Tuesday, April 22, 2014

The Casual Gamer



It's almost time to Journey Into Nyx!

The spoilers have all been released and one of the most interesting cards to come out is Athreos, God of Passage. His ability and casting cost make him one of the most powerful cards to be released in the block. He doesn't do damage with his ability but takes life. That means his damage can't be prevented. In a black/white weenie deck he quickly forces your opponent into a lot of tough decisions.

I for one had one thought when I first saw Athreos and that thought was that he created a perfect match for Purphoros.

In my mind these two are the power couple of Magic the Gathering. When working together they make a weenie deck something to truly deal with. Damage when you enter and lost life when you die (or rebirth for 2 damage). That means to deal with a basic 1/1 from entry to attack to death you could hang 6 damage with a little engine that could. Finally we feel the true power of Mon's Goblin Raiders. (You've played this game too long if you get that joke)

Why even play anything but creatures. I haven't tossed a deck together yet but 24 lands, 6 gods, and 30 low casting cost creatures sounds like fun to me. The thirty creatures don't even matter. Just grab ones that die easily. That is why I call this deck idea, "The Suicide Squad".

The only problem is that Athreos is already sitting at roughly $30 and Purphoros is quickly climbing towards $10. To run 3 and 3 will end up costing you close to $120 just in gods. Even with thirty cheap creatures and land you're still dropping close to $125 for a deck. Not a price tag this casual gamer is comfortable with. Then again my birthday is coming soon and price tags get fuzzy around that time.

Until then I am still working on my land destruction deck. Last week I had talked about Junk Jund and gave a bare bones alpha deck list. As you'll see a lot usually changes between Alpha and Beta deck construction.

Earth Day Is Cancelled 
(Name Under Review)

Creatures: 15

4 Elvish Mystic
4 Satyr Hedonist
3 Voyaging Satyr
4 Ember Swallower

Spells: 22

3 Magma Jet
3 Mizzium Mortars
4 Bramblecrush
4 Demolish
4 Desecration Plague
2 Peregrination
2 Frenzied Tilling

Lands: 23

10 Forest
13 Mountain

Sideboard: 15

2 Fog
2 Pithing Needle
2 Ratchet Bomb
3 Scouring Sands
2 Mindsparker
4 Peak Eruption

As you can see I've dropped the black from this deck and decided to streamline it with just green and red. That causes less mana problems in the early game and the introduction of Desecration Plague made black very expendable. I've also started to fill in the gaps with the deck to help deal with any issues that might arise.

The main focus is of course on land destruction. The earlier the better. In a perfect world your first four turns go like this:

Turn 1 - Forest into Mystic
Turn 2 - Mountain into Hedonist
Turn 3 - Mountain into Swallower
Turn 4 - Forest, sac hedonist, and monster Swallower.

That's a 7/8 attacking on turn 4 as your opponent watches three lands go bye bye. You lose three lands too, but luckily you've got enough mana producers to keep you at 2 mana with the ability to roll out more quickly.

The sideboard is built to help against certain matches. If somebody plays any red then sideboarding Peak Eruption is a must before game two. Ratchet Bomb takes care of token decks for 2 mana and Needles stop heavy planeswalker decks. I like Mindsparker to spank on control decks.

Again this deck will have holes. It also has a price tag more comfortable than The Suicide Squad. The Mizzium Mortars are the highest priced card in the deck and those should only run about $4. Even with sideboard nobody should pay more than $25-30.

It's now time to actually put this deck together and begin play testing. Keep checking back for future blogs to follow the progress of this deck (and it's new name).

Until then remember we have our Prerelease tournament this weekend. Currently 20 of the 48 slots have been reserved. You can preregister by stopping into the store. The tournament sign up starts at noon and deck construction begins at 1:00 PM SHARP. First prize will get a booster box of Journey Into Nyx and each player is guaranteed to win a booster pack of Journey Into Nyx. Entry is $25.

Can't wait to see everyone this Saturday as we finally take a Journey Into Nyx!

Monday, April 21, 2014

Nerdageddon Grand Opening Press Release

Nerdageddon Celebrates Grand Opening Weekend with Superhero/Villain Costume Contest, Free Comic Book Day, and release of 64th Magic the Gathering Expansion


Brighton, Michigan – Nerdageddon Comics Cards and Collectibles – www.nerdageddon.com - is excited to celebrate our new store, new community, and wonderful customers. Beginning at 3pm on Thursday, May 1, 2014, you are invited to kick off grand opening festivities at Nerdageddon – 117 East Grand River Avenue, Brighton, Michigan 48116. Thursday, channel your inner superhero or villain, and the best costume will win great prizes (Judging begins at 3:30pm, winner announced at 6pm). On Friday May 2, Nerdageddon will release the 64th expansion of Magic the Gathering, Journey Into Nyx. And on Saturday May 3, Nerdageddon will host our first Free Comic Book Day. As a Gold Level retailer for the event, Nerdageddon will proudly offer a wide variety of the most popular comic book titles for FREE to our customers on that day.

“Despite the brutal winter, Nerdageddon has been extremely fortunate that so many people have patronized our store,” says Shalini Karnani Bonjour, Nerdageddon’s Director of Awesome. “The support is truly amazing. We’ve been able to hire two part-time employees and double our inventory since opening in January. This three-day grand opening celebration is the official announcement that we are happy to be in beautiful downtown Brighton and look forward to a long and successful future serving all of the area’s ‘nerd needs’.”

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Thursday May 1, 2014
3pm – Costume Contest Begins
3:30pm – Ribbon Cutting with Greater Brighton Area Chamber of Commerce
Enjoy complimentary refreshments and superhero balloon sculptures by Tim Thurmond “The Balloon Sculptor”
6pm – Costume Contest Winner Announced


Friday May 2, 2014
12noon – Magic the Gathering’s 64th Expansion – Journey Into Nyx
Available For Purchase – Booster boxes, Booster Packs (3 for $10), Fat Packs, Intro Decks, and Singles
6pm – Friday Night Magic Booster Draft (Entry fee $15. Sign up at 6pm. Draft begins at 7pm)


Saturday May 3rd, 2014
12noon – FREE COMIC BOOK DAY (while supplies last)


About Nerdageddon Comics, Cards, and Collectibles:

Website: www.Nerdageddon.com - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Nerdageddonccc - Twitter: @nerdagedddonccc - email: nerdageddonccc@gmail.com; Shalini@nerdageddon.com; Chris@nerdageddon.com - address: 117 E. Grand River Ave. Brighton, MI 48116 – phone: (810) 522- 6185

Thursday, April 10, 2014

The Casual Gamer


There is always one card during spoilers that just sparks my creative juices. That's a good and a bad thing. Especially when you discover that card just before you go to bed at night. Needless to say Eidolon of the Great Revel is now responsible for one sleepless night. 

This week has been a big spoiler week for Journey Into Nyx. The already revealed three gods and a green/white Ajani have made jaws drop around the shop. As I was relaxing in bed I decided to check the spoiler sites again just incase a new god had been revealed. The Eidolon happened to be the new reveal for the evening. 

At first most bashed this card because it has a bad synergy with red burn. I mean who is play 4+ mana burn? Nobody wants to drop a three point lightning strike only to get two back in the face from your very own private dancer. Yet to me this was the card I had been looking for to fit in with a deck mechanic that has been a favorite of mine since I started playing MTG: Land Destruction.

The thing about land destruction is that it is pricey. There really isn't a land destruction spell that costs less than 4. That kind of price tag just doesn't fit in most 1-2-3 burn decks. It also plays to what Lex Luthor from Superman the movie said about the importance of land. He was going to blow up half of California and kill Lois Lane because of land. Land is the most important card in Magic the Gathering.

People always ask when coming to the store what cards I am looking to buy or trade for. The easiest answer is land. Scry lands, Shock Lands, Fetch Lands, Dual Lands, and all the crazy lands in between. No matter how much this game changes it all comes back to one card that holds it all together, land.

So after sitting up, rocking a baby back to sleep, and sitting up some more I came up with what I call Junk Jund. This is the foundation I am using for my deck design to start the build for Eidolon. This deck is playable in standard and costs less than ten dollars to build. You should have most in your junk boxes at home.

Junk Jund

Creatures: 15

4 Elvish Mystic

4 Satyr Hedonist
4 Voyaging Satyr
3 Ember Swallower

Spells: 22


4 Lay of the Land

3 Bramblecrush
4 Demolish
3 Gild
4 Destroy the Evidence
4 Frenzied Tilling

Lands: 23


10 Forest

8 Mountain
5 Swamp

Yup, pretty basic. Yet this is how I like to deck build for future sets. I like to see how glue cards work. This deck will have it's teeth with Eidolon and a few more cards, but the true basis of the deck is here and that is fast land destruction.


For the Eidolon to truly work you want to keep your opponent below three mana production. For most that will be land. The first step is getting your land destruction out by turn three. Then begin ticking down your opponent's land count.


My MVP of this deck is Destroy the Evidence. In land destruction this card is pure money. It's five mana and it takes two lands out of your opponent's deck plus mills a few cards on the way. It also takes away your opponent's next land draw with the second land dump. That little ignored fact is huge in land destruction.


Ember Swallower is an interesting card. A 4/5 for four is nice. Make him a monster and he wipes three lands. That hurts you, but if you put your opponent at 0 lands on turn 5 with a 7/8 to deal with that is a game changer. Plus with mana rampers like Mystic, Voyager, and Hedonist dropping three of your own lands shouldn't hurt as much. 


I enjoy Gild for removal because exile works well to take care of gods. Bramblecrush is good for land removal and planeswalker removal. Demolish is the staple for land removal. You should be able to play it on turn 3 to begin land control. 

By no means will this deck go win a PTQ, but it is a good start to what I hope will end up being a strong tournament deck. Even better is the current price tag. It allows me to feel better about plugging in about 40-50 dollars in money cards down the line. 

Keep checking the blog for updates on play testing. There is going to be a ton of spoilers coming over the next few days. Fingers crossed for a big land destruction spell. Follow us on Facebook as we talk about the spoilers daily. 

Finally circle April 26th, 2014 on your smartphone as Nerdageddon hosts our first prerelease. Entry will be $25 and first place will get a booster box of Journey Into Nyx. Other prizes will be determined by the amount of players. Sign up begins at noon and deck construction starts at 1:00 PM. We'll have door prizes through out the day.

Now I'm off to throw this junk together. Enjoy spoiler week!