Hi Everybody,

I am Brad, or "Professor" as I am more casually known. Here are some helpful magic the gathering links.

Proxy Maker:
http://www.billbarksdale.com/proxy.html

Proxies are replacements for actual magic cards that you can use to test out a new deck without actually purchasing the cards. There are many ways to create proxies, the simplest is to write the identity of the replacement card on an unwanted card or land. This of course requires having extra cards that you do not care about, and either familarity with the cards you are proxying or a lot of writing. Another way to handle to is to print card images, cut them out, and place in a card sleeve in front of another card. This can be annoying, as you would have to print them off of wizards webpage one by one, or copying images into a word processor. The link above makes this much easier, making mass proxies on the same page that you can print out. The basic input format is:

{Number of Card} {Card name}

So inputting:

4 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
3 Gideon Jura

produces exactly that list of cards. After that, just printing the page in your browser will print 9 cards per page (3x3).

Booster Draft Basics:
http://hubpages.com/hub/MagicThe-Gathering-Booster-Draft-Explained

I recently tried, and failed, to explain the basic B.R.E.A.K. acroynm of Magic: the Gathering booster draft. If you are just a beginner at draft, the B.R.E.A.K. method is a good first strategy to employ.

Free(!) Practice Draft Webpage:
http://draft.bestiaire.org/

If you are just getting to know a set drafting-wise, or are curious how many of a particular common that you are likely to see during a new draft format, this webpage is extremly helpful. This draft page allows you to draft against bots (computer drafters) that mimic pretty decent drafters, though I would say the bots hate draft a bit too much but that's another post for another time. At the end of the draft, you get to see all of the picks made my each player, and the program gives you a % that is somehow supposed to measure how good your draft was. I suggest that you ignore this %, I have drafted strong decks and had a negative(!) percentage.

I hope you find these helpful!