Are you a Quiet Speculation member?
If not, now is a perfect time to join up! Our powerful tools, breaking-news analysis, and exclusive Discord channel will make sure you stay up to date and ahead of the curve.
Greetings, Speculators!
Jason Alt here, back again and ready to hit you with another week's worth of gems lovingly selected for your reading pleasure. A lot has happened since last time and I want to dive right into it. It's been a very eventful week so strap yourself to something secure because I'm about to hit you with a lavalanche of internet goodies, where X equals as much as you can handle.
Ryan Bushard IAmA on Reddit.com
Anyone who's been reading Quiet Speculation for a while or who has a Psyduck in the front of their trade binder will recognize the name Ryan Bushard.
Ryan recently sat down and answered some of reddit's burning questions. By all accounts, Ryan had a great time, and he took a lot of time to give in-depth and thoughtful answers to the questions. This is probably the most exhaustive IAmA I've seen in the Magic subreddit and it is well worth the longish read.
Click away to get some insight into the thought process of a value trader and financial writer. Ignore the advice of a guy who tripled his investment on Death's Shadow at your peril!
Avacyn Restored Speculation
Basic Lands Restored
Redditor Sephiroth912 noticed something strange when he was looking at the visual spoiler for the basic lands in Avacyn restored.
It looked as though the basic lands from Innistrad were all being brightened, as if restored by Avacyn herself!
Redditor Saldonzo was good enough to compile all of the images into one handy graphic for your perusal here.
Nice work, guys!
Avacyn Restored Promo Card
A trip over to the mothership confirms that the promo card for the Avacyn Restored Prerelease will be "Moonsilver Spear." Unfortunately, the image on that site, seen here, is too small to make out any of the text, but it's almost certainly an equipment.
It's the spear wielded by Avacyn herself. How bad could it be? If Mayor of Avabruck, Phyrexian Metamorph and Wurmcoil Engine are any indication, Moonsilver Spear could be an excellent pickup and worth a trip to the prerelease.
Pax East Revelations
For those not in attendance (myself included), PAX East was last weekend and there was wall to wall Magic. There's a lot to talk about, so let's dive right in.
Nicol Bolas in 2013?
From the looks of the swag at PAX East, all signs point to Nicol Bolas, either as a brand new walker or as a reprint being in M2013. There's no precedent for a gold Planeswalker in a core set. It's also possible he figures heavily into Duel of the Planeswalkers 2013 and not the Magic set M2013.
What do you think?
New Mechanic revealed
PAX East also spoiled a powerful new mechanic: Miracle. I guess I know what to first pick in draft now.
SCG Des Moines Decklists
Finally, SCG Open Des Moines was this past weekend and the Standard Top 8 may surprise you.
The only Delver deck to crack the Top 8 took 8th. Meanwhile, RG continues to make very strong showings both as an aggro variant and in the form of card]Birthing Pod[/card] decks.
Another pleasant surprise was my pet card, Glissa, the Traitor, as the focal point of Jeff Hoogland's Glissa Control deck. I got a big kick out of this list, and it looks like a blast to play. How can Glissa possibly not be amazing when recurring Ratchet Bomb and [card]Nihil Spellbomb[card] is gg for the best decks in the format? It can't be bad, that's how.
In Legacy we have Minnesota's Ryan Overturf defeating Maverick with RUG Delver in the finals. Five sets of Stifles in the Top 8. A little bit of an anomaly perhaps?
That's all
I have for you this week!
Join me next week where I will dive into some more Avacyn Restored spoiled cards and show you what goodies a week spent surfing the net can turn up.
Jason Alt
The link to the Bushard IAMA is a must read for any player/trader in magic. I hadnt seen it before looking over this article. Once again Alt shows me a corner of the mtg community i hadnt seen. Cant wait to see what he shows us next week.
A trip over to the mothership confirms that the promo card for the Avacyn Restored Prerelease will be “Moonsilver Spear.” Unfortunately, the image on that site, seen here, is too small to make out any of the text, but it’s almost certainly an equipment.
Anyone who’s been reading Quiet Speculation for a while or who has a Psyduck in the front of their trade binder will recognize the name Ryan Bushard.
You are here not there “I’ll gear this review to 2 types of people: current Zune owners who are considering an upgrade, and people trying to decide between a Zune and an iPod.