Misplay and Me

Every few months you read one of those "Why I am a bad player" articles.  No, I don't plan to write any such article or anything like that... I just wanted to note that last Friday in drafting I actually saw myself fall prey to my oldest issue in my play... Saying "Done" too quick :)

Yes.. This really serves no purpose other than to remind myself I am an idiot.

Alas... For the first draft is quite sometime I left with no booster spoils.. :(

I managed to get some trades done which is always good, but I have so much more to do to build some of the strange casual decks flowing in my mind.

Inventory woes continue...

I placed a large order for Penny Sleeves again today...  Now I just have to figure out the best method of tackling the problems I am having organizing/storing my collection.  If I am to truly get rid of excess cards and such... I really need to know what I have :)

I opened Innistrad last week.  My planeswalker drought continues.  I haven't seen one since I opened Jace 2.0 in Worldwake.  I think it is some kind of punishment for actually playing him... :)

Oh well... Hopefully I see one again soon.

Still kickin

It's been far too long since I posted anything. I probably should at least talk about the last few MTG releases.... Maybe I could write a bit on my massive re-organization of my collection... I don't know really...

Rest assured I am alive, and still playing magic :)

Best Purchase Ever?

Back in the mid 90s I purchased a play set of Force of Will for 12 dollars.... I was unhappy they cost me that much.

This was of the best decisions I made back then..

How ChannelFireball.com lost me as a customer

So I wanted to share my recent experiences with ChannelFireball.com in the hopes that others will have the sense to go buy stuff from another dealer.

In business, customer service is what separates the men from the boys, and man did Channel Fireball drop the ball on this one.

So to start lets lay some history down.. With most set releases I pre-order a playset of the commons and uncommons.  I have done this in the past from about 4 different vendors.   Now it has been my experience over the last 10 years doing these kinds of transactions that a pre-order ships usally the day of release, and/or within a couple of days of release.

So flash forward to the present day.  Mirrodin Besiged is poised to release on February 4th so I went ahead and place my pre-order in early January for it.  At the same time I also place orders for a Fat Pack and boosters from my local hook-up :)

February 4th comes... Thanks to an Ice storm our Fat Packs and boosters arrived late, so we got them around February 8th.  Oddly enough I still had not received my playset from Channel Fireball...  I kept checking the website for a tracking number and such... Checking the mailbox.... No order... 

Well on February 10th I get the following email:

Yes... That's right.. My order had just shipped... After I had received and opened my Fat Packs and Boosters.... Wow...  

So I sent the following email to Channel Fireball in response...

I tried to keep it formal... I just wanted an explanation on the delay, and was seeking some sort of compensation.  After all this site looks like it has grown tremendously, maybe they had gotten too many pre-orders... I didn't know.  Anyway... about 4-5 hours later I received the following from them.

Well I did get a tracking number... And an email about the fact that it would take a week to arrive (No priority on shipping it), but the reason didn't fly very well with me.  I know that they receive their product before the release date. They expect me to believe that it took them 6 days to go through it all and ship my order?  What exactly is a pre-order to them? 

Absent from Channel Fireball is a pre-order policy or information on what they consider a pre-order.  So I replied.

This time I get right to the point... I am unhappy and I feel that I deserve something.  I'm not asking for anything extraordinary.  I would just like to get some money back.  Cause basically my pre-order was treated essentially the same as if I had ordered it day of release.

To this day I have gotten no reply from Channel Fireball.... I am honestly not surprised.... I am pretty sure they don't care. I am one unhappy customer... I've haven't ordered tons of stuff from them in the last year... They can stand to lose me... But I still am quite unhappy with them.   I am torn because I like the professional players who are associated with that site, I like their videos and articles, but their store is crap.

I have placed a lot of orders over the last 10 years... Pre-orders and regular.  they don't always go as planned....

When I had problems with a StarCity order in the past they called me on the phone.... That was enough to make me a returning customer.

When I had problems with CardShark, an email cleared it up fast.  

Customer service makes people come back.  So guess what... I'm no longer a fan of Channel Fireball.  I advise my friends and readers to order from other retailers online, or better yet, visit your local store :)

Looking for a deck

So since the last time I posted... My second son was born and a new year has begun.  I finally managed to find a  few moments to play a little magic this weekend.

My buddy SJ came over for the Super Bowl and afterwards we play tested a couple of his decks ideas. He had a very interesting take on Blue Black control... It pretty much ate my lunch... I was trying to work on my Tide/Proliferate deck.  I love the mechanic, but I think I am going to have to try a different angle on it....

Since I had about 9 Scars boosters that have been lying around for over 3 months I finally cracked them.  Nothing great, but I can't complain.  I got the Sword I had been missing for my WW equipment deck... It made that deck infinitely better.

At some point this week I should be all my MBS stuff in.. I am looking forward to playing with it.  I also have a couple of deck ideas I want to try.

I still haven't built my Commander decks :(

Hope all is well in my friends Magic world :)

Any good ideas?

So I am pruning my collection and eliminating commons in excess of eight from sets that are not in extended or standard at the moment.  This has left me with a large stack of bulk :)

Your mission... give me ideas what to do with it....  Ready, Set, GO!

Example Ideas:
Pauper Cube
Magic Paper Mache Art
Firewood?
Iron Man Magic