First Of Many

First one to post on my new blog! Take that, random d-bag on youtube! That guy makes me hate the internet more than I already do.



So I'm playing in this online PTQ or whatever. No big deal. Its only going to take about 10 hours of my life away, and then leave me with no sleep for my 10 AM class. Infinite Red Bull is the current plan, but we'll see if something better comes up (like if my roomate's girlfriend made me coffee again. Mmm. Turkish coffee). For those who are uninformed, a PTQ is a Pro Tour Qualifier, aka a tournament that sends its winner to the Magic: the Gathering Pro Tour, with $1,000 dollars to help pay for airfare and hotels. The one this weekend qualifies you for Amsterdam (OMG SO MUCH WANT).



I suppose I should explain why I'm PTQing online like a loser 15 year old with no social life (which for the record, I once was, so if that describes you chin up; you'll break out of it eventually) instead of driving to a real PTQ with friends, dropping out after round 4, and then getting McDonalds (and blaming our performances on things like the amount of alcohol we consumed the night before). But unfortunately, I'm lucky enough to be studying abroad in Istanbul this semester. Which means if I want to game, I'm gaming alone in the computer lab from 11 at night to 9 in the morning. Hell yes.



Major props to Brian Kibler for the decklist. Its been doing pretty well on MTGO for me, just grinding ramdom decks in the tournament practise room. And I haven't lost to Jund yet, which is pretty cool. The games post-board are not that difficult (oh yeah, I DONT RUN BANESLAYERS. Nice deathmark, broseph). I made some changes to the one he recommended in an article a few weeks back, and here's the current build:



4 Everflowing Chalice

3 Fieldmist Borderpost

4 Knight of the White Orchid

3 Oblivion Ring

3 Spreading Seas

3 Path to Exile

1 Iona, Shield of Emeria

2 Elspeth, Knight Errant

3 Day of Judgment

4 Divination

4 Martial Coup

4 Mind Spring

5 Island

7 Plains

4 Celestial Colonnade

4 Glacial Fortress

2 Tectonic Edge



Sideboard:

4 Kor Firewalker

3 Celestial Purge

4 Negate

4 Jace Beleren



Now you might be wondering why I have Jace Beleren instead of Jace the Wallet-Sculptor. The reason is that a semester abroad does enough to sculp your wallet without too much outside interference. And honestly, old Jace isn't that bad. Playing him a turn before new Jace is back-breaking, as then they have to O-ring it, which isnt great for them, or legend-rule it with there 55 dollar mythic rare, or they let me draw a bunch of cards. All of these options are good for me.



Allright fine: if I could, 4 new Jace would be in the sideboard. Happy? Can I move on now? Thanks. (Just for reference, you don't want them main deck because they are not very good against Jund. Divination is better. Yes, really. Don't believe me, believe Sam Black).



The other consequence of being in Istanbul is that i don't have my X-Box with me. That means no Halo for 5 months (and that Beta for Halo:Reach is coming out soon, huh?). So mostly, this blog will be about MTG. And if I come across some other games, I might find a way to squeeze them in.