Conflux Prerelease Recap Video January 31, 2009
Posted by Norm in Conflux, Organized Play.Tags: Conflux, Magic: The Gathering, prerelease, Recap Video
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The people have spoken. I brought my camera with me today and here is a recap of my thoughts on Conflux. I didn’t spend time in between rounds to take any footage especially the second round as my deck was pretty slow.
First thing’s first. I hate to complain about a prerelease because there is so much excitement about the new cards, but seriously Wizards what gives? Please leave comments to let me know what happened in your area. As I mention in the video, I showed up at 8 a.m. sharp to get into flights early. I knew from people and the previous nights FNM that there weren’t going to be the usual flights but no one seemed to know what was going on. Anyway, there are a lot of people who showed up in between 8 and 9 to play. There was no flight, there was no draft there wasn’t even open duling. Basically the event is changed to just flights that start at specific times. No more main event, no more 32 man flights. Just strictly scheduled flights starting as predetermined times.
I’m not so much bothered by the change, but rather how it occured. As I understand in the PES folks got the message late yesterday from Wizards about the changes. I’ve got to say this really sucks because I made specific plans to participate in the event early in the day. I was hoping to do two events and leave early afternoon. These changes pretty much prevented my plan from happening. The changes do make sense, because something I complained about during the Eventide prerelease is that I was only able to get into one event because I couldn’t get there until 1 p.m. and these changes seem to try to fix that. The problem is that the current prereleases are very poorly attended compared to previous prereleases. So let me get off this rant, but it’s obvious that the prerelease is still kind of broken.
How about those cards. Well I spend some time in the video talking about what I saw and used today. Cards that I liked, cards that are working, and how the heck are we dealing with these mana costs. Well I didn’t spend too much time talking about paying crazy mana costs but I did see some people win with 5 color decks. I felt that three color decks defiantly have a better ability to smooth out their base more than anything.
Next I’ll be thinking about some standard builds with the new cards. One card in particular that I did open today, Master Transmuter. Everyone was begging to trade it, but I’ve got plans for her.
Conflux Prerelease Video? January 30, 2009
Posted by Norm in Casual.Tags: Conflux, prerelease
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Duels of the Planeswalkers January 29, 2009
Posted by Norm in Casual, Technology.Tags: Duels of the Planeswalkers
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Looking ahead I’m thinking about Duels of the Planeswalkers for XBox 360. The release date is slated sometime this spring and we really have heard very little about the game. I would have expected to see more information about the cards in the game and the new planeswalker, nissa (sp check).
Perhaps the release of this game is a little lost in the hype of conflux. It does seem odd to me that they chose to release the game now and not during the holiday season.
I wanted to collect all known information about the game to date in this post but alas I just don’t have the time right now. Hopefully I’ll get to it this weekend but with the prerelease I’m not making any promises.
Below is one of the better videos from MTG Cast. They talk about the game play a little, and I learned there are no damage on the stack tricks in the game.
Old School Commercials January 29, 2009
Posted by Norm in Casual.Tags: Magic: The Gathering, south park, tv commercials
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I chanced across these magic commercials this morning. Apperently there was some controversy with making this bumper. The South Park creators didn’t want to do it, but were forced by the network.
The following ad appeared along side the bumper (I think). What a lame ad. I guess it is tough to communicate a game to people who have never played or experienced Magic before.
Conflux EDU: Planeswalkers 101 January 29, 2009
Posted by Norm in Conflux.Tags: Conflux, Magic: The Gathering, Planeswalkers
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Just sharing.
Conflux Prerelease Question January 28, 2009
Posted by Norm in Conflux, Organized Play.Tags: Conflux, malfegor, Open Dueling, prerelease
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Today the whole city of Pittsburgh is on a snow delay. So while I’m waiting it out I’d thought I would solidify my prerelease plans and spend more time reading the prerelease info than normal and I noticed something about open dueling. Previously if you participated in open dueling you would get a prerelease card and a booster pack for your effort. Did they change that? Here is the official info:
Open Dueling – Open Dueling registration is prioritized for customers not participating in the Prerelease tournament. Open Dueling players receive 1 Intro Pack, 1 Open Dueling Results Card, and 1 promo card (while supplies last). Open Dueling players play against other Open Dueling players as well as tournament players who are between matches. Tournament players are encouraged to help teach new customers how to play Magic while playing in Open Dueling. After a participant has completed their Open Dueling Results Card, and the card has been verified by the organizer or judge, he/she receives one complimentary booster pack provided by the organizer.
Was it just the habit of my local venue to give out an additional prerelease card or are they discontinuing the practice. Honestly that is one of the only reasons I participated in open dueling to begin with.
So I’ll take a quick poll, to duel or not to duel.
One other fact is that when I opened my intro back during the shards release my foil rare was bent badly in one corner. It seemed like a manufacturing issue but I was disappointed that the organizers wouldn’t do anything about it.
Conflux EDU: Basic Landcycling 101 January 28, 2009
Posted by Norm in Conflux, Learn to Play Magic: the Gathering.Tags: Basic Landcycling, Conflux, Magic: The Gathering
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I’m happy to see basic landcycling come back. I think this is one of those solid traditional mechanics that is good for the game and decks. Not much else to say about that.
Conflux Insight via Planeswalker Writes January 27, 2009
Posted by Norm in Conflux.Tags: Conflux, Magic: The Gathering, planeswalker writes
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If you haven’t been to Planeswalker Writes recently you are missing out. I just read the best article I’ve seen so far about the impact of Conflux on limited. Dillon gets down about what has worked best in Shards of Alara limited and I agree because I’ve used similar strategies with success in my own events.
I especially like his T.R.A.S.H. acronym for choosing good cards. Keep up the good work.
Dragon’s Egg – Power 9 Pro January 27, 2009
Posted by Norm in Casual.4 comments
You’ve seen the web banners all over the internets, but what the heck is a Dragon’s Egg?Well this timely named product is straight from the hut of Sarkhan Vol. He developed this bag to transport the future dragons of the world to safe places when they are threatened by those who wish to see dragons become extinct.
OK so Sarkhan Vol didn’t really develop this bag but we can still pretend, right? This bag was developed by magic players for magic players. A hard case to protect up to four decks with sleeves and comes complete with many pouches for your other supplies. I recently picked up a deck bag specifically for magic cards and I wish that I would have waited to get one of these. They look really cool and don’t seem to be too big or bulky.
Developed by Power 9 Pro the Dragon’s Egg is one of accessories I wish I had even as a casual player. Below are a few photos and a quick video to give you a better idea. Just so you know I don’t get any kick backs for featuring this item. I just think it is cool.
Conflux EDU: Domain 101 January 26, 2009
Posted by Norm in Conflux, Learn to Play Magic: the Gathering.Tags: Conflux, Domain, Exploding Borders, Magic: The Gathering, Matca Rioters
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The above video is a crash course in the Domain mechanic new for Conflux. We’ll see how efficent this mechanic will prove to be. I’m not completely sold on it as it seems like Eventide’s Chroma – an interesting mechanic but a little confusing as a key word. I mean each domain ability is a little different each instance, so it seems like they could have just printed abilities on the cards verses giving them a keyword.
