this pool of cards that are being restricted from playing too overboard. I would agree that having an active update in the banned list will keep the meta fresh and prevent one archetype or deck from overpowering the format, but it's really surprising to see the changes for this time round. 

For instance, the banning of Treasure Cruise this year was expected as that wrapped the format to most players shifting to blue just for that card. Last year we had Deathrite Shaman Banned due to its overpowered utility ability. But, I'm really surprised that axing out the key card in a top-contender deck like Birthing Pod is a really bold move. Yes, it will rejuvenate the meta; yes, it will bring back some balance in the deck variations. 

But it's a move that will cost players thousands of dollars just to change their decks. What is the next best option for them? Jund or Junk, which requires them to purchase Tarmagoyfs which are incredibly expensive right now. Change the colour pie? Sure. Trade in all the Fetch/shocks and other irrelevant cards for another colour and that will cost just as much. In short, don't expect a tier 1 deck to stay there for too long and get ready for a back-up plan if you see your deck performing too well. It's great in the sense of accomplishment, but if the key component of the deck gets banned, be ready to switch.

Well, that's all I have for now. I'll update later with more content regarding the ban-list later next week or so.

Puca ~ Puca ~ Puca

I'm back with a new post to kick off the new year!

To start off, I would like to do a closure that I have failed to do previously for year 2014. 2014 has been a great year for me in MTG, but not so much for my personal life. That's why I decided to hiatus for about 2 months to patch things up in my life and also to take the time off to explore new things for this coming year. Well, problems may be there, but things still have to continue and be done. I cannot give up something that I have started and just leave things hanging. I will want to continue in updating the blog at least for another year or so to journal my journey in both finance and game-play.

• Trading!

The past 2 months have been really fruitful for me. I think we do recall the dry-periods when I mentioned there were no trades going out in either forms of bulk rare or solid cash deals. It was at that point when I am exploring several platforms for trades in both locally and internationally to move my cards. To me, the plan was simple, move the cards or I'm stuck with paper that is essentially useless. I also have to come to terms that while sitting on a few thousand pieces of bulk was quite fun at first, lugging around is definitely not. The pain of having to lug around so much cards everywhere I went eventually got me feeling very stupid about the idea. 

$50 off from my bulked rares (~400 pieces) for my Snapcaster Mages buy-in at ~$105/playset ($160 originally)... While I don't exactly call it a profit, I would find it worth the value in holding the playset than the 400 pieces for the next X months.

I didn't give up on the bulk rare project though. Instead, in the last-minute decision after Modern Masters 2015 was announced, I decided to filter out the not so good rares and bulked them out for a good price discount in my purchases from a friend's game store. That was the first step in changing my trading tactics.. I also decided to shy away from the local community to give myself room to explore other options. While the local community, at best, is very convenient to trade with and easier to access for cards, I have a harder time to move bulk and the lesser-demanded cards, which takes up a majority of the cards I have for trade. I could just bulk everything (which I did as mentioned earlier for most of the less-useful bulk) and restart my trading, but that is just going against what I wanted to do initially; to use bulk as currency. So hence, after above mentioned trades, I did other smaller bulk-out like: 

• 56 bulk pieces for 2x Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx ($3.50 ea)
• 44 bulk pieces for 1x Baneslayer Angel (price reduction from $13 to $7.50)

Eventually I came across trading platforms like PucaTrade and Deckbox. It was rather tough to start off the engine in trading there at first. Both platforms require very different things to start off. Deckbox needs reputation points to be trustworthy enough to be considered good trading partner, which ironically comes from completing trades. PucaTrade was simpler in the sense that you need points. However, to get points, you first have to give cards to people in exchange for points before being able to receive anything. I do make a few mistakes that cost me money at first; like sending cards below the value of what I paid for postage and yea, I also did a miscalculation in the prices as on these platforms, the pricing of the cards are rather different than what I see in trading here locally. 

But, I have to commend that the community so far have been mostly great! I really enjoy trading in the two platforms and I realized for the past 2 months or so, I barely touched the local forums for trade. I'm moving more cards within the shorter time frame on these platforms than I do here locally! Yes, I am able to move some of my bulk rares for rather nice items:

One of the first few trades I did on Deckbox.. I was trying to see what I can get out of my bulk rares and honestly, with the right trading partner, it's really a surprise! 

Proof number 2 that I can really get some nice things for my bulk rare. While for this list, some othe stuff isn't bulk, I couldn't move them here locally. Hence, to the other guys on the other side of the planet is a much better choice

  

I also manged to get a few trades which eventually got me the better value:

Top trade is an example of the few mistakes I made in calculating the prices. It was a fair trade still.. The bottom one simply yield me a nice profit as a good reason why I want to move cards overseas

For PucaTrade, this is what my trade list looks like so far. Of course, more trades and cards are going in and out, so I cannot capture all of it. But, basically, you get the picture. I'm hoping to get some interesting cards out from my traded cards. 

• MTG-Reddit Finance

Okay, this section will be a really short one. I'm not specifically just referring to the reddit page which I jumped upon for financial updates, speculations and market watch. I'm also referring in general to websites like MTG-Price, MTG-goldfish and the likes. With so many financial pages easily available, directing my blog at that direction is basically just knocking my head against a brick wall and hope for something to happen. That's insanity. In any case, the point for me to bring this up is that time is not on my side. I have more work piled up on my side and I need to streamline my data collection and analysis in order for me to keep up with the analysis of the card trends. 

I personally have missed the boat for a lot of cards as by the time I hit a sound analysis, I'm too late to board the early ship. So basically, I have to find ways to optimize my market research to have more time to analyze and speculate in possible pick-ups or  trends. No, I do not think I did well in speculation, but I do and will follow most of my own opinion and advices and I do have my own hits and misses. I'll be honest. I don't expect myself to have a 100% hit rate. It's impossible, but knowing how to adapt to the meta changes is more important. Having knowing the changes in the meta, we'll know the possible trends coming and be prepared for it.  Personally, I'm still holding on to cards that I have speculated as shown in the blog post; http://project-zer0.blogspot.sg/2014/10/my-next-move.html. 

But, because of financial restrictions, I won't be holding as much copies as I hoped to hold. I would say that so long as I am able to make a good profit out from the cards, selling it or trading out on Deckbox/PucaTrade will be a good option to acquire other cards.

As mentioned, I'm not as active in local trading in the past 2 months, I'm still in a lookout to by in bulk collections from the local scene. However for singles and more in-demand cards, I'll probably turn my attention to the international market for better opportunities there.

• My Arsenal

I'm sure you all know that I'm piloting a 5-colour reanimator deck for modern. It's a good deck and I enjoy playing it. However, it's not well-positioned in an aggro meta. I'm not going to dismantle the deck still. Actually honestly speaking, I am not positioned as an aggro / control or combo player. I can and I do play or have an experience with playing the different archetypes, but not well; just have some minimal experience. As I type, I'm on a lookout on acquiring pieces for a new deck. This deck will be my second modern deck, which I will make it as a standby in case my reanimator deck is unable to perform in the meta. The new deck

I'm still bent in foiling my EDH deck, but as I'm making some editing and changes to the deck, I'll be foiling out the priority pieces first before going to the edited pieces or the cards that are not confirmed to have a slot in the EDH deck. I made it clear with my play group that I will only have 1 EDH deck and I will be invested in it because eventually, I want to play EDH for the political fun in multiplayer mode rather than winning games. Likewise for Modern, I want to use it it as a platform to make friends and have fun... not to be very competitive and just aim in winning..

I actually have a tiny leaders deck in the making and this will make its appearance one the local scene takes up and recognises more tiny leaders as a new and playable format. I'm rather optimistic for the deck as it is a good excuse for me to use a lot of cards which I failed to use them or have a deck for it. Whole on all, you'd realise that I'm not really a hardcore competitive player. That, I'll admit. I never found the joy in competitive. Partly is because I doubt my ability, but more importantly, I prefer to enjoy the play with the community than winning. I would say that if I were to be competitive, I would have taken a different route altogether.

• Featured Articles / Earnings

To be honest, I'm not earning anything from doing blog entries. This is just solely in promoting my opinions to the community and journal my journey as a trader and player in MTG. I don't see myself as a full-time blogger and I have other commitments to earn money from. However, it would be great to earn some pocket cash from here, but as for the moment, it's relatively hard to do so due to the nature of my blog (MTG or card game related blogs are qute hard to reach out to the mass community. The searches are quite hard to have my blog as a top search.) basically prevents my blog in reaching a high profile view and followers as compared to other bloggers who blog about more common topics like food, make-up, life, etc... 

I want to give the internet community a unique twist in the blog entry about my life, but more about my life as a MTG player and as an up-coming trader who have aspirations to learn more about trading and speculation. I don't seek this to become my main income or of any sort, but if I do make a small income from blogging, it would really make my day. So hence, for 2015, I'm aiming to increase my viewership and reach to have more followers and unique viewers. At the moment, I'm using Nuffnang as my main advertisement sponsor. Adsense rejected me 3 months ago for the reason of lack of content... (ridiculous!) and also for the lack of reach in searchability.. I will look into that as part of fixing my blog in 2015. I'm also applying for gushcloud any other possible services to net me income for my effort in promoting MTG and also just about blogging. Honestly, I actually do believe that I have some unique points about my blog. I have yet seen another that does coverage about his/her personal aspirations. financial spectulation and also personal reviews on upcoming set. Correct me if I am wrong, but I actually believe that I am actually well positioned as a unique blogger that has done that to give the community a unique twist and point of few about MTG itself.

Sure, some content may requrire improvement, but given that this was my first year of blogging such topic, I still need to learn and experiment. For 2015, I'll seek to improve my content to be more engaging and unique for you readers!

To sum up, 2014 has been a year of experimenting and taking steps unknown to most people to be unique and original. I am actually quite well-known for my Project: Zer0 in the local community and I thank for the support given in any way by the people here and in overseas. 

For 2015, I aim to expand my reach internationally and gain more viewers! Side note; if anyone in Germany is viewing this, Guten Tag! I'll be heading there for a 4-month attachment later this year somewhere during Oktoberfest! If anyone is kind enough and willing to be-friend me, let's be pen pals! Like the old days, we send email or letters to each other to communicate and make friends! Of course, my plan is to tour Europe, so guys, if I am reaching out to you people in Europe this far from Singapore to Europe, drop me an email or a reply on this article here below to start chatting! I love making new friends and I really wish to expand my circle of friends to overseas! I also love to know your unique cultures and stuff so I am better prepared when I'm at Europe for my attachment later this year!

To wrap up, let's have a wonderful 2015! Happy New Year!

The most frustrating: Sideboard

Please tell me I'm not the only one that finds sideboarding the most frustrating and the most time-consuming in deck building.

Is it just me that my initial options for sideboarding will always exceed the restricted 15 cards?

Also, is it just me or that more time is actually spent on sideboarding strategies rather than actually making sure the deck works?

Personally I love to play home-brew decks, but I'm not really an avid fan of brewing tons of decks and throw them around. To me, I prefer to build 1 or 2 competitive or non-casual decks, build them up proper with the proper tuning and just play with it. I really don't see the need to have 10 Modern decks or EDH decks when I only have time and energy to just play 1 at a time. Also, having lesser decks means being able to spend more time practicing and focus on being good at solely just one deck, I'm able to tune and make changes faster and more efficiently.

Hmm.. to side or not to...

But, here comes the part which frustrates myself; I prefer home-brew decks over competitive net-decks. Sure, I may take ideas from primers and net decks, but in the end, the final product is ensured to have some sort of personal expression or originality in it.  I actually dismantled a UW midrange deck after playing for a single event for my own homebrew. I personally preferred the latter deck still, but I digress.

If you look at my (almost) weekly gameplay reviews, I have been reviewing my gameplay for my Ally reanimator deck for months and I have not even fixed a finalized sideboard. The deck was a homebrew, which  which I have been working for almost a YEAR!

The "worst" part of the deck building that I have found when home-brewing a deck is the sideboard.
The sideboard is restricted to just 15 cards; we can never find enough space for our ideal list. Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks 15 cards is, although the right number, really much crammed in space to jam in all our wants. I always have the problem in which I have a list of 20+ cards as ideas for sideboarding. After cutting out 50% of them, I then included the multiples, which always ended up more than the 15 slots, which then I went ahead to remove the cards that are too narrow in its hate or the intended disruption. Finally, I'll end up with 16 cards, not knowing which to cut (In fact, at this point of writing, my Ally Reanimator deck actually has 16 cards in the sideboard, which I left out the third Stony Silence out in favor of the third Pithing Needle.)

The need to separate the wants and needs is really crucial. But, in most games, our needs and wants are really separated by a vague line to be honest. That's frustrating...

Another issue that I can think of as to why sideboard is the "worst" part of the entire deck building journey is the almost lack of originality. Okay, I'm sure I'm going to get a lot of heat from this, but hear me out! When it comes to the sideboard, more time is spent actually on analyzing local meta and this can be frustrating as the local meta differs, but the decks that are present is usually not. The main difference is the percentage variation of the different archetypes and decks present that makes up to the meta.

Building on the point mentioned above, since so much time is spent on analyzing meta, it naturally meant that more time is spent building the sideboard (which is a good thing by the way; means I am really looking into the meta and fighting against it properly). But, it still doesn't give much variation to the sideboard in terms of originality. Strong sideboard cards have already been tested and proven to be effective against certain decks and match-ups. So, even if its a home-brew deck, the sideboard may eventually be winding up as the same as the other guy across the room, playing the same archetype.

Sure, I'm not blind to notice that there are variations to the "hate" and stax cards that are used against match-ups; I'm pointing out that the sideboards in the certain archetype would eventually look the same. For example, creature-heavy decks would eventually use Kataki, War's Wage over Stony Silence against Affinity match-ups. The variation is there in the cards, but not the hate. Eventually, the sideboard is not just dependant on the deck I make, but also what decks other people make.

In essence, the most frustrating thing in Sideboard building is not actually the building; that's the easy part: finding the cards to hate. But, it is not so simple as to just jam in 15 hate cards and done.

How does the hate cards hinder your game-plan? 
How does the additional cards going to affect the mana curve? 
How does the cards going to affect your other games? 
Are there better options out there? 
Are the options flexible enough to cover more than intended? 
What cards are you going to side out? 

So many questions to think through and answer before I can actually decide on a good sideboard. It's the analysis and research needed as downtime to understand the local meta in your community and actually plan and work against it. It is also the time needed to look at your decklist and understand the minor synergy between the cards, how they interact each other. By including the new cards from the sideboard, how are the interactions going to be different? How the game-plan is going to change? That's the frustration.

It is very clear to anyone who played a decent amount of time in MTG to know that the sideboard is the most important 15 cards out of the 75.  It is the crucial plan in your entire deck that determines your decks' viability against the meta, literally making and breaking your games.

The meta is forever changing as more deck ideas will come up overtime. We only have to keep up.