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Nov 27, 2011 -- 2:34PM, Gemstone386 wrote:

The autocard [c][/c], [card][/card], and [deck][deck] tags fail when trying to autocard a card that has a nonstandard letter character in it such as á, ö, û, ect. Take a look at Juzám Djinn here. No matter how many times I try to slice it, the autocard for it comes out broken.

[c]Juzam Djinn[/c] → Juzam Djinn
[c=Juzam Djinn]text[/c] → text
[c]Juzám Djinn[/c] → Juzám Djinn
[c=Juzám Djinn]text[/c] → text
[card]Juzám Djinn[/card] → Juzám Djinn
[card=Juzám Djinn]text[/card] → text
[deck]
1 Juzam Djinn
1 Juzám Djinn
[/deck]
↓
1 x Juzam Djinn
1 x Juzám Djinn


Additionally, when using a card that has seen more than one print, autocard brings up the most recent version, such as with Birds of Paradise , which I find great, but I have no idea how to use the autocard tags to get the older version of multiple print cards.

In order to autocard cards with special characters or to autocard older print cards, rather than using the autocard tags mentioned above, I have been typing in the autocard code that those tags represent manually. For example:

<span class="cardHoverImageWrapper"><a href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=159132" class="linkedCardName" target="_blank">Juzám Djinn<span class="linkCardHoverImage"><img src="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=159132&type=card" /></span></a></span>
↓
Juzám Djinn

<span class="cardHoverImageWrapper"><a href="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=14719" class="linkedCardName" target="_blank">Birds of Paradise<span class="linkCardHoverImage"><img src="http://gatherer.wizards.com/Handlers/Image.ashx?multiverseid=14719&type=card" /></span></a></span> (Classic Sixth Edition)
↓
Birds of Paradise (Classic Sixth Edition)

Dec 6, 2011 -- 11:31PM, CadaverousBl00m wrote:

We even broke the old girl with Regeneration and Contemplation . (Regeneration comes up as German Regenerate , and Contemplation comes up as French Ponder , on account of them being printed more recently)

Dec 8, 2011 -- 5:37PM, CadaverousBl00m wrote:

Dec 8, 2011 -- 2:40PM, Dilleux_Lepaire wrote:

Dec 7, 2011 -- 6:35PM, CadaverousBl00m wrote:

Dec 7, 2011 -- 1:36AM, Trolljuju wrote:

Wait a minute..

Acte de trahison

Cooool, I had no idea you could do that 

Yup, it's guaranteed to work beautifully, so long as there are no ascents, graves, umlauts etc.

It took us aaaaages to figure out how to autocard Übermyr properly.

How do you? I've never figured it out.

1. Take Gemstone's code with all the HTML spans in it from the O.P. and copy/paste it into your post.
2. Swap "Juzám Djinn" for "Übermyr".
3. Swap the Multiverse ID being used in the link for the one in the URL of Übermyr's page in Gatherer (or it will autocard Juzám instead).
4. Profit!

As per the previous posts, it's time to look at how the rotation of the sets in Standard has affected Rise of the Eldrazi for the local guy carding it up at home.

Previously: Zendikar, Worldwake

What's Not Dropping

Alas, the three Eldrazi musketeers are not going to drop. If anything, they're rising. Emrakul has gained traction as a Show and Tell target in Legacy, and all three are being used in Modern ramp decks. If any of the three is vulnerable to dropping anytime soon, it will be Kozilek (thanks to being printed shinily in From the Vault: Legends), but it hasn't affected its price yet.

Splinter Twin , Lighthouse Chronologist and Linvala, Keeper of Silence are holding their prices fairly well too.

What You Should Be Looking To Pick Up

Firstly, a couple of the big-name non-Eldrazi mythics in Rise are dropping significantly. While they're not yet down to the range where a casual guy can easily pick up a playset, they're certainly heading that way. Gideon Jura has been reprinted in M12, and is therefore far more available than he was. Even if he does turn up in some weird future Superfriends variant in Standard, he's still seeing his price drop - a copy will now set you back $15 in comparison to $35 as little as five months ago. The other big name is Vengevine , which is now under $10 a copy. A year ago it was $40, but it's almost seen its entire deck archetype rotate ( Fauna Shaman was not reprinted in M12, and has gone along with Vengevine). Similarly, Kargan Dragonlord is now down to $7 a copy (from $17 at the beginning of the year).

A couple of Rise of the Eldrazi rares that have been high in the past are now coming down into the "buy a playset" price range, and should become casual staples. Awakening Zone has dropped to a little over $2 a copy, and Consuming Vapors is now a little over $1. Both are excellent in casual arenas.

Rise has some excellent $1 rares that can be built around or used heavily in casual environments. Drana, Kalastria Bloodchief , Sphinx-Bone Wand , Lord of Shatterskull Pass , Kor Spiritdancer , It That Betrays and Bear Umbra can all easily be built around for this price, giving some competitive casual decks for a low budget.

Finally, mention has to be made of some of the excellent commons and uncommons in this set. Only Inquisition of Kozilek is still at a silly price (over $3 a copy) - everything else is well and truly back within casual range. Wall of Omens is possibly one of the best walls ever printed at $1 a copy. Overgrown Battlement is one of the best mana-producing creatures printed in recent years. And the common and uncommon colourless Eldrazi are well worth the investment ( Skittering Invasion is now less than 50c a copy, and Ulamog's Crusher is perhaps the biggest finisher available in the Pauper format).

Enjoy the lower prices and the new deck builds now at your fingertips!

Continuing the series on the card prices of sets currently rotation out of standard, today it's time to look at Worldwake!

Previously: Zendikar

What's Not Dropping

Firstly, what you're not picking up cheaply any time soon.
I think we can sum this up quickly in one word: Jace . That's right - our friend the Wallet Sculptor may be banned in just about every format he used to be legal in by now, but that's not affecting his price much. Well, by "not much", I mean he's dropped from triple figures to something around $60-70 a copy now, dependent on where you're shopping. That might make a Spike or two somewhere happy, but it still puts Jace 2.0 well out of reach of the average casual guy.

Dragonmaster Outcast also seems to be holding onto its price fairly well. There's a bizarre Outcast / Scute Mob ramp deck floating about, and it also fits Modern burn decks fairly well, so it's not dropping any time soon. A couple of other great utility cards that are only rising in price are Tectonic Edge and Everflowing Chalice . Both can be played pretty much anywhere, and the Edge especially will find traction in Modern.

Basilisk Collar is dropping, but only ever so slightly. There is simply far too much Casual demand for the Collar for it to be falling too far, I'm afraid.

What You Should Be Looking To Pick Up

Heading our Worldwake list are a couple of tourney-level finishers.
Abyssal Persecutor has been the black beater of choice for quite a while. It's shown up in Jund builds, Vampire builds... I've even seen an Esper deck running it for some reason (maybe because it's good). And the Persecutor has dropped from close to $20 a copy at the turn of the year to be $5-6 now. I've already seen him wreak havoc casually - there's nothing like getting a friend down to six with a Persecutor and then Fling ing it at their head.
Avenger of Zendikar was the main guy in Valakut and other associated landfall decks. He's certainly now lost his finisher mojo, and it's reflecting in his price - that's thirded from $15 to under $5 in the last six months. Casually, the Avenger is a riot, and there are a couple of decent new Plant cards printed that probably like to play alongside it. Try not to think how it works alongside Tree of Redemption .

There have also been a couple of really good Worldwake cards reprinted in Event Decks and the like. This has made them more available, and as a consequence more affordable.
Firstly, Jace's fellow banhammer friend, Stoneforge Mystic , is now back under $10 a copy and dropping. You can find two Mystics in a New Phyrexia Event Deck for $20, and you can get them for under $8 a copy in a couple of places online now. Could Budget Casual Caw-Blade take off (minus the Swords)?
Kalastria Highborn has also been reprinted in an M12 Event Deck, and has also dropped in price accordingly. Six months ago, the Highborn was $8-9 a copy and running around in Standard vampire decks. Now it's under $5 (and down to $2.50 in a couple of places online), and certainly available to the casual player.

Finally, Worldwake has plenty of budget build-around-me rares and mythics nowadays. Lodestone Golem has freefallen to under $1 a copy, and is the centre of plenty of horrid decks. Marshal's Anthem can be had for under 50c, and can produce some fun recursion. Novablast Wurm and Wrexial, the Risen Deep are $1 mythics. Wolfbriar Elemental is under $1, and can be used in some handy wolf decks. Even some of the Quests in the set (particularly Nihil Stone and Ula's Temple ) are cheap and fun to build around.

As always, start hunting and keep on building those casual decks! How have you already used some of the cards listed above?

The release of Innistrad sees the rotation from Standard of the entire Zendikar block, along with the 2011 Core Set. In the coming weeks, I'd like to look at how this affects the prices of the cards in each of the four sets, and what may now be falling into the budget brackets of kitchen table warriors everywhere.

First cab off the rank: Zendikar.

What's Not Dropping

Firstly, let's look at the stuff you can keep dreaming of getting cheaply. Those fetch lands are not going to be coming down in price any time soon. They belong in every multicoloured deck that can take one, and probably in every Cube that can afford it. They're simply too useful in too many places to drop.

Iona, Shield of Emeria is also showing a stable price. She's too good a sideboard card in too many non-Standard tourney decks, and remains a half-decent Show and Tell target against the right decks in Legacy (well, when you haven't drawn Emrakul, anyway).

Pyromancer Ascension and Punishing Fire (whilst both not being outlandishly expensive in the first place) are both holding their prices due to being useful in Modern. This is particularly true of Punishing Fire, which combos too well with Grove of the Burnwillows in the Modern format.

What You Should Be Looking To Pick Up

The stuff that is going through the floor post-rotation is intriguing stuff, though. First mention is Eldrazi Monument , which has basically thirded its price since the start of the year. It's now down to $4.50-5 a copy, and still freefalling. It's beginning to get to the point where it can be a build-a-budget-deck-around-me piece. Hopefully down to $15 a playset soon, a few creature generators... a casual guy could have a good time!

Another card in freefall is Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle - it's halved its price since February. With Valakut itself rotating, the entire archetype it spawned in Standard is going with it, and it's questionable as to whether the Valakut decks will float in Extended or Modern. The casual player is suddenly able to get a set of Valakut for $5-6, and can start going to town in mono-red.

The three uncommon vampires that have made a home in so many decks over the last two years ( Gatekeeper , Hexmage and Nighthawk ) are also starting to show signs of becoming easier to find again, as well. All three have been reprinted in multiples in a Magic 2012 Event Deck, and the Nighthawk has even been reprinted in a Commander deck. Yet the demand has at least kept their prices somewhat stable for now. The Hexmage is dropping the fastest, with the Nighthawk proving the most stubborn (and only just starting to show the effects of rotation upon its price).

There are mythics we've no doubt been dreaming of for the last couple of years that aren't quite in the realms of casual affordability yet, but are at least sliding towards it thanks to rotation. Lotus Cobra , Bloodghast and Nissa Revane are all on their way to levels someone at a kitchen table would be willing to pay. Sorin Markov may get there too, even though he's been reprinted in M12 - Liliana of the Veil is looking to take his throne as the best mono-black planeswalker in Standard anyway.

Finally, Zendikar still has plenty of casual bombs that are only going to be more affordable thanks to rotation. Emeria, the Sky Ruin , Bloodchief Ascension , Luminarch Ascension , Rampaging Baloths , Rite of Replication , Emeria Angel and even the forgotten planeswalker, Chandra Ablaze , are all exceptional value at the casual table, and give you excellent bang for the buck. Start hunting!

Okay, Innistrad has had its prerelease! Here are my usual thoughts on how the set is going to change the multiplayer environment.

Casual Tools

As usual, let's separate this out into our usual Johnny / Timmy / Spike / Vorthos archetypes (one day, I'll need to cover Melvin, won't I?)...

Timmy, adoring fat creatures, is going to love Moldgraf Monstrosity . It's big, fat, green and trampling (which ticks all the Timmy boxes by itself), and if someone's silly enough to kill it, Timmy gets back two more of his fatties (hopefully)! Plus, you should see the interactions that can go off if Timmy has two Monstrosities on the board when the table gets wiped (yes, you can get a Monstrosity back for Round 2).
Balefire Dragon is potentially the best Dragon ever to see print for multiplayer - there's more time to get it online in Multiplayer, and has more potential victims to swing at. Plus it's going to end up a budget Mythic, making it easily available for the kitchen table Timmies.
Scourge of Geier Reach , Splinterfright , Unruly Mob , Lumberknot and Bloodline Keeper / Lord of Lineage are also going to appeal to Timmy sensibilites.
Kessig Wolf Run rates a mention as a Timmy finisher too.

Johnny gets all sorts of tools here - Innistrad has a mad scientist subtheme, and it captures Johnny perfectly. You don't think every Johnny is secretly drooling over Rooftop Storm and trying to figure out how to break it? It contains that one little phrase that tickles every Johnny pink - "pay "!
There are a couple of good potential recursion tools in Angel of Flight Alabaster , Moldgraf Monstrosity , Charmbreaker Devils , and, of course, the bomb mythic Past in Flames . Someone, somewhere, is guaranteed to break this in nasty ways at some point (it is after all, a supposedly fixed Yawgmoth's Will ) - it's simply too powerful an effect to not be game-winning in some way in a decently-built deck. I suspect it's going to end up in Spike's list eventually, too!
Parallel Lives and Rage Thrower also demand to be built around. Johnny certainly gets some fun deckbuilding opportunities here!

Spike, naturally, runs straight to Liliana of the Veil . She is very, very good. But she's also going to be a little fragile in a multiplayer environment - Nissa Revane doesn't last long at all in my playgroup, and Lili 2.0 won't be that far behind. Will she hang around long enough to do her thing? It's certainly worth Spike's gamble.
Spike's also going to adore the creature generators in here, particularly Geist of Saint Traft and Moorland Haunt . These two are going to help Spike defend and attack by equal measure, and certainly maintain creature control.
Blasphemous Act is probably about as close as you'll get to a red Damnation , and it's going to go off for just very often in a multiplayer environment. Spike's gotta love that.
They'll also enjoy getting some superb tools in the uncommon slots. Tribute to Hunger and Unburial Rites are excellent black cards, and Spike is going to adore having Dissipate reprinted (Welcome back! How we've missed you!) - we're never going to see Cancel or Stoic Rebuttal cast in our playgroup again. Ever.
Oh, and then there's Snapcaster Mage ...

Vorthos has a flavour-induced coronary with this set, and we really shouldn't expect anything less from a set that had Richard Garfield involved in its design - he always helps get the flavour just right. And there are some beautiful top-down design cards in there - Cloistered Youth / Unholy Fiend , Endless Ranks of the Dead , Typhoid Rats , Full Moon's Rise ... they demand to be played by Vorthos.
And Vorthos is certainly going to be busy building themed decks.
Full Moon's Rise gives them a potentially viable Werewolf deck.
They're sure to want to tinker with Zombies, thanks to Rooftop Storm , Endless Ranks of the Dead , Undead Alchemist and Army of the Damned .
Even existing Vampire decks get built upon, thanks to Falkenrath Noble , Bloodline Keeper / Lord of Lineage and Falkenrath Marauders .
They'll be finding flavour in this set for ages to come.

Card Prices

So what should we be stocking up on?
The first answer should be Birthing Pod . Pod gets so many more tools thanks to this set that it's not funny. It can go white and use Mausoleum Guard and Elder Cathar . It can stay green and run Gutter Grime and Moldgraf Monstrosity . The options are endless, so Pod's bound to see its price go through the roof.
The usual Swords are bound to stay high as well. They've now got Invisible Stalker to wear them, even with Squadron Hawk rotating and Stoneforge Mystic banned. The Swords now fit well in a blue control deck... look out...

What's dropping? Well, there's obviously plenty of stuff rotating out as Innistrad comes in - Zendikar, Worldwake, Rise of the Eldrazi and M11 all rotate out. I expect Gideon Jura and Sorin Markov to start getting more affordable now they've been reprinted in M12. Squadron Hawk should be affordable for the Casual guys once more too.

Innistrad is out, and it's time to figure out which new cards rock in multiplayer.
Come and vote for your favourite in the usual Best Multiplayer Card thread for Innistrad!

So, we now know what New Phyrexia looks like (both literally and figuratively!) - how is it going to affect your playgroup and your budget? Let's have a look.

The Playgroup

It's probably no secret that my playgroup is a bunch of power players that have a large pool of cards to pick from (a lot of us have been playing since '95). The group's Timmies have to deal with removal to win, the group's Johnnies have to control things to win, the Vorthoses have to have a very slick and capable plan to pull things off (i.e. weak tribes or synergies aren't going to work), and the Spikes have to deal with... well, the other Spikes! What does New Phyrexia put on the table for them?

The Timmies are going to be heading for the Chancellors and Praetors. Elesh Norn , Chancellor of the Spires , Chancellor of the Dross , Sheoldred and Vorinclex are all going to be tasty options. I suspect Phyrexian Obliterator , Shattered Angel and Moltensteel Dragon are going to make appearances too. My top pick here is probably flipping a coin between Chancellor of the Dross and Vorinclex. I know I'm going to see (and have to deal with) both.

Johnny gets some interesting cards. Torpor Orb is probably one of the most interesting cards Johnny has been given to break in a long time. There are the obvious applications (hello, Phyrexian Dreadnought !), but I'm sure there are going to be less-obvious, innovative ways in which this can be used.
Proliferate decks are going to love Viral Drake (there are already infinite proliferation combos with it), and there is obvious fun to be had with Sheoldred, Melira , Bludgeon Brawl and Birthing Pod , among others. Torpor Orb is no doubt the top pick here.
Norn's Annex must get a mention here, too - it's simply too good a lockdown in a multiplayer environment to be ignored. Possibly the best multiplayer card in the set.
I, personally, am finding that powered-down combo tricks are working in my playgroup at the moment (my Worry Beads deck continues to quietly use people's graveyards against themselves), so I am being drawn towards Isolation Cell as an option - creatureless decks have long been a Johnny bastion, and this has the potential to provide it for all colours if worked with well enough.

The Spikes will run straight for Karn Liberated . But will they stay there? Karn's first two abilities are golden, but I suspect his ultimate will get pretty old pretty quickly. I suspect Sword of War and Peace and Puresteel Paladin will be grabbing their attention in short order, along with Phyrexian Obliterator .

Vorthoses get an interesting Golem subtheme in the Splicers , and someone will no doubt try it somewhere (probably alongside Precursor Golem ). But will it work? The Splicers are all fragile, as Golems have already been in multiplayer when using the Precursor. It's a nice idea, but I don't think it's going to be viable in MP long-term. Instead, I think the pull of Puresteel Paladin , in an environment already swimming with fantastic equipment and related cards, will be the one that captures the Vorthoses of this world. Provided of course that the Paladin doesn't go through the roof in terms of price.

Card Prices

What effect does this have on existing card prices?
You can be guaranteed that anything remotely related to the current tourney flavour of the month in Caw-Blade is going to go through the roof (or stay there, if it's there already). Caw-Blade gets some pretty good support in NPH, thanks to Puresteel Paladin and the new Sword. The existing Swords, along with Stoneforge Mystic , are going to be a handy price right up until the Mystic rotates. And even then, it could well stay up there, due to being viable in Extended.

You can also bet on Turntimber Ranger and Splinter Twin going through the roof - both have excellent synergistic combos with NPH cards (The Ranger with Xenograft set to 'Ally', and Splinter Twin with Deceiver Exarch - as per the existing Extended combo with Pestermite ).

There is also potential for Tempered Steel and its related cards to become tourney viable - there are plenty of decently cheap artifact creatures it can make use of in NPH, including Myr Superion and Hex Parasite .

Some of the speedier red cards might be dropping. Kuldotha Red is a decent archetype right now, and has some good support in NPH, but Marrow Shards is going to be sitting in just about every sideboard for the next year to deal with these decks.

New Phyrexia is now officially spoiled, and will be in people's hot little hands come Saturday. Sounds like a good time to poll what people think the set's best multiplayer card is.

Hop onboard, and vote in this thread!

Because I want to be doing this more often...

Those of us playing at our kitchen tables are inevitably on a budget. So it makes sense for us to keep an eye on card prices - sometimes a card that previously was well out of our reach financially starts to fall into it.

At the moment, that is beginning to happen with Molten-Tail Masticore . A month or two back, it was a $10+ mythic. It's now down to a little over $3.50 and sliding, according to MOTL at least (it's currently sitting at $5 on Troll and Toad, and at an average of $6.30 on TCGPlayer). Here's proof you can find our friendly Masticore for a relative song at auction right now.

Why? Good question. But the premium is on recursive creatures at the moment in Standard, thanks to the goodness of Fauna Shaman . This is what makes Vengevine and Bloodghast expensive. And you certainly don't want to be removing them from the graveyard with the Masticore unless you're winning the game to do so. Maybe, just maybe, this edition of the Masticore isn't the finisher we initially assumed it to be?

You certainly appear to be able to pick copies up relatively cheaply on auction sites now, so if you are inclined, you can start planning casual decks around it. It's intriguing with Sages of the Anima . It loves Buried Alive . And it could be a hoot with Training Grounds . There are plenty of options. Let's see some creative builds!

My playgroup has been developing a cube, as follows:

• Cube: The Gittening at TappedOut.net
• Corresponding MtG Forum Thread

Last night was the first draft. Six players, insane fun.

When I first mentioned building a cube to give the format a go, a few of my group's members replied along the lines of "Sure, whatever". Now those that experienced last night are sold. There are no words to describe having to pick between Memnarch , Masticore and Royal Assassin in a booster pack.

Three of the six players taking part each nearly pulled it off. The first managed to draft almost red/black sligh, and managed Noxious Ghoul , Death Baron and Undead Warchief in the first four turns. The second played white-leaning Esper, with Ajani Goldmane , Reya Dawnbringer and several other control elements that were close to bringing the game home. But the winner drafted Naya enchantments, and went to town with Spawnwrithe wearing Rancor and Ancestral Mask . Everyone was playing with cards they don't usually play with, and running colours and combos they don't normally choose. Awesome fun.

Now to tinker with the cube a little... Dragon Tyrant can hit the board, but he sure is hard to keep out in this environment.