1000 Tix Challenge - part 9

Sometimes things don't quite work out the way we'd want to. Such was the case when a GPU failure in my home laptop made me miss the selling point of Mox Opal. It could have been worse though - I still got away with a 3-tix profit, as can be seen here:

Since I'm talking selling points - you may be wondering about Shape Anew. The hype was enough to drive it's price to 0.60 tix and it has been falling ever since, sitting at 0.35 tix as I write this. I can't be bothered to sell 150 cards for a 20-ish tix profit, and I believe that Shape Anew will make itself felt on the tournament scene. I've seen some 3-1 results in Dailies, so I hope it isn't the last we've heard from this little sorcery.

1000 Tix Challenge - part 7

Starting today I'm going to keep track of spoiled cards from Mirrodin Besieged and predict they're impact on MTGO prices. Spoiler seasons are probably the best sources of profit opportunities, so let's try not to waste any of them.


...I've started writing this post and I took a glance at MTGSalvation forums. And you know what I found there? The friggin' Blightsteel Colussus! An 11/11 indestructible artifact creature with infect and trample. Yup, it kills in 1 hit! And you know what followed? This:



154 pieces of Shape Anew for 14 tix. This monstrosity just has to make the arti-Polymorph playable.

I won't waste your time describing anything else in the spoiler - as nothing comes close when it comes to expected profit. Buy ASAP!

1000 Tix Challenge - part 6

I haven't felt like Magic for the last month or so. There was one buy I did when Mirran and Phyrexian Crusader were spoiled, and I was to lazy to blog about it:

16 Knight Exemplars bought at 0.25.

Yes, shame on me for not letting you know. This is how these Exemplars look today:

Sold for 2 tix each (with 1 bonus ticket from selling 4 Exemplars and 3 Thieves for 9).

Spoiler season for Besieged starts tomorrow and it will only last two weeks, so it's a good idea to have some tickets ready.

1000 Tix Challenge - part 5

There was nothing going on here for some time, 'cause I've taken a two week break from Magic. Just before the break I've been playing around with Argentum Quest deck. I'll post an example deck for the sake of it, but I'm sure you're familiar with it.

Argentum Quest by Smang, 3-1 in Standard Daily #1783864 on 11/19/2010

Main Deck

22 Plains

4 Glint Hawk

4 Kor Duelist

3 Kor Outfitter

4 Kor Skyfisher

4 Memnite

4 Ornithopter

4 Squadron Hawk

3 Stoneforge Mystic

2 Argentum Armor

4 Quest for the Holy Relic

2 Sword of Body and Mind

Sideboard

4 Devout Lightcaster

4 Kor Firewalker

3 Leonin Arbiter

4 Revoke Existence

The main plan is to get an early Quest for the Holy Relic followed by a swarm of creatures, which leads to Argentum Armor entering play on turn 3. This is all nice, but I hate the deck's plan B - attacking with dorks and bears is not that great, unless your opponent folds to Sword of Body and Mind. I've been trying to find a solid plan B before the break by adding what's left of Soul Sisters deck. Turns out that while Ajani's Pridemate is still Tarmogoyf even without Soul Warden, Serra Ascendant is no longer the 1-mana Baneslayer Angel. The deck wasn't good enough for my tastes.

After I came back to MtGO I've stumbled upon an article by Josh Silvestri posted on Channel Fireball. The addition of Vengevine seemed like a great idea - after all, both Vengevine and Quest for the Holy Relic require the same conditions to activate. I bought some angry vines and tested the deck in the 2-man queues. While I liked the deck in general, there were some cards that I felt didn't fit. While Molten-Tail Masticore is a great card, it was too slow for my tasted - 4 4-drop spots were already taken by VV, and the deck wasn't aggressive enough. With Masticores gone, the deck didn't need that much mana - and that invalidated the usage of Birds of Paradise. What did I put in? Well, look at the list below:

Main deck

5 Forest

8 Plains

4 Razorverge Thicket

4 Sunpetal Grove

2 Stirring Wildwood

4 Memnite

4 Ornithopter

4 Glint Hawk

4 Fauna Shaman

4 Squadron Hawk

3 Kor Skyfisher

1 Kor Outfitter

1 Stoneforge Mystic

4 Vengevine

4 Quest for the Holy Relic

2 Argentum Armor

1 Sword of Body and Mind

1 Basilisk Collar

Sideboard

1 Linvala, Keeper of Silence

3 Devout Lightcaster

4 Kor Firewalker

4 Obstinate Baloth

3 Kor Sanctifiers

This deck has all the things you need to make Quest work - 8 0-drops, Glint Hawks, Squadron Hawks and Kor Skyfishers. This makes it nearly as good at getting Argentum Armor on the battlefield as the original deck (nearly - sometimes you won't have any white mana in your opening hand), while plan B is vastly better. The sideboard is not set in stone - feel free to suggest changes. I recommend this deck to anyone who wants to play aggro with a combo twist.

And this leads us to the point of this post: my new Buy recommendation. I've waited with buying this card long enough, but I think that's it:

I don't think that anyone's surprised. In my opinion Fauna Shaman has been underpriced for a long time. It's an awesome card and it's available for a mere 2.25 tix. The deck I've described is already seeing 3-1 results with Birds in it, and I think that the birdless version is superior.

You may also notice that I've sold some Bala Ged Thieves - that was before my break, and I got 3 tix from 16 Thieves. I should be able to sell the rest for 2 tix now, which would be 1 ticket of profit. Hardly worth the time spent, but things like this happen.

Since this post is already quite long by my standards, I'll end it here. Stay tuned for a little summary of my past recommendations soon.

1000 Tix Challenge - part 4

Mindbreak Trap has gone up - but not as much as I thought. Even though Cardbot is selling it at 4.50, the best you can sell it is 2.80 each at foggybot. I can't see it going any higher. I have already sold mine, and I recommend you do the same.

I've sold 8 Mindbreak Traps for a total of 25 tix. But as you can see, there are some new cards in my collection: 31 Bala Ged Thieves. And the reason for this is another Building on a Budget article by Jacob van Lunen. True story: I login on my main MTGO account, enter Tournament Practice and what is the first deck I face? Yup, WB Allies, exactly as described in the article :) I'd probably buy more if I wasn't that sleepy. I highly recommend buying some Bala Ged Thieves.

1000 Tix Challenge - part 3

Playing control against Primeval Titan decks can be really annoying, as using counters is dangerous - you can always fall into Summoning Trap that will ruin your day. That was one of the main reasons why I thought Primeval Titan is going to dominate the early new Standard meta. And it did - it was everywhere in States. Is there no hope for permission strategies in Standard? Well, let's look at the winner from California:

UB Control by i-never-smile, 1st place in CA States

Main Deck

4 Swamp

7 Island

4 Tectonic Edge

4 Creeping Tar Pit

4 Darkslick Shores

2 Drowned Catacomb

4 Mana Leak

2 Negate

2 Cancel

2 Stoic Rebuttal

3 Mindbreak Trap

3 Inquisition of Kozilek

4 Doom Blade

2 Into the Roil

3 Jace, the Mind Sculptor

2 Sphinx of Jwar Isle

4 Preordain

4 Jace's Ingenuity

Sideboard

2 Sign in Blood

2 Smother

2 Disfigure

3 Flashfreeze

2 Duress

2 Grave Titan

2 Consume the Meek

Frankly, I love this list. It seems tuned to kick some serious Primeval butt. First of all - the finisher of choice, Sphinx of Jwar Isle. It's unkillable for any Primeval Titan deck. Second - and this one is a stroke of genius - Mindbreak Trap. Here is your answer to Summoning Trap - not only it avoids triggering it's trap condition, but also helps against countered threat into countered trap into trap chains that are nigh-on unbeatable otherwise. And you know where this one leads:

Yup, that's 8 Mindbreak Traps bought for 16 ticks. You can get them easily for 2.25 pretty much everywhere. Once it catches on, it should rise to about 6 tix.

1000 Tix Challenge - part 2

I've made my second buy - and it's pretty small. Take a look yourselves:



Yup, that's 3 Time Reversals you're seeing, bought for a total of 6 tix. I've been pondering buying them for some time now, and I have missed the low point of 1.75 tix. I've bought them 2 days ago, and bots are now buying for 2.25 each. I feel that Wizards are telegraphing a combo deck with Time Reversal using cards like Runeflare Trap and Molten Psyche. I don't have a list this time, and I can't honestly recommend buying - it's only a feeling, not a logical reason to buy. Let's see how this gamble works :)

1000 Tix Challenge - part 1

As I've written in my first post on this blog, new decks are great opportunities for profit. I've mentioned netdecking successful decks, but there is one more flavour to it - creating your own decks and mass-buying key parts of the deck. And this is what inspired my first buy of 1000 Tix Challenge. Introducing... Dredgeooze!

4 Misty Rainforest

4 Scalding Tarn

4 Verdant Catacombs

2 Drowned Catacomb

6 Forest

2 Island

2 Swamp

4 Birds of Paradise

4 Enclave Cryptologist

4 Hedron Crab

4 Lotus Cobra

4 Fauna Shaman

4 Renegade Doppelganger

4 Vengevine

4 Necrotic Ooze

4 Gigantomancer

This deck is a variation of Dredgevine that uses a new Scars of Mirrodin card - Necrotic Ooze. If you haven't seen it already, here it is:

Necrotic Ooze 2BB

Creature - Ooze

As long as Necrotic Ooze is on the battlefield, it has all activated abilities of all creature cards in all graveyards.

"To death all must go, and so in death lies ultimate power."

-Geth, Lord of the Vault

Illus. James Ryman #72/249
4/3

Begs to be broken, doesn't it? Well, here is my attempt to doing just that: Gigantomancer. Of course it has to find it's way into your graveyard, that's why I've decided to adopt the Dredgevine core. Ooze + Gigantomancer feels a lot like Sovereigns of Lost Alara + Eldrazi Conscription - turns your weenies into superheroes. There are some things you can change, like swapping Enclave Cryptologists for River Boas to make your Ooze even more awesome. Another consideration is the new Molten-Tail Masticore:

Molten-Tail Masticore 4

Artifact Creature - Masticore

At the beginning of your upkeep, sacrifice Molten-Tail Masticore unless you discard a card.

4, Exile a creature card from your graveyard: Molten-Tail Masticore deals 4 damage to target creature or player.

2: Regenerate Molten-Tail Masticore.

Illus. Whit Brachna #177/249
4/4

Whatever this deck turns into, I'm sure Ooze + Gigantomancer is going to be great. So sure, that I'm going to put my money on it.

Yup, that's 105 Gigantomancers you're seeing, all bought for 9 tix. I didn't record all the trades, as there were quite a lot of them, but I now have 0.35 tix credit at SharpBot. I can easily see Gigantomacer going for 2 tix once this deck hits. I recommend buying them while they're still cheap.

1000 Tix Challenge - intro

Sometimes I find myself wondering: if I am as good at identifying profit opportunities as I think I am, why do I still have so few tix on my account? Sure, I have gone infinite in the sense that I don't have to pay for the game and my balance is more or less stable, even though I keep losing tix on new deck creations and failed drafts. I guess there are two reasons:
-I'm not focused enough. A few days ago I've seen the Mindslaver get spoiled mere minutes after it has gone public. I've checked the price to see it being available at 0.5 tix. I was sure it was going to go up, had 40 tix at hand, but decided against buying. Why? Because I felt sleepy. It wasn't even particularly late, but tiredness got the best of me. I woke up next day to see Mindslaver being bought at 2 tix. That was 20 minutes of sleep that cost me some 120 tix. It happens :)
-I spend quite a lot. New decks and limited are the main spendings. I'm not really competitive, but I tend to spend all my tix and none are left for investments.

A day after Mindslaver got spoiled my friend came up with an idea: "You should hold a challenge on your blog - start with 50 tix and get to 1000 as fast as you can." I must say I loved the idea. This is something to keep me focused, and if I keep track of tix earned, I won't be tempted to spend them. I created a new account, and here's it's current status:


50 tix, and some untradable stuff. I also have some 0.5 tix at one of the bot chains after selling stuff from the intro pack. And that's it. Current balance: 50 tix. Target: 1000 tix. 1900% profit. I feel like I can make it within a year. Wish me luck!