Low value sets are coped with by not drafting them . . . period.
If you are determined to draft the lowest available sets, keep in mind that since packs are cheaper you require less of a rare haul to make up your money. So if you're entering a SoM draft for 9 tickets worth of packs and 2 tickets, you need to bring in 11 tickets via packs and cards. Whereas in ZZW queues you'd need to bring in 14 tickets worth of packs and cards. With that said, the latter is still much easier to do than the former.
It has come to my attention that the list that Wizards provided for Ben Stark does not actually show the sword of feast and famine in it. The sword of body and mind in the maindeck is a typo that I copied across to this article; it should be the sword of Feast and famine. Thank you
You deserve the credit, and possibly 'aclog' :) But I've always disagree with you regarding Silhana Ledgewalker..., ESPECIALLY right now! It's an auto win vs. anything running cloudposts. I also love not running the tap 0/1 lands, but that's just me probably! YOUR the guy who should be writing about stompy ;)
This series is one of the most enjoyable ever on puremtgo. you clearly are knowledgeable and make the effort to construct a well written and well formatted article. Good Job - Looking forward to more from you!
Liked this - As a stricltly online player I have never encountered either of the two formats so it was great to get a flavour of both with a view to improved multiplayer. Nice layout made the content clear and accessbile - Good job Sir!
Another very poor article. Looks like it was bashed together without much thought and this view is compounded by the poor editing. Were you just in desperate need of some credit and though hey I will bash out some rubbish for Puremtgo! You should be ashamed of this and it is a discredit to the good writers on this site!
I've never played planechase, but I didn't like archenemy at all. It's a little more fun if you agree that none of the "heroes" are allowed any countermagic at all, but if even one of them has a tiny bit, the whole game just doesn't really work.
And I don't feel like you're bringing any particular insight, and more importantly missing the actually important points. Death Denied can be a cool card, but again you neglected it's main use: Dredge + Vampire Hounds/Wild Mongrels. If you plan on returning lots of creatures to your hand, you have to get them in the graveyard first, and Dredge helps a lot with that. And you need more uses than just hard-casting creatures--outside of Affinity, Pauper doesn't have much to let you play all your creatures at once. With Vampire Hounds, though, you can recur a bunch of creatures just to discard them again. Finally, you need to compare with Reaping the Graves. If you really need to recur a *lot* of creatures, then often Reaping the Graves is better tech. Just let your opponent pump the storm count and recur a bunch of extra creatures for free. I'm betting that Reaping the Graves would be better in the deck you posted actually.
Crop Rotation tricks are well known, but I guess maybe some people haven't seen it before. You should warn people about what happens when it gets countered; that's the main downside.
Overall, it would have made a much more interesting article if you'd just talked about all the Pauper retrace cards. Raven's Crime, like all discard, tends to become irrelevant once you hit mid-game. If you want to talk about a potentially interesting card that nobody, and I mean nobody, plays, Cenn's Enlistment would be a good one. Turn your excess lands into soldiers? Soldiers are the only creature type to have lords in Pauper. Maybe not tier 1 but fun. Also, if you're going to talk about retrace, Harvest Wurm and other return-a-land-from-graveyard cards deserve a mention.
Bankroll in this context means the amount of free capital you have to enter tournaments. It doesn't matter if you have complete sets of every set in Standard. If you don't have tickets to enter tournaments, it doesn't do you any good.
I have a question for the author. How do you cope with low-value sets? For instance, ME4 and SOM packs being bought for 3 tickets each by bots, which decreases the EV of tournaments.
Shinnen's are game vs. WW too, able to smack and kill their Flagbearers, which are the single reason WW can beat stompy post boarding. Very fun to remember that the ranger can untap any creature, even your opponents! I've won many a goblin game by untapping their sledders etc.., and using Shinnen as a removal spell...coupled with Rancor and with a Groundswell, its usually a totally nasty one-sided wrath of god.
I haven't had a chance to listen yet, but did you possibly consider looking at the Noble Fish list that I have been running in events? I top4'd the PE and have 3-1'd (came very close to 4-0) a daily with it already despite my limited playtime... I think the deck is extremely strong and the build I have been running has been serving me well. I am the lone 4c fish player that you reference in each week's meta reports...
The deck has an excellent matchup against workshop, the worst matchup is dredge, but 12 sideboard cards worked pretty well for me in the last event.
Web of Inertia is really incredible. Whenever I have it in an opening hand, I'm very pleased. Even without ways to actively attack the graveyard (the one Relic of Progenitus), it deters a lot of early aggression. My decks tend to be rather creature light, so static defenses like Web of Inertia and Dissipation Field really make a huge difference.
I know you're not a budget player, but I'd be interested in seeing a budget deck from you. Maybe giving yourself a money limit. Could you even make a fairly good deck for $20 (the same price as preconstructed decks)? It might be an interesting challenge and I'd enjoy reading that article.
The next article is going to be a review of MBS for Commander, and I already have an idea for the following one. After that I'm sort of up in the air. I was hoping that they would update the rules manager online so I could make a Bosh deck, but that hasn't happened yet. I also thought about going through each of the color combos again, but I want to wait to see what comes out in the new Commander decks this summer before I start that up again. I was thinking about using some of the more recent legends, but they are all really popular right when they come out so I don't know if that's the best idea. So it's going to be whatever comes up.
If anyone has any requests or suggestions, feel free to let me know. I can always do some deck doctoring as well, so if anyone wants me to work on their deck feel free to email.
On paper, noble fish is better because you can actually interact on the stack. Also thorn of amethest is a joke card against both builds, like we said its a bit unpolished, but it has the tools. the deck crushed shop so saying things like petal is bad on draw or vial helps beat shop is a moot point. if you want to lose to random blue t1 or 2 wins by all means play the 2 color version. if you want to not randmoly lose to t1 or 2 blue decks play counter magic with your hate bears. that is why we went ugw instead of trying to tweak straight gw.
It might even be that the formats are better suited for online because of their natures and the casual players online might be happy to play strange new formats that they couldn't play irl due to a lack of potential opponents.
Hammy would be able to better inform you on this, but the reason I wrote this (a month ago, but never got around to submitting it), was because on the PureMTGO podcast, back in december, I believe, they mentioned an interview with the lead programmer of MTGO. I went and read the interview and when he got to the subject of version 4, he had a big deal to say about multiplayer. He mentioned that they were going to make multiplayer a priority for version 4. Granted, we've heard that promise before, but he had some good ideas. In that section he also mentioned that they were planning to being Planechase and Archenemy to version 4. Even if the format is "dead" by then, I still want them online.
I'm still slightly confused as to what you mean by bankroll. Does it represent the overall value of your collection or the amount of money you put into MTGO in a specific period?
Some would even argue that it is part of the social contract (to a degree) that you're responsible for putting at least a modicum of answers in your deck to make the game enjoyable. Everyone loves haymakers, but they have to be followed with less dazzling, spicy answers. I kind of agree with that sentiment.
Also, I think a lot of the combos you talked about are above the belt, so to speak, and are more plain good/cool synergy than obnoxious combo. =)
I agree with not including personal opinion in these articles.
BTW, now that you've done a deck of each colour combination and these general archetype overviews, what's next?
Low value sets are coped with by not drafting them . . . period.
If you are determined to draft the lowest available sets, keep in mind that since packs are cheaper you require less of a rare haul to make up your money. So if you're entering a SoM draft for 9 tickets worth of packs and 2 tickets, you need to bring in 11 tickets via packs and cards. Whereas in ZZW queues you'd need to bring in 14 tickets worth of packs and cards. With that said, the latter is still much easier to do than the former.
It has come to my attention that the list that Wizards provided for Ben Stark does not actually show the sword of feast and famine in it. The sword of body and mind in the maindeck is a typo that I copied across to this article; it should be the sword of Feast and famine. Thank you
You deserve the credit, and possibly 'aclog' :) But I've always disagree with you regarding Silhana Ledgewalker..., ESPECIALLY right now! It's an auto win vs. anything running cloudposts. I also love not running the tap 0/1 lands, but that's just me probably! YOUR the guy who should be writing about stompy ;)
Whatchoo talkin bout Hammy? Sylvan Library ain't in ME4.
deluxeicoff, you say "This stompy list has won a lot recently" but i really think you should give yourself credit.
Oh noes............ That Noble Fish list got me all excited, maybe just maybe it's time to join the realm of classic once again!
This series is one of the most enjoyable ever on puremtgo. you clearly are knowledgeable and make the effort to construct a well written and well formatted article. Good Job - Looking forward to more from you!
Liked this - As a stricltly online player I have never encountered either of the two formats so it was great to get a flavour of both with a view to improved multiplayer. Nice layout made the content clear and accessbile - Good job Sir!
Another very poor article. Looks like it was bashed together without much thought and this view is compounded by the poor editing. Were you just in desperate need of some credit and though hey I will bash out some rubbish for Puremtgo! You should be ashamed of this and it is a discredit to the good writers on this site!
/Flame off.
I've never played planechase, but I didn't like archenemy at all. It's a little more fun if you agree that none of the "heroes" are allowed any countermagic at all, but if even one of them has a tiny bit, the whole game just doesn't really work.
And I don't feel like you're bringing any particular insight, and more importantly missing the actually important points. Death Denied can be a cool card, but again you neglected it's main use: Dredge + Vampire Hounds/Wild Mongrels. If you plan on returning lots of creatures to your hand, you have to get them in the graveyard first, and Dredge helps a lot with that. And you need more uses than just hard-casting creatures--outside of Affinity, Pauper doesn't have much to let you play all your creatures at once. With Vampire Hounds, though, you can recur a bunch of creatures just to discard them again. Finally, you need to compare with Reaping the Graves. If you really need to recur a *lot* of creatures, then often Reaping the Graves is better tech. Just let your opponent pump the storm count and recur a bunch of extra creatures for free. I'm betting that Reaping the Graves would be better in the deck you posted actually.
Crop Rotation tricks are well known, but I guess maybe some people haven't seen it before. You should warn people about what happens when it gets countered; that's the main downside.
Overall, it would have made a much more interesting article if you'd just talked about all the Pauper retrace cards. Raven's Crime, like all discard, tends to become irrelevant once you hit mid-game. If you want to talk about a potentially interesting card that nobody, and I mean nobody, plays, Cenn's Enlistment would be a good one. Turn your excess lands into soldiers? Soldiers are the only creature type to have lords in Pauper. Maybe not tier 1 but fun. Also, if you're going to talk about retrace, Harvest Wurm and other return-a-land-from-graveyard cards deserve a mention.
Bankroll in this context means the amount of free capital you have to enter tournaments. It doesn't matter if you have complete sets of every set in Standard. If you don't have tickets to enter tournaments, it doesn't do you any good.
I have a question for the author. How do you cope with low-value sets? For instance, ME4 and SOM packs being bought for 3 tickets each by bots, which decreases the EV of tournaments.
This stompy list has won a lot recently:
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Digital/MagicOnlineTourn.aspx?x=mtg/digital...
Shinnen's are game vs. WW too, able to smack and kill their Flagbearers, which are the single reason WW can beat stompy post boarding. Very fun to remember that the ranger can untap any creature, even your opponents! I've won many a goblin game by untapping their sledders etc.., and using Shinnen as a removal spell...coupled with Rancor and with a Groundswell, its usually a totally nasty one-sided wrath of god.
Good stuff, but your layout of text/images is painful! :) This may help ya in the future:
http://puremtgo.com/articles/playwright
I haven't had a chance to listen yet, but did you possibly consider looking at the Noble Fish list that I have been running in events? I top4'd the PE and have 3-1'd (came very close to 4-0) a daily with it already despite my limited playtime... I think the deck is extremely strong and the build I have been running has been serving me well. I am the lone 4c fish player that you reference in each week's meta reports...
The deck has an excellent matchup against workshop, the worst matchup is dredge, but 12 sideboard cards worked pretty well for me in the last event.
Web of Inertia is really incredible. Whenever I have it in an opening hand, I'm very pleased. Even without ways to actively attack the graveyard (the one Relic of Progenitus), it deters a lot of early aggression. My decks tend to be rather creature light, so static defenses like Web of Inertia and Dissipation Field really make a huge difference.
I know you're not a budget player, but I'd be interested in seeing a budget deck from you. Maybe giving yourself a money limit. Could you even make a fairly good deck for $20 (the same price as preconstructed decks)? It might be an interesting challenge and I'd enjoy reading that article.
The next article is going to be a review of MBS for Commander, and I already have an idea for the following one. After that I'm sort of up in the air. I was hoping that they would update the rules manager online so I could make a Bosh deck, but that hasn't happened yet. I also thought about going through each of the color combos again, but I want to wait to see what comes out in the new Commander decks this summer before I start that up again. I was thinking about using some of the more recent legends, but they are all really popular right when they come out so I don't know if that's the best idea. So it's going to be whatever comes up.
If anyone has any requests or suggestions, feel free to let me know. I can always do some deck doctoring as well, so if anyone wants me to work on their deck feel free to email.
On paper, noble fish is better because you can actually interact on the stack. Also thorn of amethest is a joke card against both builds, like we said its a bit unpolished, but it has the tools. the deck crushed shop so saying things like petal is bad on draw or vial helps beat shop is a moot point. if you want to lose to random blue t1 or 2 wins by all means play the 2 color version. if you want to not randmoly lose to t1 or 2 blue decks play counter magic with your hate bears. that is why we went ugw instead of trying to tweak straight gw.
It might even be that the formats are better suited for online because of their natures and the casual players online might be happy to play strange new formats that they couldn't play irl due to a lack of potential opponents.
Hammy would be able to better inform you on this, but the reason I wrote this (a month ago, but never got around to submitting it), was because on the PureMTGO podcast, back in december, I believe, they mentioned an interview with the lead programmer of MTGO. I went and read the interview and when he got to the subject of version 4, he had a big deal to say about multiplayer. He mentioned that they were going to make multiplayer a priority for version 4. Granted, we've heard that promise before, but he had some good ideas. In that section he also mentioned that they were planning to being Planechase and Archenemy to version 4. Even if the format is "dead" by then, I still want them online.
I'm still slightly confused as to what you mean by bankroll. Does it represent the overall value of your collection or the amount of money you put into MTGO in a specific period?
Edit: Nice P3P1 Tomb Hex there :p.
We need more players testing the nuts out of gro!
Some would even argue that it is part of the social contract (to a degree) that you're responsible for putting at least a modicum of answers in your deck to make the game enjoyable. Everyone loves haymakers, but they have to be followed with less dazzling, spicy answers. I kind of agree with that sentiment.
Also, I think a lot of the combos you talked about are above the belt, so to speak, and are more plain good/cool synergy than obnoxious combo. =)
I agree with not including personal opinion in these articles.
BTW, now that you've done a deck of each colour combination and these general archetype overviews, what's next?