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Best Udemy Training Sale Ever On ALL Courses – New Years 2018 Deal

January 2nd, 2018 | Posted by Indri in Development | programming | Ramblings | reddit | training | Uncategorized - (Comments Off on Best Udemy Training Sale Ever On ALL Courses – New Years 2018 Deal)

The Best Udemy training sale EVER – 10.99 for ANY course!

This is a really sweet promo going on for New Years 2018.

I like Udemy, the courses are usually good quality and reviews seem honest.
I’m not even an affiliate of theirs but I will vouch for them being legit in the realm of online training.

The site works well on my phone, I can usually learn a thing or two on my lunch break viewing courses on my smartphone.

One thing that has historically put me off is the cost of some of the courses I’ve been wanting to get.
I know what you’re thinking – training is an investment, imagine the cost if it were an in-person class, etc.
I know there’s nothing wrong with paying for good quality training on profitable topics.
Even still, I have yet to find myself able to pony up $200 for a Udemy course.

So this sale is a really nice way for me to start off the new year.
The best thing you can do is invest in yourself, gain skills, knowledge and education.

For me, I picked up courses on these topics – at a mere $10.99 each.

Game development with Unity. (reg price $200!)
App development for iOS (reg price $200!)
App development for Android (reg price $200!)
Chrome and Firefox plugin development (reg price $200!)

I’m a decent programmer and have experience with various languages (Java, C/C++, Lua, Python, etc..) but these topics have been intimidating to me and left me curious. These have all been on my “learning bucket list” for some time now. So I figure now is a great time to scratch the itch. I don’t know if I’ll ever really work on those things, but at least I have the know-how if I find the time. For 10.99 per course you really can’t go wrong! They never expire, the good ones are updated often, and there’s a 30 day money back guarantee. So if you hate the instructors voice you can get your 10.99 back. I ended up buying 10 courses altogether and at checkout it said I had saved over $1500 on those training courses!

BONUS SAVINGS up to 37.5% ! Here’s how

Sign up for the DOSH cashback app (this is my affiliate link)
Install the app and then browse for “online” offers.
Search for Udemy, it should say up to 37.5% off.
Click through the link to get to Udemy website.
After you do that, every course you buy should get you cash back up to 37.5%
Note it can take up to 60 days depending on the merchant to get the cash in your DOSH account.
Once it’s in there you can transfer it to your bank or Paypal easily.

I hope I helped you save some money and kick off the new year with good training material you’ve been looking for!

Were You Able to Buy a Super NES (SNES) Classic on ThinkGeek Today?

Posted 10/11/17
If you’re like me, you have been trying to get your hands on the new Super Nintendo Classic since preorders were available. If you’re REALLY like me, you still don’t have one, and you refuse to pay anything over $79.99 for it (well, maybe some shipping costs). ThinkGeek yesterday into this afternoon had been telling us they would be getting some in stock. So I had my account setup to order, waited and kept their Twitter feed and product page…the second I got the tweet (which was the second they posted it) I was on their site refreshing the product page, and what did I see? A “503 Service Unavailable Error” that continued until I saw their Tweet that they had sold out (within 3 minutes or so).

Confession: I Was Never a ThinkGeek Customer

    I’ve never purchased anything from ThinkGeek in my life. I know a few people who have, but I never felt the need to shop there. I like their stuff, mostly… but some things are way overpriced, and I know I can buy other things elsewhere…so I never bothered with them. I suppose it’s nice that sometimes they get things in stock, for a moment, when other stores are out. To be that “big” of a website, I mean, with that many followers and not have a decent site setup to handle the audience – or fair ordering process – is unforgivable. It could be that they were hit with scripts or bots that auto purchased these SNES systems before anyone else could. Or they legit sold out with real customers (some people claim they never got the 503 error and were able to buy some). Either way the site broke and there are a lot of angry would be customers, some who even had this Super Nintendo in their cart but by the time they clicked the “Buy” button it had vanished from their cart or they got the 503 message.

    So Where Can We Find This SNES Classic System Before Christmas?

    What’s a slow older regular gamer who works a full time job to do? Personally I will keep waiting, I refuse to pay the 200 or more price gouging price for this system from scalpers/resellers that have flooded eBay, Amazon and Facebook Marketplace. Right now the cheapest place I can actually find it is on Amazon here:

    Super-NES-Classic-nintendo
    Super NES Classic

    Which (as of right now) is a good $90 over the MSRP of $79.99, over twice the cost these sellers paid. On eBay I’ve seen them selling for $200 or more. Maybe if I had a kid who really wanted one and that’s all they wanted this Christmas I’d suck it up and pay to get it for them… but for me, I can wait until I can get it cheaper – or never buy this at all. I mean, we can find a real SNES with games for far less money. It just won’t come with StarFox 2…

    Care to vent your frustration on this topic?
    Leave a comment!

    Hearthstone Frozen Throne Solo Adventure Missions Players’ Guide – Lower Citadel

    September 2nd, 2017 | Posted by Indri in card games | Hearthstone | world of warcraft - (Comments Off on Hearthstone Frozen Throne Solo Adventure Missions Players’ Guide – Lower Citadel)

    lich king hearthstone mission guide

    While this has been out for a few weeks now, I wanted to write a little bit about the new solo game mode

    Let me just say I love the solo mode games, sometimes it’s nice to not have a human opponent. It feels a little less stressful to me. These fun and challenging new story mode games are packed with flavor. There are also some pretty funny comments from the Lich King. You will be awarded a pack of cards, and a gold card for playing through them. These are tough matches meant for more advanced players. You need the right deck to beat them. These are being released over time, as of now only week one has been available to play.

    Here are the deck strategies I used to win week one of Hearthstones’ Lower Citadel.

    The Lower Citadel wing is the first wing of Icecrown Citadel. There are three bosses to beat after the prologue, Lord Marrowgar, Saurfang, and last but not least – Lady Deathwhisper. You’ll have to build a custom deck to beat each of them, most likely.

    The Prologue
    Don’t try too hard here, you aren’t meant to win this one. Just play as well as you can and have fun with the story and characters.

    Lord Marrowgar
    I haven’t seen this strategy used by other guides, but here is how I beat him rather easily. I use a pretty standard taunt warrior deck with Fire Plume’s Heart. Using the taunt guys, quest weapon, and poison creatures, I ran him out of cards, then won through the fatigue damage pretty quickly.

    Deathbringer Saurfang
    I used the warrior taunt quest deck again for this one with only a couple modifications. I added 1x Gorehowl, and 2x Arcanite Reaper. My strategy was to wear him down to the point where he had no hand left, hiding behind the taunt creatures and using the quest weapon. Then once he has no threats left, crush him with the weapons.

    Lady Deathwhisper
    This one was more of a challenge. I used a priest deck with Circle of Healing, Binding Heal, Purify, Earthen Ring Farseer, and Greater Healing Potion… What I did here was heal the dragon, and attack 4 times. Deathwhisper will always use her hero power first, so the dragon won’t be killed.

    Hearthstone Knights of the Frozen Throne Pre-Purchase Benefits and Discounts!

    July 30th, 2017 | Posted by Indri in Amazon Coins | card games | Hearthstone | pc-games | Ramblings - (Comments Off on Hearthstone Knights of the Frozen Throne Pre-Purchase Benefits and Discounts!)

    The time is near for a new expansion to Hearthstone – Knights of the Frozen Throne, and right now is the best time to get the new cards before anyone else, and cheaper than anyone else too!

    Knights of the Frozen Throne Hearthstone expansion

    Hearthstone Knights of the Frozen Throne Pre-Purchase Benefits and Discounts

    As I’ve said before in previous posts, pre-release is the absolute best time to buy your Hearthstone cards at a discount – and the deal is even better when you buy them with Amazon Coins! Every time there’s a Hearthstone pre-release, the developers offer a pre-order 50 packs of the new set at $1 each. This allows you to get a ton of new cards at cheap prices, and be ready to play with new cards when the set is officially released. Your packs will show in your account, but won’t become available to open in-game until Knights of the Frozen Throne officially launches (a mid August release date).
    As an added bonus you’ll also get a sweet, exclusive card back for pre-ordering this new set.

    Knights of the Frozen Throne Hearthstone expansion is bursting with flavor for those of us who enjoyed years of playing World of Warcraft. This was always one of my favorite expansions in World of Warcraft, and I am rather pleased to see them finally release an expansion focused on this part of WoW.

    New cards I’m especially excited to play with are:
    Corpsetaker
    I believe will lend itself to new decks that focus on taking advantage of the card’s ability by having cards in the deck that give it all of the bonus abilities.

    Bring It On! – with a cheap cost to gain 10 armor, and then reducing the cost of all minions on your hand by 2, this card seems to provide much more value than people may think. Even if there are no minions in your hand, 2 for 10 armor is OK value.

    Also worth mentioning is the new Lifesteal mechanic – which is basically the same thing as Lifelink in Magic the Gathering. This is probably a more powerful mechanic than many people realize, and if you have played any Magic, you already know this is great for outracing opponents with creatures/minions.

    So grab your Amazon Coins and get over to the pre-order page because once the set is released that deal is gone! (Amazon Coins are always a good deal when buying your card packs though! As I have explained much better here)

    Hearthstone: Knights of the Frozen Throne Trailer Video

    Hearthstone Review from a Magic the Gathering Player

    June 10th, 2017 | Posted by Indri in card games | Hearthstone | pc-games | Uncategorized | world of warcraft - (Comments Off on Hearthstone Review from a Magic the Gathering Player)

    Hearthstone Review from a Magic the Gathering Player

    Anyone who knows me knows I’ve been playing competitive Magic the Gathering since the game first came out. Up until a few years ago, that was fine. I had plenty of time and money to spend on the game, and I enjoyed it. Then I got married and had a kid. Reality set in, and now I have real priorities that push gaming way to the bottom of the list.

    So what can a lifetime card flipping addict like me do to scratch that itch? Plain and simple, I had to quit playing Magic competitively. I may be able to catch a draft every once in a blue moon, or play some other form of the game on my Playstation etc…but the days of staying up into wee hours of night playing Magic Online tournaments are gone.

    Enter Hearthstone – My Magic The Gathering Replacement

    As a long time geek gamer, you might have also guessed that I’ve played World of Warcraft. You guessed right. That had to stop too, due to the same issues of not having time to play games for hours.

    I was already looking for other card games that could be played faster and easier. So when I heard that there was a card game based on WoW, that was one of the first few I tried. I’ll be honest, I didn’t get hooked immediately… but after a few weeks, when I started getting good at it, I started to like it more.

    Hearthstone Pros and Cons

    PROS:

    PRO 1 – Fast Games
    What I like most about Hearthstone is the games are fast. I’m a dad and a husband, and I work two jobs… I just don’t have the time to sit and play 3 to 5+ hour Magic tournaments anymore. PTQ’s are just not happening anymore. However I can play a few games of Hearthstone, on my phone, before bed or on my lunch break. This is not possible with Magic. The tournaments are draft style, but not really drafts. So you can play against different opponents anytime, you aren’t restricted to a draft pod like you are with MTG. This is nice because I can play an Arena match or two, then live my life and come back later that night, or two days later and continue the same Arena tournament.

    PRO 2 – Can be played on cell phone

    I’m already carrying my smartphone with me everywhere I go. So to have a decent game on there is pretty nice. I couldn’t imagine trying to play Magic on my phone, but Blizzard did a pretty good job of making their game playable on my Samsung Galaxy. It’s nice to know that if I want to I can play basically anytime, as long as there is WiFi.

    PRO 3 – Rewards Galore

    While they don’t just give you every card to play with from the start, which they could have done… it does give you
    a reason to keep playing the game and some excitement I guess from opening packs. They give out free packs often, and there are various rewards for progress on each class. This is something Magic doesn’t really do, but is a nice incentive to keep playing.

    PRO 4 – Much Cheaper than Magic

    It is cheaper than Magic. You can spend money on packs if you want to, or you can play for free buying packs of cards with gold you win from the tournaments etc. You have to be more resourceful with your decks when playing for free, but you can still play. If you want to play more competitively, you can either “dust” your unwanted cards to build a deck you want, or spend a fraction of the cost of a competitive magic deck to buy a bunch of booster packs. It’s also kind of refreshing for me, not to have to look at every card and consider it’s monetary value.

    PRO 5 – No Chat

    One thing about Magic Online that would annoy me is the chat box. Or I should say, the opponents trash talk area. I don’t know if it was just me, but I would always face the most douchey and rude opponents. So I’d ignore the chat box. That being said, even in Hearthstone players can emote in jerky ways, so thankfully there is an option to “squelch” them so you at least don’t have to be annoyed with their commentary.

    CONS:

    CON 1 – Dominant Decks
    At times it seems like there are one or two decks that completely dominate the game, are basically unbeatable, and everyone you go up against in the player vs player ranked matches seems to be playing those decks. If you aren’t playing those one to 3 “net decks” you probably will lose. This is always an issue with card games, since players have the internet it’s hard to stop them from building and sharing the most broken decks. Blizzard is somewhat quick to respond with card nerfs, but still allow some to stay in.

    CON 2 – Low Rotation Cycles
    Cards that are released stick around for 2 full years before they go into “Wild” mode. Say you really hate a particular card, like oh say Reno Jackson for example. You are stuck playing against it for 2 full years. People were waiting and waiting for stupid Reno to rotate out, it was so horrible.

    CON 3 – Not Much of a Competitive Outlet

    Sure they have Arena Mode, and there is some kind of major tournament that takes place in a faraway land once or twice a year… but unlike magic there are not PTQ’s, there are no local gaming shops hosting Hearthstone tournaments that I’m aware of. This is sad for some people who really get into the competitive aspect of the game, it’s just not there for Hearthstone. Which I find a bit odd – Blizzard is a pretty big company and could easily host a pro tour type of thing if they wanted to.

    Con 4 – No Trading

    While I admit I was never much of a fan of trading, I do realize that trading is an important part of Magic that a lot of people do enjoy. That’s the main reason I’m listing this as a con here. You cannot trade with other players in Hearthstone, but they do allow you to “dust” your cards to the game. Then you can use that dust to “create” the cards you want. The thing is, dusting a card is always a losing trade. You dust something for a fraction of what it costs to create a card of the same rarity. So unlike Magic where you are trying to trade for equal or better value, you will never get that kind of deal with Hearthstone.

    TO SUM IT UP

    Well that’s it for now, I may add to this list as the game goes on, but I stand by my pros and cons at this point. I feel like Hearthstone is a fine Magic replacement for gamers that find themselves limited on time and money. If you haven’t tried it yet, why not go to your app store and give it a shot? It’s free to play and unless you really want to build the best decks to compete in ranked mode, you don’t need to spend any money. You can play it on about any decent smartphone or tablet, and the games or tournaments don’t require you to sit down playing for hours at a time.

    All in all I’m glad I found Hearthstone I think I would have ended up very depressed and missing my Magic the Gathering gaming if I had just quit and not found another game.

    Get 50 Packs of Hearthstone’s Journey to Un’Goro Expansion CHEAP with Amazon Coins!

    March 2nd, 2017 | Posted by Indri in Amazon Coins | card games | Hearthstone | Ramblings - (Comments Off on Get 50 Packs of Hearthstone’s Journey to Un’Goro Expansion CHEAP with Amazon Coins!)

    Get 50 Packs of Hearthstone’s Journey to Un’Goro Expansion CHEAP with Amazon Coins!

    Every time there’s a Hearthstone pre-release, the kind developers offer a sweet promotion where you can pre-order 50 packs of the new set at $1 each. This allows you to get a ton of new cards at cheap prices, and be ready to compete when the set is officially released. You even get to open the packs before they are released! Great if you haven’t seen any of the cards yet, you’ll have fun opening and exploring Un’Goro.

    Un’Goro was always one of my favorite zones in World of Warcraft. It’s one of the few parts of the game that actually got my heart racing… with huge dinosaurs running around and hearing their footsteps, it was nerve wracking but fun! I haven’t seen all of the cards yet, but I’m expecting some large reptiles to make an appearance in a big way!


    Journey to Un'Goro Promotional Deal

    Buying Hearthstone packs of the new set for only a dollar a pack is already an awesome deal, every player should be taking advantage of that… but it gets better! You can save another 1%-25% on top of that when you spend Amazon Coins on this deal! Another sweet part of the deal is, for a limited time, you’ll get 500 Amazon Coins back when you get this promotion!

    There isn’t a catch other than you will need to install your game through the Amazon App or marketplace. If you have Hearthstone installed through Google Play store or elsewhere, you are going to have to uninstall that version, then reinstall the Amazon version. That’s how you unlock the ability to spend Amazon Coins from inside the game, and start saving money immediately!

    Here is the deal breakdown step by step:

    Step One – Install Amazon’s Version of Hearthstone
    If you haven’t already, go and install the Amazon version of Hearthstone unlocking the ability to spend Amazon Coins which will save you 1%-25% on your packs – depending how many you buy at a time. The more you spend, the more of a discount you get on the coins, which you spend on packs at $1 per 100 coins.

    Step Two – Buy Amazon Coins for you Amazon Account
    It’s important to note that the discount you get depends fully on how much you spend at the time of purchasing Amazon Coins. The lowest amount you can buy at the time of writing is 500 coins (equal to $5 of in game value) for a mere 1% discount, up to 50,000 coins (equal to $500 of in game value) for a 25% discount! The coins don’t expire, and you can use them for anything you would spend money on in Hearthstone. You can also install other games that accept Amazon Coins as payment, or send extra coins to your friends as a gift.




    As I’ve said before in my save money on Hearthstone post, I feel most comfortable buying 5000 coins at a time for the 17% discount. That’s the sweet spot for me that usually allows me to buy anything I need from Hearthstone. In this case, that will be exactly what you need to spend on this deal – Which means you are saving 17% on top of the 50 packs for 50 bucks prerelease promotional deal. Less than a dollar per pack, plus an exclusive card back! This is too good to miss!

    Step Three – Visit the Hearthstone In-App Store
    If you have the fully updated Amazon version of Hearthstone installed, you can navigate to the store within the app and choose “Cards”. In there you should see the glowing deal available for purchase, and now be able to spend your shiny new Amazon Coins on the deal. If you don’t have enough coinage, you will also be able to buy them through the game.

    Hurry and jump on this cheap Hearthstone packs deal before they release the set, then these packs will be full price! Which is currently $40 for 50 packs.

    Here are some Journey to Un’Goro videos to wet your appetite, in case you don’t know about it or aren’t sure if it’s going to be fun (spoiler alert – it will be fun! ).

    Journey to Un’Goro Announcement Video – (these guys are fun!)

    Journey to Un’Goro Cinematic Trailer Video

    How to Save Money On Hearthstone Gold – And Tons of Other Games!

    February 2nd, 2017 | Posted by Indri in card games | Hearthstone | Uncategorized - (Comments Off on How to Save Money On Hearthstone Gold – And Tons of Other Games!)

    How to Save Money On Hearthstone Gold – And Tons of Other In Game Purchases!

    What if I told you, that you pay too much for your mobile or PC games? That all this time you could have been spending less money to get more of the in-game items you need to play your games best? I was surprised to find this out, and so were many of my Hearthstone playing friends – all of us were paying full price for game purchases until we discovered Amazon Coins. It just blows my mind that so many people still aren’t taking advantage of this! However it seems like neither the game companies nor Amazon are doing much to promote this virtual currency…which is why I’m writing this to let my visitors “in on the secret”.

    My Quest for Mobile Game Savings

    I probably would never have found out about Amazon Coins if it weren’t for my wife. I was never compelled or driven to look for discounts or coupons for our games, until she racked up a HUGE amount of 3rd party charges playing League of Angels – Fire Raiders. She’s a stay at home mom, and her main thing to do during the day besides watch our son is to play games on her cell phone. She was spending around $100 per month on in game purchases, but there was one month she REALLY went crazy and spent over $200 on this game! Needless to say I was not thrilled at that, nor was I happy about her game draining our monthly entertainment budget. That’s when I went looking for any possible way to save money on these games, and I came across this lovely virtual currency called Amazon Coins.

    The ONLY Catch – You Must Install the “Amazonified” Version of Your Game

    There isn’t really a catch other than you will need to install your game through the Amazon App or marketplace. If you already have it installed, you will need to uninstall that game and reinstall the Amazon version. The ONLY difference between the version you have now and the one you will install is going to be that Amazon Coins are enabled as a payment option. I was pleased to find out that Amazon Coins were supported for both League of Angels – Fire Raiders as well as my favorite mobile game, Hearthstone.

    Click to visit Amazon’s Download of Hearthstone with Amazon Coins Purchase Enabled

    HearthstoneHearthstone

    How Much Can I Really Save With These Coins?
    The savings you get depends on how much you spend at the time of purchasing the coins. It runs on a scale, the less you spend the less you save. The lowest purchase you can make (at the time of writing) is 500 coins (equal to $5 of in game value) for a mere 1% discount, up to 50,000 coins (equal to $500 of in game value) for a 25% discount!
    So far I feel most comfortable with buying 5000 coins at a time for a 17% discount. That’s more than enough for what I need in my gaming at the moment. You can also gift coins to your friends, family, anyone… if I end up with more coins than I need, I usually send the excess to my wife who will use and appreciate them more.

    Look for Extra Savings Around Holidays and Sales Events!
    They also have promotions through either Amazon or sometimes the game companies, where you can score even more great deals. For example on Black Friday I was able to get an amazing deal run by Amazon 50% off coins! So always check for promos around holidays, big sale days etc. Another thing that happened, which was great, was a big glitch in my wife’s favorite game. For a short time as a way to make it up to the players, the game company offered them a HUGE bonus on in game purchases. Between the bonus and spending with her discounted Amazon Coins, my wife made out with a ridiculous amount of stuff for her game. She hasn’t had to buy anything for a couple months now – she keeps saying she has too many gems! I don’t play her game so I don’t know what she means, but that can’t be a bad thing!

    See the List of All Amazon Coins Supported Games – Check if Your Game is Supported!

    Direct Link to Amazon Coins

    Click to visit Amazon’s Download of League of Angels – Fire Raiders with Amazon Coins Purchase Enabled

    League of Angels - Fire RaidersLeague of Angels – Fire Raiders

    7 Great Spooky Fun Board Games for Parties

    October 30th, 2016 | Posted by Indri in Uncategorized - (Comments Off on 7 Great Spooky Fun Board Games for Parties)

    Sometimes it’s hard to plan a party around a horror theme… you need to find creative ways to engage and entertain your potentially odd group of friends. While you could bob for apples or beat up some creepy pinatas, maybe you want something more low key than that, and that’s where a board game might come in.

    If you’re looking for the perfect spooky board games for your Halloween party, or other horror themed parties,
    here are my all time best picks for fun horror board games. Take a look, read the reviews and pick one up…if you dare…!

    Top 10 Most Valuable Kaladesh Masterpiece Series Inventions Cards

    October 2nd, 2016 | Posted by Indri in Uncategorized - (Comments Off on Top 10 Most Valuable Kaladesh Masterpiece Series Inventions Cards)

    Here is a list of the top 10 most valuable Kaladesh Masterpiece Series Inventions cards according to the latest prices listed on TCGPlayer.com and prices shown on Amazon.com.

    These are some of the most valuable cards printed in awhile, so it’s really worth it to open some booster packs of this set – you never know, you might get lucky and find one of these cards in there!

     Booster Box + Bundle Fat Pack COMBO! Kaladesh KLD MTG Magic The Gathering Kaladesh Booster Pack 6 (Six) Packs – Magic: the Gathering – MTG: Kaladesh Booster Packs 3 (Three) Packs – Magic: the Gathering – MTG: Kaladesh Booster Packs

    Top Ten Ways to Lose at Magic the Gathering Sealed Deck Tournaments

    September 14th, 2016 | Posted by Indri in card games | magic the gathering | mtg | pc-games | Ramblings | Uncategorized - (Comments Off on Top Ten Ways to Lose at Magic the Gathering Sealed Deck Tournaments)

    How to Lose a Sealed Deck Magic the Gathering Tournament

    You know what they say, learn from your mistakes. In the many years that I’ve played Magic the Gathering, I’ve made tons of mistakes. Probably every single mistake you could make. So I’d like to take a minute to jot these down so all of you out there hopefully won’t make the same ones I did.

    Here are my top 10 biggest mtg sealed deck mistakes for you to learn from:

    Relying On One Card

    Bombs are nice to have, and if played right bombs can single handedly win a game…but they can’t be the ONLY way your deck wins. What if your opponent kill it as soon as it’s played? Or counterspells it? What if you just never draw it? If I had a nickel for every time I had a bomb card in my deck but never drew it once during an entire tournament… It’s just better to build yourself for an all around good deck filled with your most playable cards.

    Magic The Gathering Eldritch Moon Booster BoxMagic The Gathering Eldritch Moon Booster BoxHasbro MTG Magic Eldritch Moon Fat PackHasbro MTG Magic Eldritch Moon Fat Pack

    Forcing Your Favorite Colors

    I get it, you love two colors and think those are the best in this tournament. You really want to play them. But sometimes you can’t do that. Those may be the best colors but it you have only low quality, mediocre cards…or just not enough creatures. You can’t automatically play those colors. Magic just isn’t that simple where a certain color or colors always wins. Take time to look hard at your pool, maybe this tournament you will have to play your least favorite colors – but you will give yourself the best chance to win with those.

    Not Playing Enough Creatures.

    Most good players agree that you should be playing a minimum of 14 creatures in about any limited format. Unless you’re playing a non-creature deck – in which case you will lose 99% of the time in limited. Don’t play non creature “combo” decks in limited, just don’t. Give yourself the best chance to win, you probably have some money on the line, and now is not the time to play weird or casual style decks.

    Neglecting or Over-Valuing “Bombs”

    Wow, a mythic! I have to play this! No, no you don’t… Just because a card is mythic, or rare, doesn’t mean it’s automatically a good limited card or that it will fit well in your deck. On the flip side maybe you say this: “Wow I opened a (insert awesome green planeswalker)”…but I have all these great red cards and I don’t think green is any good. So I’m not playing that… (and then you lose the tournament). Read up on the set. Learn what cards are actually good and playable for the set in limited format, and gravitate towards the better cards. You may be surprised to learn certain uncommon cards are much stronger than certain mythics or rares.




    Forcing a “Strategy” Without the Support

    What I see a lot of with these newer sets are the various “themes” or “archetypes”. These could be strong in limited, and are tempting to play, but more often than not you just don’t get enough cards to go “all in” on any of these archetypes – or the one you like best. I believe these archetypes were mainly designed for constructed play, and you are lucky if you can swing them effectively in your sealed pools. Sometimes you just need a mix of “good stuff” to have a deck that wins limited tournaments.

    Not Splashing a Third Color When You Should

    If you have good removal or bombs in your pool, and not enough in your main colors, you should consider splashing those cards in (hint: you can never have enough removal). Now I’m not talking about mediocre removal, I mean GOOD removal… the kind you would pick highly in a draft for example. Having access to effective removal is well worth adding a few off colored cards and lands to your deck. Just don’t overdo it – try not to “splash” more than 3 or 4 off color cards, tops.

    Making Poor Mulligan Choices

    Obviously you know when you have one land or no lands you should mulligan… But let’s say you draw 3 islands in your opening hand while playing a blue green deck. Let’s say you have a handful of islands, and green creatures. When you don’t have the right color mana in hand to cast the majority of the cards in your hand, you’ll probably lose from never drawing the lands to play anything. This has happened to me more than a few times, and it’s very frustrating…but 100% your own fault for keeping a bad hand. Don’t let it happen to you. Do the right thing and mulligan!

    Splashing Double Mana Cards

    If you are going to play that 3rd color, make sure you have the mana base for doing so. Most of the time you won’t be able to play double mana off color cards and shouldn’t add those to your deck. If you aren’t sure how to splash, stay safe and stick with two colors. There is nothing wrong with only playing two colors, provided you have enough decent playable cards in there.

    “Splashing” Every Color Without the Mana Base

    Look you aren’t going to be able to swing 4 or 5 colors in limited most of the time. Not unless you have some good multicolored lands or creatures that produce any color mana. Even still, it’s going to be hard to always have the right colored mana around to play your cards. You’re going to end up with a few unplayable cards in hand most games. That’s how you lose games.

    Taking Advice from Inexperienced Players

    I’m not the greatest player in the world, I’m not a “pro”. I have however been playing Magic since 1994 – longer than most people, and I win most of the tournaments I get a chance to play. I’m at least an above average player, which is why I have this blog for newer Magic players or those looking to improve. Here’s the thing. Magic is a highly speculative and competitive game. Everyone thinks they know how to win at it, what cards are best, and they want to share their secrets with you. You can’t believe everything you read from random guys on a Magic forum, You can’t go by everything your buddy says at the local game store. Or even what the store owner says, or whoever the store judge is. Ultimately YOU have to “get it”…and you’re in for a wild ride as it could take months or even years to learn the ins and outs of this ever evolving game.

    Magic The Gathering Eldritch Moon Booster BoxMagic The Gathering Eldritch Moon Booster BoxHasbro MTG Magic Eldritch Moon Fat PackHasbro MTG Magic Eldritch Moon Fat Pack

    Final Words

    If you’re reading this post, it probably means you want to get better at Magic and win more limited games. Reading blogs like this one, and watching gameplay videos will definitely get your mind flowing with ideas which help towards improving your MTG game.

    Good luck in your next sealed deck MTG tournament, and make sure to watch out for these deckbuilding mistakes!

    Any questions or comments? Feel free to drop a message and let me know what you think!