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    Islandswamp

    @Islandswamp

    TMD Supporter

    Vintage and Legacy writer and die-hard fan of all things eternal. Author of Vintage 101 on www.MTGGoldfish.com

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    Website www.mtggoldfish.com Location Vermont Age 41

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    Best posts made by Islandswamp

    • Acting as an Ambassador for Vintage: A Noble Pursuit

      There will not be any article from me this week, I apologize in advance. I have been very busy and I find myself no longer able to deal with the lack of sleep the way I used to. This has caused several severe complications in my daily life, and I need to take at least a short time off. This isn't why I'm writing this though, so let's keep moving...

      alt text

      Since the addition of Vintage Leagues to Magic Online there has been a huge influx of new players. I know this because I went from the occasional join request for our Vintage Facebook group to getting five to ten each day (although I could be off about that figure, it does certainly seem like that much).

      With all of these new people finding our favorite format it is our duty to be nice. Don't be a total shitbag just because you lost. I understand the frustration from losing, I really do. Hell, I lose all the goddamned time! The thing is that I've had to learn to try and take a step back when I feel that tilt coming on. After all, going all ape-rage on a victorious opponent will not help you feel better, and when you finally calm down and realize what you've done I'm sure you'll actually feel worse.

      Try to imagine that you are a new player and your first encounter in a league involves winning a match (yay!) and then being told that you're a living cancer or some such nonsense. That's awful, and with the small community we have it's very dangerous for our well-being too. We can't afford to scare people away.

      I am a nobody. I am not rich, I am not better than anyone, and there are surely a shit ton of better Magic players out there. But since I have been fortunate enough to write a few articles people tend to recognize me. Often times it feels like that means I have some reputation to uphold, and I shouldn't be losing, but in reality that's not the case. It's fine to lose. Losing doesn't make you a bad person or a loser. Losing like a sore loser DOES do those things though.

      I speak on this topic from experience. While I've never really gone on a full rage against someone, I have made snide comments or sarcastic jabs before. Those things are also not OK. I've had to go back and message someone that I was sorry if I came off like a jerk, knowing full well that I did. Apologizing for negative behavior is a great start, because admitting you're wrong is tough for many people to do, but it isn't the end goal. We all need to make sure that we're stopping ourselves before we cross that line (even if it seems benign at the time).

      Lately what I try to do is just to find solace in the fact that for some of these people beating me at Magic is awesome to them. They read my article, build one of the decks, then use it to crush my dreams on Magic Online. These things used to sting a little bit, but I've realized that making people happy is awesome. The fact that they are having a good time should make me happy too.

      With all of that said, I'd like to thank the folks out there who act as kind ambassadors every single day. Rich, Brass Man, and many others too numerous to name are kindhearted competitors and we need people like that. Helping other people is great, and it can feel just as good as winning if you learn to place emphasis on teamwork.

      Thanks for reading folks. I wrote this post quickly before work, so I may go back and edit it for clarity, grammar, or content later, but I wanted to get it out there. Things are going so well with these MTGO leagues right now and I don't want to see them derailed by any malfeasance.

      posted in Vintage Community
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp
    • RE: [IMA] Mana Drain

      This will probably be good in Legacy, but I don't see it replacing Steel Sabotage in Vintage or Commander. Two blue is hard to produce what with the lack of good mana bases in this format.

      posted in Single-Card Discussion
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp
    • Vintage 101: Dredge-a-pa-looza!

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      I love Diversity!

      I have spent an inordinate amount of time scouring Vintage metagame results over the past two years. During that time I have noticed many different trends, but the major takeaway was that very few decks were dominating everything. The big decks from the past are still very good, but overall things seem much more varied than they used to be. Reading the results on the MTGGoldfish Vintage Metagame page used to feel like listening to a broken record, but now I find an interesting deck list or two every time the page is updated.

      There's another occurrence that has been consistent since I started writing about this format and that is the fact that people always mention how expensive it is. Well, they're not wrong, but the situation isn't quite as dire as people like to think. Last year at Eternal Weekend one of the "budget decks" from the Vintage Championship actually made Top Eight in the event and that's truly impressive. The Tribal Eldrazi decks have not been as popular recently, but Eternal Weekend is coming up again so I expect to see people testing out some Eldrazi Stompy decks very soon!

      You can continue this article on MTGGoldfish by clicking here.

      Congrats to @Oestrus for taking the whole thing down and @oddseidank for kicking some butt in the event!

      posted in Vintage News
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp
    • Vintage 101

      Hello all.

      I'm posting this announcement to let you all know what's going on with me and my article series. At this point, I am done writing. This most likely is not a permanent change, and it's 100% my decision.

      To put it bluntly, I'm burned out. I have been feeling more and more burned out over the past months, but recent events in my life have made things far worse. I don't feel like airing my dirty laundry and misfortune in a public post, but if you're really wondering you can always try to message me and see if I reply.

      My hope is that these issues I'm having resolve quickly and that I'm able to return to writing soon. I've enjoyed the work, and it's a tough thing to walk away from.

      Thanks for your support over the past two years.

      P.S. I haven't had much time to be on TMD, so Facebook Messenger and Email ( josephfiorini06@gmail.com ) are the best ways to contact me.

      posted in Vintage Community
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp
    • Magic History: Art of Darkness with Jesper Myrfors

      "Islandswamp interviews Magic's original art director and designer of "The Dark," Jesper Myrfors!"

      I'm hoping this will be of interest to Vintage and Old School players. Enjoy.

      http://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/magic-history-art-of-darkness-with-jesper-myrfors

      posted in Vintage News
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp
    • Vintage 101: Two Years Down

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      Hello folks! It occurred to me the other day that Vintage:101 is now two years old. It's been a fun and crazy two years for sure. Vintage has seen a lot of change over the past two years, and there has been a resurgence in Vintage content production as well. Anyways, this week's article will look at a few decks from the Vintage Leagues on Magic Online, but I'll also have a special "thank you" at the end. Enjoy!

      P.S. Use this link to upvote the shit out of this on Reddit. Every little shill helping me goes a long way! https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/7c184i/vintage_101_two_years_down/?ref=share&ref_source=link

      Article Linky: https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/vintage-101-two-years-down

      posted in Vintage News
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp
    • RE: Vintage Buyouts

      I really feel that the greatest value to be found in a Magic card is in it's functionality as a piece in my favorite game of all time.

      If less people end up playing eternal formats due to cost, then there are less tournaments that fire, and a big part of the perceived value of an Eternal staple diminishes. Wouldn't most of you that own power enjoy it more if all events were able to be sanctioned and as large as proxy events? I'd think that being able to use your pretty cards more would be a desirable thing.

      When prices spike this badly it makes me sad to be honest. I'm always trying to convince people that it's Vintage is fun and that it's worth the money, but some of the price tags just turn people off. It's true that proxy events help a little bit, but I would assume most people would like to eventually replace their proxies with real cards (I know I do). I'm not sure that I'll ever be able to.

      I'm glad that I own most of what I would want on Magic Online. And as much as I love the convenience of that platform I have grown somewhat tired of only experiencing Magic by myself, sitting in front of a computer. I like the feel of the cards in my hand.

      posted in Vintage Community
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp
    • The IslandSwamp Blog: My Favorites

      In my ongoing efforts to pretend like I'm a real writer, I've been blogging much more lately. Some of these entries will be directly Vintage-related, and some will just be stories about Magic (and possibly other stuff if I get a feeling that people want to actually read that).

      https://islandswamp.wordpress.com/2016/11/12/my-favorites/

      This latest entry is about a few of my favorite articles I've written. I just linked to them and wrote about why I enjoyed writing the things. The cool thing about the blog is that I can be more candid and honest than I'm otherwise allowed to be. So enjoy it, share it if you're so inclined, and let me know if there's anything else you'd ever like to see in one of these entries.

      I wrote a short thank you to the community at the end as well. I just want everyone to recognize that I am grateful for the support I've been given. I'm certainly not the best player in the world, and even though I played competitively at a young age I'm still learning. Vintage is the deepest format I've ever touched and I'm lucky to stand on the shoulders of the giants that came before me. Without the work of @Smmenen , @Brass-Man , and others I wouldn't be doing this.

      Thanks!

      posted in Vintage News
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp
    • RE: Documentation of rules violations/questionable behavior by the Eternal Weekend Winner

      @Juggernaut-GO said:

      @Katzby he had exactly the right amount of cards, you just took his word on which order he drew them and didn't think logically on the order of events in the match. I've been playing competitive vintage since 2002 and never once called an opponent on cheating. That changed Friday and to not have rules enforced really shows what a joke judging in this game is. NO matter what, it's still a human deciding something with incomplete information.

      Truth is buddy, you blew up my tournament chances in round 2 yet I still almost got there. To see that you blew so many calls revolving around the asterisked winner shows a pattern of ineptitude. I'd honestly be questioning my ability to be a head judge when so many people are doing the same thing.

      I want to address Travis, John, and whoever the Judge is.

      Travis, I like you a lot and I understand where your frustration comes from, but these judges do have to make the best call they can. People make mistakes and I know that nobody in the judge staff would intentionally hurt you.

      @Socialite. I agree with your sentiment that these judges are important volunteers and deserve some respect but you really lose your moral standing when you engage in name-calling and trolling of your own.

      @Katzby thank you for trying to do the best you could. I do not envy your position right now. I also completely understand why everyone is upset about the things that happened.

      When I went to the TMD Open, I had not played paper magic in a tournament setting in literal years. In fact, the last time I had gone to an event that large would have been over a decade ago. I got zero game rule violations, no other problems, and I voluntarily showed my deck to the judges before the tournament so they could check my proxies and everything. I even replaced proxies because the judges were worried about them.

      My ability to play without such errors doesn't automatically mean that other people won't have problems, but I really find it odd that anyone can be that "sloppy" in a beneficial way for so long. That is my two cents, but I WILL honor your ruling because the event staff deserves that show of respect.

      To everyone:

      I know that this is going to be an unpopular statement, but I feel like we should settle down about this soon and think about letting it go. I say this because there is nothing any of us can do to change what happened (or didn't happen).

      That doesn't mean we shouldn't be more vigilant in the future though. You better believe that we all will make sure there is not a repeat of these events next time.

      Please note that I am not trying to dismiss anyone's feelings about the event, I am just worried that this issue is tearing us apart and making us look bad! Plus, all the complaining in the world won't change the past...

      posted in Vintage Community
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp
    • Vintage 101: Looking back at 2017

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      Looking Back at 2017
      A lot happened over the course of the last year, and with 2018 rolling in soon I figured now would be a great time to go over some of the highlights. Let's start off with the release of Aether Revolt in January 2017, which gave us Walking Ballista. Triskelion had been a mainstay of Vintage Workshop decks, and Walking Ballista represented a clear upgrade. Arcbound Ravager based Workshop Aggro cemented itself as the most dominant form of Workshop deck, and unsurprisingly Ballista became a four-of in the vast majority of successful Workshop decks. MORE

      Thanks for a special year folks. The sky has still managed to avoid falling, and overall things seem to be trending in a positive direction. Have a happy newd year and rock out with your mox out.

      https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/vintage-101-looking-back-at-2017

      posted in Vintage News
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp

    Latest posts made by Islandswamp

    • Vintage 101

      Hello all.

      I'm posting this announcement to let you all know what's going on with me and my article series. At this point, I am done writing. This most likely is not a permanent change, and it's 100% my decision.

      To put it bluntly, I'm burned out. I have been feeling more and more burned out over the past months, but recent events in my life have made things far worse. I don't feel like airing my dirty laundry and misfortune in a public post, but if you're really wondering you can always try to message me and see if I reply.

      My hope is that these issues I'm having resolve quickly and that I'm able to return to writing soon. I've enjoyed the work, and it's a tough thing to walk away from.

      Thanks for your support over the past two years.

      P.S. I haven't had much time to be on TMD, so Facebook Messenger and Email ( josephfiorini06@gmail.com ) are the best ways to contact me.

      posted in Vintage Community
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp
    • Vintage 101: Power Trip!

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      Power Trip!
      Beyond being a reference to my favorite Monster Magnet album, this article's title is referencing the trip many folks will be making to win some Power Nine cards this summer. If you haven't heard yet, Star City Games (SCG) is bringing back their old "Power Nine Series" for at least one big two-day event this June 8th through 10th at SCG Con.

      The original SCG P9 Series went on during a time in which I was on hiatus from Magic altogether, so I don't have any firsthand information about them. However, I know from the fond reminiscing of many older players that the SCG tournaments were instrumental in keeping the Vintage format alive during that time. Just like SCG has its popular Standard/Modern writers/grinders working and writing today, in days of yore there were multiple people writing about Vintage for Star City and playing in the event series back then. These event are remembered longingly by veteran Vintage enthusiasts as folks were sad to see them end. The tournament series was popular and influential enough that Steve Menendian has chronicled the history of these events in a recent article.

      https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/vintage-101-power-trip

      posted in Vintage News
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp
    • RE: StarCityGames Power 9 Vintage Tournament - 6/8-6/10

      @nucleosynth I'm not even remotely thinking about attending. I don't like to travel far, it's tough to get time off, I don't want to take time off for myself and not include my wife and son, I don't have a set of power anyway, and so on. I'm glad they're trying the event though. I just hope it doesn't wind up getting very few attendees due to the lack of proxies, then have SCG use that as an excuse to say "see, Vintage can't draw a crowd!".

      posted in Vintage Tournaments
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp
    • Vintage 101: Get Schwifty

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      Whoop Whoop.

      https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/vintage-101-looking-forward

      posted in Vintage News
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp
    • RE: Vintage Feelings

      I've been pretty burned out lately. It's super hard to find the time and energy to play (sometimes when I have free time I'm so tired that I don't want to play). I used to play and write my articles during late nights and early mornings, but that is just too much for me now.

      Once things get a bit better I will be back to my old self. I still think that the format and community is a great thing.

      posted in Off-Topic
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp
    • RE: Vintage Feelings

      Posting here to remind myself to enter the discussion when I have more time

      posted in Off-Topic
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp
    • What cards are you excited about?

      Last year it seemed to me that we were getting a lot of good stuff given to us. Vintage players usually get the shaft with new sets because those new sets simply are not designed for us! However, despite that fact we got awesome stuff like Walking Ballista, Fleetwheel Cruiser, Paradoxical Outcome, and much, much more.

      Today I was looking at the newest spoilers I could find and I just didn't see much of anything. Maybe I'm being blinded by my cynical views on things, but I just saw a lot of standard-only fare peppered with a ton of draft chaff.

      So, I ask of you: What cards are you excited about? Is there something from Rivals that you think needs discussion? Let me know, because I'm not seeing it!

      posted in Vintage Strategy
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp
    • Vintage 101: Spoiled Rivals

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      Spoiled Rivals
      It's 2018! Welcome to the future, Vintage peeps! Spoilers for Rivals of Ixalan have been trickling out and the Magic community awaits each new nugget of precious information like an excited puppy waiting for its master. As always is the case with new Standard releases, Eternal format aficionados must carefully sort through each spoiler looking for diamonds in the rough. So far I'm not seeing much that appears to have potential, but the community has been discussing a few of the new spells. Let's take a look at the cards people are talking about!

      https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/vintage-101-spoiled-rivals

      posted in Vintage News
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp
    • RE: [RIX] Flood of Recollection

      @bazaarofbaghdad players are legally obligated to play with Baral. You could say that he has us all bent over a Baral.

      posted in Single-Card Discussion
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp
    • RE: LCV 2017 Finals - 21 Players - Barcelona - Top16 decklists

      Is there any chance you would upload this list to MTGGoldfish? https://www.mtggoldfish.com/tournaments/new

      posted in Official Tournament Results
      Islandswamp
      Islandswamp