Deck: Golden Ticket
12/20-

4	Birds of Paradise	1
3	Watchwolf	2
4	Loxodon Hierarch	4
4	Burning-Tree Shaman	3
3	Rumbling Slum	4
3	Trygon Predator	3
3	Voidslime	3
4	Wreak Havoc	4
3	Wrecking Ball	4
4	Putrefy	3
3	Lightning Helix	2
3	Boros Garrison	2.85
3	Selesnya Sanctuary
4	Gemstone Mine
4	Pillar of the Paruns
8	Forest
60

Because of my performance against Soggy Pickles, I've decided to alter the deck, but not against the Pickles, but instead to eliminate the weaknesses inherent in the deck.  Without those weaknesses, who knows if I would have fared better.  I've rounded out the Mana-curve a little more:
-1 Watchwolf, -1 Rumbling Slum, -3 Mystic Snake, -4 Battlefield Forge, +3 Trygon Predator, +3 Boros Garrison, +3 Selesnya Sanctuary.
At this point Voidslime might also become erased, though it's ability, coupled with the Shadow of Doubt helps to stop Dragonstorm decks.  Trygon Predator's ability cannot be turned against me as easily as the Wreak Havoc, Wrecking Ball, Putrefy spells can.  I might even side the Voidslime for Savage Twister, just for more creature control.  Mostly I'll set X=2, so the spell will cost 4-mana, and kill all 2/2s--which stops Boros as well as Morph decks.
Electrolyze and Shadowmage Infiltrator are looking more and more useful, though they are majorly off-color, so their effectiveness may not be so evident.  Though the constant irritation of the Infilatrator may warrant his trial in the deck eventually.
The bounce-lands, Boros Garrison and Selesnya Sanctuary, are both useful with Gemstone Mine, because I can deplete the Mining counters, then bounce it back into my hand, giving me more of any mana, which makes those lands more useful than the overpriced Battlefield Forge.
Oddly, because of the inclusion of the bounce-lands, my mana rate has increased, which makes my 2-mana cards less viable.  I'm powering into a 4 or 5-mana rush to start.  In time, if the deck performs the way it should, I may turn to the Shadowmage Infiltrator and the Electrolyze to help me out, and alter my bounce-land mana to support Gruul, Azorius, or Rakdos.

12/18-
This deck is oddly 'well-protected', but has a cost for that protection.  Dragonstorm vs. Voidslime or Shadow of Doubt is horrors.  Boros Wins vs. my lifegain and creature removal spells is so-so, but add in the fatties I do have, and it's magic.  Tron vs. uncounterable land-destruction, Wrecking Ball, and counterspells, too.  All fun.
But the problem comes in with the cost.  So many of my spells cost me 4-mana.  That means I have to his four-lands, or get my Birds of Paradise early--without it being burned to death, which is a marked possibility.  Being stuck at 3-mana when my Loxodon and Slum, Wreak Havoc, Mystic Snake, etc. cost 4-mana is bad.  That's nearly 1/2 of my deck at that mana-level, and thus that is a 'weakness' of the deck; especially vs. land-destruction decks.
I've tried to look for cheapers spells, but only found the personal debate I always have with Trygon Predator/Harmonic Sliver--which is better, a one-shot or a multiple-shot in combat.  Then I saw the Shadowmage Infiltrator, and firstly, I'd have to get a good dual-any-color-mana early, or save it for late game--when I'd rather save my Blue mana for Counterspells; so the Infiltrator is pretty, but not worthwhile--though card drawing is truly beneficial to me, with Shadow of Doubt being my only 'draw a card'.  But the off-color diversity of the Infiltrator makes it rather unattractive.
Giant Solifuge is on my brain again, but a 4/1 for 4-mana doesn't alter my tempo much, since it is still 4-mana, and I'd have to give up one of my offensive/defensive cards, like Wrecking Ball or Lightning Helix for the Solifuge.  Lightning Angel doesn't thrill me, actually any added beatdown seems unnecessary.  Once I get my initial fat on the board, I can spend my time burning away blockers, and countering spells targeting my creatures.  The other '3-mana' spells are just Tamanoa (who isn't so great when I leave out Pyroclasm and Savage Twister, and I'm not adding Brightflame ever), and that Justice card which gives my opponent 5-life.  Carrying even 3-copies would seem odd to me.
Saffi is always on my mind, but only with the Loxodon Hierarch; and thus only as a fail-safe vs. Wrath of God, which is rather narrow, even if she is utterly cost effective. 

12/15
I decided to consolidate my deck into 'options'.  (After tossing in Mystic Snake and out Browbeat.)  What does my deck offer me:
Beat-down: 16 (23 total creatures)
Counterspells: 6
Land-destruction: 4
Creature-removal: 13 (3 X-spell, 3 damage, 4 targeted)
Burn: 3
Artifact-removal: 8 (A good way to deal with Signets)
Life-gain: 7
Mana-fixing: 16 (12 any-mana, 4 R/W)
So my side-board 'should' give me more Burn, definitely Enchantment-removal.  Also:
Dragonstorm- Shadow of Doubt added to the Voidslime, maybe Trickbind, but the Shadow will be most effective.
Boros Wins!- Pyroclasm?  WOG?  I'd say Wrath of God; but barring my own creatures...  Pyroclasm?  Hrm.
Trisketron- Wreak Havoc is already in the deck, Wrecking Ball can be a good secondary, giving me more creature-removal and land-destruction.
Geez, I could even reconsider Lightning Angel, since I can easily afford her now.  Urgh.

Flash.  Playing around, I realize I don't have 'alot' of Sorcery, but I do have...  Wreak Havoc and Savage Twister are slow-gos.  Wreak Havoc is unstoppable, but Savage Twister...  It's playable vs. Boros, but not the other two.  In actuality, the other two top decks would be hurt more my direct-removal.  Interestingly enough, Wrecking Ball is an 'Instant' and it destroys creatures and lands--A land-destruction that is Instant, interesting, isn't it?  I need to think about it a little, because I know Boros is still widely popular, though my creatures are sized larger than Boros creatures, and with some removal tactics, I can take them down.  The main point is, "If I spend a turn with my mana-open, and my opponent casts nothing I want to counter, what can I do at the end of my opponent's turn?"  There is the Tempo.  Action or reaction.  I can Burn, Destroy Creatures/Artifacts, or Counter, would an added Wrecking Ball make good for me?

---
12/10

4 Birds of Paradise 1 4 Watchwolf 2 4 Loxodon Hierarch 4 4 Burning-Tree Shaman 3 4 Rumbling Slum 4 3 Voidslime 3 3 Browbeat 3 4 Wreak Havoc 4 3 Savage Twister 2 3 Lightning Helix 2 4 Putrefy 3 4 Sacred Foundry 2.85 4 Gemstone Mine 4 Pillar of the Paruns 8 Forest 60

My current update solidifies the 'Ravnica' feel, creating a true Ravnican deck.  It is the world of guilds, and thus the colors should be represented, even if the Guilds themselves are not.  Charlie's Golden Ticket could be a winner in terms of slamming creatures, counterspell, burn, and even removal.  Boros relies on fast-creatures, but I rely on just as much speed, including fatties--3/3, 3/4, 4/4, and 5/5 to be exact.  Voidslime can give a quick end to the tempo of the 'Dragonstorm' deck, giving them only '1-dragon', instead of 4-Hellkites for the win.  Pyroclasm and Savage Twister are my removal aspects, but I also have Lightning Helix for added life and burn; Putrefy rounds it out for larger creatures that burn just won't destroy.  Birds of Paradise, Gemstone Mine, and Pillar of the Paruns gives me access to all Guild-magic.  Sacred Foundry giving me the overlay for easy Boros, Gruul, and Selesnyan powers; also using Simic and Golgari techniques.  Browbeat rounds out my game, either way it is a blast--my fatties force them to allow me 3-cards, which gives me further advantage; or they take 5-damage, which I can further capitalize on.  Overall, I'm rather slow about building my decks, but I've purchased the Voidslimes, I just need my Gemstone Mines.  Heh.  Then I'll play a tournament and see how 'sound' my technique is.

In further thought, Gemstone Mine and Pillar of the Paruns opens me up to further 'Goldness', which makes Pyroclasm a card to 'think about Sideboarding'.
Shadow of Doubt: Players cannot search their Libraries this turn.  What better way to defeat a Dragonstorm?  And it nets me a card.  But what other decks does it defend against?  I'm the only player that seems to give Jester's Cap the time of day.  Blocking a Green mage from lands may only work 'slightly'.  This has Sideboard potential in the current Metagame.
Wrecking Ball/Wreak Havoc:  Interesting.  I was thinking about Wrecking Ball, but perhaps Wreak Havoc is better, as it can't be countered.  Urzatron would hurt bad against a card like this, especially since it can't react.  I rather have more creature control, but I rather not have to sideboard based on the difference between Artifact and Creature.  All players need their 'dual-lands', so Wreak Havoc will be better prepared.
Crime//Punishment:  Of all the split-cards, since I have the mana to cast both spells, the Punishment provides the best effect.  But it is mostly situational.
Harmonic Sliver/Trygon Predator:This already exists as my sideboard option, though with Wreak Havoc and Putrefy in the deck, I'm pretty well protected against Artifacts.  The only Enchantment we fear the most--other than the 'undying' Auras--is Faith's Fetters, whose chief purpose already hits when it appears--life-gain.
Saffi Eriksdotter: Small-time, but works best with the Loxodon Hierarch, but in this group, she's too far down the list.
Void: Powerful and situational.  Most players that hoarde cards are 'control', and they won't let you cast this.  Dragonstorm may be injured, but who else?  Boros would just quickly cast all it can.  In this deck, it's not worth it.
Lightning Angel: Another creature that would be more useful in a different situation.
Looks like Wreak Havoc wins the pie, for now.  I'm even thinking about moving out Putrefy for Wrecking Ball so I can do disaster on Lands, as well as keeping my Creature-kill up.  Putrefy us 'up' on 'can't be regenerated', which currently only works on Knight of the Holy Nimbus, but is is also a Green-splash which will be easier for me to cast, cheaper, and faster.
Mystic Snake: I may use this creature as a 'utility' creature, giving me 8-counterspells.  This would replace Browbeat, thus making the deck entirely 'Gold'.  But a part of me still believes in the tempo Browbeat allows me, along with my cheap beats and well rounded protections.  Though having a fat number of counters may be just as powerful at keeping tempo for myself.  Since I worry about that one destroyer--Blood Moon.

---
11/17

4	Birds of Paradise	1
4	Watchwolf	2
4	Loxodon Hierarch	4
4	Burning-Tree Shaman	3
4	Rumbling Slum	4
3	Voidslime	3
4	Browbeat	3
3	Pyroclasm	2
3	Savage Twister	2
3	Lightning Helix	2
4	Putrefy	3
4	Sacred Foundry	2.675
4	Yavimaya Coast
4	Pillar of the Paruns
8	Forest
60

After all that, I may just throw in Yavimaya Coast, because it is the simplest, and though it burns me...  Well if not, then the super-cheap Simic Growth Chamber is always available.  Either way, upping my ability to use blue-mana to 10 or 12 sources is a worthwhile idea.

The evolution of this deck has gone from damaging, to more damaging, as I wanted ways to directly stun my opponent.  Browbeat deals that point, to an extent.  Either way, it is powerful enough to give me a card-advantage or bring my opponent closer to death.  Lightning Angel, although I invested in her, may be the card to disappear.  What would replace a Lightning Angel?

Voidslime or Mystic Snake.  These are both GUU-cost cards, with the snake adding in a 1-mana for the 2/2 snake.  Though, for cost purposes, Voidslime fits the higher paced curve better.  Plus, what would a snake do?  Sit there and chump block--which isn't bad, mind you.  I like the idea, since I have offensive abilities, and some interesting 'counter' powers, but to be able to stop a card 'dead' would be a key 'niche'.  I have beatdown, I have targeted removal, I have burn removal, I have anti-Wrath, I even have life-gain, but I don't have a direct counterspell--which would be added Wrath protection, but for Voidslime I can cancel a Magus ability as much as stopping it from coming into play; same with the Angel of Despair.  To be able to counter a Zombify that targets Akroma would be essential defense in a deck like this.  I would even give Voidslime 3-slots, taking away an extra Putrefy to the sideboard.  (I want to end the game quickly, and I can kill up to a X/3 creature, any larger and Putrefy is needed.)

Threats.  I just realized, that by adding Voidslime or Mystic Snake, my Birds of Paradise rise up as 'Major Threats'.  Because when they are in play, if I have a single Pillar of the Paruns, I can cast a counterspell whenever I want.  Thus, it would be advantageous to consider the Birds of Paradise as a 'Major Threat', if it remains in play, then I can always cast the counter.  Turning this towards myself, my Savage Twister/Pyroclasm doesn't look so hot.  Yet, in consideration, with my fatties, if I am playing a deck that uses swarm techniques, I'm not as prone to Wrath of God; so counterspells may be less useful, except against Glare of Subdual, which should be eliminated.  That's what sideboarding two Wrath of God would be good for--anti-Loxodon Hierarchs my opponent controls.

The reason this is supposed to be a 'Golden Ticket' deck is because I can cast anything.  The usually threatless Birds of Paradise/Pillars of the Paruns enable me to use abilities from the five-corners of the mana-pie.  My Battlefield Foundry let me push into the Green/White and Green/Red territory with little concern.  Yet, Lightning Angel strained that ability.  A GUU-cost will not strain me as much, most games I would have been able to create that mana-base.  My mind will consider a U-mana base, but currently, I don't see a need for it, unless I follow my instinct adding Mystic Snake & Voidslime together.

This is actually a cheap deck, if you can get your way around the dual-lands, or find alternate costs, which the Signet and the Chancery, and the Pools try to do.  Oddly, the deck I faced used the Terramorphic Expanse to get Plains or Islands into play.  Outside of that, you power your way into 7-mana, or less, to put a Brine Elemental into play face-up.  Vesuvan Doppleganger completes this combo, switching face-up for 2-mana and making your opponent skip their next untap.  Constant repeating of this locks your opponent down.  The deck I faced also used Willbender to protect the two key 'morphs' against death.  Most of the spells deliver you card-advantage so you can reach your top faster. 

Weaknesses:
Land-destruction:  If you can keep the Willbender out of play, and you can keep the mana-count low, you're set to start.  Mostly Remand, Repeal, and Mana Leak will cause problems, trying to keep your hands off the mana.
Creature-Removal: Either burn or targeted removal will destroy one-half of the combo, which was something I didn't keep my eyes on.  I need to kill just one of the two pieces, yet even with one piece, if it survives a turn, my chances of surviving my next turn are greatly reduced.

The combo is actually slow to start, and with a good defense either countering or destroying, the deck wouldn't hold up for long.

Queue Tournament: 12/20/06


These games were total massacre.  I was prepared for other decks, but not this one.  It was always a rule of mine--"Be prepared to handle your own cards used against you."  And I wasn't.  Willbender changed all of that.  With just 5-mana, my opponent can put a major stall on me, not considering Remand, and any other stall tactic in the book.  I didn't realize until the very end--I was facing 'Soggy Pickles'.  It was one deck I never considered, and one tactic I was not prepared for.  I was ready to throw down spells until the counterspells ran out, that much was simple.  But facing a deck that could turn my spells against me, that was the key.  All of my spells, except Savage Twister, were singular targeting spells, which means Willbender could pop that spell right back at me, and as long as he had a morph, who was either Willbender, Vesuvan Doppleganger, or Brine Elemental, I was trapped.  I could tell by how he defended his cards, which morph was which, that wasn't as big a problem--Willbender should come first, as his 'flip' ability was crucial for any morphs that come after him.

My creatures were eliminated via bounce, Vesuvan copying, and Willbending.  In the end, being stuck at only 4-mana was terrible, horrible, and exactly what I expected.  Which was a good point for my opponent to throw in Annex for the second game, to steal my land, so I'd be stuck at less-than-4.  Either way, I was slowly beaten to a pulp in the first round.  I almost killed him, but almost was clearly not enough.

Soggy Pickles hit it's 'target' this time.  Brine Elemental and Vesuvan Doppleganger together were able to turn me into mush.  I had 28-life, but if I never got to untap, and with the odd lack of lands I was always getting, with one Annex'd away, I was trapped.  In the beginning, I started strong with a lot of land and artifact removal to deal with the mana-acceleration, but I was not able to stop the 7-mana needed to turn an Elemental, let alone hard-casting it.

Again, he was near death, this time a Faith's Fetters helping him greatly, but I was never able to pull through to deal the last damage needed to kill him, and that was the saddest point.  I lost to a deck I had no chance of beating, while my own deck was failing me along the way.  *Sigh*  I am about to give up, and say that Magic wins.

MTOG: Profiteering
The prize structure of Magic the Gathering: Online is simple, 6-tickets gets you into a Premier tournament, and prizes are 12, 9, 6, 3 (This is only Constructed tournaments).  Queue Constructed is just 4, 2, 1.  (This is separated by 1st, 2nd, 3rd-4th, 5th-8th place winners.)
All of this can be found at Tournament Costs, formats, and prizes.

Let's look more closely at the 1st place winners, the Sharks, as I shall call them.  For Premier, you put in 6-tickets, and you get 12-packs. Each pack can sell from 3 to 4-tickets--at the least, you get 36-tickets in profit (up to 48-tickets).  Minus the 6-ticket entry, and you get 30 (42).  If you own a Boros Wins! deck, you need to win 6-tournaments to make a profit from that deck, from that point on, it's pure profit. 

The smaller Queue tournaments give totally different numbers.  1st place gets 4-packs, which translates to 12-tickets or 16-tickets.  Minus the 4-ticket entry fee, you're left with 8 (12).  You'd need to win about 23-tournaments to make a profit from a Boros Wins! deck.

But what is Profit?  The Premium for tickets is currently 0.92 to 0.86 dollars per 1-ticket.  If you're able to sell your packs at 4-tickets each (they'll cost the player $3.68 to $3.44 if they bought their tickets at Premium), you'll make 42-tickets.  Trading at 'below' Premium lets you sell more tickets 'faster'.  Selling 42-tickets at $0.86 nets you $36.12 for a tournament that cost you 6-tickets--less than $6.  True, it's not a very big pot, but when you calculate Guilds and Teams working together with their own 'Shark' decks that win World Championships, you start to see a larger picture.

If two players are friends and they go 1st and 2nd, they win 21-packs with a 12-ticket fee.  That's 84-tickets if they sell their packs at Premium.  That's $72.24.  All they need to do is hit top-8, and they come out with some profit. 

Selling Packs
So why would players want to buy your 'Packs'?  So they can enter Sealed tournaments.  Sealed tournaments ask for anything from 3-packs to 5-packs.  So you can sell your packs 'en-masse', or singular.  En-masse usually works better, like 4-tickets/pack and 11-tickets/3-packs.  Some sort of savings reels in potential buyers--having the best deal on the 'boards' (Marketplace) is also fundamental to sales.  And all teams need to do is keep placing top-place in tournaments, and racking up Packs, then selling those packs at a premium through a single account.  That way, you can always be making a profit, if you're playing or not.

Tickets
Second is selling the tickets you've 'won'.  There are several ways to deal with tickets.  The easier way is to hard-up sell the tickets, either in the Marketplace or through eBay.  Both of them have their benefits--Marketplace sells right then and there, eBay takes longer and encurs a fee, but eBay can also pay out higher depending on how many tickets you are selling (above the $0.86-low cost in the Marketplace).  That's setting the bar.

Trading
The harder way to divest yourself of tickets is most likely buying a 'Bot' to do your dirty work.  What is a Bot?  Programming gurus have made Bots that can track card costs, buy and sell for you when you're not there.  'SuperBots' can save hundreds of different costs for hundreds of different cards, and keep track of all these transactions for you.

Through this method, Buyers purchase cards extremely cheap, as low as they can go.  Turning their hard-won tickets into secondary profit--because they turn around and sell these tickets for more--up to twice as much.

As a Seller, you can keep with the 'bar' and price your cards equal to everyone else, hoping someone will scoop up your cards.  Or you can lower the cards you're selling by just 1-ticket compared to the competition.  This ensures the quick and easy sales of your cards.  Even if you buy a card and sell it for only 1 or 2-tickets more, it's a profit--especially considering these tickets were from a hard-won battle from a tournament not long ago, in which you sold your winning packs to get those tickets.

These strings of profiteering can go on and on forever.  It usually works better with a dedicated and strong group of players who have a set system up:
1) Win tournaments with the biggest and baddest decks, putting together all the cards to create the best decks.
2) Take the packs won, and sell them in the Marketplace for Tickets; you can even use a Bot for this.
3) Move those tickets to an account to either sell directly, sell through eBay, or string in a Bot to buy up cards.
4) Once the Bot buys up cards, resell those cards at a good price.

(12-packs, selling 3-for-11-tickets, you get 44-tickets, buying and selling, you end up with 55-tickets [1-ticket profit on 11-rares that you buy for 4-tickets and sell for 5-tickets]; which you can buy and sell again and again for more and more profit.)  You're already up $47.30, selling the 55-tickets for $0.86.

Entrophy
The great physics question is where is the excess disappearing to?  Sure, you created packs from a win, but of the 24-players to enter, paying 6-tickets each, only 8-players won anything.  MTGO gets the profit.  All tickets that are generated generally come from a player that pays $1.00/ticket.  So the 55-tickets you may be holding was actually $55 at some point, which even if you resell it at $0.86, MTGO already took the $0.14 profit from each ticket a long time ago.  And those tickets are just sucked back into MTGO when players pay for tournaments, and those tickets just disappear.

MTGO has it's hand on the main profit, but you can always be a middle-man, profiteering from other people--those that need packs to get into tournaments, and all players that need tickets to get into those same tournaments.  Even cutting out MTGO, someone, somewhere has to provide those $1-tickets that get all of this going; else we'd run out of tickets to sell, wouldn't we?