==ISLANDHOME #26==
August 27th 2008
==IN THIS ISSUE...==
FNM and Other Tournament Changes
Madonia Minute
==THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE==
Friday: Booster Draft at Grim @ 7 PM
Saturday: Standard Constructed at FNC @ 1 PM
Saturday: PTQ Berlin in New Jersey
Sunday: Chaos Draft at Brothers Grim @ 2 PM
I'll be in New Jersey on Saturday for the last Block Constructed PTQ of the season, so I won't be at Brothers Grim or FNC on Friday or Saturday.
==FNM AND OTHER TOURNAMENT CHANGES==
Author: Brian Paskoff
==IN THIS ISSUE...==
FNM and Other Tournament Changes
Madonia Minute
==THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE==
Friday: Booster Draft at Grim @ 7 PM
Saturday: Standard Constructed at FNC @ 1 PM
Saturday: PTQ Berlin in New Jersey
Sunday: Chaos Draft at Brothers Grim @ 2 PM
I'll be in New Jersey on Saturday for the last Block Constructed PTQ of the season, so I won't be at Brothers Grim or FNC on Friday or Saturday.
==FNM AND OTHER TOURNAMENT CHANGES==
Author: Brian Paskoff
Starting September 5th, Brothers Grim's Friday tournaments will officially be FNM! Ever since I included the FNM announcement in the Upcoming Events section of Islandhome, players have been asking me if the tournaments are changing to Standard. It's a relatively little known fact that FNM can be either limited or Standard, and for the time being, our FNMs will be booster drafts. Unlike the non-FNM booster drafts, these will be 8k instead of 16k (you can win/lose a maximum of 16 rating points in a single match), but the biggest draw for FNM are the FNM promo cards! Each month there's a different foil alternate art promo card, with four given out at each event - two at random, and two to the top two finalists. September's FNM promo is Thirst for Knowledge.
Some players have been asking about Standard tournaments, so it's always possible to hold those as well. It's too late to change the format of September's FNMs, but October could be Standard if enough people want it!
In the past few weeks, we've been having trouble getting players to come down to Grim on Sundays, and I'm not sure why. Is it the Chaos Draft format (is it possible to hate fun?), or is Sunday just a bad day? Either way, let me know - I could even hold actual sanctioned tournaments on Sundays if there's enough interest!
This weekend, for many, is the final week of Lorwyn/Shadowmoor Block Constructed. After a month or so of trivial Type 2 tournaments, a brand new set (Shards of Alara) will replace my favorite block of all Tme... Spiral block (of course you can't forget Coldsnap). I've decided to eschew from the normal decklists this week and talk about how our game has changed in the past year and where we are going from here.
I, for one, absolutely love the new Pro Tour formatting. I hated it for about a day, I then realized that it actually allows the best overall player to win the event, not just a constructed or limited genius. For anyone that didn't read about the change, all Pro Tours will follow the Nationals format of half limited-half constructed. The top 8 of each tournament will be decided beforehand guaranteeing a top 8 with limited and one with constructed. Worlds next year, coming live from Rome Italy will finally get rid of the expensive legacy format and replace it with the always enjoyable extended.
I didn't like Wizards cancelling their yearly Invitational. I always enjoy watching the coverage of formats I've never heard of and it always seems everyone is having a blast, which besides myself, is the reason most people play. Wizards is still feeling the effect of their blowup with the miniature game Dreamblade (I'm sure Paskoff has some figures, if you're interested, he loves wasting money on games that last 9 minutes) they unfortunately, on the nagging of their parent company Hasbro, had to cut some corners to increase profit margin and revenue, especially in a miserable 2008 economy.
Mythic rares have also induced a slew of forum responses on many major websites. Most people I've talked to think its dumbing our game down making it similar to Yu-Gi-Oh, a game that we never wanted to be like, and tried to get players from. I personally think its' kind of like collecting baseball cards. Randomly inserted in packs are special field used cards and special redemption cards good for upwards of a game used jersey or autographed baseball from an all time great. I think that these mythic rares are nothing but a ploy for wizards to squeeze that extra penny out of its consumers. I absolutely plan on trading away any mythic rare I get during the early goings, especially from a noticeable hype card that I know won't see any play (Talara's Batallion, which I told everyone would be worth 99 cents and proceeded to trade two at 11 dollars on pre release day.) Wizards need to start giving back to their consumers, not taking away from them.
I know Block season is almost over but I have one last deck to pass along. I've been corresponding with some mid west players that have had some strong successes on the pro circuit in recent months. We've been working on a token deck for a couple of weeks and finally have a deck that can take a PTQ by storm this weekend.
Torrent u
3x Cloudgoat Ranger
4x Fulminator Mage
4x Kitchen Finks
3x Marsh Flitter
3x Furystoke Giant
1x Shrikemaw
1x Mirrorweave
4x Spectral Possession
4x Bitterblossom
4x Torrent of Souls
4x Makeshift Mannequin
4x Fetid Heath
2x Plains
4x Reflecting Pool
3x Rugged Prarie
2x Twilight Mire
4x Vivid Marsh
3x Vivid Meadow
3x Windbrisk Heights
Sideboard
3x Cloudthresher
4x Runed Halo
4x Thoughtseize
3x Shrikemaw
1x Primal command
I have about 13 or so emails on the list about the new deck, so if anyone has any questions or wants to know sideboarding plans please let me know before Friday.
Thanks for reading!
Some players have been asking about Standard tournaments, so it's always possible to hold those as well. It's too late to change the format of September's FNMs, but October could be Standard if enough people want it!
In the past few weeks, we've been having trouble getting players to come down to Grim on Sundays, and I'm not sure why. Is it the Chaos Draft format (is it possible to hate fun?), or is Sunday just a bad day? Either way, let me know - I could even hold actual sanctioned tournaments on Sundays if there's enough interest!
==MADONIA MINUTE==
Author: John "Metagame" Madonia
Author: John "Metagame" Madonia
This weekend, for many, is the final week of Lorwyn/Shadowmoor Block Constructed. After a month or so of trivial Type 2 tournaments, a brand new set (Shards of Alara) will replace my favorite block of all Tme... Spiral block (of course you can't forget Coldsnap). I've decided to eschew from the normal decklists this week and talk about how our game has changed in the past year and where we are going from here.
I, for one, absolutely love the new Pro Tour formatting. I hated it for about a day, I then realized that it actually allows the best overall player to win the event, not just a constructed or limited genius. For anyone that didn't read about the change, all Pro Tours will follow the Nationals format of half limited-half constructed. The top 8 of each tournament will be decided beforehand guaranteeing a top 8 with limited and one with constructed. Worlds next year, coming live from Rome Italy will finally get rid of the expensive legacy format and replace it with the always enjoyable extended.
I didn't like Wizards cancelling their yearly Invitational. I always enjoy watching the coverage of formats I've never heard of and it always seems everyone is having a blast, which besides myself, is the reason most people play. Wizards is still feeling the effect of their blowup with the miniature game Dreamblade (I'm sure Paskoff has some figures, if you're interested, he loves wasting money on games that last 9 minutes) they unfortunately, on the nagging of their parent company Hasbro, had to cut some corners to increase profit margin and revenue, especially in a miserable 2008 economy.
Mythic rares have also induced a slew of forum responses on many major websites. Most people I've talked to think its dumbing our game down making it similar to Yu-Gi-Oh, a game that we never wanted to be like, and tried to get players from. I personally think its' kind of like collecting baseball cards. Randomly inserted in packs are special field used cards and special redemption cards good for upwards of a game used jersey or autographed baseball from an all time great. I think that these mythic rares are nothing but a ploy for wizards to squeeze that extra penny out of its consumers. I absolutely plan on trading away any mythic rare I get during the early goings, especially from a noticeable hype card that I know won't see any play (Talara's Batallion, which I told everyone would be worth 99 cents and proceeded to trade two at 11 dollars on pre release day.) Wizards need to start giving back to their consumers, not taking away from them.
I know Block season is almost over but I have one last deck to pass along. I've been corresponding with some mid west players that have had some strong successes on the pro circuit in recent months. We've been working on a token deck for a couple of weeks and finally have a deck that can take a PTQ by storm this weekend.
Torrent u
3x Cloudgoat Ranger
4x Fulminator Mage
4x Kitchen Finks
3x Marsh Flitter
3x Furystoke Giant
1x Shrikemaw
1x Mirrorweave
4x Spectral Possession
4x Bitterblossom
4x Torrent of Souls
4x Makeshift Mannequin
4x Fetid Heath
2x Plains
4x Reflecting Pool
3x Rugged Prarie
2x Twilight Mire
4x Vivid Marsh
3x Vivid Meadow
3x Windbrisk Heights
Sideboard
3x Cloudthresher
4x Runed Halo
4x Thoughtseize
3x Shrikemaw
1x Primal command
I have about 13 or so emails on the list about the new deck, so if anyone has any questions or wants to know sideboarding plans please let me know before Friday.
Thanks for reading!
==RULES CORNER==
Author: Brian Paskoff
Author: Brian Paskoff
Q. Is there a way I can activate my Mutavault during my opponent's end phase and have it still be a creature during my turn?
A. I've heard this questions a few times lately, and since it deals with confusion between "at end of turn" and "until end of turn" effects, I figured I'd help stop this confusion. There are two steps in the end of turn phase: end of turn step, and the cleanup step. Abilities that say "at end of turn" trigger at the beginning of the end of turn step; it's just that if Turn to Mist said "At the beginning of the end of turn step...." it'd be a little too wordy. Abilities that say they last "until end of turn" however end during the cleanup step. For the most part, players don't get priority during the cleanup step, so Mutavault needs to be activated before then, and will stop being a creature in the cleanup step. Even if a player does get priority during the cleanup step somehow (if the conditions for state-based effects or triggered abilities exist, for example) and activates Mutavault, the game will generate another cleanup step after the first one to deal with it.
Q. Oh no! I drew seven cards when I mulliganed. Do I need to mulligan to five now?
A. Though a forced mulligan to one less than what you were supposed to draw used to be the fix for Improper Drawing at Start, there's a more fair fix now. If you accidentally drew too many cards, a judge will pick cards at random out of your hand until you're holding the number of cards you're supposed to, and then take one more. Those extra cards will get shuffled back into your deck and you'll start play as normal. If you drew too few cards, the judge will make you draw up to what you're supposed to.
Q. Whoa, new Ajani. Can I have the Lorwyn one and the Shards of Alara one out at the same time?
A. I've made a big deal out of planeswalkers not being "legendary" in the past, and here's why. Legendary permanents care about the name of the card (which is why Sakashima the Impostor can copy legendary creatures and not die), while planeswalkers care about the subtype of cards. Old and busted Ajani and new hotness Ajani both have the same subtype, so if they're both in play at the same time, state-based effects will prevent the multiverse from imploding.
A. I've heard this questions a few times lately, and since it deals with confusion between "at end of turn" and "until end of turn" effects, I figured I'd help stop this confusion. There are two steps in the end of turn phase: end of turn step, and the cleanup step. Abilities that say "at end of turn" trigger at the beginning of the end of turn step; it's just that if Turn to Mist said "At the beginning of the end of turn step...." it'd be a little too wordy. Abilities that say they last "until end of turn" however end during the cleanup step. For the most part, players don't get priority during the cleanup step, so Mutavault needs to be activated before then, and will stop being a creature in the cleanup step. Even if a player does get priority during the cleanup step somehow (if the conditions for state-based effects or triggered abilities exist, for example) and activates Mutavault, the game will generate another cleanup step after the first one to deal with it.
Q. Oh no! I drew seven cards when I mulliganed. Do I need to mulligan to five now?
A. Though a forced mulligan to one less than what you were supposed to draw used to be the fix for Improper Drawing at Start, there's a more fair fix now. If you accidentally drew too many cards, a judge will pick cards at random out of your hand until you're holding the number of cards you're supposed to, and then take one more. Those extra cards will get shuffled back into your deck and you'll start play as normal. If you drew too few cards, the judge will make you draw up to what you're supposed to.
Q. Whoa, new Ajani. Can I have the Lorwyn one and the Shards of Alara one out at the same time?
A. I've made a big deal out of planeswalkers not being "legendary" in the past, and here's why. Legendary permanents care about the name of the card (which is why Sakashima the Impostor can copy legendary creatures and not die), while planeswalkers care about the subtype of cards. Old and busted Ajani and new hotness Ajani both have the same subtype, so if they're both in play at the same time, state-based effects will prevent the multiverse from imploding.
==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-Shadowmoor Block Constructed! Lorwyn-Shadowmoor block consists 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-Shadowmoor Block Constructed! Lorwyn-Shadowmoor block consists 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:
- 8/30 - 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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