It was rather funny to end up In a Game against another Tariel. My Tariel deck is indeed a little more good stuffy then what I normally run. One of the things this deck does for me is use some cards that I like that I don't have other spots for, master warcraft, lighting reaver, brion stoutarm, thousand year elixir, sword of body and mind etc.
Still our decks share quite a few similarities. Mine also features a lot of hast makers and ways to get multiple activations out of Tariel, and they both seem to feature a lot of targeted removal. We both obviously saw the need for some artifact acceleration. One difference there is I decided to forgo signets, and run rocks that fetch basics. It is a bit slower, but it fixes the anger issue and I think tends to be more stable.
One thing I might suggest are a few nice sac outlets for when you randomly recur lousy dudes. I run shivan harvest, and pyrexian tower. Also victimize can just plain be a blow out. I honestly could probably use a few more myself.
My deck appears a little more spell heavy so charm breaker devils can just be an all-star if it sticks around.
Anyway here is my deck minus the lands just in case you are curious.
1 Mycosynth Wellspring
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Traveler's Amulet
1 Puppet Strings
1 Thousand-Year Elixir
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Sol Ring
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Coalition Relic
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Darksteel Ingot
@Enderfall: It really is frightening how easy it is to try and over analyse and read into something that isnt there especially when you desire something so strongly and you go out of your way to look for things. Subjectively I feel most of these comments are not leading in anyway and they just form part of a fully comprehensive answer. In this case the driver to complete the classic sets is likely linked to syncing up legacy than anything else. Oh and whats so important about the upcoming restricted list announcement on the 18th that we are kindly point too :-)
@ Calavera: We included the text transcript in the article too.
@ Power 9: We all know that when and If WoTC are prepared to make any kind of statement on the Power 9's existence on MTGO that this will be via a fully considered announcement on the mothership and we were under no illusions that this interview would Shed any insight into the possibility of vintage online. Of course we asked questions and of course Wizards are fully aware of the communities appetite for any hint / speculation / fact on the remaining 9 cards.
" In addition, we wanted to finish releasing the final classic sets as soon as possible. "
Hmm, makes you wonder why they would say something like that. What advantage do they get from releasing the final Classic sets ASAP? Maybe I'm just feeding the trolls, or trolling myself, but I found that an interesting comment to make.
M10 was the big change. Change in the numbering pattern of core sets. Change in the way core sets were made. Change in how often they came out. Change in rules. Have we forgotten our history already?
I really liked the article, especially the part where you talked about deck construction. I don't often have time to watch the videos, so I appreciate the well written discussion that went with them. Thanks!
If I got to play Uncommons, I'm not sure Burning Vengeance would be my pick. It might be decent in this deck, although a 3 mana Enchantment that does nothing by itself probably isn't good enough.
In keeping with my Casual vs Cutthroat theme, I was going to suggest ways for the guppy to improve his game, and at the same time offer ways for the shark to lighten up on the blood frenzy.
As for the actual question, I often start every Commander with a comment or two about specific commander choices - for instance, "Everyone should watch out for Uril, he can get dangerous if left unchecked" or "Great choice with Cho-Manno, you don't see her around much" or something similar. Once the game starts, I tend to already see if someone's either rising fast or struggling a bit, and I change my game up accordingly. If I see any of the Commander deck Legends, I immediately ask if they've edited the deck - since logically if they did, they're likely not new to Commander - and if not, I offer suggestions for specific cards that I like using, often with pricing from MTGOTraders if I know it offhand. Any struggling, ask similar questions and give similar suggestions.
I think (and take this with a grain of salt, obviously) that anyone would be happy to hear friendly advice about how to improve. Sure, some grumbling may occur, but as long as you're not condescending to them, I can't imagine anyone really being dicky about it. And the key part to this whole thing is, even a shark can learn about some new card interaction they've never seen before. I've yet to find a true 100% bastard on MTGO, and God willing, I hope I never do.
Not sure why the text formatting for the first paragraph is different. I didn't think it looked like that when I submitted it. I apologize for the error!
But you missed a few great overlooked cards from that set.
Dominate (Uncommon) - 2U1X Instant Gain control of target creature with converted mana cost X or less.
Stronghold Biologist (Uncommon) - U2 1/1 U2 and tap Discard a creature, counter a creature
Excavation (Uncommon) - U1 Enchantment (1) Sac a land, Draw a card. Anyone can play this ability. (It turns every land into a cycling land)
Noxious Field (Uncommon) - 2B1 Enchant Land, Land gets "Tap, this land deals 1 damage to each creature and player". (It turns a land into a mini-Pestilence)
Stronghold Zeppelin (Uncommon) - 2B2 3/3 Flying Can only block creatures with flying. (It's a 3/3 flyer for 4. I'll take it in Limited a LOT)
Angelic Favor (Uncommon) - W3 Instant, if you control a plains, you can play it for tapping a creature. Put a 4/4 Serra Angel into play. Play only during combat.
- And thanks to the new rule I dont remember them getting rid of, there is no more mana burn, so you have:
Scoria Car - 2R3 3/3 If all lands are tapped, it gets +3/+3. (It's essentially a 5 mana 6/6 whenever you want)
(Where did mana burn go btw? Does anyone remember when they got rid of it?)
*Avatar of Might is more badass than Avatar of WIll, and you cannot forget Rhox. Rhox is badass, and Blastoderm is overrated. I remember drafting it and it was blocked for 3 turns and then died.
But really who cares. People will only play to open a foiled Rishidan Port and buy 4 Lilliana's, haha.
<3 the Poacher. I am guessing you left out Lin because she is the obviously hot babe but really Poacher is nuts too if you have cards like Deranged Hermit, or any of the multicolor Elf legends. Glad to see you still representing the Johnny mystique here. :) Keep it up.
Yeah scooping early in commander is just being precipitous. Even with a terrible hand (after 3-4 mulls) I have come back from a dead draw to win. So it is very likely that anyone can pull out of bad situations in this format. Unless you are facing inevitability anyway and that pretty much negates any hand.
Also as you say land distribution is a huge issue. How can you hope to draw more than a few if you only put in say 25%? And if your deck only needs 1-2 lands to function (rdw style) why build with 40%? Considering the deck at hand is key there.
But criticism like that isn't always easy to hear or understand. Do you give this advice to people when you play them? How do they typically react?
I'm pretty sharky, so I obviously appreciate it when someone says "Hey, maybe if you built your deck well (a.e. correct number of lands) and didn't keep 1-landers and scoop on turn 2 (turn 6 I understand, but turn 2?) Magic might be more enjoyable."
I've also tried to keep the number of Time Warp effects minimal in my decks, although I feel 0 guilt about odd ones such as Notorious Throng that you have to work for a little.
One of my major issues with many casual / fun players is that they will complain over and over about card A or combo B, but only when others are playing it. I have seen that happen so many times, and I've blasted the perpetrator every single time.
Regarding the Eldrazi (and Kozilek specifically), I do have to say that there must be a great many players who use them for mill-protection, including myself. I actually go further than just mill protection - between using him with Survival of the Fittest to keep my graveyard empty and change any creature in my hand for one in my deck or simply casting him to get four cards, sacrificing him to Greater Good, and then (hopefully) discarding him again as one of the 3 cards, I have to admit that he is pretty much one of my auto-includes even though I've almost never attacked with him (shark-hunting notwithstanding).
But that brings up a valid point - when a person no longer falls under the guppy or shark heading, what do we call them :-D
My choosing of the number was quite specific. I said it to emphasize (and slightly to exaggerate) the fact that you picked up on a good amount of grammatical "errors" when I am nigh positive that 90% of them are *not* errors at all. And again, if you feel that your findings are in fact errors, please show examples.
As for the rebuttal, I did that quite specifically, as well. The point being, just because an author chooses to capitalize the first letter of a word, it does not necessarily follow that it must immediately be a mistake unless it's the first word of a sentence. I could just as easily have said that I used capitalization for emphasis, and I would still be right. The crux of the matter being, while the original poster said that he found one grammatical error and left it be, you felt it was important to point out what you saw to be a rather larger number of them. As such, I brought you to task with an valid question - which ones?
My issue with your logic is simple - if you're going to bring up a laundry list of items that you see wrong, but then aren't willing to explain the reasoning behind a large number of them, I am forced to assume that either (a) you're trolling, or (b) you realized after writing that perhaps you were mistaken. Since you have yet to either confirm the latter or produce evidence that you're not the former, I will simply take it that this argument has essentially lost its luster to you, and simply bid you adieu.
It was rather funny to end up In a Game against another Tariel. My Tariel deck is indeed a little more good stuffy then what I normally run. One of the things this deck does for me is use some cards that I like that I don't have other spots for, master warcraft, lighting reaver, brion stoutarm, thousand year elixir, sword of body and mind etc.
Still our decks share quite a few similarities. Mine also features a lot of hast makers and ways to get multiple activations out of Tariel, and they both seem to feature a lot of targeted removal. We both obviously saw the need for some artifact acceleration. One difference there is I decided to forgo signets, and run rocks that fetch basics. It is a bit slower, but it fixes the anger issue and I think tends to be more stable.
One thing I might suggest are a few nice sac outlets for when you randomly recur lousy dudes. I run shivan harvest, and pyrexian tower. Also victimize can just plain be a blow out. I honestly could probably use a few more myself.
My deck appears a little more spell heavy so charm breaker devils can just be an all-star if it sticks around.
Anyway here is my deck minus the lands just in case you are curious.
1 Mycosynth Wellspring
1 Armillary Sphere
1 Traveler's Amulet
1 Puppet Strings
1 Thousand-Year Elixir
1 Rings of Brighthearth
1 Executioner's Capsule
1 Swiftfoot Boots
1 Lightning Greaves
1 Sol Ring
1 Oblivion Stone
1 Sword of Body and Mind
1 Coalition Relic
1 Wayfarer's Bauble
1 Thran Dynamo
1 Darksteel Ingot
1 Phyrexian Arena
1 Shivan Harvest
1 Fervor
1 Tariel, Reckoner of Souls
1 Sun Titan
1 Nezumi Graverobber
1 Anger
1 Balefire Dragon
1 Charmbreaker Devils
1 Battle Rampart
1 Shriekmaw
1 Coffin Queen
1 Kor Sanctifiers
1 Withered Wretch
1 Fleshbag Marauder
1 Weathered Wayfarer
1 Treasure Hunter
1 Stoneforge Mystic
1 Urabrask the Hidden
1 Brion Stoutarm
1 Lightning Reaver
1 Solemn Simulacrum
1 Geth, Lord of the Vault
1 Myr Retriever
1 Pilgrim's Eye
1 Viashino Heretic
1 Graveborn Muse
1 Grim Tutor
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Ambition's Cost
1 Victimize
1 Sudden Spoiling
1 Agonizing Demise
1 Terminate
1 Life's Finale
1 Return to Dust
1 Wrecking Ball
1 Promise of Power
1 Master Warcraft
1 Swords to Plowshares
1 Wheel of Fortune
1 Chaos Warp
1 Austere Command
1 Mortify
1 Enlightened Tutor
Thanks!
..... or you just could play Wild Nacatl, that Wolf 3/3 or any other better card...
don;t get me wrong, I like being Johnny , but you can push it to far and leave Johnny territory crossing over into the realm of madness.
@Enderfall: It really is frightening how easy it is to try and over analyse and read into something that isnt there especially when you desire something so strongly and you go out of your way to look for things. Subjectively I feel most of these comments are not leading in anyway and they just form part of a fully comprehensive answer. In this case the driver to complete the classic sets is likely linked to syncing up legacy than anything else. Oh and whats so important about the upcoming restricted list announcement on the 18th that we are kindly point too :-)
- Hammer
@ Calavera: We included the text transcript in the article too.
@ Power 9: We all know that when and If WoTC are prepared to make any kind of statement on the Power 9's existence on MTGO that this will be via a fully considered announcement on the mothership and we were under no illusions that this interview would Shed any insight into the possibility of vintage online. Of course we asked questions and of course Wizards are fully aware of the communities appetite for any hint / speculation / fact on the remaining 9 cards.
- Hammer
" In addition, we wanted to finish releasing the final classic sets as soon as possible. "
Hmm, makes you wonder why they would say something like that. What advantage do they get from releasing the final Classic sets ASAP? Maybe I'm just feeding the trolls, or trolling myself, but I found that an interesting comment to make.
I can't listen at work.... But did you ask the 20 million dollar question?
P9?
Thanks for the article, looks like a fun deck to build. It's not exactly untapper, but Rings of Brighthearth should be pretty decent in this list.
Great read.
M10 was the big change. Change in the numbering pattern of core sets. Change in the way core sets were made. Change in how often they came out. Change in rules. Have we forgotten our history already?
Have you met Sabberlod?
Oh, please.
See me in game Pat if you would like to continue this discussion.
it was either m10 or m11 i think when they got rid of mana burn
i removed some comments that i felt were getting too close to personal attacks.
I really liked the article, especially the part where you talked about deck construction. I don't often have time to watch the videos, so I appreciate the well written discussion that went with them. Thanks!
If I got to play Uncommons, I'm not sure Burning Vengeance would be my pick. It might be decent in this deck, although a 3 mana Enchantment that does nothing by itself probably isn't good enough.
As that was part of my idea for my next article.
In keeping with my Casual vs Cutthroat theme, I was going to suggest ways for the guppy to improve his game, and at the same time offer ways for the shark to lighten up on the blood frenzy.
As for the actual question, I often start every Commander with a comment or two about specific commander choices - for instance, "Everyone should watch out for Uril, he can get dangerous if left unchecked" or "Great choice with Cho-Manno, you don't see her around much" or something similar. Once the game starts, I tend to already see if someone's either rising fast or struggling a bit, and I change my game up accordingly. If I see any of the Commander deck Legends, I immediately ask if they've edited the deck - since logically if they did, they're likely not new to Commander - and if not, I offer suggestions for specific cards that I like using, often with pricing from MTGOTraders if I know it offhand. Any struggling, ask similar questions and give similar suggestions.
I think (and take this with a grain of salt, obviously) that anyone would be happy to hear friendly advice about how to improve. Sure, some grumbling may occur, but as long as you're not condescending to them, I can't imagine anyone really being dicky about it. And the key part to this whole thing is, even a shark can learn about some new card interaction they've never seen before. I've yet to find a true 100% bastard on MTGO, and God willing, I hope I never do.
Too bad that Burning Verngeance is uncommon.
Not sure why the text formatting for the first paragraph is different. I didn't think it looked like that when I submitted it. I apologize for the error!
But you missed a few great overlooked cards from that set.
Dominate (Uncommon) - 2U1X Instant Gain control of target creature with converted mana cost X or less.
Stronghold Biologist (Uncommon) - U2 1/1 U2 and tap Discard a creature, counter a creature
Excavation (Uncommon) - U1 Enchantment (1) Sac a land, Draw a card. Anyone can play this ability. (It turns every land into a cycling land)
Noxious Field (Uncommon) - 2B1 Enchant Land, Land gets "Tap, this land deals 1 damage to each creature and player". (It turns a land into a mini-Pestilence)
Stronghold Zeppelin (Uncommon) - 2B2 3/3 Flying Can only block creatures with flying. (It's a 3/3 flyer for 4. I'll take it in Limited a LOT)
Angelic Favor (Uncommon) - W3 Instant, if you control a plains, you can play it for tapping a creature. Put a 4/4 Serra Angel into play. Play only during combat.
- And thanks to the new rule I dont remember them getting rid of, there is no more mana burn, so you have:
Scoria Car - 2R3 3/3 If all lands are tapped, it gets +3/+3. (It's essentially a 5 mana 6/6 whenever you want)
(Where did mana burn go btw? Does anyone remember when they got rid of it?)
*Avatar of Might is more badass than Avatar of WIll, and you cannot forget Rhox. Rhox is badass, and Blastoderm is overrated. I remember drafting it and it was blocked for 3 turns and then died.
But really who cares. People will only play to open a foiled Rishidan Port and buy 4 Lilliana's, haha.
<3 the Poacher. I am guessing you left out Lin because she is the obviously hot babe but really Poacher is nuts too if you have cards like Deranged Hermit, or any of the multicolor Elf legends. Glad to see you still representing the Johnny mystique here. :) Keep it up.
Yeah scooping early in commander is just being precipitous. Even with a terrible hand (after 3-4 mulls) I have come back from a dead draw to win. So it is very likely that anyone can pull out of bad situations in this format. Unless you are facing inevitability anyway and that pretty much negates any hand.
Also as you say land distribution is a huge issue. How can you hope to draw more than a few if you only put in say 25%? And if your deck only needs 1-2 lands to function (rdw style) why build with 40%? Considering the deck at hand is key there.
But criticism like that isn't always easy to hear or understand. Do you give this advice to people when you play them? How do they typically react?
I'm pretty sharky, so I obviously appreciate it when someone says "Hey, maybe if you built your deck well (a.e. correct number of lands) and didn't keep 1-landers and scoop on turn 2 (turn 6 I understand, but turn 2?) Magic might be more enjoyable."
I've also tried to keep the number of Time Warp effects minimal in my decks, although I feel 0 guilt about odd ones such as Notorious Throng that you have to work for a little.
One of my major issues with many casual / fun players is that they will complain over and over about card A or combo B, but only when others are playing it. I have seen that happen so many times, and I've blasted the perpetrator every single time.
Regarding the Eldrazi (and Kozilek specifically), I do have to say that there must be a great many players who use them for mill-protection, including myself. I actually go further than just mill protection - between using him with Survival of the Fittest to keep my graveyard empty and change any creature in my hand for one in my deck or simply casting him to get four cards, sacrificing him to Greater Good, and then (hopefully) discarding him again as one of the 3 cards, I have to admit that he is pretty much one of my auto-includes even though I've almost never attacked with him (shark-hunting notwithstanding).
But that brings up a valid point - when a person no longer falls under the guppy or shark heading, what do we call them :-D
My choosing of the number was quite specific. I said it to emphasize (and slightly to exaggerate) the fact that you picked up on a good amount of grammatical "errors" when I am nigh positive that 90% of them are *not* errors at all. And again, if you feel that your findings are in fact errors, please show examples.
As for the rebuttal, I did that quite specifically, as well. The point being, just because an author chooses to capitalize the first letter of a word, it does not necessarily follow that it must immediately be a mistake unless it's the first word of a sentence. I could just as easily have said that I used capitalization for emphasis, and I would still be right. The crux of the matter being, while the original poster said that he found one grammatical error and left it be, you felt it was important to point out what you saw to be a rather larger number of them. As such, I brought you to task with an valid question - which ones?
My issue with your logic is simple - if you're going to bring up a laundry list of items that you see wrong, but then aren't willing to explain the reasoning behind a large number of them, I am forced to assume that either (a) you're trolling, or (b) you realized after writing that perhaps you were mistaken. Since you have yet to either confirm the latter or produce evidence that you're not the former, I will simply take it that this argument has essentially lost its luster to you, and simply bid you adieu.