Great points all. I second the motion for a greats of the game type HOF. Particularly BDM and the Dojo guys and who else? Scott Johns? Cathy N/Alex S for Meridian Magic which in its time was pretty darned great. Some of the judges perhaps?
PS I should add that I am confident that you'll be able to grind points if you really want to, depending on your goals other than work: there are draft, 8man constructed (basically block or std) and pauper DEs. You're such a good grinder and tuner I think you could do MOCS well if you want to.
Another consideration you've touched on a little: The EV sucked too much for semi-casual people who love classic/100c to keep up their efforts. When I started playing Classic, 100c, etc, the EV was really good. If you did well, you DID WELL. Now with Classic paying crappy packs (after the first month or so prizes tend to be nigh-worthless) and refusing to have something like "12 packs of your choice" for all formats, pauper, classic, and 100C just aren't worth putting the limited gaming time I have into them. I love these formats (and extended too) but the cost of cards is such that I can't self-justify keeping them for almost no play.
Keywords seem like a big hit. You could look at how raredraft does theirs. Also, you could give a few standard ones to work with: something like "constructed, limited, standard/block/legacy/whatever, casual, rogue, tier 1, and so forth."
I love the ideas for site improvement. Pop-up card descriptions would be wonderful and it would be great if it would link to your account at mtgotraders.com so it could show up in your cart. It would be even better if mtgotraders.com had a wish list that you add cards to so you (mainly me) wouldn't keep forgetting about cool cards between when you read about them and want to buy them.
One idea for organizing the front page would be if writers could put together a keyword list when they submit an article. Maybe it would just be keyworded to formats. That way if you wanted to read commander articles you could search the keyword for commander.
One critique, maybe try and tone down the "bad player" or "scrub" comments. Now the Vampire player, might not have been the best player, but it detracts from the quality of the videos.
What's funny is that the first thing I ever did in a Magic game, oh so long ago, was to drop a mountain on the first turn and bolt my opponent. Then my opponent proceeded to beat me down with a Juggernaut and Kird Ape, while I held two Shivan Dragons in my 20 land deck. Afterall it was tech to play 1/3 land, 1/3 spells, and 1/3 creatures. Good times!
By some coincidence I played against Smi77y in a two man. I was playing Gerry's list and he was playing his mill list. The first game was a blowout. He beat me pretty bad. Games two and three were pretty easy. I even made a horrible misclick when I put my ratchet bomb to 4 instead of setting it off at 3. You just need to board in the misteps, bombs, and removal. Also, be very careful of your searches.
Great article be the way. Interesting ideas to ponder. I came to the realization that I tend to play this deck too conservatively. Once I changed that, I have been winning a whole lot more.
I have started to see several people playing the RW Sword now. I would have lost to it last night, but he timed out :)
Anyone who said banning Jace was bad for the game was just plain wrong. Harmful to long term growth? That's just plain backwards! Tournament participation was down and I for one didn't even venture into casual matches. Things have 180'd and are looking up.
Also, regarding Hall of Fame and Mike Long: this is from the rules as laid out on the WotC website.
"Voting shall be based upon the player's performances, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, and contributions to the game in general."
Integrity and sportsmanship are two giant black marks against him. While you can sum up some of his behavior as "personality", borderline intimidation has no place in the game and with all the benefits of hindsight (something that can't be applied to some regretfully already enshrined members) we know he doesn't belong. This should be the end of the discussion, but debate is always welcome.
As for the "I just want to see the Hall of Fame encompass more than just the Pro Tour I guess" line -- well, it's the PRO TOUR Hall of Fame. That's why Gerry T, as good as he is, is still a long way off ever getting on the ballot. That's why Mark Rosewater and Brian David Marshall aren't getting in. Perhaps you mean to propose a separate honour? A 'Legends of Magic' that's open to a wider field of people whose contribution to the game is no less (and often greater) than Pro Tour Hall of Fame members.
Mill is picking up on mtgo and keeping 1 to 2 slots to have a great win percentage against an upcoming archetype (that is very hard for this deck to deal with) is fine with me.
Speaking of I just 4-0'd a daily with my updated list of this deck today (with 2 Eldrazi - 2 different so they can't surgical extraction both) Apparently I can only do well off camera this week.
Are mill decks really that big of a force to warrant an Ulamog? Are you grinding 2-mans or playing standard dailies? I have run into them in 2-man's but never in a daily.
I've never lost to a mill deck in the 2-man's with the old or the new caw-decks. I don't think they are favored vs control anyway.
I want to see the new Force of Will art on a new-framed card. =( I want it to be in a precon as well, but that'll never happen.
I was shocked only one Oath deck finished in the top 8 of the Classic League Season 1. There was very little diversity in those decks though... all GG Oath. Maybe it's time for a tweak to Oath lists, or maybe Elephant Oath is better positioned in the meta? I'm looking forward to the CQ Open to see what takes that down.
"Whiffy- your volume is too low or Zach has his too high. Idk which."
Which made Zach's eating all the more obvious. >_<
+90 cool points to Denis for mentioning Coming to America! You have earned yourself a free bottle of Soul Glow... to collect, just pick it up at McDowell's. Love the Samuel L. Jackson cameo in that film too.
Peter, really nice to see you getting more involved with Classic. I really liked the beginning of the article that takes a cool-headed look at what went wrong with jumping into Classic. Unfortunately/fortunately (depending on your view), Classic isn't a format you can just bring dudes and burn and expect to win a few rounds with and hit the money. Burn even pops up now and then in Legacy DEs with 3-1 and 4-0 records, but that has yet to happen with modern Classic.
Re: Dredge: also unlike Legacy, most Classic decks pack 7 SB slots vs Dredge, even if it isn't very pervasive in the meta at the time. That means you'll spend a lot of time navigating through hate.
Re: the Classic League: Season 2 registration closes Aug 19th. We run 2 rounds per week (Sun-Tues and Wed-Sat). Hope to see many new faces there!
Again, good work. I also hope that my voice doesn't get nagging for you, as I always have an opinion.
Anyway. For the feedback you are looking for:
1. The slide format is fine. I think you should keep it.
2. Background music: also fine although something more "house" would be appreciated, from my POV.
3. It is clear that you took my feedback from last week and ran with it. Thanks. I like how you not only feature CawBlade as your deck this week, but that it related to your podcast. Good job!
4. Some speculation of how the metagame might shift would be great. Even if it is only your opinion.
I also like that you are advertising other podcasts. I like the Limited Resources cast and would maybe never heard of it had you not mentioned it.
I am trying to write an article (slooooowly), so I expect this kind of feed back from you as well.
Overall, you do good work and the improvements that you could make are mostly minor. Keep it up, sir.
Some acknowledgement of "feedback received" would also be appreciated.
Good stuff guys I enjoyed listening though it did feel painfully odd for obvious reasons.
Love the innovative creature based decks this week.
I think the dismember in the cat stax sideboard come in for the shop mirror with the spheres being replaced.
Think m12 as pack payout for queues now is a relevant discussion point. Hopefully more events fire with the better EV. Also look towards Vintage champs for technology applicable to Classic.
There’s way too much happening here, so, I have to go through a little more to figure where the goof is. I’m sleepy now, so will get back in a bit.
The specific onlineaustralia this can be the most effective that now there is for bj also, the internet site sounds make you feel that you are bet ting inside of a actual one.
The funny part about this is I have a judge Dark Confidant sitting on my desk looking at me. This is what I get for going off on my own little tangent, and rushing myself. :(
The puzzle:
Turn 3 Karn is land, Surge Node. Turn two is land, Chalice, use chalice to cast Key, untap Chace, play a Key, use node to ramp up chalice once. we've used most of our cards here, but next turn you have 2 counter-chalice, 2 lands in play, and 2 keys. Then you can tap a land to move a counter to chalice, tap chalice, use keys to untap it twice getting you to seven mana with one left over I believe.
Great points all. I second the motion for a greats of the game type HOF. Particularly BDM and the Dojo guys and who else? Scott Johns? Cathy N/Alex S for Meridian Magic which in its time was pretty darned great. Some of the judges perhaps?
PS I should add that I am confident that you'll be able to grind points if you really want to, depending on your goals other than work: there are draft, 8man constructed (basically block or std) and pauper DEs. You're such a good grinder and tuner I think you could do MOCS well if you want to.
Another consideration you've touched on a little: The EV sucked too much for semi-casual people who love classic/100c to keep up their efforts. When I started playing Classic, 100c, etc, the EV was really good. If you did well, you DID WELL. Now with Classic paying crappy packs (after the first month or so prizes tend to be nigh-worthless) and refusing to have something like "12 packs of your choice" for all formats, pauper, classic, and 100C just aren't worth putting the limited gaming time I have into them. I love these formats (and extended too) but the cost of cards is such that I can't self-justify keeping them for almost no play.
Keywords seem like a big hit. You could look at how raredraft does theirs. Also, you could give a few standard ones to work with: something like "constructed, limited, standard/block/legacy/whatever, casual, rogue, tier 1, and so forth."
I love the keyword idea. That blows my mind how simple that sounds. :D
Thanks for all the work you do for the site!
I love the ideas for site improvement. Pop-up card descriptions would be wonderful and it would be great if it would link to your account at mtgotraders.com so it could show up in your cart. It would be even better if mtgotraders.com had a wish list that you add cards to so you (mainly me) wouldn't keep forgetting about cool cards between when you read about them and want to buy them.
One idea for organizing the front page would be if writers could put together a keyword list when they submit an article. Maybe it would just be keyworded to formats. That way if you wanted to read commander articles you could search the keyword for commander.
Just so I can give it a rating.
One critique, maybe try and tone down the "bad player" or "scrub" comments. Now the Vampire player, might not have been the best player, but it detracts from the quality of the videos.
What's funny is that the first thing I ever did in a Magic game, oh so long ago, was to drop a mountain on the first turn and bolt my opponent. Then my opponent proceeded to beat me down with a Juggernaut and Kird Ape, while I held two Shivan Dragons in my 20 land deck. Afterall it was tech to play 1/3 land, 1/3 spells, and 1/3 creatures. Good times!
By some coincidence I played against Smi77y in a two man. I was playing Gerry's list and he was playing his mill list. The first game was a blowout. He beat me pretty bad. Games two and three were pretty easy. I even made a horrible misclick when I put my ratchet bomb to 4 instead of setting it off at 3. You just need to board in the misteps, bombs, and removal. Also, be very careful of your searches.
Great article be the way. Interesting ideas to ponder. I came to the realization that I tend to play this deck too conservatively. Once I changed that, I have been winning a whole lot more.
I have started to see several people playing the RW Sword now. I would have lost to it last night, but he timed out :)
Actually him and Kyle Sanchez
Anyone who said banning Jace was bad for the game was just plain wrong. Harmful to long term growth? That's just plain backwards! Tournament participation was down and I for one didn't even venture into casual matches. Things have 180'd and are looking up.
Also, regarding Hall of Fame and Mike Long: this is from the rules as laid out on the WotC website.
"Voting shall be based upon the player's performances, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, and contributions to the game in general."
Integrity and sportsmanship are two giant black marks against him. While you can sum up some of his behavior as "personality", borderline intimidation has no place in the game and with all the benefits of hindsight (something that can't be applied to some regretfully already enshrined members) we know he doesn't belong. This should be the end of the discussion, but debate is always welcome.
As for the "I just want to see the Hall of Fame encompass more than just the Pro Tour I guess" line -- well, it's the PRO TOUR Hall of Fame. That's why Gerry T, as good as he is, is still a long way off ever getting on the ballot. That's why Mark Rosewater and Brian David Marshall aren't getting in. Perhaps you mean to propose a separate honour? A 'Legends of Magic' that's open to a wider field of people whose contribution to the game is no less (and often greater) than Pro Tour Hall of Fame members.
oh smi77y is getting to be a heck of a builder. I enjoy his decks (I think that is the mill deck you're talking about right?)
Mill is picking up on mtgo and keeping 1 to 2 slots to have a great win percentage against an upcoming archetype (that is very hard for this deck to deal with) is fine with me.
Speaking of I just 4-0'd a daily with my updated list of this deck today (with 2 Eldrazi - 2 different so they can't surgical extraction both) Apparently I can only do well off camera this week.
http://t.co/uAsUO5L - the deck
Are mill decks really that big of a force to warrant an Ulamog? Are you grinding 2-mans or playing standard dailies? I have run into them in 2-man's but never in a daily.
I've never lost to a mill deck in the 2-man's with the old or the new caw-decks. I don't think they are favored vs control anyway.
http://www.tinyurl.com/wh1ffy
It's all about the Penguin.
I want to see the new Force of Will art on a new-framed card. =( I want it to be in a precon as well, but that'll never happen.
I was shocked only one Oath deck finished in the top 8 of the Classic League Season 1. There was very little diversity in those decks though... all GG Oath. Maybe it's time for a tweak to Oath lists, or maybe Elephant Oath is better positioned in the meta? I'm looking forward to the CQ Open to see what takes that down.
You are skilled, both as a player and a vlogger. Keep them coming.
"Whiffy- your volume is too low or Zach has his too high. Idk which."
Which made Zach's eating all the more obvious. >_<
+90 cool points to Denis for mentioning Coming to America! You have earned yourself a free bottle of Soul Glow... to collect, just pick it up at McDowell's. Love the Samuel L. Jackson cameo in that film too.
Peter, really nice to see you getting more involved with Classic. I really liked the beginning of the article that takes a cool-headed look at what went wrong with jumping into Classic. Unfortunately/fortunately (depending on your view), Classic isn't a format you can just bring dudes and burn and expect to win a few rounds with and hit the money. Burn even pops up now and then in Legacy DEs with 3-1 and 4-0 records, but that has yet to happen with modern Classic.
Re: Dredge: also unlike Legacy, most Classic decks pack 7 SB slots vs Dredge, even if it isn't very pervasive in the meta at the time. That means you'll spend a lot of time navigating through hate.
Re: the Classic League: Season 2 registration closes Aug 19th. We run 2 rounds per week (Sun-Tues and Wed-Sat). Hope to see many new faces there!
Thank you for the suggestions :) and the comment.
Again, good work. I also hope that my voice doesn't get nagging for you, as I always have an opinion.
Anyway. For the feedback you are looking for:
1. The slide format is fine. I think you should keep it.
2. Background music: also fine although something more "house" would be appreciated, from my POV.
3. It is clear that you took my feedback from last week and ran with it. Thanks. I like how you not only feature CawBlade as your deck this week, but that it related to your podcast. Good job!
4. Some speculation of how the metagame might shift would be great. Even if it is only your opinion.
I also like that you are advertising other podcasts. I like the Limited Resources cast and would maybe never heard of it had you not mentioned it.
I am trying to write an article (slooooowly), so I expect this kind of feed back from you as well.
Overall, you do good work and the improvements that you could make are mostly minor. Keep it up, sir.
Some acknowledgement of "feedback received" would also be appreciated.
I wish I had a playset of judge-bobs.
Good stuff guys I enjoyed listening though it did feel painfully odd for obvious reasons.
Love the innovative creature based decks this week.
I think the dismember in the cat stax sideboard come in for the shop mirror with the spheres being replaced.
Think m12 as pack payout for queues now is a relevant discussion point. Hopefully more events fire with the better EV. Also look towards Vintage champs for technology applicable to Classic.
Good stuff keep up the good work.
-hammer
There’s way too much happening here, so, I have to go through a little more to figure where the goof is. I’m sleepy now, so will get back in a bit.
The funny part about this is I have a judge Dark Confidant sitting on my desk looking at me. This is what I get for going off on my own little tangent, and rushing myself. :(
The puzzle:
Turn 3 Karn is land, Surge Node. Turn two is land, Chalice, use chalice to cast Key, untap Chace, play a Key, use node to ramp up chalice once. we've used most of our cards here, but next turn you have 2 counter-chalice, 2 lands in play, and 2 keys. Then you can tap a land to move a counter to chalice, tap chalice, use keys to untap it twice getting you to seven mana with one left over I believe.