Dragon's Maze Draft Toss-Up: Turn//Burn vs. Far//Away

Technically, this draft toss-up would be for the format of Dragon's Maze - Gatecrash - Return to Ravnica, and there are three sets worth of cards to look through there. But I'm going to focus on cards within the same sets, so we'll look at these two studs in the "DGR" draft format.

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The Numbers (courtesy of Bestiaire.org)

Far // Away - #5 uncommon, #30 overall

Turn // Burn - #4 uncommon, #28 overall

The Analysis

First off, if this is your decision, you're excited. You have an option between two really powerful cards here. They're both removal, they're both flexible, they both run at instant speed. Both cards fuse for 5 mana. In the right circumstance, each of them has the potential to be a complete blowout. And even in the wrong circumstance, each of them is a small piece of removal (Away and Burn, respectively).

So what's the difference between them? Well, Far//Away is made valuable by its ability to get through things like hexproof or regeneration, since you're forcing the player to sacrifice, and it incorporates one of my favorite effects: Unsummon. Turn and Burn is more useful as a combat trick, when you can Burn one creature and Turn another to make it susceptible to an easy block kill. Turn//Burn is also a bit more reliable, giving a guaranteed kill of one creature as long as you can cast both parts.

I think they're both really good cards, but my pick is going to be Far//Away. While fusing either card gives you a great effect, the individual pieces of Far//Away are better in my book. An Unsummon effect is always a positive, and there are plenty of circumstances where an opponent only has a single creature, where Away will do everything you need it to do. You can also always use Far during combat to save your own creature while using Away as a kill spell. Turn and Burn are good individual effects, but not great. The value of Turn//Burn is really in destroying one targeted problem enemy for five mana. Far//Away can regularly do a good deal more than that.

The Verdict

Far//Away

Magic 2014 Draft Toss-Up: Into The Wilds vs. Dark Prophecy

Well old friends, I'm bringing back an old favorite, the draft toss-ups. In case you don't remember, what we do is grab two cards that are similarly rated on Bestiaire within a single set, and I give you a rundown of what I think of the two cards. We evaluate them based on their usefulness in a limited deck, so the resale price of the card is not part of the equation. Then I pick one, and then you make fun of me for my choice. Here we go.

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First, the justification for comparing them. They're both enchantments, both rares, and they're both new issues for M14. They rate #79 (Into the Wilds) and #85 (Dark Prophecy) overall on Bestiaire. They also both offer a form of card draw.

Another thing that they both boast is exceptionally appropriate flavor for their colors. Green's card draw is always based on creatures or lands, and black usually has a life cost for its card draw. So, both of them have that going for them.

At their cores, Dark Prophecy is a stronger card. Even with the life cost of losing creatures, nine times out of ten the card draw is going to be well worth the loss. It also opens up some profitable situations, like trading a Child of Night for a Coral Merfolk or Goblin Shortcutter in combat. While sometimes you're worried about pinging yourself to death, in general you're going to want to have the card.

Even still, Into the Wilds is a more playable card. It's got the lack of a downside which is nice, but the real value is in the casting cost. Dark Prophecy is basically unplayable except in a mono-black deck; in any other situation, you're not going to be able to get enough value by the time you cast it. Into the Wilds meanwhile will always get a little work done. It's not a bomb by any stretch, but it's perfectly playable. I'm actually pretty surprised that Dark Prophecy gets taken as high as it does. I guess with Bestiaire you don't actually have to play the deck, so you can be a little more loosey-goosey. But for me, this one's not close.

Joe's pick: Into the Wilds

Fun and Useful Magic Sites

With Magic's continued growth, more and more sites are popping up that are devoted to one aspect or another of Magic. Whether it's collecting the cards, building decks, playing games, practicing drafts, or watching the business side of things, Magic has become a robust topic across the Internet.

We all know about Channel Fireball and Gatherer (and if you don't, boy, I'm just giving you all the goods today), but there are plenty of other sites out there that have a ton of useful resources for Magic players. Here are a couple I've found that I enjoy.

SupernovaBots - http://www.supernovabots.com
Online card pricing

SupernovaBots is a straightforward site that offers a quick reference for determining the potential sale (and purchase) price of a card. It's a nice thing to have open during a draft, to make sure you don't misjudge the resale value of a card. You'd feel silly if you passed on a foil Prime Speaker Zegana because you didn't realize it sells for 14 tickets (aka a whole draft). Plus, the site is in plain text, so it's easily searchable using Ctrl+F. Nice little utility.

MTGO Traders - http://www.mtgotraders.com
Online card pricing

When I was putting together my commander deck, MTGO Traders was a godsend. It was a quick, searchable reference that let me find out if a card was in my price range (generally under $0.10). Between it and Gatherer, I was able to assemble a fun deck for less than eight bucks. Turns out it was outmatched a lot of the time, but regardless, the site was a great resource. It's still a great way to find out what cards are selling for.

TappedOut.net - http://tappedout.net
Deck building, cube building, paper card pricing, mock drafts

TappedOut.net is a site that I still haven't gotten all I can get out of it yet. You can create an account and save decks, posting them for review for your friends or strangers. For any deck you create, there's a link on side that gives you an estimate on the cost of your deck, and offers a link to a custom shopping cart that already includes the cards from the deck. Granted, the link you get is way overpriced, but it's a nice enough feature at least as a quick reference.

You can also do simulated solo drafts of any set you like, as well as host drafts for other visitors of the site to join and draft. This can give you a better sense of how a real draft might go. The site is a real plethora of deck-building and practice utilities, and it's the kind of site an avid Magic player can get lost for several hours. You're welcome.

Bestiaire - http://draft.bestiaire.org/index.php
Mock drafts, card rankings

There used to be another website I used for mock drafts, but Wizards put the screws to whatever site that was. Now I use Bestiaire, and I'm enjoying it. It's super easy to start a mock draft, and the AI that's been developed for the mock drafts seems to be pretty effective. Additionally, the site accumulates draft data from each mock draft that takes place on the site, and holds a running ranking of each card in each set. You can go all the way back to Alpha and they've got draft ratings (though the ratings for newer sets are a little more current).

My one complaint about the system is that it doesn't let you see your drafted cards during each pick, only in between packs. So sometimes, if you can't remember all your picks, you can make small errors, especially early on when your deck doesn't yet have an identity. Still, the mocks are super fast, so you can get a bunch of practice in a short period of time.

MTG Goldfish - http://www.mtggoldfish.com
Card prices and tracking, deck building

I just recently discovered MTGO Goldfish, and I'm just blown away by it. The site tracks card prices across all sets for both online and paper Magic cards. And by tracks, I mean that it has data for the past several years on the progression of card prices. It's an amazing tool for those of us who are interested in the economic aspect of the game. And I absolutely, absolutely am.

The site also offers comprehensive reports on the decks that people are playing in large events. For example, you can click here to see the decks that found success in a recent Pauper event. It's also got lists of the most common decks, and the variances that people play. You can check out a sample here, where the site shows the card choices made for "Bant Hexproof" decks.

If you've got any further suggestions, post a comment son.

Anniversary Show - Today!

We're finally here. Today's the day that, one year ago, these three bros started streaming pedestrian Magic and next-level jokes. Okay, it's actually tomorrow, but we're sticking with our normal Friday plan. Sue us.

Please don't sue us, we're broke.

So what do we have in store for you tonight? Well, I don't want to give everything away, but here are some highlights you can expect from tonight's show, starting at 8:00 Eastern Time:

1. Three drafts, each by a different bro!
2. Giveaways!
3. Trivia!
4. WWYD!

So come out tonight and join us, it should be a blast!

One Year Anniversary Show!

That's right, bros. Almost one year ago, the Good Point Bros started streaming terrible Magic and solid jokes, and it's time to celebrate! On September 6th, we'll be streaming our Anniversary show on our Twitch channel, and we hope you can all make it. We're kicking around a few ideas for the show, but rest assured we'll provide all the fun that you normally expect out of the Good Point Bros.

Yes, that includes WWYD, Decent Point Bro, relax.

But more importantly, it will include multiple Magic drafts, multiple giveaways, and the same old witty banter between the three bros you've come to know and love. So get your popcorn, make sure you're stocked up on bourbon, and tell your friends. The Bros are throwing down on September 6th. And the gods only know what happens after that.

Top 5 Most Unplayable M14 Cards (Limited)

Every year, Magic gives us a new core set. And every year, we spend a bunch of time trying to determine the best cards in that set, in a variety of colors, in a variety of circumstances. But where's the love for the miserable? Where are the accolades for the cards that are just utterly terrible? When will the worst cards get their due discussion?

Right now.

It's now time for my list of the five cards you would steer away from in any draft, the cards you would most hate to see in your sealed pool. Here they are, the five most unplayable M14 cards in limited Magic:

5. Burning Earth

I put Burning Earth at 5, even though it should probably be more like 3, because it's got a definite use in Standard. So while you would never, ever play the card in a draft, it's not the worst thing to see, since it'll net you a ticket and a half in bot trades. But as far as actually playing? No, no sir. There are only three nonbasic lands in the set, so it's unlikely that you get any sort of play out of the card. Your biggest hope is that your opponent is trying to run a three-color monstrosity and he's got two or three Shimmering Grottos that you could burn him for. So, Burning Earth is a potentially sideboard-able card for the most rare of circumstances, but by and large, you'll want to play something else.

4. Encroaching Wastes

Encroaching Wastes is one of those three nonbasic lands I mentioned above, but it's not one you'll expect to play against. Again, you're hoping to spike a Shimmering Grotto, but at what value? You're sacrificing your unplayable land plus spending four mana to destroy his somewhat playable land? Against a deck that's got Mutavaults (plural), I'd consider sideboarding in Encroaching Wastes, but really, so unlikely. Pass.

3. Shadowborn Apostle

In a constructed deck, maybe, maybe this guy has some value? Say, I wonder what the rules are in Commander, if his rules text overrides the limit of one-per-card? Probably not, that'd be kind of unfair. Anyways, in limited, no chance you get six of them, so it's a vanilla 1/1 for 1. If it was a sliver that'd be one thing, but a human cleric just won't get it done. I do like the flavor of the card, and its interaction with Shadowborn Demon, but as far as playing it? No sir.

2. Artificer's Hex

Now we're getting into the really miserable limited cards from the set. Artificer's Hex is funny, because it actually feels really good. Not like, functionally, but the flavor is perfect for black. And it works pretty well in Commander, where equipment like Lightning Greaves gets used in almost every deck. You turn those Greaves into a curse, and you're back in the saddle. However, in M14 limited play, it's bad bad bad. There are only three equipment in the set, all at uncommon or above, and none of which is necessarily gamebreaker material. The Hex should go bottom 3 in every pack that holds it, probably above the basic land...probably.

1. Darksteel Forge

Here we are, the #1 unplayable M14 card for limited. Let me be clear: I don't think this is the worst card in the set. There will be some constructed decks that find a way to get good use out of Darksteel Forge. Indestructibility is a useful effect, and there are a thousand different ways to ramp your mana to get to nine. But in limited, get serious. While M14 matches tend to go a little longer than M13 ones did, nine mana is still asking way too much out of a single card. Furthermore, exactly which artifact are you so hung up on that you want it to be indestructible? Millstone? Fireshrieker? Really, there's just not enough power in the artifacts of M14 to even consider playing a nine-drop to protect them. Finally, it's a mythic rare, so it blows your chance at a boss mythic like a planeswalker or Archangel of Thune. Just bad feelings all around.

Honorable Mentions
- Merfolk Spy
- Dismiss Into Dream
- Pyromancer's Gauntlet

Tales From Free Play - 8/20

I have a few basic online decks that I've created over the years, and I occasionally play online with them. They're generally underpowered, but as long as you're not looking at some elite standard deck, they've got a shot. Well, the other day I put together a very basic red/green slivers deck, using only cards from M14. It has no rares, and is decidedly underwhelming. Still, I've been able to put up a decent fight from time to time. I joined a 2-headed-giant game (which almost always means that your two opponents know each other and have built decks that synergize), and went about my business. Things were fine until one sequence made my partner quit. My draws were numbered at that point, but I figured I'd play it out. A couple minutes later, here was the board state:

Yeah, 1207 life, two Serra Avatars, and Akroma's Memorial. Obviously I did not come back.

Removing Magic's Barriers - New Player Drafts

Wizards of the Coast has recently been ramping up their efforts to attract new players. It's the right move, obviously; the more people who are using your product, the more money your company makes. So how does Wizards get people to start playing Magic Online, where people spend literally hundreds of dollars a month playing games? Well, you have to find a way to make the game accessible, both financially and as far as the gameplay. Magic is an insanely complex game; simplifying it for new players is vital.

This week's blog posts will discuss what Wizards has done to try to remove the barriers to entry for the game. Today's post will focus on New Player drafts.

In order to play the official Magic The Gathering: Online, a player has to pay $10 to set up an online account. This account gives you access to the online world of MTG, which includes the opportunity to enter drafts, purchase packs of cards, trade with other players, and develop your own collection, from which you can play recreationally with your friends, or with players around the world.

New players receive a starter kit, a sort of "welcome gift," which includes some cards from the current core set (Magic releases a new core set every year, and new expansion sets every few months) and some tickets, which can be used to enter events.

Previously, the welcome gift 2 regular Event Tickets and 4 New Player Tickets. An Event Ticket costs $1 to purchase from the Wizards online store, and is used for entry into all MTGO events. New Player Tickets are only available via the starter kit, and are used to enter special New Player events. A New Player draft costs 1 New Player Ticket at 1 Event Ticket. These are phantom events, which means that the cards drafted in these events do not go into your online card collection. Additionally, while a normal event would have several prizes of 1-8 Magic 2014 (M14) packs depending on the format, a New Player event offers only a single M14 pack to the winner of an event, and no prize to the other three participants. Still, the chance to play in the drafts and possibly get a little reward out of it was enough to draw me in; I ended up buying three different accounts so that I could get the New Player draft opportunities.

Well, things have changed...quite a bit actually. Now, each player who creates a new account gets 5 normal Event Tickets and 20 New Player Tickets. This means that a new user can play five drafts at no additional cost, and can pay one dollar per draft for up to fifteen additional drafts. This gives a new player the chance to get a LOT of playtime for a fairly reasonable price; if the player elected to play through all 20 New Player drafts, he or she would spend $25 between the cost of creating a new account ($10) and the additional tickets ($15).

Won't you take me to...VALUE TOWN!

Seriously. This new setup has two distinctly exciting aspects. First, to the player, you're getting a chance for a full draft experience five times from those first ten dollars spent on the new account. Five drafts should be enough for most players to find out if they like the idea. The second part is a little more sneaky, and a creative business move. This method creates multiple nudges for the user to make a purchase from the in-game store. If you win one of the New Player drafts, you get an M14 pack. If you want to play in a real draft, you need a total of three packs as well as two Event Tickets, all readily available for purchase from the store. Plus, if you liked the experience but you're not sure if you're ready for the real thing, you can always just buy a few more Event Tickets and use up some of your 20 New Player tickets to get into more drafts. Either way, you're pulling people towards making purchases from the store, and that removes one of the bigger barriers to entry for the system: that nervous feeling you get when you're spending money. It's a good value, so what's a couple more dollars? And boom, they've got you.

Let me be clear on this, though: I have no problem with Wizards' move here. First, as I said, I was already buying new accounts to get the draft time, so this just makes it way more reasonably priced for me to do so. Second, I think Magic would appeal to a larger audience of people if they just found ways to get past some of these barriers (hence this feature on the blog). And I really do want Magic to become more mainstream; my end goal is to eventually own and run a game store, and that's obviously easier if more people are playing Magic.

What do you think of the new system? Love it? Hate it? Don't care? Let me know in the comments.

The "Epic" Uncommons of M14

So, as you may have seen earlier this week, I named and rated my top five uncommons from M14. That's all well and good, but we're in the realm of M14 now, so it's time to move forward. M13 had some ace uncommons, cards you'd often take over all but the biggest bombs in draft. Does M14 have cards of the same caliber? It's tough to say for sure this early in the format, but there are certainly a few early favorites. Here's my list of the top uncommons in each color, rated against each other. Enjoy.

5. Black - Doom Blade

Doom Blade might actually be better than some of the other cards on this list, but it doesn't have that "epic" feel to it. It's of course very powerful; it's a strong piece of removal that has a very manageable mana cost. But as far as a card with a broad enough effect to call "epic"...no sir. As far as other potential dark horses that might shine as the format advances, I could see Blightcaster or Vampire Warlord proving to be very useful in the right decks. But as far as something as strong as Vampire Nighthawk was? No way.

4. Red - Young Pyromancer

Flames of the Firebrand is actually back in M14, and, truthfully, I'd take Flames over Pyromancer in a vacuum. But it's no fun to re-hash the previous one, so let's talk about the new one. Young Pyromancer is part of a "theme" of this deck, which is basically, Chandra is going to mess you up. Having a mono-red deck or combining red with some effective blue or black removal/control cards, Young Pyromancer gets a ton of work done. Red is actually pretty strong at the uncommon level, with Battle Sliver and Shiv's Embrace also being very useful cards in draft. Flames is still the champion, but there's plenty of potential here.

3. White - Serra Angel

Serra Angel has been reprinted about eighty quadrillion times, but it's been good every time, and this time is no different. It's another repeat from M13, but this time there's no Oblivion Ring to take the crown. Banisher Priest has a similar effect, but it's limited to creatures and, more importantly, the Priest itself is a creature. A big part of the strength of Oblivion Ring (and Journey to Nowhere, it's creature-only counterpart) was that it was an enchantment, and drafters often don't have enchantment removal, outside of their sideboard. Creature removal is far more common. So, this time around, I'll go with the under-costed 4/4 flyer with vigilance. The only other uncommon that looks to be worth mentioning is Wall of Swords, another reprint. It can block all day with 5 toughness, and with 3 power, it can make your opponents very wary of swinging.

2. Green - Briarpack Alpha

Late in the M13 life cycle, I realized that Yeva's Forcemage was better than I was giving it credit for. You almost always make some use of the +2/+2 he gives to a creature, and then he's still a 2/2 body. Well, Briarpack Alpha eats Yeva's Forcemage for a light afternoon snack. It's a 3/3 instead of a 2/2, which honestly would make it already worth the additional 1 colorless mana it costs. But the thing that makes it just blow everything else away is that one extra word on the card: FLASH. It's 2/3 of a Giant Growth that also gives you a 3/3 creature at instant speed. Kalonian Tusker and Enlarge will almost always have value in drafts, and I could see Voracious Wurm being a powerhouse if the deck lends itself to that. But Briarpack Alpha to me is ahead of the rest.

1. Blue - Opportunity

Blue's uncommons are ridiculous. There are six different cards I'd consider at pack one, pick one (though with varying levels of satisfaction). Air Servant is a big flyer with a useful effect, Warden of Evos Isle is a Wind Drake+, Water Servant does all the things I loved about Watercourser and just does them better, Phantom Warrior will always play in a blue deck, and Wall of Frost buys blue decks the time they need to work their magic/Magic. But my pick is Opportunity. Drawing four cards feels as strong as drawing an entirely new hand, because it's basically that much. Six mana is a lot, but here's the best part: it's at instant speed. So you can leave up the mana for a counterspell or Disperse, and then if you end up not needing any of them, you cast Opportunity for four more cards, and your opponent concedes. Seriously. The more I've seen Opportunity played in M14, the more I'm realizing I probably under-valued Inspiration when it came around in Return to Ravnica. Sorry about that, Inspiration.


As far as an overall feeling, M14 feels way weaker than M13 on a power level. My hope is that it's part of a grander scheme by Wizards, where the effects they're focusing on (enchantments, lifegain, slivers?) get amplified in the Theros block, creating a new style of deck for Standard play. I'm interested to see how things play out in drafts over time as far as color balance. One of M13's great strengths was that each color had enough strong, problem cards that you could win playing any colors. Hopefully, despite being a little less exciting, M14 will offer the same balance and excitement in draft play.

So that's my take on the M14 uncommons. Thoughts? Questions? Applause? Hatred? Feel free to light me up in the comments, for better or worse.