http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/723&dcmp=ilc-mtgrss#74694

(Source : http://www.gatheringmagic.com/magic-the-classroom-%E2%80%93-burning-pauper/)

16 total:
#1: turn one (one)
#2: turn two (four)
#3: turn three (nine)
#4: turn seven (thirteen)
#5: turn eleven (seventeen)

17 total:
#1: turn one (one)
#2: turn two (four)
#3: turn three (eight)
#4: turn six (twelve)
#5: turn ten (sixteen)

18 total:
#1: turn one (one)
#2: turn two (three)
#3: turn three (seven)
#4: turn five (eleven)
#5: turn nine (fourteen)

19 total:
#1: turn one (one)
#2: turn two (two)
#3: turn three (six)
#4: turn five (ten)
#5: turn eight (thirteen)

20 total:
#1: turn one (one)
#2: turn two (two)
#3: turn three (six)
#4: turn four (nine)
#5: turn seven (twelve)

21 total:
#1: turn one (one)
#2: turn two (two)
#3: turn three (five)
#4: turn four (eight)
#5: turn six (eleven)

22 total:
#1: turn one (one)
#2: turn two (two)
#3: turn three (four)
#4: turn four (eight)
#5: turn six (eleven)

23 total:
#1: turn one (one)
#2: turn two (two)
#3: turn three (four)
#4: turn four (seven)
#5: turn five (ten)

24 total:
#1: turn one (one)
#2: turn two (two)
#3: turn three (three)
#4: turn four (six)
#5: turn five (nine)

25 total:
#1: turn one (one)
#2: turn two (two)
#3: turn three (three)
#4: turn four (six)
#5: turn five (eight)

26 total:
#1: turn one (one)
#2: turn two (two)
#3: turn three (three)
#4: turn four (five)
#5: turn five (eight)

27 total:
#1: turn one (one)
#2: turn two (two)
#3: turn three (three)
#4: turn four (five)
#5: turn five (seven)

28 total:
#1: turn one (one)
#2: turn two (two)
#3: turn three (three)
#4: turn four (four)
#5: turn five (seven)

How this chart reads is as follows. The first number tells you how many lands you have in your deck. Under that is a list of what turn you can expect to play land #1, then #2, etc. These numbers are only on average, so I typically avoid using them. The number in parentheses is what you can expect with 85% certainty. The (numbers) are the ones I use.

The first of two NPH drafts is over, and Evan came out the big winner. (As a reassurance – Evan, you made the right first pick with Spellskite – it’s not as valuable as Karn or Batterskull yet, but give it time. In eternal formats having a playset of that card will be much more valuable than a single of the others).

This draft was noticeably more enjoyable for everyone than the previous drafts. After selecting cards, everyone had smiles and was happy with their pools. I don’t attribute this as much to the new set than to the fact that we all know what we are doing. This is the fifth draft we’ve had as a group. It is so good to see everyone improving within the format.

Play of the week : Evan, second game of the finals, Triumph of the Hordes FTW out of nowhere.

It's Heerrreeeeeee...

In other happenings, Carin got to unleash her Phelddagrif commander zone on the group. Zoey has had a lot of fun riding it around the condo. At least until she runs out of white mana. The Phelddagrif also grants wishes.

I’d also like to propose a new EDH rule. Well, suggestion really. The rule is that if you open a foil legend in a pack, you must build an EDH deck around it.

Here’s the original article I read on this. I’ll give you the short version below.

Choosing a general is like choosing a pet. You need just the right one, and sometimes you look and can’t find one that feels right. Then when you least expect it, one jumps right in your lap. Opening a foil general is like that general choosing you.

This has only happened to me when I opened two copies of Kemba, Kha Regent in a single SOM pack. It’s even a cat… awwwwwwww. Looks like I gotta build a mono-white EDH deck now. Yay!

See you all at Matt’s place next week for part II of the draft.

It was a small group of Myself, Carin, Jake and Steven at our place. We got a late start at 2:00 as all of us had morning commitments. The call for the day was EDH, so we started with a four player melee.

Three of the generals were Steven’s Reaper King, my Rhys the Redeemed and Jake piloting my Mayael the Anima deck.

The new deck was Carin’s Phelddagrif Group Hug deck. She got to play all of her rule-breaking cards to the battlefield at the same time. Consider for a moment the shenanigans involved with both a Hive Mind and Knowledge Pool resolved on the table. Now imagine that said Hive Mind allows a couple of instant draw spells to resolve having us all draw 16 cards. Imagine that happens right before the last suspend counter is removed from her Hypergenesis.

Yeah, that happened.

The Hypergenesis turn lasted over 15 minutes, but since everyone got to continually lay cards, no one was left watching one person “go off” for the entire time. I have played against the Group Hug deck twice now, and all I can say is that it brings a completely new dimension to EDH games. Carin will give gifts of mana, cards and life to everyone while walling herself off, thereby supercharging everyone’s strategies.

Also, Knowledge Pool was deemed too crazy and headache inducing and not enough fun – so that will be set free from the Group Hug deck.

In both games, including the one mentioned above, Carin finished everyone off with a resolved Rite of Replication kicked. That card is a beast in EDH. At worst, it’s reads “2UU : Destroy Target General”. At best, it reads “Get five copies of the best non-legendary creature on the battlefield, ask if anyone doesn’t want to scoop”.

The rest of the games played were a couple duels and one 2HG game. We approached the 2HG game by choosing the decks we were running before choosing partners. It was a nice change of pace as you had to figure out the synergy between you and your partner, rather than force a synergy.

I’ve been really enjoying our weekly games. We’ve established many new precedents over the last year and it’s about time I got back to recapping each week. I really like how we’ve been embracing EDH, drafts and our own constructed metagame within the group. I can only see EDH being more important to everyone as our individual collections grow.

I’ll be updating this site when I get a chance. Please let me know what you all want to see on this site. I can keep the individual sections for everyone if you want to list deck recipes, let everyone know what cards you are looking for, and have blog spaces for anyone interested. If no one else wants to use this space, I’m fine with just using it for the recaps each week.

It’s great to keep this going on. Next weekend is Ben’s week, so let us know your plans.

-Mike

Tournament Duels will be determined by draw on Monday night. One person will get a bye to the semi-finals. Duels will begin soon as both players from each paired match arrive (so we don’t hold up the tournament).

Tournament matches are played as best two wins out of three. There is a 60 minute time limit for matches that begin soon as both players are eligible for the match. This time includes getting your maindeck & sideboard ready, mulligans, shuffling, taking calls, potty breaks, getting food, sleeping at the table, filibustering, and being alive during a match.

If the match goes to 60 minutes, both players lose the match if no winner is determined before each player has two more end phases. They can still count their ending board and previous games in the match toward prize picks.

Mike will keep track of tournament game start times and wins – losses during the night. Report all scores to him at the end of each match, or when someone thinks they have the “Jace” award.

If you lose a tournament match, you are eliminated. You can’t win the first pick, but you can still compete in side games and matches.

Sideboard Rules :

(All rules from the last email still apply, I’m putting the most important here again for full reference)

You must have a maindeck of 60 or more cards and a sideboard of exactly 15 cards. You can swap out cards from your maindeck for sideboard cards. You need a written list of your maindeck and sideboard to participate in the tournament.

Each player must start each game with their chosen maindeck. Any sideboard cards found in your library during a first match game will result in an immediate game loss.

Side Duels :

Side duels can be single games or matches. Anyone not playing a tournament match can start a side duel at any time. Side duels can be two or three player games.

Three people can play a side duel as long as you attack clockwise – mo melee. The player on your immediate left is considered your opponent for winning and prize pick purposes. The winner is determined as soon as someone’s opponent is eliminted. the game immediately ends soon as one player is eliminated.

Side Duels use all the same rules as regular matches. The following is a list of clarifications

• 1) Even if you are eliminated from the tournament, keep using your tournament deck for the rest of the night.
• 2) You can play single duels or matches with anyone who has been eliminated or is waiting for their next match.
• 3) Use your main deck for single games and first games of matches. You can sideboard as normal between games of the same match.
• 4) Sideboard cards found in your library during any single duels or first games of matches will result in an immediate game loss.
• 5) If you or any of your opponents are needed to play in a tournament game at any time – the game / match you are playing immediately ends in a draw.

The Prize Draft :

The prize draft is similar to a backdraft like we did at the foil alara draft night.

• 1) Each person can only win one pick slot. For example, the tournament winner is not eligible for the “Slater Hater” slot as well.
• 2) If any Pick is not won during the night, it will be skipped over during the prize draft.
• 3) Players who do not get any of the first 7 picks will draw for the remaining picks between them.

We’ll draft at the end of the tournament, right before the Christmans Magic card exchange. We pick prizes in the order of our slots and keep rotating until all the prize cards are gone. The tournament winner picks an extra card at the beginning of the draft only.

Quote of the night by Evan :

Like a bizarre reenactment of Birth of a Nation.

’nuff said.

Only one shal win!

MNM attendance has been widely fluctuating from week to week. It doesn’t seem to depend on the venue, just completely random.

Last week, we had all l kinds of new people. This week, we had another small group of myself, Evan and Ben over at Bens’ place. (Steven was also in attendance, but didn’t bring his decks. So it turned into movie night for him and Marie. Go Keanu!).

Ben and I warmed up with two completely one-sided duels. My level-up W/U/B deck landed Time of Heroes and Training Grounds on turn three. Ben didn’t have a way to get rid of them, so I was able to dominate. Ben got Kor flavored revenge the next game against my newly built MILFmother deck. Mono green standoffs are no good soon as the opponent has any flying 8 (>.

The three of us went for five games of melee. I was happy to see each of us win at least one game. More fun when you have a good mix instead of one player completely dominating everything.

Game 1
Ben – Elrdazi G/R
Evan* – Aura Gnarlid Power
Mike – Eldrazitron

My mistake was playing a turn two Howling Mine, despite having all three Urza Lands in my mitt. I completely enabled my opponents, allowing Evan to build a 30something/30something Unblockable Annihilating Eldrazi Aura Gnarlid. Note to self : do not let those things live. They’re like Bazaar Traders for Evan.

This was easily play of the night. Go Evan!

Game 2
Ben* – Somthing to do with Zendikon lands – I dunno, it got big and scary
Evan – Vampires – Strong and Robust
Mike – Vampires – Weak and Puny

Yeah, I’ve known for a while that my Vampire deck is weak and lazy. They’ve all been drinking True Blood. Evan has the key vamps I’m missing – like Kalitas, Bloodchief of Ghet and [card]Vampire
Nocturnus[/card]. We got into a weak, weak five turn battle over who could level-up Guul Draz Assassin first. Evan had the first turn drop, so I knew I was boned. Even with two Vampire Hexmage strikes, I still couldn’t race him. So I just spited his deck the rest of the game and Ben handily took us down.

Game 3
Ben – Vampires – Sneaky Weenie
Evan – U/W Superfriends
Mike* – MILFmother

Boy, does Ben hate on Master of the Wild Hunt. To the point where he claims he will never own one. I happen to love the jr. planeswalker. He gets me around the big drawback of mono green : removal.

Four Vines of Vastwood are almost as important to him as four Nissas Chosen are to Nissa Revane. As luck would have it, my opening hand contained one wolfmaster and 2 vines. I also drew my other two vines in the next four draws.

Ben pinged us hard with his Blood Seeker and Pulse Tracker. I was worried for a minute, but once wolfmaster untapped the game was sealed. Evan was more of a spectator that game

Game 4
Ben* – U/W Ally Ascension
Evan – U/W Superfriends – second attempt
Mike – Jungles n’ Dragons – AKA non-jund

This turned out to be the epic melee game of the night. Not epic as in awesome – epic as in complete standstill. Here’s a list from some of the memorable moments :

1) Ben assumes Luminarch Ascension on turn 4 – does not create an angel until after turn 20
2) I use a Dragon deck to generate 8 elephants. Never attacking once with any of them.
3) Evan finally lands Gideon Jura for one turn – dies by second turn.
4) Evan sweeps board of 32 creatures with Day of Judgment
5) Ben agrees to win by finally generating said angels.

Game 5
Ben – Neko deck of unfair hate attraction
Evan – Straight-Up discard yo shit
Mike* – Into the Kiln

One more quickie to finish the night. Ben as usual brought out his Nekko tap-your-creatures-permanently equipment. This tends to anger everyone. Since the Kiln Fiend deck must act quickly, I made the choice to take out Ben completely before turning toward Evan. This way, I’d likely burn out all cards on Ben, leaving Evan with many useless cards.

My plan worked this time, although I completely doubted my decks ability to take out two opponents with an aggressive tactic. I think all Ben needs is a couple [card]Basilisk Collar[/]s to make that deck unstoppable.

We’re taking next Monday off for the Memorial Day holiday. See you in two weeks at Juice’s for THE RETURN OF JUICE.

Rock! A new free Kor Deck!

Well, this is the latest I’m getting the mnm post out. I wrote a completely game-changing writeup last week at work, but got distracted by responsibilities and shit. The post got lost to the “forgot to hit save” gods. Here’s a quick list of the highlights :

1) New People

Danny and Charles from the Asylum FNM mights were there for the first time. Joel and Jon made their second appearance as well. Since Evan, Juice and Carin weren’t playing, this was the first time non-core members if the group were outnumbered by newer faces. While I missed seeing Evan and Juice, it was fun to change things up a bit.

2) Sweet new kor deck from Danny

Danny was so overjoyed to be there that he left a token of appreciation in the form of a Kor deck at my place. Thanks Danny. I’m sure that was done on purpose as Kor tend to take revenge for being forgotten.

3) Emperor-palooza

We got through many games – including 1 2HG, 2 emperor and several duels. The Emperor games were disappointingly one-sided. First game, the bad guys (read : not my team) rolled over us with two vampire flanks. I stupidheadedly chose the mono green wolf deck, even knowing that emperor Danny was also mono green (treefolk). It was a vampire feast.

Second emperor game saw us swap Joel for Charles and I went with my new Eldrazitron deck in the emperor role. A fourth turn Ulamog pretty much sealed the game, though folowing that up with all is dust to take out Ben’s angel brigade didn’t hurt things. I was able to attack with all three Eldrazi Legends two turns later. Well, three turns – one being granted to me by Cuthulu.

I hope to see Danny and Charles again at one of our casual nights. Always great to see new players. Tomorrow night is at Ben’s place – Casa de Slater West.