Thanks for the ideas procrastination, and I have thought of the five at a time rule and lets just say my next article will have some major overhaul on several things in the project.
As far as samurai go for Modern, I think that Samurai of the Pale Curtain is probably the most relevant. It's ability can shut down cards like Kitchen Finks, Murderous Redcap and Arcbound Ravager. It also "reduces" the power of other cards like Sun Titan/Knight of the Reliquary/Eternal Witness/Grim Lavamancer if you get it down early enough. D
Don't forget that the Changelings from Lorwyn block also count as Samurai for fun "samurai" equipment shenanigans.
I do have one further suggestion. While JMS originally only did 5 changes at a time, I think in a format as large as Modern, that only doing 5 changes at a time won't accomplish as much as it would have back in say, Standard. Especially in the current now of MTGO where most cards are extremely cheap and easy to procure. With very little cost, all of the available samurai and a ton of other solid playable cards can be acquired and you can very rapidly boil the deck down to the what you feel is the "strongest" (yet still thrifty) end result. I feel that slow rolling the changes just won't keep up the interest. Plus, there are a LOT of precons to tinker with, taking more than 2 weeks on just one could get dull.
Hehe, I've been loading and giving decks to people via chat for years now and I am pretty sure if anyone told Blippy how to do it before he discovered it for himself it was me or Kuma. (This is generally how teammates trade info and help each other tune decks for 2hg pre tourney.)
I think this is a case of a fairly obvious use of the system as designed occurring to many people over time.
Glad I finally got to play in a WAFTT! It was fun to finally try out some Modern online. I'm bummed that I played pretty poorly in my last game vs. Kumagoro, so hopefully next time I'll present a much better challenge!
Also, I feel like I helped "inspire" the whole saving your decklist as a .txt content of this article...so yeah, you're welcome? : )
Hopefully I'll be able to hop in to another one of your events this week. It was run very smoothly...wish some of the local stores could pull off tournaments this well.
Since Pro Tour Gatecrash Qualifiers are going to be M13 Sealed until October 5, 2012, I was considering doing a sealed overview for my next article, and then going back to draft in the article after that. The question is: Would you rather see a Sealed overview first, or a follow-up to the draft Overview?
Anyone concerned with the possibility of Power 9 coming online also has a good option in playing a deck like Green White Hate or Dredge which are basically vintage decks already. Hope to see you in the tournament though Paul!
First, I want to thank you guys for the shout out. We've had a very favorable response thus far, and we are hoping to fill out the registrations as we move closer to the Saturday deadline. Prizes are also being collected and we are working to secure some sponsorships as well, though nothing definitive to report thus far.
With regards to the "out clause" with Vintage, it was something we had to do, for better or worse. If Vintage comes along in the middle of this, finding people to support a format that would immediately be dead would be difficult, and it would diminish the efforts of those that worked hard to qualify. Prices for the P9 will be what the market dictates, and ultimately would depend on how WotC decides to release/distribute the cards. The worst case scenario would be that WotC announces the P9 to be released with only a few weeks to spare before the start of a QT and or the Invitational. Considering that they would very unlikely release P9 at the same time as a major set would leave me to believe that we would have at least 4 week notice.
I also find searching for "Human" is good, this way you'll find any person selling of their won boosters. Be careful on the price though, sometimes bots are cheaper, sometimes humans are.
It is certainly a nice achievement to take down one of those RE events! However, as a certain podcast personality says, it is "Results-Oriented Thinking" to use a high finish as proof of a high EV. Most players in the same tournament lost value.
Maybe you can use your prize packs to polish your 4-pack sealed game. Detailed record-keeping might be just what you need to see how you can turn a profit in those events.
You're right, I just remembered Ayanam1 playing Bitterblossom (for his first time ever in any format, like me) in his Soul Sisters/Sorin 2.0 deck. (I think I subconsciously took inspiration from that, since the mechanic of lifegaining+token generators was there as well, and it was a great build.)
I was looking at vantar6697's statistics in the Popularity Survey, that don't show any Bitterblossom as of Week 77. I assume there's a mistake there. The week you mention was week 59. Weird that Bitter was at zero and then two different decks came in the same week, anyway. :)
Bitterblossom for me is the go-to card when you need a fast, reliable token generator, mainly for defense purposes (if you watch the game I linked, the faerie tokens have been used almost uniquely as chump blockers vs. AJ Angels, keeping them in check long enough to achieve card advantage and board superiority.) In this specific case, I worked backwards, because Bitterblossom was the latest addition to my collection and I wanted to take it for a ride. But I could have started with wanting a token deck in Golgari colors (Golgari is possibly my current favorite guild, and the one I spent more efforts collection-wise, to the point of having 4 Bayous and 2 Pernicious Deeds even.) Off the top of my mind, it would involve either Bitter or Awakening Zone. Initially I had the Liege there too, and Awakening wouldn't be right for him.
I'll definitely play Bitter again because it's very fun, and poses some interesting questions, like what you do with all these early tokens? Just expecting for them to land some damage on their own is a bad, or at least unexciting battleplan. (Blades? Never!) And how do you stop the life hemorrhage? Against burn decks that's bound to make you lose the game. Essence Warden, the "green soul sister", is both an easy answer and one that opens interesting scenarios, first of all going with Shamans, a strong tribe overall that's mainly used in red. Also: what do you do as an opponent, you kill the Warden on sight to dismantle the interaction with Bitterblossom? Only to remain without removals when Master of the Wild Hunt comes to seize the board two turns later?
Awesome, was hoping it wouldn't just be a once-off on each precon.
One other question: so far it seems the cards you're going for are nice and cheap to buy; is that something you're aiming for in every article (which would be great) or was it just coincidence this time?
I think the prices would stay high for a long time unless there was an inundation. That might occur but if it didn't there would be some very unhappy campers stuck out in the cold.
I think the release and scheduled events have good EV, i was down around 50 tickets doing 4 pack sealed and then won a RE - M13 Sealed Swiss and took first clearing 45 packs putting myself back in the green
I'd definitely use % as the measure, not # placings. 5% average over a sustained period of time seems reasonable.
I feel like it'd be nice to have "rogue" on the chart too, just to see if there's any interesting trends in the meta becoming more or less streamlined at times.
Kuma, small correction: Bitterblossom HAS been played, there were 8 copies in the Top 4 in a single week in fact. Way back in February, I ran 4 in my 4th place UB faeries deck, and somebody that same week ran 4 in a 1st or 2nd place B/W Tokens (soul sisters) deck. It promptly vanished again, as far as I know.
BB is a card that is extremely good in fae decks that take advantage of it for tribal synergies, but also decks that can just use the tokens, or can use triggers off creatures entering play. But I don't think it's just good in every deck that might want small black fliers, the way Punishing Grove is good in nearly EVERY deck that wants to kill small creatures. BB is above the power curve, but legacy is a huge format and you could say that about alot of cards.
Anyhow, just my opinion, but if BB is the card that brings your deck to life, it would be silly to leave it on the shelf just because it happened to say "tribal enchantment - faerie" on it. And personally, I just love that Rebecca Guay art and I will always take an opportunity to have one of her cards sitting in play all game :-)
I can see your point, but i think you would have more time to find the power pieces than you think. Here is how I understand it.
Let's pretend that we are playing in the second QT (the one following the release of Return to Ravnica, putting this tournament starting roughly the beginning of November), and after the first week of the tournament, the announce the release of power 9 during thanksgiving (again, imaginary scenario). As i understand it, that QT would continue to be classic, and Vintage would take effect in the NEXT QT, which would begin 2 weeks after the release of Cagecrash (roughly the middle of February).
So people would have some time to hunt down the jewelry they need.
Nice write up.
I think you should link your two articles about why WoTc should support std pauper in any article you do on std pauper.
:)
Thanks for the ideas procrastination, and I have thought of the five at a time rule and lets just say my next article will have some major overhaul on several things in the project.
Great stuff as always. I think I'd prefer to see some stuff on sealed as it will be more valuable in the short term.
very cool! thanks for the link!
As far as samurai go for Modern, I think that Samurai of the Pale Curtain is probably the most relevant. It's ability can shut down cards like Kitchen Finks, Murderous Redcap and Arcbound Ravager. It also "reduces" the power of other cards like Sun Titan/Knight of the Reliquary/Eternal Witness/Grim Lavamancer if you get it down early enough. D
Don't forget that the Changelings from Lorwyn block also count as Samurai for fun "samurai" equipment shenanigans.
I do have one further suggestion. While JMS originally only did 5 changes at a time, I think in a format as large as Modern, that only doing 5 changes at a time won't accomplish as much as it would have back in say, Standard. Especially in the current now of MTGO where most cards are extremely cheap and easy to procure. With very little cost, all of the available samurai and a ton of other solid playable cards can be acquired and you can very rapidly boil the deck down to the what you feel is the "strongest" (yet still thrifty) end result. I feel that slow rolling the changes just won't keep up the interest. Plus, there are a LOT of precons to tinker with, taking more than 2 weeks on just one could get dull.
A great effort though and keep writing!
Hehe, I've been loading and giving decks to people via chat for years now and I am pretty sure if anyone told Blippy how to do it before he discovered it for himself it was me or Kuma. (This is generally how teammates trade info and help each other tune decks for 2hg pre tourney.)
I think this is a case of a fairly obvious use of the system as designed occurring to many people over time.
Glad I finally got to play in a WAFTT! It was fun to finally try out some Modern online. I'm bummed that I played pretty poorly in my last game vs. Kumagoro, so hopefully next time I'll present a much better challenge!
Also, I feel like I helped "inspire" the whole saving your decklist as a .txt content of this article...so yeah, you're welcome? : )
Hopefully I'll be able to hop in to another one of your events this week. It was run very smoothly...wish some of the local stores could pull off tournaments this well.
I would prefer a follow up to the draft overview, but a lot of people would probably find the sealed overview more helpful.
As it stands I don't have confidence in the few classic decks I can build that have some $ in them.
Also, I'd like to ask a question:
Since Pro Tour Gatecrash Qualifiers are going to be M13 Sealed until October 5, 2012, I was considering doing a sealed overview for my next article, and then going back to draft in the article after that. The question is: Would you rather see a Sealed overview first, or a follow-up to the draft Overview?
Anyone concerned with the possibility of Power 9 coming online also has a good option in playing a deck like Green White Hate or Dredge which are basically vintage decks already. Hope to see you in the tournament though Paul!
First, I want to thank you guys for the shout out. We've had a very favorable response thus far, and we are hoping to fill out the registrations as we move closer to the Saturday deadline. Prizes are also being collected and we are working to secure some sponsorships as well, though nothing definitive to report thus far.
With regards to the "out clause" with Vintage, it was something we had to do, for better or worse. If Vintage comes along in the middle of this, finding people to support a format that would immediately be dead would be difficult, and it would diminish the efforts of those that worked hard to qualify. Prices for the P9 will be what the market dictates, and ultimately would depend on how WotC decides to release/distribute the cards. The worst case scenario would be that WotC announces the P9 to be released with only a few weeks to spare before the start of a QT and or the Invitational. Considering that they would very unlikely release P9 at the same time as a major set would leave me to believe that we would have at least 4 week notice.
Thanks again for the shout out!
I also find searching for "Human" is good, this way you'll find any person selling of their won boosters. Be careful on the price though, sometimes bots are cheaper, sometimes humans are.
JerkyGunner, it actuallt matters on the precon but I think the majority of the decks I cover will be cheap.
It is certainly a nice achievement to take down one of those RE events! However, as a certain podcast personality says, it is "Results-Oriented Thinking" to use a high finish as proof of a high EV. Most players in the same tournament lost value.
Maybe you can use your prize packs to polish your 4-pack sealed game. Detailed record-keeping might be just what you need to see how you can turn a profit in those events.
Good luck in the Release Championship!
das ist so abstrakt....
Obv Abstract66 is the English translation of Abstrakt66 who in turn is clan captain of Clan Magic Eternal and diamond geezer.
You're right, I just remembered Ayanam1 playing Bitterblossom (for his first time ever in any format, like me) in his Soul Sisters/Sorin 2.0 deck. (I think I subconsciously took inspiration from that, since the mechanic of lifegaining+token generators was there as well, and it was a great build.)
I was looking at vantar6697's statistics in the Popularity Survey, that don't show any Bitterblossom as of Week 77. I assume there's a mistake there. The week you mention was week 59. Weird that Bitter was at zero and then two different decks came in the same week, anyway. :)
Bitterblossom for me is the go-to card when you need a fast, reliable token generator, mainly for defense purposes (if you watch the game I linked, the faerie tokens have been used almost uniquely as chump blockers vs. AJ Angels, keeping them in check long enough to achieve card advantage and board superiority.) In this specific case, I worked backwards, because Bitterblossom was the latest addition to my collection and I wanted to take it for a ride. But I could have started with wanting a token deck in Golgari colors (Golgari is possibly my current favorite guild, and the one I spent more efforts collection-wise, to the point of having 4 Bayous and 2 Pernicious Deeds even.) Off the top of my mind, it would involve either Bitter or Awakening Zone. Initially I had the Liege there too, and Awakening wouldn't be right for him.
I'll definitely play Bitter again because it's very fun, and poses some interesting questions, like what you do with all these early tokens? Just expecting for them to land some damage on their own is a bad, or at least unexciting battleplan. (Blades? Never!) And how do you stop the life hemorrhage? Against burn decks that's bound to make you lose the game. Essence Warden, the "green soul sister", is both an easy answer and one that opens interesting scenarios, first of all going with Shamans, a strong tribe overall that's mainly used in red. Also: what do you do as an opponent, you kill the Warden on sight to dismantle the interaction with Bitterblossom? Only to remain without removals when Master of the Wild Hunt comes to seize the board two turns later?
Awesome, was hoping it wouldn't just be a once-off on each precon.
One other question: so far it seems the cards you're going for are nice and cheap to buy; is that something you're aiming for in every article (which would be great) or was it just coincidence this time?
Winning is usually good ev. :)
I think the prices would stay high for a long time unless there was an inundation. That might occur but if it didn't there would be some very unhappy campers stuck out in the cold.
I think the release and scheduled events have good EV, i was down around 50 tickets doing 4 pack sealed and then won a RE - M13 Sealed Swiss and took first clearing 45 packs putting myself back in the green
on point with the ideas today man appreciate it! lol
I'd definitely use % as the measure, not # placings. 5% average over a sustained period of time seems reasonable.
I feel like it'd be nice to have "rogue" on the chart too, just to see if there's any interesting trends in the meta becoming more or less streamlined at times.
Kuma, small correction: Bitterblossom HAS been played, there were 8 copies in the Top 4 in a single week in fact. Way back in February, I ran 4 in my 4th place UB faeries deck, and somebody that same week ran 4 in a 1st or 2nd place B/W Tokens (soul sisters) deck. It promptly vanished again, as far as I know.
BB is a card that is extremely good in fae decks that take advantage of it for tribal synergies, but also decks that can just use the tokens, or can use triggers off creatures entering play. But I don't think it's just good in every deck that might want small black fliers, the way Punishing Grove is good in nearly EVERY deck that wants to kill small creatures. BB is above the power curve, but legacy is a huge format and you could say that about alot of cards.
Anyhow, just my opinion, but if BB is the card that brings your deck to life, it would be silly to leave it on the shelf just because it happened to say "tribal enchantment - faerie" on it. And personally, I just love that Rebecca Guay art and I will always take an opportunity to have one of her cards sitting in play all game :-)
I can see your point, but i think you would have more time to find the power pieces than you think. Here is how I understand it.
Let's pretend that we are playing in the second QT (the one following the release of Return to Ravnica, putting this tournament starting roughly the beginning of November), and after the first week of the tournament, the announce the release of power 9 during thanksgiving (again, imaginary scenario). As i understand it, that QT would continue to be classic, and Vintage would take effect in the NEXT QT, which would begin 2 weeks after the release of Cagecrash (roughly the middle of February).
So people would have some time to hunt down the jewelry they need.