Yeah, my mic is a real problem. I seem to have lost my old one, and with this one I couldn't find the sweet spot. It was either too far away and you could barely hear me, or like this. Ah well, hopefully I can get another one soon.
Two headed giant in mtgo is a little broken but still fun assuming you don't run into decks that capitalize on its lack of regulation for things like Poison counters and or life manipulation tricks.
RE: the Streamers. During an event like this it is very obvious what is going on so it isn't an attempt to be sneaky. I think without having seen any of the streams that this sounds very casual and unsanctioned.
The definition of sanctioned is a little vague online because there is no usual need for the term. Whether you gain or lose ratings points seems to be irrelevant since no one can tell beside you, and that is being phased out. Playing for prizes doesn't cut it either since WOTC has given prize support to unsanctioned player run events. I think the one thing we can agree on is that Wizards run events usually have sanctioning but not in the case of the cup. So the real question is: does it matter?
Those who stream and share information (in general) or partake in shared information are definitely playing the game in a different manner than it was intended to be played initially. Is it cheating? I think that really depends. Is the streamer playing above their normal level because of the information/advice shared? Is that the crucial reason they are winning? Do they profit from it at all? Does it hinder their play ability?
If we can answer those questions we might be closer to answering the one about what to do about streamers who share information and receive advice.
I agree completely; Is it worth giving up potential damage/pressure early to plan to get more value out of your creatures later? Another card I really think brings this into focus is the preview card Marshall got for the Limited Information column this week; a bear with Extort can also provide that interesting early-game decision.
I really think Skyknight Legionnaire might be a key to triggering early Battalion, by the way. A hasty, evasive three-drop (at common!) is going to be quite devastating if your 1- and 2-drops have Battalion.
To me the interesting/weird thing about battalion is that it's an aggressive mechanic which will actually discourage you from attacking quite often!
Imagine you're playing a boros deck which features quite a few battalion creatures in hand (or in the deck somewhere). It's turn 3, and you and your opponent each have some random bear in play. Do you attack? I think the answer is often going to be no. You need to keep creatures around so that they can form up into battalions later on!
In a normal format, my aggressive boros deck is smashing with its bears ASAP, and I think it's interesting that this aggro mechanic will often encourage the opposite.
Good stuff. One card you missed for the Karn deck is All is Dust. Blow up everyone elses stuff, but doesn't touch yours! Not nearly as onerous as Nevinyrral's Disk with Darksteel Forge. I also like Temporal Aperture for the deck. And Mercadian Atlas is a goofy draw option. I am disappointed that you didn't list the lands that you use though. It's always fun to see stuff that's not often used.
Rayne is super crazy powerful in the right deck, I'm glad you found her. I've been wanting to use Thran Golem in a ton of decks, but he dies TO EVERYTHING! You just blow on him hard and he dies. Make him big and burly with a couple auras, and watch him die to Naturalize. So frustrating. I finally gave up on him after a while.
I like the casual nature of the decks. Good stuff.
You can pay or do their 30-day trial.. or you can do the trial and when it's about the expire, reinstall it to refresh the trial. Not that I know anyone that does that.
Wow, yeah that went pretty well. Bombs for days and a solid strategy to back them up. Second pick Ethereal Armor seemed a little strange to me, but it definitely worked out for you when UW was pretty open. Well done, sir! I'm currently working on an article, and I was wondering what software you used to record your draft and matches?
Emrakul was hardly a Morphling of his time. I don't know if Thrag is too good for Standard; it could easily be argued either way. What I do know is there were 16 copies of him in the most recent SCG Open Top 8, 21 copies in the Super IQ Top 8, and 15 and 16 copies in both of the invitational Top 8s...assuming I counted those correctly. These of course being the most recently recorded SCG Standard events. The Daily Events look pretty similar. In the last recorded event of the 4 win decklists, I count 22 copies. Whether or not these numbers are acceptable remains to be said. I don't have any numbers on tournament attendance, but I wouldn't say event participation seems to be dwindling. As long as packs are being sold, and tournament attendance is flourishing, I can't see Thrag going anywhere.
Obviously not EVERY game, no, but it goes a very long way to win it. Is that your definition of OP? A card that auto-wins? If so, we have different definitions.
I'm not arguing for Thragtusk, just for Jace. As a matter of a fact, I don't even play standard anymore, and I haven't since the Jace era. Jace absolutely defined the format until he was banned though.
People always like to complain about whatever the new flavor is. It was Delver less than a year ago, but now that the meta has shifted Delver barely sees any play.
Also, on your examples, Tolarian Academy is quite possibly the best land ever printed, so the gripes at that time were justified. Also, Psychatog was pretty dominant during his time in the spotlight.
This argument reminds me of the old Fires of Yavimaya brewhaha back when Invasion was new. So much ado over very little. Yes Thragtusk is a great card and probably better than most creatures in it's category however it is not unanswerable and is not a winner by itself.
Any more than Oblivion Ring, Detention Sphere, Liliana of the Veil, Garruk, Primal Hunter, Restoration Angel, Cavern of Souls, Dissipate, Sever the Bloodline, Supreme Verdict, Snapcaster Mage, Geist of St Traft, Delver of Secrets, Sublime Archangel, Huntmaster of the Fells, Falkenrath Aristocrat, Lingering Souls, Faithless Looting, Unburial Rites or any of the other myriad cards and strategies available are.
That he is extremely playable and fits well into multiple strategies can't be denied but so what? He is not the Morphling of his time. (Another cause celeb for all the whiners when Urza Block was new.) Nor even the Cursed Scroll of his time. Remember how people complained about that card?? How about Cadaverous Bloom? Now there was a linear strategy...Tolarian Academy ring any bells. And so on.
I for one am glad Wizards still knows how to make good creatures without them being Emrakul (a mistake imho if any of these are.)
I remember when Jace was in standard. Decks that would have failed without Jace made top 8 with him in. Players built decks just to have him in there. They'd put in card draw, removal, Jace and maybe 4 creatures.
Thragtusk feels the same way. Decks that play him would lose without his lifegain. The extra creature can be worked around, but gaining life in standard is really hard to deal with because there aren't as many combo decks. So you're left playing with Thragtusk (in which you are on the same playing field as your opponent) and you're playing a strategy designed to beat him, one in which you can hit for tons of points (ie, Township tokens) or a deck where lifegain doesn't matter (Omnidoor).
I have tried repeatedly to get into standard over the years, and while I like Return to Ravnica, I find that one overpowered card is enough to warp the format. In eternal formats, there are more answers, so you don't have to worry as much (or you can go off faster).
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Of course he had cohorts, you can't have a deck with 56 land and 4 of one card. Jace defined standard when he was in it. You could argue that Stoneforge was as integral to Cawblade as Jace, but there is a reason the song was JTMS better than all and not Stoneforge Mystic better than all.
My bet for pauper these days would be Storm, Faeries, or Cloudpost. They all have a good shot at winning and I'd say it comes down to what you'd prefer, combo, tempo, or control. It's like rock-paper-scissors with those three, storm is favored versus post but loses to faeries, etc.
You can also just click on the person's name and it shows the image of their deck in the article it gets too long if we dont use the show/hide coding
Never mind, I found them...
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Digital/MagicOnlineTourn.aspx?x=mtg/digital...
Are there links to the decklists you guys are talking about? I thought WOTC wasn't posting them anymore.
Yeah, my mic is a real problem. I seem to have lost my old one, and with this one I couldn't find the sweet spot. It was either too far away and you could barely hear me, or like this. Ah well, hopefully I can get another one soon.
Great article but move the mic a little further from your mouth next time? When you spoke it sounded like you were in a wind tunnel!
Best QWERTY Phones - texting and messaging phones - MobileTechReview.
Two headed giant in mtgo is a little broken but still fun assuming you don't run into decks that capitalize on its lack of regulation for things like Poison counters and or life manipulation tricks.
RE: the Streamers. During an event like this it is very obvious what is going on so it isn't an attempt to be sneaky. I think without having seen any of the streams that this sounds very casual and unsanctioned.
The definition of sanctioned is a little vague online because there is no usual need for the term. Whether you gain or lose ratings points seems to be irrelevant since no one can tell beside you, and that is being phased out. Playing for prizes doesn't cut it either since WOTC has given prize support to unsanctioned player run events. I think the one thing we can agree on is that Wizards run events usually have sanctioning but not in the case of the cup. So the real question is: does it matter?
Those who stream and share information (in general) or partake in shared information are definitely playing the game in a different manner than it was intended to be played initially. Is it cheating? I think that really depends. Is the streamer playing above their normal level because of the information/advice shared? Is that the crucial reason they are winning? Do they profit from it at all? Does it hinder their play ability?
If we can answer those questions we might be closer to answering the one about what to do about streamers who share information and receive advice.
I agree completely; Is it worth giving up potential damage/pressure early to plan to get more value out of your creatures later? Another card I really think brings this into focus is the preview card Marshall got for the Limited Information column this week; a bear with Extort can also provide that interesting early-game decision.
I really think Skyknight Legionnaire might be a key to triggering early Battalion, by the way. A hasty, evasive three-drop (at common!) is going to be quite devastating if your 1- and 2-drops have Battalion.
He may die, but at least we can draw two cards.
I like the All Is Dust idea too. Not sure how I missed that one.
To me the interesting/weird thing about battalion is that it's an aggressive mechanic which will actually discourage you from attacking quite often!
Imagine you're playing a boros deck which features quite a few battalion creatures in hand (or in the deck somewhere). It's turn 3, and you and your opponent each have some random bear in play. Do you attack? I think the answer is often going to be no. You need to keep creatures around so that they can form up into battalions later on!
In a normal format, my aggressive boros deck is smashing with its bears ASAP, and I think it's interesting that this aggro mechanic will often encourage the opposite.
Heh, my number one thought was 'Where's the All is Dust?', but it's a good colorless control list.
Good stuff. One card you missed for the Karn deck is All is Dust. Blow up everyone elses stuff, but doesn't touch yours! Not nearly as onerous as Nevinyrral's Disk with Darksteel Forge. I also like Temporal Aperture for the deck. And Mercadian Atlas is a goofy draw option. I am disappointed that you didn't list the lands that you use though. It's always fun to see stuff that's not often used.
Rayne is super crazy powerful in the right deck, I'm glad you found her. I've been wanting to use Thran Golem in a ton of decks, but he dies TO EVERYTHING! You just blow on him hard and he dies. Make him big and burly with a couple auras, and watch him die to Naturalize. So frustrating. I finally gave up on him after a while.
I like the casual nature of the decks. Good stuff.
I use Camtasia Studio 8 to record / edit / produce. You can find it here:
http://www.techsmith.com/download/camtasia/default.asp
You can pay or do their 30-day trial.. or you can do the trial and when it's about the expire, reinstall it to refresh the trial. Not that I know anyone that does that.
Wow, yeah that went pretty well. Bombs for days and a solid strategy to back them up. Second pick Ethereal Armor seemed a little strange to me, but it definitely worked out for you when UW was pretty open. Well done, sir! I'm currently working on an article, and I was wondering what software you used to record your draft and matches?
Emrakul was hardly a Morphling of his time. I don't know if Thrag is too good for Standard; it could easily be argued either way. What I do know is there were 16 copies of him in the most recent SCG Open Top 8, 21 copies in the Super IQ Top 8, and 15 and 16 copies in both of the invitational Top 8s...assuming I counted those correctly. These of course being the most recently recorded SCG Standard events. The Daily Events look pretty similar. In the last recorded event of the 4 win decklists, I count 22 copies. Whether or not these numbers are acceptable remains to be said. I don't have any numbers on tournament attendance, but I wouldn't say event participation seems to be dwindling. As long as packs are being sold, and tournament attendance is flourishing, I can't see Thrag going anywhere.
Obviously not EVERY game, no, but it goes a very long way to win it. Is that your definition of OP? A card that auto-wins? If so, we have different definitions.
I'm not arguing for Thragtusk, just for Jace. As a matter of a fact, I don't even play standard anymore, and I haven't since the Jace era. Jace absolutely defined the format until he was banned though.
People always like to complain about whatever the new flavor is. It was Delver less than a year ago, but now that the meta has shifted Delver barely sees any play.
Also, on your examples, Tolarian Academy is quite possibly the best land ever printed, so the gripes at that time were justified. Also, Psychatog was pretty dominant during his time in the spotlight.
I bet since Pete was hurried this week (as is often the case) he cut and paste and forgot to change them.
Something is wrong with the price tables this week.
"Last week prices" this week match "Last week prices" from Dec 28th.
This argument reminds me of the old Fires of Yavimaya brewhaha back when Invasion was new. So much ado over very little. Yes Thragtusk is a great card and probably better than most creatures in it's category however it is not unanswerable and is not a winner by itself.
Any more than Oblivion Ring, Detention Sphere, Liliana of the Veil, Garruk, Primal Hunter, Restoration Angel, Cavern of Souls, Dissipate, Sever the Bloodline, Supreme Verdict, Snapcaster Mage, Geist of St Traft, Delver of Secrets, Sublime Archangel, Huntmaster of the Fells, Falkenrath Aristocrat, Lingering Souls, Faithless Looting, Unburial Rites or any of the other myriad cards and strategies available are.
That he is extremely playable and fits well into multiple strategies can't be denied but so what? He is not the Morphling of his time. (Another cause celeb for all the whiners when Urza Block was new.) Nor even the Cursed Scroll of his time. Remember how people complained about that card?? How about Cadaverous Bloom? Now there was a linear strategy...Tolarian Academy ring any bells. And so on.
I for one am glad Wizards still knows how to make good creatures without them being Emrakul (a mistake imho if any of these are.)
I remember when Jace was in standard. Decks that would have failed without Jace made top 8 with him in. Players built decks just to have him in there. They'd put in card draw, removal, Jace and maybe 4 creatures.
Thragtusk feels the same way. Decks that play him would lose without his lifegain. The extra creature can be worked around, but gaining life in standard is really hard to deal with because there aren't as many combo decks. So you're left playing with Thragtusk (in which you are on the same playing field as your opponent) and you're playing a strategy designed to beat him, one in which you can hit for tons of points (ie, Township tokens) or a deck where lifegain doesn't matter (Omnidoor).
I have tried repeatedly to get into standard over the years, and while I like Return to Ravnica, I find that one overpowered card is enough to warp the format. In eternal formats, there are more answers, so you don't have to worry as much (or you can go off faster).
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Of course he had cohorts, you can't have a deck with 56 land and 4 of one card. Jace defined standard when he was in it. You could argue that Stoneforge was as integral to Cawblade as Jace, but there is a reason the song was JTMS better than all and not Stoneforge Mystic better than all.
And yet do you win every game you see him on your side? Does your opponent auto win if he resolves?
My bet for pauper these days would be Storm, Faeries, or Cloudpost. They all have a good shot at winning and I'd say it comes down to what you'd prefer, combo, tempo, or control. It's like rock-paper-scissors with those three, storm is favored versus post but loses to faeries, etc.