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Main » Articles » Go Big at Home

Go Big at Home

Adam Styborski
Posted on March 9, 2011
 Reddit

So far, my Magic Online adventuring has been restricted to the online-only Planeswalker format and a little dabbling in picking up cards from bots. And that's exactly where we'll stay, mostly. While poking around bots isn't entirely exciting, looking for the pieces of a Commander puzzle is an ultimately rewarding adventure.

Before I dive into our favorite hundred-card deck format, I want to follow up on the feedback from the last article. Shmebula and Brad Wojceshonek both shared some of the bots they use online:

  • CardBot (and CardBuyingBot)

  • MTGOTraders

  • Supernova

  • Superbot

I had actually used CardBot and MTGOTraders to pick up the cards I did the other week, and I'm hopeful that the other two new-to-me options will pay out. Thanks for sharing some targets.

Another piece of feedback received was around the use of booster packs. Specifically, the New Account pack that comes with, among other things, a booster pack of Magic 2011. And I opened it, which was, clearly, a deep mistake according to calculations.

What I mean here is that while tickets serve as a currency online, booster packs can serve a similar purpose. Converting a booster pack into tickets, then using the tickets to purchase cards desired, is a clean way to maximize the EV (expected value) of a digital booster pack. It's similar to the real-life wheeling-and-dealing of packs for cards in trading, only the digital medium uses tickets.

My initial statement of jumping online was to look at the following:

  • Experiencing online play directly versus second-hand accounts and arm-waving speculation

  • Finding the gems and uniquely online ways to enjoy Magic

  • Exploring a whole new dimension of Magic

  • Diving into the nearly endless supply of Commander players

Something that's conspicuously missing from that list is "Maximize net value and minimize net loss." I'm not a savvy trader or a particularly good fount of fiscal information, Magic or otherwise.

However, failing to point out this straightforward relationship (booster pack = tickets = generally greater value in cards than from opening a booster pack) would be doing a disservice to anyone following along. Ultimately, I get a little excited opening booster packs, and seeing my favorite Ooze staring back at me felt good.

But I could have bought over thirty copies of him by converting the pack to tickets up front.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Going Green

I love Commander as much as I love cake—and boy, do I love cake! Grabbing ninety-nine cards and a suitable Legendary creature to suit feels good, and translating that into a conveniently digital package to use at home seems like a smart plan.

Being a Green player by trade, I already have a short list of Green Commanders I would be interested in dabbling with:

I did some price-shopping, and here's a little table, sorted by my preference:

Commander Desire MTGOTraders CardBot
Baru, Fist of Krosa High 0.3 0.3
Kamahl, Fist of Krosa High — 0.3
Glissa Sunseeker Medium 0.08 0.08
Nemata, Grove Guardian Medium — 3.25
Verdeloth the Ancient Medium 0.08 0.08
Molimo, Maro-Sorcerer Low 0.1 0.9
Omnath, Locus of Mana Low 2 2
Thrun, the Last Troll Low 5.5 5.5


It looks like CardBot will be getting me my Kamahl, Fist of Krosa as desired—and cheap! I also used a spreadsheet to plug in my paper version of the deck, updated with Mirrodin Besieged, to check if cards were available online and what the price would be.

Card Name Online? Owned? CardBot
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary No No —
Sakura-Tribe Elder Yes No 0.2
Sylvan Ranger Yes Yes —
Civic Wayfinder Yes Yes —
Eternal Witness Yes No 3
Krosan Tusker Yes No 0.05
Yavimaya Dryad Yes No 0.05
Chameleon Colossus Yes No 4.5
Masked Admirers Yes No 0.35
Master of the Wild Hunt Yes No 7.95
Oracle of Mul Daya Yes No 0.9
Acidic Slime Yes No 0.04
Arashi, the Sky Asunder Yes No 0.35
Genesis Yes No 1.75
Indrik Stomphowler Yes No 0.04
Seedguide Ash Yes No 0.04
Silklash Spider Yes No 0.08
Thornling Yes No 4.75
Wickerbough Elder Yes No 0.03
Deadwood Treefolk Yes No 0.04
Primeval Titan Yes No 28.95
Vigor Yes No 0.8
Avenger of Zendikar Yes No 8.5
Pelakka Wurm Yes No 0.08
Spearbreaker Behemoth Yes No 0.08
Tornado Elemental Yes No 0.12
Terastodon Yes No 0.4
Woodfall Primus Yes No 3.5
Berserk Yes No 3.5
Rancor Yes No 2
Sylvan Tutor Yes No 0.3
Worldly Tutor Yes No 4
Land Grant No No —
Nature's Spiral Yes No 0.4
Rampant Growth Yes Yes —
Regrowth Yes No 1.4
Survival of the Fittest Yes No 15
Three Visits Yes Yes —
Cultivate Yes Yes —
Harrow Yes No 0.03
Krosan Grip Yes No 0.15
Recollect Yes No 0.04
Defense of the Heart Yes No 4.95
Garruk Wildspeaker Yes No 4.5
Greater Good Yes No 0.1
Harmonize Yes No 0.65
Momentous Fall Yes No 0.25
Reap and Sow Yes No 0.03
Summoner's Pact Yes No 2.5
Primal Command Yes No 3.75
Soul's Majesty Yes No 0.1
Desert Twister Yes No 0.08
Green Sun's Zenith Yes No 2.75
Howl of the Night Pack Yes No 0.04
Basilisk Collar Yes No 2.75
Brittle Effigy Yes No 0.3
Sol Ring Yes No 3.75
Lightning Greaves Yes No 1.5
Sword of Feast and Famine Yes No 15.5
Sword of Fire and Ice Yes No 11.95
Sword of Light and Shadow Yes No 10.25
Nevinyrral's Disk Yes No 4.25
Solemn Simulacrum Yes No 4
Gauntlet of Power Yes No 0.5
Mind's Eye Yes No 1
Duplicant Yes No 2.5
Akroma's Memorial Yes No 3.5
Gaea's Cradle Yes No 20
Llanowar Reborn Yes No 0.2
Slippery Karst Yes No 0.08
Tranquil Thicket Yes No 0.12
Treetop Village Yes No 0.25
High Market No No —
Miren, the Moaning Well Yes No 1.15
Mystifying Maze Yes No 0.12
Strip Mine Yes No 2.75
Tectonic Edge Yes No 1
Temple of the False God Yes No 0.15
Yavimaya Hollow No No —
20 Forest Yes Yes —
TOTAL 200.64


So I'll just go get 200 tickets and—oh, snap. There's nothing like listing out a deck to get a reality check on its actual cost. I don't have any intention of dropping 200 tickets, with some of the cards missing to boot, so let's get some easy things out of the way.

Expensive Tools

There are six cards together that represent half the cost above:

Card Name Online? Owned? CardBot
Primeval Titan Yes No 28.95
Gaea's Cradle Yes No 20
Sword of Feast and Famine Yes No 15.5
Survival of the Fittest Yes No 15
Sword of Fire and Ice Yes No 11.95
Sword of Light and Shadow Yes No 10.25


Replacing these cards isn't an easy task, as the effects are incredibly unique and powerful. Here are some of my ideas:

Not Online Yet

Not every card is online (yet). Here's what is missing:

Card Name Online? Owned? CardBot
Rofellos, Llanowar Emissary No No —
Land Grant No No —
High Market No No —
Yavimaya Hollow No No —


Most of these are easily replaceable.

All the Small Things

There is a streak of more cards with suspect price tags:

Card Name Online? Owned? CardBot
Avenger of Zendikar Yes No 8.5
Master of the Wild Hunt Yes No 7.95
Defense of the Heart Yes No 4.95
Thornling Yes No 4.75
Chameleon Colossus Yes No 4.5
Garruk Wildspeaker Yes No 4.5
Nevinyrral's Disk Yes No 4.25


Some of these cards have effective replacements, but most really do not. So what I want to do is turn it over to the "hive mind" and get some feedback from you. Where else is there room to "trim the fat" and drop some of the cost? While CardBot isn't the only bot in town, price-checking across multiple bots is both tedious and very time-consuming.

It's mono-Green with a beat-down bent that I'm after. I know you'll have some insight into getting the most from the least. Our current total is 107.65 tickets. We can do a lot better (lower) than that. Show me how and we'll go into full-on budget mode with a final target and deck next week!

TAGS articles, casual, elder dragon highlander, magic online, online, edh, modo, mtgo, commander

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