Joe's Trading Post

Throne of Eldraine Season Rewards & Real World Values   Joe Stillman 9/27/19 Throne of Eldraine has arrived on Magic: The Gathering Arena this week. The peasants rejoice!  Today's article will be about Real World Value for the Mastery Tree. I have calculated the values for both Free to Play and Mastery Pass players. The Throne of Eldraine (ELD) season will go a little longer than Core Set 2020 did. ELD will run for 110 days total, starting on 9/26/16 and allegedly ending on 1/14/20 (110 days from 9/26). I will be basing the Mastery Tree totals on what I actually see in game, since Wizards of the Coast's (WotC) own press release has incorrect numbers in it. I will give you the TL:DR information first, then explain how things were calculated after. TL:DR TL:DR Version -----> The Spreadsheet <----- Real World Value: F2P - $68.35 F2P Returning Player - $75.76 Mastery Pass - $318.17 Mastery Pass Returning Player - $325...

Steak Fit for a King ...on a budget. Joe Stillman 6/17/19 This Father's Day, I wanted to spend some quality time with my parents, so we had them over to our home for a Father's Day lunch. I asked my dad what he would like for lunch, and he said steak, loaded baked potatoes and any dessert would be fine, so long as it had ice cream. While many families were going out to eat, and spending quite a bit of money at restaurants, I decided to go in the opposite route. If you already read my "Baller on a Budget" articles, you'll know that I like to see how much I can get for the least amount of money, while still maintaining high quality. Where do I shop? I am a big fan of shopping at smaller grocers, such as Aldi and Save-A-Lot. Many people think these grocery stores are "discount" chains, and have sub-par offerings. In fact, they do not. What they do is focus on smaller stores that sell mostly their own house brands and only offer...

Bubba Pure Energy Solar Eclipse After trying the Bubba Pure Energy Red Flare, I was really excited for this version. I saved it for last, as I get the most excited about the possibility of finding an original Monster Energy clone. Based on the green color on the can, and that it doesn't signify it is sugar free or state anything different, I thought it was trying to copy the original Monster. After cracking open the can, the taurine smell is immediately noticeable. I had high hopes for this. Pouring it into the glass produced a nice carbonated champagne effect with heavy bubbles that stayed for a while before dissipating.  (Colors have been modified to more accurately show the actual color of the drink) I was expecting a green tinted liquid to come pouring out, but the color golden amber instead. It had strong notes of taurine and an almost sickly sweetness to it. My first impression was that it was was not Monster. It was somehow off....

Reign Melon Mania My  wife surprised me this weekend with a breakfast run to Wawa. I went with her and perused the energy drinks. I decided to give the new Reign brand a try. Reign is Monster Energy's new brand. According to Reign, this product is aimed at fitness, active lifestyles and is better for you than other energy drinks. They state zero calories, zero sugar and zero artificial flavors and colors, all while still loading each can with 300mg of caffeine. Reign also has a different energy supplement mix than Monster.  What does all this mean? Not a thing to those of us who just enjoy drinking them! The cans stand out on the shelf, like a phalanx of energy, protecting you from other sub-par brands. It's easy to their sharp design with bold contrasts among other brands . The cans have a raised texture to them as well, and feel like the Monster Ultra cans in your hand. I had no idea what any of the flavors were, so I just grabbed two that seemed app...

Play MTG Arena on iOS This guide will instruct you how to play Magic: The Gathering Arena on an iOS device, using Steam Link. Since "Magic: The Gathering Arena" (MTG Arena) came out, we have been begging for a mobile version. After all, Hearthstone is on both iOS and Android and works very well. I’m sure it will come to mobile eventually. It is still in “open beta” at this time, so the MTG Arena developers are still working on perfecting the game. Recently, Valve released Steam Link for iOS, which will allow us to play MTG Arena on our iOS devices. What this means is finally we get a full touch screen experience on our iPads and iPhones. What is Steam Link? Steam Link is a utility developed by Valve Software, who developed Steam as well as notable titles such as "Half-Life," "Portal" and "Left 4 Dead." In 2015, Valve released a device called a Steam Link. This was a small box that connected to your living room TV...