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Whoo Magical Christmas Land happened in the first round of tonights sealed event:

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Got an Ajani in my pool and ultimated him at 20 health. =)
 
Alright GAF. Tomorrow is the big day -- SSG Open in Buffalo. I'll be there bright and early at 930 AM to register and hopefully not bottom out in the first three rounds.

I've switched from a GW Pod build to Naya Pod. It's aggressive, it's tricky, it's got 3 Bonfires and it's hopefully going to get some work done.

I'll somehow shout GAF out if I top 8 like WW requested, but the odds of that happening are going to be slim, so I'll more than likely see you all on here in the afternoon haha

Wish me luck!
 
Alright GAF. Tomorrow is the big day -- SSG Open in Buffalo. I'll be there bright and early at 930 AM to register and hopefully not bottom out in the first three rounds.

I've switched from a GW Pod build to Naya Pod. It's aggressive, it's tricky, it's got 3 Bonfires and it's hopefully going to get some work done.

I'll somehow shout GAF out if I top 8 like WW requested, but the odds of that happening are going to be slim, so I'll more than likely see you all on here in the afternoon haha

Wish me luck!

I BELIEVE IN YOU
 
I got 2nd tonight at FNM with my Gavony Humans w/ Path :)

I had some BLOWOUTS, it was crazy. The games where I had a good draw (turn 1: pilgrim, turn 2: path) were absolute landslides.

There was a turn 4 where I had champion of lambholt at 7/7, soulbonded to Silverblade Paladin. The guy had a batterskull out, but yeah, complete destruction.

Had lots of fun tonight, wish I got to go to more FNMs :p
 
Alright GAF. Tomorrow is the big day -- SSG Open in Buffalo. I'll be there bright and early at 930 AM to register and hopefully not bottom out in the first three rounds.

I've switched from a GW Pod build to Naya Pod. It's aggressive, it's tricky, it's got 3 Bonfires and it's hopefully going to get some work done.

I'll somehow shout GAF out if I top 8 like WW requested, but the odds of that happening are going to be slim, so I'll more than likely see you all on here in the afternoon haha

Wish me luck!

Good luck! Kick some ass.
 
Alright GAF. Tomorrow is the big day -- SSG Open in Buffalo. I'll be there bright and early at 930 AM to register and hopefully not bottom out in the first three rounds.

I've switched from a GW Pod build to Naya Pod. It's aggressive, it's tricky, it's got 3 Bonfires and it's hopefully going to get some work done.

I'll somehow shout GAF out if I top 8 like WW requested, but the odds of that happening are going to be slim, so I'll more than likely see you all on here in the afternoon haha

Wish me luck!

Good luck! Are you playing in Legacy on Sunday as well?
 
So, took that Burning Vengeance deck I posted earlier to the FNM tonight, changed out one Augur for the one Snapcaster I still have hanging around, as well as cutting an island and glacial fortress for a swamp and a Vault of the Archangel(Deathtouch/Lifelink for your creatures). Overall I was fairly impressed with the deck, but the mana base is still definitely pretty weak and needs to be worked on.

Sideboard I had
3 Bonfire of the Damned
3 Gloom Surgeon
4 Drogskol Captain
2 Smelt
3 Celestial Purge

Never sided in the purges; bonfire and gloom surgeon came in all the time in exchange for 2 mana leaks, a talrand, the 2 augurs (who underperformed all night long) and a desperate ravings. Definitely think I should have the 4th Day of Judgment in the maindeck and possibly add 2 bonfires as well.

Rounds were as follows:
2-0 Tezzeret Artifact Mill- complete blowout in both games, game 2 I sided in the smelts, surgeons and Drogskols for feeling of dread, day of judgment, the lone vapor snag and my augurs and a leak. He couldnt mill faster than I could burn (game one started with a Vengeance in hand and drew another on turn 3, milling was just filling the yard with flashback) or beatdown (game 2 spirit tokens, drogskols and surgeon were swining in for heavy beats).

1-2 GW Humans- Managed to take game 2 after adding the surgeons and bonfires, but game 3 I alchemied and grabbed a fifth land instead of a bonfire (snagging the double white for day of judgment) when he had thalia (and a bunch of human tokens from gather the townsfolk) on the field. Should have taken the bonfire and went off for 1 at 4 mana, might have bought me an extra turn or two to stabilize, but I just wasnt drawing the solutions. Definitely reinfoced that 4 Day of judgments seems necessary in this aggro loaded world, which I would repeatedly discover all night.

0-2 Mono Green Aggro- dungrove elder, thrun and predator ooze make for a bad day when you arent drawing sweepers. Topdecks of revenge of the hunted or whatever the +6/+6 trample lure thing is bad news when most of my creatures have 1 or 2 toughness. Completely crushed

2-0 Elves- The one time I was finding sweepers whenever I needed them all night. Bonfires for 1 killing off mana dorks, vapor snag keeping yeva out of play long enough to Day her, and tons of burning vengeance flashback goodness made this the premier match for how the deck should work in a perfect world. Now if I could only make it consistently play this way I'd be laughing.

0-2 Mono Green Aggro- Same story as the first encounter with this type of deck, I just cant handle the pressure that comes out so fast with the deck. Not sure why, because playtesting vs my iteration of the deck I was doing fine (mind you, I had my snapcasters and vapor snags at the time, not sure if it really would have helped tonight though. Thrun and Dungrove with Revenge are just nasty. And yet again, never finding the sweepers, best I got was a bonfire for 3 killing off a dungrove while thrun and an ooze laughed it up. Jerks.

So overall I think it has potential, and absolutely nobody was prepared for it in any sense. Got a couple tormods crypts sided in against me from reanimator hate, but I never found my graveyard too full that I was losing more than 2-3 flashback cards at a time. Biggest problem was simply the aggro matchup against hexproof green beaters, and I dont really know what the answer is for this deck. Cant burn/bounce, and thrun/ooze laugh at Day of Judgment. Gonna have to keep tweaking it.
 
I hate to double-post, but I tend to miss all the daytime conversations ever since moving down under, and I'm curious to get some feedback here. This is where I currently am with the Grixis control deck that I'm brewing:


The biggest problem I have right now is that it doesn't have any way to really recover after stabilizing against a strong aggro deck. I really need something like a Batterskull as a recovery mechanism, but I'm trying not to drop too much money on cards that are about to rotate. I can't really think of any good replacements though...

Other than that, I like how it's performing at the moment, but obviously my sample size is pretty small right now. Chandra has been surprisingly effective as a one-of; I tried running two, but I found that I almost never wanted to see the second, even if the first got killed. When she does land though, her -2 does some serious work; combined with Devil's Play it almost feels unfair.

One surprising result; I had thought that Desolate Lighthouse would be the best thing in this deck, but it turns out that it's so greedy with mana that not only do the colorless sources really hurt, but you rarely find time to actually loot. I left one in as an escape valve to dump spare lands in the end game, but I'm not convinced it's correct to include any more.

Has anyone else tried building standard Grixis control? Any advice? Anything I'm missing?
 
I hate to double-post, but I tend to miss all the daytime conversations ever since moving down under, and I'm curious to get some feedback here. This is where I currently am with the Grixis control deck that I'm brewing:



The biggest problem I have right now is that it doesn't have any way to really recover after stabilizing against a strong aggro deck. I really need something like a Batterskull as a recovery mechanism, but I'm trying not to drop too much money on cards that are about to rotate. I can't really think of any good replacements though...

Other than that, I like how it's performing at the moment, but obviously my sample size is pretty small right now. Chandra has been surprisingly effective as a one-of; I tried running two, but I found that I almost never wanted to see the second, even if the first got killed. When she does land though, her -2 does some serious work; combined with Devil's Play it almost feels unfair.

One surprising result; I had thought that Desolate Lighthouse would be the best thing in this deck, but it turns out that it's so greedy with mana that not only do the colorless sources really hurt, but you rarely find time to actually loot. I left one in as an escape valve to dump spare lands in the end game, but I'm not convinced it's correct to include any more.

Has anyone else tried building standard Grixis control? Any advice? Anything I'm missing?

I've been playing Grixis for a while and switched from janky 4 colour Burning Vengeance. I don't think it's quite as good as Esper but is still a good deck and enjoyable to play if you like control.

Last night I went 3-1-1 at FNM, losing to Mono Green (I have no answer pre or post sideboard to his average hand so need to fix the board for this) and drawing to Tezzerat control. We were 1-1 and I was definitely going to win the third when time was called, but he had awful draws twice so can't really bring much from it.

My list is based of something Chapin posted a week ago.

Code:
3x Snapcaster Mage
3x Lone Revenant
1x Consecrated Sphinx
1x Karn Liberated 

4x Ponder
4x Desperate Ravings
2x Forbidden Alchemy

2x Pillar of Flame
2x Go for the Throat
2x Doom Blade
2x Slagstorm
2x Whipflare

2x Mana Leak
1x Duress

3x Pristine Talisman

1x Desolate Lighthouse
25x Land

I haven't put enough thought into the sideboard to feel comfortable suggesting it.

Comparisons to your list:
I've played with Think Twice a fair bit and for me Desperate Ravings is just better. With so much land, potentially dead cards and Snapcasterable stuff it's rare to have an awful discard, and if you don't want to lose anything in your hand just don't cast it. Given the amount of draw and filtering between Ravings, Ponder and Alchemy you will find a win condition eventually even if you discard one, and you want the game to go long.

I've thought about Olivia and Bloodline Keeper, and I just don't think they have enough immediate impact. Bloodline Keeper I think by the time he's spitting out dudes a lot of decks can just go over the top of a load of 2/2s. If their board is clear and Keeper is finishing them off you were winning anyway and anything could get you there.
Olivia can be pretty sweet if you drop her, ping something then threaten the steal next turn. When I played her she didn't do much but it was only once and the rest of the deck wasn't doing too hot then so I wouldn't mind trying again.
Lone Revenant though, he is a beating. Turn 4 off of a Pristine Talisman, followed by clearing their board with removal such as Slagstorm (he has 4 toughness, how sick is that!) so you get the hit in puts you soooo far ahead. Playing with this guy confirmed that my favourite thing to do in Magic is drawing cards. I doubt he's very expensive either.
Vampire Nighthawk isn't bad, but I think I'd rather have more normal removal. Especially when you aren't playing Scars lands which makes playing him on turn 3 quite hard.

On your Planeswalkers - Chandra is cute but doesn't do anything too much of the time to be worth it imo.
Tamiyo is pretty a solid card but I don't know how well she fits, when I played with her at a PTQ she delayed the inevitable more than answer anything. Might be OK in the board against ramp but not a huge fan against aggro decks.
My plan was to play 2 Nicol Bolas instead of Sphinx + Karn but couldn't get hold of them. I think Sphinx was the right choice as he comes down earlier and I love drawing cards, 1 Bolas instead of the Karn is probably fine though.
I definitely don't think the Staff is high enough impact to be worth the spot. In a control deck with so much card advantage already I don't think we need more that high up the curve when it's worse than Sphinx.

Pristine Talisman is an amazing card that really makes the deck tick. I have thought about 3 or 4 Glided Lotus and then 2x Bolas + 2x Griselbrand as win cons, but the health gain is the key to stabilising after early turns against aggro decks. Skipping 4 drops and going straight to Lone Revenant or Curse of Death's Hold (from the board) is a great play and can turn games around.

I'm quite happy with the deck. If I made any changes I would probably cut the Duress and perhaps a Snapcaster for either a pair of Lillianas or Curse of Death's Hold main deck. I didn't feel like I was using Snapcaster that much so 2 might be better.
 
Took mono blue wizards to FNM last night, went 6-0. I was surprised since I hadn't played it much since I built it. Bringing tamiyo out of the sideboard second game is an awesome surprise for opponents.
 
Took mono blue wizards to FNM last night, went 6-0. I was surprised since I hadn't played it much since I built it. Bringing tamiyo out of the sideboard second game is an awesome surprise for opponents.

The guy who beat me in Top 8 last night was running blue wizard deck (with some red splash). Seemed pretty awesome, it just needed more threats.
 
Hey guys! Ended up not winning! lol

I started out to a 2-0-1 start for the first three rounds, then lost two in a row dropping me to 2-2-1. Then I won the next round, but ended up coming to a draw with my opponent. We didn't even make it to game 3. It would have made my record 3-2-2, effectively counting the ties as losses. My opponent was a cool dude and had a better record, so while I won game 2 I gave him the win for the round, officially dropping me to 3-3-1.

I played Naya Pod, and had some really crap draws in some of my losses. Thems the breaks I suppose

Decks I beat:

Delver -- was close but I was able to get through at the end of game 3
RUG-Ramp -- dude raged HARD when he couldn't draw anything in the final game
Monoblack Control -- He was one card away from Black Sunning me out... but I had lethal

Decks I lost to:
Wolf Run Ramp -- steamrolled me. Not even close
Brad Nelson's deck -- but not Brad Nelson himself lol

Decks I tied:
Esper control -- we played game 3 to time. Nice guy, early matchup, just couldn't go over the top
RUG-Ramp -- This was the one I technically "lost". He ramped out hard in game 1 and Wolf Ran me to death. Game 2 I killed his one Wolf Run and he was dead in the water when I dropped an Elesh Norn.

All in all, I'm OK with how I performed in my first MTG tourny.
 
Go back there tomorrow with a belcher deck

I don't have the money to build a legacy deck right now haha Some girl I met is playing one tomorrow. Hopefully she wins, she was aight.

I meant to say it in my last post, thanks for all the good wishes before the tourny today guys. It's moments like those when you realize how much you love GAF.

Edit: I meant to say she's playing Belcher. Not just a legacy deck. Hah
 
I've played with Think Twice a fair bit and for me Desperate Ravings is just better. With so much land, potentially dead cards and Snapcasterable stuff it's rare to have an awful discard, and if you don't want to lose anything in your hand just don't cast it. Given the amount of draw and filtering between Ravings, Ponder and Alchemy you will find a win condition eventually even if you discard one, and you want the game to go long.

I've thought about Olivia and Bloodline Keeper, and I just don't think they have enough immediate impact. Bloodline Keeper I think by the time he's spitting out dudes a lot of decks can just go over the top of a load of 2/2s. If their board is clear and Keeper is finishing them off you were winning anyway and anything could get you there.
Olivia can be pretty sweet if you drop her, ping something then threaten the steal next turn. When I played her she didn't do much but it was only once and the rest of the deck wasn't doing too hot then so I wouldn't mind trying again.
Lone Revenant though, he is a beating. Turn 4 off of a Pristine Talisman, followed by clearing their board with removal such as Slagstorm (he has 4 toughness, how sick is that!) so you get the hit in puts you soooo far ahead. Playing with this guy confirmed that my favourite thing to do in Magic is drawing cards. I doubt he's very expensive either.
Vampire Nighthawk isn't bad, but I think I'd rather have more normal removal. Especially when you aren't playing Scars lands which makes playing him on turn 3 quite hard.

On your Planeswalkers - Chandra is cute but doesn't do anything too much of the time to be worth it imo.
Tamiyo is pretty a solid card but I don't know how well she fits, when I played with her at a PTQ she delayed the inevitable more than answer anything. Might be OK in the board against ramp but not a huge fan against aggro decks.
My plan was to play 2 Nicol Bolas instead of Sphinx + Karn but couldn't get hold of them. I think Sphinx was the right choice as he comes down earlier and I love drawing cards, 1 Bolas instead of the Karn is probably fine though.
I definitely don't think the Staff is high enough impact to be worth the spot. In a control deck with so much card advantage already I don't think we need more that high up the curve when it's worse than Sphinx.

Pristine Talisman is an amazing card that really makes the deck tick. I have thought about 3 or 4 Glided Lotus and then 2x Bolas + 2x Griselbrand as win cons, but the health gain is the key to stabilising after early turns against aggro decks. Skipping 4 drops and going straight to Lone Revenant or Curse of Death's Hold (from the board) is a great play and can turn games around.

I'm quite happy with the deck. If I made any changes I would probably cut the Duress and perhaps a Snapcaster for either a pair of Lillianas or Curse of Death's Hold main deck. I didn't feel like I was using Snapcaster that much so 2 might be better.

Interesting thoughts. I'll swap in Ravings for Think Twice and see what I think of the results. I'll definitely pick up a few Lone Revenants to try out, and drop in a couple Talismans too.

Regarding Planeswalkers, Staff, and the vampires: I'm really still just trying out so many things. You're probably right on Chandra/Tamiyo, but I haven't had enough games to really get a feel for it, so I'll probably leave them in (for now). Liliana needs to be the next thing I pick up - I feel like it would really up the deck quality. Staff is probably coming out - I have enough expensive stuff already. And yes; I have been underimpressed by Bloodline Keeper; I just haven't quite decided what to run in its spot. I suppose if I ran a bigger beater as a win-con, I could run fewer of these little vampires.

And I hadn't considered about ensuring my creatures wouldn't die to Slagstorm; I'd just been playing around it when I ran into those situations, but I suppose I could deckbuild myself out of ever having to make those decisions too. And the sideboard is total junk; I basically just tossed in things that seemed useful.

Thanks for the feedback. What I really need to start doing is testing this thing in the tournament practice rooms instead of the casual jankery rooms. I do still run into the top-tier decks in there occasionally, but it's mostly just brews. It's probably time to kick the tires for real before getting too attached to anything in the deck.
 
Hey guys! Ended up not winning! lol

I started out to a 2-0-1 start for the first three rounds, then lost two in a row dropping me to 2-2-1. Then I won the next round, but ended up coming to a draw with my opponent. We didn't even make it to game 3. It would have made my record 3-2-2, effectively counting the ties as losses. My opponent was a cool dude and had a better record, so while I won game 2 I gave him the win for the round, officially dropping me to 3-3-1.

I played Naya Pod, and had some really crap draws in some of my losses. Thems the breaks I suppose

Decks I beat:

Delver -- was close but I was able to get through at the end of game 3
RUG-Ramp -- dude raged HARD when he couldn't draw anything in the final game
Monoblack Control -- He was one card away from Black Sunning me out... but I had lethal

Decks I lost to:
Wolf Run Ramp -- steamrolled me. Not even close
Brad Nelson's deck -- but not Brad Nelson himself lol

Decks I tied:
Esper control -- we played game 3 to time. Nice guy, early matchup, just couldn't go over the top
RUG-Ramp -- This was the one I technically "lost". He ramped out hard in game 1 and Wolf Ran me to death. Game 2 I killed his one Wolf Run and he was dead in the water when I dropped an Elesh Norn.

All in all, I'm OK with how I performed in my first MTG tourny.

Aw! Good work though :)
 
Thanks Ven.

One of my favorite parts of yesterday: I had a Thalia and an Avacyn's Pilgrim on the table turn 2. I passed the turn. My opponent top decks a Bonfire of the Damned with two lands in play. He reveals and tries to miracle it for 1. I explain to him that Thalia wouldn't allow him to do that, and he told me that the 1 goes into the X... whatever that meant. I said, I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way, and the spell would cost 1 colorless more. He said, I'm telling you, it doesn't. I replied that I didn't want to call him a liar, but I wanted to call a judge. So he slams his hand on to the table and literally screams "JUDGE!"

Of course, the judge came over and explained that if he wanted to miracle Bonfire with two lands and a Thalia in play, he could do it, X would just equal zero. I wouldn't feel so happy about it, but he was being such a jerk about being "right" that it was worth it to see the look on his face.
 
About to spend ~£150 on a crapton of singles tomorrow. What have you guys done to me? :(
On the plus side, that makes four and a half EDH decks (in addition to a mostly complete one and a half-built one I have already). Considering that £150 is less than some people spend on a single deck, there's definitely worse ways to spend money. They all play very differently, and I get to lend them out to friends to introduce them to the format too!
This must be my wallet's revenge for avoiding the Steam sale completely.
 
About to spend ~£150 on a crapton of singles tomorrow. What have you guys done to me? :(
On the plus side, that makes four and a half EDH decks (in addition to a mostly complete one and a half-built one I have already). Considering that £150 is less than some people spend on a single deck, there's definitely worse ways to spend money. They all play very differently, and I get to lend them out to friends to introduce them to the format too!
This must be my wallet's revenge for avoiding the Steam sale completely.

Buying cards is addicting. The good news, however, is many older cards usually hold value or go up in case you ever need to sell them for whatever reason. Right now I'm trying to sell off my collection and just play limited since that's the only format I enjoy. Some of the duals I have are double or triple what they were when I acquired them a few years ago.
 
So what do you guys think of the new M13 planeswalkers? The price on them is fluctuating all over the place; I'm trying to decide if I should pick some up on a downward spike or not. Part of me thinks that someone will figure out how to break the new Liliana in a control deck when the new lands come out. And while the Ajani looked great at first, I'm not convinced he's going to end up having a lot of impact.

Decisions, decision...
 
Yea Liliana's value won't really be known until shocklands hit. Ajani... ehh I dunno. I've played around with him a bit and while he's certainly good I don't see him usurping any cards in the existing tourney lists.
 
One thing you have to consider about planeswalkers is, at least initially, they're all massively overpriced due to casuals. Everybody wants to have the newest planeswalkers in their binder and unless you really need it for a deck, wait for the inevitable price drop (inb4JTMS).
 
One thing you have to consider about planeswalkers is, at least initially, they're all massively overpriced due to casuals. Everybody wants to have the newest planeswalkers in their binder and unless you really need it for a deck, wait for the inevitable price drop (inb4JTMS).

Yup, casuals plus the potential for another JTMS-level fuckup really inflates release prices for the things.



About to spend ~£150 on a crapton of singles tomorrow. What have you guys done to me? :(
On the plus side, that makes four and a half EDH decks (in addition to a mostly complete one and a half-built one I have already). Considering that £150 is less than some people spend on a single deck, there's definitely worse ways to spend money. They all play very differently, and I get to lend them out to friends to introduce them to the format too!
This must be my wallet's revenge for avoiding the Steam sale completely.

The good thing about EDH staples is that they tend to maintain decent value since it's an Eternal format. That's why I dont mind buying singles for those, usually I wont lose money on them.

I remember a few years ago, I had an order of 3 Taigas, 3 Tundras, 3 Savannah's, 4 Rishadan Ports, and maybe something else (was trying to finish my core Legacy collection at the time). The order arrived, then a day or two later it arrived again from a different vendor. Turns out I accidentally bought the stuff twice, and while the extra cost sucked since I wasn't expecting it (a few hundred more than what I planned to spend), the prices kept going up and are double-ish now from then, some more than that. So it can definitely be worth buying the singles.
 
Bonfires keep going up in price. Love it. Anybody need a playset?

I am currently in a love affair with Goblin decks and trying to build the most ridiculously powerful proxy deck. What's funny is that my real Gobs - with the one of Piledriver being the only card over 2 bucks - is destroying a fully tricked out delver proxy deck.
 
Bonfires keep going up in price. Love it. Anybody need a playset?

I am currently in a love affair with Goblin decks and trying to build the most ridiculously powerful proxy deck. What's funny is that my real Gobs - with the one of Piledriver being the only card over 2 bucks - is destroying a fully tricked out delver proxy deck.

why dont you just shove those bonfires into your goblins deck? lol.
 
An interesting discussion in my area's mtg group on facebook because of what happened at a tournament today. From what I gather, they were in the semi's of a GPT, and discussed a prize split. No deal, so they played and the HJ ok'ed this, but one player (also an L2 judge) wouldn't let it go. After he lost he first game, he spoke with the HJ and called up a major known local judge, who spoke with the HJ and resulted in the L2's opponent getting DQ'ed. G is arguing that D's discussion bordered on bribery, rather than prize split.

1) Top4 split is discussed by players and declined
2) D defeats R in game 1 of their top4 match
3) R is upset over the lack of a penalty, makes a phone call
4) Judge reverses ruling and DQs D

The discussion is ongoing, but I thought it made for a fascinating look into judge calls. In tournaments, the HJ has the final say. What do you think is the proper channel in a case such as this? If the HJ has already ruled, is it the player's responsibility to do as G did mid-tournament, or to take contact higher-ups afterwards? G has a definite interest in such a ruling, is such provoking inappropriate, or is that irrelevant given his bribery argument? Was G's 'phone a judge' move ethical, or perhaps necessary?
 
Bonfires keep going up in price. Love it. Anybody need a playset?

I am currently in a love affair with Goblin decks and trying to build the most ridiculously powerful proxy deck. What's funny is that my real Gobs - with the one of Piledriver being the only card over 2 bucks - is destroying a fully tricked out delver proxy deck.

Fuck, should have stocked up before apparently. It's funny how much entreat dropped after so many people I knew were holding them thinking they would stay crazy or go up.

Edit: Sorin and Tamiyo have dropped too. I have to start loading up on mythics while they dropped.
 
An interesting discussion in my area's mtg group on facebook because of what happened at a tournament today. From what I gather, they were in the semi's of a GPT, and discussed a prize split. No deal, so they played and the HJ ok'ed this, but one player (also an L2 judge) wouldn't let it go. After he lost he first game, he spoke with the HJ and called up a major known local judge, who spoke with the HJ and resulted in the L2's opponent getting DQ'ed. G is arguing that D's discussion bordered on bribery, rather than prize split.

1) Top4 split is discussed by players and declined
2) D defeats R in game 1 of their top4 match
3) R is upset over the lack of a penalty, makes a phone call
4) Judge reverses ruling and DQs D

The discussion is ongoing, but I thought it made for a fascinating look into judge calls. In tournaments, the HJ has the final say. What do you think is the proper channel in a case such as this? If the HJ has already ruled, is it the player's responsibility to do as G did mid-tournament, or to take contact higher-ups afterwards? G has a definite interest in such a ruling, is such provoking inappropriate, or is that irrelevant given his bribery argument? Was G's 'phone a judge' move ethical, or perhaps necessary?

It's ABSOLUTE bullshit that D was disqualified. I'm sorry but if you felt that strongly about it you should have appealed earlier on, not until you start losing matches to the other person. Looks extremely to wait like that.
 
An interesting discussion in my area's mtg group on facebook because of what happened at a tournament today. From what I gather, they were in the semi's of a GPT, and discussed a prize split. No deal, so they played and the HJ ok'ed this, but one player (also an L2 judge) wouldn't let it go. After he lost he first game, he spoke with the HJ and called up a major known local judge, who spoke with the HJ and resulted in the L2's opponent getting DQ'ed. G is arguing that D's discussion bordered on bribery, rather than prize split.

1) Top4 split is discussed by players and declined
2) D defeats R in game 1 of their top4 match
3) R is upset over the lack of a penalty, makes a phone call
4) Judge reverses ruling and DQs D

The discussion is ongoing, but I thought it made for a fascinating look into judge calls. In tournaments, the HJ has the final say. What do you think is the proper channel in a case such as this? If the HJ has already ruled, is it the player's responsibility to do as G did mid-tournament, or to take contact higher-ups afterwards? G has a definite interest in such a ruling, is such provoking inappropriate, or is that irrelevant given his bribery argument? Was G's 'phone a judge' move ethical, or perhaps necessary?

Hard to say without knowing details from all the parties involved but if the description is accurate as to what was posted here then R is a little whiny bitch. You can always discuss splitting prizes at the top.
 
I don't get these acronyms. Top 4 was D, R, G and "x"? R lost a game, R was in on the splitting discussion, R reported the discussion, and R didn't get in trouble as well?
 
An interesting discussion in my area's mtg group on facebook because of what happened at a tournament today. From what I gather, they were in the semi's of a GPT, and discussed a prize split. No deal, so they played and the HJ ok'ed this, but one player (also an L2 judge) wouldn't let it go. After he lost he first game, he spoke with the HJ and called up a major known local judge, who spoke with the HJ and resulted in the L2's opponent getting DQ'ed. G is arguing that D's discussion bordered on bribery, rather than prize split.

1) Top4 split is discussed by players and declined
2) D defeats R in game 1 of their top4 match
3) R is upset over the lack of a penalty, makes a phone call
4) Judge reverses ruling and DQs D

The discussion is ongoing, but I thought it made for a fascinating look into judge calls. In tournaments, the HJ has the final say. What do you think is the proper channel in a case such as this? If the HJ has already ruled, is it the player's responsibility to do as G did mid-tournament, or to take contact higher-ups afterwards? G has a definite interest in such a ruling, is such provoking inappropriate, or is that irrelevant given his bribery argument? Was G's 'phone a judge' move ethical, or perhaps necessary?
What was the reason given for D's disqualification? In any event, though, I thought the proper channel would be to go up to the Tournament Organizer. If the TO is hiring shoddy judges, that could be bad for business.
 
It's impossible to say whether there was bribery here. Not enough information on the discussion. From this info here, if I was HJ, R would have been given a Game Loss for Unsporting Conduct-Minor if he failed to let it go after a warning (given I'd already determined everything was on the up and up)
 
I feel like I need bonfires to be competitive...

But the problem is, I can't even make it to FNM with my shitty work schedule. Even if I just sucked it up and bought 2-3 bonfires, I don't play in any tournaments anyway.

Sucks.
 
Goblin Wardriver is definitely worth having 4 of. I'd replace the fireslingers with Spikeshot elders who synergize with the warcry. Maybe replace a couple of your burn spells with Goblin Arms Dealers for cheap repeatable goblin grenade effects.

Thanks for this. I've modified it as per your advice, and a lot of it I can already anticipate making it more interesting. Looking forward to playing this weekend.
 
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