MTG Salvation

If it were WotC's call, I wouldn't be concerned about paper Magic being shut down. But, it isn't.

It's Hasbro.

The same company that made an SDCC exclusive, $150 Ghostbusters Optimus Prime for no apparent reason other than to see how many people were willing to fork over that much money for colored cardboard and plastic.

The same company that made "Monopoly for Millennials" and replaced the properties with experiences. Why? Because, as the packaging itself states: "Forget real estate. You can't afford it anyway." Enough people thought this was a good idea that it was greenlit and produced.

I have no faith in Hasbro to make intelligent decisions regarding Magic. But we'll know in less than 24 hours what news MaRo will be unveiling to us.

The end of paper Magic tournaments is nigh. All the "pro" events and qualifiers will be through Arena starting in 2020. Profit margins are higher, and there's no need for judges or TOs, or to scrounge enough physical product on hand to supply players and have prize support.

I would also not be surprised if the announcement stated that "Throne of Eldraine" will be the last paper Magic product.

Mr. Rithaniel: If the creature's abilities are being nerfed, why not slap it all the way down to drone stats of 0/1 or 1/1?

Subject16: Why does the Phyrexian BoP need to pay (G/P) in addition to the tap for mana? And why is the double proliferate so costly?

bravelion83: Make a token. Pay an extra penalty if you paid life. Change it to an opponent of your choice instead of target so you can't sidestep the penalty if they're behind hexproof.

netn10: Did you intentionally forget a creature type? You need to improve the language and punctuation in your activated ability, given how disparate the first two sections are.

Jimmy Groove: Considering you can't smack an opponent in the face with the damage (once you figure out if it targets or you choose), the casting cost is steep. Maybe 3(U/P)(B/P)(R/P) to limit abuse?

Top 3
3. Subject16
2. Jimmy Groove
1. bravelion83

I think Subject16 should win just for "Duck". I also think Subject16 should update their IIW, since we already did "nonblack Zombies" recently.

The phrase that had me questioning the potential restriction was "normal artifact", in combination with the subsequent wording used after that phrase that only listed examples of what one might expect with a noncreature artifact.

Thank you for the further clarification.

And with the last of the scores tallied, the winner of the June MCC is bravelion83. Congrats!

Your foil Alpha Volcanic Island is in the mail, and you should receive it no later than August 32nd.

Quote from bravelion83 »

More questions for round 2.
Suppose I want to use emerge and I make a card with the exact same text as Abundant Maw but with no mana cost. Having no mana cost gives no other means to cast the card than emerge.

Much like Ancestral Vision, the card can be cast via other spells and effects, such as Cascade or the Expertise cycle, so it does qualify. The main challenge is to design a card with an alternate casting cost; the second subchallenge was to give an excuse to switch things up. For example, say, a creature with a Dash but no normal casting cost (which may be what a modern version of Viashino Cutthroat might look like).

Quote from bravelion83 »

1. Does the cast ability count for subchallenge 1, as the only way you can cast the card and trigger that ability is via emerge? I think the answer is no, but I thought to ask just to be sure rather than making assumptions.
2. What if I substitute the cast ability with a different ability that cares about the sacrificed creature? For example if the Maw drained X life, where X is the sacrificed creature's cmc, power, or toughness.
3. Or would it just have to be literally "When CARDNAME's emerge cost is paid" or "if you paid CARDNAME's emerge cost"?

1. No, it would not, which is why I used Rix Maadi Reveler as an example. It has a different effect if the Spectacle cost was paid.
2. You're not getting an additional effect with a sacrificed creature, you're gaining an additional cost that is built into the spell.
3. Basically this, which is why I chose a specific card to illustrate an example that would meet the subchallenge.

EDIT: I added another note to the Clarifications, primarily regarding Subchallenge 2.

Koth's Gambit 1RR
Sorcery (R)
Choose one:
- Discard your hand, then draw a card for each Mountain you control.
- Koth’s Gambit deals damage equal to the number of Mountains you control to any target.
- Take an extra turn after this one. At the beginning of that turn’s end step, you lose the game.

IIW: Shard Colored Vehicles

I shall judge as well.

There are too many people misquoting Bergeot (seriously, RTFT), so I'm just going to quote her tweet directly:

Quote from Helene Bergeot »

This is about stores running events for profit, not about playtesting between friends

She uses the word "events" not "tournaments" in the tweet. FNM is an "event for profit." Open Play is an "event for profit." Opening the doors at a business on a day where you do not state that proceeds are being donated is an "event for profit." Had she used the word "tournaments" instead of "events" this point would be less murky. She did not.

So, yes, continued concern is justified that Sharpie proxies could get a store's WPN participation revoked if someone has an axe to grind with a LGS.

Quote from TheRavenManIsSquee »

What will happen to club Flamingo when the site closes?
Could we make Club Flamingo it’s own website?

well, somebody could make a new Club Flamingo thread on the new site.

To be clear I'm referring to myself there.

I wasn't expecting to have to make a new post so soon after the last one, but I guess my hand was forced.

When the time comes and the new site is up I'll make a new Club Flamingo there, as well as providing one final retrospective post here. End of an era indeed, but just like last time it'll rise again.

Quote from Little_Money

There is only one flamingo, that is Megiddo

it's Megiddo's club we just post in it.

Welcome to Club Flamingo! If you aren't familiar with the rules for gentlemen's clubs, open the spoiler right here. If you've posted in "the Winner is Judge" before, you'll be fine.

But isn't this Club Flamingo? Yes. This automatically makes it classier than basically every other thread on here. But this thread isn't made just for me to dress up like a flamingo. In the next spoiler you will find the special rules for this club.

Reasonnable netdecking is fine: you have to start somewhere and understanding why the strong decks are strong is going to need to happen through netdecking

Players who act all high and mighty with netdecks like they are champs do get my blood boiling

My spoiler Season Mantra, repeat after me:

"I will not knock the cards until I've played with them."

Quote from Caedere

Bacl is just a Magic hipster

He remembers when Scry was still underground

I remember when Scry(e) was just a magazine.

For the guy who compared getting 4 lands to having a six land opener: it's really more like an 8 land opener when you have a 12 card hand. Which I would still take over a 4-3 split, any day, any time.

For the people saying that 'finding that one card that matters is more common than you think!': please read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pessimism_bias

For the people saying that 'it's awesome if you flip 4+ great cards!' please read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optimism_bias

While we're at it, it wouldn't hurt for everyone to read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Availability_heuristic

That said, if you take what this card DOES do, without the tinted glasses of personal experience, it DOES draw a number of cards ranging from 1-4, at instant speed, for 4 mana. Whether or not this is good depends on a variety of factors.
First, and probably the most significant, is deck construction. I would never run this in Kuldotha Red, for instance. And it would probably be better in American control or Grixis control than in, say, RUG midrange, though that's a bit trickier. We can always assume, however, that a competent player will only play it in a deck that can make use of it. (I wouldn't run FoF in K-Red, either!)
Second, it draws cards. This is always a good thing, though for 4 mana it had better draw well, right? Well, we can start to weigh it out. If you really, really need that one card, you lose. Better luck next time. The odds of this happening specifically, though, are somewhere around 5% of games. If you need something, anything! to survive another turn, you probably do, and maybe win. This will happen ~20% of games. If you are already fairly evenly matched with your opponent, it will pull you ahead, and probably win. This will happen ~50% of the time. If you are already ahead and just want to make sure you don't slip, this will win you the game, which is about ~20% of the time. If you are already near-gauranteed to win, this won't screw that up, which is about 5% of the time. So ignoring the absolute bad (as you won't get better in the formats it's legal in without playing Diabolic Tutor, in which case I salute you), and ignoring the really good (as any card other than Sorrow's Path is likely to do the same), you are left with ~90% of games being actively aided by resolving this, about 50% of those being significantly impacted by this, and about 20% where it is the difference between winning and losing. If you can point to another 4 mana or less, instant speed, good in most (though not all) decks-of-it's-color card that can boast those odds, and is legal in Modern or newer, I'll call you out for making it up. It looks daunting for your opponent to be able to choose, and it looks miraculous to draw all nuts, but realistically this is the just an all-around solid piece of card advantage. I look forward to snagging a few as long as it stays cheap, and will cry a little if it starts high.

When it comes to comparisons between godbooks, I'm going with Annorax on this one. I haven't yet had contact with my source yet, so we'll call this confirmed unless my source says it's not for some reason.

Elektrophorus here.

So, this upcoming block is especially exciting for me because I am a major in Ancient Greek and I love etymology so much. I thought it would be fun to explain some of the choices Wizards has done for the names of characters / cards in Theros.

Although a lot of the names in Theros aren't direct analogues to Ancient Greek, it definitely has a lot of basis in the language--however corrupted the spellings are.

If I miss anything, please comment here so I can think about it.

Oh, yeah. For the record, I am also double majoring in Pre-Veterinary Biology.

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Characters

Gods

Ephara

???

Erebos

A direct transliteration from the Greek erebos, meaning "depth" or "darkness". Along with Tartaros and Hades, Erebos may also have been another word for the Underworld. While Erebos was a Greek deity in himself, his namesake in Magic is more of an adaptation from Hades or the Roman Pluto. Although he resides over death, he is not inherently evil--something the Greeks were very clear about. Hades was never a bad guy--and neither is Magic's Erebos. To note, his domain over gold and wealth is much more strongly observed in Roman culture, where Pluto is also the god of greed.

Heliod

Derived from helios, which simply means "sun". While people typically refer to Helios (capitalized) as the "god of the sun", that's technically not correct--Helios is the actual personification of the sun. In that, his name translates directly to the English word for "sun". This is similar for deities like Hemera or Nyx, whose names literally mean "day" and "night". For this reason, many scholars typically translate their names as Day and Night, respectively, whereas some keep them as Hemera and Nyx for flavor.

Karametra

First people said that kar meant "head" (or, more correctly, "face") and ametra means "immeasurable". While this is true, it's probably not as likely now anymore, with the new article. Wizards stated indirectly that her role was the goddess of the hearth--a symbol in Ancient Greece of civilization and community. As a deity of agriculture as well, it is likely that Karametra is based off of Demeter. Both carry forms of the word meter (gen. metros), meaning "mother". Karametra means "head-mother".

Mogis

Comes from mogis that means "toil" or "pain".

Nylea

Not entirely sure about this one quite yet, but it is clear that she is based off of Artemis. It is interesting because Artemis' character arose first in Pre-Ancient Turkey and Wizards state her disdain for the goddess of the hearth, who in ancient times was first worshiped in Greece. Maybe a mirror to the Trojan War. Neleēs is a Greek word for "ruthless", "savage", or "punishing". (H)ylē is the word for "forest".

Purphoros

Most likely comes from the Greek pur, meaning "fire", and phoros, meaning "one that holds" (from the verb phero, "I hold"). Pur also donates the words "pyre" / "pyro-" to English. Phoros is where we get the words "phosphorus" and, in Latin, "Lucifer" as well--both of which mean "carrying light". As a character in Magic, he is most like Hephaestus--the god of the forge. Purphoros was also an epithet for Prometheus, the god who bestowed the creative spark (and fire) to humans.

Thassa

Most likely derived from thalassa, which literally means "sea". In some ways, thalassa refers more specifically to the physical embodiment of the Mediterranean Sea, while other "sea" words (like Pontos) refer to other seas. Thalassa as a proper noun refers to a primordial sea goddess, who probably predated the popular Greek pantheon. Another thing of note is that thalassa as word is very atypical of other Greek words, owing its roots to places other than the Greek Peloponnese. In other dialects, it might have been spelled talatta or thalatta.

Humans

Agnomakhos

From the Greek agnos and makhos meaning "pure" and "fight". A "pure battler".

Anax

Direct transliteration from Greek anaks, meaning "ruler" or "lord". Cavalry Pegasus cites Cymede as queen of Akros, so Anax is probably king. Edit: For those of you suggesting Ajax as a source for this, remember that the proper spelling is actually Aias, and that anax is actually a word.

Androphages

From aner (gen. andros), meaning "man", and phago, meaning "I eat". The Androphages are cannibals, so this name is fairly straightforward.

Anthousa

Greek name meaning "in blossom".

Cymede

Not sure quite yet. Medeon means "guardian", though.

Formalists

This is actually a Greek philosophy term for those who fell into Plato's Theory of Forms. The Forms were abstract ideas that each corresponded to each state of being, each object, or anything there could potentially be a "form" of--speaking generally of course. So, the whole "back to Aether" lore thing is a play on this completely.

Hypatia

Greek name coming from (a female version of) hypatos, meaning "highest". She rides her pegasus to the highest heights, I guess. It's just a Greek name, though.

Perisophia

Really just comes from peri and sophia, meaning "about" and "wisdom". He's really all about wisdom. Clever, Wizards.

Other Non-Humans

Korinna

It's a Greek name coming from kore, meaning "maiden".

Medomai

Comes directly from medomai, meaning "I intend". An oracle in Greek mythos would be the person you go to in order to receive oracles (predictions of the future). Medomai might be able to glean the intentions of others. However, it is also to note that oracles in Ancient Greece were notoriously ambiguous such that they could be interpreted in many ways.

Polukranos

Comes from polu, meaning "many", and krania, meaning "head". Appropriate for a hydra.

Theophila

Nylea's nymph companion. Comes from theo, meaning "god", and phil-, meaning "love" / "friendship".

Thrasios

Comes from Phrasios, "speaker," from phrasdo, "I speak". It's a fairly common name, but probably represents his role as Thassa's speaker.

Xenagos

Probably comes from xen-, meaning "foreigner", and ago, meaning "I lead". Xenagos as a word means "mercenary leader" (one who leads foreigners).

-------------------------

Assorted Objects

Weapons

Akmon

Akmon is the Greek word for "lightning" or "meteor". It also grants the root akmo- meaning "forge" or "anvil", as in the word akmotheton, meaning "anvilblock".

Detella

Derived from the Greek word dikella meaning "two-pronged fork". Although this weapon was present in Greek myth, it was more a symbol of death, while the trident was the symbol of the sea. Edit: Actually, I just learned that the dikella (or bident) was a fishing tool used by the Egyptians. Neat!

Ephixis

Ephixis is a very obscure Greek word for "trueshot" or "bullseye"--some form of accuracy at long distance, pertaining to a projectile.

Khrusor

Chrysaor is Greek for "one who wields a golden weapon". It was also the name of Pegasus' brother, both of whom sprung out of Medusa's neck when Perseus beheaded her.

Mastix

Mastix is the Greek word for "whip" or "whipmaster".

------------------------------

Places

Akros

Akros

Akros just means "edge" or "on the edge". It's probably a reference to the Acropolis.

Kolophon

Colophon was actually a real city. It means "summit".

Pharagax Bridge

From pharanks (pharagx), meaning "chasm". Gammas before xi's in Ancient Greek were pronounced as English n's, but Wizards instead used the transliteration of gamma as 'g'. The Pharagax Bridge spans over a chasm.

Phoberos Badlands

From phoberos, meaning "fearful". The lore says that it's a fearful place.

Meletis

Dakra

Comes from dakr- meaning "tear" (like crying). The lore from the Planeswalker Guides say the Dakra were formed by Thassa's tears. These islands seem like they might be simply based off of the various islands in the Mediterranean.

Dekatia

Seems like it comes from the root deka- for "ten".

Meletis

Most likely a corruption of the name Miletus, which was an ancient city famed for its view of the sea. It was also pretty much the birthing grounds for all of Ancient Greek philosophy--something very blue indeed. Meleti is also apparently the word for "study".

Setessa

Amatrophon

Probably from ama, meaning "together", and trophon, meaning "one who feeds"--as in, "species in unison".

Kelema Veil

From kelema, meaning "magic spell". The phenomenon of the Veil is a blending of Nyx with Theros, so it is appropriate that it is named after the word that literally means "enchantment" or "charm".

Nistos Forest

Probably from some form of the root meaning "forest".

Setessa

Not sure it means anything. It doesn't have a very Greek construction here.

Other

Arixmethes

Not sure yet, but the whole sinking city thing reeks of Atlantis. -meth- isn't really a word part you typically see in place names.

Nyx

Nyx is the Greek word for "night"--also the name of the physical embodiment of the night itself.

The Rivers that Ring the World

Dude, Hades (the Greek Underworld) also has five rivers. Go figure.

Theros

Theros probably comes from therion, the Greek word for "beast", where the word panther comes from. An alternative would be theros, which means "summer", or eleutheros, which means "free".

New news to report. Apparently WotC messed up and didn't give their allotment out over the course of all 4 days. These items are completely SOLD OUT! Get them on E-Bay before they shoot up to $500. I asked 3 different hasbro employee's and they said it's the first time they've seen such a limited quantity go so fast.

Usually they have a stock for each day but WotC screwed up. Get them now if you want them because they are EXTREMELY limited. Also NONE will be going up for sale on the website as the stock for the entire convention was blown through in the first day (2 days if you count preview night).

This information is from the convention center floor, I just talked to them so it's solid. If anything changes I'll keep you guys updated. (I'm so glad I got my two) These are going to be worth a ridiculous amount of money a few years from now.