Is English Evolving?

The Oxford English Dictionary has released it's 2015 Word of the Year: The emoji Face with Tears of Joy.

An emoji is defined by Wiktionary as "any of the standardised ideogrammatic icons used in Japanese text messaging (which have since been adopted internationally)." It comes from the Japanese characters for picture (e) and character (moji).

I know a lot of people are going to be horrified by this announcement. "It's not even a word!", I hear them scream, "They're destroying English!" and such similar outbursts. This sort of thing happens every time something new gets added to the great tome that is the OED and as such, I think we can ignore the uproar as repetitive.

For my two cents, I think that this year is far more interesting than last year's word (Vape). What is language if not the way in which we communicate with each other? If that's the case, then the emojis are certainly becoming an integral part of our shared language and it's important that the OED acknowledge it.

What I find fascinating is that English is now incorporating pictographs into everyday use, even replacing previous usages. Pictographs seem to be useful for quickly communicating general but complex ideas (such as emotion), but I think they would be less efficient in technical discussion where details are important.

It will be interesting to watch how our language adapts to our new modes communication and how quickly it will change.

-Odd
“Language, never forget, is more fashion than science, and matters of usage, spelling and pronunciation tend to wander around like hemlines.” ― Bill Bryson, The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way

The Last Discworld novel

A couple weeks ago, my gorgeous lady bought me The Shepherd's Crown for my birthday. I had been waiting with a rabid anticipation (as I always have for a new Discworld novel) but when I actually had it in hand a strange thing happened. I wasn't sure if I wanted to read it.

The abstract on the back of the jacket ends with a devastating line: "The Last Discworld Novel". Thats it. The last one. Fin.

This, the 41st Discworld novel, rushed up the best seller lists, taking just three days to sell over 52 000 copies in the UK alone, and Terry Pratchett's daughter (Rhianna Pratchett) and his assistant (Rob Wilkins) have confirmed that neither of them will be writing any more Discworld books.

The series has been a running theme in my life for so long that I can't really envision a world where it doesn't continue. It occurred to me that if I don't read The Shepherd's Crown, there will always be a new Discworld novel waiting for me.

That's obviously insane and I am, of course, going to read it. Still: if ever there was a time to build the anticipation, the last Discworld novel must be it. To that end I'm going to re-read the other Tiffany books before I sit down with The Shepherd's Crown.


If you're a fan of Pratchett I wonder if you thought of this at all and if you're not, then I envy you the discovery of the Discworld.

-Odd

"Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can. Of course, I could be wrong." -Terry Pratchett

MTG FNM Report - 5 Colour Dragons

It's been a while since I've done a blog post as I've been quite busy at work, but I've still been playing FNM. I've mostly been running a version of my Temur Dragons deck, but I thought that the new standard was a good time to try my 5 colour dragons again. With the speed of the format slowing down and everyone playing more marginal lists while they feel out the format, I thought I could durdle around a little more without sacrificing my win percentage too much.

Here's the list I ran:

Mainboard

Sideboard

4x Heir of the Wilds 4x Beastcaller Savant 3x Rattleclaw Mystic 2x Shaman of Forgotten Ways 4x Thunderbreak Regent 1x Avaricious Dragon 2x Surrak, the Hunt Caller 4x Whisperwood Elemental 3x Sarkhan Unbroken 1x Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury 1x Dromoka, the Eternal 1x Dragonlord Ojutai 1x Dragonlord Silumgar 1x Dragonlord Dromoka 1x Dragonlord Kolaghan 1x Dragonlord Atarka 3x Frontier Bivouac 3x Opulent Palace 3x Wooded Foothills 4x Evolving Wilds 2x Lumbering Falls 1x Haven of the Spirit Dragon 1x Cinder Glade 3x Mountain 3x Forest 1x Plains 1x Island 1x Swamp

1x Hangerback Walker 2x Stubborn Denial 1x Silumgar, the Drifting Death 2x Dragonlord's Prerogative 3x Sagu Mauler 3x Crux of Fate 1x Polluted Delta 1x Swamp 1x Island

It's very similar to my previous try at 5 colour dragons, playing all the dragonlords and a ton of ramp. 

Round 1: 2-0 vs RU Thopters

In the first round, I played against a new player with his casual thopters deck. In round 1 I ramped into Surrak followed by three Whisperwoods and in the second I ramped into dragonlords Kolaghan and Dromoka. The mana seemed fine if slow, with the Beastcallers doing a good job fixing. I could have cast a turn 4 Sarkhan in game 2 if I had started with a Rattleclaw instead of a Beastcaller... but with two dragonlords in my hand and no Sarkhan, I think I made the right play. I suppose it worked out either way.

Round 2: 0-2 vs Mono-Red Midrange

Even against the midrange version of the red deck, I was just far too slow. The combination of all my tapped lands and my opponent cleverly burning all my mana-dorks means I never really got going and got run over. Ouch.

Round 3: 2-0 vs RG Midrange

This round was better for me. My opponent was also a new player and I was easily able to play bigger threats sooner than he could. I like the way the deck plays when my opponent doesn't disrupt me or put on too quick a clock.

Round 4: 2-0 vs GW Midrange

The last round saw me paired up against another new player. The first round saw me ramp out a quick Dragonlord Atarka and in the second I beat down with Heir of the Wilds and Flamebreak Regent. 

It was nice to see so many new faces at the tournament... and I felt a little bad crushing them with mythic dragons. Not so bad that I didn't enjoy it though :D I think the deck is mostly fine.. though I either need to come up with a proper sideboard that has a plan against the red decks or just write off those match-ups entirely. 

-Odd

"They come because I call. They stay because I listen." - Flavour Text, Beastcaller Savant

MTG FNM Report - Final Big Standard - Temur Dragons

A couple weeks ago, I took a slightly retooled version of my Temur Dragons deck to Outer Limits in melville to play my last FNM before Theros Block rotated out of standard. Here's the deck I ran:

Mainboard

Sideboard

4x Elvish Mystic 3x Rattleclaw Mystic 1x Hangerback Walker 4x Frost Walker 1x Deathmist Raptor 1x Managorger Hydra 4x Savage Knuckleblade 4x Thunderbreak Regent 2x Surrak, the Hunt Caller 3x Stormbreath Dragon 3x Sarkhan Unbroken 3x Crater's Claws 3x Stubborn Denial 1x Treasure Cruise 4x Temple of Epiphany 2x Temple of Mystery 1x Temple of Abandon 3x Wooded Foothills 3x Shivan Reef 1x Yavimaya Coast 2x Mana Confluence 2x Haven of the Spirit Dragon 4x Forest 1x Mountain

4x Disdainful Stroke 3x Feed the Clan 3x Destructive Revelry 2x Anger of the Gods 2x Wild Slash 1x Treasure Cruise

The deck is very similar to the one I played before, with the sole addition of Stubborn Denial. Last time I saw a lot of spots where it would be great, so I decided to run them mainboard. 

Round 1: 2-0 vs Mardu Midrange

For the second week in a row, I drew the Mardu Midrange deck in round one. I do think it's a good matchup for me, and the result seems to bear me out. Sarkhan was fantastic value, being a 4/4 dragon and eating a Hero's Downfall in game one and worked with a stubborn denial in game two to be two dragons, three cards and a threat post wrath. 

Round 2: 2-0 vs BW Aggro

In the second round, my creatures were just bigger than my opponents. Sarkhan was massive value and having stubborn denial for the removal spells meant that I was just too much for an aggressive deck to overcome.

Round 3: 2-0 vs Esper Control

The third round saw me paired up against a non-dragons version of the Esper control deck. Sarkhan was great again, but the man (or monkey) of the match was definitely the Knuckleblade. The ability for it to bounce to blank removal was in full play, and that combined with Stubborn Denial meant I could keep my guys alive long enough to punch through the control deck.

Round 4: 2-0 vs RB Dragons

In the last round, I played a very tight RB Dragons deck. It actually played out a little strangely as I landed a Knuckle-Monkey and sat behind the activation and counter spells until I could smash through for the win. The threat of activation on the monkey means he can attack through just about anything and lets me race against a deck that doesn't play as many creatures as I do. 

So I went 4-0 for the week and didn't drop a single game on the way to the win. I was perfectly happy with how the deck worked and was also quite pleased with my play. I couldn't have asked for a better send-off for the big standard environment and I had a great time.

This deck stays mostly intact after rotation, though the loss of the Elvish Mystics and Stormbreath Dragons are certainly going to be problematic. We'll have to see what I come up with for the next FNM.

-Odd

"The Temur have no patience for subtlety." -Stubborn Denial, flavour text

MTG FNM Report - TeMore Dragons

A couple weeks ago, I took a slightly retooled version of my previous Temur Dragons list to FNM at Outerlimits in Melville. Here's what I brought to the table:

Mainboard

Sideboard

4x Elvish Mystic 3x Rattleclaw Mystic 1x Hangerback Walker 4x Frost Walker 1x Deathmist Raptor 1x Yasova Dragonclaw 1x Managorger Hydra 1x Boon Satyr 4x Savage Knuckleblade 4x Thunderbreak Regent 2x Surrak, the Hunt Caller 3x Stormbreath Dragon 3x Sarkhan Unbroken 4x Crater's Claws 1x Treasure Cruise 4x Temple of Epiphany 2x Temple of Mystery 1x Temple of Abandon 3x Wooded Foothills 3x Shivan Reef 1x Yavimaya Coast 2x Mana Confluence 2x Haven of the Spirit Dragon 4x Forest 1x Mountain

4x Disdainful Stroke 3x Feed the Clan 3x Destructive Revelry 2x Anger of the Gods 2x Wild Slash 1x Treasure Cruise

This time I took out the four Goblin Rabblemasters that I played previously and replaced them with four different three drops to get a feel for which I would prefer to play. 

Round 1: 2-0 vs Mardu Midrange
The first game was a super tight race, but Surrak put me ahead for the win. In game two my opponent got stuck on three lands for a few turns and I managed to draw enough guys to play through his removal and finish him off before he could really get going. I played Yesova once, and while she traded I never got to activate her ability. I also decided that in this matchup, Stubborn Denial would have been much more useful than Disdainful Stroke.



Round 2: 1-2 vs Abzan Rally the Ancestors Combo
In the second round, I played down against a really sweet combo deck using Rally the Ancestors. I must admit, I had no idea what was going on and he crushed me game one.

The deck works by using Rally the Ancestors to return a bunch of cheap creatures including Mogis Marauder and Nantuko Hust to attack for massive damage all at once.

I threw the match with a really bad misplay in game three where I had him chump blocking on the ground and tapped out to play Sarkhan. I should have left mana open to counter the Rally that destroyed me on the next turn. Oh well... we live and learn.

Round 3: 2-1 vs Abzan Evolutionary Leap
It seemed to be my night for playing Abzan combo decks. This round I was matched up against a deck using Evolutionay Leap to sacrifice a bunch of cheap value creatures like Black Cat and Sulti Emissary, cycling through the deck to a succession of Flashbag Marauders and  Siege Rhinos.

I managed to win in the air  thanks at least partially to Sarkhan who seemed like great value. Disdainful Stroke was also good, but again, I think Stubborn Denial would have been better.

Deathmist Raptor saw the board a few times, and was quite underwhelming.




Round 4 - 2-1 vs Mono-White Aggro
The last round saw me playing up against the only undefeated player and a Mono-White Aggro deck. He ran over me in game one,but Feed the Clan was spectacular in games two and three, giving me the time to stabalise and beat him with dragons in the air. I sideboarded out Frostwalkers, but I'm not sure if I should have left them in to trade early. Maybe Surrak could come out when I'm not trying to race on the ground instead.

All told, I went 3-1 on the evening and I think I came second. I had lots of fun with my deck and saw some cool brews from my opponents. None of the new three drops really stood out to me, but that just means they need more testing. I do think that next time I'm going to try some Stubborn Denials either in the mainboard or the sideboard.

-Odd
"You are beneath contempt. Your lineage will be forgotten." Disdainful Stroke, flavour text

MTG FNM Report - Temur Dragons

This week I threw together a Temur Dragons list and ended up at Outer Limits in Melville for Friday Night Magic. Here's what the deck looked like:

Mainboard

Sideboard

4x Elvish Mystic 3x Rattleclaw Mystic 1x Hangerback Walker 4x Frost Walker 4x Goblin Rabblemaster 4x Savage Knuckleblade 4x Thunderbreak Regent 2x Surrak, the Hunt Caller 3x Stormbreath Dragon 3x Sarkhan Unbroken 4x Crater's Claws 1x Treasure Cruise 4x Temple of Epiphany 2x Temple of Mystery 1x Temple of Abandon 3x Wooded Foothills 3x Shivan Reef 1x Yavimaya Coast 2x Mana Confluence 2x Haven of the Spirit Dragon 4x Forest 1x Mountain

4x Disdainful Stroke 3x Feed the Clan 3x Destructive Revelry 2x Anger of the Gods 2x Wild Slash 1x Treasure Cruise

The plan of this deck is straightforward: Play dudes and smash. It is mostly efficient creatures (many with haste) with a little ramp and a full four Crater's Claws to finish off an opponent who manages to stabalise. This deck is mostly an excuse to play my three Sarkhan Unbroken, who I like to call Sarkhan the Misnamed because he is fully broken. 

Round 1: 2-0 vs GW Aggro

I won the first game by drawing all three Sarkhans and while he could deal with the first two, the third one stuck and easily took over the game. I sideboarded out the Rabblemasters for burn in game two and ran over my opponent with Frostwalkers and Knuckleblades. 

Round 2: 2-0 vs Temur Midrange

The thought of a mirror match had not crossed my mind before starting the tournament, but that's what I ended up with in the second round. I was running dragons, while my opponent was fielding more of a ground force and the flying really won this round for me. I sideboarded out the Rabblemasters again, this time for Disdainful Strokes which managed to counter an Arbor Colossus that would otherwise have been a big problem. 

Round 3: 0-2 vs GB Elves

I hadn't seen anything like this deck before, and I didn't have a plan or an answer. It operated a lot like a combo deck, playing all the one drop mana elves into Collected Company or Chord of Calling into Shaman of the Pack for huge chunks of damage. I made a poor keep in game 1 and boarded out Frostwalkers for game two. It didn't really make any difference as my opponent went off long before I could put in under enough pressure. 

Round 4: 2-0 vs GW Manifest

My opponent didn't draw any of his Whisperwood Elementals and I managed to outrace him in the air thanks to my dragons. Managorger Hydra was frightening in game two though. I think my matchup is quite good against Green White as my creatures can mostly just attack through anything my opponent plays. 

So I went 3-1 on the night and got third, having only lost to the eventual winner of the tournament. I was mostly happy that the deck preformed as expected and it was great dun attacking in for massive damage. I only had to sideboard out the Forstwalkers once, so I think they're absolutely viable... the same cannot be said for the Rabblemasters. As much as it pains me, they seem to be poorly positioned in the current metagame and I will have to try out some alternatives in the next tournament. 

-Odd

"'As the clans carved out their territories, we saw allies where the Mardu saw only obstacles.' -Yasova Dragonclaw" Frostwalker, flavour text 

MTG FNM Report - More-Du Dragons

Once more, I ran back my Mardu Dragons deck for FNM, this time I played in the Dracoti Box Event at the Jozi Diner.

Here's what I played:

Mainboard

Sideboard

3x Thoughtseize 3x Wild Slash 2x Draconic Roar 3x Hero's Downfall 4x Crackling Doom 4x Seeker of the Way 2x Goblin Rabblemaster 2x Flamewake Phoenix 2x Butcher of the Horde 2x Outpost Siege 4x Thunderbreak Regent 3x Stormbreath Dragon 2x Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury 2x Haven of the Spirit Dragon 2x Mana Confluence 1x Nomad Outpost 1x Bloodstained Mire 1x Temple of Silence 1x Temple of Malice 1x Temple of Triumph 2x Caves of Koilos 3x Battlefield Forge 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yorgmoth 5x Mountain 3x Swamp 1x Plains

2x Crux of Fate 2x Utter End 2x Drown in Sorrow 2x Anger of the Gods 1x Goblin Rabblemaster 1x Thoughtseize 3x Read the Bones 2x Chandra, Pyromaster

As the Dracoti event is quite competitive, I decided to make my deck as consistent as possible by removing a lot of my one and two-of's. I was also expecting a bunch of red aggro decks, so I'm playing three Wild Slash in the mainboard. 

Round 1: 2-0 vs GW Aggro

I played against a fairly casual Green White aggressive deck. It was an unfortunate match-up for my opponent as I had more than enough removal to keep him down until my dragons could kill him in the mid to late game

Round 2: 0-2 vs Jeskai Dragons

Next, I played against a really sweet brew of Jeskai Dragons. I never really felt in a good position against this deck and the few times I did get ahead the combination of Soulfire Grandmaster and Draconic Roar easily brought my opponent back to enough life to stabalise. The fact that Ojutai's Command can return the Soulfire from the graveyard is also a beating. Overall I though I might have been able to win, but couldn't quite draw enough gas to overcome all his counters. 

Round 3: 0-2 vs Mardu Warriors

I feel really bad about this round. I made two really bad keeps of hands that were screaming out to be mulligan'd and didn't really play magic. That being said, my opponent played well and didn't give me any time to recover. Hopefully this will finally teach me to be more disciplined in the future. 

Round 4: 0-2 vs 'Thopters 

This is certainly a real deck (as if you hadn't figured that out from PT coverage). I didn't see my thoughtseizes or crackling dooms and got quickly put away with ensoul artifact. Ouch.

Round 5: 2-1 vs Mono-Black

I had fun in my last round and managed to claw back some self-respect against a cool grindy mono-black brew. Crackling doom was really great against Priest of the Blood Rite and the sideboard Anger of the Gods was super useful against Macabre Waltz.

So that was my five rounds and I went 2-3. Not the record I wanted, but I wasn't too disappointed. If I'd played better and been a little lucky I could have done miles better. I really do think it's time for me to switch up decks... if only for a change of pace. 

-Odd

"Never mistake deception for cleverness." Wild Slash, Flavour Text

MTG FNM Report - Mardu Dragons

This past week, I took a slightly different version of my Mardu dragons deck to TopDeck in Sandton. Here's the list I ran:

Mainboard

Sideboard

3x Thoughtseize 2x Valorous Stance 2x Ultimate Price 2x Draconic Roar 3x Hero's Downfall 3x Crackling Doom 1x Kolaghan's Command 4x Seeker of the Way 2x Goblin Rabblemaster 2x Flamewake Phoenix 2x Butcher of the Horde 2x Outpost Siege 4x Thunderbreak Regent 3x Stormbreath Dragon 1x Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury 2x Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker 2x Haven of the Spirit Dragon 3x Mana Confluence 1x Nomad Outpost 1x Bloodstained Mire 1x Temple of Silence 1x Temple of Malice 1x Temple of Triumph 2x Caves of Koilos 2x Battlefield Forge 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yorgmoth 5x Mountain 3x Swamp 1x Plains

2x Crux of Fate 2x Utter End 2x Mastery of the Unseen 2x Drown in Sorrow 2x Anger of the Gods 2x Lightning Strike 1x Thoughtseize 1x Goblin Rabblemaster 1x Crackling Doom

This week I took out the two Sarkhan Dragonspeakers for a couple Outpost Sieges and a couple Goblin Rabblemaster's for two Flamewake Phoenix. I decided that Outpost Siege was a definite must in the deck and I've found Rabblemaster mostly underwhelming, so I wanted to try an alternative. 

Round 1: 2-0 vs RW Agro

In the first round I played against an aggressive red/white deck running a lot of combat tricks. It was an unfortunate match-up for my opponent as the Mardu Dragons list has more than enough removal to stem the agro tide and I managed to get multiple 2-for-1's when he tried to use his tricks. 

Round 2: 2-1 vs GW Counters

Managed to get there against this surprisingly solid green/white deck. In the first game my opponent smashed me with an Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit and all four Avatar of the Resolutes... ouch. In games two and three, my removal was able to hold down the fort (or is it the outpost?) until my dragons could win the game.

Round 3: 0-2 vs Abzan Control

Wow, was this a grindy match-up. Flamewake Pheonix seemed great in game 1 (even though it didn't ultimately help). My opponent had Dromoka's Command for my Outpost Sieges and so could take over the late game. This should be the match-up for the Mastery's in the sideboard, but my deck isn't really setup to take any advantage of them and they seemed sub-optimal to bring in when it actually came down to making the choice. 

Round 4: 1-2 vs Mardu Agro 

In the first game my opponent managed to run over my land heavy draw. The second saw a Seeker of the Way put me enough ahead on life to close out the game easily and in the third game I stumbled a bit on mana and had to top-deck a land to play a Stormbreath for the win... unfortunately it didn't happen.

I went 2-2, had a good time and liked all the changes I made to my list this week. However, if I play this deck in future I need to have another look at the sideboard plan against control. I might try something different next week to change it up.

-Odd

"To wield lightning is to tame chaos." - Lightning Strike, Flavour Text

Gogol Bordello at Oppikoppi 2015

I'm generally not a massive fan of music festivals, and as I identify predominately as a metal-head, Oppikoppi would normally not be high on my list of chosen locations to spend my weekend. This year, however, saw the Gypsy Punk band Gogol Bordello headline the festival and I certainly couldn't pass up the opportunity to see them live.

I was introduced to this band years ago by a friend and their upbeat, manic paced style is easily some of my favorite happy-bouncy-fun-time music. I was thrilled to see them live in South Africa and they certainly didn't let me down. It was an epic show by a energetic and thoroughly professional group.

I was a little disappointed by the crowd at the event. I suppose I'm used to metal crowds at shows like Rammstein and Metallica where the whole crowd is there for that specific band. It's probably also the case that a lot of people didn't know Gogol Bordello and most of them had already been partying for two or three days, but I would still expect a little more enthusiasm from the crowd. With all that being said, I had a great party and it didn't take long for the guys on stage to get everyone on board and having fun.

If you weren't able to make it out to Oppikoppi this year, or didn't know about Gogol Bordello before this blog post, I encourage you to go check out their YouTube channel, and pick up one of their albums.

Thanks for coming to SA, guys! I hope we'll see you again soon... and next time, bring more merchandise!

-Odd
Oh yeah, oh no, it doesn't have to be so
It is possible any time anywhere
Even without any dough
Oh yeah, oh no, it doesn't have to be so
Forces of the creative mind are unstoppable!
-"Oh No", Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike (2005), Gogol Bordello

MtG Tournament Report - Madru Dragons

Once more, I took the Mardu Dragons list that I've been playing to Outer Limits in Melville. This time is was actually a Saturday as I was at The Doors on Friday. Here's the list I ran:

Mainboard

Sideboard

3x Thoughtseize 2x Valorous Stance 2x Ultimate Price 2x Draconic Roar 3x Hero's Downfall 3x Crackling Doom 1x Kolaghan's Command 4x Seeker of the Way 4x Goblin Rabblemaster 2x Butcher of the Horde 4x Thunderbreak Regent 3x Stormbreath Dragon 1x Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury 2x Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker 2x Haven of the Spirit Dragon 3x Mana Confluence 4x Nomad Outpost 1x Bloodstained Mire 1x Temple of Silence 1x Temple of Malice 1x Temple of Triumph 2x Caves of Koilos 2x Battlefield Forge 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yorgmoth 4x Mountain 2x Swamp

1x Thoughtseize 1x Self-Inflicted Wound 1x Crackling Doom 2x Crux of Fate 2x Utter End 2x Mastery of the Unseen 2x Drown in Sorrow 2x Anger of the Gods 2x Lightning Strike

I've been super impressed by this deck the last few times I've played it. It reminds me a lot of the old Vampires deck I was playing at the end of Innistrad (when I came back to Standard play) in that it has tons of removal and nice evasive creatures to finish off the game quickly. 

Round 1: 2-0 vs GU Ramp

I played my first round against a fairly new player with a more or less casual GU ramp deck. This was a terrible match up for my opponent. Crackling Doom was amazing, and I could really just ignore the ramp creatures and remove the big threats. I drew only 5 non-land cards in game 2 and still won handily. 

Round 2: 1-2 vs GR Devotion

The first game ended quickly as  I ran over my opponent with Goblin Rabble Master and Butcher of the Horde. In the second game I managed to kill Dragonlord Atarka, but then died to the giant Genesis Hydra that he followed up with. Unfortunately, I mulliganed down to 5 in game three and couldn't find a third land.

Round 3: 0-2 vs Mardu Midrange

I got thumped by the old Mardu Midrange deck from Khans Block in round 3. My deck did what it wants to do, but my opponent played two Outpost Siege (the only two in his deck!) against me in both games and the card advantage was just way too much for me. 

Round 4: 2-1 vs Mardu Aggro 

My sideboard sweepers let me easily bring home the win against the aggressive mardu deck that was playing a ton of one and two drops. 

So I went 2-2 for the night... not the best result, but I had a lot of fun. I think I'm going to drop the two Sarkhan's for Outpost Siege. As I saw in round 3, with my deck looking to 1-for-1 for the majority of the game, the Siege is probably important to pull ahead in the mid to late game. 

-Odd

"Speed to strike, fury to smash." -Mardu Banner, flavour text

The Doors Nightclub: The End of the Edenvale Era

This week, a post was made on The Doors Nightclub's Facebook page to announce that the club is moving. They were adamant that it is not closing down, merely going dark while they move to an (as yet) unannounced location. Even so, I cannot help but feel a pang of loss at the news.

The Doors in Edenvale was a huge part of my life for many years. During my student years I spent 3 or 4 nights a week there. It was my Cheers. I remember nights where it took an hour to walk from the door to the roof because I had to stop to greet everyone. I (mostly) remember tequila nights, drinking Tequila and lime.

I have never before, nor have I since had the privilege of meeting such an abundance of fantastic people. I met my gorgeous girlfriend at the doors, and most of the friends I have to this day are from those long nights.

Tonight (Friday 31st July) will be the last night that The Doors Nightclub will be open in Edenvale, and I'm going to be there to give the venue a last party. If you're in the area and the club has meant something to you, I would encourage you to do the same.

-Odd
"When one Doors closes, another opens..." - Alexander Graham Bell (Sort of)

Another milestone passed for Artificial Intelligence - Self Awareness

Today, in New York city, a robot was observed to show self awareness for the first time. Scientists at the Rensselaer AI and Reasoning (RAIR) lab performed an experiment called The King's Wise Men, which is supposed to be a test of self awareness.

There will no doubt be a lot of debate about whether or not this result actually proves that the robot is self aware, and it if it does it's only in a very small and specific band, but it does highlight a few important things for me.

The first one is that breakthroughs in the fields of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence are accelerating remarkably. This is off of the back of maturity in the coding environments and the availability of cheap hardware like the French made Nao Robot used in the RAIR experiment.


It also makes me think that we can't be all that far off from an Artificial Intelligence that is truly self aware. That is exciting and frightening as we cannot predict what I world will look like after that happens, it's a Technological Singularity that I've written about before on this blog.

I feel privileged that such a momentous event, written about in hundreds of Science Fiction stories, will (in all probability) happen in my lifetime. 

-Odd
"I believe that at the end of the century the use of words and general educated opinion will have altered so much that one will be able to speak of machines thinking without expecting to be contradicted." - Alan Turing, Computing machinery and intelligence

MtG Origins Prerelease Report - Saturday

After a decent run in the midnight prerelease, I stole a couple hours sleep and headed back to Outer Limits for the Saturday prerelease. I was much happier with my pool this time, though I didn't open any money.

Here's what I built:

Click to Enlarge

2-1 vs GB

I loved the deck I was playing, lots of burn and some fantastic bombs late. My opponent could control my early red aggression but then was out of resources when I started dropping fatties late.

2-0 vs RW

I managed to out race the aggressive deck with my red. The Scab-Clan Beserkers were a little awkward to get renowned, but once they were they were great against all my opponent's combat tricks. The Mage-Ring Bully was sweet with Titanic Growth and got my multiple 2-for-1s in this match.

2-0 vs Mono White

My opponent was playing the life gain artifact and multiple tappers, which I think is sub-optimal. Titanic Growth did a great job trumping other combat tricks and was lots of fun with the Menace on the Boggart Brute.

1-2 vs RW

This time I got out aggro'd by the other red deck. In game two I did manage to search with Woodland Bellower twice after he got exiled with Hixus, Prison Warden, which was sweet. Overall I played to my outs and was happy with my performance. 

2-1 vs UR Thopter Tempo

The Scab-Clan Beserkers were great against my opponent's multiple tempo spells and Chandra's Fury out of the board was fantastic. 

I went 4-1 on the day and came second. This format is tons of fun. From my two prereleases I have determined that red fantastic with lots of aggressive creatures and enough efficient burn to really push the damage. The Skysnare Spider did major work... I was super impressed with that card.

I will still be posting my results from FNM later in the week, so you can check back for that.

-Odd

"The only thing more ill-tempered than a griffin in a web is the spider that must subdue it." - Skynare Spider, flavour text

MtG Origins Prerelease Report - Midnight

As usual, I played in the midnight prerelease at Outer Limits in Melville. There were already four red players by the time I registered, so I went with green. The pool I opened was ok, though not hugely exciting. I did open a Nissa, which is value but not spectacular for limited play.

Here's what I ended up running:

Click to enlarge

My green was by far the best colour I opened, and I chose to pair it with blue as it gave me the most interaction. It also provided me with some flyers which I find are very important in sealed as a lot of games end up in a board stall. 

2-1 vs Mono-White Artifacts

I managed to curve out and use the blue disruption to push through the last few points of damage. The Managorger Hydra was terrific in both game that I won and the Whirler Rogue was brilliant too. I lost the second game to Sentinel of the Eternal Watch... holy crap, that card is horrifying. I was in total control of that game until it came down and then it just took over. 

1-2 vs RW Agro

Turns out the red/white deck is super aggressive. He curved out in all three games and my under powered four drops were not enough to stabalise. I managed to steal the second game with Bounding Krasis, but got taken out in the third. Menace seems to be a relevant ability, especially when my three drop is a Scrapskin Drake that can't block. 

2-0 vs Mono-Black 

Game one went according to plan as I managed to curve out and use the blue spells to tempo my opponent out. Game two he got stuck on two land... but hey, I'll take whatever win is available.

2-0 vs GB and UW Skies

I managed to out value my opponent's mediocre GB deck in game one and outraced his UW flyers deck in game two with bigger creatures. 

I had great fun with this format and had a good enough record to come third. My big takeaways from this event were that I really enjoyed Whirler Rogue every time I played it, Red and White are frighteningly aggressive and Nissa was actually quite easy to flip but didn't have much impact when she did. 

I'll be posting my reports from my Saturday prerelease and from my FNM later in the week, so check back for that. 

-Odd

"Nissa had only the space of a heartbeat to react, her instincts steering her blade." 

    -Wild Instincts, flavour text

MtG FNM Report - Mardu Dragons

Every since Dragons of Tarkir was released, I've been playing either 5 Colour Dragons or Temur agro and neither of those decks have a lot of space left for removal. So this week I decided to play Mardu Dragons, as the deck looked like fun and plays tons and tons of the a fore mentioned removal. Here's what I ran: 

Mainboard

Sideboard

3x Thoughtseize 2x Valorous Stance 2x Ultimate Price 2x Draconic Roar 1x Lightning Strike 3x Hero's Downfall 3x Crackling Doom 1x Kolaghan's Command 3x Seeker of the Way 4x Goblin Rabblemaster 2x Butcher of the Horde 4x Thunderbreak Regent 3x Stormbreath Dragon 1x Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury 2x Sarkhan, the Dragonspeaker 2x Haven of the Spirit Dragon 3x Mana Confluence 4x Nomad Outpost 1x Bloodstained Mire 1x Temple of Silence 1x Temple of Malice 1x Temple of Triumph 2x Caves of Koilos 2x Battlefield Forge 1x Urborg, Tomb of Yorgmoth 4x Mountain 2x Swamp

1x Thoughtseize 1x Self-Inflicted Wound 1x Crackling Doom 2x Crux of Fate 2x Utter End 2x Mastery of the Unseen 2x Drown in Sorrow 2x Anger of the Gods 2x Lightning Strike

This list is based off of the popular Pro Tour build with some concessions made to what cards I have or could borrow, especially in the mana base. The plan is fairly simple: disrupt the opponent with discard and removal and then beat them to death with dragons (have I mentioned I love dragons?).

Round 1: 2-0 vs BW Warriors

After getting thumped by this deck last week, it was hugely satisfying to take it down so handily this week. Game one felt quite tense, but my spot removal lined up when I needed it to and the six sweepers out of the sideboard were great in game two. 

Round 2: 2-0 vs GB Heroic

I love seeing strange builds at FNM and this one was great. It was basically a combo deck that pointed a bunch of pump spells at green heroic creatures to attack for massive chunks of damage. Unfortunately for him I was able to thoughseize out his creatures in game one and had all the removal for them in game two. 

Round 3: 0-2 vs Mono-Red

This round saw me paired up against Aiden who was piloting a borrowed Mono-Red deck after a few months out of the game. He played it really well and I just couldn't stay alive long enough to stabilise. I felt like I had the removal in game 2 but still lost as he would get small value or damage out of every turn. I'm not really sure what I could have done differently and I think the match up is ok as long as I can land a lifelink creature... I will have to think hard about this one.

Round 4: 2-0 vs Grixis Minotaurs 

This was also a slightly strange deck, it seemed to be a normal BR minotaurs deck but splashing blue for Anticipate. Valorous Stance was handy to protect Rabblemaster in both games, through I should probably have 'boarded them out for game two. Once more the removal suite let me keep the creature deck under control long enough for my dragons to eat them.

So I went 3-1 this week, came in fourth and got myself two boosters and the promo Swords to Plowshares. I had lots of fun with all my games and felt the deck was good in all my match ups. It did feel quite tense in game ones, but it seemed like I could sideboard into the best suited removal for whatever the situation was. All in all it performed well and even the mana base was solid (I never had major issues). I think I'll just run it back again next week. 

-Odd

"Do not fear the lightning. Fear the one it obeys." 

  - Crackling Doom, flavour text

MtG FNM Report - Five Colour Dragon Ramp

It's been a while since I did an FNM report, so here's the run down from last week's tournament at Outer Limits Melville. I played a silly five colour Dragon ramp deck, because I love me some dragons and wanted to play them all in one deck. Here's the list I ran:

Mainboard

Sideboard

4x Elvish Mystic 3x Rattleclaw Mystic 4x Sylvan Caryatid 3x Courser of Kruphix 4x Thunderbreak Regent 3x Stormbreath Dragon 1x Kolaghan, the Storm's Fury 1x Atarka, World Render 1x Silumgar, the Drifting Death 1x Dromoka, the Eternal 1x Ojutai, Soul of Winter 1x Dragonlord Dromoka 1x Dragonlord Atarka 1x Dragonlord Ojutai 1x Dragonlord Silumgar 1x Dragonlord Kolaghan 2x Crux of Fate 2x Sarkhan Unbroken 1x Ugin, the Spirit Dragon 2x Haven of the Spirt Dragon 3x Mana Confluence 2x Opulent Palace 3x Wooded Foothills 4x Evolving Wilds 4x Forest 3x Mountain 1x Swamp 1x Plains 1x Island

4x Crackling Doom 4x Ultimate Price 2x Foul-Tongue Invocation 2x Anger of the Gods 2x Dragonlords Prerogative 1x Whip of Erebos

The main impetus behind this deck should be readily apparent: I want to play ALL THE DRAGONS! So I've got some ramp and some dragons. The only spell I've included is Crux of Fate, because it fits the flavour and a one-sided wrath seems like a good thing.

Round 1: 2-1 vs GR Dragons

My first round I was paired up against FNM regular Michael, and I was nervous. His favorite flavour of magic has been GR for a while and his GR dragon ramp deck is super scary, always well piloted and probably much more consistent than mine. It turned out to be one of my favorite games of magic ever with the game winner always swinging for well over 20 in the air each game (Game one he cast Chord of Calling to fetch Ararka, World Render to attack me for 40-something). My mana held up in games 2 and 3 as did my side-board plan of pulling out the 7 drops for more removal. 

Round 2: 2-0 vs UW morph

Round two I was paired up against a fairly new player with a pretty strong deck. I didn't give him time to get Mastery of the Unseen going and despite a really scary Master of Pearls play in game two, the dragons took it home. 

Round 3: 1-2 vs BW Death

I was paired against another FNM regular (Francois) in probably my worst match-up of the night. Game one was pretty much a write off as he had all the removal and multiple Agent of Fates triggers. I boarded in my Ultimate Price and Anger of the Gods and managed to swing game 2, but didn't draw the removal game three and multiple Agent of Fates triggers left me with no board facing down an 7 power, flying, first strike, deathtouch, lifelink, vigilance Agent of Fates.... .... .... it didn't end well for me. 

Round 4: 0-2 vs BW Warriors

In the last round I played another new-comer to Outer Limits and his "budget" BW warriors deck. He played well and.... wow.... that Warriors deck is legit. Lots of 2/1 warriors, coupled with great removal, the double striking warrior and Great Teachers decree was just way too fast for my poor little dragons deck. In both games I managed to sweep the board to stabilise (with Crux game one and Anger game 2) but he just dashed in a warrior for lethal. 

So that was the end of the night. I went 2-2, had some great games and even won booster for my troubles. I think my deck was fun, but obviously sub-optimal. If I continue with the five colour version I will have to take out some 7 and 8 drops for more removal as I was boarding into it every match. 

I'm not sure what I'm going to be playing this week... maybe a refined version of this five colour dragons list, the Mardu Dragons list that's been doing well in the international tournaments, or I might brew up a Temur Dragons list because Sarkhan Unbroken is busted (every game I played him I just felt like it put me so far ahead of my opponents). 

Hopefully I'll give you another report next week.

-Odd

"'My dragonlord is immortal. Most dragons are not.'  Kadri, Dromoka warrior" - Enduring Victory, flavour text