==ISLANDHOME #40==
December 3rd 2008
==IN THIS ISSUE...==
Banned & Restricted List Changes: Or lack there-of.
Hidden Away: Some Standard cards that don't see much play.
==THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE==
Friday: FNM Booster Draft at Brothers Grim ($13 entry) @ 7 PM
Saturday: Standard Constructed at FNC ($5 entry) @ 1 PM
Sunday: Chaos Draft at Brothers Grim ($13 entry) @ 2 PM
==BANNED & RESTRICTED LIST CHANGES==
Author: Brian Paskoff
==EURO LANDS PROMOTION==
Author: Brian Paskoff
After a short break, Islandhome is once again accepting guest articles from our readers!
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.
==IN THIS ISSUE...==
Banned & Restricted List Changes: Or lack there-of.
Hidden Away: Some Standard cards that don't see much play.
==THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE==
Friday: FNM Booster Draft at Brothers Grim ($13 entry) @ 7 PM
Saturday: Standard Constructed at FNC ($5 entry) @ 1 PM
Sunday: Chaos Draft at Brothers Grim ($13 entry) @ 2 PM
==BANNED & RESTRICTED LIST CHANGES==
Author: Brian Paskoff
It's December, which means it's that magical time of year... you know, when the new banned and restricted list changes come out, just like it does three other times a year. But it seems Wizards of the Coast isn't quite in a festive mood just yet, and hasn't left us any freshly wrapped presents underneath the banhammer tree. True, there's a bunch of changes to formats no one plays, like the Magic Online formats Pauper, Prismatic, and "100 Card Singleton/Commander" (a silly little format made to emulate our beloved Elder Dragon Highlander using MTGO-ready cards and rules that don't make Magic Online programmers cry in their sleep.), but none to any paper format.
This was to be expected with Standard. Even though some may find the format boring right now, especially with a little over two months until the release of the next Standard-legal set, it's a healthy format, with no particularly broken cards. There's powerhouses that fit in many decks like Cryptic Command, and cards that make players cringe when they play against them such as Bitterblossom, but nothing bannable. If Tarmogoyf wasn't banned, these cards surely don't warrant it.
Extended was the biggest surprise to many, but the fact that nothing from the Elves! would be banned until after Worlds was spoiled way before the announcement. Wizards is making its Christmas gift list late this year, and changing the schedule for B&R updates to accommodate problems that reveal themselves during Worlds. Well, I'm sure that's not the only reason. Beginning immediately, these updates will happen on the 20th of March, June, September, and December, give or take a day or two if the 20th is on a weekend or holiday. So on December 19th, Wizards will make its final decision on whether or not to do anything about the Elves! deck that may or may not dominate Extended events at Worlds, and hopefully save us from all-Elves-all-the-time at Extended PTQs starting in January.
Legacy and Vintage are fairly healthy, and Wizards already took care of banning Time Vault before the card was even broken. Many players expected Wizards to further fiddle with the blue draw spells in Vintage, and it doesn't feel like a B&R update unless Gush's unrestricted/restricted/banned status is toggled. Like Extended, one or both of the Eternal formats will probably get updates towards the end of the month.
There is one change to care about before the "real" update happens, and that's in Elder Dragon Highlander. Time Vault is now banned in EDH, which is to be expected. EDH uses a card pool similar to Legacy and Vintage, and it's a much slower format than either of them, so it's understandable that players had more of a chance to set up abusive combos involving the newly errated card. Banning Time Vault means EDH players will have to rely on the more difficult (and therefore more fun) to set up combos to frustrate their opponents.
We've got nineteen days until the next update, so it's not that long to wait.
This was to be expected with Standard. Even though some may find the format boring right now, especially with a little over two months until the release of the next Standard-legal set, it's a healthy format, with no particularly broken cards. There's powerhouses that fit in many decks like Cryptic Command, and cards that make players cringe when they play against them such as Bitterblossom, but nothing bannable. If Tarmogoyf wasn't banned, these cards surely don't warrant it.
Extended was the biggest surprise to many, but the fact that nothing from the Elves! would be banned until after Worlds was spoiled way before the announcement. Wizards is making its Christmas gift list late this year, and changing the schedule for B&R updates to accommodate problems that reveal themselves during Worlds. Well, I'm sure that's not the only reason. Beginning immediately, these updates will happen on the 20th of March, June, September, and December, give or take a day or two if the 20th is on a weekend or holiday. So on December 19th, Wizards will make its final decision on whether or not to do anything about the Elves! deck that may or may not dominate Extended events at Worlds, and hopefully save us from all-Elves-all-the-time at Extended PTQs starting in January.
Legacy and Vintage are fairly healthy, and Wizards already took care of banning Time Vault before the card was even broken. Many players expected Wizards to further fiddle with the blue draw spells in Vintage, and it doesn't feel like a B&R update unless Gush's unrestricted/restricted/banned status is toggled. Like Extended, one or both of the Eternal formats will probably get updates towards the end of the month.
There is one change to care about before the "real" update happens, and that's in Elder Dragon Highlander. Time Vault is now banned in EDH, which is to be expected. EDH uses a card pool similar to Legacy and Vintage, and it's a much slower format than either of them, so it's understandable that players had more of a chance to set up abusive combos involving the newly errated card. Banning Time Vault means EDH players will have to rely on the more difficult (and therefore more fun) to set up combos to frustrate their opponents.
We've got nineteen days until the next update, so it's not that long to wait.
==HIDDEN AWAY==
Author: Brian Paskoff
Author: Brian Paskoff
It's no secret that I have some strange aversion to constructed Magic that doesn't involve hundred card singleton decks, but every once in a while I get the urge to start thinking up decklists, and I break out the binders and see what I can come up with. There are 1,481 cards in Standard right now, and even with that low number, only a small number are actually used. There are plenty of good cards that sit in binders and boxes, collecting dust because they're deemed unworthy to appear in a Standard decklist. But if you enjoy thinking up rogue decks, let's take a look at some cards that, although good, don't see a lot of play right now... and the reasons behind their solitary life. I'm thinking about making this a regular column, so I'm only doing a few cards at a time.
Doran, the Siege Tower
Doran was really, really good for a long time. "Rock" decks had reared their heads in Standard over and over, especially before Shards of Alara tore Tarmogoyf out of the format. Even then, the Doran decks didn't lose much, as they still had Thoughtseize, Profane Command, Chameleon Colossus, and even Bitterblossom to replace Goyf in the two-drop slot. A (technically) 5/5 on turn two or three spelt trouble for a lot of decks.
Why it's not played: Doran appeared in a handful of States/Champs top 8 decklists, but very few. Doran is one of those cards that requires a whole deck to be built around it, and the Rock archetype is traditionally a mid-range aggro deck, which most players feel is too slow for the metagame.
Oversoul of Dusk
It has protection from the three colors with traditionally the most dangerous removal spells, and it's a 5/5 for 5. Faeries can't touch it at all, and without a hand full of Cryptic Commands set on tap, have been known to scoop if Oversoul can stick to the table long enough to attack. It still shows up in Kithkin builds... though very rarely.
Why it's not played: Blue, black, and red are dangerous, but now white's getting in on the removal action, and Oversoul of Dusk can easily be taken out by Oblivion Ring. If the threat of removal isn't enough, Oversoul requires a very specific manabase to thrive, and only a dedicated green and/or white deck with no Mutavaults can handle casting it reliably... and there aren't too many of those. Even Toast doesn't want it, as green and white aren't usually high on the manabase priority.
Pithing Needle
The Needle was a hot card back when Kamigawa block was Standard, shutting down everything from Sensei's Divining Top to Umezawa's Jitte. When it was announced that Pithing Needle was being reprinted in Tenth Edition, prices shot up, and everyone scoured stores and trade binders searching for the card. But shortly after it became Standard-legal again, Pithing Needle's price dropped back down, and the card went right back into those trade binders.
Why it's not played: Because you're crazy, all of you! Nah I'm just kidding, you're cool. But seriously, Pithing Needle makes a great sideboard card. With planeswalkers popping up in more and more decks, it's only a matter of time before the ultimate one-mana answer to them sees play again.
Stoic Angel
Lightning Angel was a really good card a few sets ago, and Stoic Angel is clearly modeled after it. But despite numerous attempts to make it fit, only a fringey Bant Aggro deck that only made the playoffs at some smaller States plays it. What's not good about keeping aggro decks tapped down? Stoic Angel was expected to be a breakout star of Shards of Alara, and for a while, everyone was clamoring to get their hands on a playset.
Why it's not played: Stoic Angel is good against Kithkin as long as you can keep O-Rings and Unmakes away, but it's simply not that threatening against Faeries (which will counter it or kill it easily enough) or Toast, which doesn't play enough creatures to care. And even though Stoic Angel limits the number of creatures that can untap, it doesn't take it away entirely, letting bigger threats like Chameleon Colossus and Cloudthresher through.
Troll Ascetic
It'll always be a highly-valued card, but the unkillable Troll Ascetic might as well be dead. It's a 3/2 for 3 that can survive nearly anything as long as you have the mana to regenerate it, and a Troll Ascetic with a Loxodon Warhammer on it will always inspire fear in any opponent's heart.
Why it's not played: Kitchen Finks. It's another 3/2 for 3, with a slightly more flexible mana cost and a comes-into-play effect that makes you not care if it dies. Combine that with Infest, a popular sideboard card that kills Troll Ascetic just as easily as Damnation did, and suddenly Troll Ascetic looks a lot more fragile.
Doran, the Siege Tower
Doran was really, really good for a long time. "Rock" decks had reared their heads in Standard over and over, especially before Shards of Alara tore Tarmogoyf out of the format. Even then, the Doran decks didn't lose much, as they still had Thoughtseize, Profane Command, Chameleon Colossus, and even Bitterblossom to replace Goyf in the two-drop slot. A (technically) 5/5 on turn two or three spelt trouble for a lot of decks.
Why it's not played: Doran appeared in a handful of States/Champs top 8 decklists, but very few. Doran is one of those cards that requires a whole deck to be built around it, and the Rock archetype is traditionally a mid-range aggro deck, which most players feel is too slow for the metagame.
Oversoul of Dusk
It has protection from the three colors with traditionally the most dangerous removal spells, and it's a 5/5 for 5. Faeries can't touch it at all, and without a hand full of Cryptic Commands set on tap, have been known to scoop if Oversoul can stick to the table long enough to attack. It still shows up in Kithkin builds... though very rarely.
Why it's not played: Blue, black, and red are dangerous, but now white's getting in on the removal action, and Oversoul of Dusk can easily be taken out by Oblivion Ring. If the threat of removal isn't enough, Oversoul requires a very specific manabase to thrive, and only a dedicated green and/or white deck with no Mutavaults can handle casting it reliably... and there aren't too many of those. Even Toast doesn't want it, as green and white aren't usually high on the manabase priority.
Pithing Needle
The Needle was a hot card back when Kamigawa block was Standard, shutting down everything from Sensei's Divining Top to Umezawa's Jitte. When it was announced that Pithing Needle was being reprinted in Tenth Edition, prices shot up, and everyone scoured stores and trade binders searching for the card. But shortly after it became Standard-legal again, Pithing Needle's price dropped back down, and the card went right back into those trade binders.
Why it's not played: Because you're crazy, all of you! Nah I'm just kidding, you're cool. But seriously, Pithing Needle makes a great sideboard card. With planeswalkers popping up in more and more decks, it's only a matter of time before the ultimate one-mana answer to them sees play again.
Stoic Angel
Lightning Angel was a really good card a few sets ago, and Stoic Angel is clearly modeled after it. But despite numerous attempts to make it fit, only a fringey Bant Aggro deck that only made the playoffs at some smaller States plays it. What's not good about keeping aggro decks tapped down? Stoic Angel was expected to be a breakout star of Shards of Alara, and for a while, everyone was clamoring to get their hands on a playset.
Why it's not played: Stoic Angel is good against Kithkin as long as you can keep O-Rings and Unmakes away, but it's simply not that threatening against Faeries (which will counter it or kill it easily enough) or Toast, which doesn't play enough creatures to care. And even though Stoic Angel limits the number of creatures that can untap, it doesn't take it away entirely, letting bigger threats like Chameleon Colossus and Cloudthresher through.
Troll Ascetic
It'll always be a highly-valued card, but the unkillable Troll Ascetic might as well be dead. It's a 3/2 for 3 that can survive nearly anything as long as you have the mana to regenerate it, and a Troll Ascetic with a Loxodon Warhammer on it will always inspire fear in any opponent's heart.
Why it's not played: Kitchen Finks. It's another 3/2 for 3, with a slightly more flexible mana cost and a comes-into-play effect that makes you not care if it dies. Combine that with Infest, a popular sideboard card that kills Troll Ascetic just as easily as Damnation did, and suddenly Troll Ascetic looks a lot more fragile.
==EURO LANDS PROMOTION==
Author: Brian Paskoff
So the other day when I received my latest FNM promos for Brothers Grim in the mail, I got a little extra surprise with it. Though to be fair it was only a surprise because I forgot I had signed up for it. See, Wizards is doing this promotion exclusively for FNM-hosting locations where they send out packs Euro Lands to those stores. But unlike the other promotional cards Wizards sends out, you don't get these for playing - instead, you get them for buying a full box of any Magic set!
The Euro Lands are special lands with artwork representing different locations throughout Europe. They came in three different versions depending on their wrappers, but the ones I got are the blue pack, seen here. They feature scenes of the forests of Schwarzwald, Germany, the Danish Islands of Scandinavia, the mountains of Vesuvio, Italy, the Scottish Highlands, and the swamps of Ardennes Fagnes, Belgium. This is the first time that these lands are available to players in the US, and they're quite rare. Five come in a pack, one of each land.
Supplies are limited though, so if you were planning to buy a box of Shards for someone as a holiday gift, do it as soon as possible! this promotion will be running at Brothers Grim only for as long as we have packs to give out.
The Euro Lands are special lands with artwork representing different locations throughout Europe. They came in three different versions depending on their wrappers, but the ones I got are the blue pack, seen here. They feature scenes of the forests of Schwarzwald, Germany, the Danish Islands of Scandinavia, the mountains of Vesuvio, Italy, the Scottish Highlands, and the swamps of Ardennes Fagnes, Belgium. This is the first time that these lands are available to players in the US, and they're quite rare. Five come in a pack, one of each land.
Supplies are limited though, so if you were planning to buy a box of Shards for someone as a holiday gift, do it as soon as possible! this promotion will be running at Brothers Grim only for as long as we have packs to give out.
==GUEST ARTICLES==
Author: Brian Paskoff
Author: Brian Paskoff
After a short break, Islandhome is once again accepting guest articles from our readers!
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.
==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==
October 4th - December 28th: PTQ Season for PT Kyoto
The next PTQ season kicks off October 4th, and the format is Shards of Alara sealed deck!
December 21st - Mox Tournament at Brothers Grim
This December, Islandhome, in association with Brothers Grim, will be holding a giant Standard tournament. The first place prize will be a Mox Emerald, with many other prizes as well. Side events such as booster drafts and EDH multiplayer games will be held that day too, so keep reading Islandhome for more details!
December 21st - Mox Tournament at Brothers Grim
This December, Islandhome, in association with Brothers Grim, will be holding a giant Standard tournament. The first place prize will be a Mox Emerald, with many other prizes as well. Side events such as booster drafts and EDH multiplayer games will be held that day too, so keep reading Islandhome for more details!
PTQs in our area this season:
12/13 - New York, NY
12/27 - Edison, NJ
12/13 - New York, NY
12/27 - Edison, NJ
==STORE LOCATIONS & CONTACT INFO==
Brothers Grim
1244 Middle Country Rd.
Selden, NY 11784
Phone: 631-698-2805
Website: www.brgim.com
Friendly Neighborhood Comics
19 Udall Rd.
West Islip, NY 11795
Phone: 631-470-7984
Brothers Grim
1244 Middle Country Rd.
Selden, NY 11784
Phone: 631-698-2805
Website: www.brgim.com
Friendly Neighborhood Comics
19 Udall Rd.
West Islip, NY 11795
Phone: 631-470-7984
==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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