Saturday, November 30, 2013

Doubling Trades Project: Less is more |Part6 of 9|

Doubling Trades Project





Part 1 The Concept
Part 2 Where are we now?
Part 3 Dedicate your time
Part 4 Be Unique and Proud
Part 5 Let yourself be found
Part 6 Less is more 
Part 7 Show your human side
Part 8 Reward Loyalty
Part 9 Conclusion




Less is more
The Fastest and easier way to increase the trade volume is improving buying prices and reduce sell prices.This sometimes comes with the risk of placing your bots a bit too exposed of professional traders but it can be worth it if done right!

Instead of spending $100 this month on a google ads campaign or so, allow yourself $100 of loss in MTGO and see the great results that can bring in the long run. Bump all buy prices 5%-10% (depending on how high you buy them) for a week or so, and do announce it! The same goes to sell prices.
Even if you buy a card for 12 Event tickets that is likely worth just about 11.5, if you are lucky enough to buy it from a new player and not a "wikiprice raider", the chances are that you just made a long term Customer that might give you considerable profits in the long run.
The way you can filter these "unwanted" traders can range from removing yourself from wikiprice (which I do not recommend if you are looking into increasing the trade count) up to simply have the bots running on a second screen and supervise every trade as it happens while you are on PC.

Push as far as you can, the heavier traffic might be mostly people enjoying your great prices but when you go back to your "normal" prices, hopefully some of those Customers will come back and pay back your losses.


Mercadian Masques drafts are coming

Here is the announcement: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/other/11252013/holidaycube

I will be running a series of articles on mtgostrat.com regarding the draft strategy and card evaluation of the block.

Rares and uncommons of Masques block and their value
There are some very important rares and uncommons in Masques block, but I am not going to talk about them here. I am going to talk about something else.

Commons of Masques Block and their financial implications
Pauper is the 2nd most played format on Magic Online and that makes some commons from the very rare Masques block insanely expensive.

Check out this graph:

http://www.mtggoldfish.com/card/Daze+%5BNE%5D

Look at the value of Daze on Jan 1st, 2013 compared to what it is now. MM was drafted around New Year last year. That is 200% return. All the playable commons of Masques Block perform the same.

These are the cards you should sell right now and look to pick up as cheap as you can the week after the drafts (not while they are going on, mind you, as prices will still be plummeting then).

Accumulated Knowledge (NE)
Ancestral Mask (MM) - used in Hexproof. 7.65 right now on mtgotraders
Brainstorm (MM)
Daze (NE) - The most expensive card in Pauper as it is a 4-of in many Legacy and Vintage decks
Flame Rift (NE)
Gush (MM)
Invigorate (MM) - no longer very expensive, but I would still buy them for a couple of cents and see if they ever see play somewhere again
Land Grant (MM)
Snuff Out (MM)
Spidersilk Armor (MM)

Have a look at these cards on mtggoldfish and you will see how they behaved after being drafted a year ago. There is a lot of money to be earned here.

Prophecy does not really have any valuable commons. Possibly Rhystic Study.

Some of these cards (I am looking at you, Brainstorm) will very likely be reprinted in Vintage Masters but you may have time to buy them and sell them at a profit before they start to fall again.




More MTG Finance Writing and videos from me
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
When to invest in the Fall Set (Theros for 2013): http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/11/when-to-invest-in-fall-set-theros-for.html

The most important thing - thoughts on MTG Finance: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/10/the-most-important-thing_23.html

When to sell a card on Magic Online: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/11/when-to-sell-magic-online-card.html

I try to explain how seasonal trading works in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOReVWiQgZo

I talk about spreading risks for MTGO investments: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV3peycEGS4&feature=youtu.be

Contact Info:
YouTube: MagicGatheringStrat
Web: mtgostrat.com
Facebook: facebook.com/MagicGatheringStrat
TwitchTV: twitchtv.com/MagicGatheringStrat

Friday, November 29, 2013

14 days free trials

Starting from tomorrow, all the new accounts will enjoy a 14-days free trial instead of 7. ML Bot is a complex software, more than in 2007 when we started, and we thought that 7 days were not enough to fully evaluate it.

If you started a new bot this week, please write us (staff@mtgolibrary.com) and we will extend the free trial.


Wednesday, November 27, 2013

MTGO Library Bot 6.25

ML Bot 6.25 adds a better warning message when switching from PRO to LITE version (and viceversa). We added a "YES" and a "NO" buttons to confirm the choice. We also removed the 30 seconds timer that automatically closed the dialog.

6.25 changes the default "Search Order" in the Buyer Tab, reflecting the typical choice: first the regular cards, and then the foils.




Tuesday, November 26, 2013

The Top Decks of Pauper: Burn

In this series we will walk you through the top decks of Pauper as played on Magic Online. Pauper is the Magic Online format where you are only allowed to play commons.  These are the official rules: http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/resources.aspx?x=magic/rules/pauper

We will be using this tier page as the basis or our walkthrough: http://mtgostrat.com/pauper-tier-listing/

Today we will be discussing Burn. Burn is somewhat like Herpes - it comes and goes, but it never goes away completely. When Delver is powerful, Burn has a very hard time (it is a very hard matchup), but when combo or control runs rampant, Burn steps up to stabilize the metagame.

Earlier installments in the series:

Affinity: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/11/the-top-decks-of-pauper-affinity.html
Delver: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/10/the-top-decks-of-pauper-delver.html
DelverFiend: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/11/the-top-decks-of-pauper-delverfiend.html
Stompy: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/10/the-top-decks-of-pauper-stompy.html
UB Trinket Control: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/10/the-top-decks-of-pauper-ub-trinket.html






A sample deck list

This deck was played by hey_guess_what in the Daily Event on November 11, 2013.

2 Forgotten Cave
17 Mountain
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Chain Lightning
4 Fireblast
3 Flame Rift
2 Incinerate
4 Lava Spike
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Needle Drop
4 Rift Bolt
4 Searing Blaze
1 Shard Volley
3 Staggershock

Sideboard
2 Curse of the Pierced Heart
2 Electrickery
2 Flaring Pain
3 Martyr of Ashes
3 Pyroblast
3 Smash to Smithereens
 

In a world where MBC is very powerful, Burn decks have moved away from Kiln Fiend and other creatures. I personally never play Needle Drop, as it tends to get stuck in hand against Counterspell decks and is 100% horrible against Chittering Rats, often costing whole matches.

My Burn walkthrough video

I made this video earlier this year. Some of the information may be dated, but the principles still apply. It also shows what cards I prefer in the deck







The idea

Throw bolts on your opponents until he dies. This might be the simplest deck to play in Pauper. There are some very hard decisions to make, though, so don't underestimate how the deck.




 



Financial implications of the deck

Pyroblast is very important to the deck, but it helps in matchups where you still don't stand much of a chance, so the deck can definitely be played without it.

Flame Rift is extremely expensive (but can easily be cut) as it is played in Legacy and Vintage burn and in short supply on MODO.

Chain Lightning is a very interesting card as it moves a lot - it goes down to 0.3 tix when Burn is out of fashion and can rise as high as 1.3 tix when Burn is in season.

Fireblast is a bit more stable, but also a costly card. Look to pick it up when it is drafted in Flashback Drafts.

I predict that Forgotten Cave will move above its upper-bulk price during the coming 12 months.



Learn more about Pauper

Here are some more relevant Pauper videos and articles
-----------------------------------------------

Competetive Pauper Cast - our podcast about winning Pauper tournaments: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/mtgostrat.com-cpc/id698010096

Jphsnakes reinvents Freed from the Real combo in the LOVE TRAIN deck: http://mtgostrat.com/2013/07/my-train-of-thought-decks-im-thinking-of-abusing/

Bava plays Po Dragons in a Pauper Daily. Deck list and tech here: http://mtgostrat.com/2013/05/pauper-brew-po-dragons-by-andrew-lakie/

A Pauper Chat with Deluxeicoff - Episode 2 (DelverFiend & Elves): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YX3F5UPtv0

A Pauper Chat with Deluxeicoff - Epsiode 3 (BorosKitty & Grey Ghost)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb0i8vkwPAo

More about the deck Illusory Tricks: http://mtgostrat.com/2013/05/pauper-brew-illusory-tricks-by-bava/

DelverFiend deck list and interview with Deluxeicoff here: http://puremtgo.com/articles/pauper-chat-deluxeicoff-episode-2-elves-and-delverfiend

A Pauper Chat with Deluxeicoff (hexproof)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C1-SXibr0Y

Every article about UB Trinket Control on mtgostrat.com:
http://mtgostrat.com/category/trinket-control/

The Pauper Gauntlet first season recently finished:  http://puremtgo.com/articles/pauper-gauntlet

Pauper Walkthroughs Episode 9 - Delver with Cweaver
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxavc6y8sbg

Pauper Walkthroughs Episode 6 - UB Trinket Control
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuDh39fnifU

Pauper Walkthroughs Episode 5 - Stompy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwOntadLP6g

Contact Info:
YouTube: MagicGatheringStrat
Web: mtgostrat.com
Facebook: facebook.com/MagicGatheringStrat
TwitchTV: twitchtv.com/MagicGatheringStrat
Deluxeicoff deck tech as it happens: facebook.com/deluxeicoff

Daily Events are back!


Sales will be back to normality!


MTGO Library Bot 6.24

Thanks to Gary, we found and fixed a bug related to the Collection History, Wikiprice and the Classified messages. The bot believed to have many more cards in collection than the real number, in particular 5DN and basic lands.
This resulted in:

  • more cards on wikiprice
  • more cards in the Collection History (mostly basic lands)
  • wrong classifed and trading messages, showing wrong "cards for sale" when using the #sell# command

Monday, November 25, 2013

Doubling Trades Project: Let yourself be found |Part5 of 9|

Doubling Trades Project





Part 1 The Concept
Part 2 Where are we now?
Part 3 Dedicate your time
Part 4 Be Unique and Proud
Part 5 Let yourself be found
Part 6 Less is more 
Part 7 Show your human side
Part 8 Reward Loyalty
Part 9 Conclusion




Let yourself be found
Instead of telling you make a website and spend a fortune on advertising it on google or so, I will be giving a few little tips on how you'll be more likely found by new customers.

Classifieds
Classifieds is the most common way to attract new customers, and you have to make the most out of it. Have a look at what your bots are advertising on classifieds, How easy is it to spot them while mixed with other bots? how many cards are you managing to advertise in the classifieds? What cards and values are you advertising on classifieds?

These will be key factors in the number of new customers you will make. Do not focus too much on advertising cards that are worth under 1 Event ticket. This is because its highly unlikely that someone wont use their regular bot; that sells the card for 0.2; to you use your bot that sells it for 0.192.

Make sure you advertise the most popular and traded cards. A good example of this are the standard staples (such as Boros Reckoner). You can achieve this by using the CFA (cardsforadvertisement) or using the right commands in the classifieds, which in my case, I use commands such as #BUY_GTC_>5_1digit#. Which leads to my next tip, using the command _1digit makes it not just cleaner on classifieds (displaying 7.1 instead of 7.112, for example) but will also likely free up space for one more card in your classifieds message. 

Avoid using symbols that take a long command, such as  [sArrGameplayU] for an arrow,  as these will count on your character limit and will easily reduce the number of cards you can advertise.

Other methods to get yourself found will involve direct contact with new players and "inviting" them into using your bots, website or clan. Using streams or sponsoring other streams and events can also help getting your name out there.   Some of these will be covered in the future parts of this guide.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

MTGO Library Bot 6.23

ML Bot 6.23 is a minor release that fixes a problem with Windows XP. The image below shows a Magic Online crash (happening only on XP) that the bot was unable to handle.
All the XP users should upgrade.



When to invest in the Fall set (Theros for 2013)

This fall people have asked me several times when to buy Theros cards. I have always answered "between December 15 and New Year". That is still my answer, but let us examine if that is really the truth, using data from the last Three fall sets, as well as considering how the non-existence of Daily and bigger events affect this.



When should you have bought Return to Ravnica cards?

One of my favorite MTGO Finance sites, mtggoldfish.com, has a very useful index function.

Let us look at the index for Return to Ravnica here: http://www.mtggoldfish.com/card/RTR

So the bottom prices of RTR were Dec 14 2002, Jan 5, 2013 and Another dip on Feb 9, 2013.

That does reflect well on our hypothesis, but we also need to consider the differences between Theros and RTR. Theros will be drafted all year, first alone, then with Born of the Gods and finally with both Born of the Gods and Journey into Nyx, whereas Return to Ravnica was not drafted at all during Gatecrash.

Let us look at the fall set of 2011 then.

When should you have bought Innistrad cards?
We are only considering the Standard Life span of the cards here, so the real answer ("right after rotation!") is not relevant to our Theros discussion.

Here is the ISD index: http://www.mtggoldfish.com/card/ISD

We have the two deepest bottoms at Nov 29, 2011 and Feb 22, 2011 but then ISD drops again (!) and reaches its very lowest Point in May 2012, right around the release of Avacyn Restored.

ISD was also drafted differently. It was drafted with its first small set, DKA, but then it was not drafted at all during Avacyn Restored.

We will need to look at Scars of Mirrodin, which was actually drafted just the way that Theros will be drafted. What did that do the price of rares and mythics from SOM?

When should you have bought Scars of Mirrodin cards?

Once again ignoring the huge effect of rotation, lets have a look at the index: http://www.mtggoldfish.com/card/SOM

There is again a valley around Christmas. The very lowest points are Jan 17, 2011 and March 3rd, 2011, but then something strange happens. There is a huge dip! On June 16, 2011, SOM prices are as much as 20% lower than in February. There is also very importantly no significant spike in prices during the first two quarters of the year. The spike comes right when M12 is released.

Goldfish has no data for Zendikar. If anyone knows where to find that data, let me know.

What will be the effect of the non-existence of Premier and Daily events?
All events bigger than 8 players are gone from Magic Online when I write this. This has caused prices to drop. This will probably accentuate the drop around Christmas, making picking up cards in December more attractive than what would have otherwise been the case.



Standard PTQ Season
This year, Standard PTQ Season has been moved. It now runs from December 7, 2013 until March 9, 2014. This probably means that Standard prices will go up as soon as PTQs return to Magic Online and that they will drop more sharply during the second quarter without PTQ support.

The conclusion
It is probably premature to buy into Theros in December and if you can wait until May/June, you should do so.  My suggestion? Buy playsets that you need (I will do so, especially as I advocate Selling Everything from Theros block as early as in March 2015 with the current PTQ season Schedule unchanged) in December and then buy your speculation stock in May/June.



10 ways how to deal with stress, part 3


Final 4 tips.
Organize your surroundings. Whether at work or at home - disorder can always stress you out. We do not know where particular thing is when we need it immediately. Even if nothing is lost, the mere sight of disorder causes chaos in your head. Therefore, take care of the order. As soon as you see that your desk or cabinet requires cleaning - do it. Organize the space in which you are working or resting. Your mind will be able to relax easily, then.

Snooze. Regular naps reduce the level of cortisol in the body. Often, stress results from not enough sleep. Do it during the day, even just 15 minutes.

Deal with one thing at a time. Therefore you spend your time more effectively and you will complete the task faster and better. What is important, after all you may put a tick in your to-do-list so that you will got a feeling that you are closer to an end of all duties.

Physical movement. It is obligatory whenever you feel stressed. Exercises will make you feel much, much better. The movement causes the secretion of endorphins in the brain, hormones of happiness. Besides that makes you healthy. A disease also can be a great source of stress, so try to prevent them.

Even if you are a person who is stressed only once in a while, I highly recommend you  to try the above methods. Give it a shot.

Saturday, November 23, 2013

MTGO Library Bot 6.22

In versions 6.20 (http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.com/2013/11/mtgo-library-620.html) and 6.21 (http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.com/2013/11/mtgo-library-bot-621.html) we introduced a new connection mode, more reliable, available just for few selected bots. ML Bot 6.22 extends the new connection to all the bots, resulting in faster downloads/uploads.

We also saw that some bots were unable to connect to the server after some days of activity: this is now fixed (some of you may have received an email saying "Hey, can you please restart the bot? It has a problem with the connection").

Finally, ML Bot 6.21 helps the new users with better "default settings". A newcomer can now just click "Launch" and leave all the settings as they are. In particular, the new defaults download the pricelist every 6 hours, buy cards just from the Standard sets (no foils) and adjust the other settings exactly as I would do if I had to open a new bot with just few tickets.



Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Trade Duration in Trade Log

Starting right after the downtime, all the ML Bot 6.20 and 6.21 users will be able to view trade duration in the Trade Log.
The feature has been requested for a long time and it's finally there! Now you'll be able to see who keeps your bot always buys :-)
Withdraw are timed as well.


MTGO Library Bot 6.21

We have just released ML Bot 6.21, an improvement of 6.20

  • the new connection mode (here for reference) is now available to more bots, and we can also turn it on/off from the server (this is mainly for debugging purposes)
  • fixed another Windows XP crash that the bot was unable to close
  • free trial users will now automatically download updated pricelist every 2 hours
  • 6.21 can install mtgo v3 by itself (if it is not installed on your pc)

MTG Finance articles I have written

I find writing and doing videos about MTGO finance very challenging, as it is quite a sensitive subject. Therefore I have done so much less than I should. I think mtgolibrary might be the right outlet for me to publish my finance Writing, so expect more MTGO Finance articles from me in the future.

Before I proceed to do so I wanted to highlight some of my earlier work as well as a really good article on my own website mtgostrat.com.



An introduction to MTGO Speculation
This is the only one that is not mine. The writer is Jason Grant and he intends to publish more Finance articles on mtgostrat.com: 

Speculation 101 with Jason: http://mtgostrat.com/2013/11/real-way-go-infinite-mtgo-speculation-101/

Seasonal Trading on MTGO

I feel that the long term cycles on card prices for MTGO are very exploitable and something that most bot operators overlook. This article will be updated eventually, so take into account that it was written Before they moved Modern PTQ Season.

Seasonal Trading on MTGO:
http://puremtgo.com/articles/mtg-finance-seasonal-trading-cycles-over-year-magic-online

You will fail when you speculate on MTGO
Warning! Speculation on Magic Online will probably fail for you. Here's why: http://youtu.be/mHwCO4QCWqA



Spread your risks
Me on Good Bots and Spreading Risks: http://mtgostrat.com/2013/09/mtgo-finance-good-bots-spreading-risks/

With a special shoutout to the bot owners that have treated me the best as a customer.

Earlier om mtgolibrary: When to sell your card
When do you sell your card? http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/11/when-to-sell-magic-online-card.html

The Most Important Thing
The Most Important thing about MTGO finance: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/10/the-most-important-thing_23.html








Tuesday, November 19, 2013

MTGO Library 6.20

ML Bot 6.20 includes a couple of fixes and some improvements:

  • 6.20 keep tracks of the trade duration. After tomorrow downtime, 6.20 users will be able to view the duration of the trades directly in the TradeLog.
  • for some bots we activated an alternative connection mode with the server. The new mode is more reliable than the current one and will be rolled out to all the bots in few days
  • the reload of many PersonalPrices.txt does not display the message box "I am loading 3 PersonalPrices.txt [...]" , save for the first time. The idea is that none is looking at the screen and press "enter" save for the first time (the message box will automatically close in 30 seconds)


Monday, November 18, 2013

Doubling Trades Project: Be Unique and Proud |Part4 of 9|

Doubling Trades Project




Part 1 The Concept
Part 2 Where are we now?
Part 3 Dedicate your time
Part 4 Be Unique and Proud
Part 5 Let yourself be found
Part 6 Less is more 
Part 7 Show your human side
Part 8 Reward Loyalty
Part 9 Conclusion



Be Unique and Proud
Are you worried by all the competition in the classifieds? Are you losing customers to big bot chains and other individual bots? What is it that people are attracted to? The answer is uniqueness. Consumers are willing to pay more for what they can't get elsewhere. Are you providing what your customers want?

Competition
Go to Starbucks. Buy a coffee. Watch what is going on. Why is it that people will ignore McDonald's and walk an extra two blocks to pay a premium price just for a Starbucks coffee? Think status. Think atmosphere. Think packaging and presentation. Once you finished your coffee go home and look into what the best bot chains offer that you don't. Are they faster? do they buy everything higher?;or just the rares/mythics? do they draw any prizes to random customers? Do they organize events? Surely they will be ticking more boxes than you.

Make Yourself Special
What can you give that no other bot else does? This is a bit of a hard question when there are thousands of direct competitors, but instead of spending a week thinking about it, get into the Magic Online environment and ask your customers and other MTGO players themselves. You will be surprised on how good and bad criticism can give you great ideas to implement in your business.

In a few days I will talk about ways to get your name out there!


Sunday, November 17, 2013

Decks of the Modern Noob: Soul Sisters

I am a noob when it comes to playing Modern. That's why I have started a series about learning modern. You can follow it on my YouTube channel (youtube.com/magicgatheringstrat), puremtgo.com, my website mtgostrat.com and here on mtgolibrary.

This is a longer explanation of what The Modern Noob is about: http://puremtgo.com/articles/modern-noob

I will use this space to present the decks I am playing while I am trying to learn the modern metagame. I am mainly playing cheaper decks that have put up results. This deck is probably the most noobish of all the Modern decks - its charm has attracted Noobs for as long as Modern has existed: Soul Sisters.


 


The idea behind the deck
Gain Life. Gain so much Life that your opponent can not touch you, then win with a White Weenie strategy.

This means that all aggro decks are really good matchups and decks that don't care about Life totals (Tron, Splinter Twin etc) are worse matchups.


The most powerful play in the deck is the first turn Serra Ascendant followed by a Martyr of Sands on turn two, allowing you to swing with a 6/6 flyer with lifelink on turn two.

My current deck list

15 Plains
4 Ghost Quarter
3 Flagstones of Trokair
4 Serra Ascendant
4 Martyr of Sands
4 Soul Warden
4 Soul's Attendant
3 Ranger of Eos
3 Squadron Hawk
4 Ajani's Pridemate
2 Brave the Elements
2 Path to Exile
4 Honor of the Pure
4 Spectral Procession
2 Brave the Elements

SIDEBOARD
------------------
1 Brave the Elements:  When Pridemate can't get through.
4 Rest in Peace: Against Storm, Reanimator ... Living End.
2 Spellskite: Against Splinter Twin
4 Stony Silence
2 Tectonic Edge
2 Path to Exile - against Knight of the Reliquary, Wurmcoil




Where can you learn more about Soul Sisters?

Great video introduction: http://www.gatheringmagic.com/kevin-crimin-modern-deck-list-video-04172013-playing-on-a-budget-modern-soul-sisters/

Deck Primer: http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=517123

My updated list is published here: http://mtgostrat.com/2013/10/modern-noob-soul-sisters/


Where can you learn more about the Modern Noob?
 I publish a weekly summary on mtgostrat.com. here is an example: http://mtgostrat.com/2013/10/modern-noob-progress-report-new-deck-goblins/

More articles here: http://mtgostrat.com/category/mtgo-modern-noob/

New videos are posted several days a week on youtube.com/magicgatheringstrat

My contact information
Twitter: @MagicGathstrat, youtube.com/magicgatheringstrat, magicgatheringstrat.facebook.com and mtgostrat.com

10 ways how to deal with stress, part 2

If you do still have some points on your list from rule two and you can not get rid of them - change your attitude. First of all, take responsibility for your stress. These things don't make you stressed, but you are stressed about them. It makes a huge difference. When you are feeling stressed, it means that you let the fact that you are upset about something. You are entirely responsible for this. For instance, when you are standing in that traffic jam it is pointless to be mad on something that you have no influence at all. Keep calm and take responsibility for your emotional state. Next time choose another route.

Meditation and relaxation exercises are by far the best way to do that in the long term, reduce the level of stress in your life to a minimum. There is even scientific evidence that regular meditation or relaxation exercises after a while significantly are reducing the average level of cortisol (a stress hormone) in the body. These exercises are also beneficial for other areas, such as memory and concentration.

Get rid of negative thoughts. Human being is very often stressed, even if it does not find itself in typical stressful situation. It happens because you are egging yourself on. We have the same gloomy thoughts. Your thoughts are closely linked to your physiology and when you think about stressful things, your body is stressed . The muscles begin to stretch, forehead to wrinkle, cortisol is unchained. By changing the thinking strategies you can get rid of these negative thoughts and turn them into positive ones. How?

Apply slayer of worries. This is the method described by Brian Tracy in one of his books. Again, you must write down the situation that stresses you the most. Then your job is to determine the worst possible result, worst case scenario of this situation. The third step is to accept the worst scenario. Decide that if it happens, you will accept it. This acceptance is the most important step! The last thing you need to do is to take immediate action, so that you may avoid the worst case scenario. Think about what exactly you can do to minimize the damage and do it.

Friday, November 15, 2013

Doubling Trades Project: Dedicate your time |Part3 of 9|

Doubling Trades Project




Part 1 The Concept
Part 2 Where are we now?
Part 3 Dedicate your time
Part 4 Be Unique and Proud
Part 5 Let yourself be found
Part 6 Less is more 
Part 7 Show your human side
Part 8 Reward Loyalty
Part 9 Conclusion



Dedicate your time
When most of us started using MTGO Library bot we though that all automated and easy so we would just have to press "launch" and enjoy the profits, but the reality is a bit far from that.
Sooner or later we did realize that investing personal time into tweaking prices, give customer service and so on is very beneficial to the business. So dedicating time to the bots is a must.

The majority of us work on the bots from home and have to deal with all the same issues that hit all other types of home workers. Here are some tips on how to have efficient uninterrupted work time. 

Set office hours
First try to set aside a time exclusively to work on your bots and for your customers, this can be as low as 1 or 2 hours a day, don't go over the edge and start with more hours than you can commit to spend on your bots.  Remember to give yourself at least 1 day off a week.

The personal battle
Secondly, separate personal life from your bot business. When its time to work, be 100% focused, make notes on what you need doing and how to do it; then do it! When the work is done, then you can watch your favorite tv show, play some computer games or play with your kids! 


The work battle
Separate "home" from "work" time. Set a space in your house just for the botting business, even if its just a corner of a room. When working do not distract yourself with making food, doing home tasks or using social media websites(unless you're promoting your business there). Do not work wearing your pyjamas, this is part of separating work from home in your mind.


Flexibility is your friend
The time you will spend doing all this will have big results on your overall customers happiness, but don't let it be too restricted! Set yourself boundaries and rules; allowances to have a "day off" or how many days you are allowed to adjust the starting time or how long of a break time you should have in between working times; After all this is the advantage of working from home in the first place.

MTGO Library Bot 6.19

ML Bot 6.19 improves the "Transfer entire collection" autotransfer mode, now 4 times faster. 

We also removed some redundant modes from the dropdown menu,  the ones ending with "you give". These are not necessary and generates confusion. If you have a bot using a "you give" mode, for example "Refill mode (you give)", you can still use it (even if you don't see it in the dropdown menu) or, much better, you can instantiate a "Refill mode (you get)" on the other bot, the "receiver" one.

The update from 6.17 / 6.18 to 6.19 should be very fast, it should take 2-3 seconds. The bot downloads the updates while waiting for trades and just replace the files when necessary


Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Doubling Trades Project: Where are we now? |Part2 of 9|


Part 1 The Concept
Part 2 Where are we now?
Part 3 Dedicate your time
Part 4 Be Unique and Proud
Part 5 Let yourself be found
Part 6 Less is more 
Part 7 Show your human side
Part 8 Reward Loyalty
Part 9 Conclusion

Where are we now?
You cannot identify or even set it as a target (doubling trades) if you don't have any means of quantifying your trades and stock value.
Your very first step will be to investigate your past. With a few searches of full months, you will be able to identify how many tix are coming in and out every month, the cheer amount of trades and who are you best regular Customers.
 
Trade log has countless different ways to filter your results.

I would recommend you to do a search of all trades over 1 Event ticket (no point in taking into account sub tix trades) of each of the last 3 months. This way if there is already a growth every month (lets say for example, 10%) we will not mistake a 10% increase in the future months as something "we caused" with this guide.

Take note of the comparable data and once that is done, calculate the total collection value on the first of every month; remember to add up the event tickets and any exterior sale (or redemption) you've made throughout the previous month and keep this information organized. To calculate the collection value you can either use the MTGO Library's collection log or any other standalone tool (Link).

In two days I will be talking about organizing your working times. See you soon!

MTGO Library Bot 6.18

ML Bot 6.18 fixes a few problems with Wikiprice and the Collection History, both showing less cards than actually in collection. The bug was introduced in version 6.16, so many bots are affected and should update. If you don't update your Collection History will be wrong and Wikiprice won't show all your cards.

ML Bot 6.18 fixes also a problem with the "pause" command, causing the tab to freeze (you cannot navigate the settings anymore).

The bots upgrading from 6.17 to 6.18 will experience a fast update: 2-3 seconds instead of the typical 2-3 minutes. This is obtained using a new updater strategy that, basically, downloads the updates in background while the bot is running and "waiting for trades".




Working on Wikiprice and AutoTransfer

We are aware of a few minor bugs on Wikiprice and the AutoTransfer modes. We are currently at work on these. In details, we are addressing the following problems:

  • some bots are filtered out of wikiprice. Not for all their items, just a few, typically the most expensive cards. Wikiprice improved a lot this week, but more work has to be done.
  • the balance and refill mode do not always work as expected. AutoTransfer improved a lot too but, same as wiki, it still needs some work

The Top Decks of Pauper: Affinity

In this series we will walk you through the top decks of Pauper as played on Magic Online. Pauper is the Magic Online format where you are only allowed to play commons.  These are the official rules: http://www.wizards.com/magic/tcg/resources.aspx?x=magic/rules/pauper

We will be using this tier page as the basis or our walkthrough: http://mtgostrat.com/pauper-tier-listing/

Today we will be discussing Affinity, a tier one deck that has recently undergone a major change.

Earlier installments in the series:

Delver: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/10/the-top-decks-of-pauper-delver.html
Stompy: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/10/the-top-decks-of-pauper-stompy.html
UB Trinket Control: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/10/the-top-decks-of-pauper-ub-trinket.html
DelverFiend: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2013/11/the-top-decks-of-pauper-delverfiend.html


 


The traditional Affinity deck

Special_Kyle explained this deck very well in this classic podcast:
http://www.mtgcast.com/mtgcast-podcast-shows/active-podcast-shows/pauper-cage-podcast/paupers-cage-9-affinity

2 Darksteel Citadel
2 Krark-Clan Shaman
4 Thoughtcast
4 Springleaf Drum
4 Myr Enforcer
4 Carapace Forger
2 Terrarion
2 Chromatic Star
4 Galvanic Blast
4 Vault of Whispers
2 Fling
4 Tree of Tales
2 Chromatic Star
4 Frogmite
4 Great Furnace
4 Atog
4 Disciple of the Vault
4 Seat of the Synod

Sideboard
2 Krark-Clan Shaman
4 Hydroblast
4 Pyroblast
2 Doom Blade
3 Ancient Grudge


The new Perilous Affinity deck

The printing of Perilous Research in Modern Masters and the banning of Temporal Fissure enabled Affinity to be a little slower but a lot more consistent.

I will let Chamois's 3-1 deck from the Daily on November 11 exemplify this idea:

4 Ancient Den
2 Darksteel Citadel
4 Great Furnace
4 Seat of the Synod
4 Tree of Tales
4 Atog
4 Carapace Forger
4 Frogmite
3 Myr Enforcer
4 Chromatic Star
2 Fling
4 Galvanic Blast
3 Ichor Wellspring
4 Perilous Research
4 Springleaf Drum
2 Terrarion
4 Thoughtcast

Sideboard
3 Ancient Grudge
3 Hydroblast
3 Krark-Clan Shaman
4 Pyroblast
2 Ray of Revelation





The idea

This is an aggro-combo deck. Either you overwhelm the enemy with 4/4s (work on all aggro decks) or you resolve Atog-Fling for the win (against midrange and Control decks). The recent inclusion of the Perilous Research - Ichor Wellspring engine allows you to outdraw the Control decks, making almost every non-aggro matchup better.







Financial implications of the deck

Since the Modern bannings of the artifact lands, nothing in the main deck is really expensive. If you cut the Hydroblasts and Pyroblasts in the sideboard, you can build this deck very cheaply ... but don't! You need your Hydros and Pyros.

For more detail about how to play the deck, listen to the podcast above. It is really the best audio walkthrough of any deck I have ever heard.

Learn more about Pauper

Here are some more relevant Pauper videos and articles
-----------------------------------------------

Competetive Pauper Cast - our podcast about winning Pauper tournaments: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/mtgostrat.com-cpc/id698010096

Jphsnakes reinvents Freed from the Real combo in the LOVE TRAIN deck: http://mtgostrat.com/2013/07/my-train-of-thought-decks-im-thinking-of-abusing/

Bava plays Po Dragons in a Pauper Daily. Deck list and tech here: http://mtgostrat.com/2013/05/pauper-brew-po-dragons-by-andrew-lakie/

A Pauper Chat with Deluxeicoff - Episode 2 (DelverFiend & Elves): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YX3F5UPtv0

More about the deck Illusory Tricks: http://mtgostrat.com/2013/05/pauper-brew-illusory-tricks-by-bava/

DelverFiend deck list and interview with Deluxeicoff here: http://puremtgo.com/articles/pauper-chat-deluxeicoff-episode-2-elves-and-delverfiend

A Pauper Chat with Deluxeicoff (hexproof)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C1-SXibr0Y

Every article about UB Trinket Control on mtgostrat.com:
http://mtgostrat.com/category/trinket-control/

The Pauper Gauntlet first season recently finished:  http://puremtgo.com/articles/pauper-gauntlet

A Pauper Chat with Deluxeicoff - Epsiode 3 (BorosKitty & Grey Ghost)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zb0i8vkwPAo

Pauper Walkthroughs Episode 9 - Delver with Cweaver
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxavc6y8sbg

Pauper Walkthroughs Episode 6 - UB Trinket Control
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuDh39fnifU

Pauper Walkthroughs Episode 5 - Stompy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwOntadLP6g

Contact Info:
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