Zvi Mowshowitz
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Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in
Zvi Mowshowitz's LiveJournal:
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| Monday, April 14th, 2008 | | 8:40 am |
Crushing Everyone's Hopes and Dreams
It's fun for the whole family!
Alas, in this case the dreams are dreams of a set review. Simply put, there is no market for it. MagicTheGathering.com is a wonderful website, but it was never an option for this series. Star City Games is not interested - I know, it sounds bizarre, but I can't accept what they are offering. It's low enough that I'd rather run it in the open for free, which is what I've tried recently since no one else is in a position to make an offer (For historical reasons I will not deal with you-know-who). In the end, I simply can't invest the kind of time and energy I'd need to do this right, and if I can't do it right I'm not going to do it. So sorry! If you want this to change, mail your global website operator and ask for Zvi Mowshowitz Set Reviews, and maybe I'll be back some day.
In other news, if anyone knows trustworthy movers in the NYC area, please do share this information with me. | | Tuesday, March 18th, 2008 | | 7:53 am |
Where to, sir?
So the question has become crystalized to this: Would one pay a thousand dollars (or more!) to move an apartment five blocks? That's what it's all about, folks. At 14th + 1st (up to 23rd + 1st) I can get all my needs met for under 3K. To get the same thing at 14th + 5th (well, not quite 14th and 5th, but something close) would cost at least 4K, or I could get less but still probably enough for 3700 or so a few blocks to the northwest of that. So I have to figure out, does that make any sense? I don't want to feel like I'm hiding off in a corner to save a little cash I can afford, but I also don't want to feel like I'm bleeding off giant amounts of cash for no reason. | | Tuesday, March 4th, 2008 | | 7:41 pm |
This Just In: Clinton 52, Obama 48
This exit poll from Ohio only available to those willing to do a few seconds of math. Because we can't come out and tell you. Thanks, CNN. | | Monday, March 3rd, 2008 | | 7:10 pm |
Moving On
Chapin doesn't think I'm in the top 10 of all Magic players of all time. He doesn't think I deserve mention either. He's probably right, if you define player narrowly. It was cute that they mentioned me in the comments a bunch, but they also brought up Flores, Chapin and Cheon, so clearly they're just naming Star City writers. Time to move on. And also time to plain old move.
I have to say it here so I'll actually do it. I keep wincing when I think about it. Four thousand a month or close to it for under a thousand square feet? Really? And I have to move everything, and change everything over, and I really really don't want to do that. But I have to do that. I'm using my current place as an excuse not to have people over, not to go places and do things, and the nations' girlfriends and in a lesser known story gamers demand it. I need a place I can be proud of, not just one that's functional. But then I think about how everything is always available, and everything works, and the street is ten seconds away and the Silver Moon Bakery is one minute and the grocery store is less and I suddenly want to stay. Maybe get a new custom desk so the place feels bigger. I can make this work. I know I can! But I can't, not really. And I need that out there. I need to admit that, so I can't go back or rather stay put.
Right now the leading contender is the Epic building, which is 125 West 31st, and would run me said 4K for said 1BR. It's nice, I suppose, but I feel like I should be able to do better. Matt Wang, connector at large, is getting me a broker. As a third attack, I'm putting out an open casting call. Anyone has a good lead on a place for me in the 3-4K range in downtown Manhattan, preferably a short walk to around 19th + 5th, please let me know. | | Monday, February 18th, 2008 | | 1:54 pm |
New Rules: Kuala Lampur
I figure after a defeat is a good time to look back at lessons learned.
Flight There: Power Through!
Player Dinner: Antonio DeRosa is, and I quote him directly as he walked in apropo of nothing, "so hungry."
First Draft: Get it right the first time, otherwise you'll end up in U/G with no bombs.
Round 1: It's not better to get your double-mana screw round out of the way early.
Round 2: Champion your 4-drops to 5-drops and your 6-drops to 7-drops!
Round 3: Cowards can't block warriors.
Second Draft: Buy two Battlewand Oaks, get passed one free!
Round 4: The only Elf deck in the draft with bombs plays rather better than the Treefolk deck without them.
Round 5: Three color non-tribal decks tend to be train wrecks.
Round 6: If you pass Oaken Brawler late, there will be a second Treefolk player.
Of course, it was a great PT. Sadin 12th. Jon Finkel FTW! I have to remind him to buy a ticket more often. It was so cute the way he couldn't believe he'd won, and it was highly amusing as he took his giant check through airport security and had to explain what it was to locals with highly limited English skills. I also decided to play the PTQ on Saturday, so I got to make top 8 on day two of a PT, just not the way I had in mind. | | Monday, February 11th, 2008 | | 8:07 pm |
PT KL: Choosing Sides
Tomorrow morning I leave for Kuala Lampur. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I've been unable to get that many drafts in, which means that I've only had time to properly learn two strategies, which I believe to be the strongest options... but it all depends on what everyone else thinks, doesn't it? So before you read on, think about what your top choices are for decks to draft - whether they're LOR tribes, MOR tribes, colors, you name it, and reply with that answer.
My answer is that I want Kithkin, W/x. I think it is the one tribe you can actually get reliably, if you're allowed to, but I'm worried that's quickly becoming difficult. If it's not given the proper respect, it's what I want to be drafting; I considered a white shirt to "lock the breaks" but I got nervous about that because of what happened in New York's draft pool these past two weeks. My second draft strategy is GR, Elvish Warriors with an option on Giants or Shaman. I like that one as well, if not as much. After that, I'm prepared to go to Faeries/Rogues or Treefolk or what have you, but I'd rather not. Still, I can't lose sight of the need to take what the packs give you. That's not as true as it used to be, but it's still important.
If I do well, there will be a report, which of course will end up here since no one out there seems to want my work these days enough to pay what I think it's worth. If I do badly, who knows, maybe I'll want to talk about it anyway. Could be. | | Thursday, February 7th, 2008 | | 9:32 pm |
Survivor: Writer's Strike
I'm back in. Just when I thought I was out. They've solved the individual Idol problem (for now). They've got some nice returning favorites, good enough that I'm rooting for them to beat up on the fans so no one has to go. But most of all, I need my NTV! OK, I want my NTV. I still don't like the endgame setup, but I can live with it one more time. But after this season, that's it. I swear.
And this time, I mean it. | | Monday, February 4th, 2008 | | 8:27 am |
| | Friday, February 1st, 2008 | | 8:28 am |
| | Wednesday, January 30th, 2008 | | 9:15 am |
| | Monday, January 28th, 2008 | | 7:46 am |
| | Thursday, January 24th, 2008 | | 7:37 am |
| | Tuesday, January 22nd, 2008 | | 7:58 am |
| | Thursday, January 17th, 2008 | | 5:17 pm |
Morningtide Update
Writing is in progress, although I make no guarentee that I will finish.
As for the best cards in the set, well... There Might Be Giants. | | Monday, January 14th, 2008 | | 5:29 pm |
Morningtide in America!
If you want me to write and publish here a set review of Morningtide, leave a comment in this thread. If you don't have a Livejournal account, make sure to include your name. The more people leave a comment, the more motivated I will be to get it out there and do the best job I can. | | Wednesday, January 9th, 2008 | | 5:07 pm |
| | 5:05 pm |
| | 10:41 am |
| | 8:28 am |
Ceteris Non Paribus: A Neglected-Color Draft Guide to Lorewyn White, Part 1 of 2. Also distributed via Brian David-Marshall and Top8Magic. Share and enjoy! ( Read more... ) | | Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 | | 12:34 pm |
Call your local website operator and ask for The Zvi! So this morning I'm looking at a reply from almost everyone's favorite editor, Scott Johns, explaining why the article that Star City didn't want for their site didn't fit in with his either and I look up at the Google text ad... for Star City Games. So it turns out it is true, no one wants articles on limited. It's a shame, but that's the way it goes. As I do here, I wrote it because I wanted to write it, not to sell it or because anyone in particular wanted to read it. Instead I simply thought I'd try a new approach to limited and see where it took me. I learned my lesson, though, which is that if I don't want to do what sells I need to be willing to take the consequences. So that means that in all probability, I'm going to put it up myself once we make sure that no one else can make good use of it. In keeping with ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) theferrett's principle that the best time to post is 8am eastern if you want maximum readership, that will be when I release, perhaps as early as tomorrow. Watch this space! |
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