Frontier, The new standard?

A new format, called “Frontier”, uses cards from M15 up to the current set of Magic: the Gathering. Two Japanese game shops, Hareruya and BigMagic, announce back in September 2016 that they will be holding weekly tournaments in the new format. I only recently learned about this format, as my local game shops are thinking of doing something similar. Frontier may even take its place in FNM instead of Standard.

I’ve done a little research on this format by talking to people on the Magic: the Gathering forums, as well as talking to the shop owners near my town. It seems like people were getting a little bored with standard FNM and attendance is a bit on the low side. Some believe it’s because they feel like Standard rotates out too quickly, even though a set is in Standard for a duration of 18 months.

There are currently no cards on the banned list, as far as I know. The cards that appeared in the Planeswalkers Deck, the Welcome Origin 2016 Sample Decks are also legal in this format, however the cards appearing in the Masterpiece Series are not legal.  The other rules still apply as usual; minimum of 60 cards to the deck, there is no maximum deck size but you must be able to shuffle the deck with no help of another and at least 15 card in the sideboard.

What are your feelings about this format?

Is your local game shop planning on, or already, doing this format?

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DAILY RANDOM MTG CARD: Reciprocate

This is probably one of my favorite cards to use from one of my favorite sets: Champions of Kamigawa. With one drop of Plains you can remove a creature from the game, but only if it dealt damage to you. It may be worth it to take a big hit from a 10/10 creature to just remove the threat out of the game forever. The only other time this card has been reprinted is in Duel Decks: Knights VS Dragons. I ought to get my hands on the duel deck, sounds like a fun game play.

As always, thanks for reading my blog!

DAILY RANDOM MTG CARD: Obliterate

This 8th edition board wiper, Obliterate, with its 6 and two red mana cost, is pretty scary to look at. I'm not just talking about the high mana cost, but what it can do and if you’re playing blue and this card shows up in front of you; no counterspells to stop it from resolving!

You can pretty much say goodbye to everything you had out on the board. The only thing it doesn’t touch is your graveyard, though destroyed permanents can’t be regenerated.

As always, thanks for reading my blog!

DAILY RANDOM MTG CARD: Hatching Plans

This rare Guildpact card seems like a fun enhancement to play with. Even though it doesn’t get attached to any creatures, it goes out onto the battlefield for a 1 and a blue drop. It’s a pretty good card in my opinion. You can destroy the card on your own and give yourself three new cards to use, or deter your opponent from using board wiping cards to remove other enchantments you have in play.

Would you take the chance, or would you not bother with this card?

As always, thanks for reading my blog!

Updated Ban & Restricted List 1/9/2017

Wizards of the Coast have just made an announcement on their Magic: The Gathering website regarding a new set of cards to be placed on the ban list, effective January 20, 2017 on paper and Magic Online on January 11, 2017.

Here’s a small list of cards that are going on the ban list:

Standard:

• Emrakul, the Promised End
• Smuggler’s Copter
• Reflector Mage

Modern:

• Gitaxian Probe
• Golgari Grave-Troll

This is the first time that a ban list has been made for Standard since February 2010, when the Worldwake set came out. The last cards banned in Standard were Jace, the Mind Sculptor and Stoneforge Mystic. For a full list of ban and restricted cards, you can CLICK HERE to view them.

As always, thank you folks for reading my blog!

DAILY RANDOM MTG CARD: Funeral Pyre

This Judgement card’s appearance is probably one of the reason token decks can work so well for some players. Exile a card from your graveyard is not so bad of a deal, because it’s any cards in the graveyard that it’s targeting, not specific cards like creatures or instant or sorcery, it’s all of the cards.

After you remove a card from the graveyard you get a flying 1/1 token and if you have populate, you can make more tokens with it. I personally never had a tokens deck because they never quite work out for me.

What tokens deck is your favorite to play with?

As always, thanks for reading my blog!

My new years resolutions (with Magic: the Gathering)

Like the title says, I’ve thought of what I’d like to do in the new year concerning my favorite tabletop game; Magic: the Gathering. Instead of just typing a whole bunch of paragraphs, I figure it’s easier to do it in a list form. Now I’ve mention resolutions, like the billions of other people who have made them (and not keep them past the 5 days of the new year). I’d like to call them goals. 

I feel like goals is a better word to use than resolution. With goals you are more tempted to achieve them, as opposed to just wishful thinking. That’s just my opinion. Like the most non-original resolution is to lose weight. But instead if I make it a goal to reach my mark by a certain time of the year, I feel more tempted to do so. We understand each other?

Here are my list, remember this is only concerning Magic: the Gathering.

• Get more cards (obvious right?)
• Try to go to a tournament event (providing it’s near me) and either:
•  Blog about it 
• Play.
• Keep up on the metagame of tournaments happening elsewhere in the world.
• Do more FNM.
• Join in on pre-releases.
• Support my local game shops more often.
• Mention my editor more in my blogs, just because he’s an awesome guy for taking me on and make my articles make sense for you to read. Thanks Marc! [editor: no problems! Sorry I have been kept so busy during the holidays]
• Become a Judge

It’s not a very long list but these are my goals for the new year I want to try and achieve.

What’s your resolutions?

Or if you want to call it goals, what are your goals for the new year?

As always, thanks for reading my blog!

[editor: my number one goal is to put back together the mono-red burn deck I made in 1995. There will be Goblin Grenades…]

DAILY RANDOM MTG CARD: Blasphemous Act

The old Innistrad block is one of my favorite blocks that Magic: the Gathering has put out. I can’t really say the same for the Shadows Over Innistrad block. One of the things that really throws me off is the 8 and a red mana cost; it really gets your mind running with the thought of “how can a sorcery cost this much to cast?”

Then you read the text: it cost one less for every creature on the battlefield. Not just your creatures; your opponent's creatures as well. This card could very well be costing only one red to cast! Great board clean up, stinky part is that the 13 damage goes to your creatures too, killing them unless they are indestructible.

Which crazy sorcery do you like?

As always, thanks for reading my blog!

DAILY RANDOM MTG CARD: Dragonrage

This uncommon card from Fate Reforged is one of my favorite ways to pump instant spells in Magic: The Gathering. Just declare your attackers and use your 3 mana to cast this bad boy out and then boom, everyone attacking gets a red mana and get to use that red mana to give them a +1/+0. It may seem like it’s not that much being given to them, but any little bit can go a long way in a game of Magic. Not to mention the artwork is really cool.

Which instant is your favorite?

As always, thanks for reading my blog!

DAILY RANDOM MTG CARD: Maelstrom Nexus

This nice ol’ mythic rare five color enchantment, from Alara Reborn, has never been reprinted since it’s release.  It seems like a real smooth way to get your big beastly creatures on the field quickly without paying anything for the mana cost. Even with it’s five color mana cost, there are ways to get this thing out quicker than 5 turns.


When you have 4 copies of this card in your deck, you can't play them all at once; you have to let one cascade spell resolve at a time. It would be easier to do it all at once, but rules are rules, whether you are at an event, local game store, or even at the kitchen table.


How well would cascade would work for you?


As always, thanks for reading my blog!