No offense, but no one is forcing you to read these articles, much less be a douche in the comments about them. Especially from someone who I can't find an article from later than 2009. If you don't like them then write something better. Otherwise try being constructive or GTFO.
Hey Josh this looks like a copycat. Rubbish unfinshed article complete disgrace. Call me a troll but this is another credit jack crappy article that the write needs to be ashamed of. Did you submitted it in error instead of storing as a first draft?
Knowledge pool + Rule of Law / Arcane Laboratory / Ethersworn Canonist = a game state where nobody can cast any spells (ok, people can cast artifacts if it's ethersworn canonist).
I'm not sure what kind of deck might want this effect, but it seems quite powerful. Obviously tefer's better, as it makes the effect one-sided, but redundancy is always nice.
If you want to make something targeted at beginning pauper players, or "pauper-curious" curious players, that's fine. Just be sure to advertise as such, and don't try and suggest the cards you're talking about can be "competitive." Just use the word "fun." If you stick to "Fun cards that don't get played much" then you'll have less trouble. Also, make sure that all the cards you pick have some common element. Like do all the Retrace cards, or do all the Mimics, or do all the en-Kor creatures, but have *some* theme so the discussion flows from one card to the next. Then, when you discuss interactions and synergy, there should be some common principles--like all Retrace cards can benefit from bounce lands, and you usually don't want 4x copies of a Retrace card. Then you can reinforce the common principles through repetition.
And you don't need to cover *every* interaction (obviously impossible), but you need to hit the most important ones. If you talk about the en-Kor creatures for example, you'd better mention Daru Spiritualist, Wall of Hope, and protection from X (all you need is one creature with the right kind of protection, and then all of your en-Kors are impervious to damage). However, you could neglect to mention Phantom Nomad, because equipping him or enchanting him gets too complicated and off topic. Next, you don't need to cover *every* alternative or similar card (again impossible), but you should compare with the popular or obvious alternatives. If you do Retrace cards and you talk about Cenn's Enlistment, then you need to talk about Join the Ranks and Raise the Alarm, but you *don't* need to talk about Dragon Fodder, Kuldotha Rebirth, Beckon Apparition, or any of the rest of a long list of token generating cards.
Overall, if you're going to write an article, you should project a sense of expertise. If you're not willing to spend an hour doing a card search, then maybe you shouldn't be writing an article. Your articles give off the sense that you haven't done a lick of research, that you wrote these off the top of your head, and you don't have nearly enough personal expertise to do that.
So, for example, if you do an article on the 5 Mimics, there are obviously way too many hybrid/dual color cards for you to go into but a very small fraction of them. But as a common theme, you need to discuss how hybrid spells will trigger them (beginners may not understand that hybrid spells are in fact both colors), the corresponding hybrid enchantments, you should mention how all of them defeat Guardian of the Guildpact, and you need to discuss the use of hybrid/dual color instants so that you can shape-shift on your opponents turn for nifty combat tricks. Do a quick comparison between Mimics and Duos (the mimics transform only once, but the duos get repeatable +1/+1s for each spell, the mimics require dual-color spells, but the duos benefit from either color, etc), explain that the Mimics are enemy colors and that Duos are allied colors, and explain that the Duos are best left for another article. Then mention the Blade series of creatures (Esper Stormblade etc), and that they synergize well with their respective mimics or duos, but they require another color and are best left for another article.
Then, for each Mimic, pick out two or three cards that you feel work really well, and encourage your readers to look through all the appropriate dual-color cards. You better make sure that you've looked through them all yourself though! To help get you started, here's one good card for each color combination: Unmake, Izzet Chronarch, Squee's Embrace, Shambling Shell, Temporal Spring.
There, now you have a series of 3 related articles: the Mimics, the Duos, and the Blades. They are all fun, none of them get played heavily (anymore at least), and they should all give you a platform to say something interesting.
note to self: I really need to jump in to ZZW again. not for the small chance of a jace, but the screenshot shows me the commons and I remember how good I was in that format, at the zendikar release it was the first time ever I went really infinite and was able to collect 20 fetch lands as well on the go. I forgot most of it, but it will come back after I watch a few old draft articles on SCG or youtube...
and indeed, prices of classic drafts are dropping a bit at the bots, the big chains get picky in what they buy.
I like the fact that over the years I stumbled upon many similar insights myself. (Not only these but also those of previous articles). I do many things the same way. And I am infinite as well. No big profits for me though, and no jaces :( But I know what needs to change for me to make that happen. Increase my play level. I can be pretty good on a good day if I am focused, but I play too often in first gear. I just know I lost that 2nd round of that 8-4 draft when I could have won it.... Or mis-built that sealed deck just slightly, and of course you draw just that one card you know that should not be there two rounds in a row, for a 2-2 tournament that could have been 3-1, or who knows... maybe even 4-0.. Small things can add up. Or concede in disgust, frustrated by so much luck / bad luck..... only to discover that yes, the top card was that removal spell and the next one WAS that bomb rare that would have turned the game around after all......
Why Turn Aside over Dispell? You need Jace in the Shape deck or See Beyond. How abou 1x Emrakul+Mass Pmorph in addition to the Shape Anew combo(would go in the creature slots).
Into the Core and Return to Dust seem pretty balanced to me. Yeah Return can hit enchantments, but it only hits one target at instant speed. Into the Core will hit two artifacts at instant speed.
They are both good enough that I'll play them in color.
I am waiting for some of the mythics and rares to drop in price before picking them up but I have been running steel sabotage main deck in UW control and have been quite happy with it. I love the fact that you can really mess with their tempo by countering a mana myr or sphere of the suns early. It is also good late game when they try to drop a big artifact creature or even just a tumble magnet. I guess if the format is heavier on infect and koth red then they would start in the sideboard but right now I am still seeing a lot of mono U architect and UW control.
After I've submitted the article, I played against a couple of players playing Shape Anew decks, and they showed me the power of Turn Aside. It's something so simple yet so efficient.
While I'm happy with the current main deck so far, I think I need both Turn Aside AND Volition Reins in the sideboard.
I've been trying to figure out why this format was so horrible. On my screen, when I input it, it looks greatly different. When I previewed it originally, it looked fine. Now when I preview things, they have this awful format. I actually am starting to wonder if it is because of Firefox. If I decide to write anything more, I'll be trying a new browser at the very least. I have no idea why the format looks so very, very bad once posted :( I even have the original text file still. It looks like everything was forced into being double spaced, which is odd because it wasn't input that way. Very sorry about the format. Again, if I decide to do more, I'll do everything in my power to avoid that mess.
On a side note, for those of you who have been playing pauper for a long time, often competitively, no, you're not going to get as much out of these. I'm trying to expose cards that are good and underplayed. Yeah, there are going to be more interactions than I list -- and if I listed all the interactions people add, you all would still find more and ask why I didn't include them. For those who have only been dabbling in pauper or looking at the format, maybe playing a casual game here and there because they aren't interested in any of the meta decks, I am offering a little knowledge of a different set of tools.
I would like to continue to offer cards that are underplayed, but people seem to flame it a lot. Does anyone have suggestions for categories/groups of cards they would like to see? All the retrace seems like a decent topic, but I think that would have been much too short.
You are right about Into the Core, I figured that out after submitting the article. But it is still a pretty good card you should fit into tour Red decks.
I'm prone to trust you very much both as a brilliant player and deckbuilder, and I really want to like and embrace the Colossus deck (because cheating things into play is my thing), yet I can't help but wonder if it can really work on tournament level. I mean, what if you just draw into the Colossus? You can't get rid of him (unless you wait for your hand to go up to 8 in order to force a discard, but this looks like a ridiculous option in competitive play). What are your secondary win conditions in that case? Just swing with some angels waiting for your 12th land drop to happen? It surely doesn't seem enough as a backup plan (EDIT: I read the last line about winning through Rebirth or Elspeth, and while I don't think a single artifact creature from Rebirth can last too long in a format filled with removals, maybe Elspeth can do something more). And what if you have a myr token (or a Nexus) on the battlefield, Shape Anew in hand, and the opponent tapped out, but no Trinket Mage did show up yet? You can't risk to have everything come down to a Darksteel Axe cheated into play, can't you? So are you forced to wait for Trinket Mage every single game - and if they would counter it, to wait for the next one, hoping you don't draw the Colossus in the meantime?
My only gripe is that Into the Core isn't really better than Return to Dust - RtD can hit enchantments!
I love what MBS brings. Nothing massively overpowered that warps the format (like Emrakul did), but some decent options for a ton of decks. The two big blue card drawers (Sphinx and Zenith) are going right into my Patron deck.
Each time i play vs poison in commander now, it feels like they are cheating. If poison doesnt get changed for commander, and any other 40 life mp variants, it will be a huge problem. It already is and we still have another set to go. Making cards like blightsteel collossus is a huge mistake on wotc part.
I just finished a game where a player with Knowledge Pool also had Teferi out as his commander. This created a game state where opponents couldn't cast any spells. He didn't realize that would happen, but it's a nasty lock that players will have to look out for.
Great list. I put together a list of wants when the set was spoiled and it matches up pretty well with yours. I think you had a few cards that need another look. Like Into The Core, I still think I'd prefer Shattering Pulse, but I could see a place for it in especially mono red decks. It could be really nasty when paired with Liquimetal Coating.
The three cards that made me fall of my chair because they were so good were Consecrated Sphinx, Blightsteel Colossus, and Preator's Counsel. They were also some of your tops too.
I'm curious to see how Blightsteel Colossus will play. I could see it getting the ban hammer pretty easily. Although it would solve a lot of problems if they doubled the amount of poison counters needed for the kill in commander. It makes sense, 20 life games mean 10 poison counters. 40 life commander means 20 poison counters.
No offense, but no one is forcing you to read these articles, much less be a douche in the comments about them. Especially from someone who I can't find an article from later than 2009. If you don't like them then write something better. Otherwise try being constructive or GTFO.
Hey Josh this looks like a copycat. Rubbish unfinshed article complete disgrace. Call me a troll but this is another credit jack crappy article that the write needs to be ashamed of. Did you submitted it in error instead of storing as a first draft?
Knowledge pool + Rule of Law / Arcane Laboratory / Ethersworn Canonist = a game state where nobody can cast any spells (ok, people can cast artifacts if it's ethersworn canonist).
I'm not sure what kind of deck might want this effect, but it seems quite powerful. Obviously tefer's better, as it makes the effect one-sided, but redundancy is always nice.
If you want to make something targeted at beginning pauper players, or "pauper-curious" curious players, that's fine. Just be sure to advertise as such, and don't try and suggest the cards you're talking about can be "competitive." Just use the word "fun." If you stick to "Fun cards that don't get played much" then you'll have less trouble. Also, make sure that all the cards you pick have some common element. Like do all the Retrace cards, or do all the Mimics, or do all the en-Kor creatures, but have *some* theme so the discussion flows from one card to the next. Then, when you discuss interactions and synergy, there should be some common principles--like all Retrace cards can benefit from bounce lands, and you usually don't want 4x copies of a Retrace card. Then you can reinforce the common principles through repetition.
And you don't need to cover *every* interaction (obviously impossible), but you need to hit the most important ones. If you talk about the en-Kor creatures for example, you'd better mention Daru Spiritualist, Wall of Hope, and protection from X (all you need is one creature with the right kind of protection, and then all of your en-Kors are impervious to damage). However, you could neglect to mention Phantom Nomad, because equipping him or enchanting him gets too complicated and off topic. Next, you don't need to cover *every* alternative or similar card (again impossible), but you should compare with the popular or obvious alternatives. If you do Retrace cards and you talk about Cenn's Enlistment, then you need to talk about Join the Ranks and Raise the Alarm, but you *don't* need to talk about Dragon Fodder, Kuldotha Rebirth, Beckon Apparition, or any of the rest of a long list of token generating cards.
Overall, if you're going to write an article, you should project a sense of expertise. If you're not willing to spend an hour doing a card search, then maybe you shouldn't be writing an article. Your articles give off the sense that you haven't done a lick of research, that you wrote these off the top of your head, and you don't have nearly enough personal expertise to do that.
So, for example, if you do an article on the 5 Mimics, there are obviously way too many hybrid/dual color cards for you to go into but a very small fraction of them. But as a common theme, you need to discuss how hybrid spells will trigger them (beginners may not understand that hybrid spells are in fact both colors), the corresponding hybrid enchantments, you should mention how all of them defeat Guardian of the Guildpact, and you need to discuss the use of hybrid/dual color instants so that you can shape-shift on your opponents turn for nifty combat tricks. Do a quick comparison between Mimics and Duos (the mimics transform only once, but the duos get repeatable +1/+1s for each spell, the mimics require dual-color spells, but the duos benefit from either color, etc), explain that the Mimics are enemy colors and that Duos are allied colors, and explain that the Duos are best left for another article. Then mention the Blade series of creatures (Esper Stormblade etc), and that they synergize well with their respective mimics or duos, but they require another color and are best left for another article.
Then, for each Mimic, pick out two or three cards that you feel work really well, and encourage your readers to look through all the appropriate dual-color cards. You better make sure that you've looked through them all yourself though! To help get you started, here's one good card for each color combination: Unmake, Izzet Chronarch, Squee's Embrace, Shambling Shell, Temporal Spring.
There, now you have a series of 3 related articles: the Mimics, the Duos, and the Blades. They are all fun, none of them get played heavily (anymore at least), and they should all give you a platform to say something interesting.
Could you please add two or three MED 4 cards to card price charts? I would love to learn a bit how prices of those develop over a few months
note to self: I really need to jump in to ZZW again. not for the small chance of a jace, but the screenshot shows me the commons and I remember how good I was in that format, at the zendikar release it was the first time ever I went really infinite and was able to collect 20 fetch lands as well on the go. I forgot most of it, but it will come back after I watch a few old draft articles on SCG or youtube...
and indeed, prices of classic drafts are dropping a bit at the bots, the big chains get picky in what they buy.
I like the fact that over the years I stumbled upon many similar insights myself. (Not only these but also those of previous articles). I do many things the same way. And I am infinite as well. No big profits for me though, and no jaces :( But I know what needs to change for me to make that happen. Increase my play level. I can be pretty good on a good day if I am focused, but I play too often in first gear. I just know I lost that 2nd round of that 8-4 draft when I could have won it.... Or mis-built that sealed deck just slightly, and of course you draw just that one card you know that should not be there two rounds in a row, for a 2-2 tournament that could have been 3-1, or who knows... maybe even 4-0.. Small things can add up. Or concede in disgust, frustrated by so much luck / bad luck..... only to discover that yes, the top card was that removal spell and the next one WAS that bomb rare that would have turned the game around after all......
That would make sense.
Uhm, this article was about SOM Block.
LE
Why Turn Aside over Dispell? You need Jace in the Shape deck or See Beyond. How abou 1x Emrakul+Mass Pmorph in addition to the Shape Anew combo(would go in the creature slots).
Into the Core and Return to Dust seem pretty balanced to me. Yeah Return can hit enchantments, but it only hits one target at instant speed. Into the Core will hit two artifacts at instant speed.
They are both good enough that I'll play them in color.
I am waiting for some of the mythics and rares to drop in price before picking them up but I have been running steel sabotage main deck in UW control and have been quite happy with it. I love the fact that you can really mess with their tempo by countering a mana myr or sphere of the suns early. It is also good late game when they try to drop a big artifact creature or even just a tumble magnet. I guess if the format is heavier on infect and koth red then they would start in the sideboard but right now I am still seeing a lot of mono U architect and UW control.
Hey, thanks for the comment.
After I've submitted the article, I played against a couple of players playing Shape Anew decks, and they showed me the power of Turn Aside. It's something so simple yet so efficient.
While I'm happy with the current main deck so far, I think I need both Turn Aside AND Volition Reins in the sideboard.
Thanks again for the comment.
LE
I've been trying to figure out why this format was so horrible. On my screen, when I input it, it looks greatly different. When I previewed it originally, it looked fine. Now when I preview things, they have this awful format. I actually am starting to wonder if it is because of Firefox. If I decide to write anything more, I'll be trying a new browser at the very least. I have no idea why the format looks so very, very bad once posted :( I even have the original text file still. It looks like everything was forced into being double spaced, which is odd because it wasn't input that way. Very sorry about the format. Again, if I decide to do more, I'll do everything in my power to avoid that mess.
On a side note, for those of you who have been playing pauper for a long time, often competitively, no, you're not going to get as much out of these. I'm trying to expose cards that are good and underplayed. Yeah, there are going to be more interactions than I list -- and if I listed all the interactions people add, you all would still find more and ask why I didn't include them. For those who have only been dabbling in pauper or looking at the format, maybe playing a casual game here and there because they aren't interested in any of the meta decks, I am offering a little knowledge of a different set of tools.
I would like to continue to offer cards that are underplayed, but people seem to flame it a lot. Does anyone have suggestions for categories/groups of cards they would like to see? All the retrace seems like a decent topic, but I think that would have been much too short.
You are right about Into the Core, I figured that out after submitting the article. But it is still a pretty good card you should fit into tour Red decks.
I'm prone to trust you very much both as a brilliant player and deckbuilder, and I really want to like and embrace the Colossus deck (because cheating things into play is my thing), yet I can't help but wonder if it can really work on tournament level. I mean, what if you just draw into the Colossus? You can't get rid of him (unless you wait for your hand to go up to 8 in order to force a discard, but this looks like a ridiculous option in competitive play). What are your secondary win conditions in that case? Just swing with some angels waiting for your 12th land drop to happen? It surely doesn't seem enough as a backup plan (EDIT: I read the last line about winning through Rebirth or Elspeth, and while I don't think a single artifact creature from Rebirth can last too long in a format filled with removals, maybe Elspeth can do something more). And what if you have a myr token (or a Nexus) on the battlefield, Shape Anew in hand, and the opponent tapped out, but no Trinket Mage did show up yet? You can't risk to have everything come down to a Darksteel Axe cheated into play, can't you? So are you forced to wait for Trinket Mage every single game - and if they would counter it, to wait for the next one, hoping you don't draw the Colossus in the meantime?
I'm more interested to see the black cards we will get later.
Skith is becoming scary with more colourless/black infect cards in the pool.
Black provides mana and tutor to get Colossus and etc.
I don't it's as bad as Emrakul but who knows.
Wow I just realized that too.
I think I just had a nerdgasm.
Just one nitpick: Green Sun's Zenith, sadly, is a Phyrexian card as well.
My only gripe is that Into the Core isn't really better than Return to Dust - RtD can hit enchantments!
I love what MBS brings. Nothing massively overpowered that warps the format (like Emrakul did), but some decent options for a ton of decks. The two big blue card drawers (Sphinx and Zenith) are going right into my Patron deck.
Its too bad we didnt play against each other, I was running my UB aggro control infect. Maybe next time.
Brian
Each time i play vs poison in commander now, it feels like they are cheating. If poison doesnt get changed for commander, and any other 40 life mp variants, it will be a huge problem. It already is and we still have another set to go. Making cards like blightsteel collossus is a huge mistake on wotc part.
Hey, Jeff! It was great playing with you last Friday. Glad to hear you got back into the FNM scene.
Sorry to hear that you played against Peyson's Kudoltha deck, though. His deck was just ridiculous.
Hope to see you again!
-Casey
I just finished a game where a player with Knowledge Pool also had Teferi out as his commander. This created a game state where opponents couldn't cast any spells. He didn't realize that would happen, but it's a nasty lock that players will have to look out for.
Great list. I put together a list of wants when the set was spoiled and it matches up pretty well with yours. I think you had a few cards that need another look. Like Into The Core, I still think I'd prefer Shattering Pulse, but I could see a place for it in especially mono red decks. It could be really nasty when paired with Liquimetal Coating.
The three cards that made me fall of my chair because they were so good were Consecrated Sphinx, Blightsteel Colossus, and Preator's Counsel. They were also some of your tops too.
I'm curious to see how Blightsteel Colossus will play. I could see it getting the ban hammer pretty easily. Although it would solve a lot of problems if they doubled the amount of poison counters needed for the kill in commander. It makes sense, 20 life games mean 10 poison counters. 40 life commander means 20 poison counters.