@wfain Of course, but was the madness ability enough to push it over the top?

@wfain Does Asylum Visitor compare favorably to Dark Confidant? AV seems pretty awesome in Bazaar lists (no personal pun intended).

@evouga Last week was a huge step up. Rich drew and played very well. In losing efforts, I dare say most of his opponents played even better. I second evouga on the commentary comments.

Congrats to Randy. This format, while not true Vintage, is much more fresh and enjoyable to watch, while keeping all the traditional Vintage themes.

@chronatog WotC has clarified over and over again that the ticket has no market value. I'm fairly certain you agree to such when you agree to the end-use license agreement. Just because you have the power to unload such on ebay or paypal doesn't mean you have the right. Of course, just because WotC says something is of no value, doesn't mean the IRS won't determine otherwise, but until the IRS does, WotC has no interest in stating otherwise.

Leovold brings up several good points. I wouldn't treat it as income unless it actually were income. For example, in my $7,500 above, I probably only invested close to $1,000 beforehand. The rest were prizes or card investments. Secondly, I cashed out with a check from MTGO Traders. Since that could have been reported, it's more important to self-report. Last, I don't tend to agree that "if they can't trace it, I don't have to report it" meets ethical norms. YMMV.

@chronatog MTGO prizes are in digital objects of no value. Only if you "cash out" do you realize reportable income. FWIW, when I sold off $7500 worth of digital cards last year, I reported those on my taxes.

Last night was the worst play level of Vintage that I've seen in the 8 seasons. The format is fantastic though (and a factor in the play level, admittedly).

@gkraigher said in Mono-Red, Hated Stepchild?:

fiery confluence

The problem, as Wizards sees it, is that you want to change a non-targeting card to a targeting card, raising a new host of interactions.

Doesn't that starter list fold to lack of Fastbond and/or Mental Misstep? Fastbond would probably need blue, but the strategy would be very different, which would be great.

@stuart A couple of points. 1) While they'll side out Spheres against you game 2, once they realize your combo shenanigans, they'll likely bring them back game 3, so Worship may be a bit hard to stick. Even if it does, you have to be worried about a Ballista shooting spree, so that might not work. 2) I forgot in my earlier post, above, that in order to stop both Hangarback and Ballista, Needle or Spyglass alone won't cut it, as you have to prevent Ravager sac outlets also. So just Null Rod or Linvala or, instead, two of the others.