Magic the Gathering News Volume 24: Judge Promos, Dragon's Maze Prerelease information And Much, Much More

Hello everyone and welcome to the end of yet another month in magic the gathering, this month we've got quite a bit to talk about, besides the tournaments that happened, 2 judge promos were revealed this month, along with information on Dragon's Maze pre-releases as well as next month's FNM promo, so let's go.

Excited for more modern FNM's next month, well you should, how about a Foil Reliquary Tower for you folks for FNM next month, yes the M13 reprint is scheduled to be next month's FNM promo and it's something I am sure everyone is happy about, since January's was a little lack luster.

So a couple of Judge promos popped up on the net, one of them was a promo Bribery which has the collector's number 2/8, it's a very nice card and it is sure to fetch a pretty penny since the original is a hefty sum, a very nice choice wizards for commander players.

Another was this foil Swords to Plowshares which also popped up which has the collector's number 1/8 and like the previous one is a commander favorite for all white players, competitive or not, be sure to scoop this bad boy up while you can.

Dragon's Maze pre-release information was revealed earlier this month as well, it's the same as the other two, you pick a guild, but with all 10 available, you get to have a shot at any guild of your choice, this time though the prerelease card is not allowed to be used in your deck, but here's the catch, for the guild you pick, you get 4 dragon's maze booster packs, 1 gatecrash pre-release pack with the aligned colors you choose, so if you choose Azorius, you'll get a Dimir pack, then you'll receive a Return to ravnica azorius prerelease pack.

Also in Dragon's maze the basic lands are gone for the set, you'll open non basic lands, guildgates with the Dragon's Maze set symbol on them, the shock lands will also appear in this set, as their normal rarity, plus with their normal set symbol, wizards is really pushing modern here folks. As well as there's a Mythic rare land scheduled to be in this set, we will see when the time comes of course.

Over the course of the month, the next core set was announced Magic 2014, previewing what could be a brand new Chandra, let's take a look at the preview piece.

For the full set details, see the link below.

http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/arcana/1141

And that's it for the month of January, with pro tour gatecrash around the corner, I will be expecting to see how good the standard format is with the brand new cards of Gatecrash in combination with return to ravnica, so until next time this is vergil signing off.

Vergil's 10 Tips to Freelance Magic Writing

Hello folks and welcome back to another edition of the emporium, as we are all aware, most of the time with magic the gathering, the game consistently changes and introduces new decks/variants and the like to the format, well for you freelance writers out there, I'm here to give you 10 tips to help improve your magic writing skills, so let's begin.

#10) Writing on your own terms - Sure some of those sites which have deadlines such as Channel Fireball and the like have pro writers who write once a week every week is good, but stop, take a deep breath and remember, you play magic, you have fun, don't write because you are forced to write, write because you WANT to.

#9) Proper Spelling and Punctuation - Most magic players these days are in their early teens, finishing school or have a stay at home profession, one thing to remember while writing is to always have proper spelling and grammar, so don't forget to always remember the one of the most important keys of any good writer, proper grammar.

#8) Pick a topic that suits you - If you play a format in magic like Commander or any casual format, go for it, I always encourage new and aspiring writers out there, you can write about anything you set your mind to, or if you play a format like Modern, which consistently changes, you can always talk about that, whatever it may be, it's gonna be good, since you wrote it.

#7) Proper Editing Procedures - Always ensure to go back and check the source you use, check for updates and add them in while editing, editing is super important here, since a self edit is often the best kind of edit and helps you learn.

#6) Be sure to always credit your sources - Sure, the profession is freelance, but give the appropriate credit to the proper source material, wherever you got it from, give them the views as well, to ensure everyone is satisfied here.

#5) Spread the word - Sure you may be a rising star in the magic freelance scene, but it's always important to keep your fan base in the know, with social media these days it's often easiest through variants like Twitter and even Facebook.

#4) Be Descriptive - A article should have a fairly decent description to it, regardless, if it is a short one, try and keep a bit of a description to it, giving it some depth.

#3) Personal Experiences - Sure everyone has this on the to-do list in terms of writing, but each person's experiences vary from person to person, so try and add a personal touch, with a interesting sign off, or perhaps something else to peak interest.

#2) Enjoy the Game - Magic's been around for a long time at this point, going on 20 years now, so the game gets older and the more people who enjoy it, the better, so if you enjoy the game, you should also enjoy the writing process that comes along with it.

#1) BE YOURSELF - This is perhaps the most important tip I can give to anyone who is aspiring to write about MTG, relax, enjoy it and just be YOU.

And that is all she wrote, I hope these 10 tips will entice further readers to go out there and attempt the freelance magic scene, since it is still growing, so until next time magic fans, this is vergil signing off.

DCI Banned and Restricted List Announcement: Gatecrash Edition, January 28th, 2013

Hello everyone, well since the new changes to the announcements for bans and unbans when it comes to the formats Wizards of the coast is in charge of, so without further ado let's see what happened last night in terms of bans and that.

Modern: Bloodbraid Elf and Seething Song are banned.

To be honest, the Elf banning was expected, as called by Scotty Mac of the EH team on his stream on saturday night, Jund has had way too dominant a deck, wizards basically said this about the elf ban.

While the rest of the format is quite diverse, the dominance of Jund is making it less so, so the DCI looked to ban a card, We wanted a card that was played in jund as a 4 of, but ideally was less played in other modern decks. That would give the best chance of creating a stable metagame.

It's not much of a surprise wizards has it in for Jund as a deck, it's done too damn well, it's like the Delver of the format, in that sense anyways.

Seething Song was a entirely different story, since it was one of the main pieces of the infamous U/R storm build which was second behind Jund's dominance with over 11% on MTGO, turn three was the normal time this went off thanks to the song, basically like the elf, wizards wanted to ban the biggest turn three offender here and this was pretty much it, but wait there's more.

Magic Online Pauper: Empty the Warrens, Grapeshot and Invigorate are banned

Storm is dead on magic online pauper, oh yeah it's about time, basically take storm's two win cons away and storm is officially dead, Also Invigorate is a serious offender here i'm guessing since wizards doesn't give reasons for it, it's basically infect's biggest offender on pauper, i'm guessing anyways.

For the full announcement, please see the link below

http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/232

With that, that's all she wrote, since commander and duel commander did not change anything on their ban list for this update, see you all next time this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Prerelease Primer

Hello everyone and welcome back once again, this time it's the gatecrash pre-release primer with details on what is going to occur for the upcoming set's prerelease, so without further ado let's begin.

Alright, for this set you have the option to choose 1 of the 5 guilds, the Simic Combine, The Boros Legion, House Dimir, The Orzhov Syndicate and the Gruul clan, each one of these 5 guilds have different promos this time around, which i've covered on a different article, please see that for the promos. For the event this time around you'll receive 5 boosters of gatecrash, as well as a bunch of other goodies including your guild pack which you choose essentially as you sign up.

Once you choose the guild and all that, if you've preregistered, you will receive various packs of gatecrash and the 1 guild pack that you chose, if not then whatever remaining slots that are left well, you'll have to decide quickly. It's usually 6 rounds of limited, where you build a 40 card deck and go nuts in the format, which is a fun and decent format to be honest, other then that, have fun and all of that, enjoy the gatecrash prerelease and all that, next week starts the gatecrash limited review for here, till then this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 18th, 2013

Hello everyone and welcome to what may be the final day of Gatecrash spoilers before the mass reveal on monday, today it's the final mythic of the set, final guild mage and a few other little cards, so without further ado let's begin.

Master Biomancer is the final mythic rare yet to be revealed for the set, it's 4 mana for a 2/4 that has the static ability "Each other creature you control enters the battlefield with a number of additional +1/+1 counters on it equal to Master Biomancer's power and is a mutant in addition to it's other types. This essentially creates a massive army in the long run and is one of those cards which i'm expecting to end up in the 2 dollar mythic category.

After 4 and a half months, we learn what this thing does, introducing Vizkopa Guildmage, whom costs white and black, is a uncommon 2/2 that has 2 different abilities, 1 is pay 1, white, black, target creature gains lifelink until end of turn, then the second one is pay 1, white, black, whenever you gain life this turn, each opponent loses that much life, so Sanguine Bond anyone on a body?

Truefire Paladin is another one of those boros cards which are unique, since it costs white and red to cast is a 2/2 and is a human knight at the uncommon rarity with vigilance. It also has 2 different abilites much the same as the guildmage i just talked about, pay red and white, it gains +2/+0 until end of turn and pay red and white, it gains first strike until end of turn, I gotta admit, this is one of those mana sinks in limited which i'm a big fan of.

Terrible rare is terrible, introducing Simic Manipulator which starts out as a 0/1 with evolve, the simic mechanic for the set, is a rare and costs 1, Blue, Blue, does anyone remember last year's Beguiler of Wills, well this was printed in a worse format, it says Tap, remove one or more +1/+1 counters from Simic Manipulator, gain control of target creature with power less then or equal to the number of counters removed this way. To be brutally honest, wizards just prints jank cards like this to piss me off, since i'm a natural blue player for life, anyways that's all the previews for today, the rest are pretty much well known as of now, until next time this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 17th, 2013

Hello everyone and of course welcome back to another edition of the emporium, it's time to preview more Gatecrash cards for the upcoming set, this is day 4 for week 3 and let's get straight into this one.

Duskmantle Seer, oh boy this kind of is a little nuts, it's 4 mana for a 4/4 flyer that has the ability, At the beginning of your upkeep, each player reveals the top card of his/her library, loses life equal to that card's converted mana cost, then puts it into his/her hand. So Dark Confidant with Baneful Omen mixed together to make this puppy, plus it's a 4/4 flyer, also this is the 2nd dimir mythic for the set.

Spark Trooper, whoa this thing is kinda of sick, 1, red, red, white for a 6/1 with trample, lifelink and haste, so Ball Lightning with a seriously good power level, about time wizards, it's second ability is the same as the original basically, At the beginning of the end step, sacrifice Spark Trooper, this is only a rare too, so this could see some serious play here.

Whoa, where'd this one come from, a 7 drop, 6/6 named Gruul Ragebeast, whenever it or another creature enters the battlefield under your control, that creature fights target creature an opponent controls, removal on a stick here, but it costs a whopping 7 mana for this guy, this may not see play outside of Commander, but whoa this guy is good in creature based decks in limited.

Well these cards just keep getting more ridiculous, introducing Unexpected Results, previewed by Forbes Magazine, yes forbes, it's a 4 drop sorcery that's at the rare level, You shuffle your library, then reveal the top card, if it's a non land card, you can cast it without paying it's mana cost, If it's a land though, put it on the battlefield and return Unexpected Results to it's owner's hand. To be honest the cost is decent, it will probably see some play and is basically just another way of getting ahead, since there's always a decent chance you will land on a land.

Anyways that's it for today, stay tuned tommorow for more gatecrash previews, till then this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 16th, 2013

Hello folks and welcome back to another edition of the gatecrash spoilers for this week, so without further ado let's see what we missed yesterday to start, then after let's get to today's previews.

Glaring Spotlight is one of those anti-hexproof cards for magic, here's looking at you Geist of Saint Traft which doesn't surprise me for this set at all, it's about time we had a anti-hexproof card here.

It seems like we know what that champion's playmat art is going to be now, introducing the wrath for this set, Merciless Eviction, which costs 4, white, black and is a sorcery that you choose one, exile all artifacts, exile all creatures or exile all enchantments, or exile all planeswalkers. I'm not expecting to see this played at all to be brutally honest.

A weaker Vesuva to start the day, known as Thespian's Stage which is a land that's a rare and it adds 1 to the pool, but for 2 and you tap it, you can change into whatever land you want and it gains that land's ability, talk about potential for both standard and EDH.

Slaughterhorn is another one of those seriously good limited cards here, it's a 3/2 for 2 and a green, it is a common so expect to see this every draft  and it of course has the Gruul mechanic of "Channel" which is basically now being called Bloodrush, Gruul players in general are going to appreciate this one since it's so decent for limited and is perhaps one of the most solid commons to draft for a body.

And that's it, tommorow I'll talk about the missing charms as well as the other previews, so until then this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 15th, 2013

Hello everyone and welcome back for another day of spoilers, so without further ado let's get straight down to business as per usual, let's start with the biggest spoiler of the day.

Sepulchral Primordial is the biggest one today, since Borbomygos Enraged was confirmed via the card gallery, it of course is a whopping 7 mana, has intimidate, is a 5/4 and when it enters the battlefield, for each opponent, you may put up to one target creature from each opponent's graveyard under your control, this right here is a very nice playable in EDH, since black now has access to it.

Undercity Informer is another one of the mill variant, but this time with a twist, it's a black card with the ability, pay 1, sacrifice a creature and target player reveals cards from the top of his/her library, until he or she reveals a land, then puts those cards in the graveyard, this right here is one of those limited bombs that will make or break mill in Dimir, plus it's a mere 2/3, holy crap this is decent.

Gruul Charm is one of those things i cannot believe they printed, it costs red, green for a instant that has 3 different modes, creatures without flying can't block this turn, or gain control of all permanents you own, or it deals 3 damage to each creature with flying, it seems decent to be honest, but we will see of course.

Orzhov Keyrune is legit though, it of course costs 3 mana, adds black or white to your mana pool and for Black and White you can animate it into a 1/4 white and black Thrull artifact creature with lifelink until end of turn, which is not that bad, it of course is uncommon as per the norm with the key runes, overall this set has some of the best ones from the block.

Soul Ransom is one of those Control Magic variants that is for Blue/Black this time around, it costs 2, Blue, Black for this puppy and it's a enchantment - aura that is a rare as well, it allows you to enchant a creature as it states, then it's other ability really prevents it from being useful, since the opponent can discard two cards, it's controller must sacrifice it and then draw 2 cards, but it could only be used by your opponent.

Anyways that's it for today, join me tommorow for another edition of gate crash spoilers, till then this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 14th, 2013

Hello everyone and welcome back to the start of week 3 spoilers for Gatecrash, so let's dive straight into this week's starting spoilers.

The big bomb this day is Lord of the Void, a 7/7 mythic rare that has flying, costs 7, when it deals combat damage to a player, exile the top seven cards of that player's library, then put a creature from among those 7 into play under your control. This right here is very interesting, since Kaalia of the Vast just found herself another target come turn 4.

Blind Obedience is one of those things that perhaps may see some standard player against aggro decks, at least in the sideboard for now, it's a 2 drop rare enchantment that makes artifacts and creatures your opponents control end the battlefield tapped, holy fricking Kismet batman.

Finally, for the last preview of the day we have a enchantment known as Ooze Flux, 4 dang mana for a enchantment that's a rare, pay 1 and a green, remove one or more +1/+1 counters from among creatures you control, put a X/X Green Ooze onto the battlefield, where X is the number of +1/+1 counters removed this way, seems bad honestly, outside of limited.

Well that's it for today of course, stay tuned tommorow for more previews as always, till then this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Promotion Cards

Hello everyone and welcome to a special sunday edition of the emporium, today let's discuss something that will be happening in a few weeks, which is the arrival of the upcoming MTG set Gatecrash, so let's get straight down to business.

The buy-a-box promotion card this time around is known as Nightveil Specter which is that 2/3 that does some serious shenigans, has the hybrid mana cost and all that neat stuff.

For the launch of Gatecrash, on release weekend people will receive this alternate art Skarrg Goliath for attending either a Friday Night Magic event on the day of the release of the set or as a door prize for something else, it's totally up to the store you go to for this one.

Game Day players will receive this sweet full art Zameck Guildmage for just attending this set's game day event, remember game day is all about standard, the first non GP or PT event that lets you play with the new set.

For the top 8 of the game day event, players will receive this cool alternate art Firemane Avenger for making it to the top 8 of the game day, you know the angel with Lightning Helix slapped onto her.

Finally, for the gate crash league players this time around, for doing well in your local league, you'll receive a copy of this alternate art Red/White soldier token.

I forgot to mention, the winner of the game day event will receive this sweet champion's playmat which hints at perhaps a reprint of Culling Sun, the orzhov wrath effect from the original ravnica block. Anyways that's it for this edition, till next time this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 11th, 2013

Hello folks and welcome back to another edition of the emporium, today of course it's all about more gatecrash spoilers, so let's get straight into another edition

Aurelia's Fury is similiar to Rakdos's Return from the previous set, but it deals damage divided among any number of target creatures and/or players, Tap each creature dealt damage this way, Players dealt damage this way can't cast noncreature spells this turn, Holy X spells batman, this is a white/red mad house to be quite honest and it's mythic too boot.

Speaking of Boros, the Boros Charm was revealed, red and white for a instant speed spell that either Flame Rift's your opponents, Makes your permanents indestrucible for the duration of the turn or makes a target creature have double strike until end of turn, this is one of the charms that seem like it's very legit.

 

Luminate Primordial is another one of a new cycle of cards, it's a 4/7 with vigilance that costs 7, gee, 

Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite anyone?, when it enters the battlefield, it basically exiles up to one target creature each player controls, Oh wow, Swords to Plowshares on legs

Skarrg Guildmage is the gruul guildmage for this set, it's a 2/2 for 2, that gives creatures you control trample until end of turn for red and green, plus it animates a target land you control to a 4/4 elemental, for 1, red, green and it's still a land, not bad personally for limited.

Serene Rememberance is a 1 mana sorcery that allows you to shuffle this plus three target cards from a single graveyard into their owner's libraries, this is interesting since it's another green type spell.

And finally, the Simic Keyrune has been revealed, it's 3 mana obviously, it makes blue or green mana, plus it animates itself for green and blue to turn itself into a 2/3 blue and green crab with hexproof until end of turn,  
this is interesting to be quite honest, now we have to see the orzhov one.

Well that's it for this week, till next week this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 10th, 2013

Hello fine folks out there and welcome to another edition of the emporium, it's about more Gatecrash spoilers this time so without further ado let's see what we got today to look at.

Ghor-Clan Rampager is a neat 4/4 with trample for 4 and it's a uncommon, plus it has the gruul keyword of Channel ahem Bloodrush, where it's blood rush cost is Red and Green and discard this puppy and target attacking creature gets +4/+4 and trample until end of turn, this is a sweet little limited bomb if you ask me.

Gyre Sage is another of the simic's creations with Evolve and boy is it a beast of a card, 2 drop 1/2 that has evolve, plus it gets the ability, tap to add green mana equal to the number of +1/+1 counters on Gyre Sage, wow, this thing is one of those 2 drops that might just see some constructed play here.

Thrull Parasite is another thrull believe it or not, it's a 1/1 for 1 black and has the orzhov keyword Extort, sense a pattern here, it has the alternate ability, tap to and pay 2 life, remove a counter from target nonland permanent, interesting this is a black flavored card, not a white or a hybrid card.

Leyline Phantom is a 5/5 5 drop that's a illusion, it's a common that when it deals combat damage, return it to it's owner's hand, but it is only returned if it survives combat, unique for limited if i may say so and well it seems like it's a decent body for it's cost, who knows.

Hello bomb mythic, a 7/7 for 7 that is known as Giant Adephage which has trample and whenever it deals combat damage to a player, put a token onto the battlefield that's a copy of Giant Adephage, I like this little timmy card since green players love combat, it's a very good body and it's a nasty effect, this is a serious limited bomb if it ever hits.

And with that that's all for today, stay tuned for tommorow when we will talk about more of the unique flavor Gatecrash is bringing us with the end of week 2 previews here, till then this is Vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 9th, 2013

Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of the emporium, where as always during a spoiler season i'll be taking a look at all the spoiled previews for a upcoming set, today's spoilers including the final guild leader, so let's get straight down to it.

Yeah, 6 for Prime Speaker Zegana which is the simic leader this time around, she enters the battlefield with X +1/+1 counters where X is the greatest power among other creatures you control, also when she enters the battlefield, you draw cards equal to it's power.

Oh wow, a actual playable constructed card, introducing Frontline Medic which costs 3 and is a 3/3 with battalion but the ability which makes him shine is the 2nd one, sacrifice him and counter target spell with X in it's mana cost unless it's controller pays 3, so a Mana Leak with legs for all X spells in the format, wow, this thing is pretty good.

Biomass Mutation is another one of those hybrid cards, but it costs X, Blue/Green, Blue/Green and is instant speed plus it's a rare, where creatures you control become X/X until end of turn, where X is the cost paid of course, this gets stopped of course by the previously spoiled card, the medic with the mana leak if they tap out to cast this.

Pit Fight is sort of interesting as it's perfect for the Gruul this time around since target creature you control basically fights another target creature, plus it's instant speed, a common and costs a mere 2 mana to boot, this thing is decent for limited and should see a little play there.

Syndic of Tithes is the last card of the day, it's a 2 drop that's a 2/2 with Extort, the orzhov keyword this time around, it's a common as well so expect to see this quite often in draft in terms of the Orzhov, with that though it's time to call it a wrap, so until tommorow this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 8th, 2013

Hello everyone and welcome back to another edition of the emporium and it's time for yet more Gatecrash spoilers with today's edition, so without further ado let's get down to business.

Undercity Plague is that spell that acts a lot like Smallpox in a way, but costs way more then it, it is a serious bomb drop at a whopping 6, but it also has Cipher which makes it somewhat playable in limited, I'm not too sure about this one at all, but i do know one thing, Cipher is pretty damn strong.

Vizkopa Confessor is another weird card i'd like to believe works, a 1/3 for 5 and it has Extort of course, so it's a given Orzhov card, but when it enters the battlefield, pay any amount of life, Target opponent reveals that many cards from his/her hand, you choose one of them and exile it, decent discard on a body, for limited anyways.

Rubblebelt Raiders is perhaps the most impressive card of the day, since it is a 3/3 that gets bigger for each attacking creature you control when it attacks, it costs 1, Red/Green. Red/Green, Red/Green and is a rare believe it or not, this makes pretty much anything super awesome.

Well that's it for today, since there are few unknowns at this point, Also Aurelia and Hellkite Tyrant are confirmed really, so 4/5 down it seems, well that's all so this is vergil signing off.

Gatecrash Spoilers: January 7th, 2013

Hello everyone and welcome once again to another edition of the emporium, let's just dive straight into it with the latest previews.

Spoiled by none other then Luis Scott Vargas, Dimir Charm will certainly be the Blue/Black player's choice card these days, it's a counter target sorcery spell, blow up target creature with power 2 or less, here's looking at you Champion of the Parish or look at the top three cards of target player's library, then put one back and the rest into the graveyard, did i mention this thing is uncommon at that.

Speaking of spoilers, it appears wizards is handing out to pro starcraft 2 casters, including one Sean "Day9" Plott who received this one, the boros guild mage, Sunhome Guildmage which either pumps your creatures or you can make 1/1's with haste for 4 mana, it's a 2/2 too, not a bad piece of limited material if you ask me.

So uh, Mind Funeral 2.0 for this set anyone, introducing Mind Grind which costs X, Blue, Black and is a rare at sorcery speed, Each opponent reveals cards from the top of his or her library until he/she reveals X land cards, then puts all cards revealed this way into his/her graveyard, X cannot be 0, it seems like next rotation wizards is most defintely pushing Mill to be a viable archetype.

Stolen Identity is another one of those Clone type spells, but this one has Cipher and costs 6 mana this time around, it's a rare and it's at sorcery speed no less, this is interesting, but for 6 mana, it's not very playable outside limited if you get it.

Finally, the Boros Keyrune was spoiled as well earlier, it's 3 mana obviously to cast, adds red/white to your mana pool and you tap Red and White to make it a 1/1 red and white soldier artifact creature with double strike until end of turn.

With that as per usual, that's the end of another edition of the emporium, also it should be noted, Enter the Infinite was officially spoiled by wizards of the coast today, so it's 2/5 so far, in terms of those super early spoilers, until next time this is vergil signing off.