Islandhome #33

==ISLANDHOME #33==

October 15th 2008

==IN THIS ISSUE...==

Sealed Deck and Standard at Brothers Grim!
Draft Walkthrough: A complete Shards of Alara draft, from start to finish!
Madonia Minute

==THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE==

Friday: FNM Booster Draft at Brothers Grim @ 7 PM
Saturday: Standard Constructed at FNC @ 1 PM
Sunday: Sealed Deck ($20 Entry) at Brothers Grim @ 2 PM

Due to popular demand, I'm sanctioning a Standard event on Friday night at Grim and seeing how it goes. We'll also be running a Sealed tournament this Sunday at Grim, with an entry fee of only $20, the cheapest I've seen since booster packs were $1.99.

==DRAFT WALKTHROUGH==
Author: Brian Paskoff

So I was watching TV at 11:30 PM on Sunday when suddenly, I hear the tell-tale bloop noise of an incoming IM message - it's my friend Vic Naqvi from Canada, asking if I want to draft. Rather than pack my passport and at least two pairs of socks and hop on the next flight to Toronto, I fire up NetDraft and connect to him while we post the IP address in the Magic-League chatroom. Within minutes, the draft fills up. NetDraft is a little weird; there's no print runs coded in yet, so packs you see in NetDraft won't always come up in real life. You could potentially see NetDraft packs that are all green cards. Usually though, a pack's a pack, and unless you memorize certain print runs, it's not an issue, and truly weird packs are rare. Shards of Alara packs are coded as having 14 cards to make up for the fact that real packs are 14 cards plus a basic land. And lastly, there are no foils in NetDraft - just like at a Nationals or Pro Tour draft, the possibility of a foil replacing a common is zero. So NetDraft is a good approximation of a real draft, but not a great replacement for the real thing.

This issue I'm going to walk you through my draft. I'm not the best drafter in the world, but I've been playing for a long time and hopefully I'll be able to help those of you who are just starting out in limited. I've pointed out my mispicks and why I should've taken the other cards, and contrary to popular belief I sometimes know what I'm doing.

NetDrafts aren't tournaments; you're only paired against one person, who will be sitting across from you so you're not cutting each other. After everyone pairs up, Vic seats everyone across from each other and presses the start button, and off we go!

1:1 - Memory Erosion, Necrogenesis, Angel's Herald, Jhessian Infiltrator, Agony Warp, Marble Chalice, Vithian Stinger, Cancel, Bone Splinters, Shadowfeed, Grixis Panorama, Wild Nacatl, Call to Heel, Windwright Mage.

Agony Warp is the clear winner here, nothing else even comes close. If it wasn't there, it'd be a little more difficult. I don't want to be roped into Naya this early with Wild Nactl, or Esper with Windwright Mage. It's too early for a mana fixer, counterspells aren't outstanding in limited, and the rare is unplayable because there's no mill strategy to build around in this set. Agony Warp can 2-for-1 a lot of the time, and can always 1-for-1. Plus, it leaves me open for either Esper or Grixis. This is a good start for me, because I'm not a strong enough drafter to figure out where I'm going if either of my first two picks don't set me on the right path.
PICK: Agony Warp

1:2 - Ooze Garden, Sigiled Paladin, Tower Gargoyle, Magma Spray, Waveskimmer Aven, Obelisk of Bant, Dispeller's Capsule, Soul's Fire, Steward of Valeron, Resounding Silence, Viashino Skeleton, Grixis Panorama, Rip-Clan Crasher.

Tough choice here. Tower Gargoyle moves me into Esper, Magma Spray moves me into Grixis. This early in the draft I should mention the other good cards, notably Waveskimmer Aven, Steward of Valeron, Resounding Silence, and Rip-Clan Crasher, all of which would put me in four colors, and I wasn't planning on discarding my Agony Warp this early. Soul's Fire is situational, so I try to avoid it; they table anyway. There are times in this set where two damage won't stop a big threat, but a 4/4 flier for 4 is always good. I take the Gargoyle and hope I don't regret it later.
PICK: Tower Gargoyle

1:3 - Blood Cultist, Mighty Emergence, Scourge Devil, Etherium Sculptor, Obelisk of Esper, Viashino Skeleton, Cloudheath Drake, Gustrider Exuberant, Guardians of Akrasa, Bant Panorama, Vectis Silencers, Kederekt Creeper.

Kederekt Creeper is the best card in this pack. I'm sure to see every other card in this pack many times in the draft, but not the "damned if you do block, damned if you don't" Creeper. It's not too late to switch into Grixis, and not too early to rule out four-color entirely, either. The only other alternatives I see are Obelisk of Esper, Guardians of Akrasa, and Cloudheath Drake. Etherium Sculptors are plentiful and I wouldn't worry about those right now even if I was going to try to force Esper.
PICK: Kederekt Creeper

1:4 - Sangrite Surge, Demon's Herald, Bant Panorama, Tortise Formation, Gift of the Gargantuan, Relic of Progenitus, Cylian Elf, Kathari Screecher, Etherium Sculptor, Shadowfeed, Deft Duelist.

Gift of the Gargantuan is a powerful spell, but I'm nowhere near green. There are two good creatures in this pack in my possible colors: Kathari Screecher and Deft Duelist. The flier has evasion, and Deft Duelist is a great two-drop that dodges all sorts of removal. I took the Deft Duelist, though looking back on it, Kathari Screecher would definitely have been the better pick because it kept my color options open; I was in blue no matter which shard I ended up in.
PICK: Deft Duelist

1:5 - Dawnray Archer, Thunder-Thrash Elder, Qasali Ambusher, Bone Splinters, Gustrider Exuberant, Glaze Fiend, Naturalize, Soul's Grace, Goblin Mountaineer, Etherium Sculptor

So I'm in Esper now, and my options are pretty limited in this pack. Every card I could possibly pick is the type of card that will go back around the table: Bone Splinters, Glaze Fiend, and Etherium Sculptor are my best bets. I'm not a fan of Bone Splinters in anything but Jund, Glaze Fiend is good but there's no telling how many artifacts I'll actually get at this point in the draft, and Etherium Sculptor helps me out with my chronic mana-screw. So I take the Sculptor.
PICK: Etherium Sculptor

1:6 - Ranger of Eos, Fire-Field Ogre, Grixis Battlemage, Courier's Capsule, Tortoise Formation, Call to Heel, Undead Leotau, Mosstodon, Deathgreeter.

Strangely, the only outright terrible cards in this pack are Undead Leotau and Tortoise Formation. That's a late Mosstodon, which means green's open, but it's kind of hard to go down that road now. Since this is NetDraft, I forgot Grixis Battlemage had a Merfolk Looter ability until it was too late, but it's not a huge loss. Still thinking in four colors, I take the Fire-Field Ogre. Courier's Capsule or the combat-trick-disguised-as-a-terrible-card Call to Heel would have been good choices. I also have to mention Ranger of Eos. Akrasan Squire, Feral Hydra, and Wild Nacatl are the only good one-drops in Shards limited. Unless you have multiples of those or are rare-drafting, there's usually not a good reason to pick the Ranger.
PICK: Fire-Field Ogre

1:7 - Exuberant Firestoker, Thoughtcutter Agent, Jungle Weaver, Soul's Might, Rip-Clan Crasher, Akrasan Squire, Druid of the Anima, Gustrider Exuberant.

If Thoughtcutter Agent was a 2/1 or even a 1/2, I'd take him. There's a Rip-Clan Crasher and a Druid of the Anima in this pack still! Some lucky drafter is in Jund or Naya and is all alone to enjoy all this green. Akrasan Squire is a solid one-drop that's even good late in the game. Nice to see it seventh pick.
PICK: Akrasan Squire

1:8 - Punish Ignorance, Carrion Thrash, Tortoise Formation, Knight of the Skyward Eye, Call to Heel, Volcanic Submersion, Cathartic Adept.

Even though counterspells are "meh" in limited, Punish Ignorance is pretty good. Carrion Thrash is a great beefy creature that, for some reason, always winds up going late. Tortoise Formation is awful anti-removal; I remember when it cost 1U and could be a 2/2 creature if you tapped the right mana (Plaxmanta). For some reason I took Knight of the Skyward Eye, but I can't remember why. Oh well, if Cylian Elf is playable, a white one should be too.
PICK: Knight of the Skyward Eye

1:9 - Memory Erosion, Necrogenesis, Marble Chalice, Shadowfeed, Call to Heel, Windwright Mage.

Wow, the Windwright Mage came back! Usually, seeing one Windwright Mage late means you'll see more, because a mana-intensive 2/2 lifelink isn't that great unless you can reliably give it flying.
PICK: Windwright Mage

1:10 - Ooze Garden, Sigiled Paladin, Obelisk of Bant, Dispeller's Capsule, Viashino Skeleton.

Obvious pick here, the Sigiled Paladin. And, with the picking of a double-white two-drop, I erase all notions of going four-color. Sorry, Kederekt Creeper and Fire-Field Ogre.
PICK: Sigiled Paladin

1:11 - Mighty Emergence, Etherium Sculptor, Viashino Skeleton, Gustrider Exuberant.
PICK: Etherium Sculptor

1:12 - Demon's Herald, Tortoise Formation, Shadowfeed.
PICK: Shadowfeed

1:13 - Soul's Grace, Goblin Mountaineer.
PICK: Soul's Grace

1:14 - Deathgreeter.
PICK: Deathgreeter

2:1 - Crucible of Fire, Jhessian Infiltrator, Savage Lands, Scavenger Drake, Obelisk of Jund, Cloudheath Drake, Blightning, Ridge Rannet, Jungle Weaver, Volcanic Submersion, Dragon Fodder, Steelclad Serpent, Skeletal Kathari, Obelisk of Esper.

Bad pack for me, bad rare for anyone. Scavenger Drake fits any black shard except Esper, so my choices are Cloudheath Drake, Steelclad Serpent, Skeletal Kathari, and Obelisk of Esper; none of those are really first-pick material. But, Cloudheath Drake is a flier, and goes great with a turn two or three Etherium Sculptor.
PICK: Cloudheath Drake

2:2 - Vicious Shadows, Wooly Thoctar, Algae Gharial, Jund Charm, Bone Splinters, Viscera Dragger, Grixis Panorama, Sanctum Gargoyle, Tortoise Formation, Resounding Wave, Steward of Valeron, Resounding Roar, Gustrider Exuberant.

Wow, Wooly Thoctar and Jund Charm. If I was in Grixis or Naya, I'd splash for the Jund Charm, and I almost consider hate-picking it for a few seconds. If Sanctum Gargoyle wasn't in the pack, I probably would, but a Gravedigger that flies, becomes cheaper with Etherium Sculptor, and both survives and helps me recover from Jund Charm fits my deck much better.
PICK: Sanctum Gargoyle

2:3 - Stoic Angel, Bant Charm, Kiss of the Amesha, Skeletonize, Cathartic Adept, Deft Duelist, Resounding Roar, Mosstodon, Oblivion Ring, Soul's Grace, Gift of the Gargantuan, Tidehollow Strix.

Twelve cards left in the pack and there only two bad ones (Cathartic Adept and Soul's Grace). Obviously the two guys next to me aren't in Bant, and look at all that green! I almost consider splashing for Bant Charm for a moment before looking down and seeing Oblivion Ring, which is technically more fragile, but deals with more than Bant Charm does... and doesn't require me to stretch my manabase.
PICK: Oblivion Ring

2:4 - Keeper of Progenitus, Demon's Herald, Esper Battlemage, Metallurgeon, Resounding Wave, Dispeller's Capsule, Courier's Capsule, Coma Veil, Windwright Mage, Elvish Visionary, Relic of Progenitus.

Wow, lots of stuff for me. Esper Battlemage picks off little guys and makes combat tough. Metallurgeon is deceptively powerful and even I overlooked it. Resounding Wave is okay as a normal spell, and great when you can cycle it. Courier's Capsule draws cards, but I'm sure I'll see more. Finally there's Windwright Mage. I already have one, but it's a better creature in multiples, and so in it goes. I'm not entirely sure I made the right choice, but I know I didn't make a bad one.
PICK: Windwright Mage

2:5 - Mighty Emergence, Topan Ascetic, Dragon's Herald, Steward of Valeron, Incurable Ogre, Undead Leotau, Blightning, Cathartic Adept, Shore Snapper, Elvish Visionary.

Not a playable card in my colors, and definitely none playable in my theme. Shore Snapper is an average creature, made worse by the fact that every time I pick it, my opponents don't play Islands.
PICK: Shore Snapper

2:6 - Clarion Ultimatum, Exuberant Firestoker, Blister Beetle, Obelisk of Esper, Cylian Elf, Dreg Reaver, Courier's Capsule, Gustrider Exuberant, Knight of the Skyward Eye.

The Obelisk is tempting, but Blister Beetle is so much more fun! Besides killing any X/1, Blister Beetle can kill off any creature that survived combat damage with one damage shy of lethal.
PICK: Blister Beetle

2:7 - Bant Battlemage, Dragon's Herald, Obelisk of Grixis, Deathgreeter, Relic of Progenitus, Banewasp Affliction, Cylian Elf, Resounding Scream.

Yuck. I could take Obelisk of Grixis, but then I'd be tempted to splash red. I don't have any high mana cost cards where I'd need the extra mana accel, and I'm sure I'll come across an Esper one later. Bant Battlemage is fine, it gives my guys evasion.
PICK: Bant Battlemage

2:8 - Grixis Battlemage, Drumhunter, Behemoth's Herald, Obelisk of Naya, Savage Hunger, Etherium Sculptor, Dreg Reaver.

Grixis Battlemage is a great draw engine, and Etherium Sculptors are a dime a dozen.
PICK: Grixis Battlemage

2:9 - Crucible of Fire, Obelisk of Jund, Ridge Rannet, Jungle Weaver, Volcanic Submersion, Obelisk of Esper.

PICK: Crucible of Fire. Just kidding. Obelisk of Esper.

2:10 - Vicious Shadows, Algae Gharial, Tortoise Formation, Steward of Valeron, Gustrider Exuberant.

Hate pick time! Even though no one's playing green....
PICK: Steward of Valeron

2:11 - Kiss of the Amesha, Cathartic Adept, Resounding Roar, Soul's Grace.

Well that's late. Kiss of the Amesha isn't exactly a bomb, but it's not exactly eleventh pick bad either.
PICK: Kiss of the Amesha

2:12 - Keeper of Progenitus, Relic of Progenitus, Demon's Herald.

PICK: Relic of Progenitus

2:13 - Mighty Emergence, Dragon's Herald.

PICK: Mighty Emergence

2:14 - Clarion Ultimatum.

PICK: Clarion Ultimatum

3:1 - Master of Etherium, Thoughtcutter Agent, Kiss of the Amesha, Naya Battlemage, Cathartic Adept, Shore Snapper, Druid of the Anima, Coma Veil, Angelsong, Marble Chalice, Bant Panorama, Cavern Thoctar, Volcanic Submersion, Glaze Fiend.

Wow! Not only is my rare in my colors, it fits my deck perfectly! The only other comparable card I could've opened in the rare slot is Sharuum the Hegemon. But before I slam that down, let's just see what else is in the pack. Naya Battlemage is good for the Naya player, as it taps down threats. Kiss of the Amesha and Glaze Fiend are the only other things I'd consider taking in this pack if Master of Etherium wasn't there.
PICK: Master of Etherium

3:2 - Where Ancients Tread, Sunseed Nurturer, Sigiled Paladin, Tidehollow Strix, Obelisk of Esper, Bloodthorn Taunter, Onyx Goblet, Welkin Guide, Dragon Fodder, Wild Nacatl, Call to Heel, Steelclad Serpent, Obelisk of Bant.

Where Ancients Tread is a huge bomb that no one's paid much attention to yet. With the amount of green going around though, I don't think anyone's in a position to abuse it to its fullest, however. Tidehollow Strix has flying and deathtouch and is an artifact creature - what more could I want?
PICK: Tidehollow Strix

3:3 - Scourge Devil, Bant Battlemage, Grixis Panorama, Windwright Mage, Sighted-Caste Sorcerer, Savage Hunger, Hissing Iguanar, Wild Nacatl, Dispeller's Capsule, Sigil Blessing, Gustrider Exuberant, Godtoucher.

Nothing's better than the Windwright Mage. Other notes - Hissing Iguanar is great in a Jund deck, Wild Nacatl fits in the Naya deck no one is playing, and Sigil Blessing would have been taken already if the two guys to my right were in WG.
PICK: Windwright Mage

3:4 - Ooze Garden, Exuberant Firestoker, Rockslide Elemental, Puppet Conjurer, Lightning Talons, Steelclad Serpent, Courier's Capsule, Hissing Iguanar, Deathgreeter, Thorn-Thrash Viashino, Glaze Fiend.

There's a couple of filler cards for my deck in this pack. I like Puppet Conjurer because he makes chump blockers and pumps Master of Etherium, but I like the card drawing power of Courier's Capsule. If I had to do it all over again, I might've taken the Conjurer since I already had Kiss of the Amesha and Grixis Battlemage for drawing power... but once again, it's not a massive loss.
PICK: Courier's Capsule

3:5 - Grixis Battlemage, Sunseed Nurterer, Deathgreeter, Call to Heel, Carrion Thrash, Lush Growth, Cavern Thoctar, Hindering Light, Jhessian Lookout, Bloodthorn Taunter.

The thing about taking Hindering Light is that you feel obligated to use it, and it's a dead card when you're down in board position and your opponent is swinging away at you. So I'm looking at Grixis Battlemage and Call to Heel here, and I take the creature.
PICK: Grixis Battlemage

3:6 - Mighty Emergence, Drumhunter, Wild Nacatl, Glaze Fiend, Dregscape Zombie, Kederekt Creeper, Deft Duelist, Onyx Goblet, Resounding Wave.

Kederekt Creeper this late is weird, since I'm getting a Grixis vibe from the drafter on my right. Drumhunter is amazing in a Naya deck, and so is Wild Nacatl, so I don't need to say anything more about that. Deft Duelist is good, but I've got enough already and it's strictly an early-game creature. Glaze Fiend goes great with my artifact theme, and I love having multiples, so pack three is my last chance. Runner up: Resounding Wave.
PICK: Glaze Fiend

3:7 - Sangrite Surge, Obelisk of Grixis, Esper Panorama, Skeletal Kathari, Marble Chalice, Godtoucher, Gift of the Gargantuan, Volcanic Submersion.

Gift is late. I could take the Panorama, but I don't want to get stuck on colorless mana in my deck with three Windwright Mages. Skeletal Kathari is an underrated flier, in black of all colors. And it goes great with the Puppet Conjurer I didn't pick!
PICK: Skeletal Kathari

3:8 - Cunning Lethemancer, Angel's Herald, Dregscape Zombie, Angelsong, Volcanic Submersion, Court Archers, Rip-Clan Crasher.

Medoicre cards, and two great cards that aren't in my (or anyone's) colors. Cunning Lethemancer could be annoying, but it wouldn't make my deck, that's for sure. Angelsong is a cute combat trick that can cycle when I don't need it, but the problem is, you can cycle it when you don't need it. Drawing Angelsong early means you'll cycle it, and won't have it when you need it later. Plus, unless you're digging for some mass removal (which I don't have), straight up fog spells aren't that great in limited. Dregscape Zombie probably won't make my deck, but I take it anyway. If this were a real draft, I might've hate-picked either green card.
PICK: Dregscape Zombie

3:9 - Cathartic Adept, Angelsong, Marble Chalice, Cavern Thoctar, Volcanic Submersion, Glaze Fiend.

Easy mode. Glaze Fiends in Esper are sort of like Mimics in Shadowmoor/Eventide drafts.
PICK: Glaze Fiend

3:10 - Where Ancients Tread, Sunseed Nurterer, Sigiled Paladin, Onyx Goblet, Steelclad Serpent.

Like I said, no one realizes how bomby Where Ancients Tread can be. Were this a real draft where I was going to play more than just the player across from me, I would've hate-picked the enchantment. But I decide to make life hell for the guy sitting across from the drafter next to me and let it go. Meanwhile, my choices are between Sigiled Paladin number two, or Steelclad Serpent. I probably should've taken the Paladin, but since this wasn't a real draft, I decided to experiment with Steelclad Serpent to see how powerful it is in an artifact-based deck.
PICK: Steelclad Serpent

3:11 - Savage Hunger, Dispeller's Capsule, Gustrider Exuberant, Godtoucher.

I decide to stick Dispeller's Capsule in my sideboard for any Oblivion Rings or Where Ancients Treads I go up against.
PICK: Dispeller's Capsule

3:12 - Ooze Garden, Deathgreeter, Glaze Fiend.
PICK: Glaze Fiend

3:13 - Deathgreeter, Bloodthorn Taunter.
PICK: Death Greeter

3:14 - Mighty Emergence.
PICK: Tarmogoyf

So I've got a great Esper deck. Only a Sharuum, a few more Sanctum Gargoyles, and another removal spell or two would put this draft in my all-time top five. Signals are important in a draft, which is why I'm hammering the point home that red and green were wiiiiiiiide open. Cards like Court Archers and Rip-Clan Crashers shouldn't table, ever. I didn't realize it while I was drafting, but in hindsight after typing all this out, white was the heaviest drafted color, maybe blue as well. I didn't survey everyone in the draft, but I'm sure more than two people were going for Bant.

I know I made a lot of mistakes that drafters better than me reading this will probably shake their heads and go "Tsk, tsk, that Paskoff, what a terrible drafter, my word!", but it all worked out in the end for the most part.

I build the deck quickly in NetDraft and export it so I can open it in Magic Workstation where I can look at it in greater detail. Here's what the deck looks like:

Creatures (18): Tower Gargoyle, Deft Duelist, Etherium Sculptor, Windwright Mage (3x), Sigiled Paladin, Cloudheath Drake, Sanctum Gargoyle, Blister Beetle, Grixis Battlemage, Master of Etherium, Tidehollow Strix, Glaze Fiend (3x), Skeletal Kathari, Steelclad Serpent
Spells (5): Agony Warp, Oblivion Ring, Obelisk of Esper, Kiss of the Amesha, Courier's Capsule

I have eighteen creatures, a little on the high end, which means I have to play somewhat aggressively. I also have only one trick - Agony Warp. Although to be fair, I didn't have much of a chance to pick up any others, though I might've taken Resounding Waves in place of Esper Battlemage and/or Glaze Fiend if I realized I was going to have only one playable instant... but again, that's something that comes from experience. You can know what cards you've taken easily, but it takes a lot of skill to analyze what cards you need while you're drafting.

Magic Workstation has all sorts of neat tools to analyze a deck. I've got ten two-drops, seven three-drops, two four-drops, two five-drops, and two spells that cost six or more. That's a lot of two-drops, but they're all really good. It also shows that I'm fairly even on the total mana symbols for each of my three colors. Ten white, thirteen blue, and twelve black. It could be very safe to play six Islands, six Swamps, and five Plains, but I'm a fan of the "23/18" school of limited deckbuilding and I put in six of each land. Your mileage my vary.

There are a whopping fifteen artifacts in the deck, thirteen of which are artifact creatures, making Glaze Fiend very playable. Just try getting thirteen playable blue/green spells in Eventide to set off your Shorecrasher Mimics!

Vic was in more or less the same colors as me, except he fell into the trap of splashing for a fourth color, red. This can happen often in a draft. The signals you're sending out get weaker and weaker the further away from you they get, and the furthest point is the person sitting directly across from you. So while I cutting off good Esper cards from the people sitting to my right and left, Vic had no idea what I was doing. He just knew that some good Esper cards were coming his way because no one near me wanted to fight me over them. We usually end up sharing a shard.

In game one, I knocked him down to four life early, but he recovered with a Sharuum the Hegemon off the top, bringing back a Cloudheath Drake and backed up by a Metallurgeon to regenerate his blockers on defense, and my 6/6 Tower Gargoyle (Master of Etherium + Sigiled Paladin) just couldn't break through. Game two went better for me, with my deck performing as it should and breaking through his defenses with fliers and a timely Blister Beetle. Unfortunately in game three, Vic got horribly mana-screwed, drawing nearly every non-Island land in his deck while all his blue cards remained stuck in his hand.

If you have any questions about why I picked/didn't pick a certain card, or comments about the draft, let me know! Hopefully you'll learn from the picks (and mistakes!) I made and can use this knowledge next time you draft.

==MADONIA MINUTE==
Author: John "Metagame" Madonia

Public Service Announcement. There are only two events left in the first and only Madonia Invitational and it's an intense setting as three different winners have been crowned. The first week was won by one of our dearly departed combatants that for the sanctity of this column will be kept nameless. Week 2 was handled by David 24/7 Drebsky (Wurm) with the only deck he realistically plays well, Kithkin. Week 3 was won by a Madonia/Chianese Joint that didn't lose a match on the weekend, even in batting practice.
Full standings are available through me, I will not post them here as to allow for tension to build.

FNC closing :(

Hopefully the majority of everyone knows this, but our Islip chapter of FNC will be shutting its doors for the last time in late October. I personally am saddened by this as I was a founding father of the Magic scene there and have helped bring it from the ground up. We put a lot of work in getting people in the building and keeping them there, so it's tough to see it go because of an increase rent cost and horrific economy. They will be moving to a main road in West Islip, which although seems quaint and all, is not FNC. I would ask that anyone that goes to the new store refer to it as Friendly Neighborhood or something to that effect. The people may transfer but the memories and the namesake will not. I can remember like it was yesterday our 10th Edition release. We had players on dumpsters on cement playing on hoods of cars, wherever there was space people were playing. Everyone was fantastic all day and the tournament ran perfectly, especially considering we had 55 or so players. People were there to have fun and enjoy themselves which was what it was about. If you were there that day, you probably had a blast, if you weren't you wish you would have been.
I'm sure the move is needed as far as finances go, so I wish them the best of luck and hope for continued successes, I'll just miss our little store that has no business having 30+ people in it, but we did anyway. We didn't have a store to call our own in Islip for a really long time after fire-gate, so we embraced this store and welcomed it finally a place that wasn't 40 minutes away. I think we did a hell of a job with it, for last year we had the highest turnout average of any other store in the entire state. So for everyone that made it an awesome couple of years I appreciate it.

FNC 2006-2008 RIP

Decklist of the Week

4x Ad Naseaum
4x Semsic Assault
4x Idylic Tutor
4x Diablic Tutor
3x Pyroclasm
3x Wrath
4x Kitchen Finks
7x Mountain
4x Swamp
3x Plains
4x Sungrass Prairie
4x Graven Cairns
4x Fetid Heath
4x Reflecting Pool
2x Vivid Marsh
1x Vivid Meadow
1x Vivid Crag

It's not a tournament level deck, but something to have fun with at a local tournament :)

==RULES CORNER==
Author: Brian Paskoff

Q. Do I have to name what land I'm searching for when I crack a Panorama?
A. While you're allowed to tell your opponent what you'll be searching for, you aren't forced to pick a land type until you're rummaging through your deck. You can just pick up your deck and search away while the ability is resolving. This way you don't have to memorize how many lands of each type are in your deck before you pop that Panorama.

Q. What happens when I Magma Spray a Kitchen Finks?
A. Magma Spray has made its way into the sideboards of many mono-red decks because it deals with persist so well. Magma Spray resolves, dealing two damage to the Finks, and then state-based effects are checked. Finks has two damage on it, so the game says it gets destroyed and put into the graveyard - but Magma Spray's replacement effect replaces the "going to graveyard" event with "going to the RFG zone".

==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 - 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:

10/26 - Rochester, NY
11/22 - Philadelphia, PA
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
3 Grant Avenue, Suite 2
Islip, NY 11751
Phone: 631-470-7984

==FIN==

See everyone this weekend!

Got forwarded Islandhome and want to sign up? Send an email to IslandhomeMTG@gmail.com!

-Brian Paskoff
L1 NY

Islandhome #32

==ISLANDHOME #32==

October 8th 2008

==IN THIS ISSUE...==

Post-Rotation Standard: Welcome to the new Standard!
Shards of Alara Limited Tips
Madonia Minute: Some decklist with almost as much 1-ofs as an EDH deck.

==THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE==

Friday: FNM Booster Draft at Brothers Grim @ 7 PM
Saturday: Standard Constructed at FNC @ 1 PM
Sunday: Casual Day at Brothers Grim @ 2 PM

==POST-ROTATION STANDARD==
Author: Brian Paskoff

Fall brings a lot of changes; cooler weather, leaves changing color, and an all-new Standard format. Almost nine hundred cards have left the format, and we only get 226 new ones, so the Standard card pool is noticeably smaller. The first sets of new blocks often come with big shifts in the metagame, even though they may happen gradually. Without knowing what to expect at FNMs and the like, players often stick to the old pre-rotation archetypes, adding new cards to replace the ones that cycled out. Those players eventually find that either the new additions make the deck work just as good or better than it did before, or the old archetype proves too weak to survive in the new meta. Rogue decks pop up, and either don't last through testing or get tweaked into powerful new format-defining decks. Whatever you feel like playing, here's a few ideas to keep in mind.

1. Don't play a new card just because it's new. I often browse the Standard forums of websites like MTGSalvation.com to see what everyone's working on, and quite often there will be decklists using 90% new cards. Stuff in the new block is designed to have synergy with other stuff from the new block, but Wizards makes sure there's synergy between blocks as well. It's okay to get excited over new cards, but don't neglect Lorwyn/Shadowmoor block(s) because you're too busy looking at the new cards to remember there's alternatives.

2. Go rogue! Now's the perfect time to test new deck ideas, because everyone else is doing the same thing. I know I keep repeating myself, but every format-defining deck started out with someone testing it at an FNM and tinkering with it until it reached perfection.

3. Test, test, and retest. Play against your friends with your new decks in Magic Workstation, Apprentice, or the increasingly unpopular and outdated Real Life. Goldfish the deck by shuffling up and dealing yourself out hands, playing a few turns in to get a feel for the deck and how it can win under the most optimal conditions; this is probably the best way to test your manabase and make sure you're not getting land/color-screwed half the time.

Now on to the decks themselves. Here's a few decks I've noticed, either new or old with tune-ups.

Faeries: Faeries loses two very important things: Ancestral Visions, and Rune Snag. Visions was a free draw spell, and without Rune Snag, Faeries has no access to a good two-mana counterspell. Ponder and Broken Ambitions are the best replacements for these two cards, and they're not nearly as powerful. Faerie decks were already on the decline thanks to the popularity of Mono-Red and Kithkin, but the loss of two staple cards might just push the archetype into tier 2 status.

Red Deck Wins: Mono-Red loses a lot, but it also gains a lot. Blood Knight was the best answer to Kithkin, Magus of the Scroll and Keldon Megaliths provided reliable burn every turn, Skred cleared even huge creatures out of the way, Sulfurous Blast filled in for an instant-speed Wrath of God on most occasions, and Magus of the Moon single-handedly stopped five-color decks from running rampant. For replacements, it's hard to say. Stigma Lasher might make its way maindeck for lack of a better two-drop, Hell's Thunder fits nicely in Magus of the Moon's slot now that there isn't any hate for non-basic lands anymore (Fulminator Mage is just a Stone Rain if you're relying on it to break up Quick n' Toast's tempo, it doesn't have the lasting effect of Magus of the Moon), and Lash Out fills in for Skred in a pinch.

There are two cards people are on the fence about: Blightning and Magma Spray. Blightning requires you to splash for black, and although it's great early game, it's mediocre after a few turns where it'll either get countered by control decks or hits an empty handed aggro player. Magma Spray is great against RDW's worst enemy, Kitchen Finks, and stops Mulldrifters pre-Mannequin, but belongs in the sideboard if anywhere at all.

Kithkin: Kithkin loses nothing whatsoever from the maindeck, only missing the occasional Disenchant, Mana Tithe, Sunlance, and Ronom Unicorn from sideboards - and those are all easily replaced. Unlike other decks where whether replacement cards are good enough is a deciding factor, Kithkin will only lose popularity if the metagame shifts enough for swarm aggro decks to lose ground.

Tokens: I was so disappointed to think of this deck off the top of my head after building my Sek'kuar token-themed EDH deck, and then start talking to people and realize everyone thought of the same idea at the same time. Sprouting Thrinax just looks so good next to Nantuko Husk and Bitterblossom that it's hard to resist trying it out. Tokens is really much more Wrath-resilient than any other aggro deck, as nearly every spell puts more than one creature on the field. Goblin Assault seems like a good idea on paper, but in practice you can't really amass a large number of tokens with it, and the one extra mana cost than Bitterblossom really hurts it. And don't forget the power of Torrent of Souls, Furystoke Giant, and Seige-Gang Commander to really give a boost to your little guys. The only downside? Playing with Dragon Fodder makes me nostalgic for Mogg War Marshal.

Quick and Toast: With a new multicolored set out and the rotation of Magus of the Moon, Toast has little trouble reliably playing five colors. All five Charms are good cards to look at; especially Bant Charm, which is better than Putrefy in this deck, and everyone who's been playing for a while remembers how powerful that card was. Even though Toast is a control deck, it never relied too heavily on Rune Snag in the first place, so it won't mind continuing to use Broken Ambitions just like it did in Lorwyn/Shadowmoor Block Constructed.

Solar Flare: This is going to be an off-shoot of Quick and Toast, playing (at least at my first impressions) the same kind of Vivid lands + Reflecting Pools manabase. The difference is that instead of controlling the game with Cryptic Command while beating in with Mulldrifters and tokens from Oona while wiping the board with Firespout, Solar Flare relies on reanimating big creatures much easier than just casting them. Makeshift Mannequin'ing an Empyrial Archangel is going to be hard for a lot of decks to beat. Solar Flare was a big deck back when I first re-started playing, and I even made top 8 with it in my first tournament back to the game, so I'm glad to see it possibly make a resurgence. However there's a lot more graveyard hate now than there was two years ago, from the uncounterable Faerie Macabre to the pesky Relic of Progenitus, so Solar Flare players are going to have to figure out how to beat the hate if they want to make tier 1.

Stoic Angel Control: There's little to dislike about Stoic Angel in a format that's expected to include lots of swarm-based aggro decks like Tokens and Kithkin. Those decks just can't survive only being able to untap one creature per turn, so if Stoic Angel sticks, you're going to win the race. Super-exalted creatures like Battlegrace Angel and maybe even Rafiq of the Many himself can make your Stoic Angels even more dangerous, and of course Bant Charm, Wrath of God, Oblivion Ring, Cryptic Command, and Kitchen Finks are all in-color and balance out the rest of the deck.

There's more decks out there of course, but these are the ones I've heard the most buzz about. Saturday is the first post-rotation Standard event at FNC, and I can't wait to see what everyone brings!

==SHARDS OF ALARA LIMITED TIPS==
Author: Brian Paskoff

Now that the prereleases and releases are over, PTQ season is officially underway, and sealed's the format to learn. Because PTQs use decklists, you won't be able to change your deck between rounds; the best you'll be able to do if you realize you made a mistake deckbuilding is to hope your deck performs well enough during the first game of each match and then sideboard into the "correct" configuration after game one. But don't worry, I've got some tips to make sure you get it right the first time.

After watching players at the (pre)release events and testing numerous sealed games myself both in Real Life and on Magic Workstation, the most intriguing thing I've noticed is that Naya is by far the most popular shard in sealed. With many good creatures and spells at common in red/green/white, it's very easy to put together a consistent, balanced deck with enough removal and creatures to power your way through the tournament. Naya has the biggest creatures for the cheapest cost, and at all levels of rarity. It's got access to all the red removal spells from Jund, Oblivion Ring for those pesky planeswalkers, and of course green doesn't disappoint as the color with the best creatures. Exalted is the specialty of Bant, but frankly, there are only two good blue creatures with Exalted - both of them are GWU, and one of them's a mythic rare. Your Woolly Thoctar thundering into the red zone backed up by a pair of Court Archers can definitely cause your opponent to have to make some hard choices about which of their creatures they want to keep alive.

Naya's theme is big creatures and big effects for discount prices, a mainstay of limited, and requires no special cards to "build around". If every card is good, the deck will perform consistently every time. Now compare that to Esper, the WUB shard. Its theme is artifacts, but the only permanents that are guaranteed to be artifacts are the ones that are all three Esper colors. You could have white spells from Naya and Bant, and black spells from Jund and Grixis, and so on - none of which will match your artifact theme. The same goes for Bant (how many exalted or goes-good-with-exalted creatures are you going to open?), Grixis (unearth isn't something exactly build around), and to a slightly-lesser extent, Jund (devour sets you up nicely to be two-for-one'd or more and is therefore hard to count on). In draft, all shards are equal, because you can pick and choose which cards you get so you can build up the synergy. But in sealed, where you're limited to what you open, it can be much harder to focus on a shard's theme - but Naya has the tried and true premise of playing big creatures and attacking. While it is possible to have a great WUB deck that isn't based around artifacts, the best WUB decks will be the ones that rely on the synergy of Esper's artifacts.

This isn't to say other shards can be built as well - if you've got a Cruel Ultimatum combined with a pair of Kederekt Creepers, it may be time to look into Grixis, for instance. I saw and built more Naya decks than anything else, but I did see some very powerful Bant, Esper, Grixis, and Jund decks as well. Don't be afraid to build a non-Naya shard just because I said Naya was the easiest; quantity doesn't always equal quality!

I've been talking a lot about the shards, but as anyone who's played limited knows, there's always the temptation to splash for one more color than the set would seem to steer you towards. In most sets, you'd want to splash for a third color. In Shadowmoor/Eventide, the "mono-color" block, you'd want to splash for a second color. And in three-color Alara, you'll often be tempted to splash for a fourth color. Every mana fixer in the set is clearly based around a three-color shard, which makes it somewhat difficult to consistently get your fourth color. If you're playing Jund (BRG) and want to splash for a blue card, you'll want to pick up a Grixis tri-land, Panorama, or Obelisk. While those will let you get blue, black, or red, they don't give you green, one of your main colors. There's been tons of times I've seen players get mana-screwed, somehow getting access to two colors and their splash while never drawing their third main color.

So how do you figure out your lands? The usual way of counting the number of mana symbols in each color and then using those numbers to figure out the land ratio still works, but it's complicated when you have things like tri-lands and Panoramas. You won't always open a tri-land in your shard, but ones that tap for at least two of your colors should be an auto-include. Assuming that you have no tri-lands or Panoramas, most decks will probably use a 6-6-5 ratio (i.e. six Plains, six Islands, and five Swamps), or even 6-6-6 for all you fans of 23+18=41 limited decks and/or Iron Maiden.

There are sealed PTQs in every month for the rest of the year, although the one and only New York PTQ is two months away. Of course there are booster drafts every Friday at Brothers Grim, so come down and play!

==MADONIA MINUTE==
Author: John "Metagame" Madonia

Hello and welcome to the 10th edition of everyone favorite weekly article, The Madonia Minute.

I've decided this week to give Paskoff a week off from editing and make my points clear and concise.

Today I am going to allow my loyal readers into my testing quarters and show everyone my deck choice for this weekend and my choice for States which is a month away.

Cruel Madonia

Creatures

4x Mulldrifter
4x Kitchen Finks
1x Nuckalvee
2x Shrikemaw
1x Reveliark
1x Fulminator Mage
1x Unearth guy

4x Cryptic Command
2x Esper Charm
4x Bant Charm
1x Bitterblossom
1x Mannequin
2x Broken Amitions

2x Cruel ultimatum
2x Pyroclasm
1x Firespout
2x Wrath of God
1x Infest

1x Cascade Bluff
2x Sunken Ruins
2x Flooded Grove
2x Mystic Gate
4x Reflecting Pool
4x Vivid Creek
3x Vivid Grove
3x Vivid Meadow
2x Vivid Marsh
2x Island

Sideboard

3x Fulminator Mage
4x Thoughtseize
1x Wrath of God
1x Cruel Ultimatium
1x Oona's Grace
2x Broken Ambitions
3x Nameless Inversion

This is the deck I recommend for an open field. It punishes mediocre draws, and forces your opponent to be on the back foot in the mid-game, where your deck is geared to take.

Kithkins - Our plan is too stay alive in the early turns, we don't take any useless damage from our mana sources, so kithkins best start has us at 13 on turn 3. Our game from there has us on an early Pyroclasm, or firespout, to put them on the defensive. Your creatures are stronger than them in the late game and their answers to recurring threats aren't good. Your Charm takes care of any Wilt Leaf, or Glorious Anthem problems that can occur. Kithkins should be one of, if not the most popular deck at states since it loses nothing. Be able to have a commanding advantage against them is important. Kithkin is very focused on Firespout and can have the tendency to live and die on the back of it. A lot of lists I've seen floating around have 4 Burrenton Forge-Tenders in their first 60. We decided on a lone Infest for the troublesome one drop replacing a Firespout, which at 3 mana doesn't kill your problematic card when needed. Wrath of God also doesn't target so if its giving you fits you do have myriad ways around it and Nameless Inversions for game 2 and 3.

Faeries - Ancestral Visions, not Bitterblossom, was the most important card for Faeries. With Visions rotating, the deck becomes very control heavy, with more counterspells and various splashes. I've seen lists with Chameleon Collosus main deck and also Doran finding his way into the land of Fae. The streamlined variant is a lot more dependent on Bitterblossom. They need to have that early drop to make Mistbind Clique functional as well as Spellsutter Sprite a hard counter. I was testing primarily as the Faerie player and the games I was winning, I had early Bitterblossom pressure. I won 4 out of 11 pre-boarded games and each game I lost I was really far behind, even on a turn 3 bitterblossom, Esper Charm is too good against the Faerie player, hitting bitterblossom and also their hand, its also a far superior Counsel of the Soratami especially at instant speed. Mistbind Clique is still problematic, but over half or your cards are instants, so it does allow you to still float mana and utilize your hand.

I've seen other decks like Elves, Merfolk, combo decks with infinite returning of artifacts. Burn is still the bane for the 5-color deck. Your spells are fair (except Cruel Ultimatum) and they just continue to pepper you with burn spells. If burn continues to be prevalent then a possible Runed Halo sideboard would be worthwhile. The format is still wide open so its a tough call.

If anyone has Cruel Ultimatiums and would like to trade them that would fantastic as we own Zero.

I built this deck on the back of the typical 5-color variant. Effective mana, Cryptic Command, awesome spells. I didn't want to make 'another' 5 color deck. I wanted some similarities, but a devastating finisher at the end.

Quick note about Sealed and Drafting. I smashed Paskoff in three consecutive sealed battles and I've noticed that RGW (Naya) is easily the best combination if your pool is eh. I think I had GW in every pool I've built. The exalted mechanic is amazing, I think its the best limited mechanic in a long time. It forces so many mis-blocks and math errors. I think the set for limited purposes is awesome. Id draft it anytime anyone's up for it. Constructed not so much as it took me 50 or so hours of over 125 decklists to come up with something to print this week. Obviously I have a lot of free time and with my commitments to playing magic more or less over, I want to help everyone improve, if it means winning an FNC event or preparing for a PTQ or beyond, let me know if I can help. Ill sit down with anyone that needs help with testing, deck building, confidence, whatever it is I can probably help. Don't think its weird to ask for help, I know its only a card game but when you put time into something you should want to do the best you can. Maybe you're out there reading this and saying, wow he's got an ego, or he isn't that good...etc. People are of course entitled to their opinions and that's what great (the only thing at the moment) about our country. I'm doing what most people won't do, trying to help others get better at something I'm relatively decent at. Besides Gerry Thompson and his group, I probably produce the strongest tournament level decks format after format. In the past year I've produced Doran Zur, Pickles with Black, Teferi/Doran Control and now Cruel Madonia. I also helped produce fringe decks like Goats that could have won the PTQ with more testing and a stronger player (no offense to Dylan, he didn't have enough games with the deck.)
I know my article isn't supposed to be about how great I am, because I'm not great. I just know peoples reaction to when someone is willing to help them improve they get defensive and place themselves in denial.

Girl tip of the week, not brought to you by Evans:

Always attempt to use Magic terminology when speaking to a young lady. It makes you sound smart and worldly.

Social Gathering tip of the week, not brought to you by Paskoff.
To help socially awkward guys, (Paskoff this one is for you buddy) don't invite your date to a place that smells like fish, its not a good omen for the rest of the night.

Songs listened to while writing this masterpiece

Fall Out Boy - Dead on Arrival
Fall Out Boy - Grand Theft Autumn - Where is your Boy
Brand New- Jude Law and a Semester Abroad
The Entire Forever the Sickest Kids Album, if you haven't heard them, definetly recommended.

Thanks for reading,

John Madonia

==RULES CORNER==
Author: Brian Paskoff

Q. If Magma Spray a Makeshift Mannequined Mulldrifter, will it get removed from the game?
A. Don't mull over this much longer - the trigger set up by Makeshift Mannequin will go off when Mulldrifter becomes the target of Magma Spray, jumping to the top of the stack and resolving before Magma Spray ever sets up its replacement effect. Mulldrifter will go back into the graveyard, and then Magma Spray will be countered due to lack of a proper target.

Q. I play Soul's Fire, making my Woolly Thoctar deal damage to my opponent's Doran. In response he Terrors my Thoctar. When Soul's Fire resolves, will it use last known information to deal damage equal to Woolly Thoctar's last known power?
A. When Soul's Fire tries to resolve, it'll find that one of its targets (the creature that would deal the damage) isn't in play anymore and therefore isn't a legal target. One target is still legal, so Soul's Fire isn't countered... but there's nothing there to do damage anymore and Doran will keep his place as kind of the 5-power (well, technically) three-drops.

Q. How does Soul's Fire work with Doran, anyway?
A. Not very well. Doran might deal five damage most of the time, but that's because his ability lets him swing his butt around in combat. That might not be the best metaphor, but to put it simply, Doran's power is zero and that's all Soul's Fire cares about.

Q. Sarkhan Vol's in danger from a rampaging, uh... Homunculus token! Can I flash in a Qasali Ambusher to protect him?
A. If Sarkhan Vol is the only one being attacked, your Ambusher will stay lying in wait in your hand. Qasali Ambusher's ability says it only works if creatures are attacking you. However, if your opponent is sending at least one creature your way while attacking Sarkhan Vol with others, you can flash in your blocker. Once it's in play, it doesn't need to protect you, it can also run to Sarkhan's aid to protect him as well. Or you can choose to make it not block at all, which defeats the flavor, but not the function of the card.

Q. A Hissing Iguanar, a Saproling token, and a Cylian Elf all die to an Infest. Will the Iguanar get to do two damage to my opponent?
A. Hissing Iguanar has a leaves-play ability, specifically one that says to the graveyard from play, so it gets to look back in time to see what else left play at the same time. Its triggered ability will see two other creatures being put into the graveyard from play, so you'll get two triggers.

==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 - 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:

10/11 - Edison, NJ
10/26 - Rochester, NY
11/22 - Philadelphia, PA
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
3 Grant Avenue, Suite 2
Islip, NY 11751
Phone: 631-470-7984

==FIN==

See everyone this weekend!

Got forwarded Islandhome and want to sign up? Send an email to IslandhomeMTG@gmail.com!

-Brian Paskoff
L1 NY

Islandhome #31

==ISLANDHOME #31==

October 1st 2008

==IN THIS ISSUE...==

Shards of Alara Prerelease Recap
Shards of Alara Theme Tournament
EDH Review: Five brand new generals and new cards to consider for EDH!
Madonia Minute: In which Madonia rants about prerelease prizes and some Shards deck ideas. Also a tournament of some sort.

==THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE==

Friday: Shards of Alara FNM Booster Draft at Brothers Grim @ 7 PM
Saturday: Shards of Alara Launch Party at FNC @ 1 PM
Sunday: Shards of Alara Launch Party at Brothers Grim @ 2 PM

This week is the first Shards of Alara booster draft, as Shards comes out and becomes legal on Friday.

==SHARDS OF ALARA PRERELEASE RECAP==
Author: Brian Paskoff

Well the prerelease is over, and players have had their first taste of Shards of Alara limited. The amount of three and four color decks were staggering, as players embraced the multicolor theme and enjoyed being able to play nearly every card they opened. Mythic rares were the stars of the show, and since they have about a one-in-eight chance of showing up in place of a regular rare and there are six rares in every sealed pool, most players cracked at least one. Cruel Ultimatum was definitely the card players wanted to open, and anyone who did was on it like white on rice, stretching their mana-bases to play it if they needed to. It's that game-breaking.

I have to address something here that was a big issue at the prerelease, and that's the prize structure. Wizards recently took over the prerelease structure, giving them complete control over everything: prize payout, entry fees, and format. Gray Matter was not allowed to hold their usual bonus flights at discount rates; instead, players needed to pay full price for another full four-round flight. We were also not allowed to host any drafts. We've never held a booster draft at a Long Island prerelease even though they were offered every time, but the Gray Matter events in the city often had multiple drafts going. Most importantly, our prize payout was changed, almost cut in half by Wizards. Many players were disappointed in going 4-0 and only getting eight packs, and many more dropped out after their first loss, knowing they could win two packs maximum. Unfortunately all these things were beyond our control, and hopefully Wizards hears the disappointment from players in time for Conflux's prerelease.

One other thing that was changed was the lack of a participation pack given out to players who didn't have a good enough record to win any prizes. We couldn't give these out anymore, but most players didn't realize that they did get the extra pack after all - instead of a tournament pack and two boosters like previous big set prereleases, players got a tournament pack and three boosters. So you did get a participation pack - you just got to play with it! Still, I realize that getting the pack upfront as part of your sealed pool doesn't carry the same feeling as getting one at the end that you can sit down with and open on your own.

I hope everyone had a good time at the prerelease despite the prizes. Gray Matter's plans for Conflux are unsure as of this time, but we'll see what's going on as we get closer.

==SHARDS OF ALARA THEME TOURNAMENT==
Author: Brian Paskoff

Wizards is trying out a new experimental format for Shards of Alara's release events: the "theme tournament". The theme of Shards of Alara are, well... the shards of Alara, and the theme tournament is based around those shards. At our release events this weekend, you'll get your usual sealed deck product, but things will be a little different from there on. Once you open your packs and sort your cards out, you'll need to pick one of the five shards and build your deck using exclusively those colors, sort of like EDH. Unlike EDH, the only mana symbols that matter are the ones in the mana cost of the card itself; mana symbols anywhere else on the card are fine, but won't serve much purpose as you can't add out-of-shard mana to your mana pool - you just get colorless mana instead.

Here's a quick look at the rules:

• You only pick a shard when you're constructing your deck. You don't need to pick one before you open your product. You also don't need to tell your opponent which one you're playing, though they'll probably guess.
• The colors in mana costs of cards in your deck can't contain colors outside of your shard. For example, if you're in Bant, which is GWU, you can't play Ajani Vengeant, because he has a red mana symbol in his mana cost.
• Mana symbols anywhere else on the card don't matter. You can play Bant Battlemage in your Naya deck, even though there's a blue mana symbol in its activation cost.
• If anything would add mana of a color not in your shard to your mana pool, it adds colorless mana instead. You can have Forests in your Grixis deck if you want, but they'll tap for 1 instead of G. (This also makes it impossible to actually use Bant Battlemage's blue ability in the example above.)
• You can change your deck between rounds (and between games) just like any other limited event that doesn't use decklists. However, you'll need to either stay in your shard or switch to a new shard altogether.
• Not following the shard rule in a theme tournament is, unfortunately, a game loss. Just like playing Akroma in your Standard deck is illegal (as of this Friday), so is playing a blue card in your Jund deck. But don't worry, it's very easy to stay within a single shard!

Of course there are alternatives (possibly) if everyone doesn't want to do the theme tournament thing. I'll be trying to run other sealed deck events (same price, prizes, and Ajani Vengeant promos, just without the theme tournament deck construction rules), booster drafts, etc. those days as well!

FNC's release event starts at 1 PM on Saturday, and Grim's starts at 2 PM on Sunday. Whether you come to one or both, have a good time and good luck!

==EDH REVIEW==
Author: Brian Paskoff

Every time a new set comes out, the thing I look forward to the most is finding out what new EDH generals there are. As you can imagine, Eventide was disappointing in that regard, but once Shards of Alara's tri-color theme was revealed, the set was all but guaranteed to have a cycle of juicy three-color legends with abilities based on the shards they came from. We haven't had an opportunity like this since the Planar Chaos dragons, so it's time once again to sharpen your deckbuilding skills on five brand new generals.

Kresh the Bloodbraided - Good BRG legends are hard to find, and the best before now was Sek'Kuar, Deathkeeper. Both legends have the potential to be based around saccing your own guys and benefiting from them going to the yard. Kresh gets huge, and Sek'Kuar makes more guys to sacrifice. There's one important difference though, and that's that Kresh will get bonuses even if a creature is put into anyone else's yard. If you're planning to win on general damage, Kresh is the way to go, but for utility, there are better BRG generals.

Mayael the Anima - There are definitely lots of bomby creatures in EDH that have 5+ power, and Mayael can easily get them into play. Even though she's only three mana, powering her fragile 3-toughness body out as early as possible isn't the best idea. The best plan is to get her in play and ready to activate on your next turn, or even the same turn with something that gives her haste. Six mana is a lot for her activated ability, as most 5+ power fatties in EDH are going to cost you six to eight mana in the first place, but ripping those big creatures from your library into play without worrying about a Cryptic Command, Desertion, or Hinder ruining your plans is worth the investment.

Rafiq of the Many - Rafiq is the most dangerous aggro general in Shards, able to come out on turn three with the right acceleration and easily able to win the game on general damage alone if he comes out early and bashes every turn. Combine him with things like Umezawa's Jitte, a Sword of Something and Something Else, or a Loxodon Warhammer and he can be a huge problem. And being in blue means you can have the countermagic needed to keep him alive from pesky removal spells. Even if he's not the one doing the swinging, creatures like Exalted Angel and Battlegrace Angel (the angel with exalted) or creatures with better evasion abilities than Rafiq himself can do some hefty damage.

Sedris, the Traitor King - Poor Sedris is in the wrong colors. If he was white, you could work out some amazing things with unearth and blink effects. My excitement when I thought about cards like Reality Ripple were short-lived when I realized that phasing not only doesn't get around the remove-me-forever trigger of unearth, but won't let the creatures' comes-into-play abilities go off. You can use things like Voyager Staff if you want to abuse unearth, but your options are limited. This all isn't to say Sedris is a bad general, far from it! UBR are powerful colors, and Sol'kanar has been an EDH favorite for years. If you want your big creatures with splashy comes-into-play abilities to go out with a bang, Sedris is a great general.

Sharuum the Hegemon - Sharuum has an unassumingly powerful ability. The ability to resurrect a single artifact when she comes in, even if it is just a one-shot deal, is very strong. Creature reanimator decks are very popular in EDH, and now thanks to this mythic sphinx, decks based around artifact reanimation are possible as well. Plus she's positioned just right on the color wheel for blink effects, letting you abuse her comes-into-play ability to get back more and more artifacts. Sadly, black's contribution to an artifact-based deck are fairly limited, as black is historically the color that has the least to do with artifacts. Only Beacon of Unrest comes to mind, actually. Since she is an artifact creature, she's especially fragile, but she is a 5/5 flier that can beat in and win the game on general damage if conditions are right.

Of course, legends aren't the only thing a set brings to EDH, there are individual cards as well. Next time I'll review some of the more EDH-worthy additions ALA brings to the format, but until then, feel free to look yourselves!

==MADONIA MINUTE==
Author: John "Metagame" Madonia

The following is composed with hatred in my heart and my blood boiling over.

I'm honestly thinking that Wizards is trying their hardest to turn their customers against them. First they cancel states (which has subsequently, thanks to a core group of premier tourney organizers, got states back on the schedule) which for many people is the pinnacle event of the year. Who doesn't want to compete for the title of State Champion? It also has a casual/competitive feel, which gears towards the new player and the group that enjoys playing homebrew decks. States is the best time of year for the non-Pro Tour player, which this 'grassroot' campaign was supposedly geared towards. I'm glad tournament organizers across our great nation decided to bring back the event, which is all profit and limited overhead, which you think Wizards would like.

Saturday September 27th. My day begins and my clock says 6:55, so it looks like I can stop for some heart attack on a roll and get to Dan's house to begin the activities. Of course, as with every magical endeavor, a cataclysmic event happens, Steve Kelly's car decided to break asunder and not start. After attempting to jump start his car to no avail we began our trek to the event. We arrived at around 7:44 am to a heroes like welcome. There was also a beauty pageant next door with girls way too young to be wearing that little clothing. I was in my element as I am a fan of girls, unlike the majority of my surrounding peers, but I knew I had to become a champion in what would be my last prerelease for many moons.

I decide to fork over 30 dollars, even though we are in a great depression, to duel against 31 other combatants. After signing up I just decided to look at the wall because I thought I saw a spider, but it was just the prize structure. If I 4-0 the event I get a whopping EIGHT packs. If I lose one round I'm playing for two packs. Round 1 I get paired against Dan Gould! I opened quite possibly the worst pool in creation, I showed other players my cards, and the expressions were the same as mine: disdain. It seems like it's a recurring nightmare when I sealed. I was defeated soundly by Dan and decided at that time to have fun. I played my entire pool. My deck was 190 cards and my round 2 opponent who was twelve also beat me 2-1 and I found myself lost but seeking a first win. I ended up winning the last two rounds with my original build and more or less finished with Magic for the day.

I was honestly surprised how little people were there, usually with a new set a big crowd shows for the events. The dealer table said that he didn't get anywhere near even 150 unique visitors to the tables. He usually has between 250-300 people at a normal prerelease and even though he did well for the day as far as sales, he saw a stark difference in player quantity.

Wizards has to stop alienating their players. How do you charge the same fee but drastically cut the prize support? The biggest thing I saw was people were truly upset about no participation prize. Most people play the events to have fun, and not to win. That pack at the end was always something to look forward to. Wizards doesn't like the big tournament organizers, the ones that don't have a storefront or sell their product day in and day out. Prereleases are meant to be held in large venues, not in 15'x30' card shops. I always like seeing people I normally don't see at these events. FNC is good for a Saturday event, but having a prerelease there with the same 25 people doesn't do anything for me.

Wizards officially will not get another dollar from me either. I got a ton of feedback from people about my decision to step away from the game. After the way everyone was treated this past week, I'm definitely confident that my decision was correct.

I'd like to announce with the permission of FNC my final event.

The Last Word
My last ever Magic tournament
Friday November 28th 2008 12pm
Saturday November 29th 2008 12pm

I will, of course, be playing in both events. Friday will be a sanctioned booster draft or sealed. Prize support will be determined before the event. The top four players from the event will qualify for the top 8 which will take place on Saturday evening.

Saturday will be a Standard event. The top 8 players from that event will make the Saturday final.

Top 8 players will then play for a to be determined cash first prize. Once I talk to the Palms, I'm sure it will be worth everyone's while to show up and play. No fee will be charged to the top 8 players. It will be a single elimination format, winner takes all.

I hope everyone can join me for even one of the two tournaments, I'm sure FNC will have great sales that day and hopefully we can make a great weekend over it, this event will also coincide with their 2nd anniversary.

I'll leave everyone with some Shards-centric decklists.

Doran Faeries

3x Doran
4x Mistbind Clique
4x Spellsutter Sprite
4x Scion of Oona
4x Cryptic Command
4x Bitterblossom
2x Punish Ignorance
3x Nameless Inversion
3x Esper Charm
2x Firespout
3x Broken Ambitions or Thoughtseize
3x Mutavault
4x Reflecting Pool
4x Secluded Glen
3x Twilight Mire
3x Vivid Creek
3x Vivid Marsh
1x Vivid Crag
1x Crumbling Necropolis
1x Wanderwine Hub
1x Island
1x Swamp
1x Underground River

SIDEBOARD:

4x Sower of Temptation
3x Broken Ambitions or Thoughtseize
4x Bottle Gnomes
2x Firespout
2x Infest

Stoic Day

4x Mulldrifter
4x Kitchen Finks
4x Stoic Angel
3x Battlegrace Angel
1x Twilight Shepherd

4x Cryptic Command
4x Bant Charm
4x Wrath of God
4x Condemn
3x Oblivion Ring
2x Scourglass

Land-base incomplete

Solar Flaring

3x Mulldrifter
3x Kitchen Finks
2x Shriekmaw
3x Reveillark
1x Oona, Queen of the Fae
1x Sphinx Sovereign
1x Sedris, the Traitor King
3x Merfolk Looter
3x Makeshift Mannequin
3x Bitterblossom
3x Esper Charm
3x Cryptic Command
3x Wrath of God
3x Thoughtseize

Land-base incomplete

Kithkin

4x Goldmeadow Stalwart
4x Figure of Destiny
4x Knight of Meadowgrain
3x Knight of the White Orchid
4x Spectral Procession
1x Ranger of Eos
3x Cloudgoat Ranger
4x Wizened Cenn
2x Wilt-Leaf Liege
3x Oblivion Ring
3x Unmake
3x Mutavault
4x Windbrisk Heights
4x Rustic Clachan
13x Plains

Burn

4x Mogg Fanatic
4x Figure of Destiny
4x Hell's Thunder
4x Demigod of Revenge
4x Boggart Ram-Gang
4x Incinerate
4x Flame Javelin
4x Tarfire/Shock
4x Lash Out
2x Unwilling Recruit
19x Mountains
3x Ghitu Encampment

These aren't finely tuned decks except the Stoic list and the Doran Faerie list. They're soft scale decks to test with and see what unfolds.

Thanks for reading,

John Madonia

==RULES CORNER==
Author: Brian Paskoff

Q. If I have a Lich's Mirror, can I concede the game to set it off?
A. I got this question a lot after the card was first rumored, but I didn't want to answer it until I was sure. Luckily, the comprehensive rules' wording regarding conceding the game are being changed to solve this little issue. When you concede a game, first you leave the game, and then you lose the game. Since you left the game, Lich's Mirror wasn't under your control when you lost, and its effect won't happen.

Q. I lost the game, but I had a Lich's Mirror out! Once I restart, can I mulligan my new hand of seven cards?
A. While you're at 20 life, have a (possibly) fully stocked library, and seven cards in you're hand, you're not actually restarting the game. You're stuck with whatever those seven cards are, and if it's a bad hand you're going to die again very quickly.

Q. Can I cycle a Resounding Roar even without a creature in play to give +6/+6 to?
A. With no one around, you can roar as loud as you like... your opponent might give you a funny look though. You can cycle Resounding Roar without a target, because the cycling ability itself doesn't require a target. Its triggered ability won't go on the stack because there's nothing to target, but you'll still be drawing a card.

Q. With Dragon's Herald, can I sacrifice a Sprouting Thrinax to go get a Hellkite Overlord?
A. No, you need to sacrifice three creatures - a green creature, a red creature, and a black creature. I'm not sure why it takes three creatures to find a big, angry dragon, but it does. You can sacrifice the Dragon's Herald as part of the cost, since he's red and his ability doesn't require him to also be sacrificed. That way, you only need two other creatures. I kept trying to think of a joke starting with "So a green creature, a red creature, and a black creature walk into a bar...." but I don't want a mass un-subscription of Islandhome....

Q. I have an Empyrial Archangel out and my opponent attacks with a Kederekt Creeper that I don't block. When the damage is redirected to the Archangel, does it die from deathtouch?
A. It will. Redirected damage is still coming from the same source, so Kederekt Creeper is just taking the long-route to get to the Archangel. It'll try to deal two damage to you, but that damage will just be redirected to Empyrial Archangel and deathtouch will trigger. It's important to note that deathtouch doesn't care if the Archangel has shroud, because the combat damage trigger doesn't actually target anything.

==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 (Saturday): Shards of Alara release event at FNC
More details soon!

October 5th (Sunday): Shards of Alara release event at Brothers Grim
More details soon!

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!

PTQs in our area this season:

10/11 - Edison, NJ
10/26 - Rochester, NY
11/22 - Philadelphia, PA
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
3 Grant Avenue, Suite 2
Islip, NY 11751
Phone: 631-470-7984

==FIN==

See everyone this weekend!

Got forwarded Islandhome and want to sign up? Send an email to IslandhomeMTG@gmail.com!

-Brian Paskoff
L1 NY

Islandhome #30

==ISLANDHOME #30==

September 24th 2008

==IN THIS ISSUE...==

Shards of Alara Prerelease
Madonia Minute

==THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE==

Saturday: Shards of Alara Prerelease
Sunday: Chaos Draft/Cube Draft at Brothers Grim @ 2 PM

==SHARDS OF ALARA PRERELEASE==
Author: Brian Paskoff

This Saturday, Gray Matter is holding their usual prerelease at a different location, the Sheraton hotel in Hauppauge right on Motor Parkway. Unlike in-store prereleases, you'll be able to play in multiple flights as well as 3-man team events, and get to play against players you haven't met before.

As with every Long Island prerelease, the format is sealed deck - you'll get a tournament pack and three boosters of all Shards of Alara product to build a minimum of a 40 card deck. Since there's no decklists used, you'll be allowed to change your deck between rounds, which is perfect for experimenting with new cards. If you've played in more than one set's sealed format before, you know that each set has its own unique strategy for deck construction. Shards is no different, well, except for being different from all the other sealed formats before it; in that case, it's the same. ...Right, moving on.

Shards of Alara focuses on three distinct "Shards", represented by three colors in a row on the big color wheel (look at the back of a Magic card to see what I'm talking about). Each Shard feels like a mini-block with its own unique themes, and sometimes keywords. There are also many three-color cards, which makes constructing stable manabases somewhat difficult, more on that later. You may have heard of the "build within a Shard" rules for deck construction, but rest assured that is only for the Release Event, not Prereleases. Even with that restriction off the table, you're more than likely going to want to stay within a Shard's colors for two reasons: One, the number of tri-colored cards makes it hard to splash for a fourth color or play three colors that aren't in a Shard, and two, every mana fixer in the set fixes mana only within a Shard's colors. There's the comes-into-play-tapped "tri-lands", the tri-fetch-lands, and the three mana Obelisks that tap for any one of a Shard's colors.

Luckily, all of the lands in the set are either common or uncommon. There are no rare lands in Shards, which means it's easier to pull a mana-fixer in your three colors. In Shards of Alara limited, it's going to be very important to get all three colors down as early as possible. Since there's only one two-drop in the set that costs two mana of a single color (Knight of the White Orchid, which costs WW), you want to be able to produce three colors by turn three. If you're playing Esper, and you're lighter on black than the other colors, your mana base might look something like six Plains, six Islands, and five Swamps, with non-basic lands replacing some of those if you have them. Of course, you can play a Grixis tri-land in your deck - it does tap for two of the colors you'll need.

Limited is a creature-based format. Most of your victories will be earned in the red zone, so focus on getting about fifteen to eighteen creatures into your deck. The rest of your spells should focus on removal, combat tricks, and utility stuff like mana fixers or big splashy effects like a Wrath. Narrowly useful spells like artifact/enchantment removal you might want to avoid putting into your maindeck and instead sideboard them in when you need to.

Whatever you build, I hope to see everyone there on Saturday! Don't forget, everyone (while supplies last) gets a free Ajani Vengeant promo just for signing up to any event!

==MADONIA MINUTE==
Author: John "Metagame" Madonia

My article will contain limited Magic content this week. Today I have a lot to say.

I personally don't like anything about Shards so I'll keep my opinions, though aplenty, to myself for once.

In the past few months I've found myself slowly distancing myself from Magic. I took up a bowling league on Friday's which also happens to be everyone's favorite Friday-to-do FNM. That particular tournament is geared toward the casual player, with cool promos and limited risk involved. I used to enjoy drafting with friends but as the time has progressed I've become complacent and bored of the same format and the same people. I've also noticed on Saturdays that the sole reason I attend the tournament is to see my friends and not engage in any Magic activities. I've gotten to the point where I think I've accomplished everything I need to accomplish as far as Magic goes. I've qualified for three Pro Tours, been the highest rated player in New York State, and met countless people that have shaped who I am today. Most people know my "remand" story where, although I may make light of it, I was placed under arrest and put in jail for a night. You might think "it was only a night" but the ramifications of my actions could have cost me a lot more then a night in jail.

My parents have always supported anything I've done. I'll be straight forward I was a complete loser two years ago. I was 10,000 dollars in debt had no insurance or license and lost my girlfriend of three years because why should she lower herself to someone like me. To see the look of shame and disappointment on my parents faces really took a lot out of me. I never wanted to see that look ever again, I lost their trust, their respect, and their believe in me.

I told myself that everything I do, I need to do it to the fullest. I toiled around at jobs and have finally settled into a wonderful job making a good salary with a full benefit package. Two years ago I had no idea about a 401k now I have 4,000 put away for my retirement. I also have money in the bank and bought a 30,000 dollar car with full knowledge that any slip up and I'm back to square one. I felt that I needed something real and this would show me responsibility and the wherewithal to get my life back on track.

Fast forward to Saturday. I finally realized I've turned full circle and I am a completely different person than I was before. I'm disappointed that Innace thinks that we (Paskoff and I) manipulate tournament results to get my rating up. For the most part, I earned a lot of those points, some people gave me wins since they knew I was trying to qualify for the pro tour and it wasn't a necessity to hinder my quest. Did people give me wins, yes, did I earn a lot of those wins, yes. I played just this last week and played every match and won each match with a well above 2000 rating. Furthermore if Paskoff had the ability to manipulate ratings everyone would be a 2000 methinks.

This article isn't about my rating, because honestly its not important to me anymore, I just never want to be viewed as the old John Madonia. Mike feels that he gets slighted at FNC because I have some vendetta against him. As far as a personal vendetta, I don't have anything against him or Grippa. I don't enjoy when Grippa attempts to talk to me like I'm an idiot, because also like him, I am a college graduate, and I'm more worldly and intelligent than people think. Have I been a little overbearing on Innace, I very well could have been, but don't bring other people into the fracas that have nothing to do with the situation. Dan Gould is one of my good friends as everyone knows. He made a judgment call where Innace attempted to counter a Demigod but didn't let the trigger resolve. Dan, stating he was playing to win the game, said that it comes back because of a layering effect that allows Demigod to hit the yard and then trigger the effect. Innace was noticeably disappointed and upset that the situation happened and how Dan handled it. I full understood his frustration that he felt he was being slighted by Dan, but to then to lump him into our personal affairs was uncalled for. Dan wasn't trying to do anything to 'help madonia' he was following a trigger rule that is correct in the rules of the game, was it friendly, maybe not, but he, not myself was playing the game.

I finally realized after an awkward hour or so that I'm getting to old for the high school drama. I'm to the point at 24 where I need to start looking for apartments, a stable relationship,and my future. Magic is become a part of my past and i realized that Saturday. Moving towards the present and future I'm not sure if the game holds the same importance in my life especially when peoples enjoyment of the game is being tainted by inane drama. I want everyone to play at FNC, I don't want the tournament to be about Innace and I, or Grippa and Paskoff, people go there to have a good time and I apologize if I ruined that for anyone, including Innace.

I've enjoyed Magic for over 10 years and will always hold great memories for me. I've decided that Shards of Alara will be my last set and I will wind down playing by the turn of the year. I know it won't be easy to just stop playing, im sure it will be a tough process, but I know this is the time I need to do it.

I will be at the prerelease playing in the tournament and the three man team event. I will not be at FNC's Shards event, I'll start slowly not showing up at FNC every week til the point where I won't be in the fray anymore.

I'd personally like to thank everyone for reading,

Good luck,

John Madonia

==RULES CORNER==
Author: Brian Paskoff

Q. I play a Demigod of Revenge, with no others in my graveyard. My opponent jumps in and plays Cancel, and counters the Demigod without saying anything else. What happens to the Demigod?
A. A big part of Magic is communication, and the [O]fficial stance on Demigod of Revenge is that its triggered ability is supposed to be a skill-tester for control players. When you play Demigod of Revenge, the spell goes onto the stack, you pay its costs, and then the triggered ability goes on the stack above it. This all basically happens at once; there's no "before the trigger goes on the stack" moment where players can do anything. Then your opponent plays Cancel, and the stack looks like this, from bottom to top: Demigod, Demigod trigger, Cancel. The last thing to be added to the stack is Cancel, so that resolves first, and Demigod is countered and put into the graveyard. Now the only thing left on the stack is the Demigod trigger, and when that resolves, the Demigod they just countered comes back from the yard. Ouch!

The only way to stop the Demigod from coming back into play is letting the triggered ability resolve, and for that to happen, a player has to actually demonstrate that they're doing that. The best way of course is to say "Okay, trigger resolves, then I counter the original." If there's any Demigods in the yard, they'll come back in, but the one just played will stay in the yard.

Q. Why doesn't the player playing Demigod need to announce that the trigger is being put onto the stack?
A. Triggers aren't really "announced", they just happen. Demigod's trigger is somewhat unique in that it doesn't have any kind of physical hint that it's on the stack. For example, a player might grab their pen if there's a trigger on the stack that'll change their life total, or reach over to remove a counter from a suspended card, or go into their deckbox for a Faerie token off Bitterblossom. Demigod's trigger doesn't have any in-game requirements either, like picking a target. Sower of Temptation's trigger isn't "announced", but picking a target is a clear indication that it's on the stack. It might be nice if your opponent told you Demigod's triggered ability is on the stack, but he's not required to.

Q. Does Ethersworn Canonist's ablity only work the turn it comes into play? It says "this turn", not "every turn".
A. What turn is it? This turn! When a static ability says "this turn", it really does mean "this turn", i.e. the turn you're reading the ability. It's like saying "right now". Other examples of this kind of wording include Goblin Cohort, which can definitely attack every turn that you've played a creature spell and not just the turn it came into play (if it had haste).

Q. I have a Recumbent Bliss on my opponent's Diety of Scars, and he also has a Scuttlemutt. If I play a Glamer Spinners, do I have to move the Aura from the Deity to Scuttlemutt?
A. The Recumbent Bliss can stay right where it is, as long as you don't target the Diety of Scars. Glamer Spinners' ability only requires a creature to be targeted, so targeting something that doesn't even have any Auras on it is fine.

Q. Do tokens go to the graveyard?
A. Yes, but they're not there long. State-based effects will cause them to cease to exist if they're in the graveyard, or any other zone besides in-play.

==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==

September 27th: Shards of Alara prerelease
Gray Matter is hosting the Shards of Alara prerelease at the Sheraton hotel in Hauppauge, which will have dealers, team events, and multiple flights you won't find at in-store release events. Click here for details and directions!

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! The PTQ schedule should be released within the next few weeks.

October 4th (Saturday): Shards of Alara release event at FNC
More details soon!

October 5th (Sunday): Shards of Alara release event at Brothers Grim
More details soon!

==STORE LOCATIONS & CONTACT INFO==

Brothers Grim
1244 Middle Country Rd.
Selden, NY 11784
Phone: 631-698-2805
Website: www.brgim.com

Friendly Neighborhood Comics
3 Grant Avenue, Suite 2
Islip, NY 11751
Phone: 631-470-7984

==FIN==

See everyone this weekend!

Got forwarded Islandhome and want to sign up? Send an email to IslandhomeMTG@gmail.com!

-Brian Paskoff
L1 NY