tbh I'm not surprised edh/commander staples (reserved list as well I guess) are pretty high. Because of the lack of ability to play in store, we can only really play at home with friends and edh is a great format to play with friends.
I keep forgetting that Modern Horizons 2 is this year but it should have some good staples, including I believe fetchlands which might have been confirmed already
Wizards of the Coast designs their Paper Magic products so far ahead in advance before they're officially released to the public that they didn't take the Coronavirus Pandemic into account with Mystery Booster / The List, Jumpstart, and Commander Legends being "lucky" hits last year. They were probably under the impression that everyone would get vaccinated and return to "normalcy" by early to mid 2021 or later when we don't exactly know when the pandemic will end for when In-Store Organized Play can open back up again where people actually feel safe rather than insecure. Much like other businesses they're severely underestimating just how big of a logistics operation of having a 90% effective COVID-19 vaccine widely available to the general public really is even though it isn't the "end all be all" since sadly it really only seems to benefit those who haven't caught the virus yet by following the non-pharmaceutical procedures of wearing a face mask in public while practicing social distancing.
It's like when you never contracted smallpox, tetanus, or diphtheria because you were able to prepare for it by getting vaccinated during your childhood only in this scenario there's not much of a way to "prevent" COVID-19 or decrease the risk of dying from it If you've already contracted it from someone else since you have to REALLY rely on protocol to save your skin. I don't think doctors and scientists have figured out yet how to extend the immunity period of the COVID-19 vaccine to where you don't have to get an annual shot similar to the Flu every year like with two shots per year. I'm blessed that I still have a Local Game Store (LGS) to hang out and socialize with my friends playing EDH / Commander with as I sometimes think of my other LGS I used to frequent on Friday nights even though they're mainly a Comic Book Shop that also sells anime figures and graphic novels. It's been nearly a month since they posted their last Facebook update though I've been hearing rumors that they might open back up their play space later in Spring or Summer.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
I recently got word that the pharmacy at the grocery store I work at is going to be distributing the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine this coming Wednesday and the kicker? It's not mandatory for employees to take it though they may choose to take the vaccine If they like. The bad news is that people still have to social distance and wear face masks after getting vaccinated which to me defeats the purpose of the vaccine and that's to prevent the virus from spreading to other people. It seems as though pharmaceutical companies are gambling with peoples' lives by giving them vaccines that are either superior or less effective as sort of a social-engineering experiment by using the human race as guinea pigs to decide who lives and who dies. So If people are forced to take a vaccine that's less effective as their counterparts then the obvious solution would be to take multiple shots to increase the effectiveness, problem solved right? Not exactly I'm afraid. It might be a seasonal thing like the Flu.
My stepdad was recently vaccinated through Moderna as there were no strange abnormalities or symptoms same with a co-worker I know who showed no symptoms of his body trying to resist the vaccine. The number of new people diagnosed with COVID-19 seems to be going down quite dramatically with people getting vaccinated but just how long will the immunity last until they have to get re-vaccinated and we have to do this process over and over again? Given what we now know how will this affect the future of the Local Game Store (LGS)? It means people will spend less on other Paper Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games with Paper Magic being the safest investment at least for the time being depending on how things pan out with the IP Crossovers in Universal Beyond. Flesh and Blood TCG seems to be doing the complete opposite of what Wizards of the Coast is doing to Magic as of late though I don't expect to get into it with most of my money already spent on Magic.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
I have had both doses of the Moderna. No side effects for the first one. Some side effects for the second. Chills, low fever, fatigue, body ache, background headache. That is what you want your body to do the second dose. Many elderly recipients have a lowered immune response due to their age and won't show symptoms. Your body will hopefully show that it recognizes these foreign proteins and react accordingly.
I don't feel or act a bit different after each dose. Just like every other vaccine I've had during my life. And I've had a lot of them. This isolationist crap is soon to come to an end. Magic in person is coming back very soon, whether controlling politicians still want to cow us into fear or not.
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Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
I'm starting to think that this "isolationist crap" might actually be a good thing for us in order to seek God more rather than continue to be sedated to the ways of the world that will only lead us astray to the second death in the lake of fire. James 4:4 says, "You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." We can't put one foot in the world and God's Kingdom in the other, otherwise we end up living as Lukewarm Christians which Jesus warned about in Revelation 3:16.
The problem with today's society is that everyone is looking to amuse themselves and they do it because of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) when in reality they aren't really missing out on anything when we've wired ourselves to keep up on a constant basis. Scientists recently came to the conclusion that too much of these dopamine rushes of self pleasure has created a mental disorder known as "Anhedonia". It's a condition in which people can't experience pleasure anymore. The more we try to pleasure ourselves the more unsatisfied we are when the gift of the Holy Spirit should be enough.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Humans as a species are social animals in general. We have existed for thousands of years as social animals. This will come to pass and we will return to a near normal within a reasonable timeframe. Ask yourself this question, would Jesus Christ want us to isolate from our fellow humans indefinitely? Read your scriptures, you will find the answer. We are all brothers and sisters regardless of race, identity, religion, creed or persuasion. This hiding isolationist crap is drawing close to the end, and none too soon. You will be playing in person by Fall or Winter and by next Spring this mostly will be forgotten about even as those in power strive to put these further shackles on us. We have been subjugating our pleasure, not letting it roll out of control. Live life, this will pass. Besides there is a lot more to life than Magic the Gathering. A LOT!!!
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Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Scientists are now warning that the brain-swelling Nipah virus that's 75 times more deadly than COVID-19 could mutate to become the next global pandemic, should we be worried?
A brain-swelling disease 75 times more deadly than coronavirus could mutate to become the next pandemic killing millions, scientists have warned. Experts told the Sun Online how a number of emerging diseases could trigger another global outbreak – and this time it could be “The Big One”. The fruit bat-borne virus Nipah is a prime candidate for serious concern, they fear. Severe brain swelling, seizures and vomiting are just some of the symptoms of this highly potent disease — which was first discovered in 1999 in Malaysia.
Outbreaks in south and southeast Asia show the virus to be extremely deadly, with a death rate of between 40 to 75 per cent. COVID-19’s fatality rate is around one per cent, according to Imperial College, so a Nipah pandemic would kill many more people. It has also been named by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as one of 16 priority pathogens for research and development due to its potential to trigger an epidemic. And chillingly, Nipah is just one of 260 known viruses with epidemic potential.
The virus is such concern due to its long incubation period of up to 45 days, meaning people could spread for over a month before falling ill, and its ability to cross between species. Nipah also has an exceptional high rate of mutation and there fears a strain more well adapted to human infections could spread rapidly across the well interconnected countries of South East Asia. And while COVID-19 has devastated the world, killing almost 2.5 million people, its already been warned the next pandemic could be much worse. Dr Melanie Saville, director of vaccine research and development at CEPI, have warned the world needs to be prepared for the next “big one”.
Humans clashing with nature as populations expand and habitats get pushed back is considered to be a prime driver of new diseases — and that is exactly what happened with Nipah when it first infected pig farmers in Malaysia. Dr Rebecca Dutch, chair of the University of Kentucky’s department of Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry and a world a leader in the study of viruses, said although there are no current Nipah outbreaks in the world, they occur periodically and it is “extremely likely” we will see more. “Nipah is one of the viruses that could absolutely be the cause of a new pandemic. Several things about Nipah are very concerning,” Dr Dutch said. “Many other viruses in that family (like measles) transmit well between people, so there is concern that a Nipah variant with increased transmission could arise.
“The mortality rate for this virus is between 45% and 75% depending on the outbreak – so this is much higher than COVID-19. Nipah has been shown to transmit through food, as well as via contact with human or animal excretions. “The incubation period for Nipah can be quite long, and it can be unclear if transmission can occur during this time.” As well as fruit bats, pigs have caught the disease by eating infected mangoes and have been known to pass the disease to humans. More than one million pigs believed to be infected with the Nipah virus were slaughtered in Malaysia to prevent them from transferring it to humans. Dr Jonathan Epstein, vice president for science and outreach at the EcoHealth Alliance, explained how they are tracking the Nipah virus and are worried about its potential.
“We know very little about the genetic variety of Nipah-related viruses in bats, and what we don’t want to happen is for a strain to emerge that is more transmissible among people,” Dr Epstein said. “So far, Nipah is spread among close contact with an infected person, particularly someone with respiratory illness through droplets, and we generally don’t see large chains of transmission. “However, given enough opportunity to spread from bats to people, and among people, a strain could emerge that is better adapted to spreading among people. “This is a zoonotic virus knocking on the door, and we have to really work now to understand where human cases are occurring, and try to reduce opportunities for a spillover, so that it never gets the chance to adapt to humans.”
THE ‘BIG ONE’
And Dr Saville warned we need to be ready for the next “big one”, wherever it may come from. “Most crucially we shouldn’t just be looking at Nipah,” she said. “We know that a future pandemic is inevitable, and there are many other emerging infectious diseases that are recognised as having pandemic potential. “This includes known disease threats, like influenza, as well as new or as-of-yet identified pathogens, known as ‘Disease X’. “With environmental changes such as climate change, habitat destruction and human encroachment into previously isolated areas, human interactions have created a fertile space for viruses to hop between species and we therefore need to be prepared for the next ‘big one’.”
Dr Saville added CEPI is looking at producing a library of prototype vaccines which could target all coronaviruses at once. She added that they would be building on what they had learned from COVID-19 to try and eliminate the risk of a future pandemic. Executive director of the Access to Medicine Foundation, Jayasree K Iyer, also named superbugs as a big pandemic risk. She said: “Antibiotic resistance already causes more than 700,000 deaths each year, including more than 200,000 infant deaths.
“Antibiotics are used for treatment in nearly all cases of severe COVID-19, leading thus to an increasing number of bacteria becoming resistant to these antibiotics.” Ms Iyer and experts in the field are worried that pharmaceutical companies are not doing enough to create vaccines in time for the next pandemic. For example, there are no drugs or vaccines specific to Nipah virus. But the next pandemic could well come from a pathogen currently unknown to us. The unknown outbreak, known as Disease X, could trigger an outbreak worse than the Black Death if more is not done to control zoonotic diseases. Out of the 1.67 million unknown viruses on the planet up to 827,000 of these could have the ability to infect people from animals, according to the EcoHealth Alliance.
South East Asia, Southern and Central Africa, areas around the Amazon, and eastern Australia were all identified as the areas of highest risk for new diseases in a study published in Nature Communications. Environmental writer John Vidal, who is working on a book revealing the links between nature and disease, predicted the world faces a new Black Death-scale pandemic. Given the popularity of air travel and global trade, a virus could rampage across the world, unknowingly spread by asymptomatic carriers, “in a few weeks, killing tens of millions of people before borders could be closed”, he adds.
He said: “Mankind has changed its relationship with both wild and farmed animals, destroying their habitats and crowding them together — and the process … is only accelerating. ”If we fail to appreciate the seriousness of the situation, this present pandemic may be only a precursor to something far graver still.”
WORLD’S WORST PANDEMICS
These are the most deadly disease outbreaks in history — with many times the death toll than currently being unleashed by Covid.
•Black Death — Somewhere between 75 and 200 million people lost their lives — up to 60 per cent of the entire population of Europe — when the plague ravaged the continent from 1346 to 1353. It was most likely passed to humans via fleas which were feeding on black rats on trade ships in the Mediterranean before spreading across Europe and North Africa.
•Spanish Flu — As the world attempted to recover from the horror of the Great War in 1918, a disaster which killed twice as many people as the conflict emerged with Spanish Flu. Somewhere between 17 million and 100 million people died during the pandemic which lasted until 1920 — but there is currently no consensus as to where the virus originated, although it appears to have avian genes.
•Plague of Justinian — Believed to be the same bacteria responsible for the Black Death, the plague ravaged Europe and West Asia killing between 15 million and 100 million people in 541 and 542AD. It is believed to have been spread by rats carrying fleas as well — spreading into the Byzantine Empire via grain ships arriving from Egypt.
•HIV/AIDs Pandemic — Still ravaging parts of the world, its estimated some 35 million people have been killed by the insidious virus since 1981. It is believed to have jumped from primates to humans and was potentially first spread by the bushmeat trade.
•The Third Plague — The Bubonic plague struck again in China in 1855 from where it spread and killed up to 15 million people. WHO estimated the bacteria was running rampant until 1960 — with only then the pandemic ending, and they continue to closely monitor any outbreaks of the plague.
DISEASES ON WHO’S DANGER LIST
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has a lift of priority pathogens for research due to the threat the pose of a widespread epidemic — with these being some of the biggest worries:
•Ebola — Six African nations have been put on alert by WHO after Guinea declared it was suffering with another epidemic of ebola. The disease that has killed more than 11,000 people in the region. It leads to a fever, headaches, muscle pain, and bleeding from the ears, eyes, nose or mouth.
•SARS — The virus is believed to first emerged from bats in China, like COVID-19, triggering an epidemic in 2002 to 2004 that killed 774 people. SARS is an airborne virus and can spread through small droplets of saliva in a similar way to COVID-19 and the flu.
•MERS — A bug which is believed to have spread from bats to camels to humans in the Middle East. It is not as infectious as SARS or COVID, but has a fatality rate of around 35%.
•Rift Valley Fever — A zoonotic disease which is mainly passed to humans through infected animal blood and mosquitoes. The most extreme forms of the virus can cause blindness, jaundice, vomiting blood and death.
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America Bless Christ Jesus
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Sorry your post is way off topic and doesn't fit the thread. Its border-line scare-mongering and sensationalism. Lets keep it to Magic the Gathering please.
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Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
I’d like to remind everyone to keep on topic on how the covid pandemic relates to mtg/local gaming stores and keep anything related to politics and effects of the vaccine out of this thread
Alright well let me ask you these important questions: Would you feel safer at a Local Game Store (LGS) If you knew all the employees and staff were vaccinated from COVID-19? If a store can refuse someone based on dress code i.e. no shoes no service then should a Local Game Store (LGS) be able to refuse someone based on proof of vaccination from COVID-19? What about those who hold small conventions associated with Paper Magic? Sure it's hard to completely eliminate a disease like COVID-19 but that doesn't mean it has to stay deadly to us humans and affect everyday life so why should I allow the fear of contracting it eventually control my life? I can't be the only one who feels this way.
Heck I'd still go to my Local Game Store (LGS) even If every employee previously had COVID-19 just to be able to hang out with good people. How long would Local Game Stores (LGSs) be able to stay in business If they have to haggle every customer that walks in their front door for a vaccination ID? If it's against someones religious beliefs then that could be grounds for a potential lawsuit. You can still spread COVID-19 to someone else without knowing it If you've been vaccinated once or twice so why worry about something that you can't control? I'm just getting sick and tired of all the misinformation and hysteria surrounding this global pandemic when we should get to the sole truth of the matter.
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America Bless Christ Jesus
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Test yourself and let the employees get tested, if neither is sick, just let them go play and do their thing.
Vaccinated or not is basically meaningless, if neither is tested positive, simply being vaccinated makes no difference.
If there are almost or actual no cases in an area, closing shops is also outright pointless, its much more important to not let people in the area that are not tested (so all the people that have vacations and drive between towns, they are the actual hottest issue group of them all, as they spread between areas).
Closing down just for the sake of it is pointless damage prevention, for an irrational fear.
Its as simple as that.
Test people, if they are negative, let them do their thing. vaccinated or not, irrelevant, if you are negative it doesnt matter.
If an area has a bunch of cases, buckle up and sit it out.
Works in Florida, can work everywhere, its a choice to make.
What I'm about to talk about may seem controversial but I firmly believe that in the last 12 months the Coronavirus Pandemic was purposefully used to push the biggest wealth and power transfer the likes we've never seen before. This is all tied to the entire Secondary Market of Paper Magic being at the astronomical highs that it's in right now with no market cool off in sight. Sure Local Game Stores (LGSs) are making more money off card singles like never before. With the IRS now on online sellers backs disrupting the flow of card singles being distributed and transported to these Local Game Stores (LGSs) since most customers refuse to buy sealed product because they don't want to lose money by playing the lottery, it just adds another burden to an already dying business model that's already getting crushed by Amazon.
What this does is help Wizards of the Coast / Hasbro capture the Secondary Market for Paper Magic more (without Secret Lair sales) by artificially inflating the demand for popular cards simply by increasing their rarities when it comes to pull rates as well as severely limiting the amount of print runs or simply refusing to correct market supply for sealed products with much needed reprints that will continue to go up in price like what we saw with Jumpstart. People are buying out so many popular cards for their EDH / Commander decks that there simply isn't enough supply to meet the market demand for said cards which causes delays in Wizards of the Coast / Hasbro having to reprint the same cards in order to lower the demand for them. Less incentive to reprint popular cards means more profit from older sets that will have a much higher EV as a result.
Of course you don't have to take my word for it, just ask Rudy of Alpha Investments who has a different perspective on this:
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Rudy is dead on. His background in finance gives him a more clear picture of what is happening. This transfer of wealth upwards has been going on for decades and is nothing new. Its just more blatant and obvious at this point in time and is being exacerbated by stimulus checks and covid rules. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer and the middle class shrinks away to nothingness as a lucky few ride the upward wave and the rest get crushed under it. MTG is just a sign of the times. Sealed and single prices will increase, more special editions will be printed to collect the money from the whales at the top and LGS (the middle class) will either be crushed and die or a few will have to go big and become a Star City Games, Channel Fireball or Card Kingdom. Playership will decrease, collectors/investors/hoarders will increase and it will all come crashing down at some point. I don't know where that is but it will come as it is all short term thinking right now at the corporate level. LGS aren't all going to die but the squeeze is on and only the healthiest will survive. Large city LGS will be the last as any small town LGS will have too big a hill to climb.
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Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Rudy is dead on. His background in finance gives him a more clear picture of what is happening. This transfer of wealth upwards has been going on for decades and is nothing new. Its just more blatant and obvious at this point in time and is being exacerbated by stimulus checks and covid rules. The rich get richer, the poor get poorer and the middle class shrinks away to nothingness as a lucky few ride the upward wave and the rest get crushed under it. MTG is just a sign of the times. Sealed and single prices will increase, more special editions will be printed to collect the money from the whales at the top and LGS (the middle class) will either be crushed and die or a few will have to go big and become a Star City Games, Channel Fireball or Card Kingdom. Playership will decrease, collectors/investors/hoarders will increase and it will all come crashing down at some point. I don't know where that is but it will come as it is all short term thinking right now at the corporate level. LGS aren't all going to die but the squeeze is on and only the healthiest will survive. Large city LGS will be the last as any small town LGS will have too big a hill to climb.
What Rudy was complaining about is really just forcing online tax evaders to actually pay taxes If what they sold exceeded $600+ as in income taxes not sales taxes which is different. If you run a business then you have to keep a ledger of what you paid for, the stuff you're selling, what you sold it for, and what the difference is. Accounting isn't just for the Government it's for you to run your business with. If you made $600+ then it's a business but If you sold less than that then it's a side-hustle. Taxpayers shouldn't have to pay more to make up the difference of what these online businesses or side-hustlers are making. In other words online sellers got away with tax evasion within the last decade on eBay and pretended that it was the law when it wasn't. Now I don't believe this means that eBay is going to directly consult the IRS and track down ALL the online sellers within the last decade for not paying their income taxes If they made $600 or more simply because the legislation wasn't changed until now with the Biden Administration.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Wizards of the Coast has lifted their Magic: The Gathering in-store play suspension for Japan, but not for North America, Latin America, and Europe.
As COVID-19 vaccines roll out and populations get closer to achieving some level of immunity, WotC has begun to lift its in-store play suspensions for various regions. Japan's in-store play suspension was recently lifted, despite NHK World reporting that COVID-19 cases topped 729 new cases in Tokyo for the first time since February. WotC also intends to lift the suspension of in-store play in the Africa region on May 1.
However, WotC maintained their in-store suspension for North America, Latin America, and Europe as of April 14. They will update the their in-store play policies again on May 12, and until then, WotC recommends WPN members continue to host events online.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
That's odd. I heard on the radio earlier today that Japan is far behind the US and other countries in terms of percentages of citizens that have gotten a COVID vaccine. Seems iffy for Wizards to let them restart in store events given that.
That's odd. I heard on the radio earlier today that Japan is far behind the US and other countries in terms of percentages of citizens that have gotten a COVID vaccine. Seems iffy for Wizards to let them restart in store events given that.
It's stranger that they're opening the Africa region since the continent is doing terribly. Some countries only started receiving vaccines recently, and after the various vaccine/blood clot concerns the uptake in many African nations dropped off precipitously. I'm unsure which countries have store WotC intends on approving in-store play for, but that sticks out to me as not a sensible decision.
There's actually been a rise of new COVID-19 cases and deaths lately in the United States due to how transmissible the U.K. Variant a.k.a. "Double Mutant" is though the one that the world REALLY needs to watch out for is the India Variant a.k.a. "Triple Mutant" since India is getting hit the hardest from the ongoing pandemic including Brazil with their COVID-19 Variant. African nations are probably going to have to switch from the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to either Pfizer or Moderna If they're still able to obtain the supply for it. Even If you've been vaccinated / immunized once or twice the CDC still recommends people to wear face masks and practice social distancing to help reach herd immunity sooner so the method actually seems to be working.
There is a major concern that the more COVID-19 mutates the more it could undo all the progress we've made to sustain it through vaccination / immunization efforts which would set us back to where we were in March 2020 when we had all the government lockdowns and small businesses going out of business however the good news is that we know more about how COVID-19 operates than we did in the last 12 months. If you actually turn to Western / Vedic Astrology, the main reason why all those COVID-19 lockdowns occurred last year was due to Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto together in Capricorn so the likelihood of another COVID-19 lockdown happening again is very minimal. We'll never experience THAT much Capricorn energy in our lives ever again.
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spam warning for going off topic
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America Bless Christ Jesus
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
The RNA vaccines i.e Pfizer and Moderna are very easy to alter for new mutations. Astra Zeneca and Johnson johnson will work as long as the outer capsule doesn't change too much.
I....what? You do know that not everywhere has the same covid experience right? The position of the stars and planets isn't different for different places on the planet but each place was different.
*continues to live in covid free middle of the nowhere* I drafted strixhaven at my LGS a couple of days ago it was pretty great :).
The situation in Canada is rapidly falling apart, vaccine rollout has been rough (teachers and people under 40 still don't have access despite other industries and ages having access, for example), people who have gotten a first shot haven't gotten a second (and right now the gap is 4+ months between shots), and many provinces are relaxing public health measures despite skyrocketing cases (Alberta is currently setting records) and the youngest deaths thus far (last week we lost a 13 year old and a 16 year old).
I have been trying to get some Pride events planned, including a gaming night at a local comic books shop, and the stores are barely open at this point and are currently not planning for any in-person play at all until September at the most optimistic. One store owner told me they're considering a business pivot to ease reliance on in-store play because their feedback is that the audience may not be there when they can be fully open again. Covid polarization is really bad here and a lot of people aren't going to trust others in public spaces and are more likely to game at home with friends than in-store. One clerk told me that the reputation of comic book shops not being venues of good hygiene is hurting them, which seems like cope to me but I dunno. A few people in my playgroup are fully vaccinated (they had ailments that made them higher risk so they got access in March) so they might start playing in person again in a few weeks, though a lot of the group likely won't be fully vaccinated until Q4 2021.
..... must ...... resist ...... temptation to respond..... to post #199....... must ...... resist.......
Ok, it passed.
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(motleyslayer):
spam warming for going off topic
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Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
It's like when you never contracted smallpox, tetanus, or diphtheria because you were able to prepare for it by getting vaccinated during your childhood only in this scenario there's not much of a way to "prevent" COVID-19 or decrease the risk of dying from it If you've already contracted it from someone else since you have to REALLY rely on protocol to save your skin. I don't think doctors and scientists have figured out yet how to extend the immunity period of the COVID-19 vaccine to where you don't have to get an annual shot similar to the Flu every year like with two shots per year. I'm blessed that I still have a Local Game Store (LGS) to hang out and socialize with my friends playing EDH / Commander with as I sometimes think of my other LGS I used to frequent on Friday nights even though they're mainly a Comic Book Shop that also sells anime figures and graphic novels. It's been nearly a month since they posted their last Facebook update though I've been hearing rumors that they might open back up their play space later in Spring or Summer.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
My stepdad was recently vaccinated through Moderna as there were no strange abnormalities or symptoms same with a co-worker I know who showed no symptoms of his body trying to resist the vaccine. The number of new people diagnosed with COVID-19 seems to be going down quite dramatically with people getting vaccinated but just how long will the immunity last until they have to get re-vaccinated and we have to do this process over and over again? Given what we now know how will this affect the future of the Local Game Store (LGS)? It means people will spend less on other Paper Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games with Paper Magic being the safest investment at least for the time being depending on how things pan out with the IP Crossovers in Universal Beyond. Flesh and Blood TCG seems to be doing the complete opposite of what Wizards of the Coast is doing to Magic as of late though I don't expect to get into it with most of my money already spent on Magic.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
I don't feel or act a bit different after each dose. Just like every other vaccine I've had during my life. And I've had a lot of them. This isolationist crap is soon to come to an end. Magic in person is coming back very soon, whether controlling politicians still want to cow us into fear or not.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
The problem with today's society is that everyone is looking to amuse themselves and they do it because of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) when in reality they aren't really missing out on anything when we've wired ourselves to keep up on a constant basis. Scientists recently came to the conclusion that too much of these dopamine rushes of self pleasure has created a mental disorder known as "Anhedonia". It's a condition in which people can't experience pleasure anymore. The more we try to pleasure ourselves the more unsatisfied we are when the gift of the Holy Spirit should be enough.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health/health-problems/brainswelling-nipah-virus-75-times-more-deadly-than-coronavirus-may-be-next-pandemic-scientists-warn-of-the-big-one/news-story/5363e34783bd54c926434c738edd5e12
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Heck I'd still go to my Local Game Store (LGS) even If every employee previously had COVID-19 just to be able to hang out with good people. How long would Local Game Stores (LGSs) be able to stay in business If they have to haggle every customer that walks in their front door for a vaccination ID? If it's against someones religious beliefs then that could be grounds for a potential lawsuit. You can still spread COVID-19 to someone else without knowing it If you've been vaccinated once or twice so why worry about something that you can't control? I'm just getting sick and tired of all the misinformation and hysteria surrounding this global pandemic when we should get to the sole truth of the matter.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Vaccinated or not is basically meaningless, if neither is tested positive, simply being vaccinated makes no difference.
If there are almost or actual no cases in an area, closing shops is also outright pointless, its much more important to not let people in the area that are not tested (so all the people that have vacations and drive between towns, they are the actual hottest issue group of them all, as they spread between areas).
Closing down just for the sake of it is pointless damage prevention, for an irrational fear.
Its as simple as that.
Test people, if they are negative, let them do their thing. vaccinated or not, irrelevant, if you are negative it doesnt matter.
If an area has a bunch of cases, buckle up and sit it out.
Works in Florida, can work everywhere, its a choice to make.
WUBRG#BlackLotusMatterWUBRG
👮👮👮 #BlueLivesMatter 👮👮👮
What I'm about to talk about may seem controversial but I firmly believe that in the last 12 months the Coronavirus Pandemic was purposefully used to push the biggest wealth and power transfer the likes we've never seen before. This is all tied to the entire Secondary Market of Paper Magic being at the astronomical highs that it's in right now with no market cool off in sight. Sure Local Game Stores (LGSs) are making more money off card singles like never before. With the IRS now on online sellers backs disrupting the flow of card singles being distributed and transported to these Local Game Stores (LGSs) since most customers refuse to buy sealed product because they don't want to lose money by playing the lottery, it just adds another burden to an already dying business model that's already getting crushed by Amazon.
What this does is help Wizards of the Coast / Hasbro capture the Secondary Market for Paper Magic more (without Secret Lair sales) by artificially inflating the demand for popular cards simply by increasing their rarities when it comes to pull rates as well as severely limiting the amount of print runs or simply refusing to correct market supply for sealed products with much needed reprints that will continue to go up in price like what we saw with Jumpstart. People are buying out so many popular cards for their EDH / Commander decks that there simply isn't enough supply to meet the market demand for said cards which causes delays in Wizards of the Coast / Hasbro having to reprint the same cards in order to lower the demand for them. Less incentive to reprint popular cards means more profit from older sets that will have a much higher EV as a result.
Of course you don't have to take my word for it, just ask Rudy of Alpha Investments who has a different perspective on this:
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
It's stranger that they're opening the Africa region since the continent is doing terribly. Some countries only started receiving vaccines recently, and after the various vaccine/blood clot concerns the uptake in many African nations dropped off precipitously. I'm unsure which countries have store WotC intends on approving in-store play for, but that sticks out to me as not a sensible decision.
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
There is a major concern that the more COVID-19 mutates the more it could undo all the progress we've made to sustain it through vaccination / immunization efforts which would set us back to where we were in March 2020 when we had all the government lockdowns and small businesses going out of business however the good news is that we know more about how COVID-19 operates than we did in the last 12 months. If you actually turn to Western / Vedic Astrology, the main reason why all those COVID-19 lockdowns occurred last year was due to Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto together in Capricorn so the likelihood of another COVID-19 lockdown happening again is very minimal. We'll never experience THAT much Capricorn energy in our lives ever again.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
I....what? You do know that not everywhere has the same covid experience right? The position of the stars and planets isn't different for different places on the planet but each place was different.
*continues to live in covid free middle of the nowhere* I drafted strixhaven at my LGS a couple of days ago it was pretty great :).
Pioneer:UR Pheonix
Modern:U Mono U Tron
EDH
GB Glissa, the traitor: Army of Cans
UW Dragonlord Ojutai: Dragonlord NOjutai
UWGDerevi, Empyrial Tactician "you cannot fight the storm"
R Zirilan of the claw. The solution to every problem is dragons
UB Etrata, the Silencer Cloning assassination
Peasant cube: Cards I own
I have been trying to get some Pride events planned, including a gaming night at a local comic books shop, and the stores are barely open at this point and are currently not planning for any in-person play at all until September at the most optimistic. One store owner told me they're considering a business pivot to ease reliance on in-store play because their feedback is that the audience may not be there when they can be fully open again. Covid polarization is really bad here and a lot of people aren't going to trust others in public spaces and are more likely to game at home with friends than in-store. One clerk told me that the reputation of comic book shops not being venues of good hygiene is hurting them, which seems like cope to me but I dunno. A few people in my playgroup are fully vaccinated (they had ailments that made them higher risk so they got access in March) so they might start playing in person again in a few weeks, though a lot of the group likely won't be fully vaccinated until Q4 2021.
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
Ok, it passed.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."