Bump, bump bump it up.

Remember to come and play standard and support a child with cancer. 

Hope to see you all there.

Here in Springfield, Illinois, we have a pretty good gaming community and when one of our friend's 5-year-old son recently was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, naturally we wanted to do everything to help his family. So, we got together to host a Standard benefit tournament. Info is as follows:

- The tournament is in Springfield, Illinois (of course )
- It's Standard constructed
- The prize structure will be basically a drafting-down of the available prizes, between first, second, and third. I will get to that in a minute.
- It's scheduled for Saturday, September 6th.
- It starts at 1:00 P.M.
- Entry fee is $15.

- For prizes so far we have a playset of Tarmogoyfs, a playset of Bitterblossoms, and 2 boxes of Eventide. First, second, and third will pick what they want - either one of the two playsets or a box - with the second box being split between fourth through eighth 12, 6, 6, 6, 6. This is just the primary prize support though, as more is being added in the next few weeks.

- In addition to the prizes mentioned above, we have a handful of very nice raffle prizes, including but not limited to, Mutavaults, a foil Bitterblossom, and a foil Mutavault.

Contact info for the event is at

http://www.capitalcitygames.com

Capital City Games
1305 Wabash Ave. Springfield, Illinois
(217) 793-5229

Capital City Games will be hosting the event and all proceeds go directly to the Kirchgesner family.

Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions. Thanks!

Again, thanks for the space and your time, and if you can, please come down (or up, I suppose) and play some Magic for a good cause. Take care!

We usually allow some take backs, but if you go on a long run of scrubbing it up in testing you get stuck with the play.  We also keep cards that have been seen via Duress or Thoughtseize  open on the table. 

And the deck runs all sort of protection to resolve it's bombs.  And if you resolve the card between top, fetches, and tutors you will almost always win the game.  It is almost the equivalent of slaving someone as far as tempo goes.  Slaving someone does not win the game, but it may as well right?  Is that play bad?

I got on MWS and did one hundred 7 card hands.  I started with two or more land in my opening grip 54 times.  Like I said I only did it one hundred times but that does seem to be about right in retrospect.  Still that does not seem too bad for this deck at all.  You still can go off early with this deck, and you can still win a lot of games with proper play if the game goes on longer.

Not necessarily, if you are playing against a more traditional stax deck you could very well be fine.  You have dudes, and as someone who has played a ton of stax that is not that is in my best interest.  The deck runs more then enough bounce and a good toolbox to have a decent game against stax. 

Now, that being said, Workshop aggro is probably a little different.  The artifact beaters are probably going to be overwhelming. 

As far as goblins go, the first game is probably going to be rough.  You can hope for a quickly assembled top/balance lock and early countermagic and disruption.  As far as game two goes, boarding out Bobs for the oh so embarrassing but effective plague bearer is not a bad plan.  Besides, GWS is tricky.  You may just see us break a Volcanic Island and pyroclasm the board.

A very interesting and enjoyable read. 

ELD's list is very intriguing to say the least.  Would I be correct in assuming that the four Misdirections where there for all the REB and Pyroblasts floating around?

The issue I have with Pitch Long is that I don't see it beating any of the top decks right now.  Have fun taking that deck into a format that is filled with decks that are packing tons of duress effects, four scrolls to get FoW, and a real draw engine. 

Now that the Painter deck is one of the best decks in the format, it is going to be a mind fuck of epic proportions trying to beat a deck that not only runs 8 red blasts main, but makes all of your shit red blastable.

I wouldn't say that the deck is forever dead, because people have said that about Slaver, Bomberman, Oath, Ichorid, Dragon, etc etc etc.  But right now I wouldn't want to play it. 

It is a pretty bad play against Empty Gifts.  I made that play game two against I think Dan Carp at the last SCG and it wasn't ever that big of a deal.  A lackey would have been a lot better, and by the time the vial had enough counters to drop a bigger bomb like Siege-Gang Commander and Ringleader the game was damn well over. 

How did the lotus petal treat you?

He lead his team down the field for the victory on one of the best if not THE best drive in superbowl history.  He grinded out the clock, made few mistakes, made few bad throws.  He had a hell of a game.  The Interception he threw was not his fault, and he threw a pass that could have been picked by Samuel.  He threw for 255 yards, that isn't bad considering that the Patriots defense is pretty damn stout. They where like sixth in pass defense this year where they not? Spin it all you want Meddling Mage, all you do is come off as a bitter fan.  For years and years Patriot fans would scream that stats do not matter at all and all you should judge a QB on is winning and how he performs in the clutch.  That last drive topped any single late game heroics that Tom Brady ever did.  Going by the mantra of Patriot Fans you should love the hell out of Eli Manning.

Eli Manning was playing against a very good defense Meddling Mage.  You don't have to throw for 300 yards and 4 TDs to have a good passing game.  And that interception in the redzone was not his fault.  That INT was totally the Wide Receivers fault, not his. 

If his defense had played poorly would be talking about the blowout that happened, not the poor play of Eli Manning that did not happen.  Hell, he pulled a Tom Brady honestly.  Did absolutely nothing special for a good chunk of the game and lead his team to a victory late in the game.  Except this time he actually scored a touchdown, not go up the field for 55 yards and win off a TD. 

As far as only one good drive, it was mentioned earlier and it is worth mentioning again that his first drive was excellent.  The drive lasted about nine minutes.  They shortened the game against a great offense, exactly what was wrong with this?

The truth of the matter is that Eli played a fine game, the Patriots played poor, Tom Brady sucked almost the entire game, and that last sack on Tom Brady was amazing.

Your Defense did not ship Eli anything.  Eli played great football in at the end of the game.  And unlike your "god" Tom Brady, he actually lead his team all the way down the field for a game winning TD, as opposed to a FG  I think you may want to cut down on the sour grapes with your WHINE

Damn, Tom Brady took some serious SHOTs in that game.  There goes that entire "greatest team ever" deal.

That seems fair, however then you run the risk of just getting crushed by echoing truth.  Is it possible that you DO need a mix of creatures and storm elements?

While I agree with you on this, don't you think that ETW losses a little bit of power now that there are more stifle effects that are being played in quite some time?

I will take the Colts by seven.  Adrain Gonzalez is playing really well and Dallas Clark leads their team in TD receptions currently.  I am guessing 35 28 colts.

@ cutpurse issues.
 

Dimir Cutpurse is ran because it helps the deck achieve its draw engine.  Often times Dimir Cutpurse functions as Bob and Ninja 9 and 10. While he is not as strong as bob or ninja due to the slightly restrictive mana cost, he does a great job supporting them. Running Cutpurse helps the deck achieve the optimal ratio of draw in the deck.

The only player on the boys defense that is scary is Demarcus Ware.  The patriots have several players on defense that teams have to gameplan for.  I'll take the Patriots winning by 14....convincingly. 

The point was that Brady gets credit for having three rings when he didn't even lead them to a TD to win the game.  He got them within 45 yards.  Just because your a winner qb doesn't make you the best QB, in fact winning should not be placed on the same scale as your phsyical ability and the stats that you put up. 

The difference is that Joe Montana was great for an entire career, Kurt Warner was "great" for a few years. It is my assertion that QB rating is relevant over a span of many years.    I understand your argument though.  The way the QB rating is set up is screwed up.  It was designed in an era where QBs didn't throw nearly as much as they do now. 

I don't think that they would have.  If you can win with an inferior QB why risk team chemistry or create the distraction.  Bradshaw blows when compared to just about every QB in the HOF.  He is good compared to a lot of other QBs throughout NFL history I suppose.  I think of Bradshaw as a modern day Bulger. 

Basically I don't buy that Brady is this amazing big play QB.  There are to many things that people overlook when they talk about the golden boy.  Everyone forgets about all the rest of the teams play.  They forget taht he had good offensive tools around him, they forget that without Adam Vintaterria (I have no idea how to spell his name) he doesn't win anything.  They seem to forget that his WR's have this amazing ability to be wide open in the playoffs.  He is a very good Qb, but he is not great.  Manning and Palmer can do more on the field, and I still think that if you put either of those two on the Patriots the outcome would be the same.  I think you if you put Brady on the Colts or the Bengals that he wouldn't do as well as those two QBs on their respecitve teams.  I have no problem with Tom Brady getting love, I have no problem with people thinking he is the best QB in the league.  I have a problem with the line of thinking that "his team wins so hes great".  Just my opinion.

So would you then disregard Tom Brady's QB rating if you where to argue that he is the best QB in the game?

I fail to see how any of my arguments are misguided.  Palmer and Manning can make throws that Brady cannot.  They have stronger more accurate arms then Brady do.  They consistently throw for more yards and tds, and often have a better TD to INT ratio then Brady does. Heck people want Tom Brady to be a great QB because he is a great story.  The amazing sixth round QB who goes in to replace Drew Bledsoe and go on an amazing run to become one of the best QB's ever.    They also play on worse teams they he has, so it is in now way misguided.  Winning is a team accomplishment, no one else on that team gets credit for anything.  Which is actually really funny because it's his defense that often goes out there and puts Brady in good field position, it's his defense that goes out there and makes team go three and out, its his defense that gets clutch turnovers when they need it.  Brady gets credit for being on a great team, and its incredibly stupid that he does.  People take about all those game winning drives in the playoffs that Brady has, which is another fallacy.  Congratulations, Tom Brady can get his team within long field goal range.  Palmer and Brady put up better numbers then Brady does for a reason, they are better.  And Bradshaw is terribly overrated, two more TDs then INts is god awful.  How can you be considered a great QB when you do that and have Franco in the backfield and two HOF wideouts? 

Terry Bradshaw has the liftime QB rating in the 70s.  He only threw two more TDs then INTs.  That is terrible, in fact that is god awful, especially when you think about the fact that he had TWO HOF wideouts that he was throwing the ball to. 

Brady gets credit for being on winning teams.  He has never blown anyone away with his passing abilities, he has only had above average stats despite having a good WR core to throw to for most of his career.  He has had some clutch moments in the past, and he has also had a lot of moments where he got the ball back because of his defense holding someone to a three and out or getting a turnover.  Heck in the SB against the Panthers he was lucky enough to get the ball back on the 40 because the Panthers kicked the ball out of bounds on the kickoff.  People want to point to his stats this year to prove that he is a good QB, and that is fine by me.  He has been making good throws for most of his career, he hasn't been making great ones.  I have seen guys like Manning and Palmer make pin point accurate throws that most other QBs cannot.  All this year Brady has been throwing the ball to a guy who beat triple coverage down the field against the Jets, and just flat out jumped over the Bengals DB's all day.  Brady gets the benefit of the doubt and all the love because he happened to fall on the right team and the right time.  It is illogical to think that if you put Manning or Palmer on the Patriots that they would not have had the same outcome. 

Barring CJ Palmer has never had another outstanding WR.  Go take a look at the stats of T.J. before Palmer started playing, and then look at him after.  Palmer made guys like Kelley Washington, Glen Holt, Antonio Chatman, and Skyler Green look good.  So what they had a shouting match?  Not only does that have nothing to do with how good a QB is, I once saw Reggie Wayne and Peyton Manning get into a shoving match......  Did you ever stop to think why Palmers QB rating is where it is?  Could it be because  he had to play the Ravens, Seahawks, and Ravens ?    I find it funny that the argument of Palmer has always had great recievers doesnt work for Manning?  Brady has almost always had real targets to throw the ball to.  Barring last year he had a good WR CORE.  As in one through three his WR CORE was better then most other teams.  Brown, Givens and Branch as a CORE matchup up well with almost any other WR CORE in the NFL when they where together.  Saying that Brady didnt have a good WR core is a fallacy, saying that he never had an elite WR isn't. There is a difference.  If you put Manning, Or Palmer on those Patriot teams the results would have been the same.  Contrary to popular belief in the New England area, Brady doesn't have this amazing power to win games by himself.  Go back and look at all of those playoff games, you will see that his WR's played well, his running game was usually good, his defense always was good. He was/is the QB on a great team, he will get too much credit like Terry Bradshaw did.  Look, Tom Brady is a good QB.  He will end up in the HOF and he will deserve to be there, but he is not a better passer then Carson Palmer.   As far as Palmer accomplishing something, sure he has.  He has several Bengal franchise records, has lead the NFL in a lot of stats.  What you mean by accomplishing something is winning, and once again that is a TEAM ACCOMPLISHMENT.  What is so hard to understand about that?  Palmer plays on the team with the worst defense in the league.  Brady plays on a team that is always at the top of the league as far as defense goes.  Have you ever heard of the phrase "Defense wins championships"?  As a Bengals fan  I feel bad for Palmer going out week after week and consistently playing at a high level and watching him get screwed by his defense.  Have you ever seen another QB lose when he has thrown for 6 TD's?  Have you?  People say Brady is a better QB because he is on a winning team, not because he is a better QB.  You even admitted that you havent even see Palmer play much, in other words your admitting that your uninformed on the issue...

Landstill? (UR and UW)

This is not Legacy. plz k thx

-Eric Becker, Vintage Adept

Your right, I mean he was only playing against the best defense in the NFL.  I mean that sure is an amazing argument there.  Look at this career stats, and then compare them to the rest of the league.  Then after you do that you will get it. 

Not even remotely close.  If you put Manning on the Patriots the outcome would have been the same.  People make it sound like Brady is this amazing QB who makes all these amazing throws, in reality he does not.  Sure he makes smart choices, and yeah his arm is underratted.  And sure he is very good QB, but he plays on the New England Patriots, not the New England Brady's.  He always had a great play making defense, he always had (barring last year) a good group of WR's.  Winning a SB is a team effort, some players get lucky and get drafted or signed by the right team, and some do not. 


 

Actually I can tell you that it wins the game in the sense that Mindslaver used to end the game.  When you take one of Gat's creatures it is a big blow to them.  Not only does that dryad represent a win condition, it represents all the cards they have played after it resolved.  When you are growing a dryad you are slowly increasing and investing in it, if that is taken from you then you have lost and used a ton of resources.  It effectively wins the game and that is obvious, semantic wars are stupid.