I am so saddened for Erik's family for their loss. The show, Freed from the Real, was very supportive to players of MTGO, and, I am sure that he was a very supportive family member.
Much thanks to AJ for his inspiring words about Erik. I sincerely hope that when he and Kaya feel able, they will please continue to bring us the quality news and discussions that I have been eagerly awaiting for the last few months. Obviously, it will never be the same without Erik, but, the community needs Freed from the Real to continue, if at all possible, please.
I have yet to actually play a SilverBlack game but it seems to me that sideboarding in any competition is fairly important. I guess I missed the main deck comment but I do think the prices are a little odd. FTV is and has been out of stock by the way.
Anyway one of these weeks I may yet get some silverblack games in.
In short I see Nin being flat out broken, even if all someone does is target and kill their own creatures with her ability,the card advantage will be staggering.
"Now we've hit the cheap sets. Weighing in at a piggybank-breaking $1.83 anyone could afford this deck." Not sure where you are getting your prices from but Wall of Denial x4 = $2.00 on traders and that's just a sideboard card.
Also in the previous deck Sensei's Divining Top is 1.95 per so thats 3.9 for just 2 cards.
"I guess you could use her as a political tool to help an opponent out, or just as removal. You could always combo her with Stuffy Doll or Homura, and other stuff that doesn't mind being damaged or killed. Add some indestructible stuff to your deck and ping away for card draw."
This card gets insane with cards like Vigor. Of course it can't be a commander to be used that way but I think Id rather have her as a regular creature anyway. In addition it helps set up a sweeper or recover from one and Living Death loves her. As does Beacon of Unrest, etc. That said being a 1/1 makes the ridiculousness easily stopped by removal. (Since there is more of it that hits her for lethal/exile.)
As a commander I guess I want to see what other cards they print with her before saying for certain but I think in almost every case you are better off with Niv Mizzet or the twins.
The thing about Rofellos being banned is not necessarily known to those running him. I recommend telling the offender this and maybe pointing them at the commander site for more information before assuming they are a filthy no-good rat-eating cheater. This is particularly important because a lot of newer players gravitate towards monogreen as it has a ton of good land fetch/accelleration and beaters.
I didn't know Rofellos was banned as a commander until I read this article. They may not know either and be relying on the client to enforce the rules like it does for every other format.
Because of the lack of space constraints, the ability to introduce people to and get people interested in is the sort of thing that a website can do best! At this point, the Magic website scene is pretty well established, and the only way you'll draw new eyeballs is to do something other sites don't.
Yes, some people probably love articles that are all about standard, but I can honestly say that this isn't the site I'd be running to first if I were looking for articles about standard, or how to draft the current format. (With the exception of how to value draft it- I think Hotel Infinite may be the finest treatment of the subject on the web)
The current MTGO released set format, like UD/UD/UD? I'm here first. The current Nix-tix/Nix-pax format? This is my first stop again. But even those sorts of articles are only going to be of a niche interest.
Very frequently I find much higher quality discussions of the current Block format here that most anywhere- and to most websites that's seen as in irrelevant waste of space as well.
If you find an article here that just doesn't tickle your fancy, take a deep breath, and then realize "It's not for you". Magic the Gathering itself is permated with that- boring yet efficent cards, flashy yet impractical win-more cards, combo enablers and then just downright bad "puzzle" cards.
By giving space to niche formats, you serve a portion of the community that isn't serviced elsewhere... and people don't typically forget who has done right by them. That's how loyal customers get created. That's how you differentiate a brand.
I know that I visit and purchase from the MTGOtraders website and bots- and sometimes even happily pay a premium on some cards- because they provide good service, a wide selection, a sizable amount of interesting free content, and actually support the various MTGO communities.
The point being a critic to the editor's choice about which articles get published? If so, I misunderstood it when I submitted my previous comment.
Anyway, people write about what they like: if Pure gets a lot of submission for niche formats, they probably have enough audience to deserve to be published.
Oh, just to be clear: I'm not trying to flame you, I'm just trying to logically understand the point of discussion. :)
Some rough drafts and some rookie mistakes but at least you don't just show your successful drafts like 99% of the draft article writers. You identify most of your mistakes yourself so you probably won't make them again in the future.
Oh, and you're overvaluing Neurok Commando. I generally only play that guy when I have something like Nim Deathmantle to go along with it.
I always appreciate someone taking the time to do a primer, but if you're going to do a primer why not do a full primer? This is far too condensed and too many things are left out.
Your drafts seem to be one unmitigated disaster after another. I really think you need to play a little more before producing "strategy articles." Harsh . . . maybe, but to the point.
meaning I don't know whether or not Heath benefits. It would be hard to say since I don't have even guesses as to extra profit or marketshare gained by having Heirloom purchases through traders. I merely said he has a point.
Black Red can be absolutely dominating in this set. Don't know why Eradicate wasn't mentioned either, in triple set drafting it almost always pulls an extra creature.
Cinder Seer is a first pick red uncommon and is ridiculously good, and Bloodshot Cyclops is a bomb. Since cyclops can throw himself at anything once he comes back around he's an absolute beast that can't be dealt with.
It's been a long time since I last posted here. However, sometimes a comment from other user really makes you want to say a word or two. I can't understand why some users are complaining about the existence of the article. What's wrong if only 20 people play the format, or read the article?
PureMTGO could be better served with articles about more popular formats? Maybe. But the Heirloom article is not an obstacle preventing that from happening. It's not a printed magazine. Articles are not competing for a limited number of pages. The editor has the freedom to publish as many articles as he wants. Of course he probably have a budget, but he does not need to pay the same for every article. I wrote a few articles here, long time ago, when I was running a PRE. IIRC, I got different values for each article, and I assume it was based on quality and relevance.
If you want more articles on limited, or standard, you only need to start writing the articles, and they will probably get published.
That said, I'd like to add that I never tried the Heirloom format. I'd really like to play it, but I can't attend the PRE, and unfortunately I can no longer afford time to host a PRE myself at a more convenient schedule. The same is true for BYOS and Silverblack. *sight*
Thanks for posting. I have a couple of comments on the 2nd draft:
p2p1: No love for Burn the Impure? You didn't even mention it. In the end, it looks like you were cut in red in pack 1, but with the way your deck wound up, you could have easily splashed for it. The Anatomist is a fine card too, but can be very slow. It was nice you got a 2nd one with pick 3. :)
p7p1: I'd take the Gore Vassal over the Vivisection. You can get Vivisection later, and the Vassal can take care of some pesky creatures (Smiths, 1-toughness poison guys, etc), and makes combat a problem for the opponent.
p8p1: Vivisection here instead of Turn Aside. I don't think I've ever seen anyone play Turn Aside against me. Even if I already had one Vivi from pick 7, I'd take the 2nd one here to keep other people off of blue.
p9p1: I'd probably take Gust Skimmer over Myr Sire. Pseudo-evasion works sometimes.
p1p2: Myrsmith or Sky Eel over the blue mana myr!
p3p2: I'd have probably taken Origin Spellbomb over the Galvanizer. Those Galvanizers tend to table. In hindsight, you had the myr thing going on by the end, so I can't argue the pick too much.
Deck-building:
I think you should have run 9 plains and 7 islands (maybe even 10/6). You want to make sure you can get the Myr Sire and Skyhunter out early. You've only got one double blue spell in the main (which, btw, should have been Sky-Eel School instead of Neurok Commando.
Bottom line: a synergistic deck like this seems fun to play. It's great to get the Arbalest/Galvanizer/random myr combo going. Keep the articles coming!
I beg to differ from your last paragraph: Heirloom seems to be the best option available for a reseller to move some old cards that would otherwise be left to gather dust in the virtual binders. And it's absolutely not a bad thing in any way you look at it: Heath sells some more cards, we have an extremely fun format to play with. Win-win. :)
Pack 1, picks 3-~7 seem to absolutely rammed with signals saying "go green go green go green!". You seemed to end up dithering on it a bit, and picking up some random stuff instead like ichor wellspring.
I also think you overrated hellkite igniter. Mortarpod is an absolute lock for anyr deck, and doesn't complicate your mana (with the BBB for massacre wurm), I also think I'd pick fangren marauder over hellkite, 'though that is certainly more debatable.
I'm not sure that there's any great purpose to your rare-ranking at the start, but I definitely think that you're ranking spine of ish sah, decimator web, creeping corrosion and darksteel plate too low. None are amazing, but they should certainly be above shimmer myr, psychosis crawler and P-revoker (and mirrorworks{!!?wtf!!?!!111zk!})in my book. I also think Phyrexian Vatmother should jump from #21 to about #13ish. I would rate hydra higher too, and phyrexian crusader much lower.
Honestly I don't think that's what Mike was saying (that you must be well off financially to enjoy M:TG.)
I think he was saying Sanctioned Events are sanctioned for a reason. (They draw money in for WOTC) whereas niche formats while a sign of a healthy game are not money makers and so will likely never be sanctioned. Some like Tribal Wars WERE sanctioned and then lost that status because the format died to shark infestation. (No sideboards = broken format.) Despite that it is still thriving as a PRE fueled format and people still jump into queues for it regularly.
Some niche formats do break through the barrier (such as Pauper) and then they gain a larger following as WOTC promotes them with special events etc. But by and large formats like Heirloom not only could not be sanctioned (for policy reasons) but probably should not be. (For the fact that the game needs some decent formats that don't cost an arm and a leg to join.)
I am so saddened for Erik's family for their loss. The show, Freed from the Real, was very supportive to players of MTGO, and, I am sure that he was a very supportive family member.
Much thanks to AJ for his inspiring words about Erik. I sincerely hope that when he and Kaya feel able, they will please continue to bring us the quality news and discussions that I have been eagerly awaiting for the last few months. Obviously, it will never be the same without Erik, but, the community needs Freed from the Real to continue, if at all possible, please.
I have yet to actually play a SilverBlack game but it seems to me that sideboarding in any competition is fairly important. I guess I missed the main deck comment but I do think the prices are a little odd. FTV is and has been out of stock by the way.
Anyway one of these weeks I may yet get some silverblack games in.
Just wanted to add, since the site kind of shut down for 2 days and this got posted late that next week will also be the Block Wars format.
This event went pretty well. Lots of different decks. OTJ birds, LRW elves, a similar UBR IPA, a few alara block decks, and a RGD Orzhov among them.
2nd place was an excellent WUB IPA deck that I wish I had thought of.
1st place was a RW metalcraft SOM block deck. It was pauper to boot.
To the left of each price it says main deck. I did not include any sideboard cards in the cost of the deck since they are not as necessary.
For top, I took the lowest priced of the versions, FTV at 1.5.
In short I see Nin being flat out broken, even if all someone does is target and kill their own creatures with her ability,the card advantage will be staggering.
It was collecting 2 infuser counters per turn + any artifact counters from artifacts that I topped.
"Now we've hit the cheap sets. Weighing in at a piggybank-breaking $1.83 anyone could afford this deck." Not sure where you are getting your prices from but Wall of Denial x4 = $2.00 on traders and that's just a sideboard card.
Also in the previous deck Sensei's Divining Top is 1.95 per so thats 3.9 for just 2 cards.
If comments could be uprated or given fireballs this one would get +5 fireballs from me. Very well said.
"I guess you could use her as a political tool to help an opponent out, or just as removal. You could always combo her with Stuffy Doll or Homura, and other stuff that doesn't mind being damaged or killed. Add some indestructible stuff to your deck and ping away for card draw."
This card gets insane with cards like Vigor. Of course it can't be a commander to be used that way but I think Id rather have her as a regular creature anyway. In addition it helps set up a sweeper or recover from one and Living Death loves her. As does Beacon of Unrest, etc. That said being a 1/1 makes the ridiculousness easily stopped by removal. (Since there is more of it that hits her for lethal/exile.)
As a commander I guess I want to see what other cards they print with her before saying for certain but I think in almost every case you are better off with Niv Mizzet or the twins.
The thing about Rofellos being banned is not necessarily known to those running him. I recommend telling the offender this and maybe pointing them at the commander site for more information before assuming they are a filthy no-good rat-eating cheater. This is particularly important because a lot of newer players gravitate towards monogreen as it has a ton of good land fetch/accelleration and beaters.
I didn't know Rofellos was banned as a commander until I read this article. They may not know either and be relying on the client to enforce the rules like it does for every other format.
running rofellos is cheating, a blatant violation of rules. Anyone doing so should be blocked by all for knowingly cheating.
nin seems pretty bad at first sight, but it is a braingeyser/removal on a stick so it cant be that bad.
Because of the lack of space constraints, the ability to introduce people to and get people interested in is the sort of thing that a website can do best! At this point, the Magic website scene is pretty well established, and the only way you'll draw new eyeballs is to do something other sites don't.
Yes, some people probably love articles that are all about standard, but I can honestly say that this isn't the site I'd be running to first if I were looking for articles about standard, or how to draft the current format. (With the exception of how to value draft it- I think Hotel Infinite may be the finest treatment of the subject on the web)
The current MTGO released set format, like UD/UD/UD? I'm here first. The current Nix-tix/Nix-pax format? This is my first stop again. But even those sorts of articles are only going to be of a niche interest.
Very frequently I find much higher quality discussions of the current Block format here that most anywhere- and to most websites that's seen as in irrelevant waste of space as well.
If you find an article here that just doesn't tickle your fancy, take a deep breath, and then realize "It's not for you". Magic the Gathering itself is permated with that- boring yet efficent cards, flashy yet impractical win-more cards, combo enablers and then just downright bad "puzzle" cards.
By giving space to niche formats, you serve a portion of the community that isn't serviced elsewhere... and people don't typically forget who has done right by them. That's how loyal customers get created. That's how you differentiate a brand.
I know that I visit and purchase from the MTGOtraders website and bots- and sometimes even happily pay a premium on some cards- because they provide good service, a wide selection, a sizable amount of interesting free content, and actually support the various MTGO communities.
The point being a critic to the editor's choice about which articles get published? If so, I misunderstood it when I submitted my previous comment.
Anyway, people write about what they like: if Pure gets a lot of submission for niche formats, they probably have enough audience to deserve to be published.
Oh, just to be clear: I'm not trying to flame you, I'm just trying to logically understand the point of discussion. :)
Peace&Love. ;)
Saw someone running Rofellos as a Commander yesterday so the rules manager is obviously not up to date there. You've been warned!
Some rough drafts and some rookie mistakes but at least you don't just show your successful drafts like 99% of the draft article writers. You identify most of your mistakes yourself so you probably won't make them again in the future.
Oh, and you're overvaluing Neurok Commando. I generally only play that guy when I have something like Nim Deathmantle to go along with it.
I always appreciate someone taking the time to do a primer, but if you're going to do a primer why not do a full primer? This is far too condensed and too many things are left out.
Your drafts seem to be one unmitigated disaster after another. I really think you need to play a little more before producing "strategy articles." Harsh . . . maybe, but to the point.
meaning I don't know whether or not Heath benefits. It would be hard to say since I don't have even guesses as to extra profit or marketshare gained by having Heirloom purchases through traders. I merely said he has a point.
Black Red can be absolutely dominating in this set. Don't know why Eradicate wasn't mentioned either, in triple set drafting it almost always pulls an extra creature.
Cinder Seer is a first pick red uncommon and is ridiculously good, and Bloodshot Cyclops is a bomb. Since cyclops can throw himself at anything once he comes back around he's an absolute beast that can't be dealt with.
It's been a long time since I last posted here. However, sometimes a comment from other user really makes you want to say a word or two. I can't understand why some users are complaining about the existence of the article. What's wrong if only 20 people play the format, or read the article?
PureMTGO could be better served with articles about more popular formats? Maybe. But the Heirloom article is not an obstacle preventing that from happening. It's not a printed magazine. Articles are not competing for a limited number of pages. The editor has the freedom to publish as many articles as he wants. Of course he probably have a budget, but he does not need to pay the same for every article. I wrote a few articles here, long time ago, when I was running a PRE. IIRC, I got different values for each article, and I assume it was based on quality and relevance.
If you want more articles on limited, or standard, you only need to start writing the articles, and they will probably get published.
That said, I'd like to add that I never tried the Heirloom format. I'd really like to play it, but I can't attend the PRE, and unfortunately I can no longer afford time to host a PRE myself at a more convenient schedule. The same is true for BYOS and Silverblack. *sight*
Thanks for posting. I have a couple of comments on the 2nd draft:
p2p1: No love for Burn the Impure? You didn't even mention it. In the end, it looks like you were cut in red in pack 1, but with the way your deck wound up, you could have easily splashed for it. The Anatomist is a fine card too, but can be very slow. It was nice you got a 2nd one with pick 3. :)
p7p1: I'd take the Gore Vassal over the Vivisection. You can get Vivisection later, and the Vassal can take care of some pesky creatures (Smiths, 1-toughness poison guys, etc), and makes combat a problem for the opponent.
p8p1: Vivisection here instead of Turn Aside. I don't think I've ever seen anyone play Turn Aside against me. Even if I already had one Vivi from pick 7, I'd take the 2nd one here to keep other people off of blue.
p9p1: I'd probably take Gust Skimmer over Myr Sire. Pseudo-evasion works sometimes.
p1p2: Myrsmith or Sky Eel over the blue mana myr!
p3p2: I'd have probably taken Origin Spellbomb over the Galvanizer. Those Galvanizers tend to table. In hindsight, you had the myr thing going on by the end, so I can't argue the pick too much.
Deck-building:
I think you should have run 9 plains and 7 islands (maybe even 10/6). You want to make sure you can get the Myr Sire and Skyhunter out early. You've only got one double blue spell in the main (which, btw, should have been Sky-Eel School instead of Neurok Commando.
Bottom line: a synergistic deck like this seems fun to play. It's great to get the Arbalest/Galvanizer/random myr combo going. Keep the articles coming!
I beg to differ from your last paragraph: Heirloom seems to be the best option available for a reseller to move some old cards that would otherwise be left to gather dust in the virtual binders. And it's absolutely not a bad thing in any way you look at it: Heath sells some more cards, we have an extremely fun format to play with. Win-win. :)
Pack 1, picks 3-~7 seem to absolutely rammed with signals saying "go green go green go green!". You seemed to end up dithering on it a bit, and picking up some random stuff instead like ichor wellspring.
I also think you overrated hellkite igniter. Mortarpod is an absolute lock for anyr deck, and doesn't complicate your mana (with the BBB for massacre wurm), I also think I'd pick fangren marauder over hellkite, 'though that is certainly more debatable.
I'm not sure that there's any great purpose to your rare-ranking at the start, but I definitely think that you're ranking spine of ish sah, decimator web, creeping corrosion and darksteel plate too low. None are amazing, but they should certainly be above shimmer myr, psychosis crawler and P-revoker (and mirrorworks{!!?wtf!!?!!111zk!})in my book. I also think Phyrexian Vatmother should jump from #21 to about #13ish. I would rate hydra higher too, and phyrexian crusader much lower.
(that bit ended up longer than I intended)
Honestly I don't think that's what Mike was saying (that you must be well off financially to enjoy M:TG.)
I think he was saying Sanctioned Events are sanctioned for a reason. (They draw money in for WOTC) whereas niche formats while a sign of a healthy game are not money makers and so will likely never be sanctioned. Some like Tribal Wars WERE sanctioned and then lost that status because the format died to shark infestation. (No sideboards = broken format.) Despite that it is still thriving as a PRE fueled format and people still jump into queues for it regularly.
Some niche formats do break through the barrier (such as Pauper) and then they gain a larger following as WOTC promotes them with special events etc. But by and large formats like Heirloom not only could not be sanctioned (for policy reasons) but probably should not be. (For the fact that the game needs some decent formats that don't cost an arm and a leg to join.)