MTGO dry spell, rant incoming...

A lull in mtgo...

Well the cube is gone, and M13 hasn't arrived yet and OLS gets old fast (inefficient creatures, generally lacking in removal).

Sounds like its time to take a few weeks off of mtgo until m13 hits LIVE, then back to grinding 8-4 queues for glory!

On a more somber note, my musings on this site are an interesting sort of attempt to rekindle the spirit of writing in someone who once wrote dozens and hundreds of pages of fiction and non-fiction.

Oh the joys of the written word. There was once a time when I would have killed to be a novelist, alas I feel as though the medium itself has waned in importance. Do people even read anymore? I'm not so sure they do much these days.

Yes there are still good books being written and there are certainly dedicated readers out there I suppose, but its become much more niche.

I like big broad sweeping topics, things we can all identify with, mass art or whatever you want to call it, cinema for example, a very suitable medium for mass art seems like it is more culturally relevant than books, and video-games probably more so than cinema with younger crowds (I am a former gamer, mtgo in and of itself doesn't exactly count I would think...) I remember being a gamer among other gamers...and I must painfully admit the stereotypes are true, lots of overweight low self esteem dorks who can't talk to girls...

So back on topic, the written word, the great post modernist novel, that ties the human experience into a cohesive whole, yet to exist, yet to resonate universally. Oh so many aspiring writers out there hoping against hope, dreaming of being the one to write that novel.

What would my first novel be about? Probably an homage to Henry Miller as I would detail my sexploits with wonderful detail and very vivid imagery...it would probably piss a lot of people off... hehehe..

I LOVE CUBE DRAFTING

Drafting on MTGO

I am an MTGO junkie. Some days I draft more than I should. When the server goes down for maintenance, I itch to draft again.

There is nothing quite so bedazzling as the potential of a freshly opened pack. Filled with all sorts of possibilities and potential paths I could take.

Unlike constructed, which quickly becomes predictable and formulaic, draft maintains an ever present spice of the unknown. Anything can happen in a draft, occasionally epic things can happen.

Take for example one of my last 8-4 cube drafts on MTGO recently. Now I am one of those who argues for the cube being around 365 days a year. It is single handed the most fun you will have drafting magic, every card is good, you can literally do what you want, you can even force an archetype and it will work more often than not (due to the fact that all the cards are relatively good).

So I'm facing down this boros/zoo player and he's got a Mother of Runes in play, a Greater Gargadon, a silver knight and a Hero of Bladehold. It's the end of his turn, he just cast Hero. I am at 16 life, he's at 18 after one or two fetch land cracks.

I untap with a shelldock isle in play and draw the 21st card of my library, leaving it with exactly 20 cards. Under the isle: Animate Dead. In the yard, Griselbrand...

I untap.

I animate dead griselbrand. I draw seven cards going to 9. I draw the following: vedalken shackles, force of will, dissipate, snuff out, some lands and some other stuff I don't remember.

I play shackles and grab the hero of bladehold. He untaps and topdecks path to exile. He tries to path griselbrand, I force of will. He then activates mother of runes targeting gargadon and I snuff out in response...

I go to 4 life (9 - 1 (FOW) - 4 (Snuff out)).

He concedes.

That's cube for you.