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Stream of Consciousness #4

The Magic world is waiting with bated breath for the release of Theros as we all frantically hit F5 at midnight on the mothership looking for the day’s spoilers. It’s a time of feverish anticipation, rampant overvaluing by players and unrepentant price gouging by some retailers who shall remain nameless. It also tends to stifle much else in terms of discussion as everyone is arguing about what’s broken.

Ashen Rider, for example. I made the mistake of reading the MTGSalvation thread about the card, and apparently it is simultaneously broken, garbage, a $20 staple, a bulk mythic, proof that Wizards is willing to print powerful effects at high mana costs and proof that it is yet another cash grab. And that was just in the first few pages.

Am I alone in thinking some of these gold cards were leftovers from RTR block? Cards like Steam Augury, Psychic Intrusion, Spellheart Chimera, Destructive Revelry and even Ashiok, Nightmare Weaver feel like they could be right at home in their respective guilds. Maybe it’s the proximity to that block making me feel that way.

That said, how awesome would it be if it turns out that Theros is actually Ravnica before the metropolitan buildup? Or even after the dissolution of the new Guildpact and the destruction of the guilds foretold in the Guildgate flavour text? There are real-world parallels that could be drawn, and people have been clamouring for multi-block stories for a while.

Sam Black was extolling the virtues of Istanbul as a potential Pro Tour venue this week, being as it is a beautiful city just oozing with culture and sights that are not replicated anywhere else on earth. I remember Helene Bergeot saying that the Pro Tour would visit unique and interesting destinations while GPs hit metropolitan areas. On those grounds Istanbul seems like an excellent choice. Then he posted about protestors and tear gas. So, maybe not just yet?

Given the above, how about a Pro Tour in the Caribbean? With so many former pros working in Curaçao now, why not hold one there? Yes of course it would be prohibitively expensive. It would also be amazing.

The price history website Ark42 shuttered its virtual doors this past week with a cryptic post from its owner about poisonous communities and the like. The site was a real asset to a lot of people and its absence will be felt, but the whole thing smacks of “take my ball and go home” to me.

I love reading Matt Sperling’s articles. This series is meant to be a mix of Sperling’s Sick Of It, 20 Tweets and Michael Robles’s Treasure Hunt. I might not always agree with Sperling but he makes his points in a funny way and invites debate.

Without wanting to get into a debate over what is casual and what isn’t, everyone should give The Mana Pool a listen. They have the longest-running podcast in the community with the same hosts and the chemistry is obvious. They are as far from Spikes as you can get but they’re relaxed, funny and demonstrate a pure love for the game unsullied by the jading that can come from grinding.

Three brand-spanking new planeswalkers in Theros, and I think all of them are actually going to see play. Elspeth might be the best of the lot, changing the way your opponent is playing in a way only Gideon Jura has done before.

Xenagos is a conundrum to solve. Many have said he can’t be played with Domri Rade. I like to call those people “wrong.” The rest of the deck is what will determine how powerful the vertically challenged duo can be.

Ashiok on the other hand is a narrow game-winner for threat-light control decks who don’t want to Aetherling, or want more chances at getting one in the mirror. In true blue-black fashion it’s sneakily powerful.

Boy, I really hope that’s not all I do in terms of a set review for Theros. Time is, however, a finite resource.

It’s not exactly a state secret that I’m single. I’m sure many of you have theories as to why. In taking steps to rectify the situation I have run in to this sequence repeatedly in the last couple of weeks:
“I’m a freelance writer and podcaster.”
“Really? That’s awesome! What do you write/podcast about?”
“Magic the Gathering.”
“…Oh.”
Guess we’re not quite at the “mainstream acceptance” level yet.

Is there a market for a dating site aimed squarely at gamers? Maybe a Magic-centric one? As with any dating site, the problem would be getting enough women to sign up…

As I write this, GP Detroit has been announced at 1460 people. That makes it the largest ever Modern event in North America, great news for a relatively new format and one that Wizards is still trying to get into the public eye. I’m sure everyone watching the video coverage wishes…OH WAIT.

The lack of coverage at Detroit was close to inexcusable. I used to think any North American GP would be covered, then they stopped covering most limited GPs. Then Calgary, which was Standard, did not get covered and I wondered if Canada was just getting screwed. Nope. Turns out everyone is.

I get that coverage is very expensive to provide but this was a poor choice to sacrifice in the name of efficiency. And hey, I’ll gladly do coverage for the low cost of a flight.

In unrelated but actually kind of related news, I hear that Magic grew by 35% this year and continues to make Hasbro very happy. Thirty-five percent growth, and they cut BACK on GP coverage. I’m sure there’s a logical explanation, but I’ll be buggered if I can see it.

In the meantime, SCG’s Atlanta coverage was vastly delayed due to an equipment failure. Unlike the GP coverage this wasn’t their fault but damn, worst timing possible.

“SCGLive is back in business!” YAY!
“Come watch UW Control vs UWR Flash!!” NOPE.

Brian Kibler to the rescue! Here’s his “Bootleg Deck Tech” from the event. That he had to do this is a crying shame.

Hard to believe that Modern is two years old now, having debuted at PT Philadelphia 2011. Incidentally that was where Walking the Planes was first born. One of these has become awesome a lot faster than the other…

Three full days before the set went live on the Mothership, all of Theros was leaked thanks to the MTGO Beta. Nice job guys, now they will probably stop putting the set on there early for testing, delaying release of it on the full client.

Prerelease weekend! So stoked. I plan to play in 6 if I can manage it, but if you can only make it to one I encourage you to do so. If you need some ideas on how to maximise your fun, check out
this article by Bruce Richard on the mothership.

What?! No I don’t have an ulterior motive for linking that, why would you say so?

Enjoy Theros everyone! See you next week when we once again ride my Stream of Consciousness.

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