MTG Salvation

I started it on January 17th while my wife was out. There's probably 10 hours at my table in this, but it was mostly in 30-45 minute increments at night after our daughter went to sleep, so it took considerably longer than it should have (especially because a lot of my time downstairs is spent finding something to listen to).

Been wanting to draw Bane breaking the Bat on a mat for a long time. Finally took the time to do it. My last few mats have been full mats in color, so I opted for black and white for this.

Reference: Batman: Knightfall

I decided to finally upload pictures of some of my mats and share them. All are done with prismacolor markers.


Reference: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time


Reference: Super Mario Bros (multiple games)


Reference: Death Note


Reference: Sword Art Online, Asuna


Reference: The Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time


Reference: HBO, The Sopranos

Lastly is what I'm currently working on

Reference: Batman: Knightfall

My wife learned to play, and encourages it. She stopped playing, though.

My friends that play obviously love it. Most don't care, and a few give me crap for it.

My daughter loves it. But she's 3, and just likes the pictures.

I use prismacolor, but I actually prefer the quality of copic a little more (both are quality, though). Copic just aren't comfortable in my hand, so I don't use them.

In public, usually Coke.

At home, Pappy Van Winkle 20 year, neat. I typically have a hip flask with me when I'm out, too.

There are many shops near me, but I play at the one I play at because its where my friends play. It's a drama free shop, the owners are great. All in all, a nice environment.

This kind of stuff doesn't bother me. At the end of the day, we all put our own values on cards. The majority of us put a value on cards that is equal or close to the value that the bigger retailers value them at.

I don't trade for anything in standard most of the time, as the values I put on standard cards is laughable to most standard players. Example, I had a guy wanting to trade his thundermaw hellkite when it was at its peak value, and was upset when I told him I valued it at around $5.

I wasn't trying to troll him, offend him, or be a jerk. But I don't play standard, and I don't value cards with their standard price inflation.

To me, there is a difference if I ask for a card versus my being asked if I'm interested in it. If I had inquired about trading for the Thundermaw, I'd have done so knowing the perceived value, and would expect to trade for it at or near that value to acquire it.

Quote from Crimeo

A problem with this and with much of the rest of the thread is that deckbuilding and responding to metas and altering your deck is a major part of Magic. if you're playing the same deck for 6 months such that you can alter every card in it, or obtain every little rare version, then you're playing an awfully static game by necessity, which sounds super boring at best, and dramatically unstrategic at worst (more likely).


This I can get more on board with, since these are things that transcend decks and don't require you to play the same thing forever and ever. Same goes for life counters, TOKENS, etc.

Although actually, "dice" is a little sketchy. Who would be willing to play with somebody's homemade dice? But I digress.

There was a thread not too long ago with homemade dice made from cards that were pretty cool. Handcrafting some from exotic woods would be awesome, too. I wouldn't expect people to roll with them, but using them for counters and such is fine.

Pimp to me making your deck into an extension of you. Making it a labor of love. To me, foiling out your standard deck isn't pimp. An internet connection and a debit/credit card will get you your whole deck pimped. It didn't take time to collect, or effort to acquire.

Foiling out your EDH? Often pimp. A lot of EDH staples are hard to find, or expensive to buy if you can find them, so it takes a little effort to foil most EDH decks. Foreign foils? Even more pimp.

Altered? Definitely pimp. Altered yourself? Even more pimp.

To me putting that much effort into your deck tells me it isn't some deck you threw together on a whim. It tells me the deck has been important to you for a long time.

It doesn't just stop at decks for me. Handmade playmats, handcrafted deck boxes, handmade dice, those type of things are pimp to me.

Quote from RCarlysle

I think they should put the FNM logo back on FNM promos. You know what else would be awesome though? Saturday Night Magic for those who work on Fridays. Just call it Saturday Night Magic. SNM.

Rihanna would play.

If you're really desperate for a harder "sleeve", Ultra Pro makes semi rigid top loaders. They're taller than normal top loaders, but far thinner.

Probably still to thick to play with, but it could be an option.

At home: bag o' gummi worms and a glass or 4 of good bourbon.
At my LGS: bag o' gummi worms and a coke.

Honestly, I don't trade at all. If one of my friends needs a card, I just give it to them. I've given my friends JMTS's, several snapcasters, fetches, you name it. My friends in turn do the same to me. I've been given judge promo sol ring, command tower, and countless other cards.

It'll eventually even out most likely, and if not, eh, who cares.

I don't take anything to trade when I go to my LGS, though. I'm long since done dealing with people trying to eek out a $2 advantage, or hound me for an hour for a card when I've made it abundantly clear that they have nothing I'm looking for.

If I did trade, though, I'd inform the other party of the value of their cards if they don't seem to know. I don't care about value, and I'll happily trade a $20 rare for a $5 one just for the convenience of getting it then and there, but I wouldn't assume others are willing to do that.

Quote from Xcric

i really like the prerelease gimmicks, so long as they're fair and equal at every venue.

This. If the randomness is in the form of packs (ie: the hidden treasures in Zendikar), it's fine. But some helvaults containing jank while others had awesomeness was really off putting to me.