I did put the concept of Pauper Duel Decks in practice a few months ago when NPH wasn't yet out: thanks to many clanmates we balanced two lists based on powerful then-Standard decks (UG Infect & Boros Landfall) and one of them actually got them in paper. Here's what I posted on the pdcmagic forum: http://forums.pdcmagic.com/viewtopic.php?p=60179#60179 .
Is there an easy way, maybe through your data, to pull out the tier one decks from past MPDC events? Something that would go back farther than the Tier 1 decks thread at pdcmagic? I was just thinking it would be fun (and inexpensive) to build some of these decks in the real and have them on hand for people to play. By keeping to Standard they should be reasonably balanced against each other and cover the mechanics that were popular at the time. It would also help you avoid the urge to update them over time.
Finally, it might be fun to pit the decks against each other to find out which Standard deck is the best of the bunch.
He once knocked me off my bike, but that's another story.
Anyway, fun article. I always enjoy digging out random old boxes of cards for a look around. I often find the funnest thing is how wrong our rules interpretations used to be. We were convinced that Wash Out (naming green, for example) would return all forests to their owners hands, and were splashing blue in almost every deck for 4xWash Out!
There are a few reasons for the land line lol.
1st: I have DSL, and the price difference is negligible.
2nd: My Cell phone area code is 386 (Daytona Beach), my wife's is 908 (NJ), and we live in Atlanta. The local number makes it easier when we order Chinese food ;-)
What would I give to still have my cards from my first foray into magic. It was only for a few a little while during Mirage block. I know I had a playset of FOWs at the very least. I also vividly remember having a few LEDs and just hating them because they were a total jank rare. Alas they are all long gone.
My wife is pretty supportive of my magic hobby in general. I guessing largely because I don't over do it. If I were to play as often as I would really like I doubt that would last.
I must say there has been times that it was tough to get to 2 for serenity but when it hits its a game changer. Idk who it was but like they said i get a full untap with counters ready or even to drop an e flux or a standstill where gets rough from there for stax. When i was testin before season 3 i was considerin tryin to jam a 3rd serenity in there (lose the REB and go with one more serenity and a MM or fluster) but ended up with what ya c. and ill gladly take a 2 for 1 with serenity if thats what it comes 2 especially if one of em is a sphere or 2 to help me maintain control.
I do too. My gf is a retired phone company "pioneer." so it is actually cheaper for us than cells would be. Also slightly less annoying when outside. :)
R1: Visualarts is so good! He mopped the floor with me in that event. I haven't seen black discard in Oath in a while, but he uses it really well.
R2: You probably should have gone turn 1 Welder against a deck that want to put stuff in your graveyard, just to turn his strategy into an advantage for you. But that guy's deck was pretty weak, so it didn't matter.
R3: I think that guy was new to Classic and a pretty inexperienced Dredge player. I beat him round 1 due to his misplays. Hopefully he'll see your videos and see some strategies for the future. You gotta start somewhere.
R4: I don't really have any comments for this one, good work.
Usually I don't like replay articles, but you made really good use of stopping and starting the game. It was great to hear your thoughts about all the different lines of play and what you did / could have done and what ended up happening.
its like i found them, without the cash rewards though. since we are talking about the wife. i gave up on mtg right around masques, which was a good thing, but who gets me back into it? oh yes, she (the wife!) and now all i get is rolled eyes when i log on for my daily evening draft. good times.
Four Libraries in UR Landstill means you draw too much colorless mana. I've tried it in an attempt to win that challenge. Those Mana Drains want more Islands.
Whoever is fidgeting with coins or keys or whatever: I understand, I'm fidgety, too, but maybe fidget with something soft and quiet next time you are on mic.
My wife says the same thing. Then she reflects on when we got together, and how much emphasis I put on me playing MTG. she thought it was excessive at the time, as it was "just another guy hobby". Fast forward five years, now she says that she might have reconsidered if she understood how much time I spent on the game.
Your find here is pretty much what happened to me and has funded my MTGO habit!!!
Oh yeah, I didn't find MTGO until after we were engaged. She likes to say that if she had known how much time I would spend on it, she may have thought harder about marrying me! If I teach my daughter I'm sure she'll freak out even more! I'm looking forward to it now for sure.
Glad you guys liked it! I was a little unsure of how people would take this, but I knew that if I thought it was cool, some of you out there would as well.
Sorry smack8001, no Aliens v. Predator stuff. But I also found a lot of cards for a werewolf game called Rage, some Netrunner cards, and a good amount of Legend of the Five Rings stuff.
Just for reference, that first pic of me is outside the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial in Taipei, and the panorama pic is of the Taal Volcano (I think) about an hour south of Manila.
Zach did you actually say that during the podcast or am I hearing things. lol.
I will try and be there for DE tonight!
p.s. Scott read the title of the podcast on mtgotraders.com (will clue you into that terrible sound you were hearing during podcast)
I agree Zach serenity is good and I have run it before I just feel better getting down a flux since it stays there and I have almost never lost if i can get a flux down in a reasonable amount of time where as shop can come back after a serenity. I would run both if I could though but I don't add white very often. I think we are all going to have to start running 4x of both plus 4x nature's claim and ancient grudge when tangle wire comes out though.
Also metalworker paying for energy flux doesn't scare me much since they would need an equal number of artifacts in hand to what they have on board to pay for it and without card draw that would be a serious disadvantage for shop.
Nice findings! I laughed a lot about the dialogue between you and your wife, I had a pretty similar one just a few weeks ago. XD It's a pleasure to see that certain things are the same everywhere. :D
From my perspective, Serenity is harder on me than Energy Flux, because Metalworker can pay for Energy Flux (It also pays for Batterskull activations, Zach :-p). Likewise, Stony Silence is harder on me than Null Rod, since I can feasibly Weld away an opposing Null rod.
The problem with Serenity as I see it is that it has a limited play window. It's not great to play on turn 1 because it can be played around, but it may be too late to play it on turn 2 after spheres or Chalice.
I did put the concept of Pauper Duel Decks in practice a few months ago when NPH wasn't yet out: thanks to many clanmates we balanced two lists based on powerful then-Standard decks (UG Infect & Boros Landfall) and one of them actually got them in paper. Here's what I posted on the pdcmagic forum: http://forums.pdcmagic.com/viewtopic.php?p=60179#60179 .
Also, if you're looking for good decks to try out you should search the Article Library here on Puremtgo for the MPDC Worlds articles, they contain lots of good lists. :) (Here you go, search-linked: http://puremtgo.com/articles/recent?uid=&title=Worlds&field_summary_value= )
Have fun! :)
Is there an easy way, maybe through your data, to pull out the tier one decks from past MPDC events? Something that would go back farther than the Tier 1 decks thread at pdcmagic? I was just thinking it would be fun (and inexpensive) to build some of these decks in the real and have them on hand for people to play. By keeping to Standard they should be reasonably balanced against each other and cover the mechanics that were popular at the time. It would also help you avoid the urge to update them over time.
Finally, it might be fun to pit the decks against each other to find out which Standard deck is the best of the bunch.
Thanks, PiDave! Hey, why don't you come to Tribal Apocalypse sometimes? :)
I'm sorry to say that I checked http://www.tomfolio.com/autographimg.asp?sigid=210&ret=AGIni
and your island isn't signed by the celebrity Stephen Fry! (at least, he's a celebrity here in the UK, I don't know about you americano types!).
He once knocked me off my bike, but that's another story.
Anyway, fun article. I always enjoy digging out random old boxes of cards for a look around. I often find the funnest thing is how wrong our rules interpretations used to be. We were convinced that Wash Out (naming green, for example) would return all forests to their owners hands, and were splashing blue in almost every deck for 4xWash Out!
I was waiting for this! Beautifully written and very inspirational. Keep it up! :)
There are a few reasons for the land line lol.
1st: I have DSL, and the price difference is negligible.
2nd: My Cell phone area code is 386 (Daytona Beach), my wife's is 908 (NJ), and we live in Atlanta. The local number makes it easier when we order Chinese food ;-)
What would I give to still have my cards from my first foray into magic. It was only for a few a little while during Mirage block. I know I had a playset of FOWs at the very least. I also vividly remember having a few LEDs and just hating them because they were a total jank rare. Alas they are all long gone.
My wife is pretty supportive of my magic hobby in general. I guessing largely because I don't over do it. If I were to play as often as I would really like I doubt that would last.
I must say there has been times that it was tough to get to 2 for serenity but when it hits its a game changer. Idk who it was but like they said i get a full untap with counters ready or even to drop an e flux or a standstill where gets rough from there for stax. When i was testin before season 3 i was considerin tryin to jam a 3rd serenity in there (lose the REB and go with one more serenity and a MM or fluster) but ended up with what ya c. and ill gladly take a 2 for 1 with serenity if thats what it comes 2 especially if one of em is a sphere or 2 to help me maintain control.
I do too. My gf is a retired phone company "pioneer." so it is actually cheaper for us than cells would be. Also slightly less annoying when outside. :)
R1: Visualarts is so good! He mopped the floor with me in that event. I haven't seen black discard in Oath in a while, but he uses it really well.
R2: You probably should have gone turn 1 Welder against a deck that want to put stuff in your graveyard, just to turn his strategy into an advantage for you. But that guy's deck was pretty weak, so it didn't matter.
R3: I think that guy was new to Classic and a pretty inexperienced Dredge player. I beat him round 1 due to his misplays. Hopefully he'll see your videos and see some strategies for the future. You gotta start somewhere.
R4: I don't really have any comments for this one, good work.
Usually I don't like replay articles, but you made really good use of stopping and starting the game. It was great to hear your thoughts about all the different lines of play and what you did / could have done and what ended up happening.
Wow, you still have a land line!
!!!!GUERILLA TACTICS!!!!
TAKING OVER TEH W0RLdddddd
its like i found them, without the cash rewards though. since we are talking about the wife. i gave up on mtg right around masques, which was a good thing, but who gets me back into it? oh yes, she (the wife!) and now all i get is rolled eyes when i log on for my daily evening draft. good times.
Four Libraries in UR Landstill means you draw too much colorless mana. I've tried it in an attempt to win that challenge. Those Mana Drains want more Islands.
Whoever is fidgeting with coins or keys or whatever: I understand, I'm fidgety, too, but maybe fidget with something soft and quiet next time you are on mic.
!!!!GUERILLA TACTICS!!!!
Great read, sir.
My wife says the same thing. Then she reflects on when we got together, and how much emphasis I put on me playing MTG. she thought it was excessive at the time, as it was "just another guy hobby". Fast forward five years, now she says that she might have reconsidered if she understood how much time I spent on the game.
Your find here is pretty much what happened to me and has funded my MTGO habit!!!
You must be hearing things my friend :P
I am just expanding on my position regarding Serenity - and you saying "I just don't think it is that good of a card"
Montolio = chipmasta
Oh yeah, I didn't find MTGO until after we were engaged. She likes to say that if she had known how much time I would spend on it, she may have thought harder about marrying me! If I teach my daughter I'm sure she'll freak out even more! I'm looking forward to it now for sure.
Glad you guys liked it! I was a little unsure of how people would take this, but I knew that if I thought it was cool, some of you out there would as well.
Sorry smack8001, no Aliens v. Predator stuff. But I also found a lot of cards for a werewolf game called Rage, some Netrunner cards, and a good amount of Legend of the Five Rings stuff.
Just for reference, that first pic of me is outside the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial in Taipei, and the panorama pic is of the Taal Volcano (I think) about an hour south of Manila.
Very nice article.
Cool pictures too.
Thanks for sharing it.
Zach did you actually say that during the podcast or am I hearing things. lol.
I will try and be there for DE tonight!
p.s. Scott read the title of the podcast on mtgotraders.com (will clue you into that terrible sound you were hearing during podcast)
Nice find and nice article. :) I have a similar box of rares and some 8k or so commons I found in a couple 5k boxes underneath stuff.
I love this kind of nostalgia articles, they bring back tons of great memories. Thanks for doing this and as said above, enjoy your new car as well!
LE
I agree Zach serenity is good and I have run it before I just feel better getting down a flux since it stays there and I have almost never lost if i can get a flux down in a reasonable amount of time where as shop can come back after a serenity. I would run both if I could though but I don't add white very often. I think we are all going to have to start running 4x of both plus 4x nature's claim and ancient grudge when tangle wire comes out though.
Also metalworker paying for energy flux doesn't scare me much since they would need an equal number of artifacts in hand to what they have on board to pay for it and without card draw that would be a serious disadvantage for shop.
Nice findings! I laughed a lot about the dialogue between you and your wife, I had a pretty similar one just a few weeks ago. XD It's a pleasure to see that certain things are the same everywhere. :D
From my perspective, Serenity is harder on me than Energy Flux, because Metalworker can pay for Energy Flux (It also pays for Batterskull activations, Zach :-p). Likewise, Stony Silence is harder on me than Null Rod, since I can feasibly Weld away an opposing Null rod.
The problem with Serenity as I see it is that it has a limited play window. It's not great to play on turn 1 because it can be played around, but it may be too late to play it on turn 2 after spheres or Chalice.
!!!!GUERILLA TACTICS!!!!