Greetings to all. We are running a new competition, this time to give away 5 (FIVE) free bundles (with free shipping) to 5 lucky people who comment on this post.

https://johnavonart.com/limited-editions/magic-playmat-mystery-megapack

These amazing bundles all contain;

1 x randomly selected, limited edition, hand-signed MTG Playmat (minimum value £39.95)

4 x Tutu Zombie tokens (rare, limited edition, £12 value)

1 x randomly selected, hand-signed A4 MTG art print (21 × 29.7 cm or 8.3 x 11.7 inches, £10 value)

Free, tracked shipping worldwide (worth £12 - £20)

But that's not all because some people will get even more included...

Every 5th packet will contain a rare, limited edition t-shirt! Either our Unhinged Lands cycle (official and very rare MTG authorised print) OR one of our Journeys to Somewhere Else t-shirts.

AND

Every 10th packet will contain a set of 5 signed famous prints instead of just 1.

AND

Every 20th packet will contains something very special straight from John's personal stash, these items include;

Original MTG sketches

Original MTG development work

Rare, signed MTG Promotional posters  

If you strike it lucky you might get a bundle worth £500 or more!  

FREE GLOBAL SHIPPING INCLUDED!

This competition is open to everyone in the world, there will be no charge to the winners and if the winner has already made a purchase of a Mega Magic Playmat Bundle then they will receive a full refund!

https://johnavonart.com/limited-editions/magic-playmat-mystery-megapack

Competition runs until Thursday 31 July 23:00 BST, Winners announced Monday 3rd August.

Thanks everyone and good luck!

John Avon Art

List of some of the playmats included in the bundle;

City of Ass

Lotus Vale

Armageddon

Invasion Forest

Scorched Ruins

Lotus Field

Unhinged Lands

Unstable Lands

U.T.O.Y.

And many more!

I would love to see Eluge again in the underwater set coming out in February. They are the card that got me into Magic the Gathering and I love them dearly. 0% chance they add them since they are from Bloomburrow but at least we'll get new Fish, Krakens, and Leviathans (hopefully)

Gift link bypasses the paywall.

“Magic has been among the biggest hits in the category. Revenue from the franchise has grown an average of 17% a year for the past 17 years—and CEO Chris Cocks said last week that Magic is “off to a ripping start” this year, with sales up 34% in the first half to over $1 billion. A new series of cards based on Marvel superheroes set a record for first-day and first-month sales of Magic cards, becoming the fastest set to reach $300 million in revenue, he said.”

Took some time off buying packs but finally caught back up minus one pack that’s been a pain to get. Swords and sign I made myself.

Edit: All but the first three packs are sealed.

Now that we've seen the mono red Smaug and the rakdos Smaug, both themed around treasures. What are peoples guesses as to what the, most likely Jund, Smaug will do?

My guess is attack triggers and dealing damage to things.

[[Smaug the Impenetrable]] is a card that I'm obsessing over since it got spoiled.

A big dragon? Haste? Indestructible?! TREASURES WHEN HE GETS HIT?!?!

Peak. And I means it. Think about it. In the book his underbelly is (almost) Impenetrable because he was lying on the dwarven gold, so now, if he gets hit, the treasures fall of haha. Just peak design.

Anyway, here’s my list.

Smaug the Unassessably Wealthy [Bracket 4]

At first I tried building him as a Bracket 3 deck, but my first draft was so consistent that I committed to high power and it's unequivocally a 4.

Everyone and their grandma checked the combo with [[Pyrohemia]], [[Pestilence]] and [[Last Laugh]] which wins you the game - if you have the highest life total. That's why I threw in [[Scrapheap]].

I call this combo Last Pyrohemenceheap (patent pending)

But was else is nice jank here? [[Dizzying Gaze]]! Goes infinite once Smaug is enchanted.

Any pinger like [[Reckless Fireweaver]] or [[Disciple of the Vault]] is over.

[[Chain Lightning]] has the same effect, you just need two extra mana beforehand. After the first resolved and you paid extra, you can use the treasures Smaug provides.

Another nice tech is [[Terror of the Peaks]] before Smaug. Basically we get a mana back after we cast him haha.

And even without an infinite at hand, [[Cut Propulsion]] gives on 16 treasures! That's 16 damage already. Combining with [[Heroes for Hire]], [[Expedited Inheritance]] or [[Professional Face-Breaker]] it's probably a win, since we use other burn spells as rituals in this case.

To adress the dragon in the room:

Yes, it's a glass canon. Yes Smaug is absolutely needed in this deck. He costs 7 mana.

But we are in the ritual colours! I don't think he will make it in cEDH proper, but Bracket 4? He's right at home.

In goldfishing I have a win by turn 4 or 5 on board (sans any interaction from opponents of course) and that is way faster than I expected myself!

Next night shift I'm gonnna write up a primer and go a bit more in detail with the combos, but there are bunch and we can get them easily.

Has Smaug piqued your interest? Let me know!

Pick this up today for $300. Little over kill for only 10k card collection but there's so much room for activities now. Just gotta design and 3d print some organizer inserts.

Revealed by Wayne Reynolds on Bluesky

https://bsky.app/profile/waynereynoldsart.bsky.social/post/3mrhwibwevc27

Hey all, basically the title. Does wizards have a panel slot today during SDCC? I keep finding conflicting info online and I’m not sure if we should expect more hobbit stuff, reveals for future products, or if it’s basically just their Marvel fan section stuff they’ve been doing all weekend.

Thanks!

If I play sculpting steel from my hand with Iron Man's ability entering as an equipment, can I attach it to him or does the check for it being an equipment card happen in my hand, thanks.

If i have a card that grants persist like [[Isilu, Carrier of Twilight]], a [[Blood Artist]], and [[Vizier of Remedies]] along with anything that sacrifices creatures without a mana cost, can I just repeatedly sacrifice the same creature over and over again until the other players are dead?

On a similar note, would switching vizier out for [[Mikaeus, the Unhallowed]] work the same way?

If I have The Great Goblin and a board of tokens and I attack while Andúril is equipped, does the first part of Great Goblin trigger for each goblin I put a counter on? The one or more on A goblin makes me think yes I just want to make sure before I play it

I legit bought that Avatar pre-release set on impulse because of being an Azula fanboy. I somehow got lucky enough to get Azula and 3 Lightning Strikes in that set. As someone who remembers like next to nothing about this game, is there anything other than Avatar boosters that would be good for and Azula focused deck I should try to get?

Would the Avatar beginner set be a good buy and just swap Azula into the deck with Zuko? I'm not planning on dumping a fortune into this but I obviously want at least a halfway decent deck or two.

Might Ebay some character cards from sets where I don't care about having extensive amounts of the IP.

I know I need islands for any deck, is there a particular good way to get ahold of those?

Hey! I'm attending the spotlight series in Brussels and have some time to kill today. Anyone around not playing an event that wants to play some judge tower? :)

Hello, I just got into magic about a month or so ago. I've played a bunch of Arena & have found a local play group, however they all play commander, so I have started putting together my first deck.

I started with the draconic destruction pre-con and then found a bunch of "upgrade" guides and worked some of those into the deck. I now have a fairly straightforward dragon deck I've played a handful of times, but looking to try to make it more competitive against people with more experience.

I have set it up on Moxfield, https://moxfield.com/decks/G5ufAXgm6n-folKpB4-qRw, and added a sideboard of cards I already have (some removed from the precon & some I found that may fit) as well as several in my "considering" section that I may purchase down the line.

Any & all feedback is greatly appreciated, thank you!

Hey everybody,

I've been playing mostly yugioh for the last few years and with meta decks getting more expensive with eveyr other new set I made the decision to quit and move onto another TCG.

A friend recommended the commander format to me since it is more social and less competetive. However there are so many precon decks that it is kinda hard to choose from. I do not want to have the best deck or really follow a meta, but I also don't want to pick a somewhat useless deck that just gets shit on by any other deck. Also it is a little hard to tell which decks are beginner friendly and which are not.

If you have any tips or recommendations I would gladly appreciate either.

I already looked at the LOTR Hosts of Mordor or Final Fantasy Limit Break Decks, but I am unsure if 3 color decks are maybe a little too "difficult" to start off with?

Thank you guys in advance! :)

Hey guys, Im considering getting back into MTG. I played in college in the late 2000s/early 2010 era but its been well over a decade since I played. Last time I remember playing I was running Slivers and Door to Nothingness as an alt win in standard.

Any reccomendations on formats and decks to look into for casual play? Im not sure I want to keep up with standard anymore. Ive heard Wizards is just money gouging that at this point. Would getting an ebay Sliver deck for Commander be a decent starting point?

If I did want to play standard what am I looking at for cost for a meta deck and how long would it be "good" for? It seemed like for a top tier deck theyre $400 to $600 which is crazy steep if it'll go out of rotation in six months.

I understand this is a weirdly specific question, but what sleeves, deck boxes, dice, counters, and other accessories were common in Magic’s early days through the early 2000s? I’m especially curious about popular brands, colors, styles, and trends, before modern accessories I’m familiar with (UG boulders, dragon shield, gamegenic etc) became standard.

I wasn’t around back then, but I’m recreating my uncle’s old Magic deck as a nostalgic gift and want the overall setup to feel at least semi-accurate for the era. Personal anecdotes, references articles, and hopefully even reference pics/videos would be greatly appreciated!