Right on schedule, we have the release of the second set in the Return to Ravnica block in the form of Gatecrash. Considering how busy I’ve been over the last eight months, this set actually snuck up on me; it had only sunk in that “hey, yeah I get to draft” during the middle of the week. So, despite only following the spoilers leading up to the release of Gatecrash, I was going to have to try and not donate free packs to my friends regardless.

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This is a very, very late posting of the results of my second common cube draft, conducted in mid-September, 2012. The delay in posting this has a number of reasons, which will be explained later. Regardless, here is my recap of the second run through my common cube with some friend of mine, during a cottage excursion hosted by a friend and member of my regular play group.

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Since approximately half-way through the spoiler period for Avacyn Restored, I’ve been looking forward to Return to Ravnica. The final installment of the Innistrad block was severely disappointing to me, from both a constructed and limited perspective. Thankfully Magic 2013 delivered a return to normalcy, even in spite of it being a core set. The anticipation of Return to Ravnica was twofold; a new expert-level set release to wash away the sourness of Avacyn Restored, but also a chance to revisit one of the most highly lauded limited environments of all time. Read more

With another year in the books, Wizards of the Coast has released the fifth installment in the limited edition / collector-oriented From the Vault series. This year’s collection, titled “Realms”, follows the least exciting — and valuble — “Legends” and is no stranger to controversy either. Where last year’s release seemed uninspired and chock full of cards that, by-and-large had little secondary market value, this year’s “Realms” suffers from some of the same criticism.

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With the midly unpleasent Avacyn Restored now firmly in the rear-view mirror, the yearly iteration of the Magic: the Gathering core set has finally arrived. Magic 2013 comes as a welcome relief to this writer, as the lack of mention for the previously mentioned Avacyn Restored was not an accident — and that’s all I’m going to say about it. Ever since Wizards of the Coast shook-up the core set formula, opting for yearly releases and a better mixture of new and old cards, I have actually looked forward to their releases.

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Given my love of limited Magic, and my new found appreciation for cube drafting, I am please to announce the completion of my first Common Cube draft. After several months of acquiring cards and going through the preparatory work, the payoff finally came during a 2.5 day excursion to a friend’s cottage. Few things are more appealing to me than fresh air, a fridge full of cold beer, and the opportunity to play copious amounts of Magic.

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“Tribal” decks are certainly not a new concept in Magic. In fact, since the very inception of the game, various groups of creatures have been designed to work with cards of their own type. Though the synergies and viable cards supporting tribal decks — such as Merfolk and Goblins — have changed over time, and have benefited from years of R&D, the prospect of a tribal deck has always appealed to me.

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Since reacquainting myself with Magic: the Gathering a little over six years ago, I have had a great deal of fun embracing casual multiplayer formats; team games, Commander, and even the odd round of Emperor on cottage excursions. Intermingled with all of that is my love of limited Magic, dating as far back as my father staging an Ice Age sealed deck tournament with my family, friends and me, back in the mid-90′s. (Yes, I was lucky enough to have two parents and a brother who played Magic.

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With the release of officially branded Commander products — including the official adoption of “Commander” as the format name, in lieu of “Elder Dragon Highlander” as it was known prior — it was not many months before Wizards of the Coast trademarked the name “Cube”. In the build-up to Wizards’ presentation at PAX East, the first glimpse at an official Cube offering was provided — a complete list of the cardpool for the Magic: the Gathering Online Cube.

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I didn’t actually think I would have to bothering writing this, but the events of recent weeks have instilled a need to get my whole 2¢ out there. So, somewhat unfortunately, I’ve written this article rather than leaving it be, with just a few cryptic sound-bytes uttered into the vast ‘Twitterverse’. While Twitter is an amazing tool and genuinely useful for certain types of communication, it fails miserably when a thought needs to be elaborated. (To be fair, that is intended functionality from what I understand.)

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