Suggested block sealed formats of Magic: The Gathering

I was recently in discussions with a L3 Magic: The Gathering (MTG) judge from one of my local game shops (LGS), Games Laboratory, around the suggested / recommended configuration to be used when playing sealed deck format when it comes to block sets. Sealed deck is a form of a limited format where players make a 40 card deck from a restricted pool of cards. Over the history of MTG, the pool has varied, but it appears that the current most preferred pool is using 6 booster packs. Other ways in the past is by using a Tournament pack and some additional booster packs.

The sealed limited format in MTG is the format I play the most with my "kitchen table" group.

The L3 suggested for any Large-Small-Small block (and the size refers to the card pool size of each individual set), it should be 2 boosters from the first set, 2 boosters, from the second set, and 2 boosters from the third set. This will take into account the way blocks are designed. So therefore, we have come up with the following recommendations:

Return to Ravnica block (Return to Ravnica, Gatecrash, Dragon's Maze)

• 2 from Return to Ravnica, 2 from Gatecrash, 2 from Dragon's Maze

Innistrad block (Innistrad, Dark Ascension, Avacyn Restored)
This block has the two types of sealed pools:

• 3 from Innistrad, 3 from Dark Ascension
• 6 from Avacyn Restored

Scars of Mirrodin block (Scars of Mirrodin, Mirrodin Besieged, New Phyrexia)

• 2 from Scars of Mirrodin, 2 from Mirrodin Besieged, 2 from New Phyrexia

Zendikar block (Zendikar, Worldwake, Rise of the Eldrazi)
This block has the two types of sealed pools:

• 3 from Zendikar, 3 from Worldwake
• 6 from Rise of the Eldrazi

Alara block (Shards of Alara, Conflux, Alara Reborn)

• 2 from Shards of Alara, 2 from Conflux, 2 from Alara Reborn

Note that this was the last block to have the Tournament Pack, so people that played MTG when this was released may have had different experiences.

Lorwyn-Shadowmoor block (Lorwyn, Morningtide, Shadowmoor, Eventide)
This block was actually made up of 2 mini-blocks, so the suggested way of doing a sealed game with these are:

• 3 from Lorwyn, 3 from Morningtide
• 3 from Shadowmoor, 3 from Eventide

I will stop there (for the moment), as I find it more difficult / expensive to obtain any sealed booster boxes older than the Lorwyn-Shadowmoor block.

I welcome any feedback around these suggestions / recommendation, and may edit this blog entry from time to time. Keep in mind, these are only suggestions and recommendations, and should not deter you from playing sealed formats with 6 different boosters from different sets.

Say "no" to eBay's Global Shipping Program

As some of you may know, I play Magic: The Gathering (MTG), and as someone who plays the games and collects the cards, a more cost effective way of gathering the cards is via eBay. I am not new when it comes to on-line shopping. I doubt many other people out there who are connected to the internet are also unaware of eBay. They connect sellers with buyers on a global scale.

Recently, eBay introduced a new feature for sellers in the USA - the Global Shipping Program (GSP). The GSP sounds like a great service - on the surface. Sellers in the USA package their goods, and send it to the GSP hub, in Kentucky, where Pitney Bowes takes over and ships it to international customers. As long as the seller gets it to the GSP hub, the service takes care of the rest. It will also calculate the international shipping costs, and any additional customs costs, and that will be all billed to the buyer.

But in reality, there are many problems associated with the GSP. The cost to cover such a service is very expensive. As I mentioned, I play and collect MTG cards. The cost of shipping 4 pieces of thin cardboard to me is around $US30. Who thinks that is reasonable? Even with padding / protection, expedited shipping, and tracking - it would be around the $US12 mark. My usual expectations for 4 pieces of thin cardboard safely shipping to me is around $US3 to $US4 per item. This will get cheaper (per unit) if the seller allows for combined shipping. Obviously, there is some additional mark-ups inserted into the GSP fee - which as I mentioned gets passed onto the buyer. While this make make it easier for the seller, it does not make it easier or cheaper for the buyer.

This video has someone discussing some of the other problems:

The video gets interesting around the 10m22s when the person in the video reads out a response sent to him from eBay around a dispute he has with damage to a product.

So, summing things up:

• Greater costs get passed to the buyer
• GSP opens up packages sent to them, and repackages them
• Any disputes over damage are ignored by eBay
• GSP has a "hands-off" approach to resolving disputes
• No value declaration
• It means less money in the hands of seller, as more goes to eBay - which in turn, means international buyers will not tend to spend as much for products US sellers may be offering
• GSP also has a tendency for under-calculating the shipping costs of items seen on the search page when compared to the single item listing pages

What can you do as a buyer? Inform the sellers about the reality of GSP. Do some of your own research, weigh up comments from people who have bought products via the GSP. Most people use eBay to find bargains. Inform the users using GSP that you prefer sellers that "manually" ship items. If the fact that eBay fees are now making internet goods more expensive, support your local stores - buy from them.

What can you do as a seller? Deactivate GSP by doing the opposite of what is listed in this link, or via the steps listed in this eBay forum thread. Listen to your buyers. Without them, all you have is your product, and less potential customers.

Lastly, both groups can keep complaining to eBay. I am sure GSP has some benefits in some situations, but I am yet to see what those situations are, and am yet to read a glowing review of GSP, but I have read that eBay Global Shipping Program Exposes Sellers to Bad Feedback.

Tinker's Air Jordan 2012

I recently wore these sneakers to NutMeg's 30th birthday. When I mean recently, I mean it was in June. As you have seen from what I have been writing, I do not have much time to update this blog, but I will attempt to do it when I can.

The Air Jordan 2012 was created as a modular shoe. It had one outer shell, 2 inner cuffs, and 3 insoles. You can mix'n'match all the different components. Currently I am happy with the low inner liner, with the Fly Over insoles. They are very comfortable, and I would not have a problem using them for casual wear, as well as sport.

The query some of you may have is why am I wearing sneakers to a 30th birthday. Was it a casual affair? Well not it was not. The birthday was a theme dress-up. NutMeg asked people to come dressed in the 50s, but KittyKat and I dressed in the 30s. The Air Jordan 2012 (in this instance, Tinker Hatfield's personal design) looks similar to a wingtip shoe with spat look on it, as you can see:

These shoes were worn under a grey pinstripe suit, with tie and fedora hat. The best thing I liked about this shoe was that no one who saw me thought I was wearing sneakers until I pointed it out. I am definitely looking for the next formal occasion I can slip into these.

A "more" useful date prompt for the desktop applet

I have been using Linux Mint desktops recently, and I find these easy to use. The only part I dislike about them is the date in the calendar applet in the task bar. This should fix it:

%A %d/%m/%Y %l:%M %p

This will make the date time look like this:

Wednesday 25/09/2013 2:16 PM

Alternatively, I also like the look of:

%A %d.%m.%Y %l:%M %p

This will make the date time look like this:

Wednesday 25.09.2013 2:16 PM

My first green triangle

I've made my first green triangle in Ingress. Here it is:

For the effort I have put in, I get +744 Mind Units (MUs) for the Enlightened faction. This was done while I grinded my way up to level 3. The game does get somewhat easier the higher you advance, but it also means you do a lot more grinding to get up to higher levels.

I'm not sure on the strategy to follow. Either I will let the Resistance faction take back what I have claimed, or I will defend what I have claimed. The game does not seem to have a definite path, except for the constant exchange of portals between the two factions.

Looks like Google came out with a better game

I came up with a game a long time ago, when I was bored and working in Canberra. Thinking about how isolated it was, I wonder sometimes why someone else did not come up with the game sooner. I called it the blog photo game.

Anyway, it appears that Google have come out with a far better version: Ingress.


If you have the opportunity to play this game, I highly suggest it. It turns your Android phone into a "scanner" and then you take photos, and check-in to locations around your city, or your country. At the bare essence of the game, you are now employed by Google to make sure their "geo-data" in your city is accurate. It also allows for the creation of other applications like Field Trip.

My apologies to the Apple iPhone faithful. The game is solely for Android appliances. While you may be happy in the fact that you are not an unpaid employee of Google, you are missing out on the fun of this game. Apparently an Apple version is due out soon.

Magic: The Gathering resources on the web

I have been attempting for a while to document the websites I visit when I want information on Magic: The Gathering (MTG), and here is my current list (in no particular order):

• MTG Top 8
• Card set information
• Drafting simulator
• MTG Card Staples
• Wizards of the Coast's MTG Website
• mtgGoldfish
• MTGPulse
• MTGO Stats
• Magic: The Redditing
• Competitive Magic on reddit
• MTGPrice
• Wizards of the Coast's Gatherer
• MagicCardInfo
• Judge's Corner on Youtube
• Magic: The Gathering channel on Youtube
• The Magic Show on Youtube
• Wizard's Play Network on Youtube
• DoctorWhyMagic on Youtube
• Ertai's Lament
• MTG Salvation wiki

I hope other people looking for resources for the game also find this list useful. I am sure there are plenty more sites, and others will have their favourites. I am happy to update this over time, if I find any more or am informed of any more.

Australian government backs down from internet filter

I have not written in this blog for a long time, as I have been busy recently, but something in the news has broken my "silence".

The good senator Conroy is now also the level-headed senator Conroy. In a win for anti-censorship, the Australian Government has backed down from implementing a nationwide internet filter. Instead they have asked for individual internet companies to block the most degenerate of all child pornography websites.

While this is a better idea than a nationwide filter, I do not know what it will target. I do not know of any public websites that deal with child pornography. It is not like you can search for the topic on the internet and find websites, where you can then purchase images or movies. Still, I welcome this move.

I have been following, and writing, about this topic for a long time. As a parent, I welcome that fact that the government is allowing me to take responsibility of raising my child in a way where he will have limitless access to knowledge, and with my assistance, also know what is right and wrong.

Toddler Adidas Shelltoes

With someone special on his way, KittyKat and I decided we needed to purchase some sneakers for the little man. KittyKat saw these on special and knew that I would be getting them. There is not much I can write about the Adidas Superstar II for toddlers, as I cannot actually try them on, but they look just as sturdy as the Shelltoes I have.

The main difference is the laces with the adult version and the toddler version - with the toddler version not having any laces but velcro straps instead.

After little man arrives, I'll report on what they appear to do, but keep in mind, this is more of an exercise in marketing than in comfort for any toddler. Most toddlers may get about 2 months usage out of these type of shoes (especially in this shoe size) before they are not longer usable. I have already made comments on this in the Adidas Toy Story Woody shoes article I have written, and my stance is still the same.

The revised SplinterWin deck on Android

I've recently been working on my Infinite Copies Modern deck for Magic: The Gathering (MTG), and this is the latest iteration of it:


SplinterWin (Modern) [blue/red]
CREATURES

• 2 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
• 4 Pestermite
• 4 Deceiver Exarch
• 2 Spellskite

NONCREATURES

• 4 Splinter Twin
• 3 Pact of Negation
• 4 Remand
• 2 Mana Leak
• 2 Dispel
• 1 Firespout
• 1 Lightning Bolt
• 4 Serum Visions
• 1 Spreading Seas
• 2 Echoing Truth

LANDS

• 4 Steam Vents
• 4 Reflecting Pool
• 4 Scalding Tarn
• 4 Cascade Bluffs
• 4 Sulfur Falls
• 2 Island
• 1 Breeding Pool
• 1 Stomping Ground

SIDEBOARDS

• 2 Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
• 2 Spellskite
• 3 Nihil Spellbomb
• 3 Naturalize
• 2 Firespout
• 1 Echoing Truth
• 1 Dispel
• 1 Lightning Bolt

I have been working on this deck with my new Android phone and it the MTG toolbox application. The application itself is quiet interesting, but appears to be prone to crashing during mid operation. SpecialK has the same application on his iPhone, and it does not appear to have the same crashing problems. The application's features include a card viewer, a location finder, a news reader - all of this is to do with MTG, of course. Additionally, I am able to analyse the decks I create (seeing percentage breakdowns of different cards in the deck), build different decks at the same time, share the decks (via email or sms), and even draw sample hands.

Another fault (other than the random crashing) I have seen in the application is that during the simulated drawing of sample hands, there is a significant doubling up of cards in sequence. I do not think the randomiser works well. I have not seen behaviour like this in real life draws.


I am still keen to know of alternative applications, as well as decks in the modern format that are competitive against this deck, which can win by turn 4 around 35% of the time, and by turn 5 around 60% of the time. It would win easier if Preordain and Ponder were not banned in the format - but there are reasons for that, and it has been discussed in:

• What’s Up with the Modern Banned List?

Other Modern format deck ideas have been discussed in:

• Analyzing the Modern Format - Post-Dark Ascension Edition