Podcasts about ancestral recall

“See, even in chains we can defeat them. Turn your minds back my people. Remember yourself a thousand, thousand moons ago. Bring your bows!” All of this dialogue was spoken by a white woman in chains standing over an African tribe and that's really all you need to know about 1984's Sheena. Based on the comic book series of the same name, Sheena is a wild ride that made us ask why is the villain an African prince/celebrity/NFL kicker? Is that really how you pronounce shaman? And how unsafe was this set as clearly very real animals where running into very real people.  Guess what! That comic project Jordan has been talking about forever? It's finally on the way! Ancestral Recall will be in stores August 6th wherever you get your comics. It follows an eccentric painter who can tap into the power of historical Black figures and travels time and space to find his wife/fight a sentient AI corporation from the future. All very timely.  Also be on the lookout for our rescheduled book club and movie club soon. Follow us at @whitepeoplewontsaveyoupod on IG WPWSY on Bluesky or write in to us at whitepeoplewontsaveyoupod@gmail.com 

Lawrence Fields, born and bred in St. Louis, has earned a spot at the forefront of young jazz pianists, thanks to his blending of vintage ideals with a contemporary mindset. For the last five years, in 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019, Downbeat Magazine has placed him close to the top of the keyboardist category in their “Rising Stars” critics poll. Fields showcase his dynamic blend of composition and playing in his trio and quartet, and his music is currently being featured internationally. His debut album featuring his trio and solo playing, “To the Surface”, was released to critical acclaim on February 2, 2024. Veteran saxophone icon Joe Lovano – with his unerring ear for youthful talent – has become one of the pianist's biggest fans. Fields is a member of several bands led or co-led by Lovano: his Classic Quartet (originally featuring Lewis Nash and George Mraz in the rhythm section); the Sax Supreme Quartet (with Chris Potter); and his Sound Prints quintet with trumpeter Dave Douglas. The Wall Street Journal praised Fields' “elegant, probing” solos with Sound Prints, while The New York Times noted that he is “integral to the band's plunging, changeable style.” A modern-minded bandleader from the younger generation also relies on Fields, as he mans the piano and keyboards for the Christian Scott Group. Referencing his role on acoustic and electric pianos in the trumpeter's band, NextBop said: “Fields remains a constant lyrical presence on the keys – innovative, expressive, supportive, able to soar like a bird in his solos. He never fails to impress.” Fields has collaborated with Christian Scott on several albums — including co-writing and co-producing 3 songs on the Grammy-nominated The Emancipation Procrastination (Ropeadope, 2017), as part of his work on Christian's Centennial Trilogy with releases Diaspora and Ruler Rebel. He features prominently in the piano and keyboard chairs on Christian's Grammy-nominated live recording Axiom (2020), as well as the Grammy-nominated Ancestral Recall (2019), and the Stretch Music (Ropeadope, 2015) and Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah (Concord, 2012) albums. With Lovano and Douglas, the pianist features on Sound Prints' two critically-acclaimed studio releases: Other Worlds (2021), and Scandal (2018, Greanleaf) — selected by The Guardian as their #1 jazz album of 2018, as well as one of Rolling Stone's top 20 jazz albums of the year. Fields also plays on the live album Sound Prints: Live at Monterey Jazz Festival (Blue Note, 2015), which featured two brand-new compositions written for the ensemble by the legendary Wayne Shorter. He appears on the album Marsalis Music Honors Alvin Batiste (2007) alongside Branford Marsalis, Herlin Riley and Russell Malone, as well as on drummer Terri Lyne Carrington's More to Say (a 2009 disc for which he served as a pianist, keyboardist, and composer-producer). Fields also appears on releases by drummer Jeff “Tain” Watts, bassist Yasushi Nakamura, vibraphonist Warren Wolf, and saxophonists Jaleel Shaw and Steve Slagle. The pianist has been a member of the Watts band, as well as that of trumpeter Nicholas Payton. In addition to performing onstage with the likes of Payton, Watts, Marsalis, and Carrington, Fields has appeared with star bassist Christian McBride, drummer Nate Smith, trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis, trumpeter Takuya Kuroda, and bassist Robert Hurst, among others. Lawrence's playing is also featured on Christopher North's score for the new Sam Pollard documentary "Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes", which premiered in Fall 2023 on PBS' American Masters television series.

Finalmente podemos hablar un poco de las finanzas de Magic, pero claramente sin dejar de lado los eventos que han ocurrido recientemente. Y creo que el evento más importante del año para Magic, desafortunadamente para mal, es tanto el evento que ocurrió en Las Vegas a finales de octubre y el lanzamiento del producto homónimo Magic 30 Aniversario. Este nuevo set ha traído mucha movida ya que, como sabéis por vídeos anteriores de este canal, Wizard of the Coast decidió cepillarse el denominado espíritu de la Reserved List, el cual implica que no se iban a reeditar cartas de la Reserved List en tamaño normal independientemente del borde o dorso. En Magic 30A no solamente podemos ver cartas de Reserved List, sino algunas de las cartas más poderosas de la historia de Magic como el Black Lotus, los Moxes o Ancestral Recall. Pero las más afectadas, de momento, han sido las tierras dobles de Revised.

Roman joins Mike in a redux of his best article in years! Plus, the onetime Ancestral Recall duo starts off on some honest to gosh BARBARIAN chats! Fewer lies (hopefully) more steel mace swinging? Stay savage

Ancestral Recall podcast fans rejoice! Roman Fusco joins MichaelJ for the expanded version of the Golgari Snow Primer. We talk everything from optimal Arena to what deck to pick on a go-forward for the next big Standard events.

This episode was originally released May 6th, 2019.For episode 39, Geoff Moes (@ThallidTosser on Twitter), Nat Moes (@GrandpaBelcher), and Josh Chapple (@joshchapple) talk about the role of planeswalkers in Vintage, speculate baselessly about some new cards in War of the Spark, and discuss sous vide and other novel methods of cooking.Here’s the timestamped table of contents for your listening ease and enjoyment:00:42 – A Brief, Half-Educated History of Planeswalkers in Vintage26:56 – What Do We Do With 36 New Planeswalkers?43:16 – Sous Vide? So What?Total runtime: 55:29 Planeswalkers in Vintage I want to start the writeup with a lament, actually, for the loss of Morphling.de. That website was a longtime store of Vintage decks and knowledge from the paper and early online days of the format, going back to 2002. I did a lot of research there for articles and podcasts and considered it a great source for questions like “Who was the first person to top eight with Rage Extractor?” and “Is there a recent 5C Stax list?” The archives are still available, but they’re not searchable. It’s a blow to people like us who enjoy the historical perspective. At least the archives of The Mana Drain are still in good working order. Using those, it seems like the first planeswalkers, from Lorwyn, mostly missed Vintage entirely. Little Jace Beleren wasn’t explosive enough and too generously gave cards to your opponent. Chandra Nalaar and Liliana Vess were too expensive, and Ajani Goldmane was too creature-centric for the time. In fact it was Garruk Wildspeaker who had the most attractive power-level to cost ratio, making into an experimental Worldgorger Dragon combo build by Rich Shay and a novel mono-green deck from Guli. These weird, attackable enchantments with activated abilities didn’t really go anywhere It wasn’t until Tezzeret, the Seeker combined with a newly re-re-un-re-errata’d Time Vault in 2008 that planeswalkers really took hold. Suddenly there was an entirely new deck archetype—two if you distinguish Turbo Tezz from the regular kind—that featured an entirely new card type. And it was winning! Tezzeret still won in a very Vintage-y way, that is, immediately. You had one to stop your opponent from taking all the turns, which meant short-term answers like counterspells and artifact removal were reasonable. Still, Thirst for Knowledge was restricted in 2009. Then, in 2010, Jace, the Mind Sculptor appeared in Worldwake. There was a lot of discussion when the text first appeared, with players trying to determine the new card’s role, if it had one. You should really treat yourself to skimming that thread, as it’s hilarious in hindsight. Big Jace didn’t catch on right away, but it definitely left a mark on the format. Jace paired nicely with Dark Confidant as a draw engine in control decks, so well that Owen Turtenwald won the 2010 Vintage Championship with it as a three-of. Jace succeeded in making the game longer, and Gush and Frantic Search were unrestricted in October 2010 to compete in that environment. It’s at this point that Vintage really turned more towards creatures as part of a strategic plan. Stuff on the board started being more important than stuff in the hand, and planeswalkers, creatures, and removal jockeyed for superiority. (This is actually where Jace Beleren (the card) started to show up, as a counter to players trying to push the envelope on Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Beleren was slightly cheaper and could strand an opponent’s Mind Sculptor in hand. It was kind of a weird time.) There haven’t been so many planeswalkers that reached Tezzeret or Jace status. Dack Fayden certainly made an impact, particularly as an anti-strategy against Workshop decks, encouraging the use of Arcbound Ravager alongside Lodestone Golem and necessitating Phyrexian Revoker. And the bar has gotten lower for other planeswalkers to be tested. Even unexpected hits like Arlinn Kord, Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast, and Tamiyo, Field Researcher have made Vintage Top 8s. So It’s WAR Now we enter a new era of planeswalkers. Previously, they had been weird, attackable enchantments with activated abilities. Now they have static and triggered abilities too! This puts even more emphasis on preserving a board full of stuff as you increase your value as the game goes on. Not only do planeswalker abilities draw you virtual spells each turn, but you’re further rewarded for keeping a board full of stuff. Creatures and removal—particularly if it covers a variety of permanent types—thus get more important as well. We look at some cards from War of the Spark completely without context aside from being a Vintage-focused podcast. Certainly there are a few standout planeswalkers that could slot easily into an existing Vintage deck or something similar, and War of the Spark seems like it will have a major impact on the format. Consider Saheeli, Sublime Artificer, or Ral, Storm Conduit, as a fifth copy of Young Pyromancer with benefits like comboing a little with Time Vault or copying Ancestral Recall or any of Vintage’s other great spells. Teferi, Time Raveler, could make it into Jeskai as a control piece, or into Paradoxical Outcome as anti-counterspell technology. Maybe Teyo, the Shieldmage, or Dovin, Anarch of Bolas (don’t forget hybrid mana can be mono-colored!) find a place in a mono-white prison deck alongside various Thalias and other white weenies. Karn, the Great Creator, seems like a shoo-in for a Mishra’s Workshop deck. Despite being a four-drop nonartifact, Karn’s one-sided Null Rod ability is powerful, particularly in the mirror and against Paradoxical Outcome, where it can’t be removed by artifact hate. Being able to get artifacts out of your sideboard or that were exiled is also strong, potentially game-winning and well worth four mana in an artifact combo deck like Two-Card Monte. Karn’s suite of abilities could also find a home in Paradoxical Outcome decks, similar to Teferi; Karn can shut down opposing Shops or the Mirror and provide an alternate route to victory. Even getting old effects on new card types could be exciting. Jace, Wielder of Mysteries, is a new Laboratory Maniac, potentially with a built-in path to an empty library. Narset, Parter of Veils, is similar to something like Notion Thief in conjunction with Dack Fayden or any number of draw-sevens. And Ashiok, Dream Render, potentially shuts down tutor-heavy combo decks like a one-sided Mindlock Orb or permanent Shadow of Doubt. These may not see long-term heavy play without help, but they have some interesting applications. Beyond planeswalkers there are plenty of other interesting cards in the set. Some combo-minded players are salivating over Bolas’s Citadel, which seems to combine Yawgmoth’s Bargain and Channel into one Tinker-ready package, and (particularly as I write that sentence out) seems nuts. An aggressive, black-based storm or Goblin Charbelcher deck make use of that if players aren’t too scared of Mental Misstep to run Dark Ritual. And if planeswalkers do run roughshod over Vintage, The Elderspell has some seriously exciting text for two mana. I realize this section reads like a bit of a laundry list of card names, but that’s because War of the Spark has great potential. The addition to Vintage of this many planeswalkers (and associated cards) that are reasonably costed with reasonable abilities is unprecedented. Food and Drink: Unconventional Ovens We close this episode with a discussion of sous vide and other cooking techniques for the lazy hipster. Geoff likes the convenience of long-term, constant-temperature hot water baths for his bachelor chow of salmon. He can put his filet-o-fish into a bucket in the afternoon, set the temperature on the sous vide wand, and return later when he wants to eat. There’s no chance of overcooking, and a quick sear in a pan or on the grill adds caramelized flavor. It’s trendy and fun! And as you’ll learn in the podcast, you can sous vide pretty much anything, including phones. Josh is intrigued by cooking salmon in the dishwasher or on top of a car engine during a long road trip. Nat adds that he used to cook Pop-Tarts in a hot pot in his dorm in college. We all do what must be done to survive. Questions for Discussion Which is Jace, the Mind Sculptor’s best ability? What different planeswalkers have you played in Vintage? Did you ever go crazy and, like, BOOM! seven-mana Garruk, Apex Planeswalker instead of playing, like, Yawgmoth’s Bargain? What War of the Spark cards spark your interest? Did you ever cook fish in your dishwasher? How about just throwing a steak in the dryer to tenderize it? What’s the most expensive card you’ve ever sous vide’ed? Conclusion Thanks for listening! We should have something special coming up in the next few weeks so stay tuned! We’ll look forward to any questions or comments here or The Mana Drain or on Twitter. You can also email us at seriousvintagepodcast@gmail.com.

This episode was originally released May 6th, 2019.For episode 39, Geoff Moes (@ThallidTosser on Twitter), Nat Moes (@GrandpaBelcher), and Josh Chapple (@joshchapple) talk about the role of planeswalkers in Vintage, speculate baselessly about some new cards in War of the Spark, and discuss sous vide and other novel methods of cooking.Here’s the timestamped table of contents for your listening ease and enjoyment:00:42 – A Brief, Half-Educated History of Planeswalkers in Vintage26:56 – What Do We Do With 36 New Planeswalkers?43:16 – Sous Vide? So What?Total runtime: 55:29 Planeswalkers in Vintage I want to start the writeup with a lament, actually, for the loss of Morphling.de. That website was a longtime store of Vintage decks and knowledge from the paper and early online days of the format, going back to 2002. I did a lot of research there for articles and podcasts and considered it a great source for questions like “Who was the first person to top eight with Rage Extractor?” and “Is there a recent 5C Stax list?” The archives are still available, but they’re not searchable. It’s a blow to people like us who enjoy the historical perspective. At least the archives of The Mana Drain are still in good working order. Using those, it seems like the first planeswalkers, from Lorwyn, mostly missed Vintage entirely. Little Jace Beleren wasn’t explosive enough and too generously gave cards to your opponent. Chandra Nalaar and Liliana Vess were too expensive, and Ajani Goldmane was too creature-centric for the time. In fact it was Garruk Wildspeaker who had the most attractive power-level to cost ratio, making into an experimental Worldgorger Dragon combo build by Rich Shay and a novel mono-green deck from Guli. These weird, attackable enchantments with activated abilities didn’t really go anywhere It wasn’t until Tezzeret, the Seeker combined with a newly re-re-un-re-errata’d Time Vault in 2008 that planeswalkers really took hold. Suddenly there was an entirely new deck archetype—two if you distinguish Turbo Tezz from the regular kind—that featured an entirely new card type. And it was winning! Tezzeret still won in a very Vintage-y way, that is, immediately. You had one to stop your opponent from taking all the turns, which meant short-term answers like counterspells and artifact removal were reasonable. Still, Thirst for Knowledge was restricted in 2009. Then, in 2010, Jace, the Mind Sculptor appeared in Worldwake. There was a lot of discussion when the text first appeared, with players trying to determine the new card’s role, if it had one. You should really treat yourself to skimming that thread, as it’s hilarious in hindsight. Big Jace didn’t catch on right away, but it definitely left a mark on the format. Jace paired nicely with Dark Confidant as a draw engine in control decks, so well that Owen Turtenwald won the 2010 Vintage Championship with it as a three-of. Jace succeeded in making the game longer, and Gush and Frantic Search were unrestricted in October 2010 to compete in that environment. It’s at this point that Vintage really turned more towards creatures as part of a strategic plan. Stuff on the board started being more important than stuff in the hand, and planeswalkers, creatures, and removal jockeyed for superiority. (This is actually where Jace Beleren (the card) started to show up, as a counter to players trying to push the envelope on Jace, the Mind Sculptor. Beleren was slightly cheaper and could strand an opponent’s Mind Sculptor in hand. It was kind of a weird time.) There haven’t been so many planeswalkers that reached Tezzeret or Jace status. Dack Fayden certainly made an impact, particularly as an anti-strategy against Workshop decks, encouraging the use of Arcbound Ravager alongside Lodestone Golem and necessitating Phyrexian Revoker. And the bar has gotten lower for other planeswalkers to be tested. Even unexpected hits like Arlinn Kord, Daretti, Ingenious Iconoclast, and Tamiyo, Field Researcher have made Vintage Top 8s. So It’s WAR Now we enter a new era of planeswalkers. Previously, they had been weird, attackable enchantments with activated abilities. Now they have static and triggered abilities too! This puts even more emphasis on preserving a board full of stuff as you increase your value as the game goes on. Not only do planeswalker abilities draw you virtual spells each turn, but you’re further rewarded for keeping a board full of stuff. Creatures and removal—particularly if it covers a variety of permanent types—thus get more important as well. We look at some cards from War of the Spark completely without context aside from being a Vintage-focused podcast. Certainly there are a few standout planeswalkers that could slot easily into an existing Vintage deck or something similar, and War of the Spark seems like it will have a major impact on the format. Consider Saheeli, Sublime Artificer, or Ral, Storm Conduit, as a fifth copy of Young Pyromancer with benefits like comboing a little with Time Vault or copying Ancestral Recall or any of Vintage’s other great spells. Teferi, Time Raveler, could make it into Jeskai as a control piece, or into Paradoxical Outcome as anti-counterspell technology. Maybe Teyo, the Shieldmage, or Dovin, Anarch of Bolas (don’t forget hybrid mana can be mono-colored!) find a place in a mono-white prison deck alongside various Thalias and other white weenies. Karn, the Great Creator, seems like a shoo-in for a Mishra’s Workshop deck. Despite being a four-drop nonartifact, Karn’s one-sided Null Rod ability is powerful, particularly in the mirror and against Paradoxical Outcome, where it can’t be removed by artifact hate. Being able to get artifacts out of your sideboard or that were exiled is also strong, potentially game-winning and well worth four mana in an artifact combo deck like Two-Card Monte. Karn’s suite of abilities could also find a home in Paradoxical Outcome decks, similar to Teferi; Karn can shut down opposing Shops or the Mirror and provide an alternate route to victory. Even getting old effects on new card types could be exciting. Jace, Wielder of Mysteries, is a new Laboratory Maniac, potentially with a built-in path to an empty library. Narset, Parter of Veils, is similar to something like Notion Thief in conjunction with Dack Fayden or any number of draw-sevens. And Ashiok, Dream Render, potentially shuts down tutor-heavy combo decks like a one-sided Mindlock Orb or permanent Shadow of Doubt. These may not see long-term heavy play without help, but they have some interesting applications. Beyond planeswalkers there are plenty of other interesting cards in the set. Some combo-minded players are salivating over Bolas’s Citadel, which seems to combine Yawgmoth’s Bargain and Channel into one Tinker-ready package, and (particularly as I write that sentence out) seems nuts. An aggressive, black-based storm or Goblin Charbelcher deck make use of that if players aren’t too scared of Mental Misstep to run Dark Ritual. And if planeswalkers do run roughshod over Vintage, The Elderspell has some seriously exciting text for two mana. I realize this section reads like a bit of a laundry list of card names, but that’s because War of the Spark has great potential. The addition to Vintage of this many planeswalkers (and associated cards) that are reasonably costed with reasonable abilities is unprecedented. Food and Drink: Unconventional Ovens We close this episode with a discussion of sous vide and other cooking techniques for the lazy hipster. Geoff likes the convenience of long-term, constant-temperature hot water baths for his bachelor chow of salmon. He can put his filet-o-fish into a bucket in the afternoon, set the temperature on the sous vide wand, and return later when he wants to eat. There’s no chance of overcooking, and a quick sear in a pan or on the grill adds caramelized flavor. It’s trendy and fun! And as you’ll learn in the podcast, you can sous vide pretty much anything, including phones. Josh is intrigued by cooking salmon in the dishwasher or on top of a car engine during a long road trip. Nat adds that he used to cook Pop-Tarts in a hot pot in his dorm in college. We all do what must be done to survive. Questions for Discussion Which is Jace, the Mind Sculptor’s best ability? What different planeswalkers have you played in Vintage? Did you ever go crazy and, like, BOOM! seven-mana Garruk, Apex Planeswalker instead of playing, like, Yawgmoth’s Bargain? What War of the Spark cards spark your interest? Did you ever cook fish in your dishwasher? How about just throwing a steak in the dryer to tenderize it? What’s the most expensive card you’ve ever sous vide’ed? Conclusion Thanks for listening! We should have something special coming up in the next few weeks so stay tuned! We’ll look forward to any questions or comments here or The Mana Drain or on Twitter. You can also email us at seriousvintagepodcast@gmail.com.

This episode was originally released March 15th, 2019.For episode 38, Geoff Moes (@ThallidTosser on Twitter), Nat Moes (@GrandpaBelcher), and Josh Chapple (@joshchapple) talk with Matt Hazard (@winedope) about the most recent invitational Vintage tournament he held at his house, and how you can host similar local events.00:30 – Matt Hazard, Magic Man01:00 – Just Because We Haven’t Adequately Tested London Mulligan Doesn’t Mean We Can’t Share Extremely Uninformed Opinions About It08:20 – The Return of the Hazardvitational and How to Host Your OwnTotal runtime: 40:43 Baselessly Speculating About London Vintage (and Magic in general) has been in a bit of a snit recently as players discuss the implications of the London mulligan, which will be tested at the upcoming Mythic Championship II. If the test goes well, the new rules would replace the current Vancouver mulligan rules. In brief, the London mulligan has players continue to draw seven cards for each mulligan and then put a card on the bottom of the library for each time they’ve mulliganed. So if you mulligan twice, you’ll draw seven cards, pick your five favorite, and put two cards on the bottom of your library. We’ve tested with this a few times in Middle School and Vintage pickup games, and it hasn’t made a huge amount of difference in most games. Where you’re keeping seven or six cards, for example, it’s equivalent to the current, or nearly so. At more than four mulligans (keeping three cards or fewer), you’re still so far behind on materiel that your chances are vastly depleted, even if you keep a solid looking trio or pair of cards. So the real test seems to be in keeping four or five cards, where you might have a powerful way to recover—Ancestral Recall, or Workshop-Trinisphere for example. Regardless, even with this potentially strengthened mulligan rule, we don’t think you want to mulligan. Cards are just too powerful a resource. So we don’t think this will be too-too upsetting for Eternal formats. In reality it will just make players feel better when they have to mulligan a long way down. But! In any case, it would be a shame if Mishra’s Workshop or Bazaar of Baghdad to be restricted based on a mulligan rule change, since they’ve been vibrant parts of the metagame for so long. How to Run a Magic Tournament at Your House A couple weeks ago 29 players showed up at the home of Matt Hazard in Columbus, hungry for the competition of a Vintage tournament and the fun of a casual environment. For an average suburban house, that’s a lot of people, particularly if you need them to have enough room between them to comfortably play a game of Magic. Matt and his wife, Trece, have hosted a similar event for four years in a row now, growing in scale each year. The first few years they had three dogs and two cats, and now they have a young kid to contend with among all the hubbub. And they do a great job! This is one of the Ohio Vintage community’s favorite tournaments. There are so many things to take into account if you want to host a similar event, but it can be done. Aspects include: seating, tournament organization, food and drinks, and prizes. Butts in ChairsThe first thing Matt suggested was making sure you have enough places to put the games. His dining-room table only seats six, so with 23 more players to fit, we were spread out at the kitchen island (4), another table in the dining room (6), the living room (4), and the basement (8), including games on an ottoman and some borrowed folding tables. Knowing how many players you’ll be serving gives you a sense of scope for the event. Be realistic about how many you can host, and be firm in capping the event if necessary. It will be more than uncomfortable to cram players in where there’s not actually enough room for them. Names in SpreadsheetsThen you need to put all those players into some sort of tournament organizer software. Wizards Event Reporter is the “official” software but shouldn’t technically be used for events with playtest cards. Plus everyone in WER needs a DCI number. We are more likely to use MtG Arena (not the online MTG game), which is free and uses the same algorithm to calculate player rankings. It requires only a Google ID to login, and the only difficulty is that it’s hard to re-pair if something gets off mid-round. You can print off pairings, or put them on a big TV, or just shout them out. For smaller events, a little yelling never hurt anyone. I’ll also recommend knowing and making clear how many rounds will be played and how a winner will be determined, so there’s no confusion toward the end. Typically you play N Swiss rounds for P players, where 2N – P isn’t negative. So 3 rounds for 8 players, 4 rounds for 8 to 16, 5 rounds for 16 to 32, and 6 rounds for wow, you have a lot of friends. There are plenty of options to determine a winner: Swiss and elimination rounds (usually top-eight for more than 16 players), Swiss+1, or – as Josh suggested for small events – round robin. BeveragesThe Hazardvitational and other events at peoples’ houses (like TSI Steveland, which we talked about recently) have asked players to bring their own drinks. It helps make sure everyone has something they like and takes a lot of burden off the hosts for supplying. Team Serious tends to go through a lot of Jägermeister, Malört, and Hamm’s because we hate ourselves. This year we even imported the “Dressed Hamm’s” from Chicago, which is better than it sounds, really. Food Breaks Are NiceOur home-based events have also typically included a break in the middle of the event for food. The Hazard’s had everyone throw money in a bowl for a big pizza order from Columbus-area favorite Donato’s, ending up with 15 large pizzas in all (almost half a pizza per person). Geoff’s invitationals have ordered in subs or burritos from Jimmy John’s or Chipotle. Coordinating a big grill-fest of burgers and hotdogs has worked as well too at events, in part because someone who’s not playing can serve as grillmaster. Regardless, food helps ground everyone and is another event people can socialize around. Prizes Are Nice TooAnd of course there are prizes to think of. Some Team Serious Invitational series have traditional prize structures that ask for entry fees and then condense those to pay out to the top four or eight players. This can be tricky since the prizes have to be bought in advance with a prospective amount of money based on the number of confirmed players. Often players or teammates are interested in selling cards to this venture, but you have to hope that the right mix of cards comes available at the same time as the money or risk over- or under-spending for prizes. The Hazardvitational bypasses this hangup by skipping the entry fee and asking players to donate prizes, suggesting a value of $20 or more. Cards are frequent additions to the pool, and we’ve had things like Dual Lands, Jaces, Commander decks, complete sets, and various user-created packages. Jake Hilty put a complete Middle School deck in the pool for this event, which was awesome. We’ve also had non-Magic prizes like alcohol (including Josh Chapple’s prize of bitters and a cocktail recipe book) and even a Sawzall, which went highly in the structure. Recent additions to the prize pool have been “mystery box” prizes, which are pretty much what they sound like. The sky’s the limit, and part of the prize is the fun of opening an unknown quantity. Ben Perry consistently outdoes himself in this category, as this year’s “Do Not Open” box included a choice of keeping a Tundra or one of two further mystery packages. The chosen prizes were intended to be given to other players of the winner’s choice and turned out to be more Middle School cards. In the end there are lots of ways to put a home tournament together. These are just basic ideas, and you can feel free to modify as necessary. In Case You Want to StreamI also didn’t get a chance to mention this in the podcast, but I devised a much-improved streaming rig for holding a camera above a game of Magic. Instead of using two vertical posts with a crossbar, I got a boom stand with a single counterweighted arm, like this. What an improvement! The stand can be put to either side of the table, or even behind one of the players, and is so much stabler than the previous crossbar. I was able to glue the camera to a section of dowel and use the protective cap as a method of attachment to the end of the boom, so the camera screws on and off and angles can be adjusted. I didn’t have sand to weigh the bag, so obviously I used basic lands. I’m really pleased with this new setup and am looking forward to using it in the future. Working With Land Grant In the last episode we talked about an upcoming (now past) Old School event run alongside Magic Fest Cleveland, hosted by the Cleveland Rocs at BottleHouse Brewery and Mead Hall. The event ran smoothly, everyone had a great time, and the event organizers were able to donate more than $1,700 to Providence House, a Cleveland-area family crisis center. This episode we talk about contacting Land Grant Brewing to help us make a more fun event by providing fine liquid refreshment to players. Josh Chapple operates under a policy of “Don’t ask, don’t get,” so he asked and we got. In this case we told them that Land Grant is actually a Magic card, and they asked for one for their trophy case. A fair exchange, for sure. There’s a lot of power in the Magic community, even among smaller groups like local Vintage or Old School scenes. Charity events are wonderful opportunities to combine the people-power and (let’s be honest) money inherent in these groups and put them to good use. It’s an attempt to make a difference where it’s needed. So many Magic events are inward looking, with players essentially giving back to themselves. Charity events are outward looking, good for everyone involved. Following the Hazardvitational, we contacted Land Grant again to set up what I hope will be a longer-term relationship, presenting the opportunity to do a similar charity event to the Cleveland Rocs partnership with BottleHouse. Magic players get a place to play and a chance to help out their community, and a local business gets a similar chance to give back, some promotion, and a captive audience of consumers for an afternoon. Land Grant was excited about the option, even offering to donate 20% of their day’s profits to the charity as well. Sounds pretty win-win-win! I’m really excited about this, hoping we can match the Rocs’ results. Right now we’re looking at an event on May 18, with more details to come. Look forward to it! So What Happened at the Hazardvitational? Jaco won the Hazardvitational playing four-color Paradoxical Outcome, beating David Lance on Survival. Other Top 8 decks were Ravager Shops, Paradoxical Oath, Humans, Grixis Xerox, and Griselbrand Oath. You can see these lists as well as plenty of photos from the event on The Mana Drain. Enjoy, they’re fun! Matt Hazard, our gracious host, played a mono-red aggro control deck with lots of Blood Moon effects and Null Rods. The idea is very much to hinder your opponent’s mana, empty your hand, and attack with aggressive creatures like Lupine Prototype and Bloodrage Brawler. Not one to shy away from interesting cards, he also included a maindeck Hellspark Elemental and a sideboard Pardic Miner, which gets talked about in the audio. I’ll let you look them up. Josh Chapple played his usual: BUG Control. It’s a typical looking list, one that you hope is metagamed properly for the event you’re playing. That’s difficult at a lot of Team Serious events where you might face Matt Hazard Mono-Red or a deck that includes a bunch of cards with “Predator” in the name so it can coordinate with the player’s donated prize. Anyway, when the right answers for your opponent’s strategy find their way to you in time, your game will go well. Otherwise, it’s a fun battle. I played Turn-One Tendrils (a.k.a. SX or Meandeck Tendrils), a deck that’s more of a thought experiment than an actual competitive deck. There has been much written about the archetype, but it doesn’t show up because it’s weak against so many kinds of disruption and is tricky to play well, let alone perfectly. I had fun and had a lot of time to eat and talk to people and hang out between rounds. I died once to Spoils of the Vault. Questions for Discussion What’s the best prize you’ve ever won playing Magic: The Gathering? Would you rather have a known prize or a mystery box? Would you have guessed 30 people would each eat an average of half a pizza? “Dressed Hamm’s” or “Spiced Hamm’s”? Have you tried one? They’re better than you thought, right? Did you have to look up Pardic Miner? Concluding Remarks Thanks for listening! We definitely believe that friendship and fun are the primary reasons to play Vintage, so we’re glad to make friends with our fans. If you want any advice about hosting a tournament in your own private space, invitational or otherwise, please feel free to reach out. We’ll look forward to any questions or comments here or The Mana Drain or on Twitter. You can also email us at seriousvintagepodcast@gmail.com.

This episode was originally released March 15th, 2019.For episode 38, Geoff Moes (@ThallidTosser on Twitter), Nat Moes (@GrandpaBelcher), and Josh Chapple (@joshchapple) talk with Matt Hazard (@winedope) about the most recent invitational Vintage tournament he held at his house, and how you can host similar local events.00:30 – Matt Hazard, Magic Man01:00 – Just Because We Haven’t Adequately Tested London Mulligan Doesn’t Mean We Can’t Share Extremely Uninformed Opinions About It08:20 – The Return of the Hazardvitational and How to Host Your OwnTotal runtime: 40:43 Baselessly Speculating About London Vintage (and Magic in general) has been in a bit of a snit recently as players discuss the implications of the London mulligan, which will be tested at the upcoming Mythic Championship II. If the test goes well, the new rules would replace the current Vancouver mulligan rules. In brief, the London mulligan has players continue to draw seven cards for each mulligan and then put a card on the bottom of the library for each time they’ve mulliganed. So if you mulligan twice, you’ll draw seven cards, pick your five favorite, and put two cards on the bottom of your library. We’ve tested with this a few times in Middle School and Vintage pickup games, and it hasn’t made a huge amount of difference in most games. Where you’re keeping seven or six cards, for example, it’s equivalent to the current, or nearly so. At more than four mulligans (keeping three cards or fewer), you’re still so far behind on materiel that your chances are vastly depleted, even if you keep a solid looking trio or pair of cards. So the real test seems to be in keeping four or five cards, where you might have a powerful way to recover—Ancestral Recall, or Workshop-Trinisphere for example. Regardless, even with this potentially strengthened mulligan rule, we don’t think you want to mulligan. Cards are just too powerful a resource. So we don’t think this will be too-too upsetting for Eternal formats. In reality it will just make players feel better when they have to mulligan a long way down. But! In any case, it would be a shame if Mishra’s Workshop or Bazaar of Baghdad to be restricted based on a mulligan rule change, since they’ve been vibrant parts of the metagame for so long. How to Run a Magic Tournament at Your House A couple weeks ago 29 players showed up at the home of Matt Hazard in Columbus, hungry for the competition of a Vintage tournament and the fun of a casual environment. For an average suburban house, that’s a lot of people, particularly if you need them to have enough room between them to comfortably play a game of Magic. Matt and his wife, Trece, have hosted a similar event for four years in a row now, growing in scale each year. The first few years they had three dogs and two cats, and now they have a young kid to contend with among all the hubbub. And they do a great job! This is one of the Ohio Vintage community’s favorite tournaments. There are so many things to take into account if you want to host a similar event, but it can be done. Aspects include: seating, tournament organization, food and drinks, and prizes. Butts in ChairsThe first thing Matt suggested was making sure you have enough places to put the games. His dining-room table only seats six, so with 23 more players to fit, we were spread out at the kitchen island (4), another table in the dining room (6), the living room (4), and the basement (8), including games on an ottoman and some borrowed folding tables. Knowing how many players you’ll be serving gives you a sense of scope for the event. Be realistic about how many you can host, and be firm in capping the event if necessary. It will be more than uncomfortable to cram players in where there’s not actually enough room for them. Names in SpreadsheetsThen you need to put all those players into some sort of tournament organizer software. Wizards Event Reporter is the “official” software but shouldn’t technically be used for events with playtest cards. Plus everyone in WER needs a DCI number. We are more likely to use MtG Arena (not the online MTG game), which is free and uses the same algorithm to calculate player rankings. It requires only a Google ID to login, and the only difficulty is that it’s hard to re-pair if something gets off mid-round. You can print off pairings, or put them on a big TV, or just shout them out. For smaller events, a little yelling never hurt anyone. I’ll also recommend knowing and making clear how many rounds will be played and how a winner will be determined, so there’s no confusion toward the end. Typically you play N Swiss rounds for P players, where 2N – P isn’t negative. So 3 rounds for 8 players, 4 rounds for 8 to 16, 5 rounds for 16 to 32, and 6 rounds for wow, you have a lot of friends. There are plenty of options to determine a winner: Swiss and elimination rounds (usually top-eight for more than 16 players), Swiss+1, or – as Josh suggested for small events – round robin. BeveragesThe Hazardvitational and other events at peoples’ houses (like TSI Steveland, which we talked about recently) have asked players to bring their own drinks. It helps make sure everyone has something they like and takes a lot of burden off the hosts for supplying. Team Serious tends to go through a lot of Jägermeister, Malört, and Hamm’s because we hate ourselves. This year we even imported the “Dressed Hamm’s” from Chicago, which is better than it sounds, really. Food Breaks Are NiceOur home-based events have also typically included a break in the middle of the event for food. The Hazard’s had everyone throw money in a bowl for a big pizza order from Columbus-area favorite Donato’s, ending up with 15 large pizzas in all (almost half a pizza per person). Geoff’s invitationals have ordered in subs or burritos from Jimmy John’s or Chipotle. Coordinating a big grill-fest of burgers and hotdogs has worked as well too at events, in part because someone who’s not playing can serve as grillmaster. Regardless, food helps ground everyone and is another event people can socialize around. Prizes Are Nice TooAnd of course there are prizes to think of. Some Team Serious Invitational series have traditional prize structures that ask for entry fees and then condense those to pay out to the top four or eight players. This can be tricky since the prizes have to be bought in advance with a prospective amount of money based on the number of confirmed players. Often players or teammates are interested in selling cards to this venture, but you have to hope that the right mix of cards comes available at the same time as the money or risk over- or under-spending for prizes. The Hazardvitational bypasses this hangup by skipping the entry fee and asking players to donate prizes, suggesting a value of $20 or more. Cards are frequent additions to the pool, and we’ve had things like Dual Lands, Jaces, Commander decks, complete sets, and various user-created packages. Jake Hilty put a complete Middle School deck in the pool for this event, which was awesome. We’ve also had non-Magic prizes like alcohol (including Josh Chapple’s prize of bitters and a cocktail recipe book) and even a Sawzall, which went highly in the structure. Recent additions to the prize pool have been “mystery box” prizes, which are pretty much what they sound like. The sky’s the limit, and part of the prize is the fun of opening an unknown quantity. Ben Perry consistently outdoes himself in this category, as this year’s “Do Not Open” box included a choice of keeping a Tundra or one of two further mystery packages. The chosen prizes were intended to be given to other players of the winner’s choice and turned out to be more Middle School cards. In the end there are lots of ways to put a home tournament together. These are just basic ideas, and you can feel free to modify as necessary. In Case You Want to StreamI also didn’t get a chance to mention this in the podcast, but I devised a much-improved streaming rig for holding a camera above a game of Magic. Instead of using two vertical posts with a crossbar, I got a boom stand with a single counterweighted arm, like this. What an improvement! The stand can be put to either side of the table, or even behind one of the players, and is so much stabler than the previous crossbar. I was able to glue the camera to a section of dowel and use the protective cap as a method of attachment to the end of the boom, so the camera screws on and off and angles can be adjusted. I didn’t have sand to weigh the bag, so obviously I used basic lands. I’m really pleased with this new setup and am looking forward to using it in the future. Working With Land Grant In the last episode we talked about an upcoming (now past) Old School event run alongside Magic Fest Cleveland, hosted by the Cleveland Rocs at BottleHouse Brewery and Mead Hall. The event ran smoothly, everyone had a great time, and the event organizers were able to donate more than $1,700 to Providence House, a Cleveland-area family crisis center. This episode we talk about contacting Land Grant Brewing to help us make a more fun event by providing fine liquid refreshment to players. Josh Chapple operates under a policy of “Don’t ask, don’t get,” so he asked and we got. In this case we told them that Land Grant is actually a Magic card, and they asked for one for their trophy case. A fair exchange, for sure. There’s a lot of power in the Magic community, even among smaller groups like local Vintage or Old School scenes. Charity events are wonderful opportunities to combine the people-power and (let’s be honest) money inherent in these groups and put them to good use. It’s an attempt to make a difference where it’s needed. So many Magic events are inward looking, with players essentially giving back to themselves. Charity events are outward looking, good for everyone involved. Following the Hazardvitational, we contacted Land Grant again to set up what I hope will be a longer-term relationship, presenting the opportunity to do a similar charity event to the Cleveland Rocs partnership with BottleHouse. Magic players get a place to play and a chance to help out their community, and a local business gets a similar chance to give back, some promotion, and a captive audience of consumers for an afternoon. Land Grant was excited about the option, even offering to donate 20% of their day’s profits to the charity as well. Sounds pretty win-win-win! I’m really excited about this, hoping we can match the Rocs’ results. Right now we’re looking at an event on May 18, with more details to come. Look forward to it! So What Happened at the Hazardvitational? Jaco won the Hazardvitational playing four-color Paradoxical Outcome, beating David Lance on Survival. Other Top 8 decks were Ravager Shops, Paradoxical Oath, Humans, Grixis Xerox, and Griselbrand Oath. You can see these lists as well as plenty of photos from the event on The Mana Drain. Enjoy, they’re fun! Matt Hazard, our gracious host, played a mono-red aggro control deck with lots of Blood Moon effects and Null Rods. The idea is very much to hinder your opponent’s mana, empty your hand, and attack with aggressive creatures like Lupine Prototype and Bloodrage Brawler. Not one to shy away from interesting cards, he also included a maindeck Hellspark Elemental and a sideboard Pardic Miner, which gets talked about in the audio. I’ll let you look them up. Josh Chapple played his usual: BUG Control. It’s a typical looking list, one that you hope is metagamed properly for the event you’re playing. That’s difficult at a lot of Team Serious events where you might face Matt Hazard Mono-Red or a deck that includes a bunch of cards with “Predator” in the name so it can coordinate with the player’s donated prize. Anyway, when the right answers for your opponent’s strategy find their way to you in time, your game will go well. Otherwise, it’s a fun battle. I played Turn-One Tendrils (a.k.a. SX or Meandeck Tendrils), a deck that’s more of a thought experiment than an actual competitive deck. There has been much written about the archetype, but it doesn’t show up because it’s weak against so many kinds of disruption and is tricky to play well, let alone perfectly. I had fun and had a lot of time to eat and talk to people and hang out between rounds. I died once to Spoils of the Vault. Questions for Discussion What’s the best prize you’ve ever won playing Magic: The Gathering? Would you rather have a known prize or a mystery box? Would you have guessed 30 people would each eat an average of half a pizza? “Dressed Hamm’s” or “Spiced Hamm’s”? Have you tried one? They’re better than you thought, right? Did you have to look up Pardic Miner? Concluding Remarks Thanks for listening! We definitely believe that friendship and fun are the primary reasons to play Vintage, so we’re glad to make friends with our fans. If you want any advice about hosting a tournament in your own private space, invitational or otherwise, please feel free to reach out. We’ll look forward to any questions or comments here or The Mana Drain or on Twitter. You can also email us at seriousvintagepodcast@gmail.com.

Benjamin’s competing in the upcoming Zendikar Rising Championship – learn about the decks he’s chosen for both Standard and Historic and hear some bold claims about the power level of his cards!

This is a comparatively aimless episode where our hosts meander through a couple of vaguely related cube topics. They start off by recapping their recent draft of a friend's greenless, “Breya” cube, which they also do a pack 1, pick 1 from, then move on to cover how draft decisions change in a cube with only four colors, their evaluation of Karn with pants, the dangers of shortcutting cards in your head, whether it's more painful to walk into a trap or make an obvious punt, the collection of cards Anthony compiled that is definitely not a multiplayer cube, how to structure a booster draft for fewer than eight players, using what is not present to guide the design of an environment, how to avoid the natural predators of the strategies you want to cultivate in your cube, setting a bar for power level in a hypothetical one life cube, and how to balance Healing Salve, Ancestral Recall, Dark Ritual, Lightning Bolt, and Giant Growth. Discussed on this episode: Solely Singleton S11E5 — Commander Legends and Cube (ft. Gavin Verhey) MinorBug's “Misery” Cube If you have a question for the show, or want us to do a pack 1, pick 1 from your cube, email us at mail@luckypaper.co. Please include how you'd like to be credited on air, your pronouns, and if you're submitting a cube for the pack 1, pick 1, a link to said cube. Musical production by DJ James Nasty.

Returning guests Nick Shelton and Skid Maher (who also happen to be childhood besties) nock their arrows and memorize their spells for an episode that's all about FANTASY. We're talking about Godly Plate of the Whale, the Mists of Avalon, Magic: The Gathering cards, Home Brew and more. Plus, movie talk and we might have come up with the next big film idea!!!! Also, Tim Time with Tim Duncan and Tim Curry.Check out Nick's website, and his forthcoming book: https://www.connectedintrovert.com/mini-master-classAnd check out Skid's amazing work with the Glass Cannon podcast network: https://glasscannonnetwork.com/If you like our show, please subscribe, rate and review us, and also spread the word! Oh, and just starting thinking about how you'd be different ten years ago, twenty years younger... ;)

This week’s show goes into a few different moderately sized topics, including a discussion of Mana Advantages, the number of health that Healing Salve would need to restore to be as powerful as Ancestral Recall, and then we get to our main topic of how to save Pioneer, a format in which 3 of the […]

Mike discusses the top 8 reasons why you should be playing Bant in standard, and after Roman and Mike discuss Roman's 6-0 list from the first week of MagicFest Online qualifiers and what changes they would make for the Grand Prix this weekend. Mike's original article: The Top 8 Reasons to Play Bant in Standard Your hosts: Roman Fusco - @Roman_Fusco Mike Flores - @fivewithflores Subscribe to Ancestral Recall at iTunes! https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1213552541#

Faithless Brewing, Episode 43: Ox of Agonas Bedlam Reveler is a gem of a Magic card. When it is fully powered, you get an above-rate creature (3/4 prowess for RR) that also draws three new cards. That's a straight up 4-for-1, a better rate than Ancestral Recall. Are there hoops to jump through? Sure, but that hasn't stopped Reveler from finding a home in Mardu Pyromancer (may it rest in peace) and more recently in Red Prowess. When surrounded by the right pieces, Reveler provides a powerful endgame that thrives on what red decks are already interested in doing. If a 4-for-1 off Reveler sounds attractive, can we interest you in a 4-for-0? That's right, no cock and bull: how about an above-rate creature (5/3 for RR) that you can cast directly from your graveyard, and still draw three new cards to boot. We're entering Niv-Mizzet territory in terms of raw card advantage, but with an efficiency and built-in recursion that is in a class by itself. Why buy the cow when you can escape it for free?  This week, we're grabbing the horns of Ox of Agonas, the most exciting creature to break loose from the underworld of Theros. This won't be our first rodeo with the escape mechanic, but there are no sacred cows in brewing. The Titans may have more pedigree, and Breach may steal headlines, but it would be a terribull misteak to leave this mad cow in the bullpen. Unlike Reveler, the Raging Bull is agnoxtic about what card types it will eat: spells, creatures, fetch lands, everything is fuel to a four-chambered stomach. Modern Dredge has already been beefed up by the Red Bull, but can it also give wings to other strategies? We're feeling bullish on Ox of Agonas, and we've got brews til the cows come home in both Modern and Pioneer. Plenty to ruminate on, but we'll steer you in the right direction!  Roundup: Tournament Reports Modern 5c Niv (Dan): Top 32, Modern Challenge Legacy Maverick (Damon): 0-2, Mox Boarding House 1k Pioneer Sultai Delirium (Dan): Top 8, SCG IQ Newington   Flashback: Storm Herald  Pioneer Mono-Red HammerHerald 1.0: 3-2 league Mono-Red HammerHerald 1.1: 2-3 league Mardu Siege Herald: 3-2 league  Modern Jund Storm Conscription: 3-2 league Jund Traverse Conscription: 4-1 league Temur Uro Conscription: 2-3 league  Brew Session: Ox of Agonas  Modern Reference: Stock Dredge Sketch 1: Gruul KiorOx Reference: Kiora Escape (by cavedan, 5-0 league) Sketch 2a: Hollow Ox  (Kanm_H, 5-0 league; rodebo, 5-0 league) Sketch 2b: Hollow OxVine Sketch 3a: Mardu AshiOx Sketch 3b: Jund AshiOx Reference: Mardu “Oxtomancer” (by foggmanatic, 5-0 league)  Pioneer Sketch 1: Izzet PhoenOx Bonus Sketch: Izzet Flooding Reference: Izzet Phoenix (1 Ox / 4 Cruise split)  Contact Us  If you like our show, be sure to join our Patreon and leave us an Apple Podcasts review. Thank you for your support! Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/faithlessbrewing Twitter: @FaithlessMTGEmail: faithless.brewing@gmail.com Homepage: faithlessbrewing.podbean.com  

Faithless Brewing, Episode 9: Force of Virtue White has a long history of getting shafted in cycles. Blue got Ancestral Recall, white got Healing Salve. Blue got Force of Will, white got Scars of the Veteran. Blue got Force of Negation, white got... Force of Virtue? Free spells are always worth a closer look, and the crew thinks this zero-mana Crusade might be sneakily competitive. We discuss potential builds of Mardu Tokens, Esper Skies, and Goat Devotion (no, not greatest of all time, just actual goats). Roundup: Brewer's Guide to the Hogaak Meta Hogaak continues to dominate the winners' meta in MTGO Premier events. Successful challengers last weekend skewed toward midrange and control, with creature aggro and big mana seemingly pushed out of the format. In the unified Modern League, though, it's a safari of wild brews. Plus: new cards with potential from Core 2020, and a tournament report from GP Seattle (undefeated on Day 2!). Mardu Helix: 8-2 leagues, Smiting Helix is the truth. Lantern Citadel: 6-4 leagues, effective against Hogaak. Flashback: Ice-Fang Ninja Tempo Ice-Fang Coatl proved to be a brilliant design: versatile and powerful, but requiring serious concessions to unlock deathtouch. The ninjas were all playable and surprisingly good, with Ingenious Infiltrator seemingly the best option, Mist-Syndicate Naga running second, and Fallen Shinobi the most greedy and least versatile. BUG "Little" Ninjas: 6-4 leagues, Infiltrator and Seer are good, slow cards (Spellstutter, Snapcaster, Opt) are iffy. Sideboard needs more sweepers. BUG "Big" Ninjas: 4-1 league, land count is greedy, 4 Shinobi is too many. UG Obsession: 1-4 league, unplayable, removal is too plentiful and cheap to protect a non-hexproof creature. Bant Flash: 3-2 league, solid if no one is playing Tron.  Queller Flash: 2-3 league, perfect deck for exhausting midrange slugfests.  Brew Session: Force of Virtue Goat Devotion (Sketch) Mardu Tokens (Sketch) Esper Skies (Sketch) Soul Sisters (Sketch) 

“Hippos kill more people than animals.” News The first image ever taken of a black hole Recommendations: Jon: Ancestral Recall by Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah Tim: Off Menu Ryan: Free Spirit by Khalid

12e émission de la 41e session... Cette semaine, départ en jazz moderne, jazz spirituel, électro-jazz et free! En musique: Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah sur l'album Ancestral Recall  (Ropeadope, 2019); Infinite Spirit Music sur l'album Live Without Fear  (Ancient Afrika, 1980, rééd. Jazzman, 2019); The Comet is Coming sur l'album Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery  (Impulse!, 2019); FET.NAT sur l'album Le Mal  (Boiled, 2019); Larry Ochs / Nels Cline / Gerald Cleaver ‎sur l'album  What is to be Done  (Clean Feed, 2019); The Flying Luttenbachers sur l'album Shattered Dimension  (ugEXPLODE, 2019)...

12e émission de la 41e session... Cette semaine, départ en jazz moderne, jazz spirituel, électro-jazz et free! En musique: Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah sur l'album Ancestral Recall  (Ropeadope, 2019); Infinite Spirit Music sur l'album Live Without Fear  (Ancient Afrika, 1980, rééd. Jazzman, 2019); The Comet is Coming sur l'album Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery  (Impulse!, 2019); FET.NAT sur l'album Le Mal  (Boiled, 2019); Larry Ochs / Nels Cline / Gerald Cleaver ‎sur l'album  What is to be Done  (Clean Feed, 2019); The Flying Luttenbachers sur l'album Shattered Dimension  (ugEXPLODE, 2019)...

No longer able to be contained within a single minute, Bill has spun his interest in Magic: the Gathering out into a separate podcast. Check out Episode 1 going over his attempts to play professional Magic, then subscribe to A Year in 20 Life for future episodes!

Roman and Mike go back in time to 2002, as Mike Flores of 2002 takes his own trip back in time to tell the stories of the ten most memorable matches of Magic that he had ever seen.

Roman and Mike go back in time to 2004, to look at one of the most important lessons a Magic player can learn: to see ones own mistakes.

Check out my conversation with my girl Miss. Sin of Men. We discuss self love, motherhood, love, sexuality, being comfortable in your skin, yoni eggs and so much more.

Roman and Mike go back in time to 2005, to learn how intangible skill can add up over a game to make a player seem lucky.

Roman and Mike get together to pore over a 2010 article by Mike Flores about lessons learned from Hall of Famer Zvi Mowshowitz on how to think about the game of Magic.

Roman and michaelj are relegated to wandering the streets of Manhattan like a pair of recording vagabonds, so they talk about Roman's recent successes... All of which occurred as a result of the lessons taught by Ancestral Recall.

Roman and Mike learn ancient deck design wisdom from Mike Flores' 2007 article, "Bits and Pieces — The Traits of a Great Deck Designer".

Roman and Mike take a look at Nick Spagnolo's treatise on how to win at Magic by playing the colour Blue.

Roman and Mike take a look at Brian Hacker's hugely influential article on gambling and Magic, "The New Pool Halls"

Mike and Roman take a look at one of Mike's favourite Pro Tour Hall of Fame ballot articles, from the second year of the Hall of Fame, 11 years ago.

Mike and Roman take a look at the classic strategy of siding in an unexpected permanent type for The Old Switcheroo.

Mike and Roman discuss the dangers and advantages of switching to a new deck for a tournament at the last minute.

Mike introduces Roman to the concept of virtual card advantage.

Mike and Roman talk about how preparing a deck to beat the best deck can be the right strategy to take down a tournament.

Mike and Roman talk about the theory of how to trade cards for your opponent's Life, or as it is called: The Philosophy of Fire!

Mike and Roman talk about Chad Ellis's article on the tendency Magic players have to lose games because they are too fixated on doing something cool.

“Asking Better Questions” provides a model to improve your own quality of information in Magic by… Well… Asking better questions.

What does it mean to be "results focused" and why does Mike thing we all should be (in the face of common, poker-descended, gamer wisdom)?

Is Rogue deck building still relevant? Or at least Mike's take from nearly two decades ago? As usual, the Regional Champ weighs in with a modern perspective.

This time around Mike and Roman opt for a short article that you may have heard of - Who's the Beatdown?

It's the dawning of a new (or new-old) day here at ManaDeprived. Mike Flores is joined by SCG Regionals Champion Roman Fusco as he learns "How to Win a PTQ".

Mike Turian has participated in a staggering 32 Pro Tours, 5 World Championships, 6 National Championships and numerous Grand Prixs. He is the Champion of Pro Tour New York in 2000 and Grand Prix Montreal in 2002. He has a top 8 finish at Worlds Toronto in 2001 and Pro Tour Amsterdam 2004. Mike also finished in the top 4 of Pro Tour Boston in 2003 and Pro Tour San Diego in 2004. Mike has amassed 234 Pro Points over his career and currently the Digital Business Manager at Wizards of the Coast in charge of Magic Duels. Click to Tweet: I got a ton of value from Mike Turian when he shared his story on #MTGProTutor today! Click here: http://bit.ly/mtgprotutor-ep77 First Set  Revised Favorite Set Played  The Dark Favorite Set Worked On  Scars of Mirrodin Philosophy On Making Planeswalker Points Mike was one of the Wizards who helped make the competitive score tracking transition to Planeswalker Points. He saw how the old system made players hostile when they sat across from one another at competitions, dreading losing the match and losing points. Making the shift to a system where playing Magic was good, and winning at Magic was better, was Mike’s goal in fostering a healthier competitive scene. He wanted the community to be more inclusive, less hostile, all while recognizing the achievements of players who strived to be the best. At the end of a match Mike wants you to shake your opponent’s hand and say good game, not run off deducting points from your score. Heaviest Magic Moment Losing in the Top 8 of the World Championships in Toronto stands out as a sore moment in Mike’s career. At the time there was no Hall of Fame and taking the crown at the World Championship had been his dream since his early days playing. Unfortunately, Mike got out played and out sideboarded, and ended up walking away from the match feeling like he could have done much more. While it remains a high point to even make the Top 8 at Worlds, he still feels as though he lost an opportunity he can’t get back. Being even keeled is a character trait has helped Mike appreciate the loss and push him to practice more. Level Up Moment For Mike, getting a car led to a long period of growth in Magic. Being able to travel and extend his Magic intake beyond local tournaments helped open up the world for Mike. He made an 8 hour drive to a New York Pro Tour and got to play against, and defeat, Mike Long in a side event. This confidence booster helped Mike take steps to push himself further into Magic’s competitive realms. Proudest Magic Moment Mike points to winning his first team Pro Tour as one of his most memorable moments playing Magic. Playing as part of a team made for a communal experience that helped Mike feel as though he was part of something greater than just his one-on-one matches, even though he wasn’t the hero that outright clinched the win for his team. Mike had a conversation with Jon Finkel on the topic of teammates, and what Finkel said is that it’s hard to see your true self when looking in the mirror. What great friends and teammates do is help you look and see who you are. Best Format Draft Tips For New Draft Players Mike’s tip to new Drafters is establish your colors clearly. He doesn’t like to focus so much on reading other player’s signals, but rather approach it from an angle of “What am I going to accomplish in this draft that will give me flexibility and a line of play towards winning?” He has noticed many new players don’t understand their play style well enough to bring it into their drafts. Getting consciously comfortable with your style is a great area to focus on, as it’s a tough concept to grasp since it isn’t something totally tangible. Biggest Mistake Players Make Mike has noticed that some players simply don’t play enough magic. If you want to succeed and get better, you really have to put in the time to do extra drafts and put in your reps. Players actively striving to rise to the top tier of Magic players often put in 35 to 40 hours a week. While that’s clearly not an option for many players, what you can do is actively incorporate Magic into your life more fully. Go play Magic, and afterwards go somewhere and hang out while talking about your matches. Think about the game in your day to day life until you get to the point Mike was at when he was muttering “Ancestral Recall” in his sleep. Deepest Thing Magic Has Taught You One of the things Mike learned about himself through Magic was that he cares deeply about winning. He doesn’t outwardly express his craving for victory like some other players; his demeanor conceals that desire. Mike generally views himself as laid back and easy going, but Magic has shown him that version of himself only applies in some scenarios. When he becomes engrossed in a competition he can focus on winning 100%. Reader Question: How Do You Tell When A Card Is Good Or Bad? A big area of focus for Mike is understanding the casting cost to power ratio. Look at the cards and see what their drawbacks are, and even more importantly, see how or if those drawbacks can be turned into an advantage. Removal spells are always going to be excellent in Limited. One of the most important lessons Mike has learned is not to get trapped holding onto an awesome card when your opponent plays a bad or low level card, especially early on. Having the mindset that you don’t want to drop an amazing card on something weak can come back to destroy you later on in the match. Final Wisdom Mike believes the key to getting better on your Magic journey is to make sure you are having fun every step of the way. Magic is a game, after all. It’s supposed to be fun. Enjoying the game is the only way you are going to be able to play over and over again in the years to come and stay engaged with the game. There are thousands of other players pouring their whole lives and hearts into the game, so don’t go approaching Magic halfheartedly and expect to rise. Connect With Mike Turian Twitter: @mturian Like What You Hear? If you like the show, head on over to iTunes and leave an honest Rating & Review. Let me know what you like and what I can do better so I can make the show the best it can be and continue bringing you valuable content. I read every single one and look forward to your feedback. (Here's a 1.5 minute tutorial on how to leave a review if you don't already know. THANK YOU!) Sponsors