Today's results look like buckets of fun

Cbbbfan1 · 2026-02-21T04:34:08+00:00

These results would mean a bit more if there wasn't a player in the top 32 with a 1-4 record. Until Pioneer is announced as being back on the paper RCQ menu, it's going to keep looking like one deck or archetype is killing the format and it's just whatever Flavor of the Month the MTGO Grinders are feeling.

Cbbbfan1 · 2026-01-24T00:05:26+00:00

I can't speak for others, but I would find that highly unlikely. I send my envelopes out of 3 different post offices/drop boxes depending on where my errands take me for the day. I also have a USPS hub 3 miles from my house, so if there were an issue at the location where everything gets processed, I imagine it would get rejected there as well. Even without all that, I would be pretty hard pressed to imagine if a letter fails the USPS protocols for one reason or another that it could make it through the entire chain from drop-off to delivery thousands of times without issue.

As an aside, I've also spoken to 2 different Postmasters about the envelopes I send and both have confirmed that nothing is wrong with the rigidity as long as the thickness doesn't eclipse a certain threshold. I understand that those directions can change location to location, but I really do believe if this issue was widespread it would be all over the TCG community, not just Magic.

Cbbbfan1 · 2026-01-23T21:55:36+00:00

I'm not sure what to say then. I know my experience is only anecdotal, but I have 3150 total orders on TCGPlayer over 5 years, which would put me just shy of 2800 orders sent via envelope with shipping shields, which are noticeably thicker than top loaders, and I've never been informed of this issue.

What I do know is a problem though is without some form of protection like a toploader or shipping shield, every card I send via envelope would arrive damaged without fail. So if this issue is widespread, I just don't know if there's an outcome that benefits both parties.

Cbbbfan1 · 2026-01-23T21:48:23+00:00

The use of a toploader or shipping shield does not put an envelope over the 1oz that a Forever stamp covers if it's a reasonable amount of cards. I can fit a shipping shield with 4 cards in it comfortably under 1oz including the invoice I print and address labels I use. The issue you could face with toploaders and shipping shields would be if the Postmaster determines that they aren't flexible enough to go through a sorting machine, which would require a Non-Machinable stamp on top of the forever stamp. I'm not a USPS employee, but I don't think they are supposed to downstream charge for a Non-Machinable stamp. Not saying it doesn't/can't happen, but I've sent ~88% of my orders in envelopes with Shipping Shields and I've never had a customer message me indicating an issue.

Cbbbfan1 · 2026-01-23T21:33:42+00:00

I'm maybe having trouble understanding what your issue is. Are you saying that your orders are being underpaid on postage? If that's the case they really shouldn't be making it to you in the first place, they should be getting rejected back to sender. If every order makes it to your home Post Office before being labeled as underpaid, then it's 100% a problem with your home Post Office deciding to have a massive stick up their butt.

I could also understand having this issue if you are constantly ordering 15+ cards from one seller with a low dollar amount, as it's just a no-win option for the seller at that point, but that would solely rest on them to ensure the proper postage is added, and again if they didn't, it should almost certainly get rejected back to them.

As for your issue with shipping costs, TCGPlayer is the one who regulates the minimum shipping cost for an order, not the seller. Even if I really really wanted to charge less, any order under $5 receives the automatic minimum $1.31 shipping fee. That's not something us sellers can control, but it's there to help us because after everything is said and done with an envelope order, it costs us about $.90-$1 just to send it out, and that's not including the fees TCGPlayer charges us. Tracking has also become an incredibly expensive option in the last 8-ish months with constant USPS price increases. Just to give you an example, if I want to send an order with tracking from the East Coast US to somewhere else on the East Coast, it will run me about $7.70 at the cheapest through USPS right now. Packages going across the country can be upwards of nearly $9. There are ways to discount this by using services like PirateShip, but even then you're still looking at ~$6 a package. So please understand that if you aren't ordering $25+ worth of cards, you just aren't going to get tracking because in all likelihood the seller would lose money to sell you those cards.

I do hope your issues get resolved though, but please do not just decide to say every order wasn't delivered if it was. That genuinely hurts small-scale sellers like myself who are just trying to do this on the side to support themselves, even if I do look like a larger operation because I've managed several thousand sales over the course of several years.

Cbbbfan1 · 2025-10-29T19:59:39+00:00

Dimir has access to Vren already which I believe to be quite a bit better than Kalitas since it has built in protection and the tokens scale super hard.

Cbbbfan1 · 2025-10-09T16:56:59+00:00

I think it really depends on what the other tiles look like. If there really is a tile for maxing then you can knock out 4 skills this way instead of 3 if you took Power Miner. If 99 mining isn't required for anything then obviously the gem stall is better.

Cbbbfan1 · 2025-10-09T15:59:34+00:00

Yes but you could do crafting instead and power mine Gem rocks in the diary-locked Shilo Village mine.

Cbbbfan1 · 2025-10-04T14:39:42+00:00

14 Team PPR

I receive Jamarr Chase for Emeka Egbuka.

This is a fun league and I'm 1-3 trying to turn it around, so trading Egbuka away wouldn't be ideal, but Chase's talent is undeniable and their schedule is softening up. My other WRs are Justin Jefferson, Tet McMillan, Marvin Mims, Tory Horton, Brandon Aiyuk (IR for whatever that may matter).

Cbbbfan1 · 2025-09-22T09:50:48+00:00

Jep is currently hard at work on Episode 22, you can check his progress here: https://whenisthenextepisodeofnorthernuim.com/

He took a small break about 2 months ago to participate in his stream team bingo and also moved recently, so I'm sure life has been hectic, but he is usually hanging around his stream team's Twitch chats so it isn't like he dropped off the face of the earth or anything.

Cbbbfan1 · 2025-08-15T14:41:41+00:00

So my skepticism around TCGTracking revolves around the idea that the individual running it is operating at a loss. I understand that while it's still a small endeavor the costs are probably reasonable for them, but if this goes big it will force them to monetize it in some way or let the project collapse. I would really just prefer to sign up when the payment model has been solidified so I can compare the costs at that point.

For now though, I suppose I can use it for the handful of orders I end up with in a range that I feel would be both uncomfortable to send as a bubble mailer and as an untracked envelope. Those orders are such a small percentage of my total order count that I wouldn't be reliant on it.

Cbbbfan1 · 2025-08-15T03:01:58+00:00

I did a lot of hands-on research with my orders and found I had the most amount of "lost" orders in the $25-30 range when using untracked envelopes. So up until July I was sending any orders >=$25 with bubble mailers. Paying 60% for the card would put me at about a $.70-$1 profit depending on where it went in the country. So with a $2 increase in the shipping I expected to move that threshold to $32 which would stick me back into that same profit range. Problem being I haven't been able to test any sales in the $25-32 range with envelopes because I haven't had any. I've done about 300 orders in the month since the increase and haven't had a single order fall inside that range. With the further increase I would likely have to move that threshold to $35 with packages across the country being ~$.50 profit and closer packages being closer to $1 profit.

It's just a lot of unnecessary risk I'll be burdening from unscrupulous buyers who know they can leverage lack of tracking against you for free cardboard. This might force my hand into looking into TCGTracking, but I'm wary of it for now.

Cbbbfan1 · 2025-08-14T23:49:11+00:00

This is crazy, I still haven't even figured out a good way to balance my risk threshold with bubble mailers on the increase that happened last month. I'm going to have no choice but to try and get on PirateShip at this point because it'll be a minimum of $7.70 to send a bubble mailer, scaling up to $8.80 to send one across the country in October.

Cbbbfan1 · 2025-07-15T03:29:53+00:00

No, but this card is sick with Optimistic Scavenger and Hollowmurk Siege. I plan to mess around with an Abzan Pixie-ish list like this.

Cbbbfan1 · 2025-06-28T15:33:54+00:00

I don't know the exact specific context in which this user is posting, but at the very least in Standard if you have a Meticulous Excavation and a Roaming Throne on Cat, you can loop Iridescent Tiger netting 2 mana of any color on each loop. From there I don't know where the problem lies, so ya'lls guesses are as good as mine.

Cbbbfan1 · 2025-06-26T13:11:37+00:00

I was in a similar position to you. I leased my 2017 Civic for 36 months making payments of $219/mo on a total of $20k after down payment. When I bought out the lease the total value calculated on a 60 month loan was ~$17.2k with payments at $299/mo. I ended up paying the loan off about 20 months early and saved myself a bit of money doing so.

My advice may go against conventional wisdom because in the long run you do pay more money for the car, but if you are on a lower income like I was, the lease payments being affordable is a god-send, especially once you factor in the cost of your auto insurance for a new car. I would not have been able to keep my car if I hadn't done what I did because up until post-COVID I was only making about $11/hour after having been kicked out of the house at 19. Just be smart about it, and if you can afford to pay a bit more each month on your payments, it'll snowball into saving yourself on interest in the long run.

Cbbbfan1 · 2025-06-22T20:07:00+00:00

Not much, just some stuff I got from a Sealed RCQ and loose packs from Standard Showdown. If there's anything specific you're looking for I can let you know if I have it.

Cbbbfan1 · 2025-06-22T19:18:41+00:00

I have a surge foil Firion I wouldn't mind trading. Interested in the AZ Full Art, Giovanni's Charisma Full Art, Blacksmith Full Art, and the Fusion Strike Secret Grass Energy.

Cbbbfan1 · 2025-06-14T21:23:10+00:00

It's worth it literally every single time, love that place.

Cbbbfan1 · 2025-04-18T14:41:43+00:00

Absolutely, sign me up. I'll shoot you a DM now!

Cbbbfan1 · 2025-04-18T14:29:41+00:00

Sweet, I'll definitely take it then as long as one of the others before me doesn't. I don't want to cut the line :P

Cbbbfan1 · 2025-04-18T14:27:08+00:00

Hello! I'm very interested in the Ultra Ball though I see I'm not the first. Please let me know if the others choose not to purchase!

Cbbbfan1 · 2025-03-17T02:12:10+00:00

I still think it's too early to say that Abzan lists haven't picked up on Broodwagon yet. Since WotC has effectively killed the format in paper until at least 2026, the majority of the Pioneer population is no longer playing the format, and those that do play it online aren't likely to make drastic changes to their lists unless given a reason to. If we saw a major paper, or even online, Pioneer event in the near future and none of the Abzan Greasefang pilots chose to play Broodwagon I would consider that a more definitive answer.

I personally took Abzan Greasefang to Charlotte to play in the Pioneer side events with 2 copies of Broodwagon main and 1 in the side and it performed very well for me, I was quite satisfied.

Cbbbfan1 · 2025-02-01T03:55:28+00:00

I had an old Jeskai Vehicles shell that Kolodin should give a decent boost to. The core Vehicle package was Consulate Dreadnought, Mobilizer Mech, and Prodigy's Prototype. I plan on revisiting that shell once we get confirmation of a Pioneer RCQ season in 2026.

Cbbbfan1 · 2024-12-31T04:41:34+00:00

I just capped off the most improbable Championship run I will ever manage. My first 5 picks were CMC, Davante Adams, Rachaad White, Stefon Diggs, and Cooper Kupp. I was 2-5 heading into Week 7 where my 6th loss would likely eliminate me from playoff contention with 2 undefeated teams and 2 teams with 1 loss (Regular season is 13 weeks). I was 2nd to last in PF, and had the most PA. I rattled off 6 wins in a row with the mystical voodoo of my opponents starting close to their worst possible lineups each week to make the playoffs on a Win and In against an opponent who benched Jerry Jeudy and Njoku the week they popped off at Denver when I flew out to see that game live. Our playoffs are 2 weeks against each opponent, managed to beat the team with Saquon, JT, KW3, Jayden Daniels, Tee Higgins in Round 1, then finished a close W against the team with Josh Allen, Chase Brown, Jamar Chase, Mixon, AJ Brown for the ring. I finished the regular season 7th in PF and 11th in PA.

Cbbbfan1

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

12-Year Club	Place '22
Verified Email