the3rdH0kage

Did you get to check out my feature match video?

Chamber of Aspects. Is Mal'Ganis a PvP realm?

Should I play a Warlock or a Rogue? But please don't say "whichever you prefer" or stuff along those lines. I need something to play.

Very nice. I have a Level 22 and nothing else. But I intend to start a new character. What realm are you again?

Sounds cool. I need to level a character past level 24 first though. How're yours going?

Hello, what's up? Turns up you're on my friends list, so yeah. Should probably delete half that list for people I don't talk to any more.

I played Jund Monsters against Jared Boettcher's B/u Devotion. Crushed him 2-0. He went on to win the whole open though. But I was his only loss all night. He was also named the pro tour rookie io the year.

And he fell to my power!

I got to be on the SCG feature math during round 4 of the open here in Syracuse.

Neat.

I'm not sure what the normal turnout is. It was my first time there, but that's apparently pretty usual for the place. Syracuse is apparently an eternal-format area, so Modern and Legacy are pretty big here.

Yeah. There were only 14 players or so for Standard, but probably over 20 for Modern. It was totally the reverse of anything that I'm otherwise used to.

That sucks. The store here does Standard, Modern, and Draft. I decided to go with Standard instead of Modern, even though I didn't own a single m15 card. Went with Jund Monsters, obvi, and crushed it. 2-0 against R1 MonoGreen Aggro. 2-0 against R2 B/W Devotion. 2-1 against Esper Control (my own deck that I lent my friend). And then 2-0 against a Bant Flash deck. Got the promo Garruk's Wake and Magma Spray. And then got 12 packs. Opened lots of junk but got 2 Caves of Koilos, a Soul of New Phyrexia, and an Ajani Steadfast. Not bad for $5.

I went 4-0 at last night's FNM. Felt good.

Modern is basically as it always is. There's maybe one or two cards per set that see play in modern. The last ones were Brimaz and Courser. I guess the UR temple sees SOME play too. Once you get the cards, you can keep playing the same deck in modern, sorta.

Standard is in a weird spot right now where if you don't have a competitive deck, you don't really want to buy into one (because 4 sets are rotating in a few months). What I've done, actually, is begin to sell off my RTR block and M14 stuff while buying into Theros stuff on the cheap. Stuff like the temples. And Ashiok, Xenagos, etc.

Yeah. I've been playing modern every day at lunch against a coworker. He has UR twin and I played with UWR midrange and Naya zoo. But I've taken both apart to build a Jund deck that I really really like.

Lots of fun. They're good good people. I spend all day looking at cards instead of whatever else I might have gotten a job doing.

Probably not. Some of my work colleagues from TCGplayer are talking about heading to one of the local shops for a prerelease, but between my mother coming up to visit for the weekend (to help with stuff around the new house) and the need to get stuff set around the house, I might not have time.

I'm doing the SCG event here in Syracuse in August. It should be fun.

Also, wow. New Garruk is crazy. I'm doubting that he sees lots of play at 7 mana, but he seems really cool regardless.

Hey there! How has your wizarding been going?

I'm super-excited for M15. I'm WAY more excited for this core set than I've been for almost any other one. Soul of New Phyrexia, Theros, and Shandalar seem awesome. Ajani the Steadfast seems cool enough (though I think I like Mentor of Heroes better). We get to keep Chandra, Pyromaster (always a plus). Nissa, Worldwaker seems like a pretty cool new walker. We're getting a new Jace and a new Garruk, too (revealing on Friday and Monday). The new Avacyn seems pretty interesting. Less cool than the original, but fine-ish.

In Garruk's Wake seems super fun and flavorful, though I'm really not liking the 9 mana requirement. The new cycle of allied-color buff creatures (like the reverse of flinthoof boar) kind of seem cool. Terra Stomper seems like it'll be fun, too. 8/8s for 5 that can't be countered. And Perilous Vault seems like a great card for Control to be running.

Like working for the actual company.

So I bought a box of Conspiracy, against my better judgment. But I opened pretty well. Got a Dack, a Pernicious Deed, a Stifle, 2 Misdirections, a Mirari's Wake, Scourge of the Throne, an Exploration, Council's Judgment, 2 Reflecting Pools, 2 Muzzio (1 foil), an Edric, Grenzo, StP, Rout, and a bunch of other 3-4$ rares. Did pretty well overall.

Regardless, I start working at TCGplayer tomorrow.