An interview with Edmund McMillen

Edmund McMillen was one of the 15 video game designers that were invited to make cards for M15. Edmund's card was Cruel Sadist, one of the most innovative designs in M15.

My friend Sam got the opportunity to interview Edmund for the YouTube channel Hard Nerd Cafe yesterday.



Edmund is most well known for Meat Boy and Super Meat Boy but has been involed in many other games (including Gish, Aether, The Binding of Isaac and Coil) as well as comics.

This interview also appears in the MagicGatheringStrat podcast episode 21 on itunes if you prefer it as a audio only file.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/magicgatheringstrat-podcast/id918846260?mt=2

The M14 Bulk Mythics project - final evaluation

A year ago I published a video about M13 crap mythics and how I would use my theories about redemption to earn money on M14 crap mythics. A crap Mythic is a mythic that goes below 50 cent at any point of its Standard life.

My actions a year ago

I invested heavily in M14 Mythics, particularly Windreader Sphinx, Darksteel Forge, Ring of Three Wishes and Devout Invocation.

At one point I even managed to move the price on Mo Souba for Windreader Sphinx.

I had 200+ copies of some or the Mythics. I did not dare go deeper at the time. And I was right not to.

Other sets
I tried to apply the same principles to other sets and found that the principle does not at all apply to small sets (Dragon's Maze) but that it applied (though somewhat less) to big sets (such as Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash).

I am now trying actively to buy any Mythic that goes below 50 cents.

So what happened to Windreader Sphinx?
When time came for the redeemers to get their crap mythics, the price of them increased violently. Just look at this graph

http://www.mtggoldfish.com/price/Magic+2014+Core+Set/Windreader+Sphinx#online

The right time to sell was December 18th or 19th. If you did you were looking at a solid 400% profit in a year if you bought at the bottom. Almost exactly like I predicted back in 2013.

So how did I do?
This is probably the part of this article you can learn the most from.

First I lowered the buy price on all the M14 crap mythics to 0,05 so I would not be one of the botters buying these from anyone and then lose money.

I put half of my crap mythics on the bots for sale at the estimated peak prices in November. Then I got nervous and decreased the prices. On December 8th a scraper bought every single copy of every one of them but at that time I had decreased the price to about 150% profit. So still not breakeven.

After that I put in the rest of them, once again at the estimated peak price.

The peak came on December 18th but it was somewhat lower than I thought so I did not sell any of them. I started selling them manually to other bots and told my partners to do so too. They did but I got caught up doing other things (it was Christmas Time, after all). The bots failed to sell even though I decreased my price to be the lowest on Magic Online.

As everyone was selling (surely some did so in panic) as the price dropped that drop was swift and quite soon we were back at pre-peak prices.

So I am stuck with a lot of M14 bulk and I went about breakeven on the whole deal.

What I will do next year
I am already picking up any bulk mythics from THS, KTK and M15 but so is everyone else. There are a lot more speculators doing exactly the same thing this year. I don't think we will ever see prices drop as low as they did last year - Hythonia was almost below 30 cent at some point.

Maybe this will never get as good again ever but I will still be picking up those 50 cent mythics when I can AND next year I will pay more attention to selling them.

Drafting M15: White Commons

In this series I will try to review all the cards of M15, starting with the commons.

The Green commons: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2014/08/drafting-m15-green-commons.html
The Black commons: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2014/08/drafting-m15-black-commons.html
The Red commons: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2014/08/drafting-m15-red-commons.html

Now its time for the White commons.

Here they are, in order of perceived power for Draft.

Triplicate Spirits: If you have played any M15 limited, you know that this is a format defining card. Once again a white token making card breaks a limited format, just like Battle Screech in VMA. Just the fact that this card makes Negate maindeckable in M15 limited should make you take notice of it. This is the best common in the format by far.

Raise the Alarm: Its main use is to enable Triplicate Spirits. Still, two bodies for two mana is a great deal in this Convoke format. Draft this highly.

Pillar of Light: You deal with the small threats with your horde of white creatures. You deal with the big threats with this. Don't forget that Kinsbaille Skirmisher can help you get rid of those creatures with 3 Toughness. Do not be afraid to sideboard this out if you don't see at least one target in the first duel.

Sanctified Charge: It is so obvious but yet so powerful that your opponent really can't do much when you cast it. It will punish him severely if you play at least 15 creatures or creature creating cards.

Kinsbaille Skirmisher:  Just a bear with a solid upside. Helps with Convoke. Helps defend. Helps Pillar of Light. Overall quite hard working.

Oreskos Swiftclaw: He dies to everything but he will often take someone with him to the grave and, in those rare cases when your opponent stumbles, will punish an opponent early some of the time.

Razorfoot Griffin: Not the best flyer of all time, but this is a card that will be played and will do work. Put to shame by the blue flyers.

Midnight Guard: A solid body that untaps when you need him the most for Convoke costs or blocking. Very solid.

Sungrace Pegasus:  The Pegasus has impressed me. There are many ways in this format to make him extremely useful and can often trade for a x/1 creature if nothing else.

Heliod's Pilgrim: This guy goes in his deck and not in others. If you have three of him, a Spectra Ward and four more enchantments to target, you are set to win the draft. If not, be careful and think twice before maindecking him.

Oppressive Rays: Does a lot less than you think it will do. Most playable in a very aggressive deck.

Selfless Cathar: Useful 1-drops that are not dead draws in the late game are very good for the Convoke deck.

Marked by Honor: This risk of getting 2-for-1ed is huge and you really don't want to play this but it will serve quite adequatly as your Heliod's Pilgrim target 2-4 if you have to do that.

Ephemeral Shields: Often the creature you save with this is not better than the creature you would have played instead of it. Do not play unless you are starving for playables.

Solemn Offering: An excellent sideboard card.

Soulmender: Annoying and convoke enabler. Maybe a 23rd card, hopefully not in your main deck.

Divine Favor: If your opponents removal is all red and damage based, this actually becomes quite good. If he has any other color in his deck- which he probably has - you do not want to play this card. You could make a case for it in a heavy Pilgrim/Broodkeeper deck, but you really should be looking for something - anything - else.

Tireless Mercenaries: Horribly overcosted.

Meditation Puzzle: Never play cards that just gain you life unless you get 20+ life. This is not worth a card and will not help you get back in the game. Remember that when you draw this, your opponent draws yet another threat and develops his board while you accomplish very little. Never play except against a deck with three or more Lava Axes.

Here is an interesting vote about card ratings in M15 that I found useful: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_ZdBVXiHLW55FUfFJsYBPgHnuUeXqgTii_PML9Px8VM/pubhtml#

Next time: Blue Commons!

Drafting M15: Red Commons

In this series I will try to review all the cards of M15, starting with the commons.

The Green commons: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2014/08/drafting-m15-green-commons.html
The Black commons: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2014/08/drafting-m15-black-commons.html

Now its time for the Red commons.

Here they are, in order of perceived power for Draft.

Lightning Strike: It turns out that paying 1 mana extra for Lightning Bolt is still awesome.

Borderland Marauder: He does not work well on the defensive but if you are on the defensive with a red deck, you are doing things wrong. Beat down! Hard and quick. I have found that he works excellent with in a Blue Red aggressive deck, but the truth is that he just works excellent in any aggressive deck. He is just way ahead of the curve. Draft him early.

Inferno Fist: I think this card is quite far behind the two above it, but it is still excellent removal and works great with creatures with evasion. Be careful when you play it! It might be worth waiting a turn not to get 2-for-1:ed. Play it only when you are sure it will stick and you have a spare red mana to fire it off (even if it is to the face in the worst case).

Generator Servant: Having a 2/1 for 2 is not really bad and the upside is there with this little guy. If you can get out a five drop on turn 3, you are way ahead. The value of Generator Servant goes up with the amount of bombs and semi-bombs you have. With four or more good targets I would maindeck all the Generator Servants I could get my hands on.

Krenko's Enforcer: Two evasive damage for three mana is usually good enough and this guy keeps suprising me with his utility. Beware those Bronze Sables!

Scrapyard Mongrel: The Mongrel looks so good in theory but you will find that you often can't get enough artifacts to utilize his full potential. Much better than the Ensoul Artifact plan in the artifact deck though.

Crowd's Favor: Being able to combat trick for zero mana is always respectable. Impossible to play around.

Goblin Roughrider: Just a solid beater than I personally pick above Crowd's Favor. Often replaces the Borderland Marauders you did not get.

Rummaging Goblin: Exactly what you need to beat those control decks. Beware using him against an aggressive opponent. If your opponent is faster than you are, this might just be the guy to sideboard out and replace him with anything that can block early.

Blastfire Bolt: It is so clunky but you probably have to maindeck one and maybe two of this very expensive removal. Don't expect to 2-for-1 anyone with this.

Torch Fiend: We already know that 2 power for 2 mana is a great deal and Torch Fiend's ability to deal with Juggernauts and other dangerous artifacts makes me want to maindeck at least one and have a few more in my sideboard.

Thundering Giant:  This is just so unexciting. You should be able to do something better for five mana with your other color. I cringe when I have to maindeck the Giant.

Miner's Bane:  Very similar to the Giant. He hits much harder though and trample is relevant. But six mana is a ton in this format and your opponents will have better sixdrops than you if you are forced to maindeck Miner's Bane.

Forge Devil: Can be utterly useless but if you have convoke plans, I would maindeck this little guy. There are plenty of decks where you want to sideboard him in.

Hammerhand: Deceptive card that does very little for the value of a card. Almost only good when you are winning. Avoid cards like this.

Wall of Fire: Why are you playing such a defensive card in the most aggressive color in the format. You are doing something wrong.

Foundry Street Denizen:  Quite useless but might be the 23rd card in a convoke heavy deck to get those Triplicate Spirits or Siege Wurms into play.

Lava Axe: Only good when you know that you are the beatdown against a much more controlling deck. Great at closing out games in that case but otherwise often a dead draw that will cost you the game.

Clear a Path: I am glad to see that they still print skill testers to give the good drafters a chance to win some drafts.

Here is an interesting vote about card ratings in M15 that I found useful: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_ZdBVXiHLW55FUfFJsYBPgHnuUeXqgTii_PML9Px8VM/pubhtml#

Next time: White!

Drafting M15: Black Commons

In this series I will try to review all the cards of M15, starting with the commons.

The Green commons: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2014/08/drafting-m15-green-commons.html

Now its time for the Black commons.

Here they are, in order of perceived power for Draft.

Flesh to Dust: This is what the world has come to. Five mana! I guess Murder was overpowered. Now we have both the double black casting cost and then three more mana on top of that. Still, you will need those. The big question is how many you can play in a deck and still be competetive? Four perhaps? Unconditional removal rules the world and this is, by far, the best black common. Being able to kill Ancient Silverback is very relevant.

Accursed Spirit: This is often the way you win. This card and Krenko's Enforcer are the reason why Bronze Sable is a perfectly maindeckable card. Most decks don't have an answer. Sit back, Flesh to Dust their threats and enjoy winning with the Spirit. This format is faster than M14 but Accursed Spirit is still a workhorse.

Sign in Blood: Against some of the ultrafast decks, this can feel bad, but it is often a huge advantage to resolve Sign in Blood. This card is a reason to play Urborg and a reason never to maindeck colorless lands with minor effects.

Covenant of Blood:  This removal spell is surprisingly useful. More playable if you combine black with white for the token making. Still, I always want to see one or two Covenant of Blood at the top of my curve.

Typhoid Rats: If you are playing an aggressive build (such as Rakdos) you should rate this lower. But if you are defensive, trying to win with your Accursed Spirits or blue flyers, this will protect the ground very efficiently.

Carrion Crow: The drawback has been suprisingly relevant in my games. This may deserve a higher rating as it is still a 2/2 flyer for three mana.

Rotfeaster Maggot: This is a card for the Green-Black Dredge deck, where it will work extremely well. Will be very decisive against aggressive decks. If you have a Gravedigger, this can get really out of hand, not to mention a Roaring Primadox.

Child of Night: Very efficient at stopping the early beatings. Would be better if there wasn't so much hate against 1-toughness creatures in the format.

Shadowcloak Vampire: This is often a necessary evil and the evasion can prove decisive. Still, there are plenty of good five-drops in this format and I often put the second Shadowcloak Vampire in the sideboard.

Witch's Familiar: Being a 2/3 means that you can block a lot of things and live in this format. This is a cornerstone of the defensive Black deck.

Crippling Blight: Another card that makes Child of Night worse. I often start this in the sideboard and bring it in against many of the decks in the format.

Zof Shade: Good late game card that often never gets online but just gets to block a Runeclaw Bear so that you can survive.

Necromancer's Assistant: I play these only for curve reasons or in the Green-Black deck. They constantly underperform but can block Juggernauts. Much better in a defensive deck but once you get Forge Devilled, you will regret maindecking this card.

Festergloom: Maindecking one Festergloom is said to be OK. Varies a lot with your secondary color and how many 1-toughness creatures you bring to the table. It deals with Triplicate Spirits, which helps it a lot.

Necrobite: Significantly worse than in Vultron-laden Theros block. I don't play these at all but I might be underrating the card. Its often my 27th card.

Unmake the Graves: I find this card very weak. I know decks can be built to profit from it and it is probably good against the control decks.

Mind Rot: Sideboard card. Bring in Mind Rot against the control decks and the bomb-laden decks you can not otherwise deal with.

Black Cat: Violently overrated by drafters. Better against bad players that refuse to lose their cards. Do not play these in 8-4 drafts.

Eternal Thirst: Auras are not good in draft. Auras that do not boost power and toughness are the worst. Stay away. Unless you have a very clear plan for this card and why it fits into your deck, do not play it.


Black is a deep color with many playable cards. The upside is not exciting, but you will often find more than enough playables so you can cut your Necrobites and be happy about it.

Here is an interesting vote about card ratings in M15 that I found useful: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_ZdBVXiHLW55FUfFJsYBPgHnuUeXqgTii_PML9Px8VM/pubhtml#

Next time: Red!

Our plans for the switchover

So, we are finally there. Mtgo v3 will be switched off 16th July and Mtgo v4 will become the only client for Magic Online.You can read the full announcement from Wizards here: http://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-online-v3-date-and-new-client-update-2014-06-26

Mtgo v3 served us well during the years, but now it's time to move to Mtgo v4! What will you need to do that? First of all, please note that v4 won't work on Windows XP: Wizards infact decided not to support xp:

"One of the decisions we recently made that will help us deliver a better and more performant user experience is the elimination of support for Windows XP at our minimum spec level. Like Microsoft, we have decided to discontinue support for the nearly 13-year-old OS in order to make better use of the upgrades provided by more recent operating systems."

You will then need our new bot for Mtgo v4 (that will be release starting next week) and you will need some more RAM: mtgo v4 uses more ram than v4 and it is computationally more demanding, hence you'll probably need to upgrade your machines a bit. Please install Mtgo v4 on your machine and all that comes with it (NET 4.0 and WPF).

We expect the market to slow down a bit, more or less like what happend with the switch from v2 to v3, but this will recover in a couple of weeks.

Why Fetchlands are likely to be reprinted, possibly in Magic 2015

Fetchlands are an extremely dangerous investment right now. They are very likely to be reprinted and possibly soon. Ithink they will be reprinted within two years from now and I think the most likely set to reprint them in is Magic 2015.

Here is why:

1. The cost of Fetchlands are a barrier of entry into the Modern format
2. Only enemy color Fetchlands in Modern makes no sense
3. Great replacement for Shocks in Standard for a year
4. A set with Fetchlands (even only five of them) would be a great financial success for WOTC
5. Three months of Modern mana in Standard would make everyone happy
6. It is very likely that we will return to Zendikar soon. Kiora's story is one hint.

See my full line of reasoning in this video: