Random Stuff #44

I got to participate in a casual Magic draft earlier this week.  One of my friends who plays both Yu-Gi-Oh and Magic invited me, and it seemed quite interesting.  I had watched Michael Bonacini's draft videos, and tried to emulate his strategy by drafting Blue, White, and Black.  There weren't many good Blue or Black cards.  I had to pass a couple Bone Splinters because I didn't get any Undying Creatures.  I ended up making a White/Black deck that didn't have much of a strategy.  Of course, this was my first time playing Magic, and while I did understand the basics, I obviously wasn't very good.

I lost to a Green/Black deck that used Soulbonding Creatures and Homicidal Seclusion (I think that's what it was called; it's the one that gives a crazy boost to your only Creature if you only control one Creature).  I won the first game because he didn't draw any Swamps (mana screw, basically), but lost the second and third games pretty quickly.  In retrospect, I should've taken some Homicidal Seclusions.

Then, I played against the friend who invited me to the draft.  He was using a Red/White deck that uses Burn at the Stake and other cards to support swarming.  I won the first game because I killed his 4-cost White 2/2 Human guy that gives +1/+1 to every Creature he controls for the turn when another Creature comes into play with Righteous Blow.  I lost the second game because he had that Red Planeswalker that could steal all of my Creatures, which allowed him to use Burn at the Stake to finish me off.  I won the third game due to general beatdown, though I think that he didn't draw many Creatures.

But yeah, it was fun.  I didn't keep the cards; my friend just had a bunch of his friends play for fun using a box he had gotten, and he ended up keeping everything.  I did buy a Terminus off of him as sort of a souvenir, since I like the card.

I don't think that I'll be spending any money on Magic, though.  Even if it's drafting, there's practically nothing I'd be able to do with the cards I get, unless I pull something expensive to sell.  I don't think that I'm going to play the odds, so I doubt that I'll be playing Magic any time soon.  It was interesting, but Magic isn't really the game where "the skilled players always win" that it has been said to be.  I don't know that much about the current format in Magic, and while it's probably better than the current format in Yu-Gi-Oh, the whole mana screw thing and set rotations are deal breakers.

But enough about that.  School is kind of winding down for me.  All of the big projects are over, and all that's left is two finals.  I've got one tomorrow which I'm not worried at all about, and one on Monday that I might have to prepare for.  After those are done, then I'm basically done with school for three months.

So, by Tuesday, I should be able to make a deck profile video of my Nordic Diva deck that I got Top 16 at Regionals with.  I'm also planning a couple of blog posts, one about the mind games that Nordic Beast decks can employ, and one that's a follow-up to the Risk vs Reward post I made a while ago.  The former may just get incorporated into the deck profile video, though; we'll see.

I'm considering going to the flea market on Wednesday to pick up some cards and such, but it may not be worth it.  I mean, what would I even get?  Tour Guides?  Well, maybe, but I don't even know if I want to use them, yet.  Maybe some DT Gem-Knight stuff for my collection, but there's really nothing worthwhile.

As for locals, I'm definitely going next Sunday with Aki.  I'm not sure what deck I want to use, though.  A lot of the players who use Lightsworn and Chaos Dragons tend to go on Sundays.  You know, the ones who rely on luck to win.  But yeah, against that, I may want to take my Nordic Diva deck with an adjusted Side Deck.  I'm not really sure about what to do, since I haven't been to locals on a Sunday for quite a while, and I'm not sure of what to expect.

I may also go on Friday night, since that's when the Battle Pack tournaments are.  Kind of weird, but I guess it's better than randomly in the morning before the normal Yu-Gi-Oh tournaments.  The prizes are additional Battle Packs and some play mats.  I don't know exactly which play mats, but the only one that has been given out so far (since these tournaments just started last Friday) was the Ancient Prophecy Sneak Preview mat.  If they had the Duelist Revolution one, then I'd be all for it.  I guess I'll have to check next time I'm there.

And lastly, there's less than three weeks until Kaijudo is released!  Hopefully there will be tournaments the week after the Battle Decks are released, but it's doubtful.  And with only 45 different cards at our disposal, there won't be much variation in decks until the first booster pack comes out.  We shall see, though...