Magic is a game of numbers: sixty cards, twenty life, draw two cards, take seven damage, and add three counters. There are even more numbers surrounding the game — facts and figures, prices and trivia. Numbers are everywhere. In Affinity for Numbers, I uncover and highlight some of the more interesting numbers in Magic.

0 Sources of Red Mana

Raphaël Lévy's first place GP Manchester deck played two copies of Chandra, Flamecaller but no sources of Red mana.

The deck relies on four copies of Oath of Nissa to find Chandra, and it worked for him. Here's the deck:

G/W Tokens ? Shadows over Innistrad Standard | Raphael Levy

• Creatures (14)
• 2 Lambholt Pacifist
• 4 Archangel Avacyn
• 4 Hangarback Walker
• 4 Sylvan Advocate

• Planeswalkers (10)
• 2 Chandra, Flamecaller
• 4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
• 4 Nissa, Voice of Zendikar

• Spells (11)
• 4 Dromoka's Command
• 1 Evolutionary Leap
• 2 Stasis Snare
• 4 Oath of Nissa

• Lands (25)
• 7 Forest
• 7 Plains
• 3 Westvale Abbey
• 4 Canopy Vista
• 4 Fortified Village

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Evolutionary Leap
• 2 Clip Wings
• 1 Silkwrap
• 2 Hallowed Moonlight
• 3 Den Protector
• 2 Tragic Arrogance
• 2 Planar Outburst
• 1 Angelic Purge
• 1 Declaration in Stone

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2 Reckless Bushwhacker

Shota Takao reached the finals of Grand Prix Minneapolis with an innovative Humans deck featuring a couple copies of a Goblin Ally, Reckless Bushwhacker. Here is Mr. Takao's deck:

W/R Humans ? Shadows over Innistrad Standard | Shota Takao

• Creatures (29)
• 2 Expedition Envoy
• 2 Reckless Bushwhacker
• 3 Abbot of Keral Keep
• 3 Dragon Hunter
• 3 Kytheon, Hero of Akros
• 4 Knight of the White Orchid
• 4 Thalia's Lieutenant
• 4 Thraben Inspector
• 4 Town Gossipmonger

• Spells (11)
• 4 Declaration in Stone
• 3 Gryff's Boon
• 4 Always Watching

• Lands (20)
• 12 Plains
• 4 Battlefield Forge
• 4 Needle Spires

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Plains
• 1 Gryff's Boon
• 2 Anafenza, Kin-Tree Spirit
• 3 Hanweir Militia Captain
• 4 Gideon, Ally of Zendikar
• 2 Silkwrap
• 2 Stasis Snare

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3 Dragonlords

Joel Larsson marshalled some Dragons to hit day two at Grand Prix Manchester. Larsson included Dragonlord Ojutai, Dragonlord Atarka, and Dragonlord Dromoka in the same brew.

Green Dragons ? Shadows over Innistrad Standard | by Joel Larsson

• Creatures (23)
• 1 Dragonlord Dromoka
• 1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
• 2 Den Protector
• 2 Dragonlord Atarka
• 3 Dragonlord Ojutai
• 3 Duskwatch Recruiter
• 3 Tireless Tracker
• 4 Shaman of Forgotten Ways
• 4 Sylvan Advocate

• Spells (11)
• 4 Dromoka's Command
• 3 Declaration in Stone
• 4 Oath of Nissa

• Lands (26)
• 1 Island
• 1 Mountain
• 2 Plains
• 6 Forest
• 4 Canopy Vista
• 4 Evolving Wilds
• 4 Fortified Village
• 4 Haven of the Spirit Dragon

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Den Protector
• 1 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
• 1 Tireless Tracker
• 1 Dragonlord Dromoka
• 1 Declaration in Stone
• 2 Quarantine Field
• 3 Lambholt Pacifist
• 1 Clip Wings
• 2 Hallowed Moonlight
• 2 Tragic Arrogance

Buy This Deck

6 Grand Prix Victories

Manchester was Raphaël Lévy's sixth Grand Prix win and twenty-first GP top 8. Lévy is already in the Hall of Fame but the guy just keeps piling it on.

6.77 Points

Owen Turtenwald's top-8 finish at Grand Prix Minneapolis helped narrow the gap between him and the man at the pinnacle of the Magic Top 25, Seth Manfield.

9 Human Decks

Nine of the top-32 decks at Grand Prix Minneapolis featured Humans, including five of the top 8.

Bant Humans was the most popular variant in Minneapolis, including this one by Yuuya Watanabe.

Bant Humans ? Shadows over Innistrad Standard | Yuuya Watanabe

• Creatures (25)
• 2 Knight of the White Orchid
• 3 Duskwatch Recruiter
• 4 Lambholt Pacifist
• 4 Reflector Mage
• 4 Thalia's Lieutenant
• 4 Thraben Inspector
• 4 Tireless Tracker

• Spells (10)
• 2 Ojutai's Command
• 4 Collected Company
• 4 Dromoka's Command

• Lands (25)
• 1 Island
• 3 Forest
• 6 Plains
• 2 Canopy Vista
• 2 Yavimaya Coast
• 3 Prairie Stream
• 4 Evolving Wilds
• 4 Fortified Village

• Sideboard (15)
• 2 Den Protector
• 3 Gryff's Boon
• 1 Knight of the White Orchid
• 3 Negate
• 2 Nissa, Vastwood Seer
• 1 Sigarda, Heron's Grace
• 3 Tragic Arrogance

Buy This Deck

24 Islands

Card draw, library manipulation, extra turns, stall tactics, an eventual zombie army, and Thing in the Ice in the sideboard . . . all features of Martin Mueller's interesting Mono-Blue Prison deck. Mueller finished in 25th place at Grand Prix Manchester tapping only islands the whole time.

Mono-Blue Prison ? Shadows over Innistrad Standard | Martin Mueller

• Spells (36)
• 4 Anticipate
• 4 Hydrolash
• 1 Rise from the Tides
• 3 Day's Undoing
• 4 Engulf the Shore
• 4 Jace's Sanctum
• 4 Nagging Thoughts
• 4 Part the Waterveil
• 4 Pore Over the Pages
• 4 Prism Ring

• Lands (24)
• 24 Island

• Sideboard (15)
• 1 Displacement Wave
• 2 Invasive Surgery
• 4 Jace, Vryn's Prodigy
• 4 Negate
• 4 Thing in the Ice

Buy This Deck

$81 Deck

Looking for Standard success on a budget? How about Tomoharu Saito's 19th place GP Minneapolis deck? You get cheap fliers with Flash, a little burn, a little control, and a full set of Wandering Fumarole. Sounds like fun to me!

U/R Fliers ? Shadows over Innistrad Standard | Tomoharu Saito

• Creatures (16)
• 4 Dimensional Infiltrator
• 4 Goldnight Castigator
• 4 Rattlechains
• 4 Stratus Dancer

• Spells (20)
• 4 Clash of Wills
• 4 Fiery Impulse
• 4 Exquisite Firecraft
• 4 Spell Shrivel
• 4 Fevered Visions

• Lands (24)
• 7 Island
• 9 Mountain
• 4 Shivan Reef
• 4 Wandering Fumarole

• Sideboard (15)
• 4 Goblin Dark-Dwellers
• 4 Negate
• 4 Roast
• 3 Seismic Rupture

Buy This Deck

$200.24 Expected Value

When you buy a box of Eternal Masters you can expect about $200 worth of value at "buy list" prices according to this thorough breakdown. That's well under MSRP, which is about $240 based on $9.99 per pack, and well below what you'd have to pay for one, currently $320 to $350 at most retailers.

25,646,086 Unwanted Cards

Over 25.6M cards are currently offered for trade on Magic trading site Puca Trade. The crushing majority of these are undoubtedly bulk rares and commons that everybody has 37 copies of already.

That's all the numbers I have for you today. If you also have an affinity for numbers, and have one you think I should share, let me know on Twitter @MrVigabool.