Hello everybody, and welcome to another edition of the Magic Show. This week we’re going to take a look at a host of Magic-y topics, from the changes coming in Conflux prereleases, the Grand Prix 2009 improvements, what Wizards should preview first for Conflux, the death of Tournament Packs, some incredible Japanese foils you won’t be seeing state-side, and we’ll pepper it all with fascinating interviews with Patrick Chapin & Pro Superstar Manuel Bucher. Let’s go!
Survey Says
So this week Wizards of the Coast released an article on the results of their recent Shards of Alara Prerelease survey taken in late October. Now, as you may be aware, I wasn’t too happy about the Shards of Alara prerelease. Frankly, I think it is one of the worst debacles I’ve witnessed in all my time playing Magic. They basically took all this fun stuff that makes up the event, like the sense of regional community, drafting, abundant prize support, drafting, different release promos, drafting, larger venues, drafting, and replaced it with Flights N’ That Be’s It. And who’da thunk it, but it turns out that players really do want large prereleases and drafting as a format at the event. Also found in this extensive survey, water is wet, air is quite breathable, and fire will, in fact, burn your skin.
But if I’m going to complain about the wrong direction, I’m certainly going to hail the right one. This is an absolute positive step in the right direction. Here’s how it works: There will be 24 locations around the U.S. and 16 around the world which offer large prereleases. These large prereleases will feature artists, Level 1 Judge training and most importantly drafting. This gives us the Best of Both Worlds scenario, where you can still play locally but the goodies arrive when you suit up and road trip it to a larger event. I’m excited that I have a large prerelease near me for Conflux, and you can be sure I’ll be rocking the Conflux prerelease come early next year. Big thanks to Wizards for finally stopping the insanity and giving us what we want.
GP Fixins
In other good news, Wizards has made yet another positive and well-thought out move. With the recently released Grand Prix schedule, two things come to light: First, there are no two Grand Prixs scheduled on the same weekend. This means if you’re a serious road warrior, such as Raphael Levy who travels to damn near everything, you can make your way around the world and attend every 2009 Grand Prix. But the most important change pertains to players more of my caliber: Beginning in 2009, every player who goes X-2 or better will make Day 2. That is fantastic news and the most significant change to Grand Prixs in years. The problem with playing Grand Prixs without byes was always that if you lose twice you’re essentially out, whereas those with three byes don’t have that problem. Your tiebreakers are so good with three byes that at X-2 you were still a lock for Day 2. But everyone else? I hope you didn’t lose twice, because you’re screwed.
I recently hit this problem at Grand Prix: Atlanta. Going into the last round with two losses and somewhere around 112th place, I knew I had next to zero chance of making the Top 64. This change gives hope to the hopeless, and makes things a lot more fair for those who cannot begin with a three-win advantage.
Magic Cruisin’
While I haven’t mentioned it in awhile, I don’t want you guys to forget about the Magic Cruise happening this coming February. Space is running out as guaranteed spots are expiring on December 10th, and note that this will be the Magic event of the season. Myself, Patrick Chapin, and Mike Turian will be in attendance; we recently nailed down the seminars each of us will be holding on the cruise ship. I can’t speak for anyone else, but for those attending the Cruise you can look forward to an in-depth session about The Cube, how to make your own, budget options, configurations, and the implications of your Cube decisions. Remember to check it out over at legionevents.com/cruise and we’ll see you on the high seas come February.
The First Conflux Preview
So the Conflux card list is out of the bag. It was spoiled weeks and weeks ago, and everyone is ready to see some goodness in a month or so. So… what position does that leave Wizards in? They’re bread and butter when dealing with new sets is the element of surprise, and that surprise is gone in terms of card names. In fact, I’d say what they have to do is quite clear: There is only one card that jumps out as Preview Me! when looking at the Conflux card list, and you probably know what I’m talking about. That’s right, Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker. Mark Rosewater, this is me officially asking you to preview this card in the first preview article. He’s a Planeswalker, most likely the only one of the set. He’s iconic. He’s a legend in both the game and the story. He holds the key to the storyline, it appears, and is the shadowy figure kicking all sorts of ass on Cruel Ultimatum. So let’s see our Grixis Planeswalker as our first official taste of the set, all right? I think we can all agree that would be the most exciting preview for Conflux and would kick off things right.
R.I.P Tournament Packs
The latest from the Rumor Mill is that as of Conflux Tournament Packs are officially dead. No longer produced, these mainstays of Magic will be leaving us after 15 years of production beginning with Conflux. Wow. What used to be the cornerstone of new player purchases, the introduction of basic lands in booster packs along with the new Intro Decks means that Tournament Packs were primarily being produced for sealed play only. Instead of a Tournament Pack for sealed events the organizer will use three packs instead. This is a huge shift in paper Magic, and the only downside I see to this will be the rabid search for basic lands in large sealed events. Limited GPs beginning next fall could be very interesting come deckbuilding time…
MPS a.k.a. Magic’s Pimp Sauce
I don’t know about you, but I’m a huge fan of John Avon. I think he makes some of the most brilliant and inspiring illustrations in the game. But not only is his artwork fantastic, but it is his Land artwork that is truly impressive. Those who have seen and adore the Unhinged lands like I do, then this is certainly a treat. However, it is a treat only for Japanese Magic players. For those in other parts of the world, auction sites and online Magic shops like the wonderful StarCityGames.com are your only hope for attaining them.
Check out these incredible illustrations for five foiled basic lands coming to the MPS, what I believe stands for “Magic Player Series” program in Japan, much like our own Magic Player Rewards. John Avon has created a beautiful Naya Forest, an incredible Esper Island, a brutal Jund Mountain, a murky Grixis Swamp, and an absolutely majestic Bant Plains.
And all I can say is I’m hella jealous. Hella.
So that’ll do it for this week folks. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving in the U.S., and I’ll see you in seven days for more Magical goodness. Until next time. Magic players, this is Evan Erwin… tapping the cards, so you don’t have to.
Evan “misterorange” Erwin
eerwin +at+ gmail +dot+ com
dub dub dub misterorangeproductions dot com
As for me, I’m thankful for this show. Happy Thanksgiving everybody!