How to draft Modern Masters 2015?

I've prepared a guide how to draft Modern Masters 2015. Among 249 cards I've selected the most desirable cards during drafting and I divided them into three groups. Group named "1st pick" are bombs, always pick them. Group named "2nd pick" are also very good cards. In the first place while drafting, look for cards listed below. Some of you may be surprised that Tarmogoyf or some other top modern cards are in "3rd pick", but I made an assumption that we want to have the best possible limited deck and we do not take value picks.

1st pick
White: Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite.
Blue: -
Red: Comet Storm.
Green: Ant Queen, Wolfbriar Elemental.
Black: Profane Command, Bitterblossom.
Multi: -
Artifact: Karn Liberated.


2nd pick
White: Battlegrace Angel, Indomitable Archangel, Mirran Crusader, Mirror Entity.
Blue: Mulldrifter.
Red: Banefire, Hellkite Charger, Lightning Bolt,
Green: Bestial Menace, Cytoplast Root-Kin, Overwhelming Stampede, Pelakka Wurm, Primeval Titan.
Black: Dismember, Puppeteer Clique.
Multi: Apocalypse Hydra, Creakwood Liege, Ghost Council of Orzhova, Necrogenesis, Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind, Nobilis of War, Savage Twister, Selesnya Guildmage, Vengeful Rebirth, Wilt-Leaf Liege.
Artifact: Mortarpod, Precursor Golem, Spellskite, Cranial Plating, Lodestone Myr.

3rd pcik:
White: Arrest, Hikari, Twilight Guardian, Oblivion Ring, Spectral Procession, Sunlance, Conclave Phalanx, Court Homunculus, Dispatch, Kami of Ancient Law, Kor Duelist, Moonlit Strider, Skyhunter Skirmisher, Sunspear Shikari, Taj-Nar Swordsmith, Waxmane Baku.
Blue: Aethersnipe, Air Servant, Argent Sphinx, Cryptic Command, Guile, Mana Leak, Narcolepsy, Remand, Repeal, Tezzeret’s Gambit, Vendilion Clique, Water Servant, Faerie Mechanist, Helium Squirter, Novijen Sages, Qumulox, Somber Hoverguard, Tezzeret the Seeker, Thrummingbird.
Red: Burst Lightning, Fiery Fall, Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker, Spikeshot Elder, Spitebellows, Thunderblust, Wildfire, Blood Ogre, Bloodshot Trainee, Goblin Fireslinger, Gorehorn Minotaurs, Inner-Flame Igniter, Smokebraider, Stormblood Berserker, Tribal Flames.
Green: Aquastrand Spider, Kozilek's Predator, Nest Invader, Noble Hierarch, Rampant Growth, Scute Mob, Tarmogoyf, Matca Rioters, Scatter the Seeds.
Black: Endrek Sahr, Master Breeder, Grim Affliction, Midnight Banshee, Nameless Inversion, Necroskitter, Spread the Sickness, Bone Splinters, Dread Drone, Ghostly Changeling, Plagued Rusalka, Reassembling Skeleton, Scuttling Death, Thief of Hope, Vampire Outcasts.
Multi: Agony Warp, Ashenmoor Gouger, Boros Swiftblade, Dimir Guildmage, Electrolyze, Ethercaste Knight, Glassdust Hulk, Hearthfire Hobgoblin, Lorescale Coatl, Mystic Snake, Pillory of the Sleepless, Plaxcaster Frogling, Restless Apparition, Shadowmage Infiltrator, Shrewd Hatchling, Swans of Bryn Argoll, Wrecking Ball.
Artifact: All Is Dust, Blinding Souleater, Etched Monstrosity, Lodestone Golem, Sphere of the Suns, Wayfarer's Bauble, Etched Champion, Etched Oracle, Glint Hawk Idol, Long-Forgotten Gohei, Myr Enforcer, Rusted Relic, Skyreach Manta.

MTGO Library Bot 9.69 - Modern Masters 2015

We have just released ML Bot 9.69, supporting the new set Modern Masters 2015 (MM2). The new pricelist is already available online, and for free during the update process.
LITE bots should update the pricelist as well.

Please don't forget that prices will drop in the first 2-3 days, so don't buy too high till Sunday.

Modern Masters is Online!

Hi Everyone,
I postponed my article until the release of Modern Masters 2015. It's pretty exciting to be part of something that's likely going to become a regular thing (Modern Masters sets).

I talked before about picking up cards right away. I know prices are usually inflated, but there's often a very short time when the expensive cards are very cheap. This is only for a couple days.

If you look at Wasteland, the day Tempest Remastered was released, it was about $25.00. The next few days it jumped to the $40 range and is today (the time of this writing at least) is around $50. We all could have cashed in off the low anticipated demand.

So, I just want to point out that there could be some opportunities to score sweet deals on Goyfs today and tomorrow. After the first couple days it's much easier to anticipate demand and prices will be more accurate to reflect the demand.

Sunday, I will be returning from GP Vegas and I'll have a report on the tournament!

Mono Blue Control vs Boros Tokens in Standard Pauper

As I have mentioned before, there are two free Standard Pauper tournaments with real prizes going on at pdcmagic.com.

This week the SPDC 29.07 was won by the talented DrChrisBakerDC playing Mono Blue Control and MPDC 29.07 runner-up was davbricar with Bad Aggro Boros (Boros Tokens).

We discussed the result and the deck lists on the MagicGatheringStrat show ep 14




I personally felt that the Mono Blue Control deck could not really handle a deck like Boros Tokens. The conventional choice is to play Izzet Control in Standard Pauper right now as you need removal and the Mono Blue list has a real lack for removal.  So the question this week is "How does Mono Blue Control handle Boros Tokens?"

In fact, DrChrisBakerDC defeated davbricars Boros Tokens deck in his 6-0 run as davbricar played both tournaments.

Lets have a look at the decks.

MONO BLUE CONTROL

Standard · Control

1st by DrChrisBakerDC in SPDC 29.07 (6-0)

MAINDECK

Creatures

4 Jeskai Sage

4 Whirlwind Adept

1 Nimbus Naiad

1 Palace Familiar

Spells

4 Divination

4 Griptide

4 Nullify

4 Treasure Cruise

3 Rise of Eagles

2 Anticipate

2 Negate

1 Cancel

1 Voyage's End

1 Whisk Away

Lands

16 Island

4 Evolving Wilds

4 Radiant Fountain

SIDEBOARD

4 Sidisi's Faithful

4 Coral Barrier

3 Disdainful Stroke

2 Voyage's End

2 Negate

The basic idea with this deck is the classic Mono Blue Control idea. Counter whatever your bounce and creatures can not handle. Win through Card Advantage.

BAD AGGRO BOROS

Standard · Aggro-Combo

2nd by davbricar in MPDC 29.07 (4-2)

MAINDECK

Creatures

4 Mardu Hordechief

4 Sandsteppe Outcast

4 Selfless Cathar

Spells

4 Collateral Damage

4 Dragon Fodder

4 Raise the Alarm

4 Tormenting Voice

4 Triplicate Spirits

4 Trumpet Blast

Lands

10 Mountain

10 Plains

4 Wind-Scarred Crag

SIDEBOARD

4 Impact Tremors

4 Borderland Marauder

4 Kinsbaile Skirmisher

3 Flurry of Horns Many tokens. Big tokens. Tokens smash! How do you sideboard with the Mono Blue Control deck in this matchup? My initial idea was something like - 1 Rise of Eagles (too expensive) - 1 Cancel (keeping up three mana is hard) - 4 Nullify (too few targets) - 2 Divination (too slow) +4 Coral Barrier (we need blockers) +2 Voyage's End (we will get card disadvantage this way but at least we can kill a token) +2 Negate (it seems absolutely necessary to counter those Triplicate Spirits and Trumpet Blasts) What do you think? Testing the matchupI did a test run against ShiftingShadwos. I was playing the Mono Blue Control deck and he was playing Boros Tokens. I struggled in this matchup and I am sure I made plenty of mistakes. Please point them all out. When you do, give me the min:sec for the situation you are commenting so I can quickly review it, please.

Modern Masters 2015 not worth it?

Hi Everyone!

This weekend is GP Vegas. It's one of the three simultaneous GPs for Modern Masters 2015. I'm pretty excited because Las Vegas is only about a four hour drive from where I live and I'm going. 

I know we have all read about all the archetypes in Modern Masters 2015 so I'm not going to get into them right now.

Anyway, enough rambling about the upcoming largest GP ever. The thing that has me concerned is that everywhere I go people seem to be writing that $10 per pack is too expensive for Modern Masters 2015. They say the EV is less than $10 per pack.

If I only said one thing today, and only make one point in this article, I want to point out that sets like Modern Masters 2015 need to have an EV of less than the sale price. The first Modern Masters had insane prices because people bought and hoarded the boxes. With there being less EV compared to price, the packs will likely be opened and played with. This will do what the set is designed to do, lower prices of Modern Staples.

That's all for now, I'll report next week with the happenings at GP Vegas.

Last week I posted about a green elf deck with Collected Company. It was a sweet deck that has been gaining popularity and is something you should check out if you haven't seen it yet!

The Modern Bible of RG Tron chapter fourteen - Slaughter Game Targets

While we are on the topic of sideboarding, we should discuss what we are going to target with Slaughter Games for maximum effect IF we have dedicated three or four sideboard slots to Slaughter Games.

We use Slaughter Games as it is a game winning card against combo decks. Combo decks are the natural predator of RG Tron and this is a very efficient way of fighting them.

Slaughter Games Targets
Ad Nauseum: Ad Nauseum. Do not hit their win con as they might have alternative wincons.
Amulet of Vigor: Primeval Titan. After that hit Hive Mind and then Amulet itself.
Eggs: Krark-Clan Ironworks
Genesis Wave: Garruk Wildspeaker
Living End: Living End
Random Combo: Win cons
RG Tron: Karn. In the Tron mirror, Karn is king.
Scapeshift: Scapeshift
Skred: Koth of the Hammer
Splinter Twin: Do not bring in Slaughter Games as they could board out Splinter Twin and win without it even if kept
Storm: Grapeshot
Takin' Turns: Time Warp and then Walk the Aeons


For a full list of the chapters of The Modern Bible check out this link: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/02/the-modern-bible-of-rg-tron-part-1.html

How easy it is to repack a MM2015 Booster Pack

Modern Masters 2015 boosters are made out of recyclable material. This video is exposing a potential flaw in the new packaging.

Be catious in buying single MM15 booster packs from unknown source. 

Modern Elves with Collected Company Videos!

Hi Everyone!

If you read my article on Sunday, you already know that I had some computer problems and wasn't able to post videos but I said I'd have them today....and I do!

I recorded four matches and a deck tech. I included all five videos in the playlist below.

The only complaint I have is that the deck was insane when I recorded the matches the first time around (when the file was corrupt) and later that same day a very popular site posted a video of a remarkably similar deck. The problem with that is that MTGO adapts very quickly and hated out "aggressive weenie" strategies. The second outing wasn't as good as the first time but I think when the dust settles this can be a deck with a proper time and place to be played (like bogles).

Enjoy!

Formidable Green in Standard Pauper

Many magic players start out playing green decks with big monsters. Eventually we all learn that is not a very efficient strategy but there are sometimes exceptions to this rule. Now is the time of such an exception.

Meet Formidable Green, a Standard Pauper deck by Gq1rf7 (yes, that is a player's online name).

4 Elvish Mystic

4 Stampeding Elk Herd

4 Swordwise Centaur

3 Alpine Grizzly

3 Glade Watcher

3 Nylea's Disciple

2 Atarka Beastbreaker

2 Nessian Courser

2 Vulpine Goliath

1 Leafcrown Dryad

1 Sedge Scorpion

Spells

4 Epic Confrontation

3 Aspect of Hydra

2 Hunter's Ambush

Lands

22 Forest

SIDEBOARD

2 Savage Punch

2 Leafcrown Dryad

2 Hunter's Ambush

2 Ranger's Guile

2 Sedge Scorpion

1 Return to the Earth

1 Nessian Courser

1 Dragon-Scarred Bear

1 Aspect of Hydra

1 Nylea's Disciple

Play mana. Play big monsters. Swing for the win. OK, you have to use some combat tricks but this deck is surprisingly efficient.

Sample matches

Here are three matches I played with the deck. I have not yet figured out how to sideboard, but I am enjoying the list very much.

First a match vs a heroic deck. The heroics decks are falling out of favor, possibly because of new, better removal at common.

As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago there are now infinite combos in Standard Pauper. In this second match I run into one of them ... but the green guys provide a pretty fast clock!

Can Formidable Green be contained? Well, if it can, I bet a UR Control deck would be the one deck to be able to. What about a Grixis Control deck? Well, lets see:

The Modern Bible of RG Tron chapter thirteen: Sideboard Candidate Cards part two

In this and the previous chapter of the Modern Bible, we are going to discuss the candidate cards for the sideboard. All of this document is supposed to be a living document that can be updated and that may be the most true for these two chapters. If you feel that a sideboard card needs to be included, please say so in the comments.

Cards to consider for your sideboard (part 2 of 2)

Leyline of Sanctity: Best choice against Burn. Scapeshift. Takes up too many SB slots.
Life from the Loam:  Any protection against LD is probably too tricky. In a LD-heavy meta, do not play Tron.
Lightning Bolt: Possible MD replacement for Pyroclasm.
Melira: Best SB card against Infect.
Nature's Claim: Extremely versatile and works in many matchups. Does not work against Chalice of the Void (it just gets countered)
Pithing Needle: You need a plan for this if you are going to use it. Dies to o-stone. Used for Tec Edge and Ghost Quarter. Maybe useful against Colonnade
Platinum Emperion: Twin. Clunky.
Relic of Progenitus: Living End. Storm. Often MD. Good enough to occupy a SB slot?
Shatterstorm: Affinity. Hits us. Harder to cast than Creeping Corrosion. Does not hit Nexus.
Slaughter Games: The next chapter is all about Slaughter Games.
Spellskite: Boggles, Infect, Splinter Twin, Aggro. Searchable with Eye. Very good SB card. One main deck = Good
Sudden Shock: Possible MD replacement for Pyroclasm
Sundering Titan (+ Cavern of Souls):  Scapeshift, UWR, BGx
Surgical Extraction: Hard to use without discard. Inferior to Slaughter Games?
Thorn of Amethyst: Storm. Dies to o-stone but o-stone is probably sided out anyway
Thragtusk: Burn, Aggro. Is he fast enough? Much faster than Wurmcoil!
Torpor Orb: Splinter Twin. Easy to destroy or bounce. Does stuff even when they board out Splinter Twin.
Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth: Goes w/ Sundering Titan & Slaughter Games. Eye gives Mana. Titan always has 1 target.
Vandalblast: Affinity. Easier to cast than Creeping Corrosion. Does not hit Nexus.
Wurmcoil Engine: Aggro, Burn. Many have the 4th in the SB.


For a full list of the chapters of The Modern Bible check out this link: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/02/the-modern-bible-of-rg-tron-part-1.html

Collected Company in Modern

Hi Everyone!

I have been playing a lot of Modern. I knew Collected Company was a powerhouse in Standard so I thought, what can it do in Modern?

I apologize because I recorded about 5 matches but my computer didn't render them properly and the file was corrupt. Needless to say, I was disappointed.

Instead, I want to highlight some of the interesting interactions in the deck. I played against and beat Soul Sisters when in both games they had a turn 1 soul sister and a turn two Ajani's Pridemate. I ended up just barely being able to race.

The deck seems pretty much superior to every regular creature deck but it was weak to unfair decks like any combo and Tron.

The only creature deck I didn't beat all week was a Merfolk deck (I only lost one match against merfolk all week). He had double Merrow Reejery and a phantasmal image in his hand opening hand both games. It's hard to beat a deck when they tap down 3 creatures for each spell they play. Those were the two games he won. I won game two with an average draw to his average draw with several lords but only one Merrow Reejery.

Sorry that I don't have any video's today. I'll make some more and have them for you next time!

Magic at Vice

This week the people at Vice put out their short documentary about Magic for their American Obsessions series.

Warning! Not for people with weak nerves. The view of unsleeved Moxes or Ancestrall Recall may cause palpitations.

Reprint set advice

Hi Everyone!

Today I'm going to talk about a phenomenon that I have mentioned before that happens somewhat with regular sets but all the time with reprint sets. This applied to Vintage Masters, Tempest Remastered, and will apply to Modern Masters 2015.

The prices of the most expensive cards (Wasteland in Tempest Remastered) started at an arbitrary price and dropped significantly, then essentially went back up to higher than the starting price. When Modern Masters comes out, remember to take advantage of the low prices due to unknown demand for cards.

What to do about Tempest Remastered? It's already too late to pick up cards. The best bet on this is to just wait until the set goes off sale. But the lowest prices are when the set goes off sale and the price stops dropping. VMA took several days after going off sale to completely drop in price to their natural prices. When the bottom is reached, this is usually the lowest price the cards will ever be until they decide to reprint them again.

Good luck, happy trading!

MTGO Library Bot 9.66

ML Bot 9.66 fixes a crash happening on slow computers during the MTGO login phase. The problem was not easily reproducible - most of the times the login worked fine.
When the crash happened, the bot used to restart MTGO - this resulted in several minutes of downtime.

Modern Masters 2015 Draft Archetypes

Modern Masters 2015 has been fully revealed. The draft archetypes are somewhat surprising.

The ten draft archetypes in Modern Masters 2015:

RW Equipment
WU Artifacts (yes, the same archetype as in the first Modern Masters)
UB Profilerate/Wither
BR Aggro/Bloodthirst
RG 5C ramp (into Eldrazi hopefully)
GW Tokens
WB Spirits
UR Elementals
BG Sacrifice
UG Graft

MTGO Library Bot 9.65

We have just released ML Bot 9.65, a minor update on version 9.64. We fixed a couple of small bugs here and there and we made the bot slightly faster when picking cards.

The Modern Bible of RG Tron chapter twelve: Sideboard Candidate Cards part one

In this and the next chapter of the Modern Bible, we are going to discuss the candidate cards for the sideboard. All of this document is supposed to be a living document that can be updated and that may be the most true for these two chapters. If you feel that a sideboard card needs to be included, please say so in the comments.

Cards to consider for your sideboard (part 1 of 2)

All is Dust: Oblivion Stone #5. Probably very hard to fit in. Searchable with Stirrings.
Ancient Grudge: Affinity. Easy to cast. I tend not to like this card as I want to kill ALL their artifacts, but the instant speed is a huge advantage. Hits Nexus.
Autumn's Veil: Any protection against LD is probably too tricky. In a LD-heavy meta, do not play Tron.
Beast Within: Flexible removal. The 3/3 can prove difficult.
Boil: Scapeshift, Twin, UWR. Superior to Choke.
Chalice of the Void: Very versatile. Can be used for 1 without hurting us too much. You could possible play more Prophetic Prisms if you run Chalice. Chapter fifteen will be all about Chalice of the Void.
Choke: Inferior to Boil as they get to use their island once and that might be all they need.
Combust: Splinter Twin, Merfolk. Very common SB card. Not searchable. Deals only with one card.
Creeping Corrosion: Affinity. Hits us. Harder to cast than Vandalblast. Does not hit Nexus.
Crucible of Worlds: Any protection against LD is probably too tricky. In a LD-heavy meta, do not play Tron.
Defense Grid: Splinter Twin, Merfolk, UWR. Removeable. Searchable with Stirrings.
Dismember: Infect. Often serves the same role as Combust but can be countered. Damage hurts.
Dragon's Claw: You do not want to bring in Smash to Smithereen targets against Burn.
Elixir of Immortality: Maybe against Burn. Too little life gain. Inferior to Nature's Claim.
Feed the Clan: Maybe against Burn. Superior to Elixir of Immortality.
Firespout: Zoo. Merfolk possibly. Should probably replace Pyroclasm in Zoo infested metas. CC similar to All is Dust for this specific deck.
Ghost Quarter: Mirror. Goes with Crucible of Worlds.
Grafdigger's Cage: Storm. Removeable
Krosan Grip: Inferior to Nature's Claim


For a full list of the chapters of The Modern Bible check out this link: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/02/the-modern-bible-of-rg-tron-part-1.html

How to draft Tempest Remastered?

For those who are not familiar with Tempest block I've prepared a guide how to draft Tempest Remastered. Among 269 cards I've selected the most desirable cards during drafting and I divided them into two groups. Group named "1st pick" are bombs, always pick them. Group named "2nd pick" are also very good cards. In the first place while drafting, look for cards listed below.

1st pick: Mawcor, Winds of Rath, Silver Wyvern, Soltari Champion, Meditate, Time Warp, Corpse Dance, Kor Chant, Recurring Nightmare, Verdant Force, Overrun, Shaman en-Kor, Volrath's Stronghold, Renegade Warlord
2nd pick: Master Decoy, Dark Banishing, Shackles, Pacifism, Exalted Dragon, Kezzerdrix, Death Stroke, Acidic Sliver, Spike Hatcher, Rootwater Hunter, Flowstone Wyvern, Killer Whale, Ephemeron, Selenia, Dark Angel, Crovax the Cursed, Merfolk Looter, Deadshot, Repentance, Field of Souls, Kindle, Screeching Harpy, Pegasus Stampede, Paladin en-Vec, Carnassid, Heartwood Giant, Krakilin, Mindless Automaton, Skyshroud Troll, Spike Feeder, Thopter Squadron, Spike Breeder, Flame Wave, Legacy's Allure, Gerrard's Battle Cry, Dauthi Warlord, Spined Sliver, Mirri, Cat Warrior, Starke of Rath, Spirit Mirror, Mage il-Vec

I remember Mirage like it was yesterday. Magic has come a long way since Mirage

Hi Everyone!

Happy Mothers Day!

Today I had a friend send a picture to me from an old Magic magazine. I remember reading "Scrye" when I first started playing. He said he came across the picture online and he didn't post it originally. Thank you to whoever found this gem!

It's an issue from when Mirage was the "new" set on sale. I remember the big hype was Grinning Totem. Honestly, I had to look up Grinning Totem just now to see what it even did. It's really bad, it lets me search their library for a card and play it. Not without paying it's mana cost. I still had to pay for the card if I wanted to play it, then it went into their graveyard anyway if I didn't play it. That is so much worse than so many things available. Even if you got an Ancestral Recall, it's 7 mana for Ancestral? It's 7U, they have Treasure Cruise for that. Also there's Jace's Ingenuity for 3UU (identical effect except it doesn't put it in your opponents graveyard). If you're going to get a creature just play Bribery. I guess the point I'm trying to make is to play cards that do things, not Grinning Totem.

Here's a real gem of a combo if you're into cards that do nothing.

Wall of Roots is the best you can do with "put a creature into play from your hand". I know creatures weren't like they are today, but seriously, this is hilarious. My favorite part is that the tip is to then use the card you just put into play to help play your next creature!

Dns problem with mtgolibrary.com, please use mtgolibrary.net

There are some problems with the DNS (Domain Name Servers) and some part of the world cannot access www.mtgolibrary.com . These kind of problem usually resolves automatically in few hours, in the meanwhile you can access your Online Control Panel via http://www.mtgolibrary.net/ 

The server is the same, you are just accessing it via another url.

Now that Tempest Remastered is here.....

Hi Everyone!
Yesterday was the release day for Tempest Remastered. Wastelands are down to about $25 and everything else is pretty cheap. The next most expensive card is around $5. It seems like the mission to lower cards from Tempest block online has been achieved.

I don't know how many of you are eternal format players online, but the price of a card is significantly manipulated by its popularity mostly in Modern and Legacy. While I play Vintage a lot more than the two others, it's just not that popular. In fact, the daily event didn't fire on time and I waited about 10 minutes before I left.

It's not a secret that I'm not a huge fan of Modern because there are two kinds of decks, combo decks and decks that are designed to disrupt combo decks until they can win. There are some "control" options but I don't see any of them winning any major tournaments. It was always Pod (when it was legal) and Twin (a combo deck with a weak but sometimes adequate backup plan).

So, now that I can't play in the Vintage Daily because i got impatient, I decided to check out the Legacy tournament practice room. I was blown away. There were a ton of games going on and when I whipped up a deck and entered I had an opponent in a few seconds.

I think Legacy is a great idea and is a good format but until recently never played it. I didn't realize that it's so vibrant online. I don't completely see the allure over Vintage online (other than price) but it is popular.

I mostly focused on Standard and Modern cards. I think now especially that Tempest Remastered is out to get into Legacy cards. I have talked about it before that even when cards come out and drop in price (like Wasteland) that they end up pushing up prices of other cards that aren't released. Look at Wasteland last summer when Vintage Masters was out, the price was at an all time high.

Hidden Tempest Remastered Cards in wishlist

There is a minor MTGO bug related to TPR card visualization. Users should be aware of this:
Quoting MTGO article:  http://magic.wizards.com/en/MTGO/articles/archive/magic-online/magic-online-announcements-may-5-2015


Known Issue Around Trading Tempest Remastered Cards

We added a new known issue in last week's Bug Blog involving trading cards from Tempest Remastered.

The Tempest Remastered set is hidden if unowned. This means that if a player owns no Tempest Remastered cards, the Tempest Remastered filter cannot be selected as a possible format, even if the player has the quantity filter set to 0. Because of this issue, a player who doesn't own any Tempest Remastered cards cannot place any of those cards in their wishlist. This bug is scheduled to be fixed during the Wednesday, May 27 deployment. In the meantime, players can find a breakdown of how we expect this to affect trading Tempest Remastered. Thank you for your patience while we work on this!

Trading Tempest Remastered without using wishlists:

If a player who does not own any Tempest Remastered cards begins a trade with another player who has Tempest Remastered cards, then Tempest Remastered cards will be visible in the trade for both players.

The player who did not own any Tempest Remastered cards is able to trade with that other player to get Tempest Remastered cards without issue.
Once the trade is complete, the player who did not have any Tempest Remastered cards will now find that the Tempest Remastered filter in their collection is functional.
Once the filter is functional, the player will only be able to see cards that they own.
Trading Tempest Remastered using a wishlist:

If a user owns no Tempest Remastered, the Tempest Remastered filter cannot be selected as a possible format, even if the player has the quantity filter set to 0. Because of this, a player who doesn't own any Tempest Remastered cards cannot place any of those cards in their wishlist. The only cards that can be added to the wishlist, are ones that a player already owns.

MTGO Library Bot 9.63 - Tempest Remastered

We have just released ML Bot 9.63 supporting Tempest Remastered (TPR). The updated pricelist is available for download on the Online Control Panel and for free during the update process.
As usual LITE bot users should update their bots as well.
Don't forget that prices are very volatile during the first days of  a new set.

What to do with all the junk rares on your bots?

The recent drop in junk rares prices by mtgotraders from 5 cents to 1 cent has affected the market as a whole. I suspect I have been way to fascinated by picking up cheap junk rares but what I (and you) seriously has to consider is what we are going to do with these rares.

Lite Bots are not working like they used to. Even the prices of commons and uncommons have dropped.

Will junk rare prices rise again?
Probably not. The enormous supply and ease of sale on Magic Online do push the price of these cards down to the bottom and, except in special cases (most often Standard legal cards) the prices will probably stay low even with a huge influx of new players on Magic Online.

How should you price your junk rares?
I have kept the high price of 5 cents for my junk rares. I sell 3 uncommons for 3 cents and commons for 2 cents. Honestly, I sell a lot more commons and uncommons than rares.

My reasoning is that these cards are usually used to burn the last credit a user has on the bot. If he is going to burn his last credit he might as well give me some margin. In fact, these deals are among the most profitable I make percentage-wise, but naturally it is very hard to scale to make any significant difference to the bottom line.

What about the Lite Bots?
My Lite Bot business has been really hurt by this change in pricing. Business is perhaps 20% of what it used to be just a few months back. Have you experienced the same?

Who wants the Junk Rares?
Well, the problem probably is that noone does. I have heard some podcasts talk about how rogue brewing now is dirt cheap on Magic Online and that is of course true but not to a degree that helps us botters generate any money. I wish Heirloom was a bigger format.


What is your strategy for dealing with junk rares on your bots? How many do you pick up? What do you pay for them? How do you sell them? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

The Modern Bible of RG Tron chapter eleven - The principles of the RG Tron Sideboard

In this chapter of the Modern Bible, we are going to discuss the principles behind a good sideboard for the RG Tron deck. You see all kind of shennanigans in RG Tron sideboards, but there are some truths that should not be ignored when it comes to sideboarding with RG Tron.

Your sideboard cards should be searchable if possible
You happen to have a very efficient search engine for lands, an efficient search engine for colorless creatures and a somewhat efficient search engine (Ancient Stirrings) for colorless cards. Use it. If your choice is between a land and a sorcery, tend to put the sorcery in the sideboard.

If your sideboard card is not searchable you need at least three copies of it
If you think that a sideboard card is important enough to include even though you can not search for it, you need to ensure that you find it quickly by playing three or four copies. A prime example is Slaughter Games. If you find it necessary, do not play less than three copies. I can not stress this enough. If you play only two copies, odds are that you will never find the card before turn four when you need to cast it at the latest for it to work well for you.

Against decks that win very quickly Emrakul will not save you
You should always board out Emrakul in the fast matchups. In these matchups, Wurmcoil Engine works well as your top end. These matchups include, but are not limited to, Affinity and Burn.

Never sideboard out your search engine
If at all possible tend to keep all the Expedition Maps, Sylvan Scrying, Eggs and Ancient Stirrings in the deck. If you dillute the search engine you destroy what your deck is best at. Do not do this.

Your deck is presideboarded so that you can easily find cards to cut
Running main deck Pyroclasms and Relics of Progenitus means that you often know what to cut, but do not worry - I will provide you with detailed SB plans for the three deck lists I have shown you.

You can only sideboard out lands if you run 21 lands
You can consider the 21st land a pre-sideboarded card. Some people argue that Eye of Ugin can be sideboarded out against the very fast matchups but sometimes the ability to tutor for a Spellskite or a Wurmcoil Engine can be the thing that saves you. If any land can be sideboarded out in a 20-land RG Tron list it is the eye. I tend not to do this.

If you try to sideboard against their hate you are probably doing it wrong
They will bring in Sowing Salt, Fulminator Mages and other things you will not like. It is very tempting to consider anti-sideboard sideboard cards on your side. This is generally a mistake. You already have a very powerful search engine for lands which can be used to counter their anti-land strategy.

A sideboard card should be useable in more than one matchup or win you the game outright
If you find that your sideboard card is only useful in one matchup and does not win you the game outright (like Slaughter Games often does), tend to steer clear of the card in question. The one exception is that if that one deck is the #1 deck in the meta and over 25% of the field are playing it. The one deck that people tend to include this kind of cards against the most is Burn. We will devote an entire chapter to the Burn matchup.

A prime example of a very useful card in many matchups is Nature's Claim, which is why you see three or four copies in most RG Tron sideboards.

Have a sideboard plan
Only with a detailed sideboard plan can you decide which cards are really worthy of being in your sideboard.

Sideboard more in the 50/50 matchups
If you matchup is extremely strong, you really do not need any more cards against the deck. If your matchup is extremely weak and sideboarding does not help much, don't waste sideboard slots trying to save the matchup. If given a choice, tend to put in more sideboard cards for the matchups that are close to even. These matchups include, but are not limited to, Affinity and Burn.





For a full list of the chapters of The Modern Bible check out this link: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/02/the-modern-bible-of-rg-tron-part-1.html

MTGO Library Bot 9.62

Hi all, we have just released ML Bot 9.62. This is a minor build, an update on 9.61 better handling the final "checkout" part of the trades.

Modern Masters 2015 Mythics and Rares

Hi Everyone,
Finally, after what feels like forever, Modern Masters 2015 spoilers are starting to surface. I came across some information and it's not confirmed as of this moment but here's the list of Mythics from Modern Masters 2015. Below I have a list of the rares that people are going to care about.

There are obviously three more Mythics and it's rumored that Fulminator Mage could be one of them.




 Rares:
Cycle of 5 commands including Cryptic Command.

Goblin Guide

Noble Hierarch

How to wake up full of energy? Part 3

Insufficient light affects operation of the pineal gland, where serotonin is produced. This neurotransmitter is responsible for the good mood. When the light is much, the pineal gland produces more serotonin, and then you have a better mood. Lack of light is probably the reason for the increased number of people suffering from depression in northern countries. In Scandinavia, the number of sunny days is extremely low and as statistics show, there is a higher number of suicides. So make sure that your room has enough light in the morning.

Get up always at the same time. If your lifestyle allows it, set yourself a time at which you will always wake up. After a while your biological clock will get used to it. Each day is different and some days are more tiring than others. However, your brain will always know when go to the bed and get some sleep.

In addition to the above mentioned methods, it is worth remembering about a few other equally important principles. Before bedtime air the room and drink a glass or two of mineral water, non-carbonated. Experiment also with different types of alarm.

Some tips may be more suitable for you than others. I suggest you to start trying each individually.
Observe your energy level and desire to get up out of the bed. Once you will practice every method, start to combine them. I hope these tips will help you to get up easily for the rest of your life.