Old School Mtg

The weekend before Christmas it was finally time again for the annual NOSMTG Christmas tournament in Oslo. Last time I went was two years ago, when the format was Brothers' Highlander and the world was pre-pandemic. Almost weird to look back at now. The pub we played in back then was run (and recently acquired) by a fellow player, and the idea was to start using that place as a more permanent hang-out for the Olso oldschool crew. Recurring tournaments and game nights and such. But instead the Covid restrictions had our friend sell his bar and fall back to more reliable sources of means. It's been a strange couple of years. Peace in our time. It was actually scarily close to being no Christmas Magic this year as well. Oslo opened up a couple of months ago, and life had been close to normal during most of the late autumn. But then the omicron variant happened and turned everything on its head. Bars closed, face masks in the grocery store, limited opening hours on schools and kin...

I think it's time to show off some "Decks-to-beat" here again. So here goes: BSK 2021 Top8 19 participants, photos of 8/8 decks. After a year in pandemic limbo, the Swedish Nationals (and second oldest recurring Oldschool Magic tournament) is back to show how we tech in the Nordic meta. Svante's RUG Aggro/Burn took it down after a perfect run in the swiss, besting decks like Troll Disco, Disaster, TwiddleVault, ErhnamGeddon and Project M in the top8. Nordic Warriror Cup 2 Top8 29 participants, photos of 7/8 decks. The wizards' school returns to Drammen to summon Trolls and invoke the dark arts. It was long overdue to finally meet up in person again, and this gathering turned out to be largest in Norway yet. The Top8 was heavily populated by the traditional Norwegian monsters, but in the end Sui-Chis showed that 4/4 is greater than 3/3. ... The BSK Top8 was already spoiled over at Åland's blog , but we'll save 'em here as well for future refe...

A few weeks ago I managed to complete my Antiquities set. Score. The final piece of the puzzle was Urza's Miter. A good-looking yet highly mediocre card that just barely passes the Deep Water Test . The Deep Water Test: Would it be good if it cost zero to play and activate? Looking at the card, I can't help thinking about Bronze Calendar; one of my favorite joke-cards from the silver-bordered Unglued set. It may be my recently activated dad-joke gene, but I find it simply hilarious that the art depicts a colander rather than a calendar . Who would want a colander made out of bronze? And why on earth would such a thing let you cast spells cheaper? Then the utterly nonsensical yet grandiloquent flavor text expertly ties the madness together. While Bronze Calender's art is clearly a joke, there really was a handful cards from Magic's early days where the artist misunderstood what they were supposed to illustrate. The most famous of these is probably Hyalopterous Lemure fr...

We're back! I guess that technically we were back like three weeks ago, but I've been too busy playing actual Magic and traveling to actual tournaments to write stuff on ye olde blaggo. It's been physical games in Gothenburg, Oslo, Borås and Drammen since the last update. Real Magic. Accidentally stole the Paralyze Audun cast on my Wall of Brambles when he wanted to attack for lethal with a Control Magic'd Lord Magnus at a local pub meetup. That kind of Magic. I've also traded away cards for something like $15,000 in the last weeks. So trading is a thing again, and that could also be a post. I now have like 40 new Legends rares and completed a playset Workshops, among other shiny things. Gatherings beget cards changing hands, and old is exchanged for other old. And I got into my fourth BSK 93/94 top8, which I think puts me on a tie with Hannes "Beyonce" Löfgren for lifetime top8s on that particular tournament. Hannes also got his fourth BSK top8 this year,...