Old School Mtg

A couple of months ago I bought a mystery box of mostly early 2000s era bulk. I was well acquainted with the old owner 15-20 years ago, when we both were a part of the Vintage - and later Legacy - scenes in Gothenburg. We also had a common interest in punk music and beer, so a few of my finest memories of our friendship are away from cardboard. I'm particularly fond of recollecting one hungover morning circa 2005, when he woke up on the floor of my tiny dorm room to find that Suburban Commando was serendipitously live on my equally small TV. We called a number to a supposed pizzeria (which I was never able to actually locate), and magically got delivered two of the best kebab pizzas I've ever had. It was an afternoon of Mike's special kebab, Hulk Hogan, and re-runs of Red Dwarf (Stoke me a clipper!) that perfectly encapsulated a slice of the best of what my early 20s could offer. A hundred years prior no king could eat that well, nor enjoy such entertainment. These days we...

In the oldest days, the main purpose of a creature was to attack and block. And whenever a summon would stray from this core raison d'être, it would be to act as another type of permanent. Llanowar Elves would do a good impression of a land, Ali from Cairo could seem like an enchantment, Prodigal Sorcerer basically has the text of an artifact. But what creatures were not, were spells. All that was to change with the set Visions in 1997. A small handful of creatures in Visions came with a spell attached to them; Unsummon, Verdigris, Terror. It was a taste of things to come. In the industry, we call these " Virtual Vanilla ". These days it's almost a given that a good creature should have a positive effect the turn it comes into play. Combat stats and keyword abilities have become secondary to the spells or additional rules text slapped onto our summons. When was the last time a creature with only keyword abilities was actually good in Standard? Baneslayer Angel in the ...

Hey, I should write something about Arvika Festival 8! That was a noble gathering, and I wanna spill some digital ink to preserve he memories and impressions. Heh. Probably a good thing that I'm not organizing n00bfest this weekend. Let's leave that to some slighly more professional Time Elementals. It appears I keep bouncing myself. So, yes, Arvika Festival. What a great time. Svetzarn and KungMarkus outdid themselves yet again, and this was quite possibly the most enjoyable large tournament I've ever played. Spot-on organization, great location, awesome people, good food, and sweet Magic. I was to travel by myself from Oslo at midday Friday, but as an international wizard you rarely walk alone. On the train from Oslo to Arvika I immediately encountered two Brothers of Fire - Reigning World Champion Stebbo and The Legendary Jonas Twitchen - who had just arrived from the UK. Train People. Reindeer Invitational Ante was played, cards were traded, and beer was spilled on neig...