1 Branchsnap Lorian
1 Krosan Restorer
1 Ronom Unicorn
1 Sporeback Troll
1 Reveillark
1 Accelerated Mutation
1 Hail of Arrows
1 Ferocious Charge
1 Viashino Bladescout
1 Dragon Mage
1 Akki Drillmaster
1 Jedit, Ojanen of Efavra
1 Saltskitter
1 Journeyer's Kite
1 Fever Charm
1 Inner-Flame Acolyte
1 Empty the Warrens
1 Matsu-Tribe Sniper
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Battlefield Scrounger
1 Divebomber Griffin
1 Sawtooth Thresher
1 Cetavolver
1 Gruul Turf
6 Forest
6 Mountain
4 Plains
1 Island
Swizz-Dizzle's
1 Reef Shaman
1 Fire/Ice
1 Soulless Revival
1 Mesmeric Fiend
1 Confound
1 Compulsion
1 Izzet Signet
1 Warren Weirding
1 Rend Flesh
1 Runeboggle
1 Blind Phantasm
1 Frost Raptor
1 Wail of the Nim
1 Toils of Night and Day
1 Exotic Curse
1 Wonder
1 Myr Quadropod
1 Clutch of the Undercity
1 Mercurial Kite
1 Dematerialize
1 Zombie Cutthroat
1 Ixidron
1 Spire Golem
1 Floodchaser
1 Rakdos Carnarium
1 Mountain
6 Swamp
8 Island
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Round 2-Carroll Draft
Fugie dropped after getting rolled so Major_luck got the bye.
Table 1-The Captain vs. Tabasco. Game 1 Cappy tempos Tabasco out. The ending was a grafted Reveillark swinging for the win with protected by Matsu-Tribe Sniper. Game 2 Tabasco went to Paris and then started speaking French. A double-kicked Cetavolver may have been involved. Sawtooth Thresher became a 6/6. Hot Sauce is crying now. It is sad.
Table 2-Swizz-Dizzle vs. TooSarcastic.
Game one TooSarcastic keeps a four land hand and then draws seven lands in a row. Swizz get that one. Game two Swizz mounts a aliant deenes but is stuck on 3 land for too long. Silver Knight and Kami Ancient Law, combined with Whipgrass Entangler finally get there, despite multiple bounce spells. Game three Swizz unmorphs a Zombie Cutthroat turn four on the play. The race is on. Unfortunately for TooSarcastic his Spined Basher is cacked before he can eqiup the Runed Stalactite. Frost Raptor and Mercurial Kite come down in support. TooSarcastic drops Conclave Equanaut to stem the air force, but Swizz rips removal off the top and comes in for lethal.
Table 3-CBG vs. Scoop_phase. Scoop made 7 land drops in a row. That is bad. In game 2, CBG managed to create a whole bunch of dudes and alpha strike through Magnigoth Treefolk for the win.
Table 1-The Captain vs. Tabasco. Game 1 Cappy tempos Tabasco out. The ending was a grafted Reveillark swinging for the win with protected by Matsu-Tribe Sniper. Game 2 Tabasco went to Paris and then started speaking French. A double-kicked Cetavolver may have been involved. Sawtooth Thresher became a 6/6. Hot Sauce is crying now. It is sad.
Table 2-Swizz-Dizzle vs. TooSarcastic.
Game one TooSarcastic keeps a four land hand and then draws seven lands in a row. Swizz get that one. Game two Swizz mounts a aliant deenes but is stuck on 3 land for too long. Silver Knight and Kami Ancient Law, combined with Whipgrass Entangler finally get there, despite multiple bounce spells. Game three Swizz unmorphs a Zombie Cutthroat turn four on the play. The race is on. Unfortunately for TooSarcastic his Spined Basher is cacked before he can eqiup the Runed Stalactite. Frost Raptor and Mercurial Kite come down in support. TooSarcastic drops Conclave Equanaut to stem the air force, but Swizz rips removal off the top and comes in for lethal.
Table 3-CBG vs. Scoop_phase. Scoop made 7 land drops in a row. That is bad. In game 2, CBG managed to create a whole bunch of dudes and alpha strike through Magnigoth Treefolk for the win.
Round one wrapup
Table 1-Hot Sauce vs. Fugie. Hot sauce got game 1 after a Lys Alana Huntmaster followed up by a Timberwatch Elf and token proceeded to put the beats down while Fugie had 7 power in flyers but could not race. Game 2 was completely one sided as I had a turn 2 bear and followed it up with a +2/+1 enchantment while Fugie fails to find lands in his main colors. Hot sauce 2-0. as reported by Tabasco
Table 2-The Captain vs. CBG. CBG kept kind of a slow draw (barring Bile Urchin). Then he got hit for 4 with a turn 3 Inner-Flame Acolyte. Things went downhill from there. CBG almost stabilized game 2, until Cappy played Dragon Mage. Oops. Cappy 2-0.
Table 3-Swizz-Dizzle vs. major_luck. Game one, it was a back and forth game, but swizzy topdecked clutch of the undercity when the major was at 1. Game 2 was a war of attrition again, but Wonder in the yard seems good. Swizz-Dizzle 2-0.
Table 4-TooSarcastic and Scoops. A back and forth 3 game match ended in horrible defeat for Scoop_Phase when he failed to read Deathmark Prelate and Scoop_phase entered his scoop phase.
Table 2-The Captain vs. CBG. CBG kept kind of a slow draw (barring Bile Urchin). Then he got hit for 4 with a turn 3 Inner-Flame Acolyte. Things went downhill from there. CBG almost stabilized game 2, until Cappy played Dragon Mage. Oops. Cappy 2-0.
Table 3-Swizz-Dizzle vs. major_luck. Game one, it was a back and forth game, but swizzy topdecked clutch of the undercity when the major was at 1. Game 2 was a war of attrition again, but Wonder in the yard seems good. Swizz-Dizzle 2-0.
Table 4-TooSarcastic and Scoops. A back and forth 3 game match ended in horrible defeat for Scoop_Phase when he failed to read Deathmark Prelate and Scoop_phase entered his scoop phase.
Lorwyn Rotisserie Strategy
I am posting this a scant hour prior to doing my first Rotisserie draft ever. No idea if these ideas will play out as I expect, but that's why I'm posting it now; so I won't be tempted to rewrite it when I'm wrong. I wasn't looking to point out the best tribal cards for each tribe, just the ones that may prove to be good signals for drafters. The "Other Drafters May Hate" section is to remind myself what cards I will need to take more highly to avoid them being stolen from me.
T
T
Elementals 35 total
Signal Picks: Ashling the Pilgrim, Horde of Notions I guess, Smokebraider, Incandescent Soulstoke
Other drafters may hate: Everything! All the non-red elementals are great.
Two ways to go here. Awesome five color elementals or aggressive red (splash blue?) beats. 5-color seems unviable, since you need Shriekmaw and Mulldrifter-caliber cards to make it worth it. Good luck with that, Fugie. On the upside, you have about 12 cheap red Elementals that no one else (maybe giants are the exception?) will ever care about. Can it be a full deck? Doubt it. Stay away unless it’s handed to you. And grab the red removal HIGH.
Elves 24 total
Signal Picks: Elvish Promenade, Immaculate Magistrate, Imperious Perfect, Wren's Run Packmaster,
Other drafters may hate Nath's Elite, Nath of the Gilt-Leaf, Masked Admirers, Gilt-Leaf Ambush, Eyeblight's Ending
Good news: plenty of scalable playables that no one else will care about. The only reason people will be hating you is because some of the high end elves are so good on their own that a treefolk or goblin deck might splash for them. But realistically they probably have better things to take. Bad news: You have no natural removal. You die to any mass removal spell, and you will be playing against all of them, even the rares. Is your splash color black for certain? What about red?
Goblins 27 total
Signal Picks: Mad Auntie, Wort, Boggart Auntie, Fodder Launch
Other drafters may hate: Warren Pilferers, Caterwauling Boggart, Stinkdrinker Daredevil, Tarfire
Lots of ‘em, most of them are useless to other tribes, and they come with their own built in removal. Seems strong. But don’t expect to get any other non-goblin removal spells. Black and red will both be at a premium. Keep an eye out to see if this is open.
Treefolk: 16 total
Signal Picks: Doran, the Siege Tower, Dauntless Dourbark, Timber Protector,
Other drafters may hate: Cloudcrown Oak, Lignify, Rootgrapple
So nobody wants your good stuff. Rootgrapple murders all five planeswalkers and it might go late. But you’ve only got 16 total treefolk spells! What are you going to play in your deck? A lot of changelings and removal I hope. Good luck with that. If you draft good stuff early, this mught a good audible if Doran and Dourbark are still around. The other stuff you will want should go even later. Take your mana fixing high, then too.
Kithkin: 22 total
Signal Picks: Wizened Cenn, Thoughtweft Trio, Militia's Pride?
Other drafters may hate: Kinsbaile Balloonist, Goldmeadow Harrier, Galepowder Mage, Brigid, Hero of Kinsbaile, Kithkin Greatheart, Plover Knights,
Okay so some assumptions. You’re obviously a gamblin’ man, because you will need to be mono-white maybe with a light splash for removal to have any chance of this deck working. And merfolk and giants want lots of your best stuff. But if you get it together (maybe with some blue bounce?) you will be kicking ass. God help your opponents if you used your first pick for Mirror Entity.
Merfolk 22 total
Signal Picks: Drowner of Secrets, Merrow Reejerey, Summon the School,
Other drafters may hate: Stonybrook Angler, Silvergill Douser
Faeries may hate your doods. They like a lot of the early drops to hold the ground, and you will be playing against your own Stonybrook Angler and Silvergill Douser if you don’t take them early enough. The good news is there are plenty of playables. Plenty. This will be one of the more robust decks (but watch out for the all rare mass removal floating around), and somebody’s going to draft it. Grab your blue bounce and white removal highly. Not a bad tribe to be in.
Faeries: 19 total
Signal Picks: Wydwen, the Biting Gale, Scion of Oona, Mistbind Clique
Other drafters may hate: Faerie Trickery, Marsh Flitter, Oona's Prowler, Peppersmoke, Sower of Temptation, Pestermite?
Man, everybody wants your goodies! Expect a fight unless they’re wide open. You will need to be drafting the Fae pretty high, with a few exceptions. Go all in. Keep an eye on the black removal, and blue instants lest they dry up.
Giants 16 total
Signal Picks: Thundercloud Shaman, maybe Stinkdrinker Daredevil.
Other drafters may hate: Cloudgoat Ranger, Brion Stoutarm, Axegrinder Giant
Seems really bad. I mean really bad. Don’t do it. Can you live until turn seven? I hope so. Draft Kinsbaile Balloonist, Goldmeadow Harrier, Knight of Meadowgrain, and Kithkin Greatheart. You’d have a decent deck then. Or cheap goblins. It’s bad when your tribe needs another tribe to make it any good.
Changelings
There are 19 of these guys in Lorwyn. Of those, 16 are absolutely maindeck material, while the other 3 are merely playable. Expect to take these pretty high. Green only has 2, while blue has 5, so keep it in mind if you are nudged toward Merfolk or Faeries (or Treefolk or Elves).
Friday, March 28, 2008
MODO
Man, do I ever hate MODO. I opened a terrible sealed pool on Tuesday night, promptly went 1-3 (I was particularly fond of the dude who hit turn 3 Crusher all three games) and then got booted when the server crashed during match 5. I opened a pretty strong pool last night (server crash during building) and have since gone 1-2, mostly due to horrible draws. One land opener off 18 land? Check. Game where 14 of my first 18 cards were land? Check. Also, I failed to read Veteran's Armaments one game and managed to trade my Nath for an equipped Shriekmaw rather than killing it. I am so looking forward to drafting 4 times in the next 36 hours.
Shadowmoor Wallpaper
Here is the newest glimpse of Shadowmoor. We have: Murderous Redcap, Reaper King, Grief Tyrant, Faerie Macabre and Ashenmoor Gouger. The Gouger is obviously red, while the Reaper King certainly looks Green. This means they are not in WUBRG order. Faerie Macabre is either Blue or Black, while the Redcap appears to be White(?). To me Grief Tyrant's possible color seems entirely ambiguous. Maybe the Tyrant is Blue and the Faerie Black. The Redcap's armor and weapon do not look at all White-aligned, so maybe the Kithkin-esque creatures of Shadowmoor have moved to Black. That would leave Grief Tyrant at White, which sort of makes sense. Thoughts?
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Lorwyn Rotisserie Draft Resources
Texans have already posted their Lorwyn Rotisserie picks. Wizards' Lorwyn Rotisserie draft. Proto-Rotisserie (circa Invasion block). Bone up for the Draftstravaganza,boys!
T
T
Month in review
Well what a crazy month it's been. Between being deathly ill for three days (thanks again Fugie), the Easter Holiday, going to the new shop up in Whitefish Bay, and reworking my EDH, its been a pretty interesting March. However as crazy as it was, it was a fun ride.
I wouldn't recommend getting that awful virus that's going around, but have recommended checking out Calvary Games up in Whitefish Bay. Regardless of how close to a frozen turkey shoot it may be, the staff and local players are quite friendly and appear to be playing for the right reasons (I enjoy winning as much as the next guy, but play for the social interaction more than anything).
As far as EDH, I am starting to enjoy it a little more. Over the last couple of weeks, I managed to tune my Dromar deck a little more to include more reliable card draw and more clone effects. As last week Friday's marathon games proved, the only thing better than an Angel of Despair, are half a dozen Angels of Despair without the original actually entering play.
Last night TS, CGB, & I played a couple of three man EDH games to blow off a little steam and test out the latest iterations. Last night proved a couple of key things about all of our respective decks.
1. CBG's UG deck works significantly better in a three man than a four man.
This really comes down to counter spells being more effective with fewer people at the table. Also, with a high average number of board sweepers per deck in our play group, his deck can really shine in a three man game.
2. TS's WUR deck has a much tougher time in a three man than a four man.
His deck sees pretty much the opposite effect as CBG's. With fewer people at the table his hammers do less overall and his card advantage engine is not quite as efficient.
3. My BUW deck does about the same, but given the chance can do some really amazing things in a three man game.
My deck really does benefit most from only having two other people go before my next turn. I am also able to make better utilization of my more narrow answers (Swords to plowshares & Sudden Death, for example).
As far as future changes, TS really made a positive impression, on me, of the power of Momentary Blink and I'll need to seriously consider fitting it in some where. Also CBG's as well as Fugie's use of Academy Ruins makes me want to include one as well. However in my deck it would serve more as a way to recur Tormad's Crypt or to recover some key artifacts such as Journey's Kite or Citanel Flute post Disk.
Well starting next week I'll resume my coverage of Old Fart Magic night. April will be the last month of Lowryn Morningtide. Starting in May we'll be cracking Shadowmoor. Until then, may the Mana gods not hate you.
I wouldn't recommend getting that awful virus that's going around, but have recommended checking out Calvary Games up in Whitefish Bay. Regardless of how close to a frozen turkey shoot it may be, the staff and local players are quite friendly and appear to be playing for the right reasons (I enjoy winning as much as the next guy, but play for the social interaction more than anything).
As far as EDH, I am starting to enjoy it a little more. Over the last couple of weeks, I managed to tune my Dromar deck a little more to include more reliable card draw and more clone effects. As last week Friday's marathon games proved, the only thing better than an Angel of Despair, are half a dozen Angels of Despair without the original actually entering play.
Last night TS, CGB, & I played a couple of three man EDH games to blow off a little steam and test out the latest iterations. Last night proved a couple of key things about all of our respective decks.
1. CBG's UG deck works significantly better in a three man than a four man.
This really comes down to counter spells being more effective with fewer people at the table. Also, with a high average number of board sweepers per deck in our play group, his deck can really shine in a three man game.
2. TS's WUR deck has a much tougher time in a three man than a four man.
His deck sees pretty much the opposite effect as CBG's. With fewer people at the table his hammers do less overall and his card advantage engine is not quite as efficient.
3. My BUW deck does about the same, but given the chance can do some really amazing things in a three man game.
My deck really does benefit most from only having two other people go before my next turn. I am also able to make better utilization of my more narrow answers (Swords to plowshares & Sudden Death, for example).
As far as future changes, TS really made a positive impression, on me, of the power of Momentary Blink and I'll need to seriously consider fitting it in some where. Also CBG's as well as Fugie's use of Academy Ruins makes me want to include one as well. However in my deck it would serve more as a way to recur Tormad's Crypt or to recover some key artifacts such as Journey's Kite or Citanel Flute post Disk.
Well starting next week I'll resume my coverage of Old Fart Magic night. April will be the last month of Lowryn Morningtide. Starting in May we'll be cracking Shadowmoor. Until then, may the Mana gods not hate you.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Draftstravaganza thoughts. T-72 hours.
The first format is Lorwyn Rotisserie draft. A complete set of Lorwyn is laid out and the first person chooses. Then drafting continues clockwise to pick 8. The person who picks 8th also picks 9th and the draft goes counter clockwise back to drafter #1. Drafting continues like this until Bog Hoodlums is taken*. I am curious what people think is the first pick. The_captain felt pretty strongly that Mirror Entity was it. I do like that pick, but could see taking a planeswalker or a command there as well. How early do you think removal will be taken? Will Fugie 1st pick Horde of Notions? Here's a good article with some stuff to chew over by Chad Ellis. Rotisserie bears a lot of similarities to Rochester but I would think is a more powerful format due to the number of rares.
The second format is Carroll draft. Carroll draft is a normal 8 man format which uses 24 different packs. The intention is to use the 24 most recent expert-level expansions, though the release of two-set blocks requires a little rejiggering (we are adding a pack of Coldsnap for this version). First everyone opens a big set (Lorwyn through Invasion). Drafting proceeds as normal. You will travel backwards in time as you go through the packs so if your first pack is Lorwyn, your second pick will be from Time Spiral, then Ravnica, and so on. The second pack you open will be from a second set (Morningtide through Planeshift). Again, you will travel back in time as drafting moves to the right. Finally, the third pack will be all 3rd sets, though Coldsnap will be in the mix due to Lorwyn being a 2 set block. The first time we ran this format, it was awesome as heck, despite the presence of Skullclamp. Fricking Skullclamp. To me, this format is all about sticking to your basic drafting principles of remaining open to colors as long as possible and reading signals very carefully. I think this is an incredibly skill-intensive format due to the constantly shifting foundation.
The third format will be Ravnica-Guildpact-Dissension Two-Headed Giant. We will randomly assign teams and draft as normal for 2HG, with each team taking 2 cards from each pack. Note, mana fixing=very, very important. Just saying.
Any further thoughts? I am psyched.
* That's a joke. Drafting Bog Hoodlums will not just end the draft, so don't take it just because you want to screw with someone.
The second format is Carroll draft. Carroll draft is a normal 8 man format which uses 24 different packs. The intention is to use the 24 most recent expert-level expansions, though the release of two-set blocks requires a little rejiggering (we are adding a pack of Coldsnap for this version). First everyone opens a big set (Lorwyn through Invasion). Drafting proceeds as normal. You will travel backwards in time as you go through the packs so if your first pack is Lorwyn, your second pick will be from Time Spiral, then Ravnica, and so on. The second pack you open will be from a second set (Morningtide through Planeshift). Again, you will travel back in time as drafting moves to the right. Finally, the third pack will be all 3rd sets, though Coldsnap will be in the mix due to Lorwyn being a 2 set block. The first time we ran this format, it was awesome as heck, despite the presence of Skullclamp. Fricking Skullclamp. To me, this format is all about sticking to your basic drafting principles of remaining open to colors as long as possible and reading signals very carefully. I think this is an incredibly skill-intensive format due to the constantly shifting foundation.
The third format will be Ravnica-Guildpact-Dissension Two-Headed Giant. We will randomly assign teams and draft as normal for 2HG, with each team taking 2 cards from each pack. Note, mana fixing=very, very important. Just saying.
Any further thoughts? I am psyched.
* That's a joke. Drafting Bog Hoodlums will not just end the draft, so don't take it just because you want to screw with someone.
Shadowmoor Previews
Well, the Shadowmoor Card Preview Archive is up at the Shadowmoor Minisite, but the only card on there as of today is Demigod of Revenge. However, over at MTGSalvation people have been busy with the Orb of Insight. I see a few old reprints that I will welcome back, assuming they're accurate. Prior to the Orb hitting the Shadowmoor spoiler over there had only basic lands and the Demigod. Not sure if MTGSalvation was just playing nice with Wizards on that one, or if Wizards was actually keeping that tight a lid on things. Anyway, they're there if you like spoilers.
T
T
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Cube Draft @ TooSarcastic's or "How Losing Builds Character"
We had an abortive Cube Draft and simultaneous EDH multiplayer and LLM drafts going Good Friday. All this during a storm that dropped a foot of snow while we played- and nine people showed up! Man, Magic players will brave anything for some cardboard crack.
Today I want to talk about Scoop_Phase and our Cube Draft. Poor Scoops thought it would be LLM draft before he showed, so he was a little blindsided. Still, he ended up drafting a fine G/W deck that could drop weenies and then Armageddon or play the slow attrition game with lots of white spot removal and finishers like Eternal Dragon. Unfortunately he played against Swizz Dizzle, who promptly “comboed” out a Mirror Entity for a turn five, twenty damage smashfest that left Scoops with a match loss and a bad taste in his mouth. Scoop_Phase dropped from the draft and went home. And why shouldn’t he? He was in a unexpected situation, managed to draft what everyone agreed was a solid deck (The Captain changed two cards and then promptly beat me with Scoop’s deck while we waited for the last match to finish), and still went 0-2 first round in games that involved minimal interactivity. Hardly a grand introduction to a new format. I continued my own Cube streak by losing to The Captain, receiving the bye round two (I am NOT counting it as a win for the Cube Draft format!) and then finding that because we were playing for fun (i.e. we didn’t ante packs) everyone but the undefeateds wanted to drop and play EDH. So yeah. 0-1 on the night then, if you don’t count losing to the Captain again when he beat me with Scoop’s deck.
I am trying to figure out why Cube Draft is such a different format than regular draft. I am no amazing drafter, but 1-2 in a “normal” draft would be a disappointing finish for me anywhere. In Cube I would be tying my personal record for wins on a night! Why is this? Before last Friday I was totally mystified, but working through the contents of the Cube and playing a few more games has given me a few possible reasons that Cube draft behaves differently than regular drafts.
1. The cards are different than a regular limited draft.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way, right? What I mean is, playing LLM or TPF or RGD draft you have the same chance to see all the cards you could possibly see in that environment, every time. And smart people who make the game meant the cards to be in the environment we see them in. In the Cube, even if you have a “finished” set of 360 or 720 cards that changes only minimally, all those cards were never meant to be drafted together. You can “learn” a Cube set’s feel by drafting it many times (YOU can, I apparently can’t, as we’ve covered above) but even then those cards weren’t designed to play together in that environment. Many of them are rares. All of them are overpowered. These differences affect play and drafting. There are also actually fewer “solid” cards than there are bombs, which has obvious implications for deck building as well.
2. Many of the cards in the Cube are old.
So what? Well, I don’t know when Scoops started playing, but I know that I haven’t played with quite a few Cube cards- ever! And I started playing around Ice Age. You know who has played with those cards? Competitive constructed players from days of yore! They’re the great Cubers, because they know the power of the cards. Another related point is card evaluation. Mtenda Lion finally got booted from the Cube- against my vociferous dissent. Once I heard people repeatedly saying that the card was rubbish I had to ask myself why I thought it was so great in the first place. Well, I had played with it, um… ten years ago, when I was… sixteen… and nobody I knew played with blue (negating the drawback) because blue was for chumps. Okay, so MAYBE a card that seemed awesome to me over a decade ago isn’t really all that great- and never was! Maybe I didn’t know anything about Magic back then other than it was fun. Or maybe I should started buying packs of the re-released expansions on MODO. Heh.
3. Increased power levels make for swingy games that mess with conventional Limited risk assessments.
So I am racing with The Captain game one of our match. We are both on ten life. He has two cards in hand. I make a devastating swing with all my guys, forcing a chump block from his freshly cast Juggernaut- one of only two creatures on his board. He blocks, Giant Growths to save his Juggs and goes to one. This is fine because he still only has nine power on the board. His turn he swings in and then Shocks FTW. Now imagine an LLM draft game where both you and your opponent are on ten life and you swing in like that. The chances of your opponent having such potent reactive spells are much less. Yes, Giant Growths are in the format, and so are Shocks, but I find out in the next game that the Captain is packing not only Shock, but Sudden Shock, Tribal Flames AND Fiery Temper! He had plenty of burninating outs, way more than you could consistently draft in a normal limited format. And I thought I was stacked with Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Seal of Fire and Stormbind! Guess not!
In an example from game two, I have Channel and Fireball in hand the whole game. I keep an aggressive hand and then proceed to race- again. I was always just a few points shy of being able to Fireball him out. I sent in what I thought would be enough damage to put him away next turn, leaving back my Wood Elves to chump a Moldervine Cloaked morph, but during his combat he sent it at me and flipped it to reveal Hystrodon- trampling me down to three life. I had put him on Gathan Raiders. Swingy! If I get him even three life below me, even at the expense of my whole team, I would take the chance and try to burn him out with Channel/Fireball, risking the instant speed response. Bet he wouldn’t see that coming. Instead it’s his swingy play that makes the difference. In LLM there are only a few cards in both sets that could combo with the same power of a Cloaked Hystrodon (or Channel/Fireball). But for the Cube, they’re actually pretty mild “combos.” The moral of these anecdotes is that playing the Cube like a normal limited format is going to get you blown out- and you’ll be cursing how lucky your opponents seem to be getting because your risk assessment will be way off.
I’d like to think that my play will improve after doing all this analysis, but my real hope is that this post will entice players like Scoop_Phase to give Cube Draft a chance, arming them with some knowledge that I had to go through a lot of match losses in order to learn.
Props to The Captain for finding a Cream of the Crop for ze Cube. An extra heaping helping of props to Swizz Dizzle for winning the LLM draft, claiming his first pick foily Countryside Crusher- and then donating it to the Cube! It looks sexy in there, lemme tell you! Was there another card added that I forgot? Let me know. Anybody have an extra Taurean Mauler to throw in there? That card has got to better than the worst Red spells we have in the Cube currently.
T
Today I want to talk about Scoop_Phase and our Cube Draft. Poor Scoops thought it would be LLM draft before he showed, so he was a little blindsided. Still, he ended up drafting a fine G/W deck that could drop weenies and then Armageddon or play the slow attrition game with lots of white spot removal and finishers like Eternal Dragon. Unfortunately he played against Swizz Dizzle, who promptly “comboed” out a Mirror Entity for a turn five, twenty damage smashfest that left Scoops with a match loss and a bad taste in his mouth. Scoop_Phase dropped from the draft and went home. And why shouldn’t he? He was in a unexpected situation, managed to draft what everyone agreed was a solid deck (The Captain changed two cards and then promptly beat me with Scoop’s deck while we waited for the last match to finish), and still went 0-2 first round in games that involved minimal interactivity. Hardly a grand introduction to a new format. I continued my own Cube streak by losing to The Captain, receiving the bye round two (I am NOT counting it as a win for the Cube Draft format!) and then finding that because we were playing for fun (i.e. we didn’t ante packs) everyone but the undefeateds wanted to drop and play EDH. So yeah. 0-1 on the night then, if you don’t count losing to the Captain again when he beat me with Scoop’s deck.
I am trying to figure out why Cube Draft is such a different format than regular draft. I am no amazing drafter, but 1-2 in a “normal” draft would be a disappointing finish for me anywhere. In Cube I would be tying my personal record for wins on a night! Why is this? Before last Friday I was totally mystified, but working through the contents of the Cube and playing a few more games has given me a few possible reasons that Cube draft behaves differently than regular drafts.
1. The cards are different than a regular limited draft.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way, right? What I mean is, playing LLM or TPF or RGD draft you have the same chance to see all the cards you could possibly see in that environment, every time. And smart people who make the game meant the cards to be in the environment we see them in. In the Cube, even if you have a “finished” set of 360 or 720 cards that changes only minimally, all those cards were never meant to be drafted together. You can “learn” a Cube set’s feel by drafting it many times (YOU can, I apparently can’t, as we’ve covered above) but even then those cards weren’t designed to play together in that environment. Many of them are rares. All of them are overpowered. These differences affect play and drafting. There are also actually fewer “solid” cards than there are bombs, which has obvious implications for deck building as well.
2. Many of the cards in the Cube are old.
So what? Well, I don’t know when Scoops started playing, but I know that I haven’t played with quite a few Cube cards- ever! And I started playing around Ice Age. You know who has played with those cards? Competitive constructed players from days of yore! They’re the great Cubers, because they know the power of the cards. Another related point is card evaluation. Mtenda Lion finally got booted from the Cube- against my vociferous dissent. Once I heard people repeatedly saying that the card was rubbish I had to ask myself why I thought it was so great in the first place. Well, I had played with it, um… ten years ago, when I was… sixteen… and nobody I knew played with blue (negating the drawback) because blue was for chumps. Okay, so MAYBE a card that seemed awesome to me over a decade ago isn’t really all that great- and never was! Maybe I didn’t know anything about Magic back then other than it was fun. Or maybe I should started buying packs of the re-released expansions on MODO. Heh.
3. Increased power levels make for swingy games that mess with conventional Limited risk assessments.
So I am racing with The Captain game one of our match. We are both on ten life. He has two cards in hand. I make a devastating swing with all my guys, forcing a chump block from his freshly cast Juggernaut- one of only two creatures on his board. He blocks, Giant Growths to save his Juggs and goes to one. This is fine because he still only has nine power on the board. His turn he swings in and then Shocks FTW. Now imagine an LLM draft game where both you and your opponent are on ten life and you swing in like that. The chances of your opponent having such potent reactive spells are much less. Yes, Giant Growths are in the format, and so are Shocks, but I find out in the next game that the Captain is packing not only Shock, but Sudden Shock, Tribal Flames AND Fiery Temper! He had plenty of burninating outs, way more than you could consistently draft in a normal limited format. And I thought I was stacked with Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Seal of Fire and Stormbind! Guess not!
In an example from game two, I have Channel and Fireball in hand the whole game. I keep an aggressive hand and then proceed to race- again. I was always just a few points shy of being able to Fireball him out. I sent in what I thought would be enough damage to put him away next turn, leaving back my Wood Elves to chump a Moldervine Cloaked morph, but during his combat he sent it at me and flipped it to reveal Hystrodon- trampling me down to three life. I had put him on Gathan Raiders. Swingy! If I get him even three life below me, even at the expense of my whole team, I would take the chance and try to burn him out with Channel/Fireball, risking the instant speed response. Bet he wouldn’t see that coming. Instead it’s his swingy play that makes the difference. In LLM there are only a few cards in both sets that could combo with the same power of a Cloaked Hystrodon (or Channel/Fireball). But for the Cube, they’re actually pretty mild “combos.” The moral of these anecdotes is that playing the Cube like a normal limited format is going to get you blown out- and you’ll be cursing how lucky your opponents seem to be getting because your risk assessment will be way off.
I’d like to think that my play will improve after doing all this analysis, but my real hope is that this post will entice players like Scoop_Phase to give Cube Draft a chance, arming them with some knowledge that I had to go through a lot of match losses in order to learn.
Props to The Captain for finding a Cream of the Crop for ze Cube. An extra heaping helping of props to Swizz Dizzle for winning the LLM draft, claiming his first pick foily Countryside Crusher- and then donating it to the Cube! It looks sexy in there, lemme tell you! Was there another card added that I forgot? Let me know. Anybody have an extra Taurean Mauler to throw in there? That card has got to better than the worst Red spells we have in the Cube currently.
T
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
March 22 CBG's Basement B&R List Announcement
As of Friday, March 28th the following card is legal in CBG's basement in all Constructed and Limited formats.
Skullclamp
The DCI banned list still applies, so if we ever have an Extended tourney in the basement, Clamp stays home.
Also, Sensei's Divining Top is on the watch list for EDH games. This is solely due to unnecessarily slowing down an already glacial format. Input?
Skullclamp
The DCI banned list still applies, so if we ever have an Extended tourney in the basement, Clamp stays home.
Also, Sensei's Divining Top is on the watch list for EDH games. This is solely due to unnecessarily slowing down an already glacial format. Input?
Friday, March 21, 2008
Turkey Shoot
The aforementioned Turkey Shoot by Killdozer. This is just 30 seconds of it, which should fall under fair use. But you get the idea.
Turkey Shoot-Killdozer
It was a turkey shoot
It was like shooting fish in a barrel
It was a turkey shoot
That's how we won the war...
Turkey Shoot-Killdozer
It was a turkey shoot
It was like shooting fish in a barrel
It was a turkey shoot
That's how we won the war...
The Unbearable Lightness of Being Captain Bondage Goth
As most of you know, I won a draft last weekend. Just saying.
----
The Experiment Kraj EDH has been rebuilt. It is now Momir Vig. There is card drawing, a little bit of tutoring, some toolbox, and more card drawing. I think it is going to be good, as long as everyone doesn't kill me as soon as I flash a Dismiss. When I played against Captain_essex's Erayo deck, he pissed everyone off in very short order. Somehow I am going to have to avoid doing that.
Playing counterspells in EDH is a pretty iffy proposition to be honest with you, but it's pretty much the only answer UG has to Armageddon effects, so I am gonna roll with it.
----
Let's talk about the morality of helping out the "enemy". I have discovered that Fugie and I disagree on a lot of things, which is fun, because he's not an asshole. Most people I disagree with are assholes*. He implied earlier this week that the Captain (no relation) and Hot Sauce shouldn't have been giving advice to some random who was about to play Fugie. Cappy said if Fugie couldn't beat a dude with his deck built right, he didn't deserve to win. I think it's a little more complicated than that. Players at sealed tourneys always get advice in between rounds about how they should be sideboarding and how the deck might be misbuilt. I don't think Fugie had a problem with this aspect of it. He seems to be hung up on the idea of our crew being a tight knit little group that supports one another. But I think it's entirely possible that you can support your homies and still give advice.
How did you get better? Did you figure everything out yourself? Card advantage? Who's the beatdown? Lifegain is trash (Except when it's not, thanks Faith's Fetters)? Wait to cast yr instants? Blocking is loose?
The first couple times I played sealed tourneys, I always showed my pool to the guys I played after the match and asked 'em how they would have built it. Seeing how someone else builds is critical to moving forward and getting better. Getting better is how you win. Winning (at least some of the time) is how to have fun. The person who likes getting pounded into the carpet and keeps coming back is a rare bird indeed. I guess what I am saying here is, advice is about community building. Defining anybody as "the enemy" and withholding information from them raises barriers. Magic as a community just doesn't need any more barriers. It is complicated, expensive as hell, unfriendly towards women, not electronic, and addictive. Do we really need clique-ish behavior on top of that?
----
Meanwhile, back at the draft...
My favorite game was the last one, when I killed the Captain with a Shard Volley off the top (so lucky) and he looks at his scorepad, looks at me and says, "I didn't think you were going to win that." Neither did I, Cap. Neither did I.
*Yes, this is a comment about myself. My lack of opinion of myself is enormous. Or vacuous. Or something.
Edited for clarity after rereading Fugie's Monday post.
----
The Experiment Kraj EDH has been rebuilt. It is now Momir Vig. There is card drawing, a little bit of tutoring, some toolbox, and more card drawing. I think it is going to be good, as long as everyone doesn't kill me as soon as I flash a Dismiss. When I played against Captain_essex's Erayo deck, he pissed everyone off in very short order. Somehow I am going to have to avoid doing that.
Playing counterspells in EDH is a pretty iffy proposition to be honest with you, but it's pretty much the only answer UG has to Armageddon effects, so I am gonna roll with it.
----
Let's talk about the morality of helping out the "enemy". I have discovered that Fugie and I disagree on a lot of things, which is fun, because he's not an asshole. Most people I disagree with are assholes*. He implied earlier this week that the Captain (no relation) and Hot Sauce shouldn't have been giving advice to some random who was about to play Fugie. Cappy said if Fugie couldn't beat a dude with his deck built right, he didn't deserve to win. I think it's a little more complicated than that. Players at sealed tourneys always get advice in between rounds about how they should be sideboarding and how the deck might be misbuilt. I don't think Fugie had a problem with this aspect of it. He seems to be hung up on the idea of our crew being a tight knit little group that supports one another. But I think it's entirely possible that you can support your homies and still give advice.
How did you get better? Did you figure everything out yourself? Card advantage? Who's the beatdown? Lifegain is trash (Except when it's not, thanks Faith's Fetters)? Wait to cast yr instants? Blocking is loose?
The first couple times I played sealed tourneys, I always showed my pool to the guys I played after the match and asked 'em how they would have built it. Seeing how someone else builds is critical to moving forward and getting better. Getting better is how you win. Winning (at least some of the time) is how to have fun. The person who likes getting pounded into the carpet and keeps coming back is a rare bird indeed. I guess what I am saying here is, advice is about community building. Defining anybody as "the enemy" and withholding information from them raises barriers. Magic as a community just doesn't need any more barriers. It is complicated, expensive as hell, unfriendly towards women, not electronic, and addictive. Do we really need clique-ish behavior on top of that?
----
Meanwhile, back at the draft...
My favorite game was the last one, when I killed the Captain with a Shard Volley off the top (so lucky) and he looks at his scorepad, looks at me and says, "I didn't think you were going to win that." Neither did I, Cap. Neither did I.
*Yes, this is a comment about myself. My lack of opinion of myself is enormous. Or vacuous. Or something.
Edited for clarity after rereading Fugie's Monday post.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
We Totally Screwed The Pooch On The Vedalken Shackles Issue
So I was reading Ask the Judge this morning and his little rules tip reminder is
This implies to me that the Captain and the rest of us were wrong on the Shackled Speedbump issue. So I go back to the Vedalken Shackles ruling page. We only looked at the first ruling
But if you read Solemn Simulacrum's Oracle text, the relevant wording is undoubtedly,
Catch that? A graveyard, not your graveyard. In other words, we totally screwed the pooch on the Vedalken Shackles issue. I hereby apologize to Major_luck for so heartily having sexual relations with the dog, and will never listen to The Captain ever again (kidding! (rawk (robv))).
Rules Tip of the Day: The controller of a leaves-play triggered ability is the person who controlled the source of the ability when it left play.
This implies to me that the Captain and the rest of us were wrong on the Shackled Speedbump issue. So I go back to the Vedalken Shackles ruling page. We only looked at the first ruling
Q: I have a Vedalken Shackles stealing an opponent's Putrid Imp. He has multiple copies of Bridge from Below in his graveyard, and I'm wondering: if I can get the Putrid Imp killed, will my opponent get token creatures, or will Bridge from Below cards be removed from the game?
A: Cards always go to the graveyard of their owner. You may have controlled this creature when it left play, but it went to your opponent's graveyard. So your opponent will end up with 2/2 Zombie token creatures, and the Bridges from Below will remain in his graveyard.
But if you read Solemn Simulacrum's Oracle text, the relevant wording is undoubtedly,
When Solemn Simulacrum is put into a graveyard from play, you may draw a card.
Catch that? A graveyard, not your graveyard. In other words, we totally screwed the pooch on the Vedalken Shackles issue. I hereby apologize to Major_luck for so heartily having sexual relations with the dog, and will never listen to The Captain ever again (kidding! (rawk (robv))).
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Quick Morningtide Cube Draft List Update
In this post I talked about Morningtide adds. Here are my picks for the add and cuts. I won't make these changes unless people are on board.
Bitterblossom IN for Flesh Reaver, because he is really terrible in all but the most aggro of decks.
Chameleon Colossus IN for Elves of Deep Shadow, because we have four other green guys who tap for mana, and that doesn't include cards like Wood Elves, Sakura Tribe Elder, and Wall of Roots.
Countryside Crusher IN for Red Elemental Blast or Pyroblast, because we can keep one in and still do a little blue hosing.
Reveillark IN for Honorable Passage, because it just looked like the weakest white card.
Vendilion Clique IN for Ray of Command because blue needs more creatures and Ray is a weaker blue spell.
Cream of the Crop IN for Crop Rotation because we have Harrow in there too.
Kinsbaile Cavalier? The cut would probably be Devouring Light in my opinion. We have five other knights in white, four other knights in black, and then Mirror Entity, which seems a little bit good with the Cavalier. Is that enough to take out a white removal spell?
T
Bitterblossom IN for Flesh Reaver, because he is really terrible in all but the most aggro of decks.
Chameleon Colossus IN for Elves of Deep Shadow, because we have four other green guys who tap for mana, and that doesn't include cards like Wood Elves, Sakura Tribe Elder, and Wall of Roots.
Countryside Crusher IN for Red Elemental Blast or Pyroblast, because we can keep one in and still do a little blue hosing.
Reveillark IN for Honorable Passage, because it just looked like the weakest white card.
Vendilion Clique IN for Ray of Command because blue needs more creatures and Ray is a weaker blue spell.
Cream of the Crop IN for Crop Rotation because we have Harrow in there too.
Kinsbaile Cavalier? The cut would probably be Devouring Light in my opinion. We have five other knights in white, four other knights in black, and then Mirror Entity, which seems a little bit good with the Cavalier. Is that enough to take out a white removal spell?
T
TooSarcastic's Cube Draft List v2.0 (includes Morningtide ideas)
It's finally here! The new, updated Cube List. We've done a lot of work on it since last entry, even if there has been a long hiatus in Cube Draft play since Morningtide came out. The card list is long enough without me gabbing, so here it is.
WHITE
Adarkar Valkyrie
Ajani Goldmane
Akroma, Angel of Wrath
Armageddon
Arrest
Austere Command
Aven Mindcensor
Aven Riftwatcher
Blade of the Sixth Pride
Calciderm
Cho-Manno, Revolutionary
Cloudchaser Kestrel
Condemn
Crovax, Ascendant Hero
Crusade
Descendant of Kiyomaro
Devouring Light
Disenchant
Empyrial Armor
Enduring Renewal
Enlightened Tutor
Eternal Dragon
Faith's Fetters
Genju of the Fields
Ghostly Prison
Glorious Anthem
Goldmeadow Harrier
Griffin Guide
Honorable Passage
Icatian Javelineers
Jötun Grunt
Kami of Ancient Law
Kataki, War's Wage
Knight of Meadowgrain
Longbow Archer
Mirror Entity
Momentary Blink
Mother of Runes
Oblivion Ring
Order of the White Shield
Pacifism
Paladin en-Vec
Pariah
Radiant's Dragoons
Radiant's Judgment
Reya Dawnbringer
Sacred Mesa
Samurai of the Pale Curtain
Savannah Lions
Soltari Priest
Swords to Plowshares
Temporal Isolation
White Knight
White Shield Crusader
Wing Shards
Wrath of God
Yosei, the Morning Star
BLUE
Aeon Chronicler
Aquamoeba
Arcanis the Omnipotent
Body Double
Boomerang
Braingeyser
Brainstorm
Brine Elemental
Capsize
Compulsive Research
Confiscate
Control Magic
Counterspell
Cryptic Command
Deep Analysis
Desertion
Dissipate
Drift of Phantasms
Evacuation
Forbid
Force of Will
Force Spike
Frantic Search
Gifts Ungiven
Hydroblast
Impulse
Jace Beleren
Keiga, the Tide Star
Looter il-Kor
Mana Leak
Man-o'-War
Memory Lapse
Merchant Scroll
Merfolk Looter
Mystical Teachings
Mystical Tutor
Ninja of the Deep Hours
Ophidian
Pact of Negation
Propaganda
Ray of Command
Remand
Repeal
Repulse
Riftwing Cloudskate
Rushing River
Spell Snare
Stroke of Genius
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
Thieving Magpie
Tidings
Unstable Mutation
Venser, Shaper Savant
Vesuvan Shapeshifter
Vexing Sphinx
Voidmage Prodigy
Waterfront Bouncer
Willbender
BLACK
Animate Dead
Bad Moon
Black Knight
Bone Shredder
Carnophage
Consume Spirit
Contamination
Corpse Dance
Corrupt
Crypt Rats
Damnation
Dark Confidant
Dark Ritual
Darkblast
Dauthi Horror
Dauthi Slayer
Death Denied
Diabolic Edict
Diabolic Servitude
Dread Return
Exhume
Flesh Reaver
Haakon, Stromgald Scourge
Hatred
Hymn to Tourach
Hypnotic Specter
Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
Knight of Stromgald
Liliana Vess
Living Death
Nameless Inversion
Nantuko Husk
Necropotence
Nezumi Graverobber
Okiba-Gang Shinobi
Oona's Prowler
Paralyze
Persecute
Pestilence
Phyrexian Arena
Plague Sliver
Priest of Gix
Profane Command
Sarcomancy
Shriekmaw
Skeletal Vampire
Skittering Skirge
Smallpox
Smother
Stinkweed Imp
Stromgald Crusader
Sudden Death
Tendrils of Corruption
Terror
Thoughtseize
RED
Akroma, Angel of Fury
Avalanche Riders
Bogardan Hellkite
Boom // Bust
Chandra Nalaar
Demonfire
Earthquake
Empty the Warrens
Fiery Temper
Fireball
Fireblast
Fireslinger
Flame Fusillade
Fork
Frenzied Goblin
Gathan Raiders
Goblin Bombardment
Goblin Matron
Goblin Patrol
Goblin Recruiter
Gorilla Shaman
Grapeshot
Grinning Ignus
Hearth Kami
Hostility
Incinerate
Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
Jokulhaups
Kamahl, Pit Fighter
Keldon Marauders
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Kird Ape
Lava Hounds
Lightning Bolt
Magus of the Scroll
Mana Flare
Mogg Fanatic
Mogg Flunkies
Mogg War Marshal
Orcish Lumberjack
Pyroblast
Pyroclasm
Reckless Wurm
Red Elemental Blast
Seal of Fire
Shard Phoenix
Shock
Siege-Gang Commander
Sudden Shock
Sulfur Elemental
Tarfire
Tin Street Hooligan
Tribal Flames
Wheel of Fortune
Wildfire
Word of Seizing
GREEN
Arrogant Wurm
Basking Rootwalla
Birds of Paradise
Blanchwood Armor
Briarhorn
Caller of the Claw
Carven Caryatid
Channel
Crop Rotation
Desert Twister
Elves of Deep Shadow
Essence Warden
Fertile Ground
Fyndhorn Elves
Gaea’s Anthem
Garruk Wildspeaker
Giant Growth
Golgari Grave-Troll
Harmonize
Harrow
Hurricane
Hystrodon
Indrik Stomphowler
Kodama of the North Tree
Kodama's Reach
Krosan Grip
Life from the Loam
Llanowar Elves
Might of Oaks
Moldervine Cloak
Mtenda Lion
Natural Order
Naturalize
Overrun
Phantom Centaur
Protean Hulk
Quirion Ranger
Rancor
Regrowth
River Boa
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Scryb Ranger
Simian Grunts
Spectral Force
Tarmogoyf
Thelonite Hermit
Timbermare
Troll Ascetic
Uktabi Orangutan
Verdant Force
Vinelasher Kudzu
Wall of Blossoms
Wall of Roots
Werebear
Wild Mongrel
Wing Snare
Wood Elves
MULTICOLORED
Angel of Despair
Armadillo Cloak
Azorius Guildmage
Burning-Tree Shaman
Dimir Cutpurse
Electrolyze
Ghost Council of Orzhova
Grave-Shell Scarab
Lightning Angel
Lightning Helix
Loxodon Hierarch
Mortify
Mystic Enforcer
Mystic Snake
Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
Putrefy
Rakdos Guildmage
Recoil
Savage Twister
Selesnya Guildmage
Stormbind
Void
Watchwolf
Who/What/When/Where/Why
ARTIFACTS
Azorius Signet
Bottle Gnomes
Coalition Relic
Cursed Scroll
Dimir Signet
Fellwar Stone
Gruul Signet
Icy Manipulator
Ivory Tower
Juggernaut
Lotus Bloom
Lotus Petal
Loxodon Warhammer
Memory Jar
Mirari
Mox Diamond
Nevinyrral's Disk
Pithing Needle
Platinum Angel
Rakdos Signet
Razormane Masticore
Scroll Rack
Selesnya Signet
Sensei's Divining Top
Serrated Arrows
Sol Ring
Tormod's Crypt
LANDS
Academy Ruins
Azorius Chancery
Blood Crypt
Boros Garrison
Breeding Pool
Dimir Aqueduct
Godless Shrine
Golgari Rot Farm
Gruul Turf
Hallowed Fountain
Izzet Boilerworks
Mutavault
Orzhov Basilica
Overgrown Tomb
Rakdos Carnarium
Sacred Foundry
Selesnya Sanctuary
Simic Growth Chamber
Steam Vents
Stomping Ground
Temple Garden
Terramorphic Expanse
Tolarian Academy
Volrath's Stronghold
Watery Grave
COMMENTS
Okay, I could write an entire post just on this section, but I've already spent hours going through the old list and adding the new entries. First off, the color balance got off somehow. Not as bad as I actually expected (by my count all the colors have 57 cards except for blue, which has 58 for a total of 361) but a little off. I would recommend cutting either Evacuation, Ray of Command, or Vexing Sphinx. What say you? I took out five artifacts that everyone kept complaining about to add the on-color signets. Sorry Winter Orb, but nobody cared about you. Most of the cards that were cut were clearly inferior to other cards that were added. Some cards were just unpopular to play with. Man, I have never seen hatred like that levied against Pox. My playgroup really hates Pox! Many unfun cards like that were removed and replaced as we played. There's still room for improvement. I don't know about you guys, but I would guess that Fire//Ice would be more powerful than Niv Mizzet as a U/R multi spell. Objections? Uh, anybody actually have a Fire//Ice that we could put in the Cube? I proxied a Ghostly Prison because apparently I have only one copy and it went into my EDH deck. So if anyone would borrow one of those to the Cube, I'd be obliged as well. Also, this is more subjective, but what would you guys think of Finkel over Dimir Cutpurse? In honor of his Kuala Lumpur win? Well, anybody have one?
MORNINGTIDE!
There are a few Morningtide cards already in the cube (no arguments about Mutavault going in, right?) but we have been delinquent in adding most of these. These are the adds I'm proposing:
Mutavault (in there)
Bitterblossom
Chameleon Colossus
Countryside Crusher
Reveillark
Vendilion Clique
Maybe Kinsbaile Cavalier? (We have gobs of knights in the cube)
What great cards am I missing? Are the above good? I have copies of all them that can go in, so no one would need to worry about finding extras.
SHAMELESS PLUG
Believe it or not, I don't just rip on people for what they create. I actually make something that might (charitably) be construed as art myself. I recently DJed a few mixes on some new CD/MP3 players that I bought to replace the old turntables. I was so taken with the little bit of theory I wrote about on this here blog that I decided to name the mixes after the respective concepts. So if you are interested in electronic music you might want to check out this page where you can find descriptions, links to, and tracklistings of these mixes. I will hopefully be putting more mixes there in the future. If you want to take the leap and downlaod one or both mixes they are here: Scalpel. Hammer. They are about 100 megs each. Play them while you are drafting on MODO, or hosting a house party, or beating face at a PTQ or Vintage tourney. I will leave you with a short description of the mixes and then (finally!) shut up.
Happy St. Patricks Day!
T
Scalpel: A smooth mix shifting from the beauty of sunset, to the eerie shadows of twilight, to the darkness of midnight.
Hammer: A crunchy, stomping mix of diverse styles with the singular focus of making bodies move. Turn it up, tap the keg, call up some freaky people, shake something.
(For any real headz the first mix is mostly techy house, the second is funky house and breaks, leaning toward a hip hop tip.)
WHITE
Adarkar Valkyrie
Ajani Goldmane
Akroma, Angel of Wrath
Armageddon
Arrest
Austere Command
Aven Mindcensor
Aven Riftwatcher
Blade of the Sixth Pride
Calciderm
Cho-Manno, Revolutionary
Cloudchaser Kestrel
Condemn
Crovax, Ascendant Hero
Crusade
Descendant of Kiyomaro
Devouring Light
Disenchant
Empyrial Armor
Enduring Renewal
Enlightened Tutor
Eternal Dragon
Faith's Fetters
Genju of the Fields
Ghostly Prison
Glorious Anthem
Goldmeadow Harrier
Griffin Guide
Honorable Passage
Icatian Javelineers
Jötun Grunt
Kami of Ancient Law
Kataki, War's Wage
Knight of Meadowgrain
Longbow Archer
Mirror Entity
Momentary Blink
Mother of Runes
Oblivion Ring
Order of the White Shield
Pacifism
Paladin en-Vec
Pariah
Radiant's Dragoons
Radiant's Judgment
Reya Dawnbringer
Sacred Mesa
Samurai of the Pale Curtain
Savannah Lions
Soltari Priest
Swords to Plowshares
Temporal Isolation
White Knight
White Shield Crusader
Wing Shards
Wrath of God
Yosei, the Morning Star
BLUE
Aeon Chronicler
Aquamoeba
Arcanis the Omnipotent
Body Double
Boomerang
Braingeyser
Brainstorm
Brine Elemental
Capsize
Compulsive Research
Confiscate
Control Magic
Counterspell
Cryptic Command
Deep Analysis
Desertion
Dissipate
Drift of Phantasms
Evacuation
Forbid
Force of Will
Force Spike
Frantic Search
Gifts Ungiven
Hydroblast
Impulse
Jace Beleren
Keiga, the Tide Star
Looter il-Kor
Mana Leak
Man-o'-War
Memory Lapse
Merchant Scroll
Merfolk Looter
Mystical Teachings
Mystical Tutor
Ninja of the Deep Hours
Ophidian
Pact of Negation
Propaganda
Ray of Command
Remand
Repeal
Repulse
Riftwing Cloudskate
Rushing River
Spell Snare
Stroke of Genius
Teferi, Mage of Zhalfir
Thieving Magpie
Tidings
Unstable Mutation
Venser, Shaper Savant
Vesuvan Shapeshifter
Vexing Sphinx
Voidmage Prodigy
Waterfront Bouncer
Willbender
BLACK
Animate Dead
Bad Moon
Black Knight
Bone Shredder
Carnophage
Consume Spirit
Contamination
Corpse Dance
Corrupt
Crypt Rats
Damnation
Dark Confidant
Dark Ritual
Darkblast
Dauthi Horror
Dauthi Slayer
Death Denied
Diabolic Edict
Diabolic Servitude
Dread Return
Exhume
Flesh Reaver
Haakon, Stromgald Scourge
Hatred
Hymn to Tourach
Hypnotic Specter
Ink-Eyes, Servant of Oni
Korlash, Heir to Blackblade
Knight of Stromgald
Liliana Vess
Living Death
Nameless Inversion
Nantuko Husk
Necropotence
Nezumi Graverobber
Okiba-Gang Shinobi
Oona's Prowler
Paralyze
Persecute
Pestilence
Phyrexian Arena
Plague Sliver
Priest of Gix
Profane Command
Sarcomancy
Shriekmaw
Skeletal Vampire
Skittering Skirge
Smallpox
Smother
Stinkweed Imp
Stromgald Crusader
Sudden Death
Tendrils of Corruption
Terror
Thoughtseize
RED
Akroma, Angel of Fury
Avalanche Riders
Bogardan Hellkite
Boom // Bust
Chandra Nalaar
Demonfire
Earthquake
Empty the Warrens
Fiery Temper
Fireball
Fireblast
Fireslinger
Flame Fusillade
Fork
Frenzied Goblin
Gathan Raiders
Goblin Bombardment
Goblin Matron
Goblin Patrol
Goblin Recruiter
Gorilla Shaman
Grapeshot
Grinning Ignus
Hearth Kami
Hostility
Incinerate
Jaya Ballard, Task Mage
Jokulhaups
Kamahl, Pit Fighter
Keldon Marauders
Kiki-Jiki, Mirror Breaker
Kird Ape
Lava Hounds
Lightning Bolt
Magus of the Scroll
Mana Flare
Mogg Fanatic
Mogg Flunkies
Mogg War Marshal
Orcish Lumberjack
Pyroblast
Pyroclasm
Reckless Wurm
Red Elemental Blast
Seal of Fire
Shard Phoenix
Shock
Siege-Gang Commander
Sudden Shock
Sulfur Elemental
Tarfire
Tin Street Hooligan
Tribal Flames
Wheel of Fortune
Wildfire
Word of Seizing
GREEN
Arrogant Wurm
Basking Rootwalla
Birds of Paradise
Blanchwood Armor
Briarhorn
Caller of the Claw
Carven Caryatid
Channel
Crop Rotation
Desert Twister
Elves of Deep Shadow
Essence Warden
Fertile Ground
Fyndhorn Elves
Gaea’s Anthem
Garruk Wildspeaker
Giant Growth
Golgari Grave-Troll
Harmonize
Harrow
Hurricane
Hystrodon
Indrik Stomphowler
Kodama of the North Tree
Kodama's Reach
Krosan Grip
Life from the Loam
Llanowar Elves
Might of Oaks
Moldervine Cloak
Mtenda Lion
Natural Order
Naturalize
Overrun
Phantom Centaur
Protean Hulk
Quirion Ranger
Rancor
Regrowth
River Boa
Sakura-Tribe Elder
Scryb Ranger
Simian Grunts
Spectral Force
Tarmogoyf
Thelonite Hermit
Timbermare
Troll Ascetic
Uktabi Orangutan
Verdant Force
Vinelasher Kudzu
Wall of Blossoms
Wall of Roots
Werebear
Wild Mongrel
Wing Snare
Wood Elves
MULTICOLORED
Angel of Despair
Armadillo Cloak
Azorius Guildmage
Burning-Tree Shaman
Dimir Cutpurse
Electrolyze
Ghost Council of Orzhova
Grave-Shell Scarab
Lightning Angel
Lightning Helix
Loxodon Hierarch
Mortify
Mystic Enforcer
Mystic Snake
Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind
Putrefy
Rakdos Guildmage
Recoil
Savage Twister
Selesnya Guildmage
Stormbind
Void
Watchwolf
Who/What/When/Where/Why
ARTIFACTS
Azorius Signet
Bottle Gnomes
Coalition Relic
Cursed Scroll
Dimir Signet
Fellwar Stone
Gruul Signet
Icy Manipulator
Ivory Tower
Juggernaut
Lotus Bloom
Lotus Petal
Loxodon Warhammer
Memory Jar
Mirari
Mox Diamond
Nevinyrral's Disk
Pithing Needle
Platinum Angel
Rakdos Signet
Razormane Masticore
Scroll Rack
Selesnya Signet
Sensei's Divining Top
Serrated Arrows
Sol Ring
Tormod's Crypt
LANDS
Academy Ruins
Azorius Chancery
Blood Crypt
Boros Garrison
Breeding Pool
Dimir Aqueduct
Godless Shrine
Golgari Rot Farm
Gruul Turf
Hallowed Fountain
Izzet Boilerworks
Mutavault
Orzhov Basilica
Overgrown Tomb
Rakdos Carnarium
Sacred Foundry
Selesnya Sanctuary
Simic Growth Chamber
Steam Vents
Stomping Ground
Temple Garden
Terramorphic Expanse
Tolarian Academy
Volrath's Stronghold
Watery Grave
COMMENTS
Okay, I could write an entire post just on this section, but I've already spent hours going through the old list and adding the new entries. First off, the color balance got off somehow. Not as bad as I actually expected (by my count all the colors have 57 cards except for blue, which has 58 for a total of 361) but a little off. I would recommend cutting either Evacuation, Ray of Command, or Vexing Sphinx. What say you? I took out five artifacts that everyone kept complaining about to add the on-color signets. Sorry Winter Orb, but nobody cared about you. Most of the cards that were cut were clearly inferior to other cards that were added. Some cards were just unpopular to play with. Man, I have never seen hatred like that levied against Pox. My playgroup really hates Pox! Many unfun cards like that were removed and replaced as we played. There's still room for improvement. I don't know about you guys, but I would guess that Fire//Ice would be more powerful than Niv Mizzet as a U/R multi spell. Objections? Uh, anybody actually have a Fire//Ice that we could put in the Cube? I proxied a Ghostly Prison because apparently I have only one copy and it went into my EDH deck. So if anyone would borrow one of those to the Cube, I'd be obliged as well. Also, this is more subjective, but what would you guys think of Finkel over Dimir Cutpurse? In honor of his Kuala Lumpur win? Well, anybody have one?
MORNINGTIDE!
There are a few Morningtide cards already in the cube (no arguments about Mutavault going in, right?) but we have been delinquent in adding most of these. These are the adds I'm proposing:
Mutavault (in there)
Bitterblossom
Chameleon Colossus
Countryside Crusher
Reveillark
Vendilion Clique
Maybe Kinsbaile Cavalier? (We have gobs of knights in the cube)
What great cards am I missing? Are the above good? I have copies of all them that can go in, so no one would need to worry about finding extras.
SHAMELESS PLUG
Believe it or not, I don't just rip on people for what they create. I actually make something that might (charitably) be construed as art myself. I recently DJed a few mixes on some new CD/MP3 players that I bought to replace the old turntables. I was so taken with the little bit of theory I wrote about on this here blog that I decided to name the mixes after the respective concepts. So if you are interested in electronic music you might want to check out this page where you can find descriptions, links to, and tracklistings of these mixes. I will hopefully be putting more mixes there in the future. If you want to take the leap and downlaod one or both mixes they are here: Scalpel. Hammer. They are about 100 megs each. Play them while you are drafting on MODO, or hosting a house party, or beating face at a PTQ or Vintage tourney. I will leave you with a short description of the mixes and then (finally!) shut up.
Happy St. Patricks Day!
T
Scalpel: A smooth mix shifting from the beauty of sunset, to the eerie shadows of twilight, to the darkness of midnight.
Hammer: A crunchy, stomping mix of diverse styles with the singular focus of making bodies move. Turn it up, tap the keg, call up some freaky people, shake something.
(For any real headz the first mix is mostly techy house, the second is funky house and breaks, leaning toward a hip hop tip.)
Monday, March 17, 2008
Limited v. Constructed
My Constructed rating, after the ptq fiasco? 1518.
My Limited rating? 1648. That's a 130 point difference. Can any of you claim a bigger margin? Maybe I should make it a goal to improve my Constructed play this year. Get that rating back up to 1600. Yeah, maybe not.
My Limited rating? 1648. That's a 130 point difference. Can any of you claim a bigger margin? Maybe I should make it a goal to improve my Constructed play this year. Get that rating back up to 1600. Yeah, maybe not.
Sorry Mr TFW
Sorry to bump your post so early in the morning Mr TFW. I was hoping I could get this up first... but apprently 8:30am isn't early enough :( But if anyone is going to the store this Friday I am looking for Ichorid cards for the PTQ in Indy this weekend. So far I need everything for it since I never thought I would ever play this deck. Thanks for any help people can give. List is:
4 cephalid coliseum
4 city of brass
4 gemstone mine
1 tarnished citadel
1 dakmor salvage
1 flame-kin zealot
4 stinkweed imp
4 golgari grave-troll
2 golgari thug
3 ichorid
4 narcomeba
3 putrid imp
4 tireless tribe
1 akroma, angel of wrath
3 dread return
4 careful study
3 cabal therapy
4 bridge from below
4 breakthrough
2 crippling fatigue
sb
2 chalice of the void
3 pithing needle
4 leyline of the void
4 chain of vapor
1 ray of revelation
1 ancestor's chosen
i want to find room for a 3rd thug... i might cut a therapy... 3 seems like it might be to many. im also not sure if it should be 1 fatigue 1 darkblast. i also want a 3rd and mabye 4th chalice in the board as extirpate is getting played all over the place right now. also not sure if the ancestor's chosen should be a second akroma.
4 cephalid coliseum
4 city of brass
4 gemstone mine
1 tarnished citadel
1 dakmor salvage
1 flame-kin zealot
4 stinkweed imp
4 golgari grave-troll
2 golgari thug
3 ichorid
4 narcomeba
3 putrid imp
4 tireless tribe
1 akroma, angel of wrath
3 dread return
4 careful study
3 cabal therapy
4 bridge from below
4 breakthrough
2 crippling fatigue
sb
2 chalice of the void
3 pithing needle
4 leyline of the void
4 chain of vapor
1 ray of revelation
1 ancestor's chosen
i want to find room for a 3rd thug... i might cut a therapy... 3 seems like it might be to many. im also not sure if it should be 1 fatigue 1 darkblast. i also want a 3rd and mabye 4th chalice in the board as extirpate is getting played all over the place right now. also not sure if the ancestor's chosen should be a second akroma.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
ICBM Open #3
Sunday April 6, 2008
Hobbytown USA
3830 S Moorland Rd
New Berlin, WI 53151
New Berlin is about 20 minutes southwest of Milwaukee
There are many fast-food restaurants near the store
Registration begins at 12:00 PM and ends at 12:50 PM.
Tournament begins at 1 PM
Note that we are going back to the times of the first tournament.
25/25/25 rule:
Vintage 25-proxy unsanctioned tournament
$0.25 for each proxy after 25
$25 CASH entry
1st Place = Unlimited Black Lotus (fairly played, incoming from Jeremy Sauld)
2nd Place = Beta Volcanic Island (fairly played) OR signed English Mana Drain
3rd/4th Place = Shahrazad OR Volcanic Island (RV)
5th-8th place=Plateau OR Beta Regrowth
These prizes are GUARANTEED regardless of attendance. If attendance is over 50 people then prize support will INCREASE.
We've had good turnouts for the first two ICBM Opens, and I expect this one to be even better. I'm looking at double blue power for #4 probably, to be held possibly May 11.
Benjamin Carp
TeamICBM.com
timetwista@yahoo.com
Hobbytown USA
3830 S Moorland Rd
New Berlin, WI 53151
New Berlin is about 20 minutes southwest of Milwaukee
There are many fast-food restaurants near the store
Registration begins at 12:00 PM and ends at 12:50 PM.
Tournament begins at 1 PM
Note that we are going back to the times of the first tournament.
25/25/25 rule:
Vintage 25-proxy unsanctioned tournament
$0.25 for each proxy after 25
$25 CASH entry
1st Place = Unlimited Black Lotus (fairly played, incoming from Jeremy Sauld)
2nd Place = Beta Volcanic Island (fairly played) OR signed English Mana Drain
3rd/4th Place = Shahrazad OR Volcanic Island (RV)
5th-8th place=Plateau OR Beta Regrowth
These prizes are GUARANTEED regardless of attendance. If attendance is over 50 people then prize support will INCREASE.
We've had good turnouts for the first two ICBM Opens, and I expect this one to be even better. I'm looking at double blue power for #4 probably, to be held possibly May 11.
Benjamin Carp
TeamICBM.com
timetwista@yahoo.com
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The problem with EDH
There are two problems with EDH. One is that it's constructed, so I suck at it. The other problem is that it's awesome, so I keep beating my head against the wall. I reached a new low last night as I managed to Jokulhaups when all it would do is piss everyone off. Awk.
Still, it's a super fun format and I think I am going to keep playing as much as I possibly can so that I can get better. More familiarity with my deck and the ways in which it can win would help a lot. I played the Rakdos deck again last night, but I failed to Jokulhaups into Rakdos (which is always the right play). They might beat you from that position. Then again, they probably won't.
I am learning a ton about tutoring, slow accumulation of advantage, politics and killer enchantments (curse you, red-black. why do you taunt me so?). TooSarcastic is the unchallenged alpha male of the EDH playgroup. He's always dominating the board. He totally won last night when Tabasco should have blown him out. The captain failed to cast Debtor's Knell before each Jokulhaups effect. I think he will learn from this mistake. Major_luck and Fugie collaborated to...well, I am not sure what they were doing.
There is another project that intrigues me, which is taking my blue-green deck and modifying it to up the counterspelling. I am not planning on making a lock deck, just something where everybody asks me, "okay?" whenever they put a spell on the stack. What do you all think? Maybe 15 counters? That way, I should usually have one in hand, but not all the time. I might wanna add white for Swift Silence. But I think I am gonna stay UG and use Momir Vig.
Sorry about the brevity. I am focused on EDH right now and there isn't a ton to say.
Tabasco, if you want in on the 29th, you need to tell me like, now. There are only two seats left at the 8-man, and I have an idea for one of 'em.
Still, it's a super fun format and I think I am going to keep playing as much as I possibly can so that I can get better. More familiarity with my deck and the ways in which it can win would help a lot. I played the Rakdos deck again last night, but I failed to Jokulhaups into Rakdos (which is always the right play). They might beat you from that position. Then again, they probably won't.
I am learning a ton about tutoring, slow accumulation of advantage, politics and killer enchantments (curse you, red-black. why do you taunt me so?). TooSarcastic is the unchallenged alpha male of the EDH playgroup. He's always dominating the board. He totally won last night when Tabasco should have blown him out. The captain failed to cast Debtor's Knell before each Jokulhaups effect. I think he will learn from this mistake. Major_luck and Fugie collaborated to...well, I am not sure what they were doing.
There is another project that intrigues me, which is taking my blue-green deck and modifying it to up the counterspelling. I am not planning on making a lock deck, just something where everybody asks me, "okay?" whenever they put a spell on the stack. What do you all think? Maybe 15 counters? That way, I should usually have one in hand, but not all the time. I might wanna add white for Swift Silence. But I think I am gonna stay UG and use Momir Vig.
Sorry about the brevity. I am focused on EDH right now and there isn't a ton to say.
Tabasco, if you want in on the 29th, you need to tell me like, now. There are only two seats left at the 8-man, and I have an idea for one of 'em.
Fire Suppression System GO!
Funny thing, I don’t remember it saying firefighter anywhere in my job description, but that seems to be what I’ve been doing every day, for the last several weeks (basically since the 1st of the year). Last week was when I got to the tipping point and finally succumb to that thing that’s been going around (we’ve nicknamed it “Team Leader Disease”, as 5 out of 8 team leaders in Brewing were out sick last week), and went home sick on Monday. When I got back on Tuesday, I walked into the eye of the fire storm and have been trying to catch up ever since.
On the bright side, my D&D session last week got cancelled (Conn, hope you are feeling better), so I was able to play cards on Friday. The original plan was to go to CBG’s, drink heavily, & play some EDH. How quickly things change. I go the call from Too Sarcastic that everyone was heading up to a new shop up in Whitefish Bay (Calvary Games, I think, correct me in the comments if I am wrong), for a sealed FNM. Well that was like water to a thirsty man in the desert, as I am most likely the biggest fan of sealed in our play group. I relish the opportunity to play sealed whenever I can, hence my devotion to Old Fart at Game Universe.
So I head up the road just a little further (it’s probably ten miles closer for me that GU) and turn off on Silver Spring and head east towards the lake. From the directions TS gave me it was across the street form the Sendecs. I kind of went right by it the first time but found it quite easily when heading west (Quite note, it’s located on the south side of the street and there is a free parking lot ½ block west ½ block to the north or you can park across the street in the Sendecs lot). Long story short, I find the place and it is packed to the gills. However this statement is misleading, as the whole store is only 12 to 15 feet wide, so if you put 15 people in a narrow space, it’ll seem very full.
But, this is just fine, so I go up to the counter and get my sealed pool (three packs of Lorwyn & two packs of Morningtide for retail, so just over $21). As I am opening up my packs I am listening as the rest of the crew is fawning over the brokenness they have opened (come on CBG, Profane Command again). I am looking over what I’ve opened and am impressed, as it is much easier to play a sealed pool that is skewed versus one that is pretty even.
I basically fall into Black/Green elves/treefolks, which for me is a pretty standard archetype for this format, with the ability to splash for white &/or red removal (Lashout & Crib Swap). With double fertile ground, I decide to splash for both. We end up having 12 people and are told there will be three rounds. I shuffle up and wait for the first round to begin.
My first round opponent is a kid named Ian, I call him a kid because he can’t be much more that 17 or 18 years old (I sound like an old man, yet I am amongst the youngest of our play group). He is piloting a black/blue faerie/rogue/wizards build, of some sort. In the first game he is able to put some early pressure on while I accelerate in big guys and kill him in three short swings. The second game is pretty much more of the same with me being able to do just enough with Earthbrawn and a swarm of guys. Despite how much I dominated Ian, when we finish there are only two matches still going.
About twenty minutes later, round two starts and sit down across from Darren. From what I’ve been able to gather over the previous hour and a half, he is most likely to be the alpha male of this group. He is definitely has the makings of a competent player, but after a few turns it is apparent that limited isn’t his strong suit (quick aside. You don’t realize it until you get out of your comfort zone, but the competition at GU is above average). I proceed as the previous match and hit four out of five times with my Wolf-Skull Shaman, plus Incremental Growth, and Cloudthresher for good measure. The Second game is more of the same with Shriekmaw and Diviner’s Wand showing up too. After round two ends there are two other undefeated’s left, Scoup_phase and The Captain.
For round three I get paired against the Captain and Scoup_phase gets paired against Tabasco. We figure that if Tabasco beats SP, the Captain & I can draw into 1st & 2nd which as it turns out, 1st & 2nd both get the same prize (I’ll go into that later). We shuffle up and slow roll the 1st two games. I take the first game on a timely Crib Swap (1st time I’ve played it all night) and lose the second to a misblock & a timely pump spell. As we are shuffling up for game three Tabasco is dominating the 3rd game of his match and we decide it is safe to draw. So we draw and play a third game for the hell of it.
History repeats itself once more, as the Captain can attest to. He punted an attack, by swinging his 2/2 Smokebraider into an elf warrior token (from Ambassador Oak), when I had Imperious Perfect on the table. It went down hill from there in a hurry as he got stuck on three lands for several turns whilst I continued to commit threats to the board.
All in all it was a good experience. I managed to walk away with the same prize as he, however I am not positive my deck would have won, if he hadn’t made that mistake, but we will never know. I would like to wish the boys up in Whitefish Bay good luck with their store and look forward to going to a release event up there some time soon.
On the bright side, my D&D session last week got cancelled (Conn, hope you are feeling better), so I was able to play cards on Friday. The original plan was to go to CBG’s, drink heavily, & play some EDH. How quickly things change. I go the call from Too Sarcastic that everyone was heading up to a new shop up in Whitefish Bay (Calvary Games, I think, correct me in the comments if I am wrong), for a sealed FNM. Well that was like water to a thirsty man in the desert, as I am most likely the biggest fan of sealed in our play group. I relish the opportunity to play sealed whenever I can, hence my devotion to Old Fart at Game Universe.
So I head up the road just a little further (it’s probably ten miles closer for me that GU) and turn off on Silver Spring and head east towards the lake. From the directions TS gave me it was across the street form the Sendecs. I kind of went right by it the first time but found it quite easily when heading west (Quite note, it’s located on the south side of the street and there is a free parking lot ½ block west ½ block to the north or you can park across the street in the Sendecs lot). Long story short, I find the place and it is packed to the gills. However this statement is misleading, as the whole store is only 12 to 15 feet wide, so if you put 15 people in a narrow space, it’ll seem very full.
But, this is just fine, so I go up to the counter and get my sealed pool (three packs of Lorwyn & two packs of Morningtide for retail, so just over $21). As I am opening up my packs I am listening as the rest of the crew is fawning over the brokenness they have opened (come on CBG, Profane Command again). I am looking over what I’ve opened and am impressed, as it is much easier to play a sealed pool that is skewed versus one that is pretty even.
I basically fall into Black/Green elves/treefolks, which for me is a pretty standard archetype for this format, with the ability to splash for white &/or red removal (Lashout & Crib Swap). With double fertile ground, I decide to splash for both. We end up having 12 people and are told there will be three rounds. I shuffle up and wait for the first round to begin.
My first round opponent is a kid named Ian, I call him a kid because he can’t be much more that 17 or 18 years old (I sound like an old man, yet I am amongst the youngest of our play group). He is piloting a black/blue faerie/rogue/wizards build, of some sort. In the first game he is able to put some early pressure on while I accelerate in big guys and kill him in three short swings. The second game is pretty much more of the same with me being able to do just enough with Earthbrawn and a swarm of guys. Despite how much I dominated Ian, when we finish there are only two matches still going.
About twenty minutes later, round two starts and sit down across from Darren. From what I’ve been able to gather over the previous hour and a half, he is most likely to be the alpha male of this group. He is definitely has the makings of a competent player, but after a few turns it is apparent that limited isn’t his strong suit (quick aside. You don’t realize it until you get out of your comfort zone, but the competition at GU is above average). I proceed as the previous match and hit four out of five times with my Wolf-Skull Shaman, plus Incremental Growth, and Cloudthresher for good measure. The Second game is more of the same with Shriekmaw and Diviner’s Wand showing up too. After round two ends there are two other undefeated’s left, Scoup_phase and The Captain.
For round three I get paired against the Captain and Scoup_phase gets paired against Tabasco. We figure that if Tabasco beats SP, the Captain & I can draw into 1st & 2nd which as it turns out, 1st & 2nd both get the same prize (I’ll go into that later). We shuffle up and slow roll the 1st two games. I take the first game on a timely Crib Swap (1st time I’ve played it all night) and lose the second to a misblock & a timely pump spell. As we are shuffling up for game three Tabasco is dominating the 3rd game of his match and we decide it is safe to draw. So we draw and play a third game for the hell of it.
History repeats itself once more, as the Captain can attest to. He punted an attack, by swinging his 2/2 Smokebraider into an elf warrior token (from Ambassador Oak), when I had Imperious Perfect on the table. It went down hill from there in a hurry as he got stuck on three lands for several turns whilst I continued to commit threats to the board.
All in all it was a good experience. I managed to walk away with the same prize as he, however I am not positive my deck would have won, if he hadn’t made that mistake, but we will never know. I would like to wish the boys up in Whitefish Bay good luck with their store and look forward to going to a release event up there some time soon.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Why I Play Magic
Since this is technically my first "article" on this heh site, there should probably be some sort of introduction. I am 24, a PTQ player, Spike/Johnny, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Every Magic player comes to a cross roads and one point or another over a very simple question; Why do I play Magic? When I first started playing Magic it was around when The Dark came out. I started play during a Summer Camp in Boy Scouts. Everyone there was playing and was curious as to what the big deal was. The first deck I ever played was a Mono Black Something or other deck. I have no idea if I won or I lost anymore, but what I do remember is that it was FUN. After that I would play as much as possible. Be if one on one against my brother. Or group games before school started.
Eventually people from our group stopped play. This was the first time I faced a decision on why I played Magic.
The time frame was right around when Mercadian Masques was released. I know my decision had nothing to do with the degeneracy of Urza's Block. I had never played in a tournament. Wizards decision to release premium versions of cards didn't have any relevance. I really didn't have an opinion either way. I also collected sports cards before coming to Magic, so I was used to the concept. Looking back on it now I don't really remember what it finally came down to. But my choice was to quit. I still played occasionally with my brother every couple of months. But it was never more than a couple of games here and there.
The problem was, Magic was still FUN. I was also routinely beating my brother. Which was another problem. I am by nature a very competitive person. I want to be better than everyone else at almost everything I do. Magic is obviously one of those things. Back when I was playing before school started, I was probably the best player. I just always understood the game at a fundamental level better than everyone else around me. By no stretch of the imagination would I have been capable of winning a real tournament at the time. But eventually I realized I wanted to know how good I really was compared to the rest of the world.
So I started to play again right after Onslaught was released. This time my goal was to play tournaments and see how good I really am. My first ever tournament was:
On an interesting note my tournament career didn't start off so hot obviously. But in round one against Ryan Seacrest I lost game 3 because I forgot to put a card back in my deck that had been removed with a Skeletal Scrying. Than proceeded to present a 59 card illegal main deck. I learned the main benefit to pile shuffling my deck in my very first constructed match of Magic. To this day I still don't always pile shuffle... somewhere in there should be a lesson.
14 tournaments later I managed to drag my rating back over 1600.
While my limited rating faired much better:
I have never had a limited rating below 1600 since that very first match I played. I had officially caught the bug. Despite my failings at constructed I still felt fundamentally understood Magic at a deeper level than most people. I knew what was going on at any given point in a game, even if that didn't always translate into me making the best play.
The very first PTQ I attended was:
If I am remembering correctly this was a Champions of Kamigawa sealed event. I remember my pool being good and featuring a Keiga, the Tide Star. I also remember I miss built this pool horribly. Going 5 colors and trying to cram in all the good cards. I have admitted for a long time that sealed deck building is the weakest part of my game. While I believe I have gotten better at it, despite having two PTQ Top 8's in sealed, I still feel I am severely lacking in building correctly.
Later on I eventually became friends with people like our very own The Fugitive Wizard, Rhyno, and Owen and attended my very first constructed PTQ:
This was a Champion of Kamigawa Block Constructed PTQ. Talk about murders row. To this day I still do not belive I have faced a tougher set of opponents at a PTQ. This was right when Owen got hot, Brian Ziegler was a PTQ mainstay in the midwest, Samuel Black has come into his own as one of the best unknown players in the USA, The Fugitive Wizards won a PTQ and Top 8'ed another (although he did scoop to me in this one), and the infamous Peter Jahn. This tournament also started a streak of mine. Not having a fully built deck before arriving at the event site. I was playing a very subpar version of Mono Black Aggro because I couldn't find all the cards I needed before we started.
Flash forward to summer/fall of 2007. At this point I have three PTQ Top 8's to my name many Legacy Top 8's under my belt, a few Vintage Top 8's and one win, a Grand Prix Trail win over Owen in the finals, and a oodles of FNM, SNM, and random.tournament top 8's/wins and countless side draft wins. At some point I realized how good I really am. But I also realized that my focus in Magic had shifted at some point without my knowledge or consent. I was having fun just playing Magic. Granted I don't play any casual Magic. I don't really enjoy sitting down and playing a game of EDH. I am to competitive for that. I need to have a goal that is bigger than just bragging rights to play for.
But I enjoy playing tournament Magic. I like the rush of being up at 7am on a Saturday morning and getting to the event site 5 minutes before registration closes, and having to scramble for a deck. I like playtesting, and theorizing about the metagame. I like the comroderience of my friends and I after a round. Hearing about the triumph and tragedy. Just going to a Magic event is FUN. Win, lose or draw I have had a blast just playing the game and enjoying the experiences at an event.
But I am still addicted to winning. I still have a desire to win and get on the Pro Tour and see just how I stack up against the worlds best. Every time one of my friends Top 8's a PTQ or wins a FNM I sit there and think I can do that. Or when Owen finished second at GP Flash, I thought why couldn't that be me? Or when he finished 18th at Valencia I thought I can do that.
Because when I returned to Magic in late 2002 I the reason I played Magic was to see how good I really am. No matter how many bad beats I take or near misses I suffer. I will still be there at the next event trying to win. Because the reason I play now is because I genuinely enjoy playing competitive Magic. And I genuinely enjoy the company of the people I play it with.
Every Magic player comes to a cross roads and one point or another over a very simple question; Why do I play Magic? When I first started playing Magic it was around when The Dark came out. I started play during a Summer Camp in Boy Scouts. Everyone there was playing and was curious as to what the big deal was. The first deck I ever played was a Mono Black Something or other deck. I have no idea if I won or I lost anymore, but what I do remember is that it was FUN. After that I would play as much as possible. Be if one on one against my brother. Or group games before school started.
Eventually people from our group stopped play. This was the first time I faced a decision on why I played Magic.
The time frame was right around when Mercadian Masques was released. I know my decision had nothing to do with the degeneracy of Urza's Block. I had never played in a tournament. Wizards decision to release premium versions of cards didn't have any relevance. I really didn't have an opinion either way. I also collected sports cards before coming to Magic, so I was used to the concept. Looking back on it now I don't really remember what it finally came down to. But my choice was to quit. I still played occasionally with my brother every couple of months. But it was never more than a couple of games here and there.
The problem was, Magic was still FUN. I was also routinely beating my brother. Which was another problem. I am by nature a very competitive person. I want to be better than everyone else at almost everything I do. Magic is obviously one of those things. Back when I was playing before school started, I was probably the best player. I just always understood the game at a fundamental level better than everyone else around me. By no stretch of the imagination would I have been capable of winning a real tournament at the time. But eventually I realized I wanted to know how good I really was compared to the rest of the world.
So I started to play again right after Onslaught was released. This time my goal was to play tournaments and see how good I really am. My first ever tournament was:
| 03-05-512936, U.S. Regionals 02-03: 2003-05-03 | Finished395 | |||
| 4 | Eric S. Klusman | Loss | 1577 | |
| 3 | Lucas Wolfs | Win | 1592 | |
| 2 | Humphrey X. King | Loss | 1580 | |
| 1 | Gregg A. Seaverson | Loss | 1593 | |
| Initial rating | 1600 | |||
14 tournaments later I managed to drag my rating back over 1600.
| 04-12-788787, Standard @ Games Universe: 2004-12-18 | Finished6 | |||
| 4 | Eric Knaak | Loss | 1602 | |
| 3 | Daniel B. Ziermann | Loss | 1610 | |
| 2 | Kelvin Guilbault | Win | 1618 | |
| 1 | Jake Olsen | Win | 1607 | |
While my limited rating faired much better:
| 03-05-512936-004, U.S. Regionals 02-03 - Booster Draft: 2003-05-03 | ||||
| 3 | Derek A. Monk | Loss | 1607 | |
| 2 | Timothy P. Gruneich | Win | 1613 | |
| 1 | Amanda Kruger | Win | 1600 | |
| 03-05-512936-001, U.S. Regionals 02-03 - Booster Draft: 2003-05-03 | ||||
| 1 | Justin Montgomery | Loss | 1592 | |
| Initial rating | 1600 | |||
I have never had a limited rating below 1600 since that very first match I played. I had officially caught the bug. Despite my failings at constructed I still felt fundamentally understood Magic at a deeper level than most people. I knew what was going on at any given point in a game, even if that didn't always translate into me making the best play.
The very first PTQ I attended was:
| 04-10-741445, 14861 PTQ Nagoya 05: 2004-10-02 | 62 | |||
| 5 | Barry M. Steiglitz | Loss | 1650 | |
| 4 | Mike D. Youngberg | Loss | 1662 | |
| 3 | Gerry Thompson | Loss | 1676 | |
| 2 | Mark R. Roman | Loss | 1681 | |
| 1 | David R. Lehmann | Win | 1692 | |
If I am remembering correctly this was a Champions of Kamigawa sealed event. I remember my pool being good and featuring a Keiga, the Tide Star. I also remember I miss built this pool horribly. Going 5 colors and trying to cram in all the good cards. I have admitted for a long time that sealed deck building is the weakest part of my game. While I believe I have gotten better at it, despite having two PTQ Top 8's in sealed, I still feel I am severely lacking in building correctly.
Later on I eventually became friends with people like our very own The Fugitive Wizard, Rhyno, and Owen and attended my very first constructed PTQ:
| 05-07-855432, 16192 PTQ Los Angeles 05: 2005-07-09 | Finished36 | |||
| 7 | Peter R. Jahn | Loss | 1642 | |
| 6 | Edd N. Black | Win | 1655 | |
| 5 | Will Ketchem | Win | 1640 | |
| 4 | Samuel H. Black | Loss | 1627 | |
| 3 | Brian L. Ziegler | Loss | 1636 | |
| 2 | Sean Purtee | Win | 1644 | |
| 1 | Owen Turtenwald | Loss | 1629 | |
This was a Champion of Kamigawa Block Constructed PTQ. Talk about murders row. To this day I still do not belive I have faced a tougher set of opponents at a PTQ. This was right when Owen got hot, Brian Ziegler was a PTQ mainstay in the midwest, Samuel Black has come into his own as one of the best unknown players in the USA, The Fugitive Wizards won a PTQ and Top 8'ed another (although he did scoop to me in this one), and the infamous Peter Jahn. This tournament also started a streak of mine. Not having a fully built deck before arriving at the event site. I was playing a very subpar version of Mono Black Aggro because I couldn't find all the cards I needed before we started.
Flash forward to summer/fall of 2007. At this point I have three PTQ Top 8's to my name many Legacy Top 8's under my belt, a few Vintage Top 8's and one win, a Grand Prix Trail win over Owen in the finals, and a oodles of FNM, SNM, and random.tournament top 8's/wins and countless side draft wins. At some point I realized how good I really am. But I also realized that my focus in Magic had shifted at some point without my knowledge or consent. I was having fun just playing Magic. Granted I don't play any casual Magic. I don't really enjoy sitting down and playing a game of EDH. I am to competitive for that. I need to have a goal that is bigger than just bragging rights to play for.
But I enjoy playing tournament Magic. I like the rush of being up at 7am on a Saturday morning and getting to the event site 5 minutes before registration closes, and having to scramble for a deck. I like playtesting, and theorizing about the metagame. I like the comroderience of my friends and I after a round. Hearing about the triumph and tragedy. Just going to a Magic event is FUN. Win, lose or draw I have had a blast just playing the game and enjoying the experiences at an event.
But I am still addicted to winning. I still have a desire to win and get on the Pro Tour and see just how I stack up against the worlds best. Every time one of my friends Top 8's a PTQ or wins a FNM I sit there and think I can do that. Or when Owen finished second at GP Flash, I thought why couldn't that be me? Or when he finished 18th at Valencia I thought I can do that.
Because when I returned to Magic in late 2002 I the reason I played Magic was to see how good I really am. No matter how many bad beats I take or near misses I suffer. I will still be there at the next event trying to win. Because the reason I play now is because I genuinely enjoy playing competitive Magic. And I genuinely enjoy the company of the people I play it with.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)