Monday, April 25, 2011

WPN events for May, June

Magic: The Gathering
Events

WPN May Events

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome.
Tuesdays: 3,10,17,24,31

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 6,20,; 5:30pm - 9:00pm

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. New Phyrexia Draft event. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 27; 5:30pm - 9:00pm

New Phyrexia Pre-release!: Once again NDC is proud to host an officially sanctioned pre-release event. A Scars of Mirrodin Block sealed deck event featuring the newest set, New Phyrexia. $30.00 entry fee w/ prize support! Days events to include free play ($16.00) and sanctioned draft ($16.00) if time allows. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Saturday: 7th; 11:30 registration; Play 12:30-5:30; Draft 6:00-9:00

New Phyrexia Launch!: Celebrate the official launch of the Magic set New Phyrexia in this Draft event. $16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday: 13th; 5:30-9:00pm.

WPN June Events

Magic: The Gathering: Casual Play: Here, you rule. Come to play, trade, or build decks for Magic: the Gathering. Decks available for use. New Players Welcome.
Tuesdays: 7,14,21,28

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Standard type 2 constructed event. $7.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Fridays: 3,10,24; 5:30pm - 9:00pm

Friday Night Magic: Here, you rule. Join us for our monthly draft event. We should be drafting Scars Block.$16.00 entry. DCI sanctioned w/ prize support! Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Friday 17; 5:30pm - 9:00pm

New Phyrexia Game Day: Experience the power of play. Standard constructed. Exclusive promos to be handed out to all participants and additional promos to be handed out to the top 8 finishers. Here you Rule! $10.00 entry. Prizes based on attendance. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Sat, 11th 12:00 noon-9:00pm

Commander Release Event: Experience the power of Commander! This 100 card singleton format is so awesome that I will be hosting a special "sealed" event. Bring your own sealed or unmodified deck out of the "commander" product line and let multiplayer madness begin! Product available for sale. $5.00 entry. Prizes based on attendance. Hosted by Dan Regewitz.
Tues, 21st; 4:30pm-9:00pm

Future Events

2011-07-09 -11-07-2782931 -Prerelease - M12 - US
2011-07-09 -11-07-2782932 -SIDE EVENTS - M12 Prerelease
2011-07-15 -11-07-2782928 -Launch Party - M12

Sunday, April 10, 2011

12 tips for the aspiring Commander

= 12 tips for the aspiring Commander

In my continuing quest to educate the masses about the Highlander/Commander format and the many joys of playing, I have devised a short 12 item list. This list is not intended to be complete or definitive. It's simply 12 strategies that work well in almost any Commander deck. I highly recommend considering including these strategies when building a deck or otherwise making card choices. They are in no particular order save the order I wish to discuss them in.

- Push creatures through (evasion)

The board can get fairly clogged in a commander game. By that I mean that it can be littered with creatures. In such a situation no player wants to attack because they risk loosing creatures and/or making themselves a target of retaliation. A creature that can both attack and block is therefore valuable (creatures with vigilance don't tap to attack, and are therefore available to block). Likewise a creature who cannot be blocked by an opponent is also a suitable attacker. Abilities that make creatures harder to block are loosely called "evasion" abilities, and include such things as flying, intimidate, landwalk, etc.

Flying and Trample are both evasion Abilities

- Deal with creatures (single target removal, board wipes).

A board wipe is any spell or ability that effectively gets rid of all creatures. Because creatures pose a threat in the form of attacking damage (not to mention useful abilities). Thus, it is very useful to have a 'release valve' that can reset the board. Remember, the probability of board wipe is 1. Some creatures can be very potent threats, and therefore it's also a good idea to have a few effects that can take out a single creature with pinpoint accuracy - for those situations where you need to deal with a threat right now.

The most traditional Board Wipe.

- Build for trouble (artifacts, enchantments)

Just as creatures can pose a significant threat, so can artifacts and enchantments. You can almost certainly find a few artifacts and enchantments to help your deck along it's path to victory. If you happen to be running some sort of combo deck, chances are one of your key combo pieces is an artifact or enchantment. If you can find some useful tools for your deck, then so can your opponent. Come prepared to remove a few of each type.

Hates Artifacts or Enchantments.

- Scale it up (play some higher cost spells)

Commander games take longer than normal games of magic. Partly because players start with 40 life, partly because decks are 99 cards deep, but also partly because players opt to play cards that (on average) have higher costs than decks in other formats. When building a deck it's a good idea to keep in mind that in most commander games your going to have a little extra time to get some mana, and cast spells that are 5-7 mana range (or higher). Cards like Darksteel Colossus are generally considered unplayable in standard, but are quite playable in Commander.

Really large spells can be worth it.

- Permanents are King (repeatable effects rule)

To illustrate a point I want you to look at two cards. Boomerang, and Temporal Adept.

Boomerang

Temporal Adept

Both of these cards perform the same function. Namely, to return permanents from the field to owner's hand (or 'bounce'). Boomerang as an instant has a certain surprise factor because your opponent doesn't know you have it until it comes out of your hand. Temporal Adept on the other hand can Boomerang every single turn for only one more blue mana, and tapping it, for as long as you can keep it on the field. Partly due to the fact that Commander games are longer, many players will prefer Temporal Adept. The Adept provides an advantage that can be maintained over several turns.
This is not to say that you shouldn't play instant and sorcery spells, just that a permanent is often better than a spell that performs the same function.

- Friend or Foe: Planeswalkers

Planeswalkers can be very useful cards because they are permanents that provide once-a-turn effects (see above). There are also limited options for dealing with them, mostly attacking and redirecting burn spells. Because of this, they are often attractive cards to include in a deck. However, fielding a planeswalker without adequate defense typically means that it will simply die after one effect. Also they tend to "draw hate" from the rest of the table - by which I mean that other players really don't want you to activate the last, often called the "ultimate" ability of any planeswalker, and will take active steps to fight it.
Be mindful if someone resolves a planeswalker. Who is it and what are they doing with it? If it's a Garruk and they spend two or three turns untapping land to play some more spells - well let's just say you better be prepared for an overrun.

Planeswalkers are a double-edged sword, sometimes.

- Use the graveyard (bring stuff back)

Any deck is filled with resources. When these resources are spent (by casting or in combat), they are sent to the graveyard. Which is why it's often a good idea to bring them back and use them again. Because you can only play one copy of any given card in a Commander deck, it's a very good idea to be able to dig through your graveyard and bring cards that are useful in the current situation back. This includes mass effects like Elixir of immortality, but also targeted effects like Regrowth or Raise dead.

Reuse the graveyard, somehow.

- Land ho (non-basic lands)

Most lands generate mana, but some lands don't have to. There are lands that can bring back creatures, prevent or deal damage, become creatures for a turn, give a creature a temporary boost or ability, or give you no maximum hand size (one of my favorites). Lands are just another resource for your deck, and while they are there to provide mana for spells - there is nothing wrong with some of them also doing something else, or a few of them doing something instead of that whole mana thing!
Which is why it's a good idea to include a card or two that can destroy a land (or two). Just as artifacts or enchantments can create enough trouble to be worth getting rid of, so can land.

The most classic of the hated non-basics.

- Gain some life

You might think that 40 life is a lot. The thing is with life, is that it can't hurt to have a little more. Including some way to gain life (or prevent damage) can keep you in the game and playing for longer. This should enable you to see more cards of your deck, and interact more in the game.
Conversely, keep in mind the rules about commander damage (which say that if you take 21 points of accumulated damage from a single commander you loose the game). These rules exist to keep the game interesting and preventing players from being able to play with a deck that gains so much life it can't loose.

Life is the stuff of life.

- Draw some Cards.

Just as gaining a bit of extra life will help you in a long game, so to will drawing a few extra cards. This goes back to the whole concept of each card in your deck being a resource. If you are drawing multiple cards in a turn, you acquire multiple resources a turn. This gives you a wider or better selection of possible plays on the subsequent turn. Also it allows you to see more cards in your deck over a set number of turns, which means you will simply see more cards that you want or need.

Be generous (or greedy) with cards.

- Dueling Grounds

No, not the card. I'm actually referring to land. Land is the primary resource. Without it, all of your other resource spells go to waste. Thus, it is important to get land, get land in the right color(s), and get enough land to fuel all the fun things you want to do in a game. Thus it is often a good idea to find spells or abilities that allow you to search land out of your deck and put them someplace useful (like your hand or the battlefield). Artifacts can also serve the same purpose as land. There are many "Mana Rocks" in the game - artifacts with abilities that can add mana to one's mana pool. Mana filtering (changing one color of mana into another) is also relevant in 3-5 color decks.

Explore new Lands!

- Have Fun!

Repeat after me: If you aren't having fun, your doing it wrong!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Commander: Testing

= Commander: Testing

I did mention testing, so I'm going to talk just a bit about how to do that. First of all, you can start testing in your own home.

- Test hands
The first method of testing the deck you just put together is to look at an opening hand. If you don't like the look of the first one you see, feel free to shuffle and take seven more. For each hand that you look at consider the following: Do you have enough land? Do you have the right colors? What's the earliest you could play a spell using just those 7 cards? Would you keep this if you were sitting down to a game with a real, live opponent?

Commander decks are naturally slower than other smaller constructed decks, so take this into consideration. I frequently look at sets of 10 cards (representing my first three draws) to determine if the deck has draws that I'd like to see and can play with.



This looks like a good hand to me personally. No spells to cast, but I have a first-turn reliquary tower, which is always a good sign, and plenty of land and all three colors.

- Goldfish
A "goldfish" is basically a solitare game that you play against no opponent. You simply draw cards, play land, cast spells, and repeat this process. The goal is to see if the cards you picked are doing what you expected them to do. Is your deck following your strategy? Are the expected synergies there? In the right quantities? At any point do you want some effect that simply isn't in your deck?



After a particularly extended Goldfish, I decide to debate prior card choices. I wanted more Auras during the game, so here I consider two I previously cut (left) for some less synergistic enchantments from my deck (right)

- Live test
Of course some of the best feedback you can get for any deck is to take it to a game table near you and play it against another player playing one of their own decks. It forces you to deal with threats, interact with what your opponent has on the field, plus get another player's opinion on how, how well, and why your deck works (or doesn't).

- So is it done?
Of course not! Yes you have a playable deck, and it might even be reasonably good. But you can learn more about magic, you can become a better player, and you can become a better deck builder. As you grow, so can your deck. You can revise it to make it better. Or you can revise it to make it more fun. Or you can revise it so that it focuses on a different theme or sub-theme. Or you can build a new deck (one of my favorites).

Whatever it is you do, have fun slinging some spells!