Just stating the obvious ...

Dear MTGO family,

I really hate writing this post, but it's a bit easier than thinking of reasons to not write another column for the time being.

To be honest, I just feel like there are better things to do with my time than play/write about MTGO at the moment. The time/value just isn't there for me at the moment.

Part of the problem is that the 3.0 version of the game still has too many issues -- both social and within the code itself. Part of the problem is that the game as a whole, both digital and paper is kind of blah to me at the moment.

However, the biggest problem is simply that I would rather be doing different things right now, both from a personal and a gaming perspective. As some of my closer friends know, I've been very involved in 'real life' politics this year. Regardless of your political leanings -- and I don't mix my gaming interests with my political interests -- if you're an American, you really need to vote.

As far as computer gaming goes, I'd really rather play both Warhammer Online and WoW before MTGO at the moment -- and Madden 09 as well. Not to mention about 10 more titles due out before Christmas.

I'll still sling the old paper cards a bit on the weekends. I'm not excited about having to travel so much to play in a good Vintage tourney, but I do plan to make a couple of pilgrimages later this year after the elections and such.

Plus, I now have two kids in high school ... that means more time taking them to football practice, band rehearsal and everything else that goes along with having active teenagers around the house. My family needs my time, and that's getting to be quite the limited resource!

Anyway, this isn't a goodbye or farewell as much as it is a time to recharge my batteries post. I still think Magic -- both paper and digital -- is one of the greatest games out there. It's just that I'm feeling an ebb towards Magic that's exasperated by some ebbs within the game itself.

I'm looking forward to a time when I'm excited about the game again -- and when that time comes, I'll definitely write about it. Maybe it will be in a continuation of this blog, or maybe in some other venue -- but I'm not leaving the game, just taking a break/breather.

Regardless, I will still be spending a little money each month on MTGO -- and I look forward to spending a few nights each month tossing virtual cards around the old monitor at home. If you catch me online, feel free to say hello -- or anything else good or bad, for that matter!

One last thing, never forget -- People > Pixels. In the end, that's what's important.

Later,

Don!

What I did on my summer vacation ...

Dear MTGO Family,

Sorry for the sudden absence from the blog -- but I had an opportunity that I couldn't turn down.

I don't want to get into politics on an MTGO blog, but last month I accepted a very short-notice position in support of my political party that required me to not post/publish anything until early this morning. Yep, I couldn't even post about MTGO -- but I'll have some great stories to tell my kids and grand kids someday.

Anyway, the chains are off -- and I can go back to posting. A lot has happened in the last month in (and out) of MTGO, and I can't wait to write about it!

I'll toss up a post later this week, and I think I might make a few format changes to the blog as well. We'll see.

Later,

Don!

Squee, Goblin of Coolness

I loves me some Squee. Click on the picture for the full-sized version. ;-)

I think Squee is my all-time favorite Johnny card in Magic. In the evil paper Magic world, I have for of the original version of the card, all in foil and about another 20 or so in good old non-foil goodness. Every time I see a new expansion, I always look for cards I can abuse with Squee for my casual Squee decks.

Of course, in Shadowmoor they've given me a really nice Squee-outlet tool in Knollspine Invocation. So, I decided to spend the month's $15 to get a set of Squee, Goblin of Coolness and some cards that might help to make a good deck.

(Shameless plug: Actually $17.44 for playsets of Squee, Mind Stone, Firespout, Knollspine Invocation, and a few more cards from the wonderful folks at MTGO Traders, who offer good prices and a PayPal discount!)

In my humble opinion, any card that says "Discard a card" to get an effect is a card that Squee was built for. In paper, my all-time favorite casual deck was a highlander deck built around Squee. Of course, I cheated the Highlander rules by playing 1 Regular Squee, 1 Foil Squee, 1 Autographed Squee, and one Personalized (hand-painted by a good friend of mine with talent) Squee. The deck featured all kinds of the original spellshapers and other discarding for effect cards like Balduvian Horde and Null Brooch. It was one of those decks that people never really minded playing against, and played differently every time you played it based on who you were playing and what you drew in that particular game.

Anyway, with that in mind -- I'm going to spend the next couple of posts building the best budget Squee deck I can in MTGO. Granted, Squee is a touch stiff pricewise at around two tickets each, but he's a great utility card to have fun with in MTGO.

Here's where you the loyal reader come in. See the poll to the right? Help me pick the base of my new casual Squee deck. Red's a given, since I know I plan to use Knollspine Inquisition for the main kill mechanism of the deck (at least for now) -- but other than that, what works best? Straight Red? Blue/Red with lots of drawing effects? A White/Red defensive build? Green/Red agro or mana-acceleration Squee? Maybe an evil Black/Red Squee abomination?

Just remember, the deck's being built for the casual room -- not a tourney. I hope to stay away from too many things that casual players find annoying, specifically Land Destruction, Counters or Discard. A certain amount of burn is unavoidable in a base-red deck, but not all burn, okay? A couple of those in the deck might be okay, but if there's too many -- that might not be as fun as possible for the folks playing against me. It's okay, I don't mind losing -- I just want the deck to have a chance to win, and generally be fun to play.

So, vote. And after that, e-mail, post or catch me in game to give me some ideas. I want to have some fun with my little red recurring friend this month -- and I think that's a cheap way to play MTGO on a budget!

Later,

Don!

Shield of the Oversoul

Since the world of MTGO has flamed out into a big ball of poo this week, I've decided to write just a bit about the most broken limited common enchantment in Magic since Rancor.

Shield of the Oversoul.

Enchantment - Aura
Enchant creature As long as enchanted creature is green, it gets +1/+1 and is indestructible. (Lethal damage and effects that say "destroy" don't destroy it. If its toughness is 0 or less, it's still put into its owner's graveyard.) As long as enchanted creature is white, it gets +1/+1 and has flying.

This is a card that will see a lot of play in MTGO. If you can't afford to buy an Armadillo Cloak for your PDC deck -- this card will do just fine, thank you very much. And at three mana, it's perfect in the curve of the deck it needs to be good in -- a small to mid-range creature agro deck.

Even on the expensive constructed side of the world of MTGO, this card can be flat annoying. Put this enchantment on a Safehold Elite, and you've got a 4/4 flyer that just shrugs off that annoying Wrath of God or Damnation. I like Steel of the Godhead (Gives a B/W creature Unblockability and Lifelink) almost as much -- but that creature is only a Terror away from being two cards in the graveyard.

Of course, for real fun -- all the new Shadowmoor color counts enchantments tend to work real swell on our old friend Transguild Courier. Sure the Courier is an uncommon, and extended-legal instead of standard ... but he's all colors all the time! Of course, if your a standard purist, you could play Scrapbasket and/or Scuttlemutt for a similar effect for a limited time.

So, here's a little cheap block/standard ditty for having some real fun with the Shield and it's friend Steel.

Lands: (22)

12 Forest
6 Plains
4 Islands


Creatures: (22)

4 Safehold Elite
4 Raven's Run Dragoon
4 Farhaven Elf
2 Medicine Bearer
2 Silkbind Faerie
2 Elvish Hexhunter
2 Barrington Cragtreads
1 Scrapbasket
1 Scuttlemutt


Spells: (16)

4 Shield of the Oversoul
4 Steel of the Godhead
3 Gleeful Sabotage
2 Æthertow
2 Consign to Dream
1 Mine Excavation


Hey, this deck won't win you a PTQ, but it should have some entertainment value. Of course, I sincerely hope the MTGO servers will let us all play long enough to get some good entertainment value as a whole -- no matter what deck you're playing at the moment.

As always, check out this week's poll. I fully expect the results to be lopsided based on this week's column -- but hey, you all out there have surprised me a few times already.

Take care out there, and may all your pixels be perfect in game!

Later,

Don!