RE: Your formatting experiment, I tried this once. Decided I really didn't like it and never did it again. One of the problems is that it breaks up the text to be unreadable unless you really focus. For anyone with a short attention span it is killer. Another is the thumbs are so small that they are useless as visual clues unless you already know all the cards at a glance. Not that hard with a set like SOM but not that easy either. I recommend sticking to text and breaking up the clumps with sidebars and or larger images.
I have a similar question which I plan to answer at some point by trying it out. (I have relatively relaxed Zur deck I am waiting to try in the wild. I expect the laidbackness of it will come across eventually.
If you use Zur, you have to expect some hate, especially if you are playing against experienced players. You aren't going to have a "relaxed" game most of the time unless you are playing against newer players, in which case I'm pretty sure you will be able to steamroll them.
However, if you want a more relaxed game, you want to avoid casting him on turns 3 through 7. Most Zur decks rush him out there as fast as possible and try to use his ability to search stuff up quickly. So if you show that you aren't one of those types of players, you should be in better shape.
Hopefully that answers you question. If not, feel free to follow up!
Cranial Plating, Disciple of the Vault, Atog and Skullclamp are banned in BYOS. You can surely try an Affinity deck without those but I'm not sure how effective it would be.
Actually it may be effective but it wouldn't be as broken as Affinity is in other formats. It would work just like any other Aggro deck which we have lots of in BYOS.
I personally once tried an Affinity deck I built around Mishra, Artificer Prodigy before SOM came (my sets were MRD / TSP / M11) but the result wasen't as good as I hoped (eliminated after swiss rounds).
Your articles are really bugging me, but in a good way. I've been thinking more and more about commander lately as a way to unwind from the Daily (Event) grind, and the option's looking more and more appealing.
I do have one question regarding a comment you made in another article. I really like the idea of Zur the Enchanter >.< Whether I'm playing spiky or not will running him as my commander pretty much ruin my chances of having a relaxed game every time? He "is" my idea of fun XD
I like your content and appreciate the effort you are putting into your write-ups. I found your new format hard to read. It reminds me of the books for young readers with pictures for the difficult words. :-) It would be awesome if this site had the feature where we could mouse-over a card name and see the image if we want to.
Have you read any of David Ochoa's draft write-ups? They are pretty clear and easy to follow; you may want to lift his format/layout for the match coverage.
Is Affinity banned in BYOS? The sideboards don't look prepared for it at all. Minus Ravager, all the old cards look really cheap now. Plus even though it's just one set, adding SOM to Affinity looks like a huge speed boost: Memnite and Mox Opal look like it could power out some sick Turn 1 Ravager + Frogmites into Turn 2 Thoughtcasts and Enforcers. The deck becomes far more linear, but if there is no artifact hate, 1st turn Ravager backed up by Turn 1 2/2s and Turn 2 4/4s looks brutal when you look at all the finishers Affinity has available to it, plus control-lock with Vial/Mage. So many routes to go. It could have some insane reach with Galvanic Blast/Shrapnel Blast if it wanted.
For me, all the sections with interspersed card icons are totally unreadable, but a good clear summary section at the end. So no, my interest wasn't 'peaked'**.
I thought this draft was much better than the previous few you had posted. It seems like you are learning a lot from recording your drafts and are listening to the comments here.
There are 2 pics that I disagreed with, starting with P2P6. You took Flameborn Hellion over Origin Spellbomb. You were pretty settled into Metalcraft at that point, and the Spellbomb is great in that deck for a few reasons - it's a cheap artifact to return with Glint Hawk and use with the Smiths, and after you cycle it and draw a card, it still leaves you with an artifact for your metalcraft count. Also, the pick before, you rationalize taking the Copper Myr because you already have 2 5-drops and a 6-drop, so I didn't think you needed another high cc creature. The other pick I disagree with, although admittedly a lot less than the previous one, was P2P7. I would have taken the Accorder's Shield there instead of the wall.
All in all, excellent draft, congrats on the win, and hopefully you can keep your win streak going.
PS - as a side note to the editors, the card formatting for the draft write-up makes it very difficult to read. Not sure if you can do anything about that, but just thought I'd share my opinion.
There is definitely an opportunity in commander for an aggro player to set up early kills but the problem is with 3 opponents (typically 2 are developing normally and one is hampered by land problems) you will be faced with multiple methods and attempts to remove the offender. As black some of the worst neutralizers keep your commander on the table where you can't just recast her and start again. If I were you I would run not only the disk but also Oblivion Stone.
Also perhaps Ratchet Bomb. And definitely both Masticore and Molten-tail Masticore if you have them. I realize those two cards might hurt your aggro strategy a little as they are more controlish but they can be fine face smashers given a decent amount of mana. And more importantly they remove potential blockers. Also think about Nim Deathmantle and the Infect equipment. Also with all your nonbasic lands you really should be running Expedition Map. And because you are mono black why not run Corrupt and Tendrils of Corruption. All in all you will probably keep tuning and tuning the deck and still rarely win vs 3 others because you aren't doing as much broken stuff as most commanders do. That said I hope it continues being fun and worth playing.
I read articles like this one and just think to myself: this guy just plays on a whole different level than I have in a long long time. I used to be a sort that would make these kinds of decks all the time, but alas I just don't have the time these days. It's nice to be a voyeur reading the article though.
I like that you decided to go aggro with this commander deck. It's a hard spot to be in in group game, but as you say, a lot of fun.
Yeah, I think you work very well in the podcast. You add a different angle than the other guys because it seems you keep your ear to the ground when it comes to competitive formats. Also, I think it's great how you never had a passive approach to being in the podcast. Many people when assuming a "guest" role tend to be passive, but you actively chime in, bring up new topics, or stop them – like in this episode – when things may otherwise be overlooked. That adds a lot of energy to the podcast.
I usually hate podcasts with 3 or more people because they usually just talk over each other, but I think you three have good chemistry and make it work.
We do! Stick around Kiddo you're going places! :) anyway yeah the only way you guys could have topped this one was to talk more about Worlds which had some surprise endings.
Thanks for the kudos. I will keep coming on the podcast until they give me the hook.
I wish I had had more time to go over the results from worlds before the podcast, but I have had a few killer weeks at work. Next time we should have a little more digging into worlds if no new major announcements happen between now and then.
Allies winning one of these shows how close the tribe is to being really busted, all they needed were a few more good cards to be a standard powerhouse (allies to avoid wrath effects and stop counterspells would be good)
It's always nice to see the great variety of decks you bring to events, especially since you do pretty darn well with them
Is banding still bugged if you have more than one copy of the same creature attacking plus a banding creature (where you can't tell which copy is banded with on attack) I got a couple of refunds on events for that one, its pretty silly.
Time to make a Memnarch deck. I know it will be hated, but I always wanted to build one.
Interesting rules changes.
I believe the reason they are allowing Legends with of colors in the rules text in, is because it's impossible to program the rules to follow the EDH rules. Since they want the formats to be identical, then a comprimise had to come about.
Seriously, you cant start running an article and then just stop writing. Well, you are the author, so I guess you can. It has been a month, and no followups. I am at least interested in seeing where you have ended up after this amount of time.
Thanks for writing the original 3 installments. I would be very interested in any others, as I have been debating for weeks whether to take up MTGO or MTGP (again)..
True
Rofl.
RE: Your formatting experiment, I tried this once. Decided I really didn't like it and never did it again. One of the problems is that it breaks up the text to be unreadable unless you really focus. For anyone with a short attention span it is killer. Another is the thumbs are so small that they are useless as visual clues unless you already know all the cards at a glance. Not that hard with a set like SOM but not that easy either. I recommend sticking to text and breaking up the clumps with sidebars and or larger images.
I have a similar question which I plan to answer at some point by trying it out. (I have relatively relaxed Zur deck I am waiting to try in the wild. I expect the laidbackness of it will come across eventually.
If you use Zur, you have to expect some hate, especially if you are playing against experienced players. You aren't going to have a "relaxed" game most of the time unless you are playing against newer players, in which case I'm pretty sure you will be able to steamroll them.
However, if you want a more relaxed game, you want to avoid casting him on turns 3 through 7. Most Zur decks rush him out there as fast as possible and try to use his ability to search stuff up quickly. So if you show that you aren't one of those types of players, you should be in better shape.
Hopefully that answers you question. If not, feel free to follow up!
Cranial Plating, Disciple of the Vault, Atog and Skullclamp are banned in BYOS. You can surely try an Affinity deck without those but I'm not sure how effective it would be.
Actually it may be effective but it wouldn't be as broken as Affinity is in other formats. It would work just like any other Aggro deck which we have lots of in BYOS.
I personally once tried an Affinity deck I built around Mishra, Artificer Prodigy before SOM came (my sets were MRD / TSP / M11) but the result wasen't as good as I hoped (eliminated after swiss rounds).
LE
Your articles are really bugging me, but in a good way. I've been thinking more and more about commander lately as a way to unwind from the Daily (Event) grind, and the option's looking more and more appealing.
I do have one question regarding a comment you made in another article. I really like the idea of Zur the Enchanter >.< Whether I'm playing spiky or not will running him as my commander pretty much ruin my chances of having a relaxed game every time? He "is" my idea of fun XD
I like your content and appreciate the effort you are putting into your write-ups. I found your new format hard to read. It reminds me of the books for young readers with pictures for the difficult words. :-) It would be awesome if this site had the feature where we could mouse-over a card name and see the image if we want to.
Have you read any of David Ochoa's draft write-ups? They are pretty clear and easy to follow; you may want to lift his format/layout for the match coverage.
how come a tournament staple such as sandals of abdallah is excluded, unbelievable
Is Affinity banned in BYOS? The sideboards don't look prepared for it at all. Minus Ravager, all the old cards look really cheap now. Plus even though it's just one set, adding SOM to Affinity looks like a huge speed boost: Memnite and Mox Opal look like it could power out some sick Turn 1 Ravager + Frogmites into Turn 2 Thoughtcasts and Enforcers. The deck becomes far more linear, but if there is no artifact hate, 1st turn Ravager backed up by Turn 1 2/2s and Turn 2 4/4s looks brutal when you look at all the finishers Affinity has available to it, plus control-lock with Vial/Mage. So many routes to go. It could have some insane reach with Galvanic Blast/Shrapnel Blast if it wanted.
there's also deckcheck.de
For me, all the sections with interspersed card icons are totally unreadable, but a good clear summary section at the end. So no, my interest wasn't 'peaked'**.
** I think you meant piqued.
I thought this draft was much better than the previous few you had posted. It seems like you are learning a lot from recording your drafts and are listening to the comments here.
There are 2 pics that I disagreed with, starting with P2P6. You took Flameborn Hellion over Origin Spellbomb. You were pretty settled into Metalcraft at that point, and the Spellbomb is great in that deck for a few reasons - it's a cheap artifact to return with Glint Hawk and use with the Smiths, and after you cycle it and draw a card, it still leaves you with an artifact for your metalcraft count. Also, the pick before, you rationalize taking the Copper Myr because you already have 2 5-drops and a 6-drop, so I didn't think you needed another high cc creature. The other pick I disagree with, although admittedly a lot less than the previous one, was P2P7. I would have taken the Accorder's Shield there instead of the wall.
All in all, excellent draft, congrats on the win, and hopefully you can keep your win streak going.
PS - as a side note to the editors, the card formatting for the draft write-up makes it very difficult to read. Not sure if you can do anything about that, but just thought I'd share my opinion.
There is definitely an opportunity in commander for an aggro player to set up early kills but the problem is with 3 opponents (typically 2 are developing normally and one is hampered by land problems) you will be faced with multiple methods and attempts to remove the offender. As black some of the worst neutralizers keep your commander on the table where you can't just recast her and start again. If I were you I would run not only the disk but also Oblivion Stone.
Also perhaps Ratchet Bomb. And definitely both Masticore and Molten-tail Masticore if you have them. I realize those two cards might hurt your aggro strategy a little as they are more controlish but they can be fine face smashers given a decent amount of mana. And more importantly they remove potential blockers. Also think about Nim Deathmantle and the Infect equipment. Also with all your nonbasic lands you really should be running Expedition Map. And because you are mono black why not run Corrupt and Tendrils of Corruption. All in all you will probably keep tuning and tuning the deck and still rarely win vs 3 others because you aren't doing as much broken stuff as most commanders do. That said I hope it continues being fun and worth playing.
Thank you LE
Great article as always,
I read articles like this one and just think to myself: this guy just plays on a whole different level than I have in a long long time. I used to be a sort that would make these kinds of decks all the time, but alas I just don't have the time these days. It's nice to be a voyeur reading the article though.
I like that you decided to go aggro with this commander deck. It's a hard spot to be in in group game, but as you say, a lot of fun.
X-
deckcheck.net has died a while ago. But there is a new site: http://www.thecouncil.es/tcdecks/. It's no less than deckcheck.
LE
This change also hoses several cards that have multiple colors in their activation costs.
Yeah, I think you work very well in the podcast. You add a different angle than the other guys because it seems you keep your ear to the ground when it comes to competitive formats. Also, I think it's great how you never had a passive approach to being in the podcast. Many people when assuming a "guest" role tend to be passive, but you actively chime in, bring up new topics, or stop them – like in this episode – when things may otherwise be overlooked. That adds a lot of energy to the podcast.
I usually hate podcasts with 3 or more people because they usually just talk over each other, but I think you three have good chemistry and make it work.
We do! Stick around Kiddo you're going places! :) anyway yeah the only way you guys could have topped this one was to talk more about Worlds which had some surprise endings.
You love me.....you really love me!!! :P
Thanks for the kudos. I will keep coming on the podcast until they give me the hook.
I wish I had had more time to go over the results from worlds before the podcast, but I have had a few killer weeks at work. Next time we should have a little more digging into worlds if no new major announcements happen between now and then.
Really thorough as always,
Allies winning one of these shows how close the tribe is to being really busted, all they needed were a few more good cards to be a standard powerhouse (allies to avoid wrath effects and stop counterspells would be good)
It's always nice to see the great variety of decks you bring to events, especially since you do pretty darn well with them
X-
Is banding still bugged if you have more than one copy of the same creature attacking plus a banding creature (where you can't tell which copy is banded with on attack) I got a couple of refunds on events for that one, its pretty silly.
Good podcast,
X-
Ding Dong the Giant Exraplanar Monstrocity is dead!
Time to make a Memnarch deck. I know it will be hated, but I always wanted to build one.
Interesting rules changes.
I believe the reason they are allowing Legends with of colors in the rules text in, is because it's impossible to program the rules to follow the EDH rules. Since they want the formats to be identical, then a comprimise had to come about.
Yea. Ban Emrakul!
Seriously, you cant start running an article and then just stop writing. Well, you are the author, so I guess you can. It has been a month, and no followups. I am at least interested in seeing where you have ended up after this amount of time.
Thanks for writing the original 3 installments. I would be very interested in any others, as I have been debating for weeks whether to take up MTGO or MTGP (again)..
True