Cockatrice

I've been hearing and seeing this name on Magic forums and Facebook I did not really know much about it until recently when I played few games over it. So what is Cockatrice?

Cockatrice is an open-source multiplatform software for playing card games, such as Magic: The Gathering, over a network. It is fully client-server based to prevent any kind of cheating, though it supports single-player games without a network interface as well. Both client and server are written in Qt 4.[cockatrice.de]

I used Apprentice years ago then switched over to Magic Workstation. I abandoned that software because I encounter a lot of people that behave really bad or they think that they know the game. Anyway MWS is not bad and I thought it well done. But I have to say that I had many issues with installing new sets, exporting database and loading newly created decks into MWS Online Play.

Cockatrice is a alternative to MWS. It is really easy to install. You just download it and run it. It will install the software and then run Oracle which is the game's database. To update with new set you just have to run the Oracle and it will do the work for you. The images are downloaded either on the fly as you play the card or you can download it at once (or use your MWS images).

Deck Editor
You can create a new deck in the deck editor or load an old one - which can be either in the software's format or any text type one, it loads MWS files as well (.dec, .mwDeck). The deck editor is fast and creating your deck is pretty easy. And there is no blue and green arrow as in MWS. You can entirely use your keyboard. Type a name, highlight the card you want with the arrows and hit enter how many times you need the card. This has allowed me to create my EDH decklist in a really short time and that was a big plus for me.

When you have a card highlighted in your decklist using + or - you can change the card count.

Shortcuts
If you've ever used MWS then you already majority of the shortcuts. This has allowed me to play via Cockatrice and do not look as a complete idiot.

CTRL + I will do a roll for you
CTRL + M will draw your seven cards and mulligan
CTRL + U will untap your permanents
CTRL + D will draw a card
CTRL + E will draw cards
CTRL + T will create tokens
CTRL + A will attach a card
CTRL + S will shuffle your deck
CTRL + W will show you the top card of your library
CTRL + Space will proceed to next phase/step (or you can use the function keys F5-F10
CTRL + L will let you set life total
CTRL + J will create a copy of a token that is already in play

F2 will concede a game letting you to start a new one in the current session
F3 will show your library that can be sorted in several ways (alphabetically, by type...helps a lot even though at first it was rather confusing to me)
F4 will show your graveyard.
F11/F12 changes life total.

That's what comes to my mind when trying to remember some shortcuts. If you right click a certain zone you'll get more options or you can access it via the game menu.

Targeting is done by holding the right button and moving the cursor towards the target.

Play
Once you have your deck you can connect to a server or start a local game. Everything is free and works wonderfully. You can play 1-on-1 game or a multiplayer game. You can let spectators watch you play and talk in the chat (or disallow it). This allows for judges of online tournaments to be there. This seems as a really good feature and will make tournament play possible. There are different kind of league tournaments played via Cockatrice (for example Win a Dual Highlander Series).

When you start a game, you have several green, blue and red part on the screen. They are your hand, battlefield and stack respectively. I didn't know about the stack until my opponent was placing cards there and that showed in the text/chat window. It sure is helpful if you actually use it (I gotta start to do that). Other elements on the screen are player name, avatar, life total, library, cards in hand, graveyard, RFG zone, turn structure, mana pool + storm count, card description and the chat window.

The software is colorful, but it is fast, efficient and well done. Check it out.
The player base is low for the time being but I think many more people will start to play on cockatrice server.

BTW you can download it from http://cockatrice.de/ (not anymore so go to -> http://www.woogerworks.com/

Got robbed...

Yesterday some people decided to get some stuff that don't belong to them (money) along with the keys (which probably is a bigger issue now, I need to contact this house keeper or anyone (after figuring out how to get out and back in which is now a problem - someone will help me hopefully)).

I don't have anything against people that are of different nationality or whatever but there were two groups of people in the store today. They could easily be one group - same race, same behavior. From this day on if anyone from the group comes in I'll kick him out of here.

I don't need additional problems to solve. I have a lot of them already.

S'Tsung playing Legacy no.4

Everyday I would like to produce some drawing, painting or anything else that can be produced.

Today I was rather stuck with 'what to draw'. So I ended up doodling some characters...After a while I came across a photo of me playing Magic. That day a big Legacy and Vintage tournament was held in Cerny Rytir and thus photos from the event can be found on the internet. A friend of mine did few photos that day...

I took a paper and pencil and tried to draw what I saw but after 3 hours of trying to do that I gave up. I looked more closely at the photo and my completely wrong drawing and started a new one (still on paper). I realized my errors and tried to correct them but it was still difficult to do...I couldn't come up with anything that could serve me as a reference in the picture.

In the end I opened photoshop and tried sketching the two tables and the outline of my body several times to see if I can actually see what is correct and what not. In the end I came up with something that seems correct.

This little drawing took me about 5 hours to figure out. I learned about all my incapabilities of trying to draw something in space or the correct perspective and in the upcoming weeks I'll try to learn something more.

Desolation Angel Drawing

Another drawing I made. I couldn't come up with a form or the idea of what it should be. But the drawing was already reminding me of desolation angel so I went for it.

Trinket mage fetching for Sensei's Divining Top

Repost frommy university projects blog

Background was the first step, now I tried the 'content'. I did not want the top to be so bright as on the original image so in the end it ended up really dark. I wanted it to be dark so the focus would still be on the Trinket Mage nor the top.

In real life it looks much better. The scan though shows how inaccurate I was when doing this and what needs to be improved.

Card altering

Sensei's Divining Top - Winter Theme ->

Here is a video I took while altering Sensei's Divining Top (I apologize for the poor quality, I used Windows Movie Maker and that was the biggest mistake ever).

Many people from all around the world wonder how people alter cards. When I started altering I did not have any help because I started quite some time ago and I had to figure everything on my own. Nowadays many people alter cards and I believe there are many tutorials or tips on the internet. Here is my take on card altering. If you have any questions just post a comment.

Type of alters

Alterers either extend the original illustration or paint over it with something original. Anything in between is not uncommon (for example keeping some of the original elements, or changing only the background). Both normal and foil cards can be altered. People can also alter cards in another way than just paint on them. For example there are people that do 3d alters or foil peel alters.

If you will be painting on cards there are three types of alters.

Borderless alters

Textless/Full Art Alters

Partial Alters

Tools

What one needs in order to alter cards?

• acrylic paints - I use Vallejo Model Color paints but anything that works for you is fine. Many use Golden Fluid Acrylics. The paint should be of high quality. In order to start you should buy at some kind of Yellow, Red, Blue, Black, White and Brown. From this you can pretty much mix anything. If you do not know much about mixing paints it's time you start looking that up. (Fortunately for me learning how to produce the color I wanted in hexadecimal code is what made me learn how to mix colors, I mention this here because many people starting to alter ask me this.)
• brushes - so far I use Citadel Fine Detail/Insane Detail brushes. Usually brushes are marked with numbers. I use 0, 00, or 000 brushes.
• toothpick - to get rid of paint that got where it shouldn't. The toothpick should always stay dampened (when you use it).
• clear varnish - when the alter is finished it is good to use some kind of finish - acrylic paint varnish (I'm using Citadel Matte Varnish).
• ink rubber - if you want to blank a card this is one of the ways to go. it takes time and patience. Acetone can be used for this purpose but I would advise against it unless you know what you are doing because it can be harmful for your health and/or the card when used too aggressively. When working with foils this is the only way to go though (or you can use nail polish).
• artist tape - if you want to blank or prime only certain parts of a card the tape comes handy. Be careful when taking it off the card. Be gentle!
• markers/liners - some artists use markers to do alters. They can be used in addition to acrylics. Most people use Sharpies or Copic Markers. I also use Copic Multiliners for finer work (these actually are soluble in water unlike the permanent markers!). Markers are also glossy which is often looked upon as bad. Matte varnish will make it matte though in the end. But you can also use the markers to create some nice effects. Especially when used on foils.
• palette - this is something you can either buy or create one yourself. In general what you need to achieve is something that keeps some moisture so the paint won't immediately dry. I'm too lazy to get something proper so I use a card sleeve and a top loader (water blobs under the sleeve). If you want to do something better just google wet palette.
• daylight lamp - without enough light you won't be able to match colors properly. The light should not be colored or anything (normal light bulbs will skew your perception of color of your paints), look for something that imitates daylight.

Preparation

The first step when altering a card is its preparation and this is a very important step. The card should be clean and without any grease on it (otherwise it gets a bit complicated to paint on, so for starters grab a new card). I prime the card with a certain grey hue paint. How bright is the grey depends on how bright or light the colors I want to have on the card. Priming the card is not necessary as there are people who don't do it but you can run into trouble, especially if you want to alter red cards or white bordered cards. Try it with and without priming and then you can decide what is better. The paint adheres better on primed surface and won't do crazy things you don't want the paint to do so that is why I prime everything nowadays. In earlier days I used to get rid of the ink from the card using a rubber or acetone, but painting simply over the card is better. It allows for a better control of the paint. I use Vallejo Model Color - Natural Grey for priming. Depending on the overal darkness/lightness of the card I use lighter or darker tone. The quality of these basecoats will show on the final alter so one should learn how to do it properly. Several layers should be applied and should be as thin as possible (this applies to altering in general) without any bumps or texture.

Painting

When the card is primed one can start actually painting. Some people draw (you can use pencil, mind the surface, do not scratch it) what they wish to paint and then 'color' it but that is up to you. I paint the areas with more or less the colors I need need and then I start adding more detail and later highlights.

In general when painting you need to be doing thin layers of paint. So even if you are using already quite liquid paints, dilute them with water. The right ratio of paint and water is something one needs to figure out on his own and it depends on the paint one uses. In my case the Vallejo Model Color paints require quite a lot of water. The more thin layers the better (the more layers the more vivid the color will be). When the area gets the color you want you can stop with the layering. It takes time and patience. The layers should be thin so that the paint won't add too much weight to the card. If the card will become too heavy it won't be tournament legal. The higher quality of the paint use the less layers is needed (because it contains more pigment).

Tip: Dry brush technique is good for clouds, nebulae etc. If you are going to use this technique use some old brush for it so you won't ruin your precious brush.

Tournament Legality
If you will be altering cards that the player will want to play at tournaments note that the card's name, mana cost and power/toughness or loyalty need to be visible. The game text does not necessarily need to be present. The card should be recognizable at first glance, shouldn't contain anything that could offend someone (naked females included) and shouldn't be misleading or giving information relevant to the game (for example Trinket Mage with Sensei's Divining Top painted on it is not in general considered tournament legal). Anyway if a card will be allowed or not depends on the head judge.

Details

When this was done I tried painting the sakuras and some petals. This is the part of the process one spends the most time usually. This is when you need to match the artist's style, pay attention to all the colors and detail. Details is what makes a nice alter. But sometimes you will simply get stuck the same way I got stuck with this Top. I did my best at that time because simply I did not know how to proceed. But I always come back to that later when I have more experience and I come up with something. This alter did not turn out the way I wanted but I certainly learned something. If you are ever going to alter a card don't give up. Just alter the cards and you will eventually get better. Each alter helps a lot.

Finishing touches and correcting mistakes

When the alter seems finished one usually looks at it and does final touches. This is the time during which I sometimes use 'washes' (very diluted paint) and use it to slightly change tones of some painted areas. I add more contrast in general. When this is done one needs to get rid of all the mistakes and paints that are where they shouldn't be. If excessive paint is on the card's non-painted surface it is easy to get rid of it. Simply wet a tooth pick and scrape the paint of the card (or use the brush to wet certain area - don't use too much water) and than get rid of it with a tooth pick).

Finish

When your alter is finished it is good to use acrylic varnish on it but not all artist use it. I would suggest one thing though. After you finish your alter just let it be for a while (let's say a night or day) and come back to it to see if you are still content with the work you produced. If not you can still do some final touches and only after that seal the card.

Card altering is tedious work and requires thus a lot of patience. For those of you who actually paint on canvas painting on something so small as a Magic card can be pretty unnatural. It takes time to get used to it. Anyway with each alter all of you will get better at it. So don't give up if your first alters won't look good or the way you envisioned them. Sooner or later they will.

Hope you found this article helpful and I wish you fun and good luck with altering cards.

You can view some of my alters on my site -> http://stsungalters.com/index.php

Some sketches

reposted from my university project's blog

Keyboard Mania? - Airflow

Today I was trying to delete some files from my notebook's harddrive so the OS would have some free memory and I stumbled across one very strange thing - Doremimania. Few years ago I installed a Keyboard Mania simulator (caled Doremimania) on my computer and tried it. I recorded few of the songs when playing them for the first time on sight read. I have to say that it was REALLY difficult for me to figure out which note is which and what should I press while not looking at the keys because I tried following the notes on the screen. That's why I was playing easy songs and avoided stuff like Kakumei^^.

Being able to play on the piano does not help with Keyboard Mania much when you first play it because you are unable to read it or at least I wasn't capable of reading that which was quite a surprise because I'm used to playing IIDX doubles (and thus reading the notes)! But it seems that 14k and even a small keyboard is a great difference.

This is how Airflow ended up sounding like^_^. It wasn't that bad^_~.


EDIT: I will reupload the file.. for the time being the file can be found -> Airflow (Google Drive)

For those interested in trying something like this. They can try Synthesia. It is a software that allows you to learn how to play something on the piano. It allows importing one own's midi files so BEMANI songs can be imported and played. I created a midi file for Blind Justice in Ableton Life that I imported into Synthesia. I did not manage to create two tracks at that time (each one for one hand) but Synthesia is supposedly capable of doing this on its own. Here is how it looks (or rather looked) like (the audio is not from Synthesia but Ableton Life.

Mimeoplasm revisited

I decided to change some cards in my Mimeoplasm deck. Since the beginning the decklist has changed quite a lot. But the last changes weren't that big.
I still want to keep this deck in the same style, no crazy reanimation of dreadnaught and death's shadow or skithyrix etc. I just wan't to have some fun with it and be able to deal with many threats.

Early I decided to drop cards like Tarmogoyf, Umezawa's Jitte. I tried playing Chameleon Colossus, Frost Titan, Thrun and even Troll Ascetic but these card in general don't do much. So I decided for bigger effects - thus I included cards like (Tutor) Demon, (Fact or Fiction) Sphinx, Avenger of Zendikar. I decided to add even Snapcaster mage and I like him Mr. Chan is so great!
I also added Life's Finale - good against non-mimeoplasm matchups, Mind Twist, Forbidden Alchemy, Profane Command, Fact or Fiction and Life from the Loam. The deck is now more consistent.

So well the updated decklist looks like this (finally managed to update the decklist on tcgplayer):

The Mimeoplasm

Main Deck:
1 Acidic Slime
1 Avenger of Zendikar
1 Bloodgift Demon
1 Eternal Witness
1 Fauna Shaman
1 Fertilid
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Garruk Wildspeaker
1 Genesis
1 Glen Elendra Archmage
1 Grave Titan
1 Jace, the Mind Sculptor
1 Karn Liberated
1 Liliana Vess
1 Mulldrifter
1 Phyrexian Metamorph
1 Primeval Titan
1 Rune-Scarred Demon
1 Sakura-Tribe Elder
1 Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon
1 Snapcaster Mage
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Sower of Temptation
1 Sphinx of Uthuun
1 Thrun, the Last Troll
1 Trinket Mage
1 Wood Elves
1 Wurmcoil Engine
1 Yavimaya Elder

1 Beast Within
1 Brainstorm
1 Counterspell
1 Cryptic Command
1 Cultivate
1 Damnation
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Dissipate
1 Fact or Fiction
1 Forbidden Alchemy
1 Kodama's Reach
1 Krosan Grip
1 Life from the Loam
1 Life's Finale
1 Maelstrom Pulse
1 Mind Twist
1 Mindslaver
1 Mystical Tutor
1 Necromancy
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Profane Command
1 Putrefy
1 Regrowth
1 Sensei's Divining Top
1 Skyshroud Claim
1 Sol Ring
1 Sylvan Library
1 Thirst for Knowledge
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Treachery
1 Vampiric Tutor
1 Voidslime

1 Academy Ruins
1 Bayou
1 Bojuka Bog
1 Breeding Pool
1 Cabal Coffers
1 Command Tower
1 Creeping Tar Pit
1 Faerie Conclave
1 Flooded Grove
3 Forest
3 Island
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Polluted Delta
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Strip Mine
1 Sunken Ruins
2 Swamp
1 Tolaria West
1 Treetop Village
1 Tropical Island
1 Twilight Mire
1 Underground Sea
1 Urborg, Tomb of Yawgmoth
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Vesuva
1 Volrath's Stronghold
1 Wasteland
1 Watery Grave
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Foothills

Sideboard:
1 The Mimeoplasm

The Gatherin

Bill Bouden a.k.a Spruke and Patrick Chapin bring you Tha Gatherin a Magic: The Gathering related album.

You can get it at SCG, ChannelFireball or itunes.

I was in awe after hearing the songs. Storm is so full of energy and memories. Full of tension. No matter what I can't really describe the feeling, but I think that I understand more how it felt for Patrick Chapin at that time.

Jace, the Mind Sculptor is something I was expecting made into a comics or something but here it is a song that is much better medium. (banning Jace)
On the album there are earlier songs like Shuffle 'em up which I really like.

So no more talking just check it out! It costs 10 bucks and it's worth it.

1. Introducing
2. Jace the Mind Sculptor
3. Still Had All Deez
4. Hymn to Tourach
5. Don't Drink and Draft
6. Brewmaster's Delight
7. Road Trippin
8. Shuffle Em Up
9. Innovate
10. Mythic Rare
11. Phyrexia Self
12. Mise (Break It)
13. Money Draft
14. Never Was (On the Pro Tour)
15. The Calm
16. The Storm

Zoo experiment (highlander)

I was wondering how much damage could some kind of a zoo deck deal. I think that 20 life is relatively ok even though I can't imagine this deck get through a Primeval Titan or something similarly big that's played early (2nd-4th round). But well I haven't really played against any real aggro deck in highlander so I have no idea what such game would look like. (except goblins that were faster than me erm than my naya zoo)

There was a proposition that we could do a 60-card highlander tournament and that's where my zoo highlander was created. It was a deck with giant growth effects (not that I would play this card) and some burn. The weird cards were something like symbiosis, thrill of the hunt, reckless charge etc. In a way it was a card advantage^^ But as you suspect it did not work well (ok it was beating local players fine). So now here's 100 card list. (now I need to sort the cards)

I tried this decklist. It's fast. It can deal more or less 18-24 dmg before it dies. Needs relatively a lot of mulligans and hands like 'oh 1 fetchland that's fine' don't work much. It runs a lot of fetch lands and shuffling the whole deck is not that fun either.

The deck is not fun (oh yeah, probably because it's not aggro-control/control). But it deals sufficient amount damage in timely manner to be good at highlander constructed.

(I might bother bother submitting this to tcgplayer later.
EDIT: I typed it in...)

Zoo experiment^^

Creatures [36]
1 Baneslayer Angel
1 Blitz Hellion
1 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Boggart Ram-Gang
1 Elite Vanguard
1 Eternal Witness
1 Figure of Destiny
1 Flametongue Kavu
1 Gaddock Teeg
1 Goblin Guide
1 Grim Lavamancer
1 Hero of Bladehold
1 Isamaru, Hound of Konda
1 Jotun Grunt
1 Jungle Lion
1 Keldon Marauders
1 Kird Ape
1 Kitchen Finks
1 Knight of the Reliquary
1 Kor Skyfisher
1 Loam Lion
1 Mirran Crusader
1 Qasali Pridemage
1 Ranger of Eos
1 Rip-Clan Crasher
1 River Boa
1 Savannah Lions
1 Scab-Clan Mauler
1 Skyshroud Elite
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Tarmogoyf
1 Troll Ascetic
1 Vexing Shusher
1 Watchwolf
1 Wild Nacatl
1 Woolly Thoctar

Planeswalkers [3]
1 Ajani Vengeant
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
1 Garruk Wildspeaker

Spells [25]
1 AEther Vial
1 Armageddon
1 Burst Lightning
1 Chain Lightning
1 Char
1 Firebolt
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Incinerate
1 Journey to Nowhere
1 Krosan Grip
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Lightning Helix
1 Magma Jet
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Path to Exile
1 Rancor
1 Staggershock
1 Sudden Shock
1 Sword of Fire and Ice
1 Sword of Light and Shadow
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Sylvan Library
1 Vines of Vastwood
1 Volcanic Hammer

Lands [35]
1 Arid Mesa
1 Bloodstained Mire
1 Clifftop Retreat
1 Copperline Gorge
1 Fire-Lit Thicket
1 Flooded Strand
3 Forest
1 Horizon Canopy
1 Marsh Flats
1 Misty Rainforest
2 Mountain
2 Plains
1 Plateau
1 Raging Ravine
1 Razorverge Thicket
1 Reflecting Pool
1 Rootbound Crag
1 Rugged Prairie
1 Sacred Foundry
1 Savannah
1 Scalding Tarn
1 Stirring Wildwood
1 Stomping Ground
1 Sunpetal Grove
1 Taiga
1 Temple Garden
1 Treetop Village
1 Verdant Catacombs
1 Windswept Heath
1 Wooded Bastion
1 Wooded Foothills

Elesh Norn - colored sketch

Space Walk

This is repost from my University blog

We got a task which consist of a walk. During that walk we should at given intervals capture somehow what is there. I decided to take 1 minute intervals and to take photos.

My starting point was Prague College and my ending point my game store. The distance covered was 3.5 km.

At the beginning of the walk I was taking photos of buildings and what was on them. My very first photo was of a statue. I wasn't really sure what it was till I processed the photo at the game store.

Still walking the main street - Vinohradska - my hourglass ran out and it was again up to me to take a photo. This time it wasn't a photo of a building but a photo of an advertisement of a bank. It caught my eye already when seeing this at Andel.

Next I came by the main train station. I took a quick photo and crossed the street.

After this I knew that I would end up at Wenceslaw Square where are obvious 'items' to take a photo of. My hourglass was stopping me at different places and not even the best places to be taking photos. So I decided to improvise. I was choosing objects that pleased my eye and seemed interesting enough to be put to memory.



Few more flowers and a statue followed. After a while I ended up a bridge. Two stops at the bridge. I couldn't help and do the obvious photo. The second photo was rather different^^



Some photos have really beautiful or really bizarre colors. The green, red and yellows are really beautiful nowadays and the sky was changing color when I was arriving to my destination. At one part of the sky it seemed that a storm was coming. On the other side it was light blue with beautiful white clouds.



To view all the photos in chronological order go to my Google Gallery.

Random Photo of the Day

MTGBook.com

MTGBook is an web application in which you can create your own decks, follow decklists from major events (or any group you follow), share decks, export decks or print decks etc. I came across the site pretty early but was unwilling to try it out. It was too flashy for me, too many things going on there (animations, graphics change, image view that irritated me the most). But well I'm someone who likes text and the simplest design possible. Hopefully the Image view of everything can be switched to List that solves my problem at least partly.

The site is actually a huge project. It's colorful with a LOT of graphics and a lot of features. The whole site is divided in several sections.

Decks

This section contains decks from players and tournaments all around the world. You can filter them by format, paper MTG or MTGO or search by cards included, player's name, deck type etc. - all you can imagine.

When you view a deck you can view sample hand, see more draws or mulligan. To get a new hand you have to click on 'New Hand' though which quite annoyed me but after you notice this you won't have problems with it anymore.

You can export the deck into MWS or MTGO format (it does not work on my mother's computer for some reason - I get some extra characters in the downloaded file that should not be there, have to try it on my own computer).

For each deck you can view more details - total score, price etc. You can also rate the deck. But well what does that rating mean? Originality vs playability combined? I actually quite like the tcgplayer ratings that divide this in two.

When you click on a card you can view all the card information (looks like magiccards.info database copy) + average price in the USA (and buying price if available).

Deckbox

This looks like a mailbox and actually works like one. It stores decks though. You can create your own decks here or add decks from other places (groups/deck search etc).

Here you can also label decks. This I find good as this allows you to label the decks properly. If you add a deck that was t2 legal in the past you can write it there. This at many other servers is not possible.

From here you can also send your deck to certain group or friend.

Creating a deck
You can either import a deck from MWS or MTGO. Or you can type your deck there manually

[number of cards] [name of card]

Or you can search the cards and somehow add them to the deck (more precisely after you find a card, double click on it to add one copy to the decklist).

You can also use existing decklist as a template. This will create a copy of a decklist that you can later edit yourself.

Groups

There are groups that already collect decklists from major tournaments, PTQs, MTGO Daily and such. You can join these groups. By doing this so the decklists from the group will end up in your deckbox.

You can also create your own groups (for example if you have a local group or you run a tournament series). They can be either private (only your friends can 'post' in it) or public. Both of these can be either moderated or not. You can also set the rights to the members (moderator, administrator etc).

A group can also be hidden.

(I did not find if there is a possibility to make a private group public and vise-versa)

Cards

In this section you can search and view all the card data. This works pretty well at any other server.

Here you can create your own collection and see how much it costs. Argh something I DON'T want to know. But sure a handy feature. Anyway it is here for a different reason. When creating a deck, you can see if you own the cards or not. It will show you which cards you don't own yet.

Friends

Contains user list. Here you can befriend the users so you can send each other decks etc. This section also contains your profile.

So I guess this pretty much sums mtgbook up. So now you can check it if interested.

http://mtgbook.com