In general, the details of DQs aren't made public as long as there's a pending investigation.
Just wanting to reiterate this. While people can speculate all they want, this really isn't open to be discussed publicly, at least until the full investigation is over.
Why is Sun Titan in the build? You don't have Bloodghasts to abuse. Could you explain your choices?
And like McClain said, 4 Faithless main. LED will help to push you forward. Unless Sun Titan is meant for something I cannot see, drop him and one Careful Study to add the 2 Lootings. Also, you should really want the 4th Cabal Therapy. Sacing and getting zombies because of it is nice, plus potentially hitting your opponents hand is sweet.
What do we hit with Pithing Needle?
I like Sun Titan's ability to bring back something that has a CMC of 3 or less. But I guess it's not really necessary.
I don't have a problem putting the two other Faithless Lootings main, or the 4th Cabal Therapy.
I see Pithing Needle has something to hit activated abilities like on Tormod's Crypt.
I just installed VirtualBox on my MacBook Pro, then Windows 8 to play MTGO and it works great. Well, except for one hitch. When I try to move the mouse in the software, the pointer kind of takes off and does its own thing, making it hard to click on things (like tapping mana, casting spells, etc.).
To bounce off of what others have said -- as long as it's clear what each thing is representing, it doesn't matter what is being used as a token.
True story -- I was judging a feature match for a SCG Open about a month ago. When the camera match ended, we were looking to see if one of the other matches could possibly get moved to camera. We determined that it wasn't possible. I stayed in the feature area and watched the end of the remaining match. One of the players asked if I'd sit down with them and watch and I obliged. Pretty soon, I realized why he asked this -- his opponent had countless tokens on the board, but they were all dice and it was next to impossible to determine what was going on. I grabbed the tokens that SCG provides for the camera match and replaced the dice with tokens, then told the player that he had to get something better than what he was using because it was too confusing.
Alright. My local shoppe is having an Avacyn Restored Pre release that I'm going to attend.
Their site says it is "Sealed Draft", what exactly does this mean? Would I keep the cards afterward? Do I need to bring anything of my own other than the $30 buy in?
You will get 6 packs of Avacyn Restored to build a 40-card deck with. The store will supply the land. Yes, you get to keep the cards that you are given.
Your store may require you to sleeve the cards you play with. The store should have these available for sale.
The pre-release events this weekend would be an excellent opportunity to get into the game. There will be all sorts of players, from casual to competitive, and since all the cards will be new to everyone, everyone will be on the same page as far as the cards go.
Try to find out who the players are that are knowledgeable in the rules. Or, if the store is fortunate to have one, talk to the judge. That person will get you started.
Also, I included a link to the store locator from Wizards. If you go to "PLAY" and then put in your city or zip code, it will tell you where the stores are that are doing pre-releases and/or FNM. Make sure you only have Magic selected so you're not getting results for DND or anything else.
I have never heard of the two packs per player before. We get--
* 6 packs for the sealed event
* Top 6 get some sort of prize, something like 12-6-4-2-2-2
* Store owner provides two pizzas. For 24 players, thats about almost exactly one slice.
So (now) at a minimum we get 6 packs for $40 plus a snack. He has a max of 32 players, but gets somewhere around 24 every prerelease.
EDIT: I am now super curious at the two packs per player thing. the 8 packs for $35 isnt so bad, especially with the tournament and prizes. I am jealous and annoyed.
WotC mandates that the store (either through the prize support provided to the store or on their own) add two packs per player to the prize pool. How the store distributes it is their business. Some give those two packs to each player. Others may combine it and distribute to the top X players.
If your LGS is averaging 24 players at a pre-release, there should be 48 packs AT MINIMUM going out in prizes.
For pre-release, the store I go to charges $35. Now, for that we get the following --
* 6 packs for the sealed event
* Each player gets the 2 packs that Wizards allows per player.
* Top 8 gets more packs, up to a sealed box to the winner.
* Each player gets a raffle ticket and the owner raffles off prizes like sleeves, playmats, etc.
* Store owner also provides food for the event.
So, at a minimum, you get 8 packs plus food for $35.
Oh -- he sells out every time. The pre-release for DKA was the first one in our new expanded play area. He had to turn people away at 40 seats. This time, he's increased to 50 seats and still as a waiting list.
How big is having Tendrils as an alt-win condition? If I were to cut it for either LDV or Reanimate, would that work ok? Or should I keep Tendrils?
Not sure. Probably the lack of LDV and/or Reanimate.
4 Brainstorm
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Cabal Therapy
2 Thoughtseize
4 Entomb
4 Shallow Grave
3 Goryo's Vengeance
1 Silence
4 Dark Ritual
4 Lotus Petal
2 Chrome Mox
1 Emrakul
2 Children of Korlis
4 Polluted Delta
3 Marsh Flats
1 Flooded Strand
2 Underground Sea
1 Tundra
1 Scrubland
1 Swamp
1 Island
2 Pull from Eternity
2 Pithing Needle
1 Echoing Truth
3 Chain of Vapor
2 Serenity
3 Surgical Extraction
2 Silence
Some of this seems a bit clunky, but I'm not sure where to go.
Thoughts?
Just wanting to reiterate this. While people can speculate all they want, this really isn't open to be discussed publicly, at least until the full investigation is over.
I like Sun Titan's ability to bring back something that has a CMC of 3 or less. But I guess it's not really necessary.
I don't have a problem putting the two other Faithless Lootings main, or the 4th Cabal Therapy.
I see Pithing Needle has something to hit activated abilities like on Tormod's Crypt.
4x Putrid Imp
4x Stinkweed Imp
4x Golgari Grave-Troll
3x Golgari Thug
3x Ichorid
1x Sun Titan
1x Flame-Kin Zealot
4x Lion's Eye Diamond
4x Bridge from Below
4x Careful Study
3x Cabal Therapy
3x Breakthrough
2x Dread Return
2x Faithless Looting
4x Gemstone Mine
4x Cephalid Coliseum
2x Undiscovered Paradise
3x Nether Shadow
1x Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
2x Faithless Looting
2x Firestorm
3x Nature's Claim
1x Terastodon
1x Iona, Shield of Emeria
I'm thinking I need to add something like Ray of Revelation and/or Ancient Grudge.
Any suggestions on how to fix this?
True story -- I was judging a feature match for a SCG Open about a month ago. When the camera match ended, we were looking to see if one of the other matches could possibly get moved to camera. We determined that it wasn't possible. I stayed in the feature area and watched the end of the remaining match. One of the players asked if I'd sit down with them and watch and I obliged. Pretty soon, I realized why he asked this -- his opponent had countless tokens on the board, but they were all dice and it was next to impossible to determine what was going on. I grabbed the tokens that SCG provides for the camera match and replaced the dice with tokens, then told the player that he had to get something better than what he was using because it was too confusing.
Keep in mind that you wouldn't be able to buy Avacyn Restored product until next Friday, May 4.
It's part of the agreement the store has with WotC. If he's not giving out at least that much, he needs to start or be reported.
You will get 6 packs of Avacyn Restored to build a 40-card deck with. The store will supply the land. Yes, you get to keep the cards that you are given.
Your store may require you to sleeve the cards you play with. The store should have these available for sale.
Try to find out who the players are that are knowledgeable in the rules. Or, if the store is fortunate to have one, talk to the judge. That person will get you started.
Also, I included a link to the store locator from Wizards. If you go to "PLAY" and then put in your city or zip code, it will tell you where the stores are that are doing pre-releases and/or FNM. Make sure you only have Magic selected so you're not getting results for DND or anything else.
Wizards Store and Event Locator
WotC mandates that the store (either through the prize support provided to the store or on their own) add two packs per player to the prize pool. How the store distributes it is their business. Some give those two packs to each player. Others may combine it and distribute to the top X players.
If your LGS is averaging 24 players at a pre-release, there should be 48 packs AT MINIMUM going out in prizes.
For pre-release, the store I go to charges $35. Now, for that we get the following --
* 6 packs for the sealed event
* Each player gets the 2 packs that Wizards allows per player.
* Top 8 gets more packs, up to a sealed box to the winner.
* Each player gets a raffle ticket and the owner raffles off prizes like sleeves, playmats, etc.
* Store owner also provides food for the event.
So, at a minimum, you get 8 packs plus food for $35.
Oh -- he sells out every time. The pre-release for DKA was the first one in our new expanded play area. He had to turn people away at 40 seats. This time, he's increased to 50 seats and still as a waiting list.