==ISLANDHOME #22==
July 30th 2008
==IN THIS ISSUE...==
Promo Week: I've got tons to give away!
Eventide Launch Party Recap!
Madonia Minute
US Nationals: A quick good luck to our Nats-attending comrades.
Rules Corner: With all sorts of crazy Eventide shenanigans!
==THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE==
PROMO WEEK!
I have tons of leftover DCI promo cards that I've been giving out slowly, but this week I'm feeling generous - I'll be giving out lots of promos this weekend at both sanctioned events I run, but the only way to get them is to play! I have 50 of them to give out, so no one should walk away empty handed!
Friday: Eventide Sanctioned Booster Draft at Brothers Grim @ 7 PM
Saturday: Standard Constructed at FNC @ 1 PM
Sunday: Chaos Draft at Brothers Grim @ 2 PM
Eventide is legal for Standard now, so it's time to start metagaming!
Sunday's back to Chaos Draft again, by popular demand. Though I might do it a little differently this time....
FNM comes to Brothers Grim in September!
After months of begging, sending in pictures of the store to prove it Is a Store, and emailing, I've finally been told I'll be able to sanction FNM at Brothers Grim in September. Yay FNM promos!
==IN THIS ISSUE...==
Promo Week: I've got tons to give away!
Eventide Launch Party Recap!
Madonia Minute
US Nationals: A quick good luck to our Nats-attending comrades.
Rules Corner: With all sorts of crazy Eventide shenanigans!
==THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE==
PROMO WEEK!
I have tons of leftover DCI promo cards that I've been giving out slowly, but this week I'm feeling generous - I'll be giving out lots of promos this weekend at both sanctioned events I run, but the only way to get them is to play! I have 50 of them to give out, so no one should walk away empty handed!
Friday: Eventide Sanctioned Booster Draft at Brothers Grim @ 7 PM
Saturday: Standard Constructed at FNC @ 1 PM
Sunday: Chaos Draft at Brothers Grim @ 2 PM
Eventide is legal for Standard now, so it's time to start metagaming!
Sunday's back to Chaos Draft again, by popular demand. Though I might do it a little differently this time....
FNM comes to Brothers Grim in September!
After months of begging, sending in pictures of the store to prove it Is a Store, and emailing, I've finally been told I'll be able to sanction FNM at Brothers Grim in September. Yay FNM promos!
==EVENTIDE LAUNCH PARTY RECAP==
Author: Brian Paskoff
Author: Brian Paskoff
Well the Eventide Launch Parties are over, and the set's now legal for all your limited and constructed needs! We had a smaller than usual turnout at both stores, and from talking to other TOs, judges, and players from around the Island, it seems everyone had a small showing for some reason. Most people think it's due to the lack of a "hype" card in Eventide; Lorwyn had planeswalkers, Morningtide had Chameleon Colossus and Mutavault, Shadowmoor had bomby uncommons, but Eventide doesn't have many outstanding cards. Lots of good ones, sure, but nothing on the level of Mutavault, Thoughtseize, or Garruk. Hopefully Shards of Alara's rares and mythic rares will be enough to get everyone to show up!
Everyone who did show up had a lot of fun however! There were lots of upsets as less-experienced players beat much more experienced players a number of times, and as expected, many decks were enemy-color themed due to Eventide. There were of course lots of rules questions about the new cards, most of the ones I can remember featured in the Rules Corner below.
FNC held lots of raffles for various prizes through the day, and Grim had a strange sale: Every card in excess of six in their showcase was half off! Everyone walked away with dirt cheap painlands and other useful cards - I know I spent $84 (in store credit) on painlands and the like.
Dave Porter won Grim's Launch Party event, while Rob Grippa and Eric Marro split in the finals of FNC's Launch Party. Congradulations to everyone!
As a semi-serious magic player, I'm usually on the internet scouring for new and exciting decklists from around the world. I come across a lot of "team" centric postings that most players are part of a core playtesting group that builds various decks for their respective PTQ or PT seasons. New York is over six million people deep in a twenty mile area, yet their is little to no collaboration from various grouping of players. I know that some players in the city have a small grouping, which I've worked with on and off for Nationals testing. On most Thursday evenings I'll end up testing any findings over the week and work to hopefully send someone through as a National champion. (Even though I'm not attending due to it being an composite rating event.)
Long Island has a strong player base with people that love the game and want to improve. I've thought my plan of attack through and id like to introduce my plan.
Ideally I'd like 10-15 PTQ or above level players to form a united team that would help one another get to the next level, whether it be PTQ top 8 or day 2 at a PT.
The candidate would need to be active in the community with a varied knowledge on different formats.
Willingness to help the team attain its goal.
People that want to improve and are willing to help improve its team members with constructive criticism and helpful advice.
I feel like everyone is to individualistic and worried about personal gains. A team setting would guarantee solid playtesting and a myriad of ideas hopefully allowing a solid conclusion and results at the end.
If anyone has any serious interest in this, let me know. You don't have to be a 2000 rated player, just someone that wants to get better while helping others do the same.
What I'd play at Nationals:
3x Mystic Snake
3x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
2x Venser, Shaper Savant
2x Platinum Angel
3x Kitchen Finks
4x Cryptic Command
4x Snakeform
4x Rune Snag
4x Ancestral Visions
3x Pact of Negation
3x Firespout
8x Island
3x Yavimaya Coast
3x Shivan Reef
3x Cascade Bluffs
3x Flooded Grove
2x Reflecting Pool
3x Desert
1x Academy Ruins
SIDEBOARD:
2x Razormane Masticore
4x Tarmogoyf
3x Flashfreeze
2x Krosan Grip
2x Cloudthresher
2x Tormod's Crypt
This is 100 percent what I would have played at Nationals. It doesn't everything that a blue deck is supposed to do without losing its raw power with adding different spells to it. I've worked on the mana base almost exclusively, its not 100 percent, but I feel if I worked a little harder I could perfect it.
The sideboard is geared to deal with problematic matchups i.e. Faeries with the correct draw.
Matchup percentages:
Elves- 55/45- 50/50 depending on build
Faeries 45/55
Reveliark 75/25
Merfolk 50/50
Red 60/40
RG variants 65/35 deck dependent
Storm 30/70 if popular sideboard can bring to 50/50
5 color stuff- 70/30
I finally have that workstation thing at limited disposal during work breaks and on home time when the computer is available. I've tested the deck nearly 100 games with the findings above. Its something against the grain, but it holds its own.
This is getting long, so if anyone would like sideboarding help or has any interest in the deck, let me know
Thanks
-John Madonia
Everyone who did show up had a lot of fun however! There were lots of upsets as less-experienced players beat much more experienced players a number of times, and as expected, many decks were enemy-color themed due to Eventide. There were of course lots of rules questions about the new cards, most of the ones I can remember featured in the Rules Corner below.
FNC held lots of raffles for various prizes through the day, and Grim had a strange sale: Every card in excess of six in their showcase was half off! Everyone walked away with dirt cheap painlands and other useful cards - I know I spent $84 (in store credit) on painlands and the like.
Dave Porter won Grim's Launch Party event, while Rob Grippa and Eric Marro split in the finals of FNC's Launch Party. Congradulations to everyone!
==MADONIA MINUTE==
Author: John "Metagame" Madonia
Author: John "Metagame" Madonia
As a semi-serious magic player, I'm usually on the internet scouring for new and exciting decklists from around the world. I come across a lot of "team" centric postings that most players are part of a core playtesting group that builds various decks for their respective PTQ or PT seasons. New York is over six million people deep in a twenty mile area, yet their is little to no collaboration from various grouping of players. I know that some players in the city have a small grouping, which I've worked with on and off for Nationals testing. On most Thursday evenings I'll end up testing any findings over the week and work to hopefully send someone through as a National champion. (Even though I'm not attending due to it being an composite rating event.)
Long Island has a strong player base with people that love the game and want to improve. I've thought my plan of attack through and id like to introduce my plan.
Ideally I'd like 10-15 PTQ or above level players to form a united team that would help one another get to the next level, whether it be PTQ top 8 or day 2 at a PT.
The candidate would need to be active in the community with a varied knowledge on different formats.
Willingness to help the team attain its goal.
People that want to improve and are willing to help improve its team members with constructive criticism and helpful advice.
I feel like everyone is to individualistic and worried about personal gains. A team setting would guarantee solid playtesting and a myriad of ideas hopefully allowing a solid conclusion and results at the end.
If anyone has any serious interest in this, let me know. You don't have to be a 2000 rated player, just someone that wants to get better while helping others do the same.
What I'd play at Nationals:
3x Mystic Snake
3x Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
2x Venser, Shaper Savant
2x Platinum Angel
3x Kitchen Finks
4x Cryptic Command
4x Snakeform
4x Rune Snag
4x Ancestral Visions
3x Pact of Negation
3x Firespout
8x Island
3x Yavimaya Coast
3x Shivan Reef
3x Cascade Bluffs
3x Flooded Grove
2x Reflecting Pool
3x Desert
1x Academy Ruins
SIDEBOARD:
2x Razormane Masticore
4x Tarmogoyf
3x Flashfreeze
2x Krosan Grip
2x Cloudthresher
2x Tormod's Crypt
This is 100 percent what I would have played at Nationals. It doesn't everything that a blue deck is supposed to do without losing its raw power with adding different spells to it. I've worked on the mana base almost exclusively, its not 100 percent, but I feel if I worked a little harder I could perfect it.
The sideboard is geared to deal with problematic matchups i.e. Faeries with the correct draw.
Matchup percentages:
Elves- 55/45- 50/50 depending on build
Faeries 45/55
Reveliark 75/25
Merfolk 50/50
Red 60/40
RG variants 65/35 deck dependent
Storm 30/70 if popular sideboard can bring to 50/50
5 color stuff- 70/30
I finally have that workstation thing at limited disposal during work breaks and on home time when the computer is available. I've tested the deck nearly 100 games with the findings above. Its something against the grain, but it holds its own.
This is getting long, so if anyone would like sideboarding help or has any interest in the deck, let me know
Thanks
-John Madonia
==RULES CORNER==
Author: Brian Paskoff
Author: Brian Paskoff
Q. With a Godhead of Awe in play, how big is my Faerie Swarm if I control two blue permanents? What if I turn one of my Islands blue later on?
A. To determine how big Faerie Swarm is, we use a system of layers. Power and toughness related continuous effects apply in layer 6, and there's a series of sublayers in there.
6a: This is the characteristic defining ability (CDA) sublayer, and the continuous effect that Faerie Swarm's static ability generates is an example of a CDA. Faerie Swarm is a 2/2.
6b: "Other" p/t-related stuff applies here, including Godhead of Awe's "everything else is a 1/1" ability. Faerie Swarm is now a 1/1.
6c: Counters. Faerie Swarm doesn't have any counters on it, so it's still a 1/1.
6d: Static abilities that modify a creature's power and toughness, so long as they don't set its power and toughness, apply in here. If there were a Steel of the Godhead or something on Faerie Swarm, it'd get bigger, but since there isn't... it's still a 1/1.
6e: Power/toughness switching effects apply here, such as those from Inside Out. None of them are affecting Faerie Swarm right now, so it's still a 1/1.
Though playing more blue permanents will change how Faerie Swarm looks in the CDA sublayer, Godhead of Awe will keep it a 1/1.
Q. My Figure of Destiny is fully pumped up to an 8/8 Kithkin Spirit Warrior Avatar with flying and first strike. If someone Mirrorweaves their activated Mutavault, what is my Figure now?
A. Quite strangely, an unactivated Mutavault with flying and first strike. This is again thanks to layers: In layer 1, the Copy layer, Figure of Destiny looks like a plain ol' Mutavault. Layer 2 is Control effects, and layer 3 is Text. Nothing's relevant in either. In layer 4, the Type layer, Figure of Destiny's activated ability tries to make it a Kithkin Spirit Warrior Avatar, but since those are creature types and it's not a creature, they can't apply. In layer 5, the "everything else" layer, Figure's ability gives it flying and first strike, because these abilities aren't dependant on it being a creature. In sublayer 6b (see above), the Figure's activated ability tries to make it an 8/8, but since only creatures can have a power and toughness... you guessed it. So your once mighty Kithkin looks like a Mutavault with FoD's last activated ability applied to it.
Bonus: Since Mutavault specifically says it becomes a creature, if there's another animated Mutavault in play other than the one Mirrorweave targets, that Mutavault will stay a 2/2.
Q. Okay, layers again. What happens if I target my 8/8 Kithkin Spirit Warrior Avatar with a Mirrorweave? What does my Grizzly Bears become?
A. It'll become a Figure of Destiny that is still yet bound for greater things. Copying a creature copies its printed characteristics, plus any other applicable copy effects. The pump ability isn't a copy effect, so it's not carried over by Mirrorweave. If you have the mana, you can pump up your Bears of Destiny all the way to an 8/8, and it'll stay that way long after Mirrorweave wears off.
Q. My opponent Scars my Quillspike. Can I pay a green to take that -1/-1 counter off of it to pump it before it dies?
A. Once Quillspike gets a counter, it becomes a 0/0 and dies before you even get priority to play its ability. However, if you have another creature in play with a -1/-1 counter on it, you can leech a -1/-1 counter off in response to the Scar, and then once Scar resolves, Quillspike will be big enough to survive even with the -1/-1 counter on it. Just remember to siphon it off before the turn ends!
Q. Is there a way I can flash in a Plumeveil and block with it before my opponent can tap it with his Silkbind Faerie?
A. No. In order to block with your Plumeveil, it has to be in play during the declare attackers step. During the declare attackers step, after attackers are declared, the attacking player gets priority. If they pass, you get priority and can flash in Plumeveil. But once Plumeveil resolves, both players will get priority again, so he can tap it with his Faerie. If you flash it in during the declare blockers step, it's too late - blockers are declared as soon as the declare blockers step begins, and Plumeveil isn't in play at that point.
Q. My opponent has been attacking with a Stillmoon Cavalier enchanted with an Armored Ascension and a Steel of the Godhead on it for three turns, gaining a lot of life and dealing me a lot of damage. Once someone notices, what happens to the enchantments?
A. This is a far-fetched example of an illegal gamestate - both the enchantments are white, and are attached illegally to a creature with protection from White. Once a judge becomes aware of the situation, they'll apply the proper penalties for Illegal Gamestate, Failure to Maintain Game State for the opponent of the player who committed the infraction, and immediately apply state-based effects: the Auras will be put into their owner's graveyard. Of course this is an extreme example, no one would be oblivious enough to not realize that a pro-White creature was enchanted with two powerful white Auras in real life.
This weekend is US Nationals, an invite-only huge tournament in Chicago. A few local players are going, including FNC veteran Mike Bauer, who qualified at City Champs this past season, and Grim veteran Dave Porter, who's trying to grind in by winning a Last Chance Qualifier at the event. Good luck to everyone who's going!
A. To determine how big Faerie Swarm is, we use a system of layers. Power and toughness related continuous effects apply in layer 6, and there's a series of sublayers in there.
6a: This is the characteristic defining ability (CDA) sublayer, and the continuous effect that Faerie Swarm's static ability generates is an example of a CDA. Faerie Swarm is a 2/2.
6b: "Other" p/t-related stuff applies here, including Godhead of Awe's "everything else is a 1/1" ability. Faerie Swarm is now a 1/1.
6c: Counters. Faerie Swarm doesn't have any counters on it, so it's still a 1/1.
6d: Static abilities that modify a creature's power and toughness, so long as they don't set its power and toughness, apply in here. If there were a Steel of the Godhead or something on Faerie Swarm, it'd get bigger, but since there isn't... it's still a 1/1.
6e: Power/toughness switching effects apply here, such as those from Inside Out. None of them are affecting Faerie Swarm right now, so it's still a 1/1.
Though playing more blue permanents will change how Faerie Swarm looks in the CDA sublayer, Godhead of Awe will keep it a 1/1.
Q. My Figure of Destiny is fully pumped up to an 8/8 Kithkin Spirit Warrior Avatar with flying and first strike. If someone Mirrorweaves their activated Mutavault, what is my Figure now?
A. Quite strangely, an unactivated Mutavault with flying and first strike. This is again thanks to layers: In layer 1, the Copy layer, Figure of Destiny looks like a plain ol' Mutavault. Layer 2 is Control effects, and layer 3 is Text. Nothing's relevant in either. In layer 4, the Type layer, Figure of Destiny's activated ability tries to make it a Kithkin Spirit Warrior Avatar, but since those are creature types and it's not a creature, they can't apply. In layer 5, the "everything else" layer, Figure's ability gives it flying and first strike, because these abilities aren't dependant on it being a creature. In sublayer 6b (see above), the Figure's activated ability tries to make it an 8/8, but since only creatures can have a power and toughness... you guessed it. So your once mighty Kithkin looks like a Mutavault with FoD's last activated ability applied to it.
Bonus: Since Mutavault specifically says it becomes a creature, if there's another animated Mutavault in play other than the one Mirrorweave targets, that Mutavault will stay a 2/2.
Q. Okay, layers again. What happens if I target my 8/8 Kithkin Spirit Warrior Avatar with a Mirrorweave? What does my Grizzly Bears become?
A. It'll become a Figure of Destiny that is still yet bound for greater things. Copying a creature copies its printed characteristics, plus any other applicable copy effects. The pump ability isn't a copy effect, so it's not carried over by Mirrorweave. If you have the mana, you can pump up your Bears of Destiny all the way to an 8/8, and it'll stay that way long after Mirrorweave wears off.
Q. My opponent Scars my Quillspike. Can I pay a green to take that -1/-1 counter off of it to pump it before it dies?
A. Once Quillspike gets a counter, it becomes a 0/0 and dies before you even get priority to play its ability. However, if you have another creature in play with a -1/-1 counter on it, you can leech a -1/-1 counter off in response to the Scar, and then once Scar resolves, Quillspike will be big enough to survive even with the -1/-1 counter on it. Just remember to siphon it off before the turn ends!
Q. Is there a way I can flash in a Plumeveil and block with it before my opponent can tap it with his Silkbind Faerie?
A. No. In order to block with your Plumeveil, it has to be in play during the declare attackers step. During the declare attackers step, after attackers are declared, the attacking player gets priority. If they pass, you get priority and can flash in Plumeveil. But once Plumeveil resolves, both players will get priority again, so he can tap it with his Faerie. If you flash it in during the declare blockers step, it's too late - blockers are declared as soon as the declare blockers step begins, and Plumeveil isn't in play at that point.
Q. My opponent has been attacking with a Stillmoon Cavalier enchanted with an Armored Ascension and a Steel of the Godhead on it for three turns, gaining a lot of life and dealing me a lot of damage. Once someone notices, what happens to the enchantments?
A. This is a far-fetched example of an illegal gamestate - both the enchantments are white, and are attached illegally to a creature with protection from White. Once a judge becomes aware of the situation, they'll apply the proper penalties for Illegal Gamestate, Failure to Maintain Game State for the opponent of the player who committed the infraction, and immediately apply state-based effects: the Auras will be put into their owner's graveyard. Of course this is an extreme example, no one would be oblivious enough to not realize that a pro-White creature was enchanted with two powerful white Auras in real life.
==US NATIONALS==
This weekend is US Nationals, an invite-only huge tournament in Chicago. A few local players are going, including FNC veteran Mike Bauer, who qualified at City Champs this past season, and Grim veteran Dave Porter, who's trying to grind in by winning a Last Chance Qualifier at the event. Good luck to everyone who's going!
==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!
If you've noticed, in the past few weeks I've been having a few more guest articles in Islandhome. With tournaments all weekend and work all week, sometimes it's hard to find time to sit down and write an entire newsletter, which is why I love it when I get article submissions! Not only does it give more introspective on the Long Island Magic community from those who are a part of it, it saves me work. ;) It's especially useful to get articles from players who are a part of the metagame, as judges are notoriously bad players.
If you've got an article you'd like to submit, send it to IslandhomeMTG@gmail.com. Try to keep it a reasonable length - there's no word limit, but look at previous Islandhome articles for guidance - and avoid bad language and personal insults. Also try to maintain good grammar and spelling; doesn't have to be perfect, but you should see how long it takes me to spellcheck the Madonia Minute every week!
I can't promise every submission will make it into the next week's Islandhome, but I'll try to get as many in as I can, especially ones that are relevant to a previous/upcoming event.
==GUEST ARTICLES==
If you've noticed, in the past few weeks I've been having a few more guest articles in Islandhome. With tournaments all weekend and work all week, sometimes it's hard to find time to sit down and write an entire newsletter, which is why I love it when I get article submissions! Not only does it give more introspective on the Long Island Magic community from those who are a part of it, it saves me work. ;) It's especially useful to get articles from players who are a part of the metagame, as judges are notoriously bad players.
If you've got an article you'd like to submit, send it to IslandhomeMTG@gmail.com. Try to keep it a reasonable length - there's no word limit, but look at previous Islandhome articles for guidance - and avoid bad language and personal insults. Also try to maintain good grammar and spelling; doesn't have to be perfect, but you should see how long it takes me to spellcheck the Madonia Minute every week!
I can't promise every submission will make it into the next week's Islandhome, but I'll try to get as many in as I can, especially ones that are relevant to a previous/upcoming event.
==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, Shadowmoor, and Eventide.
September: FNM comes to Brothers Grim!
Yes, after a long wait and bugging Wizards every month, Grim is finally getting FNM sanctioning! FNM promos are coming!
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, Shadowmoor, and Eventide.
September: FNM comes to Brothers Grim!
Yes, after a long wait and bugging Wizards every month, Grim is finally getting FNM sanctioning! FNM promos are coming!
PTQs in our general area this season:
- 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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