Yeah, so, this work trip is eating my life. I'm hoping to be back to a somewhat normal life schedule by next week, then I can start adding some relevant posts. I've been playing a tweaked Pauper Stars 'n Bars deck on MTGO that I want to discuss. WoW is also showing some changes so I want to discuss those.
This could prove to be a bit of a touchy subject, as some people who I associate with in game feel I am a braggart or similarly do "crazy" things on the AH. This couldn't be further from the truth. I only tell people about making money to spark interest in hopes I can find just one person willing to learn what I have discovered.
I will likely make some follow-up posts regarding this that are more specific. As for generalities; I finally broke 100,000g on my AH character about 2 weeks ago. Most of the income came from flask and frost lotus sales. The rest came from selling cut gems and some mild speculation.
Before I get into the weeds, I want to give credit where it's due. Check out Markco's information on his blog and YouTube channel and visit the JMTC Forums, where I am one of the moderators. Markco and the community members on the forums helped me make the changes I discuss below that eventually led to my moneymaking.
I'm on the road for the release. I'd doubt I'll partake in any festivities, however I'm debating picking up a booster box while I'm here versus ordering one online. I'll have to call the local shop and see what they are asking for the box. The various online sources have boxes at around $100 shipped.
I may also call Wal-Mart; who usually gets some small inventory of stuff like this and most people don't even know about it. I'm just hoping I can convince someone to sell me at a booster box price and not "36 booster packs," which would run closer to $180.
I was pleasantly surprised with WWK at the prerelease. My sealed deck went 2-2 (my first MtG play with real cards in 13 years!) with Black/Blue/spice White. I see a lot of potential with this set, and people who were denouncing it will likely be eating their words in the next couple of weeks.
It may not affect the meta in Standard too much (Vamps, WW and Eldrazi Green get the most love from WWK), but it's already rocking the foundations of Limited. I will not be surprised if a tournament viable Allies deck finally shows up as well.
Thanks to the WWK prerelease, I've been giving MtG a lot of love. I've also been on a lot of work travel, so I've been fighting the Lag Beast; which has been keeping me from playing WoW as much as I normally do.
At any rate, the Frost Wing recently opened, which means Arthas himself is now killable. Our raid is still working through some coordination and execution issues, so we're still working through both Putricide and Blood Queen before focusing on (two dragons and then) Arthas.
Much as I hate cross-commenting and cross-posting, I'm not going to rewrite this stuff.
From Joe Panuska's most recent blog post
I posted the following comment:
A few things:
1) That podcast would make a lot more sense if Flores wrote down his thoughts first.
2) Also, if they had recorded it properly instead of in what sounds like a busy coffee shop, I would be able to understand it better. The Podcast is so overmodulated I can't understand half of what they are saying or trying to say.
3) That all being said, I think Mike is on the right path. Insomuch as it's better to step back from card advantage as a metric and look more to mana efficiency. Of course, that's assuming I'm understanding the podcast correctly. Similar to what Alton says, you guys are using too many examples and the result is a "moving metric" that makes it difficult to come to any conclusion
I apologize to anyone reading this. I've been bad about adding new posts lately because a work trip has gotten in the way. The good news is I should be home for Prerelease Weekend at my LGS. I should have some posts up this weekend regarding how it all went for me.
It will be my first time playing any "public Magic" (i.e. playing MtG in person but not with friends/relatives), so I'll have a lot to reflect on.
I'm still trying to make a decision on my preorders for WWK, so feel free to leave suggestions. Currently, I'm thinking I'll pick up a set of precons for my wife and me to play, for sure. However, I'm not sure if I want to invest in a full box on a set that is relatively small. I'm trying to convince a friend of mine to split a box with me, but we haven't seriously discussed it in a while.
All of WWK is now spoiled. A fun combo that jumped out at me:
Bazaar Trader + Abyssal Persecutor
The trader taps to give someone control of one of your permanents. The Persecutor says that you can't win the game and your opponent can't lose.
The Persecutor is too big and expensive to see play in standard, but this combo is going to be a lot of fun for kitchen table Magic. If you can protect the Trader long enough for the Persecutor to get out, or give it haste, this can swing a bad game for you into a win.
One of the spoilered cards is Ruin Ghost. It's ability allows you to exile a land and return it to play under your control (I think Momentary Blink did something similar, but removed the card from the game instead). Now, with all the landfall going around, this is an amazing ability.
However, there's another way to have fun with this card. If I'm reading this right, you can take control of a land (for example, mind controlling a manland) and use the ghost's ability to bring the land under your control for the rest of the game. For example, if there's a way you can control a Valakut from your component, you can use the Ghost to bring Valakut into play under your control; so it could basically be a 2-for-2 if comboed properly.
I'll have to research some of the cards that could work with this. One that pops to mind is Mark of Mutiny, if the land is a creature at any point. This seems like it could be great for disrupting decks like Scapeshift if you can get it to work on a land.
Sorin Markov. We love him; we hate him. However, I've been thinking for a while that his -3 ability actually has a different use than I think most people know. Granted, it would only be used this way in 2HG or EDH.
I had to get "creative" with the name because mugsley.blogspot.com was already taken. However, upon visiting the site, no posts were ever put up. It's almost as if someone was squatting the blog for some reason.
I may try to move the blog to a new address at some point. It may also get a new title as well, but Direct Damage was the closest term I could find that related to both games and still sounded relatively interesting.
I'll eventually add these to the links on the side. My current list of MtG sites I'm reading for info are as follows:
MTGSalvation
StarCityGames
TCGPlayer
PureMTGO
PDCMagic (trying to get some info on pauper as I'm becoming a bit more interested in the format)
ChannelFireball
As I mentioned above, I'm starting to do more research into Pauper as a format. Decks are pretty cheap to build as they do not involve rare cards (not 100% sure about uncommons). I also haven't gotten a chance to check out FNM at the local shop, so I don't know what kind of formats they run yet.
I've got uncom/com playsets of both M10 and ZEN sitting at home, with some precons from both sets. That's pretty much it right now for my card collection, outside of a few booster packs (maybe 10 total). I'm still trying to decide if I want to drop money on Worldwake yet, if at all (I'll prob pick up a set of precons just so my wife and I have something new to play with).
I left the game of Magic: the Gathering back when I graduated high school (in 1997). After a short, torrid love affair, I decided it was time to cut ties. The game and I were going separate ways. I was headed to college and didn't have the time to devote to playing the game; even casually. I decided to sell my card collection and walk away.
Fast forward 13 years and I'm starting to step back a little from WoW, which is giving me some time to find a "new" hobby to occupy my free time. Just like WoW, it's got a deep metagame that is very attractive to my puzzle loving mind.
Anyway, I picked up some paper cards and started teaching my wife to play. I've also set up an online account for playing when I'm on the road. I'm still getting back on my feet, but I am already seeing glimpses of my strategic MtG mind coming back. Now I just need to slow my play a little and stop making stupid mistakes, then I may actually win a few games.
I play a Hunter on a US server. I'm a member of the guild
I will throw more info out as I track such items as gold making, various Hunter info/TC, and aspects of the game that interest me.
This is more of a way for me to play with tagging so I can separate my thought streams a bit better online.
This is the introductory post to my gaming blog. It's mostly going to be a place for me to deposit my various musings on Magic, WoW, and any other gaming related info I may have. Thanks for checking in and taking a look around. I hope you like what you see.