==ISLANDHOME #17==
June 25th 2008
==IN THIS ISSUE...==
Eventide: A sneak preview at July's new set!
Chaos Draft Report: And another this Sunday!
The Madonia Minute
EDH League: More details and sign-ups!
==THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE==
Friday: Grim Draft @ 7 PM
Saturday: FNC Standard @ 1 PM
Sunday: Chaos Draft at Brothers Grim @ 2 PM
==EVENTIDE==
==CHAOS DRAFT REPORT==
==IN THIS ISSUE...==
Eventide: A sneak preview at July's new set!
Chaos Draft Report: And another this Sunday!
The Madonia Minute
EDH League: More details and sign-ups!
==THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE==
Friday: Grim Draft @ 7 PM
Saturday: FNC Standard @ 1 PM
Sunday: Chaos Draft at Brothers Grim @ 2 PM
==EVENTIDE==
Here we are, a little over two weeks until Eventide's prerelease on July 12th! I hope to see everyone at the prerelease, it could be the last big Gray Matter prerelease, since Wizards decided that they'd rather have prereleases held in stores starting with Shards of Alara. I'll have more on that topic in the coming weeks as the ramifications of big TOs losing their prereleases come to light. It won't be good, and could mean less big events for everyone; big TOs like Gray Matter rely on prereleases to make them money and keep them in business. But enough doom and gloom for now, on to... well, Eventide's as much about doom and gloom as Shadowmoor it seems, so....
There's been a handful of officially spoiled cards released so far, most of them today, and all of them can be found at Wizard's official Eventide mini-site on the spoiler page. Two mechanics are spoiled so far - Chroma, which isn't really an ability, just a bunch of cards that count up the total number of mana symbols in a particular game zone and use that to determine how strong their effect is - like Phosphorescent Feast from Future Sight. Then there's Retrace, an excellent limited mechanic. Everyone has experienced those draft games where you topdeck three or four lands in a row, but Retrace turns mana floods into a benefit. Just discard those extra lands and replay your retrace spells over and over. Unlike flashback, retrace doesn't seem to have a "remove this from the game" clause, so it's very possible you'll be seeing retrace cards played over and over. Better pick up those Faerie Macabres in the first two packs!
Like with most sets, Wizards has released the Orb of Insight, a neat little application that lets you type in any word and see how many times it appears in the rules text of cards in Eventide. (Phosphorescent appears one time, and Feast appears one time. Hmm...)
Here's some hits from the Orb you might be interested in. Some of these I found by digging myself, some I found on various internet forums including MTGSalvation.com's forums.
- There are no planeswalkers, Duos, "can't be blocked by shared enemy" creatures, scarecrows that get benefits from certain colors, or Tarmogoyfs in Eventide.
- Likely returning cycles: Avatars, Avatar Auras, Lieges, "Do both if both colors were paid" hybrid spells, three-hybrid-mana spells, and filter-lands.
- Ashing, The Extinguisher is confirmed as a card name (and her art is featured on one of the UltraPro products!)
- "Colfenor" and "Sapling" appear three times each. In the books, Colfenor's Sapling plays a major part in the story.
- There's one card that has something to do with indestructability.
- Eleven hits for "Persist".
- Ten hits for "Q", which is the untap symbol.
- Thirteen hits for "Wither"
- Twenty-two hits for "Hatchling", which could be a creature type and/or mechanic.
- A card that costs six hybrid red/white mana, probably the least splashable spell in Magic.
- And finally, there is a card with the number "100" in its rules text.
Eventide's prerelease will be on July 12th, FNC's Launch Party will be on July 26th, and Grim's Launch Party will be on July 27th!
There's been a handful of officially spoiled cards released so far, most of them today, and all of them can be found at Wizard's official Eventide mini-site on the spoiler page. Two mechanics are spoiled so far - Chroma, which isn't really an ability, just a bunch of cards that count up the total number of mana symbols in a particular game zone and use that to determine how strong their effect is - like Phosphorescent Feast from Future Sight. Then there's Retrace, an excellent limited mechanic. Everyone has experienced those draft games where you topdeck three or four lands in a row, but Retrace turns mana floods into a benefit. Just discard those extra lands and replay your retrace spells over and over. Unlike flashback, retrace doesn't seem to have a "remove this from the game" clause, so it's very possible you'll be seeing retrace cards played over and over. Better pick up those Faerie Macabres in the first two packs!
Like with most sets, Wizards has released the Orb of Insight, a neat little application that lets you type in any word and see how many times it appears in the rules text of cards in Eventide. (Phosphorescent appears one time, and Feast appears one time. Hmm...)
Here's some hits from the Orb you might be interested in. Some of these I found by digging myself, some I found on various internet forums including MTGSalvation.com's forums.
- There are no planeswalkers, Duos, "can't be blocked by shared enemy" creatures, scarecrows that get benefits from certain colors, or Tarmogoyfs in Eventide.
- Likely returning cycles: Avatars, Avatar Auras, Lieges, "Do both if both colors were paid" hybrid spells, three-hybrid-mana spells, and filter-lands.
- Ashing, The Extinguisher is confirmed as a card name (and her art is featured on one of the UltraPro products!)
- "Colfenor" and "Sapling" appear three times each. In the books, Colfenor's Sapling plays a major part in the story.
- There's one card that has something to do with indestructability.
- Eleven hits for "Persist".
- Ten hits for "Q", which is the untap symbol.
- Thirteen hits for "Wither"
- Twenty-two hits for "Hatchling", which could be a creature type and/or mechanic.
- A card that costs six hybrid red/white mana, probably the least splashable spell in Magic.
- And finally, there is a card with the number "100" in its rules text.
Eventide's prerelease will be on July 12th, FNC's Launch Party will be on July 26th, and Grim's Launch Party will be on July 27th!
==CHAOS DRAFT REPORT==
Our first Chaos Draft at Grim got off without a hitch - ten players, including myself. We stuck 27 different packs in a bag (and three random packs that were doubles, to accomodate the extra player) and each "round" of packs everyone pulled a random pack out of the bag. Unfortunately for Mike Schade, he pulled, in order: Homelands(x2), Saviors of Kamigawa, and 8th Edition. Ouch! My packs were Dissension, Time Spiral, and Judgment. No one actually pulled anything worth a lot of money, despite the huge potential to open lots of cash in any set except Homelands. Maybe this Sunday we'll see someone slam down a foil Chrome Mox, Vindicate, or even a (non-foil, but worth enough as is) Force of Will!
After passing around thirty of the strangest packs I've ever seen, here's what my deck ended up looking like at the end of the event:
8 Forest
6 Swamp
3 Island
Anaconda
Berserk Murlodont
Cremate
Darksteel Ingot
Death's-Head Buzzard
Deepcavern Imp
Elf Replica
Giant Dustwasp
Gorgon Recluse
Gravegouger
Greater Mossdog
Gruul Nodorog
Kami of the Hunt
Krovikan Whispers
Merrow Grimeblotter
Phantom Centaur (foily!)
Sakura-Tribe Springcaller
Seal of Doom (first pick!)
Silkbind Faerie
Skyshroud Claim
Stonybrook Angler
Tyrranax
Urza's Factory
Wild Elephant
SIDEBOARD:
Cabal Trainee
Dark Maze
Frentic Efreet (No one wanted the phasing card I guess.)
Gaea's Skyfolk
Goblin Clearcutter
Goblin Gardener
Iizuka the Ruthless
Lys Alana Scarblade
Novijen, Heart of Progress
Overgrowth
Ray of Revelation
Rancid Earth
Ribbons of the Reikai
Shinen of Fear's Chill
Shivan Oasis
Skirk Commando
Spitebellows
Synchronous Sliver
Uba Mask
Unforge
Wipe Clean
I ended up going 3-1 in the swiss, then dropping so the 5th place player could get into top 4. Everyone had so much fun, I figured we should try it again this Sunday, and I'll be picking up some more packs so we have an even greater variety this time!
After passing around thirty of the strangest packs I've ever seen, here's what my deck ended up looking like at the end of the event:
8 Forest
6 Swamp
3 Island
Anaconda
Berserk Murlodont
Cremate
Darksteel Ingot
Death's-Head Buzzard
Deepcavern Imp
Elf Replica
Giant Dustwasp
Gorgon Recluse
Gravegouger
Greater Mossdog
Gruul Nodorog
Kami of the Hunt
Krovikan Whispers
Merrow Grimeblotter
Phantom Centaur (foily!)
Sakura-Tribe Springcaller
Seal of Doom (first pick!)
Silkbind Faerie
Skyshroud Claim
Stonybrook Angler
Tyrranax
Urza's Factory
Wild Elephant
SIDEBOARD:
Cabal Trainee
Dark Maze
Frentic Efreet (No one wanted the phasing card I guess.)
Gaea's Skyfolk
Goblin Clearcutter
Goblin Gardener
Iizuka the Ruthless
Lys Alana Scarblade
Novijen, Heart of Progress
Overgrowth
Ray of Revelation
Rancid Earth
Ribbons of the Reikai
Shinen of Fear's Chill
Shivan Oasis
Skirk Commando
Spitebellows
Synchronous Sliver
Uba Mask
Unforge
Wipe Clean
I ended up going 3-1 in the swiss, then dropping so the 5th place player could get into top 4. Everyone had so much fun, I figured we should try it again this Sunday, and I'll be picking up some more packs so we have an even greater variety this time!
==ELDER DRAGON HIGHLANDER LEAGUE==
I've got the skinny on how this EDH league thing will work. To sign up, email me or contact me some other way, and give me the details on your general.
- Entry fee is $5, which will all be put into the prize pool that will be divided among the top two players.
- Every Wednesday, the next round's pairings will be put up. You'll have a week to play your next match; the best days of course are Friday night at Grim, Saturday afternoon at FNC, or Sunday afternoon at Grim. So every week is a round.
- At the end of the week (Tuesday, since a "league week" starts on Wednesday with the latest release of Islandhome), if two players haven't played their match, the winner will be the player who showed up at Grim or FNC that week. If neither player showed up, or both players made an effort to show up, just on different days, the match will be a draw.
- The league will start in July. July is perfect because there are no PTQs in our area that month, so everyone should be available every week barring any personal reasons. It also gives everyone over two weeks to prepare their decks.
- No proxies allowed; EDH cards are easy to find (most of them are dollar-bin rares).
- You will be allowed to tune up your deck between rounds, as long as you keep your general the same.
- The Elder Dragon Highlander rules (and banned list) can be found here.
- General reservation will be on a first come, first served basis.
- Matches will be best 2-of-3, though if both players want to play one game because it takes a long time, you can report it 2-0 if you want. (I had a match with Matt Brocking that lasted about two hours, finally losing to a Serra Avatar with a Flickerform on it.)
- If there's not enough interest, then, well, we'll play it by ear!
- Entry fee is $5, which will all be put into the prize pool that will be divided among the top two players.
- Every Wednesday, the next round's pairings will be put up. You'll have a week to play your next match; the best days of course are Friday night at Grim, Saturday afternoon at FNC, or Sunday afternoon at Grim. So every week is a round.
- At the end of the week (Tuesday, since a "league week" starts on Wednesday with the latest release of Islandhome), if two players haven't played their match, the winner will be the player who showed up at Grim or FNC that week. If neither player showed up, or both players made an effort to show up, just on different days, the match will be a draw.
- The league will start in July. July is perfect because there are no PTQs in our area that month, so everyone should be available every week barring any personal reasons. It also gives everyone over two weeks to prepare their decks.
- No proxies allowed; EDH cards are easy to find (most of them are dollar-bin rares).
- You will be allowed to tune up your deck between rounds, as long as you keep your general the same.
- The Elder Dragon Highlander rules (and banned list) can be found here.
- General reservation will be on a first come, first served basis.
- Matches will be best 2-of-3, though if both players want to play one game because it takes a long time, you can report it 2-0 if you want. (I had a match with Matt Brocking that lasted about two hours, finally losing to a Serra Avatar with a Flickerform on it.)
- If there's not enough interest, then, well, we'll play it by ear!
==THE MADONIA MINUTE==
I thought long and hard about what on earth I was going to write about this week. This week was an enjoyable one on a personal level for me. I've lost 20 pounds since I've started my diet around seven months ago. I'm still far away from where I need to be weight wise, but the growing confidence in myself and the looser fitting clothes have done a lot for me. I've also come to appreciate my friends more and how respect and friendship mean a lot more to me than I've ever imagined.
Everyone knows that I'm planning (this time for real) on attending the next Pro Tour in Germany. I've paid my trip off already and recently went to apply for a passport, I am truly looking forward to my first ever real vacation. I was also fortunate to get a small window in my work schedule that would enable me to attend the US National tournament in early August. Unfortunately, I needed a combination of two points in order to make the tournament on rating. This is quite difficult to do when your trying to not only qualify but stay qualified for the Pro Tour. One loss could be catastrophic and on Saturday that loss came for me.
I decided about 10 minutes before the tournament to play Faeries, a safe deck that I know in and out. I won my 1st round with little resistance and waited patiently for the round two pairing to post. As the pairing go up an immediate sense of trepidation and fear cripples me, my opponent was none other than Mike Innace, whom for whatever reason owns me in competitive magic tournaments. This might be because he is a lot better then me, even though his multitude of big time mistakes at inopportune times have hindered any real successes for him. Mike was playing Elves, a notably difficult to near impossible matchup for the faerie deck. I honestly had no chance either game, his man-land cleaned up game 1 and his trip Vaniquisher hand with double Nameless Inversion hand game two left me on the short end of a 2-0 drubbing. Mike is someone I would call a friend, even though we might not 'get along'. He is someone I could go to, if I needed something. I told him straight up that I wouldn't bribe or pay him off for the win, that if he wanted to concede so I would be able to play at nationals that would be great, if he didn't then I would also be ok with that as well. Mike decided to allow me my chance at nationals knowing full well that if there's a situation in a future event that would warrant a similar result, I would without a shadow of a doubt, reciprocate the favor. Always respect your opponent when you play them, you might need a favor down the road and if they feel like you'd do the same for them, you never know what could happen.
Don't berate your opponent for lucky topdecks or talk about your opponent being a scrub, just take the loss with tact and realize that its a game first. The friendships I've made playing magic are worth a lot more to me then a silly Pro Tour invite. To think that I thought Brian Paskoff was incredibly weird when I first met him at FNC a little over 18 months ago. To think that Pat Albergo was that jerk that called the judge on me in the 3-4 bracket at a Kamigawa Block PTQ. To think that I've met such people as Dan Gould, Mark Baron, Jeff Cooper, Jim Chianese, Dean Duprez, Chris Nielsen, Matt Brocking, Mike Innace, Rob Grippa, Mike Evans, Mike Bauer and the countless other players I've formed a bond with over the years. I've met all these people I call friends by making sure that I was a human being first and a competitor second. Value what you have, I know I do.
I will conclude my article with the deck I'm working on for block constructed
Madonia Toast v3
3x Cloudthresher
4x Mulldrifter
3x Fulminator Mage
2x Oona
1x Reveillark
3x Shrikemaw
4x Cryptic Command
4x Broken Ambitions
4x Makeshift Mannequin
4x Firespout
2x Nameless Inversion
3x Fire-Lit Thicket
4x Island
4x Reflecting Pool
4x Sunken Ruins
4x Vivid Creek
3x Vivid Grove
3x Vivid Marsh
1x Vivid Meadow
Board
1x Cloudthresher
4x Plumeveil
3x Wispermare
3x Mindshatter
2x Jace Beleren
2x Gaddock Teeg
==RULES CORNER==
Q. Can I target a Vexing Shusher with a Sage's Dousing just so I can draw a card?
A. Sure! Vexing Shusher is a legal target for any counterspell. So long as you can legally follow all the steps required for playing a spell, there's nothing stopping you from playing a spell that won't do everything it's usually able to when it resolves. As long as you control a wizard when the Sage's Dousing resolves, you'll draw a card.
Q. I control a City of Brass from Arabian Nights, Chronicles, and Sixth Edition. What happens if someone plays a City in a Bottle?
A. Ryan Baldwin actually asked me this at the Chaos Draft on Sunday. There weren't any Arabian Nights packs, but it was possible that someone would crack an Apocalypse Chime and some Homelands card reprinted in a Core Set. Anyway, the game of Magic has no way of tracking which cards are "from" an older set if they've been reprinted with another expansion symbol. It wouldn't be fair to have players memorize which cards were originally from which set, even as rare as it is for expansion-symbol-matters cards to be played. Luckily, "expansion symbol" is a copiable value (a Spawnwrithe token even has a rare Shadowmoor expansion symbol!), so the game can track it that way. If a City in a Bottle is in play, your Arabian Nights and Chronicles City of Brasses will be destroyed, but your Sixth Edition one will be safe.
Q. I Mirrorweave....
A. Hold on, let me stop you there! Tom Fowler over at MTGSalvation.com has already written an excellent rules column dedicated to fully explaining almost every imaginable rules interaction with Mirrorweave in Standard, so hop on over there and read it, there's no point in me answering questions that are already well-covered!
A. Sure! Vexing Shusher is a legal target for any counterspell. So long as you can legally follow all the steps required for playing a spell, there's nothing stopping you from playing a spell that won't do everything it's usually able to when it resolves. As long as you control a wizard when the Sage's Dousing resolves, you'll draw a card.
Q. I control a City of Brass from Arabian Nights, Chronicles, and Sixth Edition. What happens if someone plays a City in a Bottle?
A. Ryan Baldwin actually asked me this at the Chaos Draft on Sunday. There weren't any Arabian Nights packs, but it was possible that someone would crack an Apocalypse Chime and some Homelands card reprinted in a Core Set. Anyway, the game of Magic has no way of tracking which cards are "from" an older set if they've been reprinted with another expansion symbol. It wouldn't be fair to have players memorize which cards were originally from which set, even as rare as it is for expansion-symbol-matters cards to be played. Luckily, "expansion symbol" is a copiable value (a Spawnwrithe token even has a rare Shadowmoor expansion symbol!), so the game can track it that way. If a City in a Bottle is in play, your Arabian Nights and Chronicles City of Brasses will be destroyed, but your Sixth Edition one will be safe.
Q. I Mirrorweave....
A. Hold on, let me stop you there! Tom Fowler over at MTGSalvation.com has already written an excellent rules column dedicated to fully explaining almost every imaginable rules interaction with Mirrorweave in Standard, so hop on over there and read it, there's no point in me answering questions that are already well-covered!
Have a rules question you want answered? Send it to IslandhomeMTG@gmail.com!
==THE ISLANDHOME BLOG==
==UPCOMING EVENTS==
==THE ISLANDHOME BLOG==
One of the things I wanted to do was have an archive of past issues online so I could refer people back to them as well as let new readers peruse old issues to see what all the fuss is about. So I've archived all the old issues on the blogosphere at islandhomemtg.blogspot.com. Go and relive all the past moments of glory!
==UPCOMING EVENTS==
June 7th - August 31st: PTQ Season for PT Berlin
The next PTQ season starts this summer, and it's going to be Lorwyn Block Constructed! Lorwyn block will consist of Lorwyn, Morningtide, and Shadowmoor. Eventide won't be available during the beginning of the PTQ season, but will be legal before it ends.
July 12th-13th: Eventide Prerelease
I'll be head judging the prerelease on Long Island again, so come see what all the fuss with enemy-colored hybrids is about! Also, Gray Matter will be holding Two-Headed Giant events instead of Team Sealed!
July 26th: Eventide Launch Party at FNC
Details coming soon!
July 27th: Eventide Launch Party at Brothers Grim
Details coming soon!
PTQs in our general area this season:
The next PTQ season starts this summer, and it's going to be Lorwyn Block Constructed! Lorwyn block will consist of Lorwyn, Morningtide, and Shadowmoor. Eventide won't be available during the beginning of the PTQ season, but will be legal before it ends.
July 12th-13th: Eventide Prerelease
I'll be head judging the prerelease on Long Island again, so come see what all the fuss with enemy-colored hybrids is about! Also, Gray Matter will be holding Two-Headed Giant events instead of Team Sealed!
July 26th: Eventide Launch Party at FNC
Details coming soon!
July 27th: Eventide Launch Party at Brothers Grim
Details coming soon!
PTQs in our general area this season:
- 6/21 - Philadelphia, PA
- 6/28 - Edison, NJ
- 8/9 - Philadelphia, PA
- 8/16 - New York, NY
- 8/30 - Edison, NJ
- 8/30 - Hartford, CT
- 8/31 - Rochester, NY
==STORE LOCATIONS & CONTACT INFO==
Brothers Grim
1244 Middle Country Rd.
Selden, NY 11784
Phone: 698-2805
Website: www.brgim.com
Friendly Neighborhood Comics
3 Grant Avenue, Suite 2
Islip, NY 11751
Phone: 470-7984
Brothers Grim
1244 Middle Country Rd.
Selden, NY 11784
Phone: 698-2805
Website: www.brgim.com
Friendly Neighborhood Comics
3 Grant Avenue, Suite 2
Islip, NY 11751
Phone: 470-7984
==FIN==
See everyone this weekend!
Got forwarded Islandhome and want to sign up? Send an email to IslandhomeMTG@gmail.com!
Got forwarded Islandhome and want to sign up? Send an email to IslandhomeMTG@gmail.com!
-Brian Paskoff
L1 NY
L1 NY
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