State of the Program for August 1st 2014

In the News:

MOCS and PTQs are Back!: Wizards has announced the return of Premier events, including MOCS and PTQs. The MOCS are returning pretty much as they were before the hiatus. The PTQs will be different, and be structured much like paper PTQs (see below.) Like paper, there will be preliminary PTQs which award invites to the Finals PTQ. Only the Final PTQ will award Pro Tour invites. Details Wizards has announced the return of Premier events, including MOCS and PTQs. The MOCS are returning pretty much as they were before the hiatus. The PTQs will be different, and be structured much like paper PTQs (see below.) Like paper, there will be preliminary PTQs which award invites to the Finals PTQ. Only the Final PTQ will award Pro Tour invites. Details here , and in the articles linked to in that article. The PTQ cycles will start at the end of the month.

Large Events Guidelines: Wizards has released a set of guidelines explaining what will happen when Murphy (the Murphy’s Law guy) attacks in MOCS and PTQ Finals events. Short version: Wizards built new tools, they tested the tools, and they will use the tools to save everything even remotely savable. If saving it causes delays, you get some product. If something causes a crash and it can’t be saved (unlikely, but nothing is impossible) then new event, same time next week, for everyone at x-2 or better. The Guidelines are Wizards has released a set of guidelines explaining what will happen when Murphy (the Murphy’s Law guy) attacks in MOCS and PTQ Finals events. Short version: Wizards built new tools, they tested the tools, and they will use the tools to save everything even remotely savable. If saving it causes delays, you get some product. If something causes a crash and it can’t be saved (unlikely, but nothing is impossible) then new event, same time next week, for everyone at x-2 or better. The Guidelines are here

Changes to Paper Organized Play: Wizards has announced a number of changes to organized play. The biggest is that PTQs have gone from one step to two steps, with store level PTQs feeding regional PTQs. Store level PTQs do not give invites to the Pro Tour, but to the Regional PTQs, which give invites to the Top 8 players. Grand Prix have also been increased both in number and payout. Finally, the Pro Player club has been tweaked. Details Wizards has announced a number of changes to organized play. The biggest is that PTQs have gone from one step to two steps, with store level PTQs feeding regional PTQs. Store level PTQs do not give invites to the Pro Tour, but to the Regional PTQs, which give invites to the Top 8 players. Grand Prix have also been increased both in number and payout. Finally, the Pro Player club has been tweaked. Details here

Show and Tell is Next MOCS Promo: Another high priced promo. Based on past experience, that should knock the price down about a third. Event promo is Prognostic Sphinx. Store event promo is an alt art Bile Blight. Another high priced promo. Based on past experience, that should knock the price down about a third. Event promo is Prognostic Sphinx. Store event promo is an alt art Bile Blight.

Community Cup Challenge Team Announced: Well, sort of. We have names, twitter handles and pictures, but no MTGO names, forum handles or bios. I guess if you know who they are, you know. If not – maybe we will get more info later. (I recognize six of them.) Photos Well, sort of. We have names, twitter handles and pictures, but no MTGO names, forum handles or bios. I guess if you know who they are, you know. If not – maybe we will get more info later. (I recognize six of them.) Photos here

Constructed Queues (other than Legacy and Vintage) Now Pay Out in M15 Packs: All Modern, Standard, Momir Vig and Pauper queues are now paying out M15 packs. Legacy and Vintage will continue to pay out in VMA packs.

PureMTGO Teaches SCG How It’s Done: SCG recently announced that they will also be updating articles around noon. Pure has been doing that since forever (or at least since April – and it is noon my time, 11am EDT.)

Various Queues Retired: With the arrival of M15 events, a number of queues have been retired as of last Wednesday’s downtime. These include all M14 queues. (Boo! I still have 15 packs that I didn’t have time to burn through.) VMA 4-3-2-2 and on demand Sealed Swiss queues have also ended. In addition, all Theros block constructed events are gone.

The Timeline:

This is a list of things we have been promised, or just want to see coming back. Another good source for dates and times is the MTGO calendar . Here’s what we know, want or are tracking. I also created another list for notable bugs. If you know of one that has not been fixed (and you or someone has filed a bug report) please let me know.

Item (date it will return) and notes

· Online PTQs & MOCS: AUGUST! Latest update is : AUGUST! Latest update is here

· Leagues (2014) Wizards has promised that leagues will return this year. Details (2014) Wizards has promised that leagues will return this year. Details here

· Duel Decks: Speed vs. Cunning (10/6/2014) Details (10/6/2014) Details here

· Khans of Tarkir: (October) Prerelease Oct. 3-6. Details (October) Prerelease Oct. 3-6. Details here

· Commander 2014: (11/21/2014) Details (11/21/2014) Details here

Bugs Needing a Good Stomping:

A ton of bugs got stomped last downtime. Here’s what I have been told still doesn’t work. Let me know what needs to be added.

· Trading Tickets: move all tickets to trade binder does not work if there are any tickets already in the binder. (remove all TIX from the trade binder and it works.)

· : choosing just two cards will mean one ends up in your hand. Both should be in the graveyard. Fix expected 8/6. Gifts Ungiven : choosing just two cards will mean one ends up in your hand. Both should be in the graveyard. Fix expected 8/6.

· (Descendants’ Path) forces you to cast the revealed creature to move the game forward.

· only requires tapping two permanents, regardless of the number of fading counters on it. Fix expected 8/6. Tangle Wire only requires tapping two permanents, regardless of the number of fading counters on it. Fix expected 8/6.

· (Burning of Xiyne) has the same problem. Fix expected 8/6.

· prompts opponents to pay 3 life or 3 mana – should only be 3 life. Trying to pay 3 mana will eat 3 mana AND 3 life. Athreos, God of Passage prompts opponents to pay 3 life or 3 mana – should only be 3 life. Trying to pay 3 mana will eat 3 mana AND 3 life.

· inspired trigger is still bugged, but only for certain special cases. In most circumstances, it works. Daring Thief inspired trigger is still bugged, but only for certain special cases. In most circumstances, it works.

· shows too many targets. Clicking an invalid target corrects this. Soul of Shandalar shows too many targets. Clicking an invalid target corrects this.

· does not show what card was named. (May be fixed now.) Cursed Scroll does not show what card was named. (May be fixed now.)

· was bugged. Reportedly fixed now. Floodtide Serpent was bugged. Reportedly fixed now.

· is reportedly bugged. Haven’t confirmed. Balance is reportedly bugged. Haven’t confirmed.

· Tomorrow, Asura’s Familiar reportedly restarts the game when its ability is activated.

· Wish lists don’t save correctly in the new client. You may have multiple versions.

· Dual land text boxes don’t display correctly. (A ton of display issues persist.)





Ten Step Program

I am going to be making a list of ten things I want fixed in the new client each week. I will also submit the list each week using the official email link: MagicOnlineFeedback@wizards.com I recommend that everyone who has thoughts about improvements do the same. Wizards wants and needs feedback. Just be polite. Wizards knows people are upset, and shouting about it just makes you look irrational and inane.

These are not in any order, and do not represent my highest priority fixes. The fixes I want most are probably the binder view and a better collection system, but I have written about those many times before. I also recognize that multiplayer is totally busted but I’ll let someone else work on that.

Ten Things to Fix in MTGO’s New Client

1. Move Chat Warning Pop-up or Chat Entry Window: V3 had the chat on the right side. After a few years of getting used to that, so I tend to dock the chat on the right. Every time I chat with my opponent, I get a pop-up that says “[opponent] is chatting with you.” That pop-up covers the area in which I can type chat. If I wait for that pop=up to disappear, then mouse over to that area, the pop-up comes back. I have to close it manually, at which point another pop-up appears saying “[opponent] sent you a message.”

2. Move “Play First” or “Mulligan”: I have been having some Internet issues (joys of rural living) and the lag is annoying. I clicked on the Play First button and nothing happened for 5 seconds. I clicked it again, and instantly mulliganned to six. Never saw my seven card hand. This was a problem on V3, until Wizards fixed that. It might be nostalgic if I hadn’t hated this problem last time around, too.

3. Don’t show us New Player events if we can’t play in them. Add a yes/no box, like Phantom, to show or no show them. Let us choose not to see them.

4. Either show the prize structure or remove the “Prize Structure” in the Game Details box.

5. Add info to the Event Details Screen: It should say “Round X of Y (plus top 8 is applicable), 11/16 matches completed, round started 27:11 ago”

6. It should not say “Game 3 in-progress” after game three ends. First, make it work. Second, remove the inappropriate hyphen. I can send you a style guide, if that helps.

7. Not really a bug, but how do I: move my chat. I docked it on the right. How do I move it to the other side to get away from the pop-up?

8. Not really a bug, but how do I: watch my replays? I have some, but they are all from months to years ago, and don’t work.

9. Fix the Deck Editor: I simply wanted to see how many M15 packs I had left. It took 5 minutes and the game locked up four times. No crashes, but that annoying spinning blue circle. And when I have changed to other products, show only packs and TIX, it should not stall whenever I try to scroll.

10. Fix the Rarity Sort: I don’t care if Fyndhorn Elves was printed with a red-gold symbol in some FTV set, it is not a Mythic.

Cutting Edge Tech:

Standard: The biggest event last weekend was the SCG Open in Kansas City. It featured the best public tech. (We will see the best secret tech this weekend at the Pro Tour.) The Top 16 decklists are : The biggest event last weekend was the SCG Open in Kansas City. It featured the best public tech. (We will see the best secret tech this weekend at the Pro Tour.) The Top 16 decklists are here . The winning deck actually featured some M15 cards – like Sunblade Elf.

Modern: It’s PTQ season. We also had a Modern GP. The PTQ coverage and Top 8 decklists are : It’s PTQ season. We also had a Modern GP. The PTQ coverage and Top 8 decklists are here . The winner was – Junk, a/k/a Jund with white, etc.

Legacy: The SCG Legacy Open was in Kansas City last weekend. The winning deck was Death and Taxes (think white weenie with some tricks), but I’ve featured Death and Taxes a few times. The second place was RUG Delver. The third place deck was interesting: OmniTell. Yes, the deck really does win with a card that costs 8UUUU.

Vintage: Vintage events have been firing pretty regularly online. Several of the Dailies have been large enough to have multiple 4-0 finishers. : Vintage events have been firing pretty regularly online. Several of the Dailies have been large enough to have multiple 4-0 finishers. This one had just one.

Card Prices:

Note: all my prices come from the fine folks at MTGOTraders.com . These are retail prices, and generally the price of the lowest priced, actively traded version. (Prices for some rare promo versions are not updated when not in stock, so I skip those.) You can get these cards at MTGOTraders.com web store, or from their bots: MTGOTradersBot(#) (they have bots 1-10), CardCaddy and CardWareHouse, or sell cards to MTGOTradersBuyBot(#) (they have buybots 1-4).

Standard staples: Standard prices are up, partly based on an increase in cards for new decks, and partly since fewer people are drafting Theros. Third set rares are increasing in price, as they always do when the M set arrives. Mana Confluence is already climbing. If you speculate for the long term, this might be a card to buy.

Modern staples: Modern cards are pretty stable this week, but that probably won’t last. With Modern Masters drafts restarting, I would expect those prices to drop a bit, but it hasn’t happened to any noticeable extent so far.

Legacy / Vintage: Legacy and Vintage prices were pretty stable this week. Power prices have steadied, but are still slightly down since people are still drafting VMA. The rest is pretty much unchanged. These prices were pulled before Show and Tell was named as a MOCS promo, so we will see the resulting drop starting next week.

Set Redemption: You can redeem complete sets on MTGO. You need to purchase a redemption voucher from the store for $25. During the next downtime, Wizards removes a complete set from your account, and sends you the same set in paper. For those of you who redeem, here are the retail prices of one of everything set currently available in the store. The M15 prices are brand new – expect them to fluctuate.

Complete Set Price Last Week Change % Change Born of the Gods $57.41 $55.11 $2.30 4% Dragon's Maze $41.01 $41.01 $0.00 0% Gatecrash $60.63 $65.65 ($5.02) -8% Journey into Nix $69.55 $68.45 $1.10 2% M14 $86.54 $80.95 $5.59 7% M15 $105.79 n/a n/a n/a Return to Ravnica $89.94 $97.96 ($8.02) -8% Theros $101.35 $98.37 $2.98 3%

The Good Stuff:

The following is a list of all the non-promo, non-foil cards on MTGO that retail for more than $25 per card. These are the big ticket items in the world of MTGO. Black Lotus continues to lead the pack, but Wasteland and Rishadan Port are not that far behind. Rishadan Port is a weird one, and not that heavily played. Wasteland, on the other hand, is a staple in both Legacy and Vintage. Paper prices are also really, really high. Wizards will reprint it – they have to. From the Vault Wasteland? Who knows – but right now a Tempest block uncommon is worth almost three Time Walks. On the plus side, Wizards announced Show and Tell will be a MOCS promo next month.

Card Rarity Set Price Black Lotus B VMA $ 199.75 Wasteland U TE $ 153.56 Rishadan Port R MM $ 136.40 Liliana of the Veil M ISD $ 97.89 Mox Sapphire B VMA $ 90.38 Tarmogoyf R FUT $ 88.17 Polluted Delta R ONS $ 85.85 Tarmogoyf M MMA $ 84.90 Misdirection R MM $ 84.80 Ancestral Recall B VMA $ 82.87 Show and Tell R UZ $ 78.65 Mox Opal M SOM $ 71.54 Hurkyl's Recall R 10E $ 61.74 Mox Jet B VMA $ 60.60 Flooded Strand R ONS $ 59.54 Time Walk B VMA $ 58.56 Vendilion Clique R MOR $ 58.06 Griselbrand M AVR $ 56.94 Vendilion Clique M MMA $ 56.89 Mox Emerald B VMA $ 55.65 Mox Ruby B VMA $ 54.00 Mox Pearl B VMA $ 52.60 City of Traitors R EX $ 48.23 Force of Will R MED $ 45.76 Misty Rainforest R ZEN $ 43.60 Tangle Wire R NE $ 43.50 Batterskull M NPH $ 40.13 Gaea's Cradle R UZ $ 39.90 Toxic Deluge R C13 $ 38.00 Scalding Tarn R ZEN $ 36.83 Noble Hierarch R CON $ 35.08 Sneak Attack R UZ $ 34.51 Lion's Eye Diamond R MI $ 33.73 Dark Confidant M MMA $ 33.69 Undiscovered Paradise R VI $ 33.30 Dark Confidant R RAV $ 32.79 Karn Liberated M NPH $ 31.61 Infernal Tutor R DIS $ 29.71 True-Name Nemesis R C13 $ 29.62 Linvala, Keeper of Silence M ROE $ 29.35 Force of Will R VMA $ 29.17 Tundra R ME2 $ 28.18 Tundra R ME4 $ 27.88 Craterhoof Behemoth M AVR $ 27.53 Fulminator Mage R SHM $ 26.72 Intuition R TE $ 25.95 Tezzeret the Seeker M ALA $ 25.52 Dark Depths R CSP $ 25.29

The big number is the retail price of a playset (4 copies) of every card available on MTGO. Assuming you bought the least expensive version available, the cost of owning a playset of every card on MTGO you can own is $ 24,780. That’s up about $350 from where we were last week.

Weekly Highlights:

I played a number of prerelease queues last weekend, burning through 6 hunt packs (the five free ones plus one that was refunded when a bug knocked me out my first event: game one didn’t fire, and I didn’t realize it until I had timed out.) Other than that one bug and a problem with the Internet connection on my end, the client worked quite well. Other than the collection screen, which is enough of a pain that I have not built any constructed decks at all, the only problems I am having are just getting used to small changes and the appearance. It looks different, and I find I hate change. Now get off my lawn.

As for M15, I have very mixed feelings. I have done the six sealed, plus a number of drafts. Maybe it is just me, but I have seen an awful lot of bombs deciding games. I have actually beaten a Nissa, and a couple of the Souls, but the odds are so stacked against that happening. Maybe it is just me, or maybe it is just that the only bomb I have ever opened was the Resolute Angel. That’s less a bomb that something to make your opponent groan. I have beaten an opponent who played it, gaining 16 life, but it was not a fun match. I have never opened a Soul of Anywhere, but have scooped to a number of them. It will be interesting to see what the Pro Tour shows – whether the pros have the same problems with the format.

PRJ

“one million words” on MTGO

This series is an ongoing tribute to Erik “Hamtastic” Friborg.

HammyBot Still Running: HammyBot was set up to sell off Erik Friborg’s collection, with all proceeds going to his wife and son. So far, HammyBot has raised over $8,000, but there are over 24,000 cards left in the collection. Those cards are being sold at 10% below retail price. Erik died three years ago, so HammyBot does not include any standard legal sets, but it includes a ton of Masters Edition and Vintage cards, and some nice Modern bargains.