Other ideas:
Hobbits vs Ring Wraiths? (Kithkin, and Wraith?)
Angels vs Demons (and or Devils)
Giants vs Dwarves
Rogues vs Knights
Moongeese vs Snakes
Wizards vs Warriors
Vampires vs Werewolves
Birds vs Insects
That payout is good considering it's a limited event and not constructed. Though it is phantom so you don't keep the product.. meh. I guess I was really pumped that I got to play with Cryptic Command for the first time ever and it was glorious.
Ah I didn't realize you limited how many decks you listed and I didn't think of them as features, just thought of them as the undefeateds, and 2-1s that weren't elves/goblins.
Simple: I liked your deck last week, so I featured it; I didn't like your deck this week, so I didn't. (Plus, I rarely feature the same player back to back unless it's one of the undefeated ones, which I usually feature because they're linked to both the price calculation and Rex's coverage of the finals). I feature 4 decklists per installment now; I featured my own deck because, in combination with slug's, that gave me the chance to do the little Shaman treatise.
Every decklist is one click away in Gatherling, anyway. They're all listed in the tournament page link provided at the beginning, and you can see them better there than with a non-interactive list. Like this, for instance.
Very nice job at making reasonable decks within cool themes. Sure, these lists aren't about to win a ProTour, but they're more than capable of providing plenty of fun competition online.
I've been having a hoot playing a Gruul Humans deck (GruuMans) which looks very much like your sweet Vampire deck:
4 Experiment One
4 Reckless Waif
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Mayor of Avabruck
4 Hamlet Captain
4 Gore-House Chainwalker
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
2 Ranger's Guile
4 Searing Spear
3 Gruul Charm
4 Stomping Ground
4 Rootbound Crag
7 Forest
7 Mountain
1 Kessig Wolf Run
Where my list goes off-theme with Chainwalker, yours keeps on-theme with a similar effect in Full Moon's Rise. I'm envious, and wanna try your list!
I'm curious about Pit Fight, though. Am I missing a trick or theme connection? Something like Searing Spear seems so much more versatile to me.
The biggest difference my list would be Gruul Charms and Ranger's Guile. Gruul Charm has been amazing for me - ruining air forces or allowing me to swing unblocked on the ground. Ranger's Guile is an interesting trick I picked up from Zvi's article about GW Humans at SCG (Premium but old enough now that it's open for us to read.) Your Moonmist fits your theme better, and plays a similar role. Nicely done!
All I can say about your UG list, is that the title needs to be "Simic's Gimmicks". Picks up the rhyme better :)
I'm going to look up your previous articles, cuz this one was very enjoyable!
On leagues: What I expect is something close to a mix of what Matt said and paper leagues. If you haven't heard Worth tweeted saying Matt's idea was similar to what they had in planning for leagues. It just would seem to strange to have MTGO and paper have very different "leagues". Leagues are aimed at more casual and less time commitment which is what the paper ones seemed aimed as well.
The 11th anniversary events: The payout isn't anything crazy. It's the constructed DE cost and payout with a bonus farseek.
I am a little surprised you didn't show case my list since being ironic elves it shouldn't hit your criteria for not showing elf decks. Also that game you show us playing was one of the worst of the day for me. Terrible match up, terrible deck. I was lucky to face two less accomplished players in the 2 remaining rounds. As for the singleton sub genre I am not a big fan or foe. It seems rife with combo possibilities where 1 ofs are mandatory and tutors are king. (Natural Order for example which you drew both games.) I am not saying it is a bad format but it isn't particularly fun. Though the DECK building aspect is.
I did consider doing stuff like painter's servant/grind stone, helm of obedience/leyline/energy field/rest in piece but I felt that this would be wrong and not fun to play with. Much less against.
Here is the jank I played and went 2-1 with:
1 Austere Command
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Skyshroud Poacher
1 Guan Yu's 1,000-Li March
1 Sylvan Messenger
1 Terminus
1 Mountain
1 Nullmage Shepherd
1 Wren's Run Packmaster
1 Nath of the Gilt-Leaf
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Emmara Tandris
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Teferi's Moat
8 Forest
1 Trostani's Summoner
1 Arid Mesa
1 Wood Elves
1 Detention Sphere
1 Master Biomancer
1 Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
1 Ground Seal
1 Day of Judgment
1 Chord of Calling
1 Tundra
1 Rout
1 Island
1 Savannah
2 Plains
1 Breeding Pool
1 Kaysa
1 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Wrath of God
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Wilt-Leaf Liege
1 Sylvan Library
1 Scrubland
1 Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers
1 Taiga
1 Caller of the Claw
1 Thelonite Hermit
1 Tolsimir Wolfblood
1 Deranged Hermit
1 Yeva, Nature's Herald
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Temple Garden
1 Glare of Subdual
1 Krosan Verge
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Tropical Island
1 Treetop Village
Have to say I'm with Rex on Singleton tribal, and that's speaking as someone who loves Commander. I'll usually play it when it comes up, but I'm almost never happy to see it.
The 11th anniversary event is amazing. 6tix, swiss, and amazing payout is a great combination. My only complaint is the 4 hour time commitment. I would love some "On Demand" system where the sit down time is divided into more reasonable chunks.
I originally had a lot more non-basic hate in the deck, but ended up removing almost all of it. Maybe it was just the people I was playing, but the non-basic hate didn't do a whole lot for me. Lots of people are running basics now, even 5 color players. However, I was really low on creatures for a deck that gave people tons of cards, so the Magus stayed in just to have another body. Plus it can carry equipment if necessary. I dunno, maybe not the best reasoning, but that's what I did.
As for the lack of Ruby Medallion, the majority of the non-land cards in the deck are colorless. It just didn't benefit me enough to warrant an inclusion, as you suggested. A Mind Stone worked out better.
Ive been thinking about why Levi omitted blood moon and don't have good answer. As for medallions they are OK but since they tend to be pricy people find them unnecessary. It is just as easy to play with a couple of mana stones instead.
The problem I see is that while adding cards may make it viable to beat aggro I feel you would lose the edge against esper. They have a faster clock than control decks have had in a while in Aetherling. Going above 60 makes the mazes end deck take longer which the control decks then have time to race.
Ok, I have to ask: why Magus of the Moon and not Blood Moon?
Also, I never played a mono-colored deck without its respective Medallion, but I see people are frequently dismissing them. In your case, is it because this deck plays a lot like a colorless deck?
Thanks man! This one was a little different, but it was fun.
I think the spot you mention Animar only had 4 cards in hand and 15 life. I could have killed the Teysa player for sure though and it would have made killing Animar a lot easier. My problem with Molten Psyche is just losing the cards in hand without using them, but that's just my personal mental block.
Control decks do not need to win right now. They merely need you to not win until they draw their win con. Wrath the board, take out win cons on the opposing side and stall. That's the control plan. As for searching out Maze's End while it is true that diluting your odds of opening with it is significant it isn't a game ender. The question is: What is the correct amount to go over 60?
This requires testing and trial & error deck building. It may be that within this block that the deck won't be able to get it's win con in a timely fashion but I suspect that with Revelation, Counters, Verdicts, Spheres, etc it will be easier than you think.
The problem is that in block there is no way to then search for Maze's End. Each card above 60 means less chance of drawing one, so if it is the only win condition and one that takes some time to set up you want one early. It would take a lot of dig to make up for the more cards which would then mean less interaction giving the opponent more time to win.
Man vs machine is good
Other ideas:
Hobbits vs Ring Wraiths? (Kithkin, and Wraith?)
Angels vs Demons (and or Devils)
Giants vs Dwarves
Rogues vs Knights
Moongeese vs Snakes
Wizards vs Warriors
Vampires vs Werewolves
Birds vs Insects
"but I have a soft spot for Pit Fight when it comes to green"
Perfect reason!
I like this a lot!
That payout is good considering it's a limited event and not constructed. Though it is phantom so you don't keep the product.. meh. I guess I was really pumped that I got to play with Cryptic Command for the first time ever and it was glorious.
What about Man vs The Machine for duel week? Human decks vs Myr/Golem/Construct/Scarecrows decks?
Ah I didn't realize you limited how many decks you listed and I didn't think of them as features, just thought of them as the undefeateds, and 2-1s that weren't elves/goblins.
Thoughtseize being reprinted = me ecstatic... I'll keep my fingers crossed
great article as always
Simple: I liked your deck last week, so I featured it; I didn't like your deck this week, so I didn't. (Plus, I rarely feature the same player back to back unless it's one of the undefeated ones, which I usually feature because they're linked to both the price calculation and Rex's coverage of the finals). I feature 4 decklists per installment now; I featured my own deck because, in combination with slug's, that gave me the chance to do the little Shaman treatise.
Every decklist is one click away in Gatherling, anyway. They're all listed in the tournament page link provided at the beginning, and you can see them better there than with a non-interactive list. Like this, for instance.
I like it. And yeah Searing Spear is probably going to be better most of the time but I have a soft spot for Pit Fight when it comes to green decks.
I thought the 11th Anniversary events would be dumb at first, but I played one and it was really fun. Maybe I feel that way because I went 4-0!
Very nice job at making reasonable decks within cool themes. Sure, these lists aren't about to win a ProTour, but they're more than capable of providing plenty of fun competition online.
I've been having a hoot playing a Gruul Humans deck (GruuMans) which looks very much like your sweet Vampire deck:
4 Experiment One
4 Reckless Waif
4 Burning-Tree Emissary
4 Mayor of Avabruck
4 Hamlet Captain
4 Gore-House Chainwalker
4 Ghor-Clan Rampager
2 Ranger's Guile
4 Searing Spear
3 Gruul Charm
4 Stomping Ground
4 Rootbound Crag
7 Forest
7 Mountain
1 Kessig Wolf Run
Where my list goes off-theme with Chainwalker, yours keeps on-theme with a similar effect in Full Moon's Rise. I'm envious, and wanna try your list!
I'm curious about Pit Fight, though. Am I missing a trick or theme connection? Something like Searing Spear seems so much more versatile to me.
The biggest difference my list would be Gruul Charms and Ranger's Guile. Gruul Charm has been amazing for me - ruining air forces or allowing me to swing unblocked on the ground. Ranger's Guile is an interesting trick I picked up from Zvi's article about GW Humans at SCG (Premium but old enough now that it's open for us to read.) Your Moonmist fits your theme better, and plays a similar role. Nicely done!
All I can say about your UG list, is that the title needs to be "Simic's Gimmicks". Picks up the rhyme better :)
I'm going to look up your previous articles, cuz this one was very enjoyable!
On leagues: What I expect is something close to a mix of what Matt said and paper leagues. If you haven't heard Worth tweeted saying Matt's idea was similar to what they had in planning for leagues. It just would seem to strange to have MTGO and paper have very different "leagues". Leagues are aimed at more casual and less time commitment which is what the paper ones seemed aimed as well.
The 11th anniversary events: The payout isn't anything crazy. It's the constructed DE cost and payout with a bonus farseek.
I am a little surprised you didn't show case my list since being ironic elves it shouldn't hit your criteria for not showing elf decks. Also that game you show us playing was one of the worst of the day for me. Terrible match up, terrible deck. I was lucky to face two less accomplished players in the 2 remaining rounds. As for the singleton sub genre I am not a big fan or foe. It seems rife with combo possibilities where 1 ofs are mandatory and tutors are king. (Natural Order for example which you drew both games.) I am not saying it is a bad format but it isn't particularly fun. Though the DECK building aspect is.
I did consider doing stuff like painter's servant/grind stone, helm of obedience/leyline/energy field/rest in piece but I felt that this would be wrong and not fun to play with. Much less against.
Here is the jank I played and went 2-1 with:
1 Austere Command
1 Thawing Glaciers
1 Skyshroud Poacher
1 Guan Yu's 1,000-Li March
1 Sylvan Messenger
1 Terminus
1 Mountain
1 Nullmage Shepherd
1 Wren's Run Packmaster
1 Nath of the Gilt-Leaf
1 Supreme Verdict
1 Emmara Tandris
1 Oblivion Ring
1 Green Sun's Zenith
1 Teferi's Moat
8 Forest
1 Trostani's Summoner
1 Arid Mesa
1 Wood Elves
1 Detention Sphere
1 Master Biomancer
1 Momir Vig, Simic Visionary
1 Ground Seal
1 Day of Judgment
1 Chord of Calling
1 Tundra
1 Rout
1 Island
1 Savannah
2 Plains
1 Breeding Pool
1 Kaysa
1 Bloodbraid Elf
1 Wrath of God
1 Coiling Oracle
1 Wilt-Leaf Liege
1 Sylvan Library
1 Scrubland
1 Wilt-Leaf Cavaliers
1 Taiga
1 Caller of the Claw
1 Thelonite Hermit
1 Tolsimir Wolfblood
1 Deranged Hermit
1 Yeva, Nature's Herald
1 Oracle of Mul Daya
1 Temple Garden
1 Glare of Subdual
1 Krosan Verge
1 Dryad Arbor
1 Tropical Island
1 Treetop Village
Have to say I'm with Rex on Singleton tribal, and that's speaking as someone who loves Commander. I'll usually play it when it comes up, but I'm almost never happy to see it.
The 11th anniversary event is amazing. 6tix, swiss, and amazing payout is a great combination. My only complaint is the 4 hour time commitment. I would love some "On Demand" system where the sit down time is divided into more reasonable chunks.
I originally had a lot more non-basic hate in the deck, but ended up removing almost all of it. Maybe it was just the people I was playing, but the non-basic hate didn't do a whole lot for me. Lots of people are running basics now, even 5 color players. However, I was really low on creatures for a deck that gave people tons of cards, so the Magus stayed in just to have another body. Plus it can carry equipment if necessary. I dunno, maybe not the best reasoning, but that's what I did.
As for the lack of Ruby Medallion, the majority of the non-land cards in the deck are colorless. It just didn't benefit me enough to warrant an inclusion, as you suggested. A Mind Stone worked out better.
Ive been thinking about why Levi omitted blood moon and don't have good answer. As for medallions they are OK but since they tend to be pricy people find them unnecessary. It is just as easy to play with a couple of mana stones instead.
The problem I see is that while adding cards may make it viable to beat aggro I feel you would lose the edge against esper. They have a faster clock than control decks have had in a while in Aetherling. Going above 60 makes the mazes end deck take longer which the control decks then have time to race.
Ok, I have to ask: why Magus of the Moon and not Blood Moon?
Also, I never played a mono-colored deck without its respective Medallion, but I see people are frequently dismissing them. In your case, is it because this deck plays a lot like a colorless deck?
They just capped this at 4500:
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/other/062...
I'd be surprised if more didn't show up, 5000+ would have been on the cards I reckon.
Thanks man! This one was a little different, but it was fun.
I think the spot you mention Animar only had 4 cards in hand and 15 life. I could have killed the Teysa player for sure though and it would have made killing Animar a lot easier. My problem with Molten Psyche is just losing the cards in hand without using them, but that's just my personal mental block.
Control decks do not need to win right now. They merely need you to not win until they draw their win con. Wrath the board, take out win cons on the opposing side and stall. That's the control plan. As for searching out Maze's End while it is true that diluting your odds of opening with it is significant it isn't a game ender. The question is: What is the correct amount to go over 60?
This requires testing and trial & error deck building. It may be that within this block that the deck won't be able to get it's win con in a timely fashion but I suspect that with Revelation, Counters, Verdicts, Spheres, etc it will be easier than you think.
Rosheen was interesting but this one is really something. I like the style.
Game 1 you missed getting an easy win with Molten Psyche around the 18min mark I think. You got it eventually though.
The problem is that in block there is no way to then search for Maze's End. Each card above 60 means less chance of drawing one, so if it is the only win condition and one that takes some time to set up you want one early. It would take a lot of dig to make up for the more cards which would then mean less interaction giving the opponent more time to win.
I totally agree, particularly with the right math but that's another tuning hassle which is time consuming. Perhaps worthwhile though.