Zendikar Orb Request September 3, 2009
Posted by Norm in Zendikar.Tags: Orb of Insight, Zendikar
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To: Anyone who is putting time into the Zendikar Orb of Insight and keeping track of their results.
If you’d like to share your results with me I’d be happy to post them. My job/life currently is preventing me from putting the time in myself. You get full credit for your effort as well as a fake foil play set of Sorin.
Drastic Inquiry Results September 3, 2009
Posted by Norm in Constructed.Tags: Drastic Inquiry, Grixis, Standard
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Yesterday I shared a Grixis Deck, Drastic Inquiry, that I was bringing to a standard event tonight. First off this was a really fun deck to play. Its unique and unexpectedness was a great asset tonight. However it is a tricky deck to play and without any time to play test the first few matches were a bit dicy learning the ins and outs. I’ve also never played a deck with such a dynamic mana base. So there was an additional learning curve for me.
Over all the deck is very competitive. Even when I lost I was grinding it out and if I could have had more mana or creatures at the right time I could have won. The deck is also capable of some very dramatic victories. The key is finding the right moment to play Burning Inquiry. The other key ranadomly discarding the cards you want in your graveyard. 
I finished the night 1-3, disappointing but not a complete failure as I was learning the new deck. If you want more details on the night let me know.
Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle Offical Spoiler September 2, 2009
Posted by Norm in Spoilers, Zendikar.Tags: Spoiler, the Molten Pinnacle, Valakut, Zendikar
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So here is an update and the official spoiler of Valakut, the Molen Pinnacle. Well here it is and while the actual wording is a little different the card is the same as what was spoiled.
In my mind there is going to be a huge shift toward mono color decks in this new block. Perhaps in the second and third sets we might see a shift back toward multicolored cards. So what this means for standard is going to be very interesting. What is really curious is what will happen to the very color specific cards in Shards Block. I’m assuming one of two things will happen in Zendikar. We will see cards (specifically lands) to support the specific color requirements of Shards or multi color will fade out due to better acceleration in mono/dual color decks. Bye bye Reflecting Pool and Vivid lands.
Zendikar – Spoilers, Art, and Mini Site September 2, 2009
Posted by Norm in Spoilers, Zendikar.Tags: Art, mini site, Orb of Insight, Spoiler, Zendikar
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Welcome to Zendikar spoiler season!
Today the Zendikar mini site has launched complete with spoilers, new art, and the orb of insight. The art and flavor of this new set is really exciting. Dare I say as exciting as the Shards of Alara spoilers season? I know everyone can’t wait to see what the new make up of standard will look like so stay tuned folks.
Something Different – Standard September 1, 2009
Posted by Norm in Constructed.Tags: Constructed, Extractor Demon
2 comments
I’ve been playing my favorite standard deck, Mono White Kithkin, for the past few weeks at the local shop on Wednesday nights. On Magic Game Day I went 5-0 with the deck beating two Merfolk decks and some Jundish stuff. The following week I went 3-1 loosing to the Time Sieve combo deck. That I might have been able to beat had I put Lapse of Certainty in the sideboard.
This week I’m interested in playing something new and while Jund or Elves seems like the decks to play I found this Grixis list on Deck Check.net.
creature [24]
4 Dregscape Zombie
4 Extractor Demon
4 Hellspark Elemental
4 Sedraxis Specter
4 Shambling Remains
4 Viscera Dragger
instant [6]
4 Terminate
2 Volcanic Fallout
sorcery [7]
4 Burning Inquiry
3 Drastic Revelation
land [23]
4 Crumbling Necropolis
1 Dragonskull Summit
2 Drowned Catacomb
3 Graven Cairns
1 Island
4 Mountain
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Sunken Ruins
5 Swamp
1 Vivid MarshSideboard:
3 Black Knight
4 Deathmark
2 Earthquake
3 Thought Hemorrhage
3 Thoughtseize
The deck is called Drastic Inquiry by Cyrus Bales and after playing a quick game I can see why it is playable. Extractor Demon is pretty awesome and after realizing how cool he is I’m surprised this deck hasn’t caught on before. While it is no Demigod of Revenge the synergy with getting a creature off the board is really devastating. In my play test game I was able to get two out and force my opponent to put upwards of 10 cards into the graveyard on one turn. Volcanic Fallout is also really good here. I’d even consider upping the fallout count to four and reducing the Burning Inquiry. Although the goal is to play the demon from your graveyard and smash for big beats.
I’ll be shuffling up some form of this deck tomorrow so wish me luck.
Wizards New Community Site September 1, 2009
Posted by Norm in Casual.Tags: Battle.net, magic, Wizards Community
2 comments
How many of you have joined the new Wizards of the Coast community site already. If so it looks like a giant leap forward and I only have good things to say.
If you don’t already know this about me, I generally dislike forum sites. I find them hard to search, navigate, post, remember my password, etc. I know I’m swimming up stream here but that has just been my general feeling about forums. So I really didn’t participate much in Gleemax and I had little concern for the new Wizards Community site when it was announced.
First off I’ve got to say that the new site is more of a social network than a forum. It really is Wizards own version of myspace, except nice and clean and easy to use. I think that whoever designed the navigation deserves a case of beer and a raise! Seriously, great job. The ease of use factor is off the chart and I never once found myself wondering were a link is for something. Granted there is a small learning curve as I need to familiarize my self with how everything fits together. But I was never lost and never unable to go where I wanted to.
I really like that each person gets their own little home page to act as a hub for this little world. You get your own custom url so you can always remember how to get back to your home page, that is if you forget to click on your name in the top left corner. My profile is: community.wizards.com/casualmagic/ so please stop by and add me as a friend. If you are feeling frisky you can join my casual magic group.
Moving on, not only does each member get their own blog but also a place to upload photos and video. Pretty awesome.
The only thing about this social network that makes me wonder what is going on is all the places to upload; forum, blog, wiki, comments. Wiki, really? I don’t know why the site needs a wiki and a forum so I’ll have to take more time and look at how people are using it.
All-in-all I’m really impressed and I’m looking forward to getting into the the nicely overhauled community site.
On a different topic Blizzard is also doing something similar with Battle.net. So if you enjoy their game I suggest you check them out as well.
