The Last… I knew You Were the Last! (Troll, that is)

PLEASE tell me that you’ve seen the movie: “The Last Unicorn”! Back in the day, this used to be one of my favorites… I had SUCH a crush on the “unicorn-girl” (Amalthea)… what a hottie!! <3

While she may have been the last Unicorn, our good buddy Thrun is the last Troll. He may not be giving little 6 year old girls giddy dreams about horsies and lollipops, but he’s def giving blue / black mages nightmares about hexproof and un-counterability (<- new word! Score!). He’s so popular right now, that I wanted to find a way to mix him in with the other “cool kids” so they can have a play along to taunt and tease all the less fortunate chumps who shop at Giant Tiger instead of The Gap.

There is a Jumanji style deck going around which accomplishes this, and I like it! Here’s my take on the deck:

4x Birds of Paradise

3x Avacyn’s Pilgrim

4x Mirran Crusader

3x Blade Splicer

4x Hero of Bladehome

2x Thrun, the Last Troll

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3x Oblivion Ring

3

3x Garruk Relentless

2x Elspeth OR Gideon OR Garruk?

5

3x Sword of Feast and Famine

1x Sword of War and Peace

2x Angelic Destiny

2x Mortarpod

8

9x Forest

4x Plains

3x Gavony Township

4x Razorverge Thicket

4x Sunpetal Grove

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It’s up in the air as to which planeswalker would best fit my 5cc slot, so I’ll have to debate it a little more before finalizing the deck. I’m leaning towards Elspeth as she plays nice with Mortarpod in a pinch! Two of the BEST creatures right now are Hero & Crusader, so mixing them up with Thrun seems like a good plan! Being able to spit out T2 crusaders and T3 Hero’s seems insane, and when you give them swords they’re even better. This list uses the Blade Splicers (which have been falling out of favor it seems) to ensure we’ll always have something kicking around to equip a sword to since it makes 2x bodies.

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Another note on our favorite subject: PLANESWALKER POINTS!

How have they been treating you? Are you still impressed with the program and how Wizards / Hasbro has been handling things?

I had a nice discussion with Chris Tomelin about this on Friday when I once again went to trade, but not play at my LGS. Chris was there and he ALSO was not playing. I asked him why he wasn’t slinging spells and he informed me that he’d lost a lot of interest in the game because of PWP’s and the fact that now he will have almost NO shot to qualify for anything, so why should he? I feel the same way, and haven’t been playing very much recently either as a result. So is the PWP system REALLY getting more people to play, or is it just getting certain people who WERE playing to play MORE?

As a member of society who has to WORK for a living, I know it’s impossible for ME to have any success in the game without quitting my job and breaking up w / my Girlfriend… Two things that just aren’t gonna happen!

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Things with www.quietspeculation.com are moving quite a bit slower than I’d originally anticipated. I think there may be a lot of red tape or something? As such while they’ve had my article for a while, it still hasn’t been published… which is a shame as it’s an article on the potential sleepers in Innistrad and every day that goes by is another day of speculating lost! Lol

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And a few quick stock tips:

1)      Hero of Bladehome is the card that has the MOST demand right now! I had 18 of them on Friday, and am down to only 10 remaining! They were trading at > $15 each, and I think a lot of people who got them out of me for $16-17 were probably “laughing all the way to the bank”.

2)      W/U and U/B lands are HOT right now! I can’t keep any in my trade stock, whether they’re Drowned Catacombs, Glacial Fortresses, Shores or Cliffs, everyone wants them and no one seems to have them.

3)      Wurmcoil Engine is worth $20 at the trading tables. People want him. It was pure luck that I was able to inform Dobbs that “no, they aren’t worth $8 anymore” before he traded them away at a loss! (I stole a Visions of Beyond off his kitchen table as payment for my knowledge! :P)

4)      Champion of the Parish / Stromkirk Noble BOTH trade for MUCH more than they sell for. Peeps are valuing them AT $6 / $8 respectively and they SELL for $3 / $5. Good potential to profit here!

That’s it for today! I’m hoping to have a “trade or no trade” up later this week!

Cheers,

Carl Szalich

PwPs Revisited: There Can Be Only One!

It’s been almost 2 weeks since I first discussed Planeswalker Points (PwPs) in my article here:

Planeswalker Points and the Death of the DCI

At that point, I pointed out some of the pros and cons that I could see arising from the new system, but thought to myself: “Let’s try and stay positive and give it a chance… maybe things will work out OK?”. I will now state that PwPs have failed in more ways that I had originally thought, but not for the reasons WotC was trying to fix…

PwPs are causing competition among LGS to the point where (I predict) in the end, only one will survive per region. I witnessed this “phenomenon” first hand last Friday for FNM. We have three LGS that all run FNM’s: World’s Away, Imperial Hobbies & L.A. Mood, and they were ALL starting to / had built up their own respective followings. Since PwPs were introduced, it seems that most players have all funneled into ONE store (L.A. Mood in this case), as since it always had the highest turnout, it offered the most “participation points”, and therefore had the biggest “draw” for people looking to earn the most PwPs. As a result, when I went to play at Imperial Hobbies this Friday to give another store a chance, and play with some different people, they only had 8 players (including myself and Dobbs), which is a significant reduction from their regular turnout. Meanwhile, a few blocks east, Worlds Away had reduced participation which they attributed to GP Montreal.

Where were all the players? Yes, some were at the GP, but what about those that weren’t willing to travel the 16 hours round trip or just straight wanted to chill and play FNM?

“Ummm… L.A. Mood had > 30 players this week AND last!!”

Oh, THAT’S where they’ve all been “hiding”.

In plain sight.

Racking up the PwPs.

It is my observation that PwPs are inadvertently causing players to funnel to whichever LGS has the highest turnout, leaving the other stores wondering where their regulars have disappeared to. I had stopped into L.A. Mood to trade and just hang out for a bit before heading to Imperial Hobbies, and there were players there in droves. I recognized many of the regulars who typically play at the other stores milling about tuning their decks, which surprised me, as we magic players are a fiercely loyal bunch. When I showed up at Imperial Hobbies and saw that there were only 8 people instead of the regular, it got me thinking…

From a player perspective, what was the benefit of going to a store that had a smaller turnout? Instead of earning a 2-3x participation point multiplier, I was now earning a meager 1x. My record of 2-0-1 (Tied for 1^st with Dobbs) was worth (6+1+1)*3 = 24 at Imperial Hobbies, but I could have had that same record at L.A. Mood and earned (6+1+3)*3 = 30. I would have also been able to play 2x more rounds at L.A. Mood, meaning that I would have had the chance to earn up to 6*3 = 18 MORE points! Clearly the “Participation Points Multiplier” is going to affect more than just players PwPs… it’s going to affect what store you go to play at as you try to maximize those points!

So when we start to evaluate our PwPs and our Planeswalker levels, and we’re looking to “level up” and brag to our friends about how we just became Spellshapers or the like, what are we to do? Are we to purposely sacrifice potential PwPs by playing in a smaller venue while remaining loyal to the stores that we’ve been frequenting (in many cases for years and years), or do we drop them like a plague-ridden blanket now that they don’t offer us the most benefits?

Wizards claims that PwPs are the greatest thing ever for the players (which remains to be seen IMHO), but on the other hand they’ve created a HUGE competition between neighboring LGS that didn’t exist before. I feel the new competition for player participation that will result from the creation of PwPs is going to cause a “Highlander Effect” because in the end there will “be only one” LGS left with any player participation, as everyone is looking to max out the PwPs they will earn so will play at the venue with higher participation points!!

Now take this idea global. We can bitch and moan about how terrible PwPs are here in North America, but think about the rest of the magic card playing world. I somehow doubt that Egypt is pulling in the same attendance as the USA. Since WotC is based in the USA, and so is SCG and the tournaments they create, the amount of events run there are going to be MUCH more frequent than anywhere else. So when we’re looking at PwPs as the “quantifying factor” for invites and the like, I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up w / Pro Tours consisting solely of North American residents. The international community is just not going to be able to keep up with the “grind” it will take to stay competitive since there aren’t enough high level opportunities to compete in their region!

The fix for this is blatantly obvious: Just remove the “participation points” multiplier altogether and fix the events multipliers to be worth the values they should be at higher levels! You’ll get more actual ROUNDS in higher turnout events, and those extra rounds will result in more points because you’ll be playing more, and therefore have more opportunity to win and earn points!

Going back to my Imperial Hobbies (3 rounds) vs. L.A. Mood (5 rounds) example, this would make it look like this if I won all my rounds:

3-0 @ Imperial Hobbies right now (8 players) = (9+1)*3 = 30

3-0 @ Imperial Hobbies (modified) = (9+1)*3 = 30

5-0 @ L.A. Mood right now (32 Players) = (15+3)*3 = 54

5-0 @ L.A. Mood (modified) = (15+1)*3 = 45

You would only earn 45 points @ L.A. Mood (instead of 54) under the proposed system which is still more than Imperial, but if you DID play at Imperial and went 3-0 at least it would be CLOSER (30 vs. 45 or 66%). You are rewarded for going to L.A. Mood by getting extra rounds and therefore extra OPPORTUNITIES to earn points instead of just being “given” them for participating!

How do YOU feel about this proposed change?

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I want to touch again on a problem that I’d pointed out as MY main concern with PwPs in my last article: The fact that there is no measurable for the SKILL LEVEL of your opponents. I could play the best player in the world and crush him, only to earn 3 points either way. On the other hand, I could grind a different tournament Mon-Sun, finish poorly, but end up with a really high rating due to the sheer volume of wins, even though none of them might have been 1^st places. So does this system reward the best players? MOST DEF NOT! It rewards the person who plays the most.

I am guilty… Guilty of apathy. I USED to care about my rating… now I don’t. Winning against a skilled opponent once filled me with pride… now it’s just “meh”. That’s right, it’s “meh”. That’s the best way I can describe the feeling. It’s not that I’m not glad to win, it’s just that, you know, there’s really nothing to it. It’s just another 3 points, the same 3 points that I get for beating down Scrubby McScruberton and his mono-green-beasts.dec. And what do I care if I lose? What is my incentive to play my best… it’s not like anything happens if I don’t win, right? I just don’t get a couple points, not a biggie.

When I beat Randy the week before last he said: “I really don’t care anymore.”

When I was offered a draw in the finals last week I said: “Sure, why not, I’ll get to leave sooner.”

^^ Wizards may have ensured that more people are playing, but how much are those same people enjoying it?

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TALKBACK!

How do YOU feel about PwPs? Better or worse than the old ELO system?

Did YOU change stores in order to earn more PwPs? Why / Why not?

Do YOU even CARE about your rating anymore?

Hope to hear a few opinions from store owners and players alike! And don’t forget about the contest! J

Cheers,

Carl Szalich

Planeswalker Points and the Death of the DCI

Our poor, poor DCI ratings.

The numbers we have grown up with, cherished and nurtured. The numbers we've used to identify ourselves with amongst our magic playing peers. Our bragging rights, our status updates and our performance reviews... gone. All gone.

And who / what is this rival upstart seeking to take its place? What shrewd pretender seeks to claim the throne in an act of regicide?

None other than the pale and shadowy usurper: PLANESWALKER POINTS.

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"The king is dead... Long live the king!"

My Twitter feed was ablaze with comments from pros and casuals alike last night commenting on Planeswalker Points and their merits / failures.

You can read about the new system here AND see how many points you have:

www.wizards.com/magic/planeswalkerpoints

REAL quickly, Planeswalker Points will be a magic only points system designed to make PLAYING magic the primary focus of points, instead of actually winning. Winning will award MORE points, but even just for participating you are compensated.

Typically every “win” will net you 3 points, every “draw” 1 point and a loss still counts as nothing. Depending on how many players there are, you will also receive “participation points” for attending. You then multiply your “total points” (wins + draws + participation points) for the event by the “event multiplier” to get your final point total for the event.

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I’m not going to draw you an intricate chart with all of the multipliers and bonuses (as the site above does a great job explaining everything in detail), but will give an example based on a standard night of FNM which is what I’m sure many of you reading this are most interested in.

We’ll assume that there are 16 participants, so 4 rounds of swiss.

16 players = 2 participation points.

FNM event multiplier = 3.

Let’s say I do OK and win 2 games, tie 1, and lose 1.

Win = 2 (x3 = 6)

Tie = 1 (x1 = 1)

Lose = 0 (x0 = 0)

TOTAL = 6 + 1 + 0 = 7

The calculation = (7 (results) + 2 (participation points)) * 3 (event multiplier) = 27!

I would earn 27 Planeswalker Points for this event! :)

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I think this system has a LOT of both PRO’s and CON’s. Let’s take a look at those that I’ve been seeing on other websites / twitter and my own observations to make a list!

PROS	CONS
Allows those with high point ratings to still play and not fear losing points when they lose.	High level players destroy the regular FNM crowd. FNM environments become more hostile.
You can’t just sit on your rating and stay qualified as every season “competitive points” reset.	The volume of games that you play and not the win % of those games are now more relevant. Rating is no longer indicative of skill.
There is now an FNM championship for those players who don’t make it large tourneys often.	No automatic invites based on one tournament. You need to increase your rating to qualify, and play in events to raise your rating.
More people playing at every event = more participation points for everyone!	Tournaments will go longer, as less people will drop since no points lost, and every win nets you points.
No more whining when you “lose points” in a match.	People with more time to play have an advantage over those who don’t. Players are “punished” for having other commitments.
You are rewarded for playing MORE magic.	It doesn’t matter WHO you win against, you get the same amount of points.
Bringing friends with you to the tournament will increase players which will increase the Participation Points earned.	Smaller magic playing regions are at a disadvantage as smaller tournaments = less participation points.
You are now rewarded for “grinding”, regardless of how you actually place.	Our levels of geekyness have incresed 1000% fold!

Personally, I DON’T like the changes, simply because now the player that you face off against doesn’t matter. I could deal with ALL of the other changes, but I really feel as though WHO you play should have a direct impact on how many points you get. I don’t want to beat Nassim Ketita or Will Bax and get 3 crummy planeswalker points… I want to rape, pillage and assassinate their points and score the max, baby! I want them to go home crying to their mamas about how big bad mean old Carl stomped their pride and ego and forcibly removed the points from their cold lifeless fingers!

… Or maybe that’s precisely the reason why they changed it? :P Haha.

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So I KNOW that you’re all dying to know what MY Planeswalker Level is, right?

My DCI # = 32743831 and I have 5822 Planeswalker Points. According to THIS chart, that would make me a LEVEL 38 SORCERER. Sweet! I love how the sun is shining off my balding head!

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So how do YOU feel about the new “Planeswalker Points” system? Do you like it more or less than the old ELO / DCI ratings system? Can you think of any problems that would / will arise?

Best of all: What is YOUR Planeswalker Level and how long until you level up? Lol

Feel free to leave comments! I haven’t been able to reply to them yet because I’m having a problem w / my Google account user ID and it will only let me post as “anonymous”. It’s being looked into! :)

Until next time, keep grinding!

Cheers,

Carl Szalich