The Card of the Month, almost obvious at which one it would be is Emrakul, the Aeons Torn!

This is One Huge Eldrazi! It is better than the Shards of Allara Block’s big creature Progenitus and easier to play some may say.

It Cannot be countered which makes it great against Blue decks.

Take an Extra turn?! Hello thats a 15/15 attacking with Annihilator 6 that cannot be blocked!

Flying so your Eldrazi cannot block it.

Protection from colored spells…So you need a flying artifact to kill it. Or you need a Wrath Variant, so its still killable but…

When it is put into the graveyard from anywhere shuffle it back into its owners Library…

This card is planly unkillable! Once your opponent has it out you either Final Judgment:

Or your probably going to lose as you have usually 1 turn maybe if your lucky 2 turns to win the game.

It is safe to say that Emrakul is the Biggest and Baddest Eldrazi Around, sure it costs 15 mana but the Eldrazi Decks are all Mana Exel so 15 mana is not too hard to get. Especially with Eldrazi Spawn the little 0/1′s that can sack for mana.

But even with all this Emrakul is not a card you just throw into any deck and hope you get it out. Even though it is Colorless and cooly not an artifact, it shouldn’t be throw into your Goblins deck just so you hope you get it out. You either need to build a deck around it or throw it into a deck you have that can get 15 mana easy.

And yes Emrakul was the Promo Card for the Prerelease of Rise of the Eldrazi.

Well thats all for now, remember to Comment and Vote!

Well, apparently there was a leak at WOTC, and From the Vault: Relics was fully spoiled early. This isn’t perfect, and a few of the cards have been spoiled as two possible cards, but it’s very close.

One more thing: One of the cards in Relics is a card from Scars of Mirroden, called Mox Sapphire. I don’t know exactly what it is yet, but it is in there.

Here’s the cards in FTV:R:

Thats it NEW YEAR! I hope you all have a happy new year and I left this poll open because of last months messup. I though it deserves 3 weeks insted of 2.

Now for the card we had a verry close game. So close actually:

By one vote!

This card wasn’t celebrated for being good until just recently when poeple started figuring out how to use it in some decks.

Eldrazi Monument was about $5

Now it is $7.75

It is obviously great in a token deck but some poeple don’t look to deep into it. If your playing standard you could use Bloodghast in a landfall deck with this.

Eldrazi won over Emeris because the monument  won a couple of tornements increasing its popularity just enough to have in win over shields.

And in my opinion Eldrazi Monument is better than Akroma’s memorial:

Mainly for the fact that Eldrazi makes all your creatures indestructable and costs 2 less. Even though Eldrazi has its obviously bad effect if the deck is built around it or thrown into a good token deck its effect can be negated.

Also if you dont already know Eldrazi is in the name of the Zendikar block’s 3rd set. Rise of Eldrazi and the possible return of merit lage. Look here to read more.

Thanks for ready and remember to vote for this months CoM

Happy New Year! It is now 2010. I have 3 more holiday-themed cards to show now:

Merry Christmas.

This year, I’ve made a Christmas themed card. I’m planning on making more holiday cards soon, so look out for them. Here’s the first, Santa Claus:

Are you having trouble making your deck work? Keep getting mana screwed, or mana flooded? Well I have come up with a calculation that gives you the perfect % of lands for each color you need in a nonmonocolored deck. I have also made a calculation that tells you the perfect % of lands you need for your deck based on the mana costs of the cards.

First Calculation # of lands:

1) Count the # of cards in your deck then times that by .4

X= # of cards

Y= 40% of cards in your deck

X*.4=Y

For a 60 card deck Y is 24.

Fora 40 card deck Y is 16.

If you have a premade deck Skip this part and make Y= to the # of lands already in your deck.

2) Now minus X(# of cards in deck) by Y(# of lands in deck/calculation above) then times that by 4.

Z= Avrage overall mana in your deck.

(X-Y)4=Z

Z is 144 in a 60 card deck (with Y as 24)

Z is 96 in a 40 card deck (with Y as 16)

3) Now add up all your cards in your deck’s converted mana cost and let the # be A. Now minus Z by A

Z-A=#

Now if your number is a posative and less than ten (Ex. 8). Than you are fine but if it is over posative 10 than you need to minus a land from your deck and add a new card per 10. (Like if you got 25 then you will need to minus two land and add 2 new cards, if its 11 then you will need to minus 1 land ect). Now if you get a negative number less than ten (-8) than your fine. Now if you get like with posotive, if you have -10 then you need to insted take out a card and add a land. And like above per 10 like if you have a -22 then you need to minus two cards and add 2 lands. After this redo this problem and adjust accordingly until you do not have anything <-10 or >10.

This equasion is experimental so please try it out for me and tell me what I need to adjust accouringly. (Use Comments)

Now the Second equasion: How to choose how mana lands of each color.

1) “Catagorize” how mana points of each color gets.

Rules:

A monocolored card gives 1 point to its color (including artifacts)

A gold card counts as 1 for each of its colors unless it is 1 of each color in the deck then put it off to the side well deal with it later.(including artifacts)

A hybrid card counts as 1 to each of its colors or if it has 1 of evry color in deck then count it as 0

A colorless artifact counts as 0 if it is colored look above.

2) Now add up all of the color points and divid 100 by it (round to nerest whole #).

Ex. 2 W +14 U= 16   then 100/16 =6.25 rounded =6.

Now times the number you just got (my ex is 6) by the origional number then at a % sign to the back.

Ex. 2 (W) *6=12 add a % to make it 12%

       14 (U) *6=84 add a % to make it 84%

(It might not come out to 100% so add the extra evenly to all %s

Ex. 12+84= 96. 100-96=4 so add 2 to all % making 14% and 86%

3) Almost done now you need to make all percents a decimal (move decimal point two spaces over to the left).  Then times the amount of lands in your deck by that amount. Round to the nerest whole number.

W 14% and U 86%

20 lands in the deck so 20*.14=2.8 -> 3

20*.86=17.2 -> 17

4)Now for the last step remember the gold cards before well I had 15 that were evry color so divid that number by 3 and round to the nearest whole number.

15/3=5

Lastly take that number and subtract it from the most amount of lands and add it to the least.

17-5=12 islands

3+5=8 plains

Note: If your most becomes tied take from the one you havnt taken lands from yet. If the least amount becomes tied with the second least amount add to the one you havnt added to yet.

Thank you for reading this long  LONG equasion of mine the Color one worked for me perfectly but the top one is untried please comment on how this works or how i can make it similer. You may also e-mail me and calvin at czmtgblog@gmail.com

Later today, I will post the last pack of the pack per day challenge. I haven’t been able to post much, but I can today.

Rise of the Eldrazi, although it hasn’t been officially announced, is the name of the spring set for 2010. It will be a large (Zendikar size, not Worldwake size) set that will be drafted by itself. (RRR, not ZWR) It will be set in Zendikar, but will be completely different. That means that there probably won’t be allies, traps, landfall, or kicker. (They will exist in Worldwake)

Prerelease: April 17-18, 2010

Release: April 23-25, 2010

Here’s the logo:

And here we see Sorin Markov and Nissa Reveane in front of something huge, which I’m assuming is the eldrazi:

Now on to Marit Lage. Whether or not Dark Depths is in Rise of the Eldrazi (I doubt that because the Eldrazi would have been free by then, and also Marit Lage was trapped in ice on a different plane.) there is a lot of evidence that Marit Lage is an Eldrazi. Let’s start the way we were able to figure out that Nicol Bolas would be in Conflux: We’ll look at a Zendikar card for comparison.

Now, there are a few things to compare this to. First, we’ll look at Dark Depths itself:

Compare this to the eldrazi monument and to the ROTE image. Looks similar, right? Even before looking at it, Eldrazi Monument makes creatures bigger, flying, and indestructible. Marit Lage is big, flying, and indestructible. Look at the Marit Lage token:

Compare that to the eldrazi. If you still aren’t convinced, look at the Ice Age card Wrath of Marit Lage and compare the flavor text to that of the Eldrazi Monument:

Dread Marit Lage lies dreaming, not dead. That’s the flavor text here, while on Eldrazi Monument the flavor text is: Gods don’t die. They Merely Slumber.

Now, the story line evidence. Marit Lage is very old, and isn’t a planewalker. Marit Lage can travel through the planes, in a different way. Here’s a link to the amazon.com book description of the Zendikar book, In the Teeth of Akoum. To quote the review:

For gamers and fantasy fans alike, a fast-paced, stand-alone adventure that brings the popular trading card game Magic: the Gathering® to life.

Lurking in the space between the aether and the physical plane, there is a great evil waiting to emerge.

Zendikar is a land of danger and adventure, a world of deadly risks and priceless rewards. It is also a prison to one of the most deadly species known to the Multiverse: the dreaded Eldrazi.

When our story opens, part of the mystical containment spell that has kept the Eldrazi captive for millennia has been breached. The brood lineage, the Eldrazi minions, have been released and are poring over the plane, devouring everything in their path, but the swath they cut across the land is nothing next to the destruction that the still-imprisoned Eldrazi Titans will wreck once released.

Nissa Revane, a planeswalker and proud elf warrior of the Jorga Nation, is witness to what the brood lineage can do. She sees that they pose a bigger problem than most suppose. Sorin, an ancient vampire planeswalker, knows this as well as anyone because he was among the original jailers of the ancient scourge. He has returned to Zendikar to make sure the Titans do not escape. They both want the Eldarzi threat extinguished but each has their own agenda. Nissa wants the Eldrazi off her plane entirely. Sorin wants to put the lock back on their cell. And there are still others who want the Titans to escape.

Together they set out across the land on search of the Eye of Ugin, the source of the Eldrazi uprising, where they will face what could be their final challenge. Will the Eldrazi escape to menace the Multiverse once again?

While we’re at it, look at Ghostfire, from Futuresight, and look at the flavor text:

Back to Marit Lage. The text shows that Marit Lage has the same characteristics that the Eldrazi do. They were ancient, hugely powerful beings that were trapped on Zendikar. Is it possible that one was trapped in ice on a different plane instead? I think the answer is yes.

I also want to make one more point. Because of Vampire Hexmage, Dark Depths has been thrown into actual use in tournaments. Was that intentional? (Actually, I don’t think that was intentional. But I think the rest was.)

I haven’t gotten around to posting at all in the last week, but today I have another pack to post. Today’s pack is the fifth duplicate rare pack in a row. I have 12 more packs left to open. Also, the website draw3cards.com. This is a website where you can ask and answer questions about Magic: The Gathering. You will usually get a response quickly, so I do recommend it. (Direct Link)

It is past midnight, so it this will be shown as 10/18. If I post day sixteen, it will have the same date as this. This was the best pack I’ve opened so far from this set. (Actually, I can only think of one pack with as much value inside as this pack. And not even a treasure card!)

And FOIL:

I didn’t have time to post the packs yesterday or the day before, but I will post today’s pack. Nothing good were in any of the three. (I’ve had bad luck so far with this challenge) Before I post the pack, though, I’m going to post the top ten Zendikar cards. The fetchlands are not on the list because there are five and they are utility cards.

10. Day of Judgement

This is apparently the replacement of Wrath of God. It will probably be used just as often as Wrath because regenerators are not used often. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen one, even in casual games.

9.Harrow

I’ve seen Harrow in use, and it defiantly deserves a place on the top ten list. It triggers landfall twice, plus gives you one free land, for a net loss of only one mana. (The two lands come into play untapped) Sure, it can be countered, and then you’re in trouble, but anything can be countered, and the benefits of successfully resolving this usually outweigh the cost and the risk.

8. Ob Nixilis, the Fallen

If this creature is able to survive one turn, it will be out of range any single burn spell. You can play a land right after you play it also. (And because of the priority system, you can play the land before your opponent has a chance to respond) This creature will immediately deal 3 damage and get 3 +1/+1 counters. If you play harrow, that’s 6 damage. It will also be the instant target of any removal, allowing your other big creatures to survive longer.

7. Scute Mob

Scute Mob, while it isn’t as good at surviving, can do more damage if it does. Growing by +5/+5 per turn is huge, even if it doesn’t have trample. The problem is that Scute Mob will be either killed or chump blocked every time.

6. Summoning Trap

This card is definitely worth it. If you play a big creature and it gets countered, you still have a chance of getting out a big creature. If not, it is playable for 6 mana.

5. Rampaging Baloths

This creature is a creature that I think is better than Broodmate Dragon. Because, again, of the priority system, you can play a land before your opponent has a chance to destroy this. That means that for 6 mana, you can have a 6/6 and a 4/4. It can be played using mana of only one color, It has +2/+2 more than broodmate, and if you’re lucky, it can make more than one 4/4. The only downside is the lack of flying, but in my opinion, it’s still better.

4. Vampire Nighthawk

Nighthwak has the potential to keep a whole army at bay for a few turns. It’s a 3 mana creature that will kill you if it doesn’t die soon.

3. Warren Instigator

Notice the double strike. That means that you get to put 2 goblins from your hand into play each time it hits your opponent. It’s another kill or be killed creature, although it is very vulnerable to removal and being blocked by anything with over 2 toughness.

2. Goblin Guide

This is a 2/2 for one. With haste. There isn’t much else to say about it.

1. Lotus Cobra

This might only be a 2/1, meaning it dies to removal, but it is still the best card in Zendikar. If it manages to survive, you get more mana accel than you’ll know what to do with.

Booster Pack