Month: July 2014

Conjured Currency #24: The Art of Negotiation

Welcome back, everyone! As we close the book on M15’s set review, I’d like to address a couple pieces of feedback that I received on these last two articles, and how my opinions might have been influenced since then. I’m certainly not perfect in my card evaluation skills, and that’s one of the reasons I…

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Getting LUCKy: Mulligans

If I had to guess why most games are won and lost in Magic,  the first stop on the blame train would be mulligans. A good number of players have a hard time knowing what is keepable and what would be better as a random six.  An even larger number of players don’t know when…

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The Spike Feed Episode 48 – Professionally Intense

It’s the week of SCG KC, and we take the opportunity to record a show while being in the same room. Cameron tries a brew at the Standard Open, Curtis shares his thoughts on [card]Frost Lynx[/card], and Dustin reacts to some of the information that came out of San Diego Comic-Con. Thank you for your…

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Pitt Imps Podcast #79 — Good Podcasts

This week on the Imps, we get our first look at Standard with M15. We also get the first bit of Modern at an SCG event. Then we take the time to fill you guys in on what podcasts we listen to in our free time. We also spend more time than we honestly should…

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Magic and Personal Finance

How do Magic finance and personal finance fit together? I haven’t seen too much written on the subject, but I think it’s worth discussion. Personal finance is incredibly important to success in life, so the degree to which Magic finance can aid or derail you along the way is very relevant. I’ve seen people engage…

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Old-Man Magic: SCG Standard Open, Pretty Awesome for Old Guys by Quillian Rutherford

It’s been a long time, Since I’ve seen a su-u-u-u-u-u-unny day. – Cake, Long Time I’ve been playing Magic a long time: since Fifth Edition/Weatherlight. For a while, I was grinding PTQs, but there was no MTGO, no local Magic scene in my college town, and basically nothing but rolling up to the tournament after…

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Brainstorm Brewery #107 – Sexability

It always feels like it’s a slow news week at first, but once the floodgates open, an hour just flies by. With new sealed product, new Magic Online clients, new e-mail questions, and a new core set, there’s no shortage of topics to discuss. How will the change to the new client, the new Magic…

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Conjured Currency #23: Reviewing M15, Part 2

Welcome back to part two of my M15 set review! If you weren’t here last week, we went over my predictions of what some of the more expensive cards Magic 2015 would look like price-wise two months from now (in September). This gives everyone enough time to play around with their synergy with all of our current toys,…

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Unified Theory of Commander: Card Advantage

We’ve already spilled quite a bit of digital ink discussing the first two elements of the Unified Theory of Commander: mana and draw. Over the last four articles in this series, we learned why to make mana production a priority during deck construction and how to utilize card draw to create options that help our decks succeed….

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UB Faeries Tournament Report – Barrett Goss

Welcome to another installment in the r/spikes tournament report series. Barrett Goss comes at you with a two-fer; a report about how his deck of choice fared at a GPT in Philadelphia and then at a PTQ in Delaware the next day. Hang on a second—didn’t Max Perlmutter play those same two events? Wonder if…

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Brewing with M15

Welcome back! Today we’re talking about brewing with M15. I’ll cover just some of the possibilities that the cards from Magic 2015 create, and fair warning, this will include four [card]Chord of Calling[/card] builds—sorry, I get excited when I can play with a toolbox deck. We have nine Standard and two Modern lists today, which…

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Pitt Imps Podcast #78 Three Garruks in 12 Hours

In what can only be called a slow week, we go over “all” the banned cards from the new B&R announcement. Then we explain a few rules changes at the competitive REL. We give our pre-release stories from the weekend and then Martin comes on for Ban or Unban again. Host Angelo  Twitter @ganksuou Co-Host…

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Know Your Promos!

I’m kind of a snob and I seek out lots of foils and cards with specific art for my EDH decks, so knowing promos is just something I do. But I’m often surprised by the lack of card knowledge shown by a lot of other people.  You can easily find yourself getting fleeced in trades…

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Brainstorm Brewery #106 – Set Reviewer Emeritus

Every once in a while, fortune smiles on Brainstorm Brewery, and the right guest for the set review becomes available. This time, Judge Emeritus and Godfather of EDH Sheldon Menery joins the brew crew for a look at Magic 2015, a set with quite a few Commander gems hidden among the cycle of splashy mythic…

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GP Vegas 2013 – Booze Cube House

You heard all about this legendary event, maybe you’re sick about hearing how awesome GP Vegas was. It doesn’t matter what you thought you know about Vegas, if you weren’t there, you will never really know. Well here’s your chance to get a glimpse of it with recently uncovered footage of the debauchery. They say…

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Conjured Currency #22: Reviewing M15, Part 1

Hello, everyone, and welcome back. I don’t normally get the itch to write set reviews, but I’m once again sitting at my computer at 9:30pm. I think my editor, Danny Brown, is sitting outside of my window holding his newborn child in one arm and a crossbow in the other [Editor’s note: Mages don’t need crossbows, DJ],…

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SCG Worcester Report – 14th Place with Boros Burn by Timothy Mezoff

The r/spikes series continues with a great report from Timothy Mezoff. Going from a disappointing 0-3 scoop to an impressive 8-2, 14th place finish in a short time, Timothy discusses his day filled with lucky topdecks, missed triggers and a Magic mountain that reminded him to keep his head and power through tilt. Enjoy! -Jason…

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Casually Infinite – Where’s the Money in Modern?

Six months ago, Pro Tour Valencia was on the scene and it looked like Modern cards couldn’t be any hotter. We were approaching $100 fetch lands and it looked like any Modern card was bound to spike if it saw even moderate play. Corbin has a great article about what has changed over on Quiet…

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C(ube) + C(ommander) Magic Factory #9 – Disruption in EDH Part 2

Welcome back to C+C Magic Factory.  It’s been a hot minute since I picked up the [card]Bloodletter Quill[/card] as end-of-year job duties caught up with me, but now that we are in the warm relaxation of the summer, it’s time once again to talk some EDH.  In part one of this now three-part mini series…

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The Spike Feed Episode 46 – Church Kiss

This week, we finally get to experience M15 for ourselves and report on our prerelease experiences. Cameron is frustrated by Duels of the Planeswalkers, Curtis hates PDA while playing, and Dustin brings up slave Leia casually in the conversation. Thank you for your honor. Your hosts: Dustin Gore Cameron McCoy – @Cameron_McCoy Curtis Nower –…

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The Financial Five: M15

Pain Lands $3-5 Let’s get the obvious picks out of the way. I know they’re reprints and I know they’re not the fetches you’ve been dreaming of, but they’re dual lands. You know what happens to dual lands that stay in Standard after rotation? They go up! What does almost every competitive deck need to play…

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Pitt Imps Podcast #77 Hardy a Thang

This week Mike Hardy joined us to help go over the SCG event. We then spent the nest hour making complete fools of ourselves by trying to pick what the best cards in M15 are. The shirts fired so a big thank you went out to everyone who bought one.   Host Angelo Twitter @ganksuou…

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The Spike Feed Episode 44 – MerGirls

It’s spoiler season and we’re going deep on M15’s new planeswalkers, continue to complain about Standard, and discuss the term “Jimmies” as it relates to the East Coast. Curtis also (and unfortunately) unveils his imitation of Jace, the Living Guildpact. Thank you for your honor. Your hosts: Dustin Gore Cameron McCoy – @Cameron_McCoy Curtis Nower…

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A Modern Primer: How Do I Get Into Modern?

“What is Modern?” you might ask. Modern is an eternal (non-rotating) format that was introduced in the Spring of 2011, with a card pool that spans from Eighth Edition all the way to the present—basically, all the sets since the “modern” (soon to be replaced) border was introduced. In an effort to keep the format fun,…

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Brainstorm Brewery #105 – Fetchable with Fetches

Magic 2015 spoiler season is drawing to a close, and with much of the set spoiled, some patterns are starting to emerge. There is a lot to analyze and a lot to speculate on, and there are some historical trends to help us predict what’s happening. All in all, this looks to be among the…

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