[siddx]

Just think of it this way. If you have access to two stores, a small one that is guaranteed to have junk in their promotions and an "advanced" (big) one that has a chance at getting awesome, $100+ judge promos... which are you going to choose? Especially for future promotions if the big one was lucky enough to hit the jackpot. Prereleases and releases are important for stores and if you're already having a hard time you don't deserve to lose customers due to wizards intervening. Buying a box cheaper online is completely different than this. The assumption with prereleases is every store is given equal prize support. If the store wants to take a hit and charge less for entrants then it's on them. This is wizards giving free incentives to already successful stores. I support the hell out of my small LGS. I'm one of the few regulars who drafts 3 or 4 times a month but even I would be tempted to do my prereleases at a larger store (if one existed where I live) if I had the chance at $100 promos.

Yup, my friends and I have always supporting smaller stores but if we knew there was a chance of getting a judge promo at one of the larger stores I guarantee we'd all go there. It's one thing if it was just another small extra prize, but a judge promo can be a big deal. The extended art promo Doran is a $250 card now.

[divisionbyzorro]

So I decided to do an M12 draft in MTGO, since I already had that free M12 booster and just wanted to get a feel for what drafting online was like. I drafted what I thought was a decent green/black deck, and got paired up in the first match against someone else drafted a better green/black deck. We stalled out for a half hour in game one (my timer was down to 10 minutes) before he finally broke through with Onyx Mage). Game two I just kinda rushed through because I figured my odds of winning two in a row with that little time were too low. C'est la vie. No packs for me.

I didn't get anything terribly great; I got a Birds of Paradise, and raredrafted an Honor of the Pure and a Glacial Fortress. I'm considering selling them off; I know there are bots in MTGO that buy cards - but how do I do this?

[Hex]

Just think of it this way. If you have access to two stores, a small one that is guaranteed to have junk in their promotions and an "advanced" (big) one that has a chance at getting awesome, $100+ judge promos... which are you going to choose? Especially for future promotions if the big one was lucky enough to hit the jackpot. Prereleases and releases are important for stores and if you're already having a hard time you don't deserve to lose customers due to wizards intervening. Buying a box cheaper online is completely different than this. The assumption with prereleases is every store is given equal prize support. If the store wants to take a hit and charge less for entrants then it's on them. This is wizards giving free incentives to already successful stores. I support the hell out of my small LGS. I'm one of the few regulars who drafts 3 or 4 times a month but even I would be tempted to do my prereleases at a larger store (if one existed where I live) if I had the chance at $100 promos.

The thing is though that stores become higher tier by selling more boxes, by getting more butts in chairs for events and making larger orders.
I think that Wizards will just not do any extras anymore after this.
People were bitching like crazy and hating on wizards when they found out that it was just the oversized cards , dice and tokens and saying that they were not going to go and fuck wizards.
Now many of the same people are bitching saying that they would have gone if they knew there was better stuff.
That is crap.
Yes I actually do agree that it kind of sucks that some stores got better stuff but again, since nobody was supposed to know ahead of time what was in them it should have been a non issue.
I think by giving bigger stores the better stuff they are hurting smaller stores.

[Hero]

The bottom line with the Helvault was that nobody was told that there would be anything specific in them, so nobody had any rights to set expectations. It was free for an event that was already happening, an added perk that the stores did not have to pay more for and nor would the customer (though I heard that some stores did charge more but that is on them) If stores that do more business get higher odds of a better vault, why is this a cause for drama? People need to think of this the next time that they buy a box online instead of at their lgs or maybe they need to find a better lgs. Mine had the plain Helvault and I could not give a shit less. I was going to the prerelease as always already for the same reason that I always do, for the early cards so anything was just an added bonus. If people need to be bribed to go to events, fuck them because they are not going to support the store anyway.

I love how you assume so much without any actual kind of solid ground to stand on. The Helvault was hyped to hell by Wizards themselves for a month before the actual prerelease, stating that it would be remembered for years to come. While they were given to stores as a freebie a lot of stores still chose to charge more for events because of it. I go to the majority of prereleases anyway but the way this was handled was utterly shit so before you tell people to get fucked maybe you should consider that not everyone is okay with getting worthless shit and defending a company that did nothing for them.

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

The thing is though that stores become higher tier by selling more boxes, by getting more butts in chairs for events and making larger orders. I think that Wizards will just not do any extras anymore after this. People were bitching like crazy and hating on wizards when they found out that it was just the oversized cards , dice and tokens and saying that they were not going to go and fuck wizards. Now many of the same people are bitching saying that they would have gone if they knew there was better stuff. That is crap. Yes I actually do agree that it kind of sucks that some stores got better stuff but again, since nobody was supposed to know ahead of time what was in them it should have been a non issue. I think by giving bigger stores the better stuff they are hurting smaller stores.

It was a non issue THIS TIME, anytime after that you already planted the seed that a bigger store may get better stuff "just because" since it's not truly random which is moronic. That's stabbing all the smaller stores in the back which there is no need to. Make it truly random, there is absolutely zero problem.

Edit: I got 3rd at another prerelease today and got 5 prize packs but got all shit. No good rares from any of them. :( Used up all my luck yesterday it seems.

[rCIZZLE]

So I decided to do an M12 draft in MTGO, since I already had that free M12 booster and just wanted to get a feel for what drafting online was like. I drafted what I thought was a decent green/black deck, and got paired up in the first match against someone else drafted a better green/black deck. We stalled out for a half hour in game one (my timer was down to 10 minutes) before he finally broke through with Onyx Mage). Game two I just kinda rushed through because I figured my odds of winning two in a row with that little time were too low. C'est la vie. No packs for me. I didn't get anything terribly great; I got a Birds of Paradise, and raredrafted an Honor of the Pure and a Glacial Fortress. I'm considering selling them off; I know there are bots in MTGO that buy cards - but how do I do this?

Go to classifieds and search the card you're looking to sell in the search box. For lesser valued cards it may be hard to find bots who advertise they're buying them so it's usually best to hold off until you have a decent valued card. I'll save you some time so you don't get disappointed trying to find good value - cards on MTGO sell for a lot less than the paper counterparts. You might get barely anything for the cards you listed even if they're worth 2-4 dollars each in real life. MTGO effectively has a convenience tax for drafters.

The thing is though that stores become higher tier by selling more boxes, by getting more butts in chairs for events and making larger orders. I think that Wizards will just not do any extras anymore after this. People were bitching like crazy and hating on wizards when they found out that it was just the oversized cards , dice and tokens and saying that they were not going to go and fuck wizards. Now many of the same people are bitching saying that they would have gone if they knew there was better stuff. That is crap. Yes I actually do agree that it kind of sucks that some stores got better stuff but again, since nobody was supposed to know ahead of time what was in them it should have been a non issue. I think by giving bigger stores the better stuff they are hurting smaller stores.

But if they're already successful then why is wizards trying to give them more butts-in-chairs at the expense of the less successful stores? If prize distribution is equal, including promos like the helvault, then I'll usually go to the smaller store as long as the owner is tolerable and the place isn't a dump. If they start giving potentially huge incentives for going to a larger store then I'd start going there more often.

I don't want them to stop trying new things but this was handled about as poorly as possible. If they tweaked this and publicly said that the next prerelease would have equal chances at getting awesome promos for every store then I'd be really excited about it.

Those people who were pissed about what was included might redirect their feelings towards the store and just go to a bigger one next time they do something like this. People will continue to attend these events so wizards won't take a hit. The hit will be felt by the small stores.

Naw, people were going to find out eventually but now people feel cheated from wizards being so vague about it.

[Hex]

I love how you assume so much without any actual kind of solid ground to stand on. The Helvault was hyped to hell by Wizards themselves for a month before the actual prerelease, stating that it would be remembered for years to come. While they were given to stores as a freebie a lot of stores still chose to charge more for events because of it. I go to the majority of prereleases anyway but the way this was handled was utterly shit so before you tell people to get fucked maybe you should consider that not everyone is okay with getting worthless shit and defending a company that did nothing for them.

I have plenty of solid ground.
It was hyped as it should have been, are companies not supposed to hype events that they invest money in?
Expecting them not to is absurd.
Have you never been on the gaming side when there is an epic announcement coming?
Every time coke or pepsi are releasing something new and hype it all to hell even though it suck whe it comes out it is no different.
People set their own expectations and got burnt, period.
If some stores charged more, then that store sucks but that is not on wizards, people should bitch at their stores.
You especially say you go to most pre-releases, so you got everything you normally get PLUS MORE for nothing (unless your lgs sucks).
So I am sorry if I have no sympathy, especially for people who admit they would have gone anyway if there was no Helvault because the added free stuff that you got did not live up to your standards.

[Hex]

It was a non issue THIS TIME, anytime after that you already planted the seed that a bigger store may get better stuff "just because" since it's not truly random which is moronic. That's stabbing all the smaller stores in the back which there is no need to. Make it truly random, there is absolutely zero problem. Edit: I got 3rd at another prerelease today and got 5 prize packs but got all shit. No good rares from any of them. :( Used up all my luck yesterday it seems.

That is the problem, Wizards has no screwed smaller stores, because players will not look first for bigger stores.
This was stupid, the Vault should have been the same all around in my opinion.
I can understand how bigger stores would get the perks in some cases but this was poor foresight.
This is not about the Helvault itself though this is about them making them unequal.

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

That is the problem, Wizards has no screwed smaller stores, because players will not look first for bigger stores. This was stupid, the Vault should have been the same all around in my opinion. I can understand how bigger stores would get the perks in some cases but this was poor foresight. This is not about the Helvault itself though this is about them making them unequal.

Ya, that's what I was saying. This time no one knew ahead of time so it was fine but anytime in the future people will assume the same as this time which is the problem and it's no longer equal. Especially when it's something that is worth money like judge promos. I'd consider going to bigger shops if that's the case since it can be worth a decent amount.

[Hero]

A spindown die is nothing. It's more insulting for them to have hyped that up only to give it to us than if we were to get nothing at all, you corporate shill.

[WanderingWind]

A spindown die is nothing. It's more insulting for them to have hyped that up only to give it to us than if we were to get nothing at all, you corporate shill.

Why do you do this shit in every thread? Take your pathetic little crusades elsewhere.

[siddx]

Why do you do this shit in every thread? Take your pathetic little crusades elsewhere.

His anger makes him forget his sad and lonely existence.

[f0rk]

So I decided to do an M12 draft in MTGO, since I already had that free M12 booster and just wanted to get a feel for what drafting online was like. I drafted what I thought was a decent green/black deck, and got paired up in the first match against someone else drafted a better green/black deck. We stalled out for a half hour in game one (my timer was down to 10 minutes) before he finally broke through with Onyx Mage). Game two I just kinda rushed through because I figured my odds of winning two in a row with that little time were too low. C'est la vie. No packs for me. I didn't get anything terribly great; I got a Birds of Paradise, and raredrafted an Honor of the Pure and a Glacial Fortress. I'm considering selling them off; I know there are bots in MTGO that buy cards - but how do I do this?

Core set drafts are soooo boring. I wouldn't do one again. Those pulls are pretty good for a draft though, they are cards that all get played in standard decks. Definitely keep the land at least.

[Keru_Shiri]

Got a Tamiyo and a Cavern out of my pre-release packs, so I'm happy! Plus, one of my friends whom I introduced to Magic came in first at the actual event. I'm so proud! :)

[WanderingWind]

Got a Tamiyo and a Cavern out of my pre-release packs, so I'm happy! Plus, one of my friends whom I introduced to Magic came in first at the actual event. I'm so proud! :)

*sniff*

They grow up so fast!

[divisionbyzorro]

Core set drafts are soooo boring. I wouldn't do one again. Those pulls are pretty good for a draft though, they are cards that all get played in standard decks. Definitely keep the land at least.

I'll grant that it was a little dull; I probably should have just tried to trade the booster for a DA or INN booster and done that draft. I'm more familiar with that format anyway. I just felt like jumping right in and seeing what it was like to draft online versus just with friends.

Regarding the trade: I think I'll probably keep them. I might be able to trade the Honor of the Pure for some commons I don't have, but after seeing what they trade for, I'll definitely keep at least the birds and land myself.

[Keru_Shiri]

As far as the Helvault issue, I was fine with the "useless crap," and have my oversized Gisela hanging up on my wall. I thought it was fun little extra thing they did, and I hope they continue to do stuff like this for future events. The random judge foils thing is extremely bad form though. It puts a taint on what would otherwise have been as awesome perk.

*sniff* They grow up so fast!

Yup, she had been playing for less that a year, still has people talk down to her and treat her as a scrub, despite capturing several FNMs, and holding her own against the local "pros." I hope this goes some way in establishing her local cred and getting the respect she deserves.

[Hero]

Why do you do this shit in every thread? Take your pathetic little crusades elsewhere.

The fuck? The only threads you and I have posted in are this one, the Xenoblade Chronicles bitchfest written by an NFL punter which you really only posted to talk about him instead of the subject, and the Mass Effect 3 getting an extended ending DLC. I'm on GAF to discuss relevant shit, sometimes some of it has to do with companies being shitty. Crusades are people popping up to just state that people who have a different opinion than them can get fucked or calling them entitled. If you don't like what I have to say then just put me on ignore, that's what the function is for.

His anger makes him forget his sad and lonely existence.

Oh yeah, totally. I'm sure you came to that conclusion based upon the one post I have here in the Magic thread complaining about Wizards' failed Helvault promotion despite me talking about the game and giving people help with rules or suggestions for decks, right?

Core set drafts are soooo boring. I wouldn't do one again. Those pulls are pretty good for a draft though, they are cards that all get played in standard decks. Definitely keep the land at least.

Core set drafting is definitely a bit more boring compared to legitimate expansions but with m13 having gold-colored cards I think that will definitely spice things a bit just in time for Return to Ravinca in the fall.

[siddx]

The fuck? The only threads you and I have posted in are this one, the Xenoblade Chronicles bitchfest written by an NFL punter which you really only posted to talk about him instead of the subject, and the Mass Effect 3 getting an extended ending DLC. I'm on GAF to discuss relevant shit, sometimes some of it has to do with companies being shitty. Crusades are people popping up to just state that people who have a different opinion than them can get fucked or calling them entitled. If you don't like what I have to say then just put me on ignore, that's what the function is for. Oh yeah, totally. I'm sure you came to that conclusion based upon the one post I have here in the Magic thread complaining about Wizards' failed Helvault promotion despite me talking about the game and giving people help with rules or suggestions for decks, right?

Actually I was going to come to a conclusion based on your response to my initial post. That was a test young man. A TEST.

[Hex]

Got a Tamiyo and a Cavern out of my pre-release packs, so I'm happy! Plus, one of my friends whom I introduced to Magic came in first at the actual event. I'm so proud! :)

Very cool, great pulls and grats to your friend.

[WanderingWind]

The fuck? The only threads you and I have posted in are this one, the Xenoblade Chronicles bitchfest written by an NFL punter which you really only posted to talk about him instead of the subject, and the Mass Effect 3 getting an extended ending DLC. I'm on GAF to discuss relevant shit, sometimes some of it has to do with companies being shitty. Crusades are people popping up to just state that people who have a different opinion than them can get fucked or calling them entitled. If you don't like what I have to say then just put me on ignore, that's what the function is for.

My, my. Suddenly, you want to pull the hurt feelings card. Weird how that wasn't present when you decided to call people "shills." You can't do that, then fall back on the "I'm only here to discuss relevant shit."

[Hero]

Actually I was going to come to a conclusion based on your response to my initial post. That was a test young man. A TEST.

Yeah, I don't care enough about the Helvault to riot or boycott Wizards or anything. I dislike some of the things Wizards does but I still love the company and the game, I just want people to be vocal about stuff like this so they can get appropriate feedback to improve the next prerelease promotion. I think the idea of it was cool but the execution was poor, I think they should've spread the promo stuff around a bit more so while there still be the same number of "winners" it would go a long way if every Helvault contained a certain number of foil promos so every store would have the same chance instead of just the Advanced WPN stores only getting it.

Of course, I think they could've just done some alternate-art foil or full-art versions of Avacyn, Griselbrand and the Powerpuff Angels just as easily but that means Wizards sells less packs since they're all mythic and that's a whole different topic of discussion. At the very least I think everyone should've gotten foil tokens, then we could say everybody got something that had never been done before.

My, my. Suddenly, you want to pull the hurt feelings card. Weird how that wasn't present when you decided to call people "shills." You can't do that, then fall back on the "I'm only here to discuss relevant shit."

I called Hex a shill because he showed up and said people complaining should get fucked. I don't have any hurt feelings from what you said, I don't know you and I couldn't care less what your opinion is of me. I'm telling you if you don't like what I have to say in threads (because apparently it's all the ones that overlap with the ones you participate in) then just use the ignore function.

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

I'm really starting to hate miracle. Out of force of habit I add it to my hand before I look at the card and as a result some people freak out that I added it to my hand so I can't cast it at miracle, even if as soon as I look at it I pick it up to cast it so it's in my hand for a second tops. Sometimes I remember but a lot of times I don't since I add it through force of habit because there was never a need not to before.

[WanderingWind]

I called Hex a shill because he showed up and said people complaining should get fucked. I don't have any hurt feelings from what you said, I don't know you and I couldn't care less what your opinion is of me. I'm telling you if you don't like what I have to say in threads (because apparently it's all the ones that overlap with the ones you participate in) then just use the ignore function.

That is just so adorable.

I'm really starting to hate miracle. Out of force of habit I add it to my hand before I look at the card and as a result some people freak out that I added it to my hand so I can't cast it at miracle, even if as soon as I look at it I pick it up to cast it so it's in my hand for a second tops. Sometimes I remember but a lot of times I don't since I add it through force of habit because there was never a need not to before.

Was it doing anything in terms of swinging games one way or the other?

[Hero]

I'm really starting to hate miracle. Out of force of habit I add it to my hand before I look at the card and as a result some people freak out that I added it to my hand so I can't cast it at miracle, even if as soon as I look at it I pick it up to cast it so it's in my hand for a second tops. Sometimes I remember but a lot of times I don't since I add it through force of habit because there was never a need not to before.

Something that I think a lot of players find helpful for things like remember triggers, upkeep costs, etc. is to put a coin or die or something else on top of your deck so that way before you even draw it'll remind to you to do whatever. In the case of miracle yesterday what I did was set my hand down or held it in my left hand and slowly picked up the top deck of my card and kept it separate until I wanted to reveal it as a miracle if that's what I wanted to do. Of course, my best miracle was the blue return target creature to top of library and lost a round due to a miracle Entreat the Angels...but what can you do.

One thing I've seen already is the lack of really good removal in AVR limited. It seems to be a lot of swingy bomb against bomb type games. Maybe draft will be better.

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

That is just so adorable. Was it doing anything in terms of swinging games one way or the other?

Ya, the only miracle I had was bonfire of the damned which would board wipe and do a good amount of damage to them. Most would eventually give in, but some would freakout that once you add it to your hand you can't cast it for miracle which I understand but I automatically add without thinking since I never had a reason not to. I was pretty lax on it, and I wouldn't argue it unless like as soon as I looked at it after adding it I separated it and held that in alone in my hand to decide. Just frustrating to have to even bother arguing with people over it.

Something that I think a lot of players find helpful for things like remember triggers, upkeep costs, etc. is to put a coin or die or something else on top of your deck so that way before you even draw it'll remind to you to do whatever. In the case of miracle yesterday what I did was set my hand down or held it in my left hand and slowly picked up the top deck of my card and kept it separate until I wanted to reveal it as a miracle if that's what I wanted to do. Of course, my best miracle was the blue return target creature to top of library and lost a round due to a miracle Entreat the Angels...but what can you do. One thing I've seen already is the lack of really good removal in AVR limited. It seems to be a lot of swingy bomb against bomb type games. Maybe draft will be better.

Ya, most of the time I would remember to put down my hand and draw and hold one card but when I was really concentrating late game at board and what I was hoping to pull I would be focused and then my habit of just adding to hand would kick in and I would forget to keep separately which ironically was when it would matter most since it was late game.

[WanderingWind]

Ya, the only miracle I had was bonfire of the damned which would board wipe and due a good amount of damage to them. Most would eventually give in, but some would freakout that once you add it to your hand you can't cast it for miracle which I understand but I automatically add without thinking since I never had a reason not to. I was pretty lax on it, and I wouldn't argue it unless like as soon as I looked at it after adding it I separated it and held that in alone in my hand to decide. Just frustrating to have to even bother arguing with people over it.

I think pretty much everybody called that one. It's probably going to happen for a while until people get used to playing with them.

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

I think pretty much everybody called that one. It's probably going to happen for a while until people get used to playing with them.

Ya, just frustrating to lose on that because they're being overly strict about it. If it was in your hand for a little while before you realized then I can see but when it's like pretty much instantaneous it seems petty to argue, part of why I never did.

[siddx]

I saw some decent removal/burn. Death Wind was fantastic for me before I switched to red/white. Bone splinters works well with butcher ghoul. I used ghoulflesh a lot to kill off their early game stuff. Grave exchange was expensive but excellent whenever I drew it.
Aggravate was very effective if I was patient and cast it at the right time. guise of fire was like ghoulflesh, great early game against their little creatures. Pillar of flame and thunderbolt were both excellent, especially thunderbolt with all the angels flying about. Vigilante justice was fantastic whenever I saw it out. Also played against someone who enchanted a creature with the "tap to deal a damage to a creature of player" and he completely controlled the rest of the game.
And righteous blow saw a ton of play. I happened to get matched up with my girlfriend and every time she cast it she'd announce "I'm going to blow you" much to the amusement of the other players.

I think a lot of the removal was unorthodox so there didn't appear to be much at first but there was really was a decent amount.

[WanderingWind]

I saw some decent removal/burn. Death Wind was fantastic for me before I switched to red/white. Bone splinters works well with butcher ghoul. I used ghoulflesh a lot to kill off their early game stuff. Grave exchange was expensive but excellent whenever I drew it. Aggravate was very effective if I was patient and cast it at the right time. guise of fire was like ghoulflesh, great early game against their little creatures. Pillar of flame and thunderbolt were both excellent, especially thunderbolt with all the angels flying about. Vigilante justice was fantastic whenever I saw it out. Also played against someone who enchanted a creature with the "tap to deal a damage to a creature of player" and he completely controlled the rest of the game. And righteous blow saw a ton of play. I happened to get matched up with my girlfriend and every time she cast it she'd announce "I'm going to blow you" much to the amusement of the other players. I think a lot of the removal was unorthodox so there didn't appear to be much at first but there was really was a decent amount.

I didn't know strippers were into MTG.

[siddx]

I didn't know strippers were into MTG.

Oh Mr.Wander, you are a funny man. Don't make me send you a jar of my semen in a fragile box.


I said it before, but although I saw a few mistakes with miracle, the soulbonding thing was a far far bigger issue. So many people playing it incorrectly it got the point where the store owner had to address everyone about it. And even then we still had people screwing it up.

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Oh Mr.Wander, you are a funny man. Don't make me send you a jar of my semen in a fragile box. I said it before, but although I saw a few mistakes with miracle, the soulbonding thing was a far far bigger issue. So many people playing it incorrectly it got the point where the store owner had to address everyone about it. And even then we still had people screwing it up.

Really? That was one of the few things that went well. One or two people needed a clarification the first time but after that everyone understood and there was no problems. People also made a point of having the cards right next to each other so you knew they were linked. That was surprisingly a non-issue.

[siddx]

Really? That was one of the few things that went well. One or two people needed a clarification the first time but after that everyone understood and there was no problems. People also made a point of having the cards right next to each other so you knew they were linked. That was surprisingly a non-issue.

The biggest issue was kids bonding two creatures, and then rebonding with a new creature when it entered the battlefield. Two of the players were aggressive and mouthy about being in the right which likely provoked the confusion. It wasn't until the third round that people finally stopped listening to those kids (who surprise surprise owed their wins to misplaying soulbond).

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

The biggest issue was kids bonding two creatures, and then rebonding with a new creature when it entered the battlefield. Two of the players were aggressive and mouthy about being in the right which likely provoked the confusion. It wasn't until the third round that people finally stopped listening to those kids (who surprise surprise owed their wins to misplaying soulbond).

Bah, that's lame. We've got enough people there by now that there's 2 or 3 people who are really good on the rules that everyone goes to if there are questions and usually works pretty well.

[Hex]

I'm really starting to hate miracle. Out of force of habit I add it to my hand before I look at the card and as a result some people freak out that I added it to my hand so I can't cast it at miracle, even if as soon as I look at it I pick it up to cast it so it's in my hand for a second tops. Sometimes I remember but a lot of times I don't since I add it through force of habit because there was never a need not to before.

I like them, I just had mine in my opening hand most of the time lol.
We had a very clear rule at our events, if your draw touched the rest of your hand before you revealed it then you were shit out of luck.
I think enough people played Delver to be used to it but honestly I forgot to even check alot of the time because on the first night I did not pull any and on the second day I did.

Edit: Yeah I saw alot of attempted soul bonding shadiness, some legit and due to newness and others testing the people that they were playing against.
Luckily at our shop we always have at least one, if not two judges on hand.

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Just sold my foil Griselbrand for $29.50 on ebay! :D I like inflated prerelease prices.

[rCIZZLE]

Just sold my foil Griselbrand for $29.50 on ebay! :D I like inflated prerelease prices.

Ya dude, I dumped off my Tamiyo for two snapcasters. We were mid prerelease but he dropped and was pretty desperate for some reason. It was in my sideboard (like 3 blue playables).

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Ya dude, I dumped off my Tamiyo for two snapcasters. We were mid prerelease but he dropped and was pretty desperate for some reason. It was in my sideboard (like 3 blue playables).

Ya, I wish the other kid didn't back out of the Tibalt trade he said he wanted. :/ He's dropped enough by now on ebay I guess I might as well sit on him, he can't really go much lower.

[TheSeks]

Completely unrelated to real Magic, but does anyone have DotP 2009/2010 on PS3 and is willing to help me with the online win achievements? >_>

[red_13th]

Just created an account on Magic Online but they won't send my goddamn activation code. It's been 10 minutes already! :(

[Xangel]

Just created an account on Magic Online but they won't send my goddamn activation code. It's been 10 minutes already! :(

24h or more are needed to be send...Wizards isn't the most quickly....

[Negator]

Went to a second pre-release and opened these guys.



Yup. I won that pre-release.

Aside from losing the third round, all my games went straight up 2-0 and slaughtered everyone.

Highlights include locking down my opponents with the Dark Imposter and essentially nuking all of their creatures. I also employed the 4/1 flying bat regenerator and attaching the +3/+0 equipment that makes him swing every turn.

[Xangel]

Dark Impostor is a good card for EDH Decks, but in limited environment it is a very useful creature removal.
4BB as an instant...it's a good price. The +1/+1 counter is a good thing.

[Zaraki_Kenpachi]

Dark Impostor is a good card for EDH Decks, but in limited environment it is a very useful creature removal. 4BB as an instant...it's a good price. The +1/+1 counter is a good thing.

Dark imposter is good but I think people also have to be weary of what else they have in black. I opened one too in the 2nd prerelease I went to and the rest of my black was just way too weak to play black just for him.

[y2dvd]

Went to the prerelease and bombed. Went 2-2. Kinda sad when the best thing I pulled was a foil Angel of Jubilation. Everyone around my table where pulling all these mythics. A guy to my left pulled Tamiyo, the guy in front of me pulled Sigarda, the guy right of pulled a Tamiyo. I was like really? 2 in one box?

My only bomb was a 7 mana cost 5/5 angel. So bad. I played white with a splash of blue and black. I only had 2 removal spells in black so I ran those.

• First match, I won against some kid in a close match.
• Second match, I take first game, lose the 2nd and 3rd game. He was W/G and completely floored me with Sigarda. He eventually was tied first place and told me against his first opponent, he was able to do a 64 hit kill by having a few angels out including Sigarda, and attacked with Craterhoof Behemoth. Both he and the other first place ran W/G.
• Third match, played another kid who didn't really know what he was doing and won.
• Fourth match, I get another kid! There were only about 4 in that tourny and they pitted me against three of them. 1st game, I mulligan down to 5, had 2 mana and kept, then proceeded to draw land 7 turns in a row. This game sometimes...-_-2nd game, I simply got outpaced by way better bombs.

W/G was dominate in this event with W/R being a close 2nd.

After yesterday, I prefer drafting to sealed events. With 6 packs to work with, people with better packs have an easier time to construct a better deck with. Drafting makes constructing a deck more difficult and thus more skilled imo. Yes, I MAD BRO! >:[

[kirblar]

This is not a good sealed set. It seems to be a very good draft set.

[Enordash]

I thought about including an Inkmoth, because it is a good fit, but I worry about getting too many colorless mana draws in this deck, especially since I need WW to cast a lot of my guys. Doesn't Inkmoth really need the +X/+0 land (name slips my mind) to do well?

Sorry I didn't reply sooner. I was very busy filming our pre-release and working on commentary. Anywho...I believe you are thinking of Kessig Wolf Run, but no, it doesn't need it to be good. With Puresteel Paladin out, you will want to animated the inkmoth, attach all your equipment to it for free, then move it all back off of it after combat. You can hit ten poison so fast with this strategy (and the right equipment).

He'd get Darksteel Armor on him immediately, so Go For The Throat isn't really a threat. Honestly, Elbrus is just there because I think he's a goddamn badass looking card. I have a thing for demons. I actually started out making a demon deck with lots of human sacrifice, but I figured out that it was just too easy for my opponent to control.

Hey, if you just straight like playing with Elbrus, I say go for it :)

Elspeth Tirel is more like a backup for destroying the world if Worldslayer and Day of Judgment arrive. I'll be spending her loyalty on the ultimate, not on tokens. With the way my deck is organized, I feel like Mortarpod is counter-intuitive. Why sacrifice indestructible creatures for 1 damage? It doesn't seem worth the effort. If it cost 1 mana, I would do it for Tinker Mage synergy.

It's not like you are immediately sac-ing all of your creatures with Mortarpod. Mortarpod is there to end games. There's nothing more satisfying than swinging in with all of your creatures then using the 0 equip cost provided by Puresteel to throw every single creature you have at your opponent's head for the win.

[Enordash]

For mad prophet, if you have no cards you can still use his ability and draw for nothing right?

I was looking through and didn't see an answer to this question, so sorry if it was answered already.

Since discarding a card is part of the cost of the ability, you can not use the ability if you have no cards to discard.

[FreedomFrisbee]

I was looking through and didn't see an answer to this question, so sorry if it was answered already. Since discarding a card is part of the cost of the ability, you can not use the ability if you have no cards to discard.

Could be worth noting, Dangerous Wager does what you want it to. If you have no hand, you just draw 2 cards.

[zerokoolpsx]

So me and my friend were talking about blocking. He says he can decide which creature goes first when he multi-blocks one of my creatures. He got his info from M12 rulebook pdf.

Each creature can block only one attacker,
but multiple blockers can gang up on a single attacking
creature. If that happens, the attacking player orders the
blockers to show which is first in line for damage, which is
second, and so on. Creatures don’t have to block.
After all blockers are chosen, combat damage is assigned.
Each creature—both attackers and blockers—deals damage
equal to its power.

Mine is from the MTG wiki rules.

Each creature can only block a single attacker(unless specifically indicated on the card, such as: Two-Headed Giant of Foriys), although multiple creatures can be used to block a single attacking creature. In this case, the attacker chooses the order of the blocking creatures. The ordering becomes relevant in the combat damage step.

So who is right?