(This week was brought to you by Tunak Tunak Tun!)
I have tickets to Paris in three weeks time. Hint; the World Champs are in Paris in three weeks time. This is a good thing for me, and probably for my wallet too, because it could afford to lose some of that winter weight (remember, I live in upside-down land). Actually, it’s now looking a little anorexic, and could do with a good feeding. Before you say it, competing at Worlds isn’t ever going to be the banquet my wallet would hope for (or need, for that matter).
Anyway, that will learn me for waiting until three weeks out before booking my tickets, but that’s probably more the fact that I had to wait for my spot as the Alt for the New Zealand team to come through after someone else rescinded it. So you see, my sixth place (lols) was in fact, Good Enough, but traveling from New Zealand to France is some expensive.
But that’s of no concern; I have the tickets. Apparently, the rest of the team organized accommodation for four people, knowing that someone would at least be joining them on their European jaunt. All I have to do now is figure out what to play in the tournament itself. Also of no concern, because I (we!) have Magic Online!
As I usually do at around this time each week, I headed over to the Premier Events room, this time with the intent to check out any of the Extended events (in addition to the Standard events I bring to you most weeks.) I figure that while the Standard events won’t have much Time Spiral in them as yet, that Extended would be affected less by that and would be a reasonable indication of what might get played at Worlds.
Except that we’re smack dab in the middle of Release Week, so that every single Premier Event is a freakin’ Time Spiral Sealed Release Event.
I don’t know about you, but I was under the impression that there would be roughly zero days of Time Spiral Sealed at Worlds this year. Am I not wrong, Donny? Am I… not wrong??
(No blister, you’re just an *sshole.)
I mean, I’ve got less than three weeks to get my crap together, and Magic Online is running Release Events? Stab me in the face and call me Mr. McStabbed in the Face.
Standard should be easy. The Champs decklists are cluttering up the MagictheGathering.com website. I just need to find something I like, preferably aggro – although playing Sun Forger was a hoot last year – so I guess anything is an option there. Draft is fine, I’ll just do a bunch between now and then and that should be okay, the pros can slap me about again and all will be well.
Extended, though… I disliked how I did playing Affinity last year. That’s not to say I won’t end up playing Affinity again this year, but I’ll be even more wary of the Artifact hate this time, even though I thought I was ready for it in Japan. Unlucky at me, but it was possibly partly the fact that the third day of a three-day individual event can be pretty draining, and playing a complex deck like Affinity just plain may have been a bad idea.
(No, I couldn’t possibly imagine following that up with the Team Event on Day 4 and then the possibility of a Top 8 on the last day, so don’t expect me anywhere near that stage.)
(Unless I somehow land myself another spot helping the coverage team… now those were some good times.)
I guess I’ll just have to wait until next week to see what’s good in Extended, so I wonder what I could do this week? What else could I possible look at on Magic Online that would be of any interest to anyone? What indeed…?
(This interlude brought to you by Jim_Mason of StarCityGames.com forums fame…)
Well. How flattering and yet dispiriting.
Your argument about momentary fluctuations in card prices is a variation of the argument I have about weekly versus monthly fluctuations. Yes, a Flores article or something might have the momentary effect of having a card go up or down for the day. Yes, despite having the price list available one must always scan to see what the prices are at that very moment before acting.
Still though, the less frequently you do the checks the less responsive the prices will be to events like tournaments, which will have a much more serious (and lasting) impact than the market gyrations of the day.
In closing I would like to say:
Boo
… And also
Hiss
Jim
Ah, Jim. Good old Jim. You see, Jim likes the price guides, and he has been quite vocal about this in the forums. Good on him too, I say! More people should be vocal about more things in forums, I think. In the past five years, I have made well over 20,000 posts on Internet forums, and look how well I turned out?
(out-takes from last week’s rant slash shenanigans)
Anyway, just because Jim totally busted out the “Boo” and also the “Hiss,” I feel I can take the time to check out the cards prices again this week. You know, just for him. Well, that and I did promise to do a first pass on the Time Spiral cards once they’ve shown up and *heads over the boards for a quick look* sure enough, they’ve shown up.
(pineapple)
The numbers shown, for instance, as 2-4, represent the price people are buying the card for, followed by the price people are selling the card for. The prices shown in parenthesis – like this (2-4) – are the prices from last the time we checked. If a card and its prices have been bolded, it’s because there has been a change in price from before, to help you differentiate those cards from the others that are a little more… static in their movements. Card prices are in Tickets, because that’s what most people buy and sell with on Magic Online. Also note that prices can fluctuate based on the time of day, depending on just how many people are online selling at the time. Due to my uniquely antipodean location down here in the Pacific, and my tendency to hold down a regular nine-to-five job, the prices below end up being more of a general indication of what’s going on than an exact science.
Dark Confidant 3-5 (4-5)
Simic Sky Swallower 3-5 (3-5)
Giant Solifuge 3-5 (3-5)
Loxodon Hierarch 3-4 (3-4)
Burning-Tree Shaman 2-3 (2-3)
Ghost Council of Orzhova 1-3 (1-2)
Ohran Viper 8-10 (11-13)
Birds of Paradise 5-6 (4-6)
Demonfire 4-6 (4-6)
Wildfire 2-3 (2-3)
Magnivore 2-3 (2-3)
Wrath of God 12-13 (11-12)
Paladin En-Vec 5-7 (5-7)
Adarkar Valkyrie 2-4 (2-4)
Scrying Sheets 4-6 (5-7)
Breeding Pool 12-14 (13-15)
Hallowed Fountain 11-14 (11-12)
Blood Crypt 9-11 (9-11)
Godless Shrine 8-10 (8-9)
Steam Vents 7-9 (7-9)
Shivan Reef 7-8 (7-8)
Stomping Ground 7-8 (7-8)
Sacred Foundry 6-8 (5-7)
Temple Garden 6-7 (5-7)
Yavimaya Coast 4-7 (5-7)
Watery Grave 6-7 (5-7)
Watery Grave 5-7 (5-7)
Overgrown Tomb 5-7 (5-7)
Caves of Koilos 5-6 (5-6)
Forge[/author]“]Battlefield [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author] 4-5 (3-5)
Adarkar Wastes 4-5 (3-5)
Karplusan Forest 3-5 (3-5)
Underground River 3-5 (3-5)
Llanowar Wastes 3-4 (3-4)
Sulfurous Springs 3-4 (3-4)
Brushland 3-4 (3-4)
Some definite movement in places there, but not any more than I would have expected. I will however, keep any “nyer, nyers” to myself. Now on to the Time Spiral cards, or at least the start of them. Once we get a handle on what is good and what is actually getting played, the list should expand a little, and will of course be amalgamated into the list above.
Plague Sliver 1-2 (—)
Ancestral Vision 4-6 (—)
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir 4-6 (—)
Magus of the Scroll 3-5 (—)
Serra Avenger 3-6 (—)
Psionic Blast 9-11 (—)
Tormod’s Crypt 2-5 (—)
No surprises that Psionic Blast is the top earner here so far, what with it being exactly like a Char only much rarer for now. It’s possible that the price will drop dramatically if it turns out that decks with Blue mana have no need for a Char, but I get the feeling people are going to be edging on the side of caution now, and making sure they stock up as soon as possible.
Okay, so those were prices. Don’t expect them next week, because they won’t be here! They will be here again though, probably right after Worlds, so we can get and handle on the price of what was Fashionable in France. As far as what decks I should play, I guess I could open the floor to you, my dearest readers for ideas. However, I wouldn’t want any of you to feel bad after I end up piloting your precious deck into a flaming wreck at the end of Day 1, leaving you feeling indescribably guilt-ridden and wanting to redeem yourself by feeding my wallet.
Wait, I like this. Post your decks and pay me to make up for me sucking. Go!
{e}