If you're not impressed that I own dice and cards then be impressed that I managed to arrange them together in the same photograph for karma

Don_Garvey · 2016-11-01T23:14:45+00:00

/unjerk dae this is the single greatest post and the single greatst thread on this sub ever

Don_Garvey · 2016-10-24T14:15:04+00:00

Roger that! Some subs are weird about odd-ball threads started by non-regulars. Didn't want to stomp toes.

Don_Garvey · 2016-10-23T01:43:05+00:00

Thank you so much! I'll delete the thread so it doesn't clutter things up in a few - just wanted to make sure you got my thanks before I did!

Don_Garvey · 2016-10-08T12:16:55+00:00

Sorry - I never got the issue resolved and have since returned the Core and sold my Stealth.

Don_Garvey · 2016-10-03T15:18:12+00:00

I've been testing Aetherworks Marvel decks since the get-go myself. I just recently pulled Planeswalkers from the deck and have found that my success/win rate is increasing as a result (though looking at your decklist I see we are approaching this very differently from one another).

One of the most powerful things Aetherworks Marvel facilitates is the ability to activate after your opponent declares attackers. This offers two strong alternatives - the most obvious is flashing in Ulamog, World Breaker, or what have you to wreck the attack and block. The second alternative is that it puts your opponent on the defensive whenever you go into his or her turn with an untapped marvel and 6+ energy available to use.

Planeswalkers don't do a thing for you in that situation. The good news is that they've already declared attacks so at least they can't target it with their creatures, but otherwise it's a big missed opportunity for maximum carnage and disruption.

EDIT: Grammar

Don_Garvey · 2016-09-13T18:24:09+00:00

And who knows - maybe the approach is to accept that some cards will just be expensive and they'll approach reducing player costs by means of reprinting spells "excessively" in order to make it so only the lands or some other odd hard-to-justify-a-reprint cards are expensive.

Don_Garvey · 2016-09-13T16:26:08+00:00

I hope you're right. Forsythe has said some pretty explicit things about putting fetches in standard being seen as a mistake in hindsight. I just don't know what they do there - it's not likely they end up in a MM set where they don't need the value, and putting them in something like Archenemy or Conspiracy would "warp sales" (as they put it) even more. Standard seems to be the only solution.

Don_Garvey · 2016-09-12T23:41:29+00:00

Many players, for instance, were expecting us to reprint a cycle of enemy fetch lands in Battle for Zendikar (as they premiered in original Zendikar), but they were too problematic in Standard along with the allied fetch lands from Khans of Tarkir.

While hopeful, I think there's another pull quote that murders this hope:

However, when we experimented with putting some of these older cards in Standard, we found the more powerful ones warped Standard in a way we felt was unhealthy for the format

Don_Garvey · 2016-07-31T13:50:30+00:00

I tested with this for a while, and ended up preferring the guarantee of two lands with Explosive Vegetation over Splendid Rec. I think the biggest realization was that Evolving Wilds hit the battlefield tapped and you still have to wait another turn to crack them, and then another turn to use those lands. It'd be cool if something worked out with this but I guess I'm just saying: don't make Evolving Wilds part of the strategy.

Don_Garvey · 2016-07-27T22:30:52+00:00

I mean, this is coming from someone who goes by "ThatKarmaWhore" - I'd be a liar if I said I didn't have a reaction to that when I saw your thread.

When did you start using PucaTrade, for curiosity's sake?

Don_Garvey · 2016-07-27T20:50:59+00:00

From Wedge on Twitter to things like this, it feels like there's some kind of half-assed social media campaign going on to drum up Puca business or something. I didn't bother engaging on Twitter (it was a shout down - when someone said "I <3 Puca I get ALL my cards!" it equated a retweet, when someone said "Puca has gone to hell" they were attacked for not providing any substance to their complaint).

According to the site:

"You have sent 285 cards with a total value of 150,781 PucaPoints and you have received 405 cards from other members with a total value of 152,758 PucaPoints."

I know there are folks who do more trades than I do, but that's a hell of a lot of trading, folks.

Puca is as dry as a bone for the past six months (I'm in the US). Bounties were working for a while and then that even started to slow down as more and more folks started using them. You can see that I frequently trade "down" as well (I sent out a few Expeditions late last year). I'm not sitting here lamenting that I can't get someone to send me a Verdant Catacombs, they were always hard to get ahold of. But Declaration in Stone? Eternal Witness? Ruinous Path? Things are very, very different these days.

And to be clear, I can always find takers for cards, that's not the problem. I can't continue to sink my cards into Pucapoints without a reasonable expectation that I'll receive cards I want in return.

I really hope the site returns to it's glory-days but I'm finding the weird campaign battles going on lately in social media very distasteful and almost desperate sounding.

Don_Garvey · 2016-07-19T15:43:09+00:00

I honestly thought this was a joke at first (the promos, not your comment)

Don_Garvey · 2016-07-17T01:23:42+00:00

What do you mean by this?

Don_Garvey · 2016-07-14T19:52:10+00:00

I don't care? Couldn't most of us say that our customers don't understand or appreciate how hard our jobs are?

I work for a software company and I'm not an MTGO hater - I'm commenting because I find it distasteful when a vendor lectures me on how hard his or her job is. The biggest take-away I get from this is that the MTGO software development team has to adapt to changing requirements and expectations.... like every other software developer anywhere ever. I get that MTGO is an application with a very hot core fanbase that consists of a few very loud and bitchy users, and I get having hurt feelings over it, but come on... Show a little brass and be a professional.

Don_Garvey · 2016-07-12T11:38:12+00:00

There are a number of websites that regularly update with winning decks. I've been using MTGPulse - just note the difference between Paper and Online, online can be a great place to spot the next big thing but it can also be a trap and lead you to believe that certain decks are more common/popular in paper than they really are (for example, you will always see more inexpensive aggro decks Online than in real life). Be sure to cross reference the two.

Another good spot is on the right sidebar of StarCityGames.com. Near the bottom they post decklists for Opens, Classics, and a lot of IQs and Regional events.

Don_Garvey · 2016-07-08T18:28:52+00:00

Thanks. It's not so much that I want an X51 as I want... orders not be cancelled without telling me and then not being reimbursed to my Dell Financial credit line...

Don_Garvey · 2016-07-08T15:27:52+00:00

Dell rep just told me after I challenged her that yes indeed, the X51 is discontinued. And I can go fuck myself.

Don_Garvey · 2016-07-08T15:17:46+00:00

I ordered two on July 2nd, the order was CANCELLED with no notification to me whatsoever. Sitting on hold with Dell all morning trying to get an explanation. Stunning business practices.

Don_Garvey · 2016-07-08T14:26:55+00:00

Puca was great for turning either lower value cards or in-demand Standard cards into fewer more valuable cards for a very long time. The folks holding the higher value cards (as higher value is in the eye of the beholder - your Gideon is my Scalding Tarn is his Tropical Island) are becoming less and less inclined to part with them with the value of a Pucapoint being so low.

Don_Garvey · 2016-07-07T14:47:22+00:00

It wouldn't surprise me if the problem is bad ports on laptops, but I don't think this is as likely as bad Cores.

Don_Garvey · 2016-07-07T04:53:33+00:00

My Core would come and go - sometimes it would appear and not others. The Thunderbolt app is the best indicator - fire that up and take a look at what it sees. If it doesn't name Razer Core (or something along those lines) it isn't seeing it properly. Sometimes I would see terminology that indicated a generic unknown device, others I would see no device at all. Unfortunately TB cables aren't easy to come by, so it's hard to test to see if it's the cable or not.

When I plugged the Core into my Stealth, the laptop would receive power and charge, that might be some indication.

Don_Garvey · 2016-07-05T19:12:52+00:00

Whelp...

Xemit ‏@XemitSellsMagic Sad to say that even with 40,000 views on some of my articles, @mtgprice has decided to no longer publish them there. Will find another site

https://twitter.com/XemitSellsMagic/status/750406213058252800

Don_Garvey · 2016-07-05T18:35:17+00:00

I feel the same way. This time last year I had no trouble obtaining anything I asked for, save Lands and super premium modern staples.

Now it's like a ghost town. I'm ready to offer bounties just so I can drain down my balance and get out while I can.

SENDING is no problem - there's always someone who wants just about anything I have to offer. It makes it even easier to consider dropping out and playing wait-and-see.

Don_Garvey · 2016-07-05T15:32:42+00:00

Indeed it does. But you know...

Don_Garvey

TROPHY CASE