You can qualify for Worlds on MTGO, that's how this year's Worlds winner made it. He had to get/buy/trade for the paper cards in order to play in the constructed portions of the event.
I'm the content manager, I decide what goes up on the site, I thought this article was fine, and I stand by my decision to publish it. I do not believe that the writer was just writing to get paid, and yes while it does not polishing I believe there has been enough good feedback to send the writer into the correct direction.
I've had the same thoughts about magic and other games as well, especially subscription based ones.
In the end I follow the same system as LE mentions.
I only play draft/sealed for competitive play.
My collection is geared for commander play not competitive constructed.
Sometimes I'll toss together a deck for casual 1v1 and end up losing a streak to various tier 3 combo decks.
When I get totally down about playing the game myself but still have the craving for Magic, I lurk tables.
I lurk tables a lot.
Watching friends and clannies play and making smalltalk is about as close as it gets to cardshop socializing online.
The more full sets released online the better. I love playing Vintage/Classic Workshop, and it annoys me that we don't have a functional form of City in a Bottle online, seeing as it's excellent in the Dredge matchup.
My first stint at Magic also game during the Fallen Empires, Ice Age, Homelands time. The cards might be terrible looking through today's lens, but they were fun back then. Of course, I'm not sure anyone in my group ever drafted. You just opened the packs, threw them into your collection, and started building decks.
I mostly agree, and I've since stepped back a lot and started focusing on other ways to play. Me and my wife even picked up an Ajani vs Bolas Duel Deck and have been having a lot of fun with that. I've also been playing more Pauper, and that's been a ton of fun as well.
My problem is I miss the FNM scene too much, and DE's fill that void for the time being. That said, I've limited myself to 1-2 a week, and only if it doesn't take a hit on my time doing other things.
Finally, I so... so wish I could enjoy Commander, but I can't. I'm not patient enough to sit through all the triggers from multiple players. I love playing at a table, but online I just can't make myself sit through a whole game XD
Not having Mountain Goat online is awful. I die a little bit inside when I think about it. Good series though, there's definitely some nostalgia value for someone like me that started playing with: Ice Age, Fallen Empires, and Homelands (and kept playing even!)
Even though I don't play at the DE level or even the FNM level anymore I can certain identify with your story. In fact one of the reasons I don't post play by play articles anymore is there is nothing interesting to see here, typically. Well like for instance this weekend I played in the Tribal Apoc PRE (purely by accident as I walked in just as Blippy needed one more person to even the lists so I agreed and pulled out my "Boaring" Naya deck which lost game 1 almost immediately to Zubera combo (lifeline, zuberas, phyrexian arenas)).
Game 2 he failed to go off and my aggroish start gave me a chance to win and yet I flubbed it and lost the opportunity and then the match after a longer much more complicated end game. I guess if you were watching that game youd have seen numerous little (perhaps even tiny) play errors on both sides. (My opponent gave me extra turns to try and come back from defeat when he had the win in front of him for example and I did not manage to fully capitalize on these plays.)
Match two I faced horrible mulligans (to 4 in game 1 and a nonkeeper in game 2 that I kept anyway because it had two lands.) And in both games it ended on turn 4 with my opp rushing out lots of landfall cats ftw. Naya Landfall isn't typically a great deck but it can finish fast.
Usually after I lose 0-2 as I did in this PRE I go sulk a little and maybe even let people know how peod I am. That day I didn't genuinely feel anything of the sort. It was a bad deck that I piloted just because it was funny and somewhat fun to play (Never did get the Stoneforge Basilisk collar start or the Coalhauler Swine Savage Twister finish that I dreamed about when I made the deck. And yet it wasn't horrible either.)
It isn't that Ive stopped caring about winning but that I decided that it doesn't matter enough to ruin the rest of my afternoon. The game is important to me (hence Ive managed to find ways to continue writing and being involved in it despite my intensely long Tribal Apocalypse losing streaks. No 3-x wins since before Flips stopped running it and few even 2-x) I and I have had some small successes in other PREs (SNM with _Kumagoro_ who is a blast to partner with, and Chaos EDH where I seem to luck into wins a lot more frequently than I would expect.)
My point is that if there is a moral to your tale it is this: "Adjust your game or yourself until you aren't unhappy with it. There is no point in repeatedly engaging in an activity that only makes you unhappy."
I went through the same period you described in the article. And no, it wasen't close or similar. It was exactly the same thing! It was the first days/weeks of ZEN Block Constructed and no matter what I was doing I was losing. My opponents always had that critical card in their hand, I always had bad luck, I was always top-decking a land while they were top-decking their win condition.... Basically all the things you wrote in the article.
So I do know what I'm saying and what I'm saying is this: Stop trying for a while. The harder you try the worst the results will be. STOP playing competitive Magic for a while. You must have a clear mind when playing in tournaments and no, you don't have that at the moment. I KNOW you don't!
So this is the time for you to start playing Commander, Pauper, casual Magic or attend a few PREs at weekends. This is the time for you to calm down and relax.
Stop playing competitively until Dark Ascension comes. It will happen in ~3 months and that is enough time for you to enjoy other aspects of Magic Online. Trust me, I know what I'm saying. If you play in the next DE, it will either be 2-2 or 1-3 (or worse such as 0-2 drop). With your current state of mind there is no chance that it will be better. Just trust me. And hey; Commander is tons of fun! Read Leviathan if you don't believe me!
The bottom line: Competitive Magic is not the only way one can enjoy MTGO. And apparently it's time for you to relax and have fun when you're online. And after this period is over, you'll see how things will get better.
Thanks for the League shout out. I completely agree that the #1 reason for the increased DE attendance is the heightened communication/coordination among players. Definitely there is no one person who is responsible and this has been a great community effort! =D
This article dropped off the main page too quickly for how fun it is.
Some ideas:
Maybe they can airbrush out the hoods on Invoke Prejudice the same way they airbrushed out the pentagram in 4th Edition Unholy Strength (btw, that art needs to come online, too, in order for everything to be complete).
How about one more Masters Edition to get the last valuable cards online, then anything that's left you can buy directly from WOTC at 27c each (the cost of a card in a booster).
Not sure why you are leaving out the three Portals, two Starters, and six core sets. We don't have enough Air Elementals online.
One time drafts of these sets would be really fun holiday things and would make these cards worth something due to scarcity. Einstein Presence of the Master in a Masters Edition set: 4 cents. That same card from Legends if it was only draftable for two weeks: maybe a dollar!
Or Momir-style drafts for these. You don't draft the cards, you just start with a handful of land. During your draw step, you get a random card from the set. You can play a land and cast a spell from your hand or at random Momir-style, but the random one you get will be from the set as well. At the end of the game, you walk away with the random cards you got. This would actually make ante cards playable online, as you could steal cards that didn't actually belong to your opponent yet.
Haha I did play the vga remake -- after about 8 years of anticipation! It was good, especially the upgraded combat system. I do kind of wish they had actually redrawn each screen instead of just tracing the originals and increasing the colors/resolution. Like what Sierra did with their official qfg1 remake.
problem for lili is that black just isnt that great in the meta atm, and tokens being a fairly big thing doesn't help. Also so many creatures that get play give you an advantage when then etb or die so that hurts her too. She's still insanely good, but then it took Jace till BB elf was gone to take over and I suppose SOM block rotating may do similar things for lili though not as much since comparing her to jace is just silly. She's still one of the best walkers ever printed for her cc but nothing like Jace. Black is a better answer than problem color atm and the problem cards (like shrine of burning rage, mirran crusader, prim titan ect) are just so much better than the answers atm.
Currently working on those. :)
You can qualify for Worlds on MTGO, that's how this year's Worlds winner made it. He had to get/buy/trade for the paper cards in order to play in the constructed portions of the event.
Have deleted comments that I felt were non constructive and attacking in nature. If you want to fight take it in game, not in the comments please.
I'm the content manager, I decide what goes up on the site, I thought this article was fine, and I stand by my decision to publish it. I do not believe that the writer was just writing to get paid, and yes while it does not polishing I believe there has been enough good feedback to send the writer into the correct direction.
Have deleted comments that I felt were non constructive and attacking in nature. If you want to fight take it in game, not in the comments please.
I've seen you lurking at commander tables. You're welcome to watch me lose anytime. :d
Keep them comin' Rick.
Let's see some drafts too.
I missed you, Jake.
Nice. you seem to still have it. rusty or not.
I imagine school is taking a bunch of your time.
I've had the same thoughts about magic and other games as well, especially subscription based ones.
In the end I follow the same system as LE mentions.
I only play draft/sealed for competitive play.
My collection is geared for commander play not competitive constructed.
Sometimes I'll toss together a deck for casual 1v1 and end up losing a streak to various tier 3 combo decks.
When I get totally down about playing the game myself but still have the craving for Magic, I lurk tables.
I lurk tables a lot.
Watching friends and clannies play and making smalltalk is about as close as it gets to cardshop socializing online.
The more full sets released online the better. I love playing Vintage/Classic Workshop, and it annoys me that we don't have a functional form of City in a Bottle online, seeing as it's excellent in the Dredge matchup.
What!??! No mention of Earthbind? That card had some nice artwork :)
Is original art bloodlust online yet?
My first stint at Magic also game during the Fallen Empires, Ice Age, Homelands time. The cards might be terrible looking through today's lens, but they were fun back then. Of course, I'm not sure anyone in my group ever drafted. You just opened the packs, threw them into your collection, and started building decks.
I mostly agree, and I've since stepped back a lot and started focusing on other ways to play. Me and my wife even picked up an Ajani vs Bolas Duel Deck and have been having a lot of fun with that. I've also been playing more Pauper, and that's been a ton of fun as well.
My problem is I miss the FNM scene too much, and DE's fill that void for the time being. That said, I've limited myself to 1-2 a week, and only if it doesn't take a hit on my time doing other things.
Finally, I so... so wish I could enjoy Commander, but I can't. I'm not patient enough to sit through all the triggers from multiple players. I love playing at a table, but online I just can't make myself sit through a whole game XD
Not having Mountain Goat online is awful. I die a little bit inside when I think about it. Good series though, there's definitely some nostalgia value for someone like me that started playing with: Ice Age, Fallen Empires, and Homelands (and kept playing even!)
Oh that would really hurt those hoarders.
I was always kind of hoping they'd just... start over. Got straight from Masque into Invasion Block packs!
Also, regardless of how bad the limited may be, we need Alliances.. or rather... I need to have access to Force of Will at uncommon XD
Even though I don't play at the DE level or even the FNM level anymore I can certain identify with your story. In fact one of the reasons I don't post play by play articles anymore is there is nothing interesting to see here, typically. Well like for instance this weekend I played in the Tribal Apoc PRE (purely by accident as I walked in just as Blippy needed one more person to even the lists so I agreed and pulled out my "Boaring" Naya deck which lost game 1 almost immediately to Zubera combo (lifeline, zuberas, phyrexian arenas)).
Game 2 he failed to go off and my aggroish start gave me a chance to win and yet I flubbed it and lost the opportunity and then the match after a longer much more complicated end game. I guess if you were watching that game youd have seen numerous little (perhaps even tiny) play errors on both sides. (My opponent gave me extra turns to try and come back from defeat when he had the win in front of him for example and I did not manage to fully capitalize on these plays.)
Match two I faced horrible mulligans (to 4 in game 1 and a nonkeeper in game 2 that I kept anyway because it had two lands.) And in both games it ended on turn 4 with my opp rushing out lots of landfall cats ftw. Naya Landfall isn't typically a great deck but it can finish fast.
Usually after I lose 0-2 as I did in this PRE I go sulk a little and maybe even let people know how peod I am. That day I didn't genuinely feel anything of the sort. It was a bad deck that I piloted just because it was funny and somewhat fun to play (Never did get the Stoneforge Basilisk collar start or the Coalhauler Swine Savage Twister finish that I dreamed about when I made the deck. And yet it wasn't horrible either.)
It isn't that Ive stopped caring about winning but that I decided that it doesn't matter enough to ruin the rest of my afternoon. The game is important to me (hence Ive managed to find ways to continue writing and being involved in it despite my intensely long Tribal Apocalypse losing streaks. No 3-x wins since before Flips stopped running it and few even 2-x) I and I have had some small successes in other PREs (SNM with _Kumagoro_ who is a blast to partner with, and Chaos EDH where I seem to luck into wins a lot more frequently than I would expect.)
My point is that if there is a moral to your tale it is this: "Adjust your game or yourself until you aren't unhappy with it. There is no point in repeatedly engaging in an activity that only makes you unhappy."
I went through the same period you described in the article. And no, it wasen't close or similar. It was exactly the same thing! It was the first days/weeks of ZEN Block Constructed and no matter what I was doing I was losing. My opponents always had that critical card in their hand, I always had bad luck, I was always top-decking a land while they were top-decking their win condition.... Basically all the things you wrote in the article.
So I do know what I'm saying and what I'm saying is this: Stop trying for a while. The harder you try the worst the results will be. STOP playing competitive Magic for a while. You must have a clear mind when playing in tournaments and no, you don't have that at the moment. I KNOW you don't!
So this is the time for you to start playing Commander, Pauper, casual Magic or attend a few PREs at weekends. This is the time for you to calm down and relax.
Stop playing competitively until Dark Ascension comes. It will happen in ~3 months and that is enough time for you to enjoy other aspects of Magic Online. Trust me, I know what I'm saying. If you play in the next DE, it will either be 2-2 or 1-3 (or worse such as 0-2 drop). With your current state of mind there is no chance that it will be better. Just trust me. And hey; Commander is tons of fun! Read Leviathan if you don't believe me!
The bottom line: Competitive Magic is not the only way one can enjoy MTGO. And apparently it's time for you to relax and have fun when you're online. And after this period is over, you'll see how things will get better.
LE
I actually laughed at your comments on Homelands expansion and Fallen Empires.
The obvious problem is that drafting these sets won't really work. Let's see how Masques turn out.
Good energy this week. I haven't missed a single episode.
Thanks for the League shout out. I completely agree that the #1 reason for the increased DE attendance is the heightened communication/coordination among players. Definitely there is no one person who is responsible and this has been a great community effort! =D
This article dropped off the main page too quickly for how fun it is.
Some ideas:
Maybe they can airbrush out the hoods on Invoke Prejudice the same way they airbrushed out the pentagram in 4th Edition Unholy Strength (btw, that art needs to come online, too, in order for everything to be complete).
How about one more Masters Edition to get the last valuable cards online, then anything that's left you can buy directly from WOTC at 27c each (the cost of a card in a booster).
Not sure why you are leaving out the three Portals, two Starters, and six core sets. We don't have enough Air Elementals online.
One time drafts of these sets would be really fun holiday things and would make these cards worth something due to scarcity. Einstein Presence of the Master in a Masters Edition set: 4 cents. That same card from Legends if it was only draftable for two weeks: maybe a dollar!
Or Momir-style drafts for these. You don't draft the cards, you just start with a handful of land. During your draw step, you get a random card from the set. You can play a land and cast a spell from your hand or at random Momir-style, but the random one you get will be from the set as well. At the end of the game, you walk away with the random cards you got. This would actually make ante cards playable online, as you could steal cards that didn't actually belong to your opponent yet.
Can't wait for part 2!
Haha I did play the vga remake -- after about 8 years of anticipation! It was good, especially the upgraded combat system. I do kind of wish they had actually redrawn each screen instead of just tracing the originals and increasing the colors/resolution. Like what Sierra did with their official qfg1 remake.
problem for lili is that black just isnt that great in the meta atm, and tokens being a fairly big thing doesn't help. Also so many creatures that get play give you an advantage when then etb or die so that hurts her too. She's still insanely good, but then it took Jace till BB elf was gone to take over and I suppose SOM block rotating may do similar things for lili though not as much since comparing her to jace is just silly. She's still one of the best walkers ever printed for her cc but nothing like Jace. Black is a better answer than problem color atm and the problem cards (like shrine of burning rage, mirran crusader, prim titan ect) are just so much better than the answers atm.
Last I heard, Graveborn will NOT be available in the store. It won't be online until sometime in 2012.
From Chris K. himself:
http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75846/28679951/PDS:_Gravebor...