Panning for Gold with Time Seive

Time Sieve is an amazing artifact. One of the best two drop artifacts in standard in fact, if you are able to use it. Gleemax is already buzzing with intrepidation and MTGS has a potential combo decklist thread. This article is dedicated to Time Sieve combos in Block Constructed. No specific deck is outlined yet, just a congregation if ideas.


What I would like to talk about today is the potential for combo that this card has in block alone! Block constructed, here we come. This is the pinnacle of the Esper shard. A few Tezzerets would feel right at home in this deck. (I knew I played Esper for a reason!)


The best part of this combo is that it is agro enough to hold it's own with minimal counterspells. Furthermore, if you get Thought Hemorrhaged and are forced to remove your Seives from the game, you are still able to lay decent beats. In fact, the flavour text on the card gives us an OBVIOUS hint as to a definite must have in the deck.


Token Engine(s)
Let's get down to business. Sharding Sphinx, a decent card on its own. Nice when paired with Master of Etherium, etc. What about when paired with a bunch of creatures with evasion?


Sacrificing artifact tokens sounds sweet, but what else is there that we can create tokens with? Well there's the classic card The Hive, which is basically garbage in this situation - not to mention it's not from the Alara Block. Then there's Puppet Conjuror is such an under rated card. Tezzeret + Puppet Conjuror = win.


The way I think of these two cards is that, any time you're able to deal damage to a player you can get a token with Sharding Sphinx. For each Puppet Conjuror that you get into play, the less tokens you need from the Sharding Sphinx.


Pikachu, Return!
That's obvious, everyone and their mother can come up with a token generation system in standard. Big Deal! The real beauty comes from the flavour text of Time Seive itself. Sharuum the Hegemon, when combo'd with Master Transmuter, can allow you to bring back one card from your graveyard per Transmuter. If you have some sort of untapping mechanism (Tezzeret Anyone?) then you can stretch your Transmuters even further.


Zealous Trickery Is More Like It!
Now I know what you're thinking. You're thinking "But those transmuter's and puppet conjurors are vulnerable to a host of spells, including Volcanic Fallout!!11". This is why we must use Zealous Persecution, a new Alara Reborn card.

Zealous Persecution
Instant
Until end of turn, creatures you control get +1/+1 and creatures your opponents control get -1/-1.

A Really Cruel Ultimatum
What if your opponent, being the intuitive monkey that they are, has built a red deck. Filled with hateful hate for you and your 1/2s (and your 2/3s!). Even a single flame jav to one of your tokens could ruin your chances of dealing infinite damage over infinite turns! This is why Alara Reborn has given us Identity Crisis. Your combo, and victory, is assured after this casting this spell.

Identity Crisis
Sorcery
Remove all cards in target player's hand and graveyard from the game.

Evasion

Shards of Alara
Once your Sharding Sphinx is out there, you've got to get some damage to your opponents face to make this work. The Sphinx itself has flying, a decent form of evasion. Scourglass is a nice selective board wipe that basically provides room to swing if used correctly with the Transmuter. Tidehollow Strix has Flying and Deathtouch for 2 mana making it a great addition. Quietus Spike attaches to any creature to give it deathtouch, although it also forces them to block or loose a lot of life... Still a nice artifact for your consideration.

Conflux
Conflux gave a horde of new and wonderful Esper cards. Furthermore, they gave you Master Transmuter and Sphinx Summoner to make sure these combos could go off without a hitch and you allow you to bring costly artifacts into play cheaply. The first, and quite possibly the best, artifact evasion that comes to mind from Conflux is Inkwell Leviathan. Islandwalk and Trample make it very likely that you'll get some damage through to their face. You only need one point of damage from five creatures to win the game with Sharding Sphinx in play. Scornful Aetherlich can gain Fear and Vigilance until end of turn for two mana. Vectis Agents becomes unblockable for two mana! That's a perfect choice for this deck. Vedalken Outlander has Protection from red, which is almost like evasion.

Alara Reborn
Glassdust Hulk is going to be amazing in this deck. Mask of Riddles is equipment that gives artifacts Fear and allows you to draw a card if they deal combat damage to a player. Mage Slayer could be brought in with a Transmuter to help the combo go off, probably a bad choice though. Sphinx of the Steel Wind has flying, pro red and pro green! And Lifelink! You really need to transmute it into play for it to be worth while though.

Possible Sideboard Cards:
Ethersworn Canonist - To be a jerk
Font of Mythos - To be a really big jerk (Combine with Canonist for bonus points)
Ethersworn Adjudicator - For removal
Sen Triplets - To be a really, really big jerk
Celestial Purge - Great removal!
Meddling Mage - Even more obvious


Final Thoughts
Combine with this some other nice Esper combo's (Master Transmuter + any artifact with a triggered ability, Minion Reflector + Sharding Sphinx, Master Transmuter + Everything) and some of the best counterspells in the game (Countersquall & Soul Manipulation)... Esper is going to be a shard to watch out for.

I will have to wait until Alara Reborn is actually released to really build and test a deck like this, but man am I excited to be an Esper player again!

Hello Blog

I miss you blog. Hello again.

Principles from Nietzsche

Man is a rope stretched between the animal and the Superman — a rope over an abyss.

A dangerous crossing, a dangerous wayfaring, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous trembling and halting.

What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not a goal: what is lovable in man is that he is an OVER-GOING and a DOWN-GOING.

• Live as a down-goer, for they are the over-goers.
• Be a great despiser, because they are the great adorers, and arrows of longing for the other shore.
• Do not first seek a reason beyond the stars for going down and being a sacrifice, but sacrifice yourself to the earth, that the earth of the Ubermensch may hereafter arrive.
• Live in order to know, and seek to know in order that the Ubermensch may hereafter live. Thus seek you your own down-going.
• Labour and invent, that you may build the house for the Ubermensch, and prepare for them earth, animal, and plant: for thus seek you your own down-going.
• Love your virtue: for virtue is the will to down-going, and an arrow of longing.
• Reserve no share of spirit for yourself. Instead, be wholly the spirit of your virtue: thus walk you as spirit over the bridge.
• Make your virtue your inclination and destiny: thus, for the sake of your virtue, you are willing to live on, or live no more.
• Do not desire too many virtues. One virtue is more of a virtue than two, because it is more of a knot for one's destiny to cling to.
• Have a lavish soul. Want no thanks and do not give back: for you always bestow, and desire not to keep for yourself.
• Be ashamed when the dice fall in your favour, and then ask: "Am I a dishonest player?"—for you are willing to succumb.
• Scatter golden words in advance of your deeds, and always do more than you promise: for you seek your own down-going.
• Justify the future ones, and redeem the past ones: for you are willing to succumb through the present ones.
• Chasten your God, because you love your God: for you must succumb through the wrath of your God.
• Have a soul which is deep even in the wounding, and may succumb through a small matter: thus goeth you willingly over the bridge.
• Your soul must be so overfull that you forget yourself, and all things are in you: thus all things become your down-going.
• You must be of a free spirit and a free heart: thus, your head is only the bowels of your heart; your heart, however, causes your down-going.

I love all who are like heavy drops falling one by one out of the dark cloud that lowers over man: they herald the coming of the lightning, and succumb as heralds.

Lo, I am a herald of the lightning, and a heavy drop out of the cloud: the lightning, however, is the Ubermensch.

Speed Learning - Skipping class and getting A's; The Art of Cramming

You've skipped all your classes except two. It's midterm time. You have 3 Days before you write the exam. What do you do?

Most importantly: DO NOT PANIC.

There are a number of different learning styles, but the technique I use encompasses four of the most common. If you are a visual learner, a kinesthetic learner, an auditory learner or a social/verbal learner then this system is for you. (Variations could probably be made to encompass other learning styles...)

Before beginning, split up your workload into manageable chunks. I have 6 chapters to study, the first three are related so I have made four chunks: Ch 1,2,3; Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6. If the chapters are long or difficult, you can split each chapter into smaller chunks. Each chunk requires you to go through all four phases (one cycle per chunk) the first time, but after that you can review by repeating phase 4 indefinitely. For me, each cycle takes about 3 hours per chunk, with a standard deviation of about 45 minutes.

You will require a: pen, paper, computer, microphone/recording device and, some way of listening to the recording. (For best results, use a nice headset and a sound recorder like Audacity)

Phase One

You've got to actually read the material. Keep in mind that you will be rapidly reinforcing what you read in later phases, so you won't have to retain everything completely after this phase (this is where many last-minute studiers go wrong). I use the SQR method (survey, question, read). This consists of surveying the headings, formulating the headings into questions and then reading the chapter quickly to answer the questions I formulated. You can also write the questions down, this variant is called SQWR (survey, question, write, read). Check out this page for some tips. Once you've skimmed the chapter you may proceed to phase two.

Phase Two

This is where we set the stage for the remainder of our system. You have to quickly summarize the chapter into notes. While you must be as fast as possible, it is also very important to make notes that are easily understandable. If you're inventing short-hand on the fly, you're going to have trouble keeping up the pace in later phases. I like to use diagrams whenever possible here, because I'm a visual/spatial thinker. DO NOT COPY DIRECTLY FROM THE TEXT BOOK. Part of the learning process here is putting the text into your own words, if you copy from the text you lose that aspect of the system. The real key is to shorten down that text book; to reduce the fat content so that you're left with a lean meal of tasty knowledge. Once you have a set of quick, clear and understandable notes you can proceed to phase three.

Phase Three

For this phase you might feel a little uncomfortable so it is recommended you do it somewhere private. If you don't care about reading out loud in a public place then by all means do so! What you need to do for this step is to read the notes into the recorder. Depending on the recording software you use you may have difficulty editing any mistakes you make. Therefore it is imperative that you read slowly and carefully so that you make no mistakes or goof-ups. This can be tough to get used to, but once you do a couple chunks you'll breeze through this step. Once you have a complete and good-quality recording proceed to the final phase.

Phase Four

Once you have completed phases 1-3 this is the only phase required to effectively study each chunk. This phase consists of listening to the recording while reading your notes aloud to yourself. You will hear yourself reciting the notes both from the recording and from your own voice at the time. Simultaenously you will be reading and interpreting the information. This triggers the learning explosion that is the key to this system.

I hope this system works as well for you as it does for me. Happy studying and GOOD LUCK!

Extra Special Pro-Tips

• Read the preface! The authors often outline how the textbook should be read. This can help to improve surveying during phase one.
• Take breaks! Taking a ten minute break every hour can help to stop you from hitting a wall. During this break, reward yourself by doing something you enjoy to reinforce the positive vibes and trigger your bodies natural evolutionary learning mechanisms. (The body is more prone to learn from situations that lead to extreme/immediate good or bad. You seek or avoid these situations, so your brain knows "What I just learned brought me good, I should remember it.")
  

Anthropocentrism

Were I a rock I would not be writing this article. Were I an alien I (probably) wouldn't wonder why the sky was blue. How does an amoeba perceive the universe? To even begin to answer that question you must make a plethora of assumptions; assumptions that you should not be so ready to make. On the other end of the scale, our most advanced physical theories deal with higher order dimensions. While I appreciate the beauty of such theories, I can't endorse a belief that they bring us closer to understanding the universe.

Flatlanders would have no idea what a cube was. Even the subtlest among them may speculate about the existence of a third dimension, where mystical cubes were composed of simple squares, but this explanation falls far short of what a cube actually is. Imagine trying to explain red to a blind woman? What would her reaction be? Imagine a colourblind scientist who sees only black and white (by some strange happenstance). This scientist tries to understand the colour red. She takes samples of light, she measures the wavelengths. She inverviews subjects to get a subjective account of red. She researches the history and use of red in our culture. She has a full understanding of everything that is red, every fact about redness. Yet still, if by some other miraculous happenstance she gained the ability to see colour and witnessed a big bright red stop sign, she would immediately have an understanding that she lacked.

Our ignorance of this phenomenon is both our greatest flaw and our greatest strength.

Gene Roddenberry was the shit

He created Star Trek. He produced the two best seasons of Next Generation. He had an affair with Uhura and another actress who he later married. She later played Lwaxana Troi in TNG. His ashes were sent into space. He created a show that changed the world.

There may be haters; there always is.

Nonetheless, Gene Roddenberry was the shit.

Co-working Spaces & Time-share Offices - Production Factors of the New Economy

Knowledge workers are going freelance. Writers, developers and analysts can all be outsourced, so why not just be the provider? Freelancers are a new wave of entrepreneur and they move to the beat of a different drum. They don’t work traditional hours, they can work from anywhere and they are in it for themselves.

Studies have shown that while freelancers don’t make any more than their traditional counterparts (in fact sometimes they make less), they almost always report greater job satisfaction. For many people, the only difference in their life when they go freelance is an abundance of satisfaction with life.

While this fantastic freelance lifestyle might seem appealing to every employee, it scares the pants off of old-school business types. Old business says you need face-time, you need brick-and-mortar and you definitely need a mailbox! In order to facilitate these old-world requirements, many entrepreneurs are forced to expend big cash for office space with only minimal utility gain.

Solution: Co-Working Spaces and Time-share Offices

Big business is outsourcing more and more. Another huge trend from last year was work-from-home and telecommuting programs being put in place in response to rising oil (and gasoline) prices. These empty buildings need to be filled by somebody. They might be renovated into fancy condominiums, or better yet they could be refit to facilitate the need outlined above.

Co-Working Spaces

These are the simplest solution to the issue. You lease a one-room office (or cubicle) which places you in a shared work environment. Typically these places are set up less like a boring-old-workplace and more like an upbeat and refreshing coffee-house. These are for consultant types who enjoy the experience of working in a space with others. One strategy employed by co-working space owners is to group individuals working related fields near to each other. This can enhance collaboration in a way that would take weeks at a negotiating table in old-business! This is an emerging field and I see great potential for innovation and lots of room for basic infrastructure investing.

Time-Share Offices

These are for professionals who don’t need to use an office every day. Perhaps they have to schedule 5-6 meetings a month with clients. They also (likely) need a place to send their really “official” mail to. Time-Share Offices could be founded to meet this specific need. Clients buy a time-share in an office depending on how often they need to use it. The model I am envisioning combines a typical (or atypical) co-working space with the time-sharing methodology used in vacation properties. The only difference with my envisioned model is that the consultants would sign up for the amount of time they required rather than it being a dictated standard time length. A provision could be made for companies to buy emergency time, so that – if they underestimated their needs – they could buy more time.