It’s like exhibiting a classic work of art in a room with a fog machine

excited for my middle school crush Daze to be back in a regular Limited format, but preemptively disrespected at how Arena timing tells will give it away

Suspend Aggression {1}{R}{W} Instant Exile target nonland permanent and the top card of your library. For each of those cards, its owner may play it until the end of their next turn.

Pretty cool Repulse👍👍

Also a pretty cool Lightning-Helix-style R + W ~= another color’s monocolor effect

related PSAs: this weekend’s Turtles Play Booster Arena Direct is the worst EV of any Direct I’ve looked at, and Slay the Spire 2 is very good

Downright delicious!

People are figuring out the Everything Pizza decks. My fellow Topping Truthers from the week one PTQ are being vindicated

My corner-case sealed tips from the 6-round LCQ last weekend, validated by this data:

1) Bias towards 2/4s for your filler. You wanna block April & Oroku Saki

2) If you’re the right shape of UR/Gx, maindeck Jennika’s Technique (Pyroclasm) for the cavalry/mutanimals/sally/triceraton metagame

Lost a tough Everything Pizza mirror in the quarterfinals, no regrets! Now, sleep and Slay the Spire 2

4-1-1 to top 32 the LCQ @ Richmond

My last ptq top 8 was Onslaught/Onslaught/Legions draft. Let’s go

https://soichirow.github.io/my-9-cards-mtg/?c=inv%3A57%3Aen%2Cpls%3A60%3Aen%2Cody%3A294%3Aen%2Cuds%3A40%3Aen%2Cinv%3A70%3Aen%2Cons%3A235%3Aen%2Cktk%3A184%3Aen%2Cogw%3A31%3Aen%2Cfdn%3A192%3Aen

Eight competitive play achievements, one lifestyle (center)

WotC Grants Extra Stock Options to Everyone Who Designed Low Payout Structure in The ALCQ Last Weekend

WotC Grants Statistics Textbook to Everyone Who Made Bad Decisions in The ALCQ Last Weekend

WotC Grants Tiny Violin Pet to Everyone Who Didn’t Make Draft 2 in The ALCQ Last Weekend

Notable news. Also inspires some Onion-style headlines:

WotC Grants Extra Win to Both Players Who Made Draft 2 in The ALCQ Last Weekend

(set:tmt or set:pza) (type:instant or oracle:flash or crew or "leader in blue" or turncoat or or "shredder's technique" or unrelenting or hamato or nightwatcher or dark or "karai's technique") -(fo... 33 Magic cards found where (the set is “tmt” or the set is “pza”) and (the card types include “instant” or the text includes “flash” or the name includes “crew…

Instant-speed tricks bookmark for #MTGTMT

Includes:
- only those Instants that affect the board or stack (no pure draw/mill)
- the one Channel effect
- only those Sneak spells that affect other blocks, not just those that push damage

scryfall.com/search?q=%28...

Another angle on Arena LCQ EV:

They're essentially 260-player on-demand tournaments that pay only 1 winner, in a low-skill-edge game, with only $9.53 of each $25 entry fee going to the prize pool.

That's _exceptionally_ swingy. I can't think of any comparable event in Magic history. Or even poker.

28-14 in the #MTGECL LCQ, some sweet decks and many fun games but no Draft 2s. Onward to pizza format, he said with a sigh

Reminder to all the devoted grinders that this structure is substantially worse EV than Arena Opens, and that cashing is very hard.

Play as much as you enjoy. We get more chances to Q later this year.

I am free of the cursed prophecy

I will Q in Richmond

waking up early on Daylight Savings Day (The Bad One) to lose my bubble match to a topdecked Cowabunga!, which I assume will be a mediocre combat trick

for the love of the game

it's TMNT boosters

I wished for a Limited Championship Qualifier at SCG CON Richmond next month

and the monkey's paw curled

Rooftop Percher {5} Creature — Shapeshifter Changeling (This card is every creature type.) Flying When this creature enters, exile up to two target cards from graveyards. You gain 3 life. 3/3

I appreciate that everyone has their own quirky aspect of Lorwyn Eclipsed that scratches their nostalgia itch

Mine is the relief that the Angel of Mercy is actually playable in modern-day Limited☺️

We are deeply saddened at the news of the passing of Magic legend Kai Budde. His achievements in the game and community go beyond what we could say in one post. Our thoughts go out to Kai's friends and family in this moment.

Remembering Kai Budde: magic.wizards.com/en/news/anno...

3-1 #MTGECL prerelease

Champion of the Weird vastly underperformed. Rarely had spots where the activated ability was useful at all. Without creatures that want counters, it was kind of just bad here.

Bloodline Bidding was mediocre as expected. Would have preferred a 1B double Raise Dead.

I appreciate all the podcasts’ 2025 wrap takes, but pretending Spider-Man didn’t count is revisionism. Yes, we now know to ignore future small sets, but Spider-Man was sold to us as real.

It’s an F-, not a N/A.

The otherwise best year for Limited also contained the worst Limited set ever.

PSA: #MTGTLA Play Booster market value is even worse than last time

*46%* of your Arena Direct entry fee this weekend is raked, and you'd need a Bo1 winrate of 58% just to break even

Skipping this one!

Deck 1 Meditation Pools 1 Serpent's Pass 1 Sun-Blessed Peak 1 Boiling Rock Prison 1 Aang's Journey 1 Platypus-Bear 1 The Mechanist, Aerial Artisan 1 Sokka, Lateral Strategist 1 Foggy Swamp Spirit Keeper 1 Aang, Swift Savior 1 Flexible Waterbender 1 Benevolent River Spirit 1 Lo and Li, Twin Tutors 1 The Unagi of Kyoshi Island 1 Giant Koi 1 Iroh, Grand Lotus 1 Koh, the Face Stealer 2 Watery Grasp 2 Firebending Lesson 1 Abandon Attachments 2 Iroh's Demonstration 2 Bender's Waterskin 1 Sold Out 1 Lost Days 6 Island 2 Mountain 2 Swamp 1 Plains 1 Forest

One and done (why is the market value so bad on these boxes?) in the #MTGTLA Play Arena Direct after a fun yet grindy slog with Pocket AAngces. WURG one was in briefly but top end is still overloaded without it. 4B Tutors COOKED here, critical lifegain

7-1 🏆📦📦 sealeddeck.tech/nKm7xS12q3

Enjoyed the #MTGTLA Collector Arena Direct even though I got bent every which way, good battles, fun set

1-2 ❌ sealeddeck.tech/oWfaB13r19
0-2 ❌ sealeddeck.tech/f5xSyPWyQ3
6-2 📈 sealeddeck.tech/m2w5yV1nkT
0-2 ❌ sealeddeck.tech/ecUiTiUyvn
6-2 📈 sealeddeck.tech/1cffsHGXuu

For the EV of an Arena LCQ to be comparable to the EV of an old Arena open *for an unQed player*, the value of the Arena Limited Championship seat will have to be at least a few hundred bucks

I imagine (and hope!) it will be

But the value of grinding for more cash goes way down once Qed

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$EV/entry by player winrate* if ALC seat=$0

LCQ Draft 1 Old Arena Open Day 1
50% WR | -$16 -$11
55% WR | -$3 +$7
60% WR | +$24 +$47

*LCQs being Bo1 means lower winrates, too!
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