I agree to an extent - I have always admired good Affinity pilots. Knowing how to maximize what the deck does well is a skill not everyone possesses, and really I have said the same thing (without truly meaning it) in the past about dredge players (HOW HARD IS IT TO MULL TO BAZAAR AND TAP A LAND?).
At the same time, I completely understand where Andy is coming from. I think he misused "no skill" - I think he meant it is SUPER linear and the deck basically tells you how to play it - minus the nuances.
Agreed on woof and kuriboh - both spectacular pilots..
Slug really does sound like a movie character! (I'm pretty sure he can also do a good impression of Jabba the Hutt. Which was himself a slug, after all!)
In g.1 you could have blocked the Jitte-equipped Knight and then sacrificed your token blocker with Ravager, preventing him from getting Jitte counters. Because of this, he probably couldn't even attack you. In g.2 the optimal sequence was to play Triskelion, attack, let him activate the Stoneforge (tapping it), sacrifice whatever he blocks the Batterskull with (to prevent lifegain), and if that hasn't killed him, only then use the three Triskelion counters and the modular mechanic to play around instants. Pretty sure you should have 2-0'ed that match. :/
I wasn't talking about the actual programming, but the software planning. Of course, before they actually started programming the beta, the must have had countless meetings where they exchanged ideas about which features from V3 to keep and what to take away.
The program was built from the ground up, sure, but the general idea is certainly the result of the decade-plus of experience running MTGO.
The lag I mentioned is mainly regarding card loading time. I believe the new client leaves all card images in the server, whereas the old one used to download them into your hard drive. Take a look into the drafting portion - right after a new pack arrives for me to choose, it lags for a while until all the cards are shown properly. This, sadly, gets old pretty quickly, giving the new client a sense of "dragging around" for me.
Actually with a template of what works already in existence they didn't need to add spokes individually but could have added on stuff that they knew was wanted/needed in modules.
It is a fact that they decided to redo the design from the ground up but that wasn't their only option. And it seems they didn't first take inventory of what the players like about the old clients. That imho is where much of the frustration and anxiety over v4 comes from.
You seem to be under the impression that they have spent time taking things away, only to add them back later.
The beta is new software. The features it has that exist in the old client have been re-implemented in the new software, and the features it doesn't have have not yet been written for the new client.
The whole reason we are dealing with the beta process is that the old client can't just be patched on to forever. It got to the point that software needed to be rebuilt to do the things they want it to do, both now and in the future.
While that might not necessitate reinventing the wheel, it does require that the wheel be rebuilt, spoke by spoke at times.
Really enjoy the articles, the radkos wins list is what got me into modern so thanks for that!
lol want to try something fun try this zombie horde deck out! i posted the deck list and some videos over at http://mtgostrat.com/2013/03/modern-zombie-horde/ here is a deck that cost me less then a tix to make and I was running rampant in the just for fun room last night. Its super casual but gets great reactions!
Excellent article that I almost missed! Nice to see you continuing with these interviews Kuma :D Welcome and grats to Slug whom I don't think I have interacted with as yet.
Hm. I don't agree with you but that may be my reference from the past. Let me explain...
I stopped playing MTGO a while back when Wizards dropped the team that built the original client and built a new one from scratch. Everybody screamed bloody disaster (and they where right) because Wizards where out of their league. Back to present day and I started playing MTGO again and stepped right into the new client.
It may be my very pessimistic few with these kind of clients but I find it far from laggy. Comparing to when I left MTGO I also find the new client a lot more comprehensable then the old one. Yes there's a LOT of text/windows/graphic-mumbo-jumbo but it works for me.
So now my feelings are mixed. I'm still glad that it's a big step up from the days when I left, but I sure hope that they'll get it up to par with the expectations from all the players who stuck with MTGO and deserve a better client every time they version up.
Looks like a very interesting list. Vengevine is rather expensive for a card that doesn't generally see a lot of play (which is my only real misgiving). However, I will keep this deck in mind. If I can put it together I will.
Not much else to say here, I think you're right in basically everything here. I think especially people figuring out Simic has sped the format up (that is one of the decks I didn't realize the power of early on personally, at least).
Also, am I a criminal for saying that I might like this format as much as triple Innistrad? I really enjoy all the factors you mentioned goes into the skill-intensity (and my MW% is at 75, just below yours).
I would reccomend that for sure, can be so explosive. One thing I would reccomend if do try it is to get Lotus Cobras into the deck. With getting MOCS promos, I completed my playset to try them in the deck. They are very good and give another way to cast Superion.
For future list ideas, you should try out grapplingfarang's creature storm deck, it looks super fun and fairly budget apart from the 'goyfs, which can be substituted for myr superions (which I've actually seen used in addition to 'goyfs in some list). Here's one build, there's others around:
Shortish podcast today it seemed. Nope didn't bother with the PAX coverage at all. Don't care, not interested. Maybe if they held it in NYC...
That post deck sounds interesting. Wish I'd had a chance to test with it. IN Re the spoiled card: I am not that impressed. It is definitely of titanesque proportions and yay for Ogres getting another non-crap card but I think it is not going to be the game over you think it is. I think it is just another tool in the Naya (anti blue) tool box. It will surely see play and surely some decks will be glad to have him but it is exactly the kind of card that I want to steal when playing Love & Theft style decks.
If you're looking to test Eggs, or any other Modern deck for that matter, don't hesitate to send me an MP. Been enjoying your articles a lot, I'd be glad to lend a hand.
I really enjoyed the article, Zach, good job! The only thing I'm sad about is that I didn't think of trying this format instead of my more abstract articles on here. Perhaps I'll give it a try once you've had a few more articles up and people know who brought it back to Pure :)
I left a comment on the Raredraft as well. I think you did very well this draft, and I'm glad you decided to share it as your first. And I guess this means our little LR-Trifecta are now all Pure writers ;)
Looking forward to the next one, be sure to ping me on Gmail or Twitter when it's up :D
Thanks for the reply...I was just curious, no biggie. If my work/kids/class schedule ever loosens up, I'm going to try and make an event or two, thanks again for the article and decklists.
I agree to an extent - I have always admired good Affinity pilots. Knowing how to maximize what the deck does well is a skill not everyone possesses, and really I have said the same thing (without truly meaning it) in the past about dredge players (HOW HARD IS IT TO MULL TO BAZAAR AND TAP A LAND?).
At the same time, I completely understand where Andy is coming from. I think he misused "no skill" - I think he meant it is SUPER linear and the deck basically tells you how to play it - minus the nuances.
Agreed on woof and kuriboh - both spectacular pilots..
Slug really does sound like a movie character! (I'm pretty sure he can also do a good impression of Jabba the Hutt. Which was himself a slug, after all!)
I just want them to take away the 'crashes every time I run it, on my desktop OR my laptop machine' feature.
What a ridiculous deck! Really impressive write-up and I admire all the work put in. Great job man...
In g.1 you could have blocked the Jitte-equipped Knight and then sacrificed your token blocker with Ravager, preventing him from getting Jitte counters. Because of this, he probably couldn't even attack you. In g.2 the optimal sequence was to play Triskelion, attack, let him activate the Stoneforge (tapping it), sacrifice whatever he blocks the Batterskull with (to prevent lifegain), and if that hasn't killed him, only then use the three Triskelion counters and the modular mechanic to play around instants. Pretty sure you should have 2-0'ed that match. :/
I wasn't talking about the actual programming, but the software planning. Of course, before they actually started programming the beta, the must have had countless meetings where they exchanged ideas about which features from V3 to keep and what to take away.
The program was built from the ground up, sure, but the general idea is certainly the result of the decade-plus of experience running MTGO.
The lag I mentioned is mainly regarding card loading time. I believe the new client leaves all card images in the server, whereas the old one used to download them into your hard drive. Take a look into the drafting portion - right after a new pack arrives for me to choose, it lags for a while until all the cards are shown properly. This, sadly, gets old pretty quickly, giving the new client a sense of "dragging around" for me.
Actually with a template of what works already in existence they didn't need to add spokes individually but could have added on stuff that they knew was wanted/needed in modules.
It is a fact that they decided to redo the design from the ground up but that wasn't their only option. And it seems they didn't first take inventory of what the players like about the old clients. That imho is where much of the frustration and anxiety over v4 comes from.
You seem to be under the impression that they have spent time taking things away, only to add them back later.
The beta is new software. The features it has that exist in the old client have been re-implemented in the new software, and the features it doesn't have have not yet been written for the new client.
The whole reason we are dealing with the beta process is that the old client can't just be patched on to forever. It got to the point that software needed to be rebuilt to do the things they want it to do, both now and in the future.
While that might not necessitate reinventing the wheel, it does require that the wheel be rebuilt, spoke by spoke at times.
Thank you very much!
The Zombie Horde deck does look like a lot of fun. Definitely up for giving it a go sometime.
You sound like an action hero.
For those that would like to check out Zach Orts article "The Slow Bleed" you can find the URL here: .
http://puremtgo.com/articles/slow-bleed-gtc-draft-1
I meant to link to this in my article, but I managed to be a dummyhead and forget to include the link :( So... it comes in the comments instead!
Really enjoy the articles, the radkos wins list is what got me into modern so thanks for that!
lol want to try something fun try this zombie horde deck out! i posted the deck list and some videos over at http://mtgostrat.com/2013/03/modern-zombie-horde/ here is a deck that cost me less then a tix to make and I was running rampant in the just for fun room last night. Its super casual but gets great reactions!
Excellent article that I almost missed! Nice to see you continuing with these interviews Kuma :D Welcome and grats to Slug whom I don't think I have interacted with as yet.
Hm. I don't agree with you but that may be my reference from the past. Let me explain...
I stopped playing MTGO a while back when Wizards dropped the team that built the original client and built a new one from scratch. Everybody screamed bloody disaster (and they where right) because Wizards where out of their league. Back to present day and I started playing MTGO again and stepped right into the new client.
It may be my very pessimistic few with these kind of clients but I find it far from laggy. Comparing to when I left MTGO I also find the new client a lot more comprehensable then the old one. Yes there's a LOT of text/windows/graphic-mumbo-jumbo but it works for me.
So now my feelings are mixed. I'm still glad that it's a big step up from the days when I left, but I sure hope that they'll get it up to par with the expectations from all the players who stuck with MTGO and deserve a better client every time they version up.
Thanks for the article!
Peter
Thanks for the suggestion guys.
Looks like a very interesting list. Vengevine is rather expensive for a card that doesn't generally see a lot of play (which is my only real misgiving). However, I will keep this deck in mind. If I can put it together I will.
Not much else to say here, I think you're right in basically everything here. I think especially people figuring out Simic has sped the format up (that is one of the decks I didn't realize the power of early on personally, at least).
Also, am I a criminal for saying that I might like this format as much as triple Innistrad? I really enjoy all the factors you mentioned goes into the skill-intensity (and my MW% is at 75, just below yours).
I would reccomend that for sure, can be so explosive. One thing I would reccomend if do try it is to get Lotus Cobras into the deck. With getting MOCS promos, I completed my playset to try them in the deck. They are very good and give another way to cast Superion.
Thanks a lot.
I might well hold you to that. It definitely helps to have people to test against.
I enjoy the series, keep it up!
For future list ideas, you should try out grapplingfarang's creature storm deck, it looks super fun and fairly budget apart from the 'goyfs, which can be substituted for myr superions (which I've actually seen used in addition to 'goyfs in some list). Here's one build, there's others around:
http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/deck.asp?deck_id=1105538
Shortish podcast today it seemed. Nope didn't bother with the PAX coverage at all. Don't care, not interested. Maybe if they held it in NYC...
That post deck sounds interesting. Wish I'd had a chance to test with it. IN Re the spoiled card: I am not that impressed. It is definitely of titanesque proportions and yay for Ogres getting another non-crap card but I think it is not going to be the game over you think it is. I think it is just another tool in the Naya (anti blue) tool box. It will surely see play and surely some decks will be glad to have him but it is exactly the kind of card that I want to steal when playing Love & Theft style decks.
If you're looking to test Eggs, or any other Modern deck for that matter, don't hesitate to send me an MP. Been enjoying your articles a lot, I'd be glad to lend a hand.
I really enjoyed the article, Zach, good job! The only thing I'm sad about is that I didn't think of trying this format instead of my more abstract articles on here. Perhaps I'll give it a try once you've had a few more articles up and people know who brought it back to Pure :)
I left a comment on the Raredraft as well. I think you did very well this draft, and I'm glad you decided to share it as your first. And I guess this means our little LR-Trifecta are now all Pure writers ;)
Looking forward to the next one, be sure to ping me on Gmail or Twitter when it's up :D
Looking forward to seeing you I understand schedule issues. Take care and good luck
Thanks for the reply...I was just curious, no biggie. If my work/kids/class schedule ever loosens up, I'm going to try and make an event or two, thanks again for the article and decklists.