Why you should be excited for M13:

- The fall of Titans: This is the biggie. While Titans have largely been the face of standard for the last two years, I will be sad to see them go. It's refreshing to know that no matter what color you choose, there would always be a solid option for a 6 drop. The titans themselves were always unbalanced. There are two camps for the Titans:

Combo:

Prime Time (by far the largest offender)

Sun Titan

Value:

Grave Titan

Inferno Titan

Frost Titan

The problem with these guys is that they are largely unbalanced. For example, I built a Blue/Green ramp deck, and was picking out my options. Frost titan was a shoe in, but if I wanted Prime Time, I would have to build an engine with him. For example, I would have to consider splashing red for Kessig Wolf Run. The same is true for Sun Titan, sure, a 6/6 vigilance for 6 is 'fine', but compared to the other titans or, say, Elesh Norn, he is quite underwhelming. You have to build a deck to take advantage of his 'real' ability.

Overall, I will miss the 'value' camp of Titans, but say good riddance to the 'Combo' Titans. I do hope they return, but perhaps only part of the cycle at a time.

- Awesome reprints!: This is a big one as well, since depending on the returning cards you might see some returning players. For example, one friend I know hasn’t played since Nocturnus was in Standard, since he was upset he ended up losing $30 each (and he has a playset). Now, with his return (not to mention Nighthawk), he can just resleeve those guys and get back into the game relatively simply.

Some of the awesome reprints coming back are:

- Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker

- Vampire Nocturnus

- Vampire Nighthawk

- Battle of Wits (seriously, I love cards like these)

- Door to Nothingness, along with:

- Guilded Lotus

- Mutilate

- Serra Avenger

- Rancor

- Tormod's Crypt

- Duress

- Rewind

- Planar Cleansing

- Ground Seal

So we have a pretty sweet lineup for our older players out there. You have Rancor for the aggro guys, Rewind and Mutilate for control players, Door and Battle of Wits for combo dudes, Tormod's Crypt and Ground Seal doing some work for graveyard hate. But I'm very ecstatic about Guilded Lotus, that card will fuel some combo and control decks, like hitting that Bolas early, or making Door to Nothingness way easier to achieve.

Money - This is a great money set. Here, I'll let the numbers do the talking:

Average Mythic Value - $12.65 (*Fun fact - the two new walkers are fetching the top prices here)
Average Rare Value - $2.21 (*Fun fact - This is a very high number, considering there is no $10 plus rare, [i.e. no Snapcaster or Cavern slot])
Average Rare Slot Value - $3.5 (This is generally your average pack value. This does not include commons/uncommons, but generally they are of nominal value.)

So basically, if you bought 100 packs at $3 a pack, you would likely make $50 bucks profit. This does not include foils, so you are also buying a chance at hitting a foil walker, which is usually worth it anyways. You can read my article about this is you want to know more.

Exalted Returns: One of the better but not broken mechanics, Exalted makes us rethink how we normally attack with creatures. This is a fun yet somewhat challenging mechanic to master.

Nicol Bolas: Yes, he gets his own spot. He is lightyears better than Karn, and he has been getting play too. Easy to cast now with Guilded lotus, I foresee many a Grixis control deck featuring this end game boss.

M13 - Quick Math

As of today there are 193 spoiled cards for M13.  Granted, most of the money cards are likely spoiled, but here is this set's "Quick Math" thus far:

M13
Average Mythic Value - $12.65 (*Fun fact - the two new walkers are fetching the top prices here)
Average Rare Value - $2.21 (*Fun fact - This is a very high number, considering there is no $10 plus rare, [i.e. no Snapcaster or Cavern slot])
Average Rare Slot Value - $3.5 (This is generally your average pack value.  This does not include commons/uncommons, but generally they are of nominal value.)

Average of $3.50 a pack?  Sounds pretty nice!  Heres a comparison of the Avacyn Restored values in case you were wondering:

Average Mythic Value - $9.69(* Fun Fact -Tons of 10 buck plus mythics here - Grislebrand, Avacyn, Bonfire, Sigerda, Entreat, Tamiyo, Temporal)
Average Rare Value - $2.04 (*Fun fact - Vexing Devil is only $5.99 now, and doomed to plummet even further.)
Average Rare Slot Value - $3

This is mostly due to the 25% price increase before a set hits, but still its pretty certain that M13 will be a money set, due to the fact that Avacyn Restored is also a money set.  Want a example of a poor set?  Let's look at Mirrodin Besieged:

Average Mythic Value - $6.80 (*Tezz is only $7 bucks!)
Average Rare Value - $1.18  (*Fun fact - Green Sun's Zenith is still high at $10, but Inkmoth has dropped from $15 to $5.)
Average Rare Slot Value - $1.88

Quite a bit of difference!  You'd have to get 2 packs of Mirrodin Besieged for the price of one pack of M13 for it to be worth your while. (and still I would'nt recommend it.)

Stay tuned for a short M13 set review/prerelease primer next week.  Enjoy the math!

Marks of Misery Update

Been working on Marks of Misery a bit on my mini-vacation.  I have two trial decks ready to go, so we will be starting the Alpha testing next week.  I did a little PvP "solitaire" and found that the battles ended way too quickly, like 1 to 2 mins tops.  Also, if dailys were to be allowed (Which wouldn't make any sense) it would matter on who won the die roll, and thats no fun.  The following rules are to be set into place prior to the alpha testing regarding PvP:

- Daily cards are banned.

- Encounter cards are optional.  (I'd recommend a ruling that had them do 1/2 damage if you use them)

- Cards that force players to skip turns or attack phases instead reduce the damage dealt next turn by 50%.  (Example: Ray of Frost)

- All status effects are subject to a saving throw, whether or not the card calls for one.

- Players start with 2 healing surges. These can be used normally.

After we do some testing, I'd expect some changes to this, as we are only in the Alpha stage of testing.

I also created a template for a Character Sheet.  I went into this project wanting a clear, concise form of data.  I ended up leaving too much info out, such as the Luck stat, and the Healing Surges, but here is the first draft of it:

The goal is to use this to capture all of the needed data, and use cards for the rest (spells, equipment, etc).  I might even use healing surge counters or cards to reduce the clutter on these sheets.  The sheets need to be as user friendly as possible and as simple as can be.

Last post, I spoiled two of the "At-Will" cards.  Those are cards that will be in your physical deck.  You will also have access to Encounter and Daily cards.  These are different as you have access to them at anytime.  They also exhaust when used, taking some time to refresh.  Think of them as "cooldowns" on World of Warcraft.  The encounter ones will reset after each battle, but the daily ones are only available once per dungeon!

Here are two spoilers/examples of this:

Finally, I will present a diagram that might clear up any questions about the cards themselves:

As always, feedback is appreciated!

Marks of Misery (plus spoilers!)

Introduction

Had some requests about my custom tabletop/TCG, Marks of Misery.  Its currently in the alpha stage but planning to move into the beta stage testing sometime next month.  As such, I cannot reveal to many details.  But here's a few facts and the first spoilers!

Game Facts

- Magic/TCG/D&D fusion, with some Torio flair here and there.
- Smaller deck sizes, currently looking at 20-30 card "At-Will" decks.
- Earn new skills and equipment as you progress through the game, giving you the option of building your character as you see fit.
- Currently up to 6 classes to choose from and over 200 skills. (expect these numbers to continue to grow)
- Earn rare loots!  From rare equipment to rare spells, there is a ton of different ways to max your characters abilities.
- Choose your own skills!  If you are a wizard, you can build an all-fire deck, maximizing your damage against cold creatures.  Or you can opt to use some of each element, giving you more options.  The choice is up to you!

Products

So far, the only way to obtain cards for this game will be:
- Starter Decks
- Dungeon Expansions (more on this later)
- Winning "in-game" loot rolls
- Completing "in-game" quests
- Participating in PvP events

In closing/SPOILERS!

As far as the cards, which is roughly 40% of the game, I used MSE2 and the VS. card frames.  I wanted something different than the same old magic borders, and the VS. card frames did the trick. 

And here is the first official spoilers for Marks of Misery.  Let me know what you think, and I just might reveal more about this exciting project...

Introducing: The SPG Cube

Hey guys,

I'm working on a ton of projects this month.  Between logging in 40 hours a week at work, from various side-jobs from web design to business management, attempting to hit 6 or so hours a week into D3, working on Marks of Misery (my upcoming D&D based card game), working on custom sets, keeping the SPG group alive and fresh with different, fun ways to play TCG's (did a Avacyn Restored draft last week and doing Planechase all this week), keeping up with M13 spoilers, trying to marathon Big Bang Theory, well, let's just say I've been keeping pretty busy. 

Yet another simultaneous endeavor I'm currently amidst is creating the SPG Cube.  Cube is a pretty vague term for a collection of cards that are carefully selected and put into a box (cube) and used to play Magic with, primary limited formats.  Cubes can be various sizes but for our group I'm aiming for a 275-300 card cube, since rarely will there be more than 6 players at one time.  Most cubes select the best cards throughout the history of Magic, making the Cube format a random yet very potent format.  I plan to keep the power level pretty high, but keeping the majority of the cards within the recent years (mostly Zendikar+, with some notable exceptions).  If you've been following on facebook I have been polling on some suggestions for possible Cube inclusions.  For example, I asked for a Zendikar card of each color at the uncommon rarity and more than likely the top votes will see play in the cube!  Most of the cards in the cube will be the definitive high power cards like the Titans, but doing community votes like these will help bring variety in the power level for our cube.

I'm still going to be adding more cards and tweaking it until the end of the month, but here is the cube so far:

Green (26)

Primeval Titan
Birds of Paradise
Llanowar Elf
Viridian Corruptor
Arbor Elf
Avacyn's Pilgrim
Fauna Shaman
River Boa
Strangleroot Geist
Wolfir Avenger
Obstinate Baloth
Oracle of Mul Daya
Thrun, the Last Troll
Acidic Slime
Wolfir Silverheart
Krosan Tusker*
Avenger of Zendikar
Terastadon
Vines of the Vastwood
Explore
Rampant Growth
Beast Within
Cultivate
Garruk Wildspeaker
Garruk Relentless
Green Sun's Zenith

blue (23)

Mana Leak
ponder
Preordain
Frost Titan
Delver of Secrets
Snapcaster Mage
Phantasmal Image
Sea Gate Oracle
Fettergeist
Dungeon Geists
Mist Raven
Phyrexian Metamorph
Sphinx of Lost Truths
Inkwell Leviathan
Spell Pierce
Counterspell
Jace Beleren
Deep Analysis*
Jace, the Mind Sculptor
Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Time Warp
Voltlion Reins
Sphinx of Jwar Isle

Red (33)

Lightning Bolt
Burst Lightning
Inferno Titan
Goblin Guide
Grim Lavamancer
Vexing Devil
Spikeshot Elder
Stromkirk Noble
Ember Hauler
Goblin Wardriver
Plated Geopede
Kargan Dragonlord
Hellspark Elemental
Stormblood Berserker
Ball Lightning
Chandra's Phoenix
Goblin Ruinblaster
Hellrider
Hound of Griselbrand
Archwing Dragon
Siege-Gang Commander
zealous Conscripts
Faithless Looting
Arc Trail
Incinerate
Searing Blaze
Brimstone Volley
Chaos Warp
Staggershock
Molten Rain*
Chandra the Firebrand
Chandra Nalaar
Devil's Play

Black (25)
Doom Blade
Go for the Throat
Black Sun's Zenith
Grave Titan
Diregraf Ghoul
Pulse Tracker
Vampire Lacerator
Bloodghast
Gatekeeper of Malakir
nantuko Shade
Vampire Nighthawk
Hypnotic Specter
Geralf's Messenger
Abyssal Persecutor
Phyrexian Obliterator
Bloodgift Demon
Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief
Unburial Rites
Sheoldred, the Whispering One
Duress
Tragic Slip
Dismember
Barter in Blood
Liliana Vess
Sorin Markov

White (25)
Baneslayer Angel
Day of Judgement
Terminus
Sun Titan
Oblivion Ring
Path to Exile
Elite Vanguard
Student of Warfare
Wall of Omens
Lone Missionary
Stoneforge Mystic
Thalia, Guardian of Thraben
Mirran Crusadar
Fiend Hunter
Blade Splicer
Hero of Bladehold
Restoration Angel
Angel of Jubilation
Condemn
Journey to Nowhere
Honor of the Pure
Lingering Souls
ajani Goldmane
Gideon Jura
White Sun's Zenith

Gold (12)
wall of Denial
Havengul Lich
Bloodbraid Elf
Venser the Sojourner
Sarakan the Mad
Terminate
Blightning
Edric, Spymaster of Trest
Glissa, the Traitor
Putrid Leech
Qasali Pridemage
Unmake*


Artifact (22)
Sword of War and Peace
Sword of Feast and Famine
Sword of Body and Mind
Eldrazi Monument
karn Liberated
Mindslaver
Ratchet Bomb
Duplicant*
Palladium Myr
Myr Battlesphere
Molten-Tail Masticore
spellskite
wurmcoil Engine
Phyerxian Revoker
Everflowing Chalice
Sphere of the Suns
Manalith
Basilisk Collar
Batterskull
Lightning Greaves*
Mortarpod
Tumble Magnet

Land (24)
Fetches
Terramorphic
Evolving Wilds
Shimmering Grotto
Core Duals
Manlands WW
Hailimar Depths
Shards Tri lands

*Pre Alara card deemed needed in this format.

Avacyn Restored Primer

No fancy setup, no pics, no links.

Just raw data this time around.  Wasnt even going to do this but this is mainly for myself to check back on prices and such.  If you get some knowledge or entertainment out of it thats great and all, but I'm pretty much done trying to impress others and instead I'm just going to use this for research purposes.

Avacyn, Angel of Hope
Current Price $14.99
Short Term $10-12
Long Term $8-15

Notes: Reanimation target.  Not impressive, but that might change next rotation.

Bonfire of the Damned
Current Price $5.99 and out of stock
Short Term $4-6
Long Term $2-4

Notes: Powerful miracle, way overpriced otherwise.  Great for fighting off lingering souls tokens either way.

Bruna, Light of Alabaster
Current Price $5.99
Short Term $4-7
Long Term $4-6

Notes: Commander.  No noteworthy auras in standard currently, but might be of use if some auras break out.  Otherwise meh for standard

Entreat the Angels
Current Price $5.99 and out of stock
Short Term $3-5
Long Term $2-4

Notes: Horrible anytime in the early time.  Worse than Decree of Justice nearly all the time.  Limited uses in standard.

Gisela, Blade of Goldnight
Current Price $7.99 and i dont know why
Short Term $3-5
Long Term $3-5

Notes: Decent commander.  Fair reanimation target.  Feels like too much of a gamble since she's so weak to nearly all removal.

Griselbrand
Current Price $9.99
Short Term $7-9
Long Term $6-9

Notes: Reanimation of course.  I wrote off that draw 7 until I seen it in action.  It does some major work. Interested to see what becomes of it.


Misthollow Griffin
Current Price $4.99
Short Term $4-6
Long Term $4-6

Notes: Two uses in legacy already, pitch to force of will or use in food chain combo.  Laughs at O-Ring.  Seems like a solid contender to me. 

Sigarda, Host of Herons
Current Price $14.99
Short Term $10-15
Long Term $10-25

Notes: Superb in Commander.  Green Sun Zenith target.  Laughs at Barter in Blood, Liliana, Geth's Verdict, Killing Wave, Tribute to Hunger, etc.  Hard to deal with her!  Great card all around and will hold some value or tick up later on.

Tamiyo, the Moon Sage
Current Price $39.99
Short Term $25-35
Long Term $15-20

Notes: Love this card but I've seen it enough to know better: shes way overpriced.  Look forward to seeing it do some work in U/G Ramp/tempo

Temporal Mastery
Current Price $39.99
Short Term $39.99
Long Term $30-50

Notes: Pretty safe bet that this card will do some damage to legacy, up to and including bannings if needed.  Brainstorm might finally end up banned thanks to this guy.  Strong in standard too if in the right shell.

Tibalt, The Fiend Blooded
Current Price $24.99
Short Term $20
Long Term $8-15

Notes: It's all about the +1.  The other ablities dont matter at all.  Can you use the cards in your graveyard?  Does it matter that its random?  I would discount this but the fact that its only 2 mana is the only reason i will give this guy a shot.

Cavern of Souls
Current Price $24.99
Short Term $20-30
Long Term $15

Notes: This card upsets me.  Maybe M13 and Ravinca will have answers.  Either way, standard will be miserable for a while thanks to this+titans.

Aftermath Spoilers: Inuyasha Alternate Arts.

Aftermath is the final set in the Weathered Hope block, and its in the polish stage (all cards are finished but require spellchecking, grammar, rules check, rewording, etc.).  If you dont already know, every card in Aftermath is part of a cycle (aka the Titans) in one way or another.  One such cycle has been dubbed, "The Inuyasha Cycle".  These are altered names and art of preexisting cards I had in a random database, resurrected for this fun and special cycle.

Enjoy.

While it's important to note that you'll get the
+1/+1 bonus immediately after casting this,
its also important to know that because of
the wording, it will not stack if more
Adamant Barrage end up in the graveyard.

It's a powerful shielding effect on borrowed
time, but 5 turns should buy you enough
time to get back into the game.

A more potent pyroclasm that has an ill
side effect.  Usable in quick decks, but the longer
the game goes the more that side effect matters.

4 mana destroy target creature is probably fair
enough.  Dark Banishing was 3 and couldnt
hit black creatures.  Gaining 4 life is just gravy.
But the best part is that you get to tutor it up
when casting Iron Reaver.

This card was the perfect fit to start the cycle.
Potent effect, and a nice "scarring" aftermath.

Let's face it, you are playing this just for the
tutoring effect.  The packaged deal is nice for
the price, otherwise this is a lackluster card.