Well I don't think "niche" players like me are appropriate to exclude from consideration> I was once a happy standard player long ago, and BB-elf was not as annoying to me since the deck was less than $100 a lot of the time and I did even play it for awhile since it was affordable and arguably in the best deck you could play. Just because I do not like many aspects of these formats, namely the degeneracy that produces a format where brewing has been made minimally rewarding does not mean I don't enjoy playing universally played formats where I can participate in a universal environment.
I don't want to kindle your obvious tendency to lash out at people that you don't agree with but I do find your tone excessive.
Stoneforge mystic is clearly good but also as clearly not as good as format warping as JTMS. Stoneforge decks are newer and so are a more recent disruption to the meta but a simple count of copies played in top8's of big events shows how ubiquitous the card is. How much more blue is played because of him? How much more control? I do agree with one admission here though and that is the fact that wizards R&D are doing a poor job of making MTG a good game to play official formats in atm by printing stupid cards too much without appropriate answers as a pressure release valve to their conforming effects on the meta.
Even LSV said recently that if JTMS were not rotating soon he should be banned and was a mistake to print.
Casual players need not apply.
Seriously people who only like niche formats and complain about prices or power levels of cards should not look at formats such as legacy and classic to even try is absurd.
You'll constantly find yourself wanting or hating. In just about EVERY standard you will find a card or cards you hate. Ravager,Jitte,Bitterblossom/Cryptic Command,Blood Braid elf,JTMS.
What's funny is how many people complain about Jace in standard when it's really Stoneforge mystic being a tutor+aether vial for equipments that's busting the format wide open, come the rotation and the reprinting of Gideon it'll be everyone hating Gideon a they come to realize that he is just the next in a series of things that are "stupid".
Hmm a lot of thoughts spring to mind when Im listening to this. First it's always good to have magic podcasts to be able to listen to, especially modo ones so thanks for that, also I enjoy your guy's personalities.
The idea that $1000 to buy in is not an issue if you really want to play the format is pretty silly, but as you say I would really like to play standard sometimes with a top deck but at 4 JTMS to apply that's beyond my responsible discretionary spending too even though I make really a good amount of money. Also these prices on these cards seem like they will only go up, especially if as you desire many people start playing the format and events fire regularly. That would be good for you guys and that's not a problem but then it would become a 2k format then a 3k format to enter and that just seems silly high for a game. I get that you guys have found room in your lives and budget for this and enjoy it but you can be happy with that and understand people's differing circumstances, values and life situations without thinking that they are a threat to yours or stupid.
Personally I have been playing Heirloom and enjoy that I can brew endlessly and test with all the cards for very little as decks cost $5 and less yet the format provides more room for varying strategies, themes and cards than really any other because it's not degenerate to a small number of broken cards like JTMS or FOW.
On the review of new cards from Doogie Howser I think you overestimate beast within a bit. It will see play to be sure but mostly in sb's or in decks that really need it's effect badly. VS any aggro deck it's very bad, and is awful vs most walkers since they got to use an ability already. In legacy 3 mana is quite a bit on a non-artifact card and a 3/3 is not something that can be ignored in many cases, often there will be a standoff and one smacker on the board will be the deciding factor. Making tarmo a 3/3 for 3 mana and a card isnt what u want to be doing because if you care about tarmo you care about this guy usually. The card isnt bad but much too fair to see a ton of play. At least that's what I think and of course I can be wrong but the idea of this being restricted seems silly and that it is anywhere near mental misstep's power is just not working for me. I do see it maybe finding a home maindeck in JTMS decks just because they work so well together, but that's because JTMS is dumb and happens to bounce things not because this card is good in environments where 4 JTMS are not jammed into so many decks.
I wanted to add, the creature set in the main deck seems scattered. The classic meta is not that diverse at this time to really justify not playing simple play sets of the creature base.
-Taking out the wurms and making Duplicant a 4of is really important (I reference the notion of how it is the only form of creature removal the deck offers). Hellkite can be a 3of but I really like 4. I feel that 8 removers is important with no draw engine.
-Obviously room has to be made for Metalworker.
-Putting Sculpting Steel in the sideboard as a 2of is reasonable; main decking it, not so much. After all it is situational even if the deck naturally makes the situation happen. Main decking it I feel can be problematic.
-I feel Leyline of the Void is way better in the main deck for this deck in classic.
-I also think that at least 3 Crucible of Worlds are needed in the main deck to, both, take advantage of all that land manipulation the deck has to offer and protect itself from opponent's abuse of Wasteland and Strip Mine. Nothing worse than having your Workshop sit in the grave yard collecting dust.
-Chalice of the Void is a 4 of for this deck.
One will note, I like 4ofs for this deck. It is simply because there is no draw engine in the deck. Consistency is an issue. I would look at any card that is not restricted and appears in the deck as less than an auto-4of and ask, "Is it good enough to hold a 4of spot or not?" If not, drop it all together. Mox is top of that list.
Last little note. This deck is in no way, shape or form effected by Mental Misstep. HURRAY BEER!!!!
Personally, I would take the most recent version of workshop, featuring both Leyline and Powders in the main deck, and replace one of those sets with 4x metalworker. For a reference on the deck list look up my name up on Classic Quarter for my most recently played list(I think I'm in the top 20). It is a copy of a very successful deck list so I can't take credit for the build, but it does run smooth.
Yeah I was watching this and thought NO don't concede you still have a LED and a tutor in hand which you could tutor for another LED. Anyway I would love to play one of your decks one time. I love classic the best but we all make play errors. It is good you record your games so you can go back and watch them.
I enjoyed watching them but maybe next time you could record closer to the mic or make them louder. For me they were very quiet even with my volume all the way up on my laptop.
Personally, my buy-in strategy has been to watch prices closely and pick up staples as they bottom out/plateau. Here are some things you can do:
1) Pay attention to paper Grand Prixs/seasons and MOCS formats to make sure not to buy cards when they are at their peak. I made that mistake when I obliviously started in July of last year.
2) Post buy ads in the Classifieds and wait. Make sure your price isn't ridiculously low. Be fair and others will come and sell. Check others' buy ads and make sure you are equal or more than their prices, otherwise you're wasting your time. Lastly, keep your ad simple and attractive. I usually only buy 1-2 cards at a time and use some emoticons to grab attention. Don't post a wall of text.
3) Keep a general plan of what you want to start picking up. Are you going to be in the market for black staples or green or red (oops, no such thing! ;P), etc. Watch the prices on those said staples and set yourself a buy-in price. When it reaches that price, buy and don't look back.
4) Try to understand why the market is moving as it is. Is it a new deck? Does that deck have potential or is it the flavour-of-the-week (e.g. Dream Halls circa 2009/10)? Is it a bubble (like Extended staples during Extended season) and will crash hard in a short while?
5) Pay attention to Nix Tix schedules even if you don't play limited. Also, watch bots and if and for how much they are buying for at this time. One of the best times to buy is when the bots are no longer buying and the drafters want to sell their wares... see #2 above. A lot of my eternal staples I got in this fashion.
6) BEWARE of nickel and diming away your tickets. Sideboard cards and niche decks are the main ways this can happen. 50 cent cards add up quickly when they become playsets. Two playsets of 50 cent cards can be one decent staple, like Dark Confidant, who will not only be a tier 1 card in so many decks, but also will maintain some semblance of value compared to those 50 cent crap rares no one will ever want again.
That's about it. That's what springs to mind when I think of how I bought in. I've been playing competitive Legacy and Classic decks for less than a year, but already I have playsets of a lot of staples just from watching the market closely and pouncing when the timing was right. Tarmogoyfs and Natural Orders for $13, Wastelands at $20, Confidants at less than $3, etc. I picked up these in the past few months and all from different sources. Vigilance will be rewarded.
At first I was mildly embarrassed my deck crapped out on me, but then I was happy to show everyone that Shop decks are NOT always consistent powerhouses. They're slow and cumbersome with a few massive and expensive threats and nearly no answers. Duplicant is about the only creature removal and when you remove two through Serum Powders, they become highly unreliable with no ability to fetch them and no card drawing.
Also, I think Metalworker really makes non-Metalworker Shop decks antiquated.
Oh man I guess if your deck is geared towards Niv + Curiosity that is unfun. It isn't intended to be in the deck I have been running and I only did it to be a finisher on top of a really long game. Not sure I had the gas left to continue the damage loop but we never found out since it crashed us out of the game.
Thanks for the comments Trea, Glad you liked it. I guess I have been in limbo for a favorite niche format lately and figured I would go to my roots and just ramble on.
Nice Article Paul, I liek that you touch a little on different casual formats rather than just a lot on one. It helps readers who might be looking at alternate formats see a bit of each, compare and see what they may prefer. I do disagree with one thing, though:
"[Some] might say Curiosity + Niv-Mizzet is an unfair combo but in general my theory is it is unlikely and is at least partially disruptable with removal (you kill Niv in response to the damage from it's draw for example.)"
I wouldn't call it unfair as much as I would call it unfun. And every time I have seen someone try to disrupt it, with Doom Blade for example, the Niv player just casts a cantrip and keeps drawing and building the stack with more damage. Without Split Second, you can't reliably stoip a Niv player intent on using curiosity as the WinCon. I saw one player go so far as to use a Time Reversal when he realized he wouldn't have enough cards to draw to kill everyone. Just shuffled his 40 card hand back in and kept going.
The list I gave whiffy for these videos was a first-shot brew after metalworker came online. After playing it for a while I've made the following changes:
Maindeck
-2 Opal (this guy just hasn't been pulling his weight)
-1 Mishra's Factory (Ghost Quarter seems better right now)
-1 City of Traitors (i'm still debating this, but I'd rather be screwed than flooded with this list)
-1 Duplicant (in board now)
+2 Chalice (they were coming in against everything but the mirror anyway)
+1 Ghost Quarter (the current meta is running far too few basics)
+2 Staff of Domination (draws the instant win with worker and 3 artifacts in hand and randomly good against oath and/or trygon predator)
Board
-2 Chalice (in main now)
-1 Leyline of the Void (might be too greedy but so far its been fine, you have 9 strip mines against dredge+6 hate in the board+spheres+combo kill now with staff)
+1 Duplicant (from main)
+2 Revoker (this guy has been the nuts, stopping pridemage, vial, bargain, mana artifacts/birds/hierarch, creating asymmetry in the mirror by shutting off what they have in play and you dont, and rogue matchups like belcher). It really shores up the fish matchup which I considered the toughest.
the next cards on my chopping block are crucible of worlds (has seemed underpowered vs the other ridiculousness you have) and battlesphere (boarded out a lot). Others have had success with builds including forgemaster in a worker shell and this is also something worth exploring.
What about card donations for the raffle. If we would like to add some cards to the raffle prizes should we just meet with your account on MTGO to trade them to you for addition to the pot? Will the raffle for donations over $20 be for one huge lot of cards, or many smaller lots of singles and/or card lots? Would you like assitance organizing the card prizes, lots and sizes?
Artifact density per set: SoM (37%), MBS(30%), NPH(27%)
I don't think metalcraft is dead. The density has gone down, but the reverse pick order will help keep it alive. There will be players that make it to the last pack with a good set of artifacts that will be able to capitalize on the fact that fewer people will now be looking for artifacts solely for metlacraft. Some drafter will benefit from picking up two Chrome Steeds and a Rusted Relic.
My thoughts on poison in general... It goes from 2-3 drafters in poison, and I mean "in" poison as "heavily" in poison, to every player with a poison element. The overall strength of poison weakens poison across the board. "Because when everyone is special, NOBODY IS." (Syndrome)
With the going price for the nexus alone this deck pushes over fourty dollars. I often build on budget but to me budget means under five dollars for the whole deck. although I would love to add nexus to my infect deck as a staple I cannot because one card alone already breaks my wallet. It's possible to beat net deckers with real budget decks that cost no more then five dollars to build.Shoutbox
Xenograft, unlike Conspiracy, doesn't give creature cards in your library the chosen type, so you can't fetch Harmonic Sliver with the Rebel search effect.
Thanks for the helpful comments. I had only played the deck for about 2 weeks, and i know i missed some plays. The way this series will shake out, i will be misplaying a lot of different decks. I would really like a different deck each wek, and with that there will be unfamiliarity as i will be picking decks up fresh, as i did for number 2 and will do for number 3.
I really do appreciate the missed plays. They are not only helpful to me, they are for everyone, as they can see the correct or better lines of play, as well as seeing the deck and the the other decks in action.
I heartily encourage archtype players to give this kind of feedback.
Thanks Levi :) I know the 80 card deck thing is a bit odd but I figured for casual we don't really care if it is 100% consistent and honestly it draws better than some of my carefully honed 60 card decks.
I did consider putting the Intet list in, in its long form and using a hide script but decided I don't like those in these articles. Trying to keep it as simple as possible.
I need to start making some more dragons or I am going to run out. :P
Keya you definitely deserve a place at the table in Renton representing us. Your presence on the cast has been well appreciated and that you guys choose to keep forging ahead means a great deal to me and other listeners I am certain.
Looks like you could use some practice playing with LED.
In the 2nd game against dredge, you actually had the win off the brainstorm (play LED, use infernal for another LED, use demonic for another, tinker away mana crypt for voltaic key). There are probably other winning lines off that LED...but that is the one that I noticed first.
Also -- first game against Stax, when your hand on a brainstorm was:
S&T, S&T, MT, IT, Land, Mana Vault, Rebuild
You should put back 2 S&T, MT for a dark ritual, and unless he plays 4 lock pieces on his turn, you have a win (your next turn you tap all your mana, play rebuild -> ritual -> IT -> yawgs will with extra mana).
There were also a few games you had the combo ready and passed the turn, where the only reason to do so would be to wait for protection, but you tried the next turn without protection anyway.
Also -- as far as the deck -- it seems like the LEDs are a pretty important piece of your strategy, which makes duress effects much better than force (how many times in these videos was Force cast? I think once -- and there were a few times you were just cracking LEDs and hoping they didn't have a counterspell -- definitely not a winning strategy against blue decks)
I didn't know Erik, but I greatly enjoyed both his articles each week. It's sad that we won't hear his voice anymore. I hope what little I can spare helps.
I think my nomination may be a bit premature. Clearly all your other nominees deserve a spot before me. I nominated AJ myself, even if he won't be able to attend, he deserves the nod.
Working in a school from Jan-May is a madhouse, but I'm hoping to up my writing once the summer rolls around. I may even start early now that the dreaded TAKS test is out of the way.
Well I don't think "niche" players like me are appropriate to exclude from consideration> I was once a happy standard player long ago, and BB-elf was not as annoying to me since the deck was less than $100 a lot of the time and I did even play it for awhile since it was affordable and arguably in the best deck you could play. Just because I do not like many aspects of these formats, namely the degeneracy that produces a format where brewing has been made minimally rewarding does not mean I don't enjoy playing universally played formats where I can participate in a universal environment.
I don't want to kindle your obvious tendency to lash out at people that you don't agree with but I do find your tone excessive.
Stoneforge mystic is clearly good but also as clearly not as good as format warping as JTMS. Stoneforge decks are newer and so are a more recent disruption to the meta but a simple count of copies played in top8's of big events shows how ubiquitous the card is. How much more blue is played because of him? How much more control? I do agree with one admission here though and that is the fact that wizards R&D are doing a poor job of making MTG a good game to play official formats in atm by printing stupid cards too much without appropriate answers as a pressure release valve to their conforming effects on the meta.
Even LSV said recently that if JTMS were not rotating soon he should be banned and was a mistake to print.
Casual players need not apply.
Seriously people who only like niche formats and complain about prices or power levels of cards should not look at formats such as legacy and classic to even try is absurd.
You'll constantly find yourself wanting or hating. In just about EVERY standard you will find a card or cards you hate. Ravager,Jitte,Bitterblossom/Cryptic Command,Blood Braid elf,JTMS.
What's funny is how many people complain about Jace in standard when it's really Stoneforge mystic being a tutor+aether vial for equipments that's busting the format wide open, come the rotation and the reprinting of Gideon it'll be everyone hating Gideon a they come to realize that he is just the next in a series of things that are "stupid".
Hmm a lot of thoughts spring to mind when Im listening to this. First it's always good to have magic podcasts to be able to listen to, especially modo ones so thanks for that, also I enjoy your guy's personalities.
The idea that $1000 to buy in is not an issue if you really want to play the format is pretty silly, but as you say I would really like to play standard sometimes with a top deck but at 4 JTMS to apply that's beyond my responsible discretionary spending too even though I make really a good amount of money. Also these prices on these cards seem like they will only go up, especially if as you desire many people start playing the format and events fire regularly. That would be good for you guys and that's not a problem but then it would become a 2k format then a 3k format to enter and that just seems silly high for a game. I get that you guys have found room in your lives and budget for this and enjoy it but you can be happy with that and understand people's differing circumstances, values and life situations without thinking that they are a threat to yours or stupid.
Personally I have been playing Heirloom and enjoy that I can brew endlessly and test with all the cards for very little as decks cost $5 and less yet the format provides more room for varying strategies, themes and cards than really any other because it's not degenerate to a small number of broken cards like JTMS or FOW.
On the review of new cards from Doogie Howser I think you overestimate beast within a bit. It will see play to be sure but mostly in sb's or in decks that really need it's effect badly. VS any aggro deck it's very bad, and is awful vs most walkers since they got to use an ability already. In legacy 3 mana is quite a bit on a non-artifact card and a 3/3 is not something that can be ignored in many cases, often there will be a standoff and one smacker on the board will be the deciding factor. Making tarmo a 3/3 for 3 mana and a card isnt what u want to be doing because if you care about tarmo you care about this guy usually. The card isnt bad but much too fair to see a ton of play. At least that's what I think and of course I can be wrong but the idea of this being restricted seems silly and that it is anywhere near mental misstep's power is just not working for me. I do see it maybe finding a home maindeck in JTMS decks just because they work so well together, but that's because JTMS is dumb and happens to bounce things not because this card is good in environments where 4 JTMS are not jammed into so many decks.
I wanted to add, the creature set in the main deck seems scattered. The classic meta is not that diverse at this time to really justify not playing simple play sets of the creature base.
-Taking out the wurms and making Duplicant a 4of is really important (I reference the notion of how it is the only form of creature removal the deck offers). Hellkite can be a 3of but I really like 4. I feel that 8 removers is important with no draw engine.
-Obviously room has to be made for Metalworker.
-Putting Sculpting Steel in the sideboard as a 2of is reasonable; main decking it, not so much. After all it is situational even if the deck naturally makes the situation happen. Main decking it I feel can be problematic.
-I feel Leyline of the Void is way better in the main deck for this deck in classic.
-I also think that at least 3 Crucible of Worlds are needed in the main deck to, both, take advantage of all that land manipulation the deck has to offer and protect itself from opponent's abuse of Wasteland and Strip Mine. Nothing worse than having your Workshop sit in the grave yard collecting dust.
-Chalice of the Void is a 4 of for this deck.
One will note, I like 4ofs for this deck. It is simply because there is no draw engine in the deck. Consistency is an issue. I would look at any card that is not restricted and appears in the deck as less than an auto-4of and ask, "Is it good enough to hold a 4of spot or not?" If not, drop it all together. Mox is top of that list.
Last little note. This deck is in no way, shape or form effected by Mental Misstep. HURRAY BEER!!!!
Personally, I would take the most recent version of workshop, featuring both Leyline and Powders in the main deck, and replace one of those sets with 4x metalworker. For a reference on the deck list look up my name up on Classic Quarter for my most recently played list(I think I'm in the top 20). It is a copy of a very successful deck list so I can't take credit for the build, but it does run smooth.
I judged a Nats Qualifier on Sunday. Finals was Caw Blade on Caw Blade. Deck is so strong....
Yeah I was watching this and thought NO don't concede you still have a LED and a tutor in hand which you could tutor for another LED. Anyway I would love to play one of your decks one time. I love classic the best but we all make play errors. It is good you record your games so you can go back and watch them.
I enjoyed watching them but maybe next time you could record closer to the mic or make them louder. For me they were very quiet even with my volume all the way up on my laptop.
Personally, my buy-in strategy has been to watch prices closely and pick up staples as they bottom out/plateau. Here are some things you can do:
1) Pay attention to paper Grand Prixs/seasons and MOCS formats to make sure not to buy cards when they are at their peak. I made that mistake when I obliviously started in July of last year.
2) Post buy ads in the Classifieds and wait. Make sure your price isn't ridiculously low. Be fair and others will come and sell. Check others' buy ads and make sure you are equal or more than their prices, otherwise you're wasting your time. Lastly, keep your ad simple and attractive. I usually only buy 1-2 cards at a time and use some emoticons to grab attention. Don't post a wall of text.
3) Keep a general plan of what you want to start picking up. Are you going to be in the market for black staples or green or red (oops, no such thing! ;P), etc. Watch the prices on those said staples and set yourself a buy-in price. When it reaches that price, buy and don't look back.
4) Try to understand why the market is moving as it is. Is it a new deck? Does that deck have potential or is it the flavour-of-the-week (e.g. Dream Halls circa 2009/10)? Is it a bubble (like Extended staples during Extended season) and will crash hard in a short while?
5) Pay attention to Nix Tix schedules even if you don't play limited. Also, watch bots and if and for how much they are buying for at this time. One of the best times to buy is when the bots are no longer buying and the drafters want to sell their wares... see #2 above. A lot of my eternal staples I got in this fashion.
6) BEWARE of nickel and diming away your tickets. Sideboard cards and niche decks are the main ways this can happen. 50 cent cards add up quickly when they become playsets. Two playsets of 50 cent cards can be one decent staple, like Dark Confidant, who will not only be a tier 1 card in so many decks, but also will maintain some semblance of value compared to those 50 cent crap rares no one will ever want again.
That's about it. That's what springs to mind when I think of how I bought in. I've been playing competitive Legacy and Classic decks for less than a year, but already I have playsets of a lot of staples just from watching the market closely and pouncing when the timing was right. Tarmogoyfs and Natural Orders for $13, Wastelands at $20, Confidants at less than $3, etc. I picked up these in the past few months and all from different sources. Vigilance will be rewarded.
Who's the effing scrub in RD 1?!
At first I was mildly embarrassed my deck crapped out on me, but then I was happy to show everyone that Shop decks are NOT always consistent powerhouses. They're slow and cumbersome with a few massive and expensive threats and nearly no answers. Duplicant is about the only creature removal and when you remove two through Serum Powders, they become highly unreliable with no ability to fetch them and no card drawing.
Also, I think Metalworker really makes non-Metalworker Shop decks antiquated.
Great work Sir Penguin of the Whiff
Oh man I guess if your deck is geared towards Niv + Curiosity that is unfun. It isn't intended to be in the deck I have been running and I only did it to be a finisher on top of a really long game. Not sure I had the gas left to continue the damage loop but we never found out since it crashed us out of the game.
Thanks for the comments Trea, Glad you liked it. I guess I have been in limbo for a favorite niche format lately and figured I would go to my roots and just ramble on.
The Penguin TV logo is awesome!
Nice Article Paul, I liek that you touch a little on different casual formats rather than just a lot on one. It helps readers who might be looking at alternate formats see a bit of each, compare and see what they may prefer. I do disagree with one thing, though:
"[Some] might say Curiosity + Niv-Mizzet is an unfair combo but in general my theory is it is unlikely and is at least partially disruptable with removal (you kill Niv in response to the damage from it's draw for example.)"
I wouldn't call it unfair as much as I would call it unfun. And every time I have seen someone try to disrupt it, with Doom Blade for example, the Niv player just casts a cantrip and keeps drawing and building the stack with more damage. Without Split Second, you can't reliably stoip a Niv player intent on using curiosity as the WinCon. I saw one player go so far as to use a Time Reversal when he realized he wouldn't have enough cards to draw to kill everyone. Just shuffled his 40 card hand back in and kept going.
The list I gave whiffy for these videos was a first-shot brew after metalworker came online. After playing it for a while I've made the following changes:
Maindeck
-2 Opal (this guy just hasn't been pulling his weight)
-1 Mishra's Factory (Ghost Quarter seems better right now)
-1 City of Traitors (i'm still debating this, but I'd rather be screwed than flooded with this list)
-1 Duplicant (in board now)
+2 Chalice (they were coming in against everything but the mirror anyway)
+1 Ghost Quarter (the current meta is running far too few basics)
+2 Staff of Domination (draws the instant win with worker and 3 artifacts in hand and randomly good against oath and/or trygon predator)
Board
-2 Chalice (in main now)
-1 Leyline of the Void (might be too greedy but so far its been fine, you have 9 strip mines against dredge+6 hate in the board+spheres+combo kill now with staff)
+1 Duplicant (from main)
+2 Revoker (this guy has been the nuts, stopping pridemage, vial, bargain, mana artifacts/birds/hierarch, creating asymmetry in the mirror by shutting off what they have in play and you dont, and rogue matchups like belcher). It really shores up the fish matchup which I considered the toughest.
the next cards on my chopping block are crucible of worlds (has seemed underpowered vs the other ridiculousness you have) and battlesphere (boarded out a lot). Others have had success with builds including forgemaster in a worker shell and this is also something worth exploring.
Boarding:
Oath:
-2 Battlesphere
-1 Hellkite
+3 Duplicant
Mirror:
-4 Sphere of Resistance
-4 Chalice
-1 Trinisphere
+3 Duplicant
+1 Hellkite
+1 Wurmcoil
+4 Revoker
Against metalworker builds: -3 Thorn, +2 Relic, +1 crypt
Fish:
-1 Battlesphere
-4 Thorn
-1 Duplicant
+1 Hellkite
+1 Wurmcoil
+4 Revoker
Storm:
-2 Battlesphere
-1 Wurmcoil
-1 Duplicant
+4 Revoker
Dredge:
-2 Battlesphere
-2 Hellkite
-2 Crucible of Worlds
-1 Duplicant
+3 Leyline
+2 Relic
+1 Crypt
+1 Wurmcoil
Nice vids. Love the Wurmcoil top deck m4g1, lol.
Heath,
What about card donations for the raffle. If we would like to add some cards to the raffle prizes should we just meet with your account on MTGO to trade them to you for addition to the pot? Will the raffle for donations over $20 be for one huge lot of cards, or many smaller lots of singles and/or card lots? Would you like assitance organizing the card prizes, lots and sizes?
HK
Excellent- I just dropped cash on metalworkers, workshops and support from mtgotraders on the back of this article.
Artifact density per set: SoM (37%), MBS(30%), NPH(27%)
I don't think metalcraft is dead. The density has gone down, but the reverse pick order will help keep it alive. There will be players that make it to the last pack with a good set of artifacts that will be able to capitalize on the fact that fewer people will now be looking for artifacts solely for metlacraft. Some drafter will benefit from picking up two Chrome Steeds and a Rusted Relic.
My thoughts on poison in general... It goes from 2-3 drafters in poison, and I mean "in" poison as "heavily" in poison, to every player with a poison element. The overall strength of poison weakens poison across the board. "Because when everyone is special, NOBODY IS." (Syndrome)
With the going price for the nexus alone this deck pushes over fourty dollars. I often build on budget but to me budget means under five dollars for the whole deck. although I would love to add nexus to my infect deck as a staple I cannot because one card alone already breaks my wallet. It's possible to beat net deckers with real budget decks that cost no more then five dollars to build.Shoutbox
Which I noted after that sentence. But yeah as I said it will be interesting with Allies, slivers and the like. :) Thanks for commenting.
Xenograft, unlike Conspiracy, doesn't give creature cards in your library the chosen type, so you can't fetch Harmonic Sliver with the Rebel search effect.
Thanks for the helpful comments. I had only played the deck for about 2 weeks, and i know i missed some plays. The way this series will shake out, i will be misplaying a lot of different decks. I would really like a different deck each wek, and with that there will be unfamiliarity as i will be picking decks up fresh, as i did for number 2 and will do for number 3.
I really do appreciate the missed plays. They are not only helpful to me, they are for everyone, as they can see the correct or better lines of play, as well as seeing the deck and the the other decks in action.
I heartily encourage archtype players to give this kind of feedback.
Thanks Levi :) I know the 80 card deck thing is a bit odd but I figured for casual we don't really care if it is 100% consistent and honestly it draws better than some of my carefully honed 60 card decks.
I did consider putting the Intet list in, in its long form and using a hide script but decided I don't like those in these articles. Trying to keep it as simple as possible.
I need to start making some more dragons or I am going to run out. :P
Keya you definitely deserve a place at the table in Renton representing us. Your presence on the cast has been well appreciated and that you guys choose to keep forging ahead means a great deal to me and other listeners I am certain.
Looks like you could use some practice playing with LED.
In the 2nd game against dredge, you actually had the win off the brainstorm (play LED, use infernal for another LED, use demonic for another, tinker away mana crypt for voltaic key). There are probably other winning lines off that LED...but that is the one that I noticed first.
Also -- first game against Stax, when your hand on a brainstorm was:
S&T, S&T, MT, IT, Land, Mana Vault, Rebuild
You should put back 2 S&T, MT for a dark ritual, and unless he plays 4 lock pieces on his turn, you have a win (your next turn you tap all your mana, play rebuild -> ritual -> IT -> yawgs will with extra mana).
There were also a few games you had the combo ready and passed the turn, where the only reason to do so would be to wait for protection, but you tried the next turn without protection anyway.
Also -- as far as the deck -- it seems like the LEDs are a pretty important piece of your strategy, which makes duress effects much better than force (how many times in these videos was Force cast? I think once -- and there were a few times you were just cracking LEDs and hoping they didn't have a counterspell -- definitely not a winning strategy against blue decks)
Anyway -- cool video series, hope you keep it up.
I didn't know Erik, but I greatly enjoyed both his articles each week. It's sad that we won't hear his voice anymore. I hope what little I can spare helps.
Excellent article, Paul!
I think my nomination may be a bit premature. Clearly all your other nominees deserve a spot before me. I nominated AJ myself, even if he won't be able to attend, he deserves the nod.
Working in a school from Jan-May is a madhouse, but I'm hoping to up my writing once the summer rolls around. I may even start early now that the dreaded TAKS test is out of the way.
5 fireballs!!