Archive for January, 2010

A recent rumor has been launched to the net today. According to the official Facebook group from 2010 Grand Prix Madrid event, Mark Poole will be attending the GP!

True? I can’t tell you anything coz it hasn’t been said anything yet on the official site from the GP.

This, if true, is GREAT news! I can’t really believe it! I’ll keep you updated as soon as there’s more news!

I really hope I’m not playing this tournament! That would mean I’d be playing day 2 of the Legacy GP Madrid. On the other hand, it’s an AWESOME tournament that, in case of epic FAIL at the GP, i’ll be attending for sure.

Continuing a bit in the line of the last post, today I got surprised by one SCG user named magic61983 who showed his AWESOME collection of summer cards. Can’t really describe my face after watching so many summer cards together. Well, maybe this video describes it better:

So check this out!!!11!1111oneneneleven

That Tundra is too mint!

You can check all the images in a bigger resolution in his own post at SCG.

My italian friend Antonio Duranti, aka Akenathon, is probably one of the best pimpers I know around in the eternal scene. He’s well known for his collection of alterations from Terese Nielse and Ron Spencer, along with many other insane cards. Recently, Antonio has achieved a goal that makes me super jealous. We are talking about his complete set of 40 beta dual lands in a NM/M condition. I have no words to describe how wonderfull and complicated is to gather this set.

I really hope he meets Jesper Myrfors some day at some event, or (if he has nuts enough) send him the Tropical Island, Tundra, bayou and Scrubland.

Congratulations Antonio!

You can start your own collection by having a look at eBay:

If you are one of those geeks that love to have everything related to your hobbies, in this case Magic: The Gathering, I totally recommend you this gadget: The MTG Rubik’s Cube!

If you are interested on buying this badass gadget, you should check it out at Big Brother Comics – Sacramento (CA).

There’s even a video:

As you might have noticed I’m working on a more simple, easy to navigate, and intuitive template for the blog. This might cause you some problems, so let me apologize for the inconvenience. I think this template offers a lot more possibilities than any other template tested in the past. It’s just a matter of time till I master it and make it work in its pure splendor.

Need to redesign the header of the blog, but I’m not 100% sure how it should look like. If you have any suggestions please let me know!

Soon, I’ll be able to announce something very cool. It comes in the form of a new co-writer for the blog. Someone you might already know from some of his articles for MTG Salvation. Ok, ok, I stop giving tips now! He deserve a presentation post for himself, so I ain’t unveiling his name yet! Who do you think he is?

It’s only a month left till we hit Grand Prix Madrid, and there’s something that worries me a lot. No, it’s not the decklist I’ll play that I’m worried about, it’s actually what artists are going to be present at the event. Considering the type of event, Legacy (Eternal), I hope they bring someone important. Someone with a huge card pool, from alpha to latest expansions. I also hope, they don’t bring Mark Tedin, Terese Nielsen or Rob Alexander. Why would I say that if they’ve actually drawn cards from alpha to nowadays? Simply, coz I’ve met them many times already. WotC should make an effort to make other artists travel around. I’m talking about artists like Ron Spears or Pete Venters, to name a couple. I know it’s not gonna happen; it’s just some wet dream of mine.

Anyways, last Sunday I headed to Badalona (lawless city next to Barcelona -  They should actually release a new video game called GTA: Badalona) to play the 1st tournament of the 2010 Catalan Vintage League (LCV). Only 50 players showed up due to a Legacy Grand Prix Trial (GPT) being held at Black Lotus Shop in Barcelona (70 players).

I was planning to play a different deck than the one I used to win the mini tournament at La Màquina del Temps a week ago, but I lacked the time to change it, so I decided to give it another try.

Regular structure for a tournament like this, 6 swiss rounds followed by top8. Prizes were pretty cool, at least for the winner: 1 Beta Tundra + 1 Beta Scrubland. Thumbs up for Alfredo, the organizer!.

My performance went from poor to lame. I scored a 2-4 total. The deck worked well, but I had the feeling my opponents had the hands of their lives. You know, when round after round, you lose being unable to actually play your cards. Lost 2 rounds against Vault/Key with FoW backup. Another one, where my opponent, in game 3, opens with Jet + Duress (taking my FoW), Sapphire + Ancestral, Swamp + Black Lotus, cracking for BBB, and casting Null Rod + Dark Confidant. I go Island, play Sol Ring (and still had 2 dual lands + Tinker in hand), and his Confidant reveals Strip Mine turn 2, and Wasteland turn 3. GG.

I might have made some mistakes, wrong hand choices and mulligans. But I’ve never felt smashed like this in a tournament before. Maybe it’s really me, who’s getting rusty. I know I ain’t play-testing that much lately, but I’m still confidant about my skills and about my knowledge of the format. Who knows…

Now, I’m 100% focused again in Legacy. I don’t think I’ll be able to test much before the GP, but that’s a thing that doesn’t worry me much. I’ve been playing combo decks in Legacy for ages now and there isn’t much to be seen or to worry about at this point. The only thing that is starting to annoy me, is the growth on the amount of decks abusing Natural Order/Progenitus. Man, that 2 card combo is overpowered. In the Legacy context it might be even more powerful than what Tinker is in Vintage. It’s not restricted (people is playing 2-3 copies of Natural Order) and the creep you put in play is even better than any Tinker Robot that you might put into play. I still hope they ban Tarmogoyf soon. Hey! Do you remember the Biezcorp video? (It’s in spanish, but worth watching)

That’s all for today folks!

Sorry for the inconvenience that this might cause to you. I’m still trying to find the best possible template to fit my needs as a writer and that offers the best for the reader. In that search, I’ve decided to reduce the amount of things on the main page, leaving it to the essentials.

Less is more. – Mies van der Rohe

It’s been a while since my last Vintage tournament appearance. It was December’s LCV4 in Lloret de Mar. There I managed to top8 with a pretty solid UB Tezzeret Control deck. Well, I gotta admit that I’ve played zero Vintage games since then. Work is keeping me too busy to be able to meet with my buddies to play-test at all, but from time to time I have the chance to sneak into one of the small vintage tournaments that are held at La Màquina del Temps (shop who organizes LCV and LCL).

Today was a rainy Sunday and my girlfriend was busy meeting some friend for a coffee, so, I decided it was a good time to show up and play some vintage! Opened my binders and check what I could play with the hope of finding something new and original to have some fun. Saw my AK’s and those led me to my gorgeous playset of Thoughtcast Foil Japanese. Man, I had an idea!

Tezzcast Reloaded, by Jordi Amat
As a non-competitive deck for a competitive tournament.

4 Mana Drain
4 Force of Will
1 Thirst for Knowledge
4 Thoughtcast
1 Tinker
2 Misdirection
2 Tezzeret the Seeker
2 Sower of Temptation
1 Brainstorm
1 Ancestral Recall
1 Time Walk
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Gifts Ungiven
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Yawgmoth’s Will
2 Sensei’s Divining Top
1 Voltaic Key
1 Time Vault
1 Black Lotus
1 Mana Vault
1 Mana Crypt
1 Sol Ring
1 Mox Jet
1 Mox Sapphire
1 Mox Pearl
1 Mox Emerald
1 Mox Ruby
1 Tolarian Academy
1 Inkwell Leviathan
3 Underground Sea
2 Flooded Strand
3 Polluted Delta
4 Seat of the Synod
2 Island
1 Snow-Covered Island

Sideboard:
2 Spell Snare
1 Hurkyl’s Recall
1 Rebuild
1 Tormod’s Crypt
1 Extirpate
1 Yixlid Jailer
1 Relic of Progenitus
1 Pithing Needle
2 Sperzoa
4 Master of Etherium

While searching my Thoughtcasts I met Master of Etherium and Sperzoa, and convinced myself of playing them to fight the fishy metagame that I would probably find at the shop.

Maindeck is a simplified version of the Tezzcast deck that has been played around here and there. I wanted to make it slightly more solid to improve the matchup against Fish, so I decided to make it plain blue/black. No red nor green to support. But I said I was expecting a heavy Fish metagame, so, how would I combat Null Rod then? I wouldn’t! Instead, I transformed my deck into a more aggro-control version substituting the combo parts for creatures. (Notice as well the 2 main deck Sower of Temptation).

17:30 at the shop. Only 8 people showed up (understandable) so I actually knew I was gonna Top8 xDDDD We are playing 3 straight rounds of swiss, no top4. That equals home for dinner which is also nice!

Round 1: Xavier Muntada with UW Fish

Game 1: He mulligans, and land passes. I open with Island + Mox + Mana Vault. He casts Spell Pierce to which I answer with Ancestral Recall. I see Force of Will but I don’t care about the Mana Vault anymore, since I got my 2nd land and had Tinker + FoW back up for turn 2. He shows me Swords to Plowshares and we move onto game 2.

In: 4 Master of Etherium, 2 Sperzoa, 2 Spell Snare, 1 Hurkyl’s Recall

Out: 2 Tezzeret the Seeker, 1 Time Vault, 1 Voltaic Key, 2 Misdirection, 1 Gifts Ungiven, 1 Fact or Fiction, 1 Thirst for Knowledge

Game 2: He opens with Ancestral Recall to which I draw myself thanks to Misdirection. I resolve a Master of Etherium but I can’t find myself more than 1 artifact. The 2/2 ends up dead blocked by a Kataki, war’s edge. I remember I actually had ALL my lands in game and I just needed to draw something usefull to finish the game. He recovered just in time and I couldn’t make it.

Game 3: A fast 5/5 Master of Etherium followed by a 5/4 flying Sperzoa finished the game for me. They actually worked as intended!

2-1 | 3 Points

Round 2: Eduard Castro with Steel City Vault

Game 1: I play land go. He opens with Goblin Welder and I play Brainstorm in response. I see force of Will and a Mana Drain. I decide to Force of Will the Goblin. I play my 2nd land and pass. He casts something and I drain it. I cast my Willfull Fiction out of the extra mana from Mana Drain and win him few turns after.

In: 1 Tormod’s Crypt, 1 Pithing Needle, 1 Extirpate

Out: 2 Sower of Temptation, 1 Snow-Covered Island

Game 2: He plays land and passes. I go with something like: Land, Mox and Pithing Needle (naming Goblin Welder). He doesn’t find any relevant bombs while I do thanks to a couple of Thoughtcast.

2-0 | 6 Points

Round 3: Roger Lladó with TPS

Game 1: He mulligans to 5. Opens with Ancestral Recall and I actually Misdirection it. Let’s move to game 2.

In: Tormod’s Crypt, 1 Extirpate, 2 Spell Snare

Out: 2 Sower of Temptation, 1 Snow-Covered Island, 1 Hurkyl’s Recall

Game 2: I start UBER strong and develop my game a lot thanks to Time Walk and a couple of Thoughcasts. He Extirpate my Force of Will and from that point I lose gas. He manages to gather 8 storm for a lethal Tendrils with me being unable to find answers (Mana Drain) with Sensei’s Divining Top in play and 2 fetchlands…

Game 3: I don’t remember it at all. All I know is that he was gonna launch his attack when he Extirpates my Force of Wills, poor him, I had 2 or 3 Mana Drain in hand + Misdirection. So that delayed his plans while me, being 100% at topdeck, summoned the power of Mr. Yawgmoth’s via Vampiric Tutor for the win!

2-1 | 9 Points

So I actually had some fun, won and I brought home 10 boosters from Zendikar. My girlfriend opened them (as usual) with some luck actually: 2 fetchlands!

Regarding the deck, I think it’s pretty solid but I’m not sure about it. I mean, how would it perform against Oath, MUD or other heavy played decks at LCV. Against Control and Fish it worked really well, but it certainly lacks answers against Ionaa or MUD.

Next week I’ll play the 1st tournament of LCV. I’ll be broadcasting some games live from there. Stay tunned to my USTREAM channel!

Thanks to TroppoRicco I managed to get my playset of Foil Japanese Chrome Mox signed by both Donato Giancola and Richard Garfield. Very unique playset!

I promise I’ll scann my ANT deck tomorrow when I get some free time!

And don’t forget to check for more pimp stuff at www.mtg-pimp.com

With the upcoming eternal event of the year, Legacy Grand Prix Madrid, many players are seeking the best deck to play at it. In the following article I’d like to analyze some possibilities for those of you who like to play combo decks.
First of all, we must understand what kind of tournament a Grand Prix is. A GP isn’t at all like any other eternal tournaments. Ok, there’s some big events around the world that gather from 100 to 400 players. That’s big, but nothing compared to what predictions for GP Madrid attendance. Spain is, with no doubts, the country that has the biggest tradition on eternal formats, both Legacy and Vintage. Spain hosts the biggest weekly/monthly leagues, so we can expect GP Madrid to be a tournament with an attendance between 1000 and 2000 players. I believe the attendance will actually be closer to 2K than 1K.

So, we better forget of playing 5, 6 or 7 rounds + top8, and start thinking of a 2 day event with a total of 15-16 rounds followed by a top8.

Knowing this, my question is very clear. Is ANT the best combo deck to play?

Read the rest of this entry »

SCG (Star City Games) has celebrated this past weekend his latest 5K event that included a standard and legacy tournaments. They’ve done an excellent coverage of the event, so you gotta check it out!

Click on the image to jump to www.starcitygames.com

As seen on the italian website Tipo1.it:

He accepts comissions. If you want to contact him (Tino_Vintage) you should register at Tipo1.it and send him a private message. Cost of the playmats is 70€ ($100 US)

I hope you all passed the new year’s eve hangover and are ready again for some hardcore playing. 2009 was an awesome year for the youngest of the eternal formats, Legacy. 2009 proved WotC that Legacy is huge and they’ve, wisely, realized about that and already taken some actions.

2010 couldn’t start better for the Legacy european fans:

That’s great news for a country like Spain. As you may already know, Spain holds the biggest eternal leagues in the world: LCL ( Catalan Legacy League), LML (Madrid Legacy League), LLBL (Black Lotus Legacy League), etc…

Spain, somehow, creates trendies in Legacy, therefor the expected metagame for GP Madrid shouldn’t be that different from what we can find in our leagues. I’d totally recommend you taking a close look at deckcheck.net and search for the events listed before. Other events you should take in considerations are the past tournaments like Bazaar of Moxen, Eurovino3 or the recently played German Magic 1.

Personally, I’ve already decided what list I’ll be playing at GP Madrid. No secrets, I’ll be playing combo. What version? ANT. People tend to say that in a GP, where it’s gonna be loaded with CounterTop and AggroJunk decks, playing combo is kinda a suicide. Not really when you got a hidden Ace in your sideboard (and no, it’s not Thrashing Wumpus LOL).

By the way, changing a bit the topic, but still Legacy related, I’ve recently contacted Mr. Iggy Pop, and sent him my playset of japanese Ill-Gotten Gains for him to sign. MAN, THAT’S PIMP! Scanns as soon as the cards come back, if they ever do!.

Talking about pimp, I’m soon done with my 2nd legacy deck to be 100% foil japanese. When I say 100% I really mean it. Legacy’s Affinity allowed me to complete a deck with 75 out 75 cards in foil japanese. Right now I’m only missing 2 Cranial Platting (got those located already), 2 Ancient Den and 1 Vault of Whispers. If it happens that you own some and are willing to trade/sell, please contact me at jordi.amat@gmail.com.

Back to topic, the following weekends, starting Saturday 9th,  at the Black Lotus shop there’s gonna be a series of tournaments that will provide byes for GP Madrid. If I were you, I wouldn’t miss the chance of playing those. Unluckily for me, I’m working on Saturdays and won’t be able to attend those.

You might have noticed that I placed a video player on the top of the right sidebar and in there it says there’s a broadcast planned for this Saturday. Guys, that won’t be possible. Even tho, I promise to be LIVE broadcasting all the events I’ll attend in 2010. Stay tunned to my USTREAM channel if you wanna watch some games.

One last thing you should never forget:

Real men play combo!

(Ladies play countertop+goyfs and kids play pikachus+bolts)