Well, Ryan usually gets the second half of the article up pretty quick, and his articles are just so long that it only makes sense to split them into two. Otherwise, it just wouldn't be worth it for him monetarily to do them all together.
In any case, great job again Ryan. Your articles are always great though.
There is also a link at the top of the pade that says "Write for Pure MTGO". Click it. There is a 5 or so minute video on some tips on doing an article. Also if you have any questions on what to do, post it in the article help section in the format.
Keep working at it. You will get better with experience, just like playing Magic.
I really enjoy your articles, but splitting them up is pretty bad. When I've done the work as a reader to follow your draft or sealed build, then go through a game or two, I want to see the whole thing through. It's much more difficult to get back in the mindset of the deck you built last time and read about the last two matches.
That being said, your "What's the Play?" sections are part of what makes the articles long, but also a key part of what makes them really good, so I'm not sure what you could possibly cut out. Maybe just post a longer article, or post them together? I know I would probably read part two even more enthusiastically if it were posted at the same time instead of days later when I have to go back and remember what was going on.
Although on the subject of splitting things up, I do like presenting a pool and letting us look it over, then building it in the next article.
Really, I almost feel whiny even complaining since your in-game decision making stops make your articles some of the best in my opinion. Thanks for taking the time to write these up!
I hear that. I ended up selling my 2 rangers to finance some other decks I've been working on. The rise was good for me but I would have liked to have a spare for singleton use.
I think they said somewhere that FoW will be getting reprinted online anymore, so I finally broke down and picked mine up for the "bargain price of 75 a piece >.<
One Mox per MED would be awkward I think, especially when we don't know how many more MED's there will actually be. I'm also not in the crowd that says the added art is undeniable evidence, but I'm DAMN hopeful. Regardless, they've already printed FoW and Duals, so they're gonna have to do something big to make MED4 relevant, and as much as I want Wheel of Fortune, Sinhole and Channel, I wouldn't consider them "big" at all.
What really has my mind going though is the implications of printing ANY P9 online. They're an obvious auto-ban in every format but Classic, but Classic is so poorly supported, what incentive does WotC have to add to it? Add this to the long list of comments where I say Vintage is coming to MTGO with MED4!
Ill have to take a closer look at the numbers before taking the plunge but i like the Swiss type of payout structure (since I don't care at all for the big swings of 8-4) and the novel deck size(which should throw weaker players off enough initially to give better deck builders a significant edge, land count should be a huge separating factor for awhile)
Good job in the event, seems like you managed it well enough. As far as complaints about luck go I'm in the position of a person who has done it a lot, may continue to but knows that it's really stupid to do so. I advise anyone with more self control than me to avoid doing it, and if you dont have that self control try to get it. How to respond to people who complain? Well the best way is not to join them in their lack of manners and self respect and simply be polite and move on.
Just glad I sold off all my dual lands when I did, theyre so good but such a capitol soak, and with events firing so often now and presumably for quite some time to come they seem likely to continue to go down gradually until med5 and med6 come out and 3 set drafts stop including dual sets. I would suspect FOW to begin to go up and break its old records once med4 is released for similar reasons (insightful I know). The Mox ruby art being released is pretty strong evidence that at least one mox will be included in the next set, maybe one mox and one other power card per med from now on. Like one mox + one of time walk, ancestral, black lotus, and time twister per set. Seems like a reasonable way to go to me if they reprint FOW with one of them as an alternate "power" card to fill out a 2fer for each set.
Hm... it's definitely competitive to the point where u have to work on making your deck streamlined and consistent. You will need to be prepared to face the hard-to-beat cards of the format as well. The one-off nature makes it so that every card is valuable so your overall deck has to be planned properly i guess..
The payout at the moment are urza block packs... which go for around 10 a draft set.. the pe gives out a 3 packs to t16, 6 pax to t8, 12 to t4 and 20 to 2nd, 30 to first...
The pes have started at abt 24 players as of late so 2/3 of the people cover their entry and each t8 has a few 3-2s making the cut.. that's very hard to beat.. even when pax are worth so little, it's probably worth your time (unless you're talking about working)..
Even if the pe doesn't have tons of player support, there are enough players playing in the casual room for one to be able to get into a game without much waiting when one is bored.. (unlike std singleton which can hardly be found anywhere)
I've been playing Esper combo for a while now, minus the Grindtone, and it's probably become my favorite format. I've never actually commented on one of your articles, which is truly a shame as it was one of YOUR articles that got me interested in the format in the first place! So thanks for that, and keep it up. Always enjoy these.
I've never entered a 100cs event though. Are they really competitive, or does the Highlander nature even the field quite a lot. Also speaking of EV, what are the payouts anyway?
Honestly it's kind of upsetting, but I suppose it's unavoidable. Every time some card(s) look interesting to me, or finally tank in price (Ranger of Eos), and I decide to go pick them up, some "pro" has top 14'd a large event, or wrote an article, and the card value increases by 500%! Ah well...
The funny thing about Conley Woods' deck is that we (AJ and I) were tinkering with variants of said ideas before Nats trying to get them to work in Tribal Wars Classic. I am certain others were working along the samelines (One guy brought a clerics deck with a similar theme to the PRE one weekend.) Of course when a pro brings the same deck its components become more valued.
I'm all for an article that covers the MTGO forums. And while I don't agree with everything that JK said (does anyone every really agree to all ideas online or anywhere), I find it very useful and refreshing to see that there is coverage of the "official" boards and perhaps such articles may lead to some less moderated by WOTC type discussion.
the mysticals are not in there purely for tinker they are to get that tinker or show and tell, a lot of decks will side in enchantment hate and having two more ways to plop out a fattie are why i like the mystical.
i have the helm line package purely as a misers out and to give me a small edge against dredge.
i also think terastodon is superioor if the metagame looks this way. sphinx has almost 0 application in my rounds for the event, while the don one me 2 matches. that sphinx would have lost me.
If your alt win is going to be helmline, you need to run Drain and you aren't running drains. If you are going to run Mystical Tutor, you need to run the best sorcery's in the game - and echoing truth!
Running Mystical just to get Tinker so you can hopefully tinker out a Helm and get 4 more mana to try to merge to form Devastator is way too mana intensive for a deck like Oath
Sideboard
I like terestradon but he can't be tinkered - Steel Wind can - and he can win your random aggro match up. Tough meta choice but I like Steel wind right now as the 4th.
You also need to put 2 more leylines in there, so I would go with -1 Show and Tell and -1 Claim. I know you wnt 4 Claim, but Oath already beats down on Stax (especially Classic Stax).
My favourite one is Elvish Piper in fact if it was real I would have purchased the avatar and built a deck by now and be sat in the casual room waiting for a game.
Watch classic games in TP involving at least one person you know. Seriously. If you are unsure of whether or not they are aware of what is good, come msg me and I'll be glad to help anyone- ANYONE who's new and has questions. One of the things I know I asked regulars to do was to stop making unwatchable classic games - that doesn't help (unless you think you have super secret tech - and lets be fair - you don't).
I'm sure the above goes for people like Whiffy and Many other regulars, but I'm not going to speak for everyone in that regard. We are *much* happier letting you know that your Soldier/Honor of the Pure deck isn't going to play out well than to trounce it with a Tier 1 classic deck.
And since most people have questions about which cards to buy for classic or what deck to play, I would also like to shill that CQs website has a tournaments section which will tell you under no uncertain terms the answers to both those questions with a little research.
Say your general is Mirri the Cursed if you play her and some one else plays a version from their deck there's dies and yours dosen't.
If you play Mirri the Cursed as your commander and some one else also plays Mirri the Cursed which is also their commander then nothing happens and they both stay in play.
Well, Ryan usually gets the second half of the article up pretty quick, and his articles are just so long that it only makes sense to split them into two. Otherwise, it just wouldn't be worth it for him monetarily to do them all together.
In any case, great job again Ryan. Your articles are always great though.
Mystical to get Show and Tell so on the off change you have 1 of 3 creatures in hand is also a bad alt play.
Terastodon is wicked in a Workshop meta. I guess it's good in the mirror which happens a LOT :), so I will agree that is a good call.
Eventually they will probably add all the power nine so that they can have sanctioned events in Vintage and legacy.
There is also a link at the top of the pade that says "Write for Pure MTGO". Click it. There is a 5 or so minute video on some tips on doing an article. Also if you have any questions on what to do, post it in the article help section in the format.
Keep working at it. You will get better with experience, just like playing Magic.
Interesting. I did not know that. I was afraid to play my commander one night because someone else had the same one.
I really enjoy your articles, but splitting them up is pretty bad. When I've done the work as a reader to follow your draft or sealed build, then go through a game or two, I want to see the whole thing through. It's much more difficult to get back in the mindset of the deck you built last time and read about the last two matches.
That being said, your "What's the Play?" sections are part of what makes the articles long, but also a key part of what makes them really good, so I'm not sure what you could possibly cut out. Maybe just post a longer article, or post them together? I know I would probably read part two even more enthusiastically if it were posted at the same time instead of days later when I have to go back and remember what was going on.
Although on the subject of splitting things up, I do like presenting a pool and letting us look it over, then building it in the next article.
Really, I almost feel whiny even complaining since your in-game decision making stops make your articles some of the best in my opinion. Thanks for taking the time to write these up!
I hear that. I ended up selling my 2 rangers to finance some other decks I've been working on. The rise was good for me but I would have liked to have a spare for singleton use.
The price charts are missing Linvala, Keeper of Silence. She's up from $4.00 to $10.75 in the last week.
I think they said somewhere that FoW will be getting reprinted online anymore, so I finally broke down and picked mine up for the "bargain price of 75 a piece >.<
One Mox per MED would be awkward I think, especially when we don't know how many more MED's there will actually be. I'm also not in the crowd that says the added art is undeniable evidence, but I'm DAMN hopeful. Regardless, they've already printed FoW and Duals, so they're gonna have to do something big to make MED4 relevant, and as much as I want Wheel of Fortune, Sinhole and Channel, I wouldn't consider them "big" at all.
What really has my mind going though is the implications of printing ANY P9 online. They're an obvious auto-ban in every format but Classic, but Classic is so poorly supported, what incentive does WotC have to add to it? Add this to the long list of comments where I say Vintage is coming to MTGO with MED4!
Ill have to take a closer look at the numbers before taking the plunge but i like the Swiss type of payout structure (since I don't care at all for the big swings of 8-4) and the novel deck size(which should throw weaker players off enough initially to give better deck builders a significant edge, land count should be a huge separating factor for awhile)
Good job in the event, seems like you managed it well enough. As far as complaints about luck go I'm in the position of a person who has done it a lot, may continue to but knows that it's really stupid to do so. I advise anyone with more self control than me to avoid doing it, and if you dont have that self control try to get it. How to respond to people who complain? Well the best way is not to join them in their lack of manners and self respect and simply be polite and move on.
Just glad I sold off all my dual lands when I did, theyre so good but such a capitol soak, and with events firing so often now and presumably for quite some time to come they seem likely to continue to go down gradually until med5 and med6 come out and 3 set drafts stop including dual sets. I would suspect FOW to begin to go up and break its old records once med4 is released for similar reasons (insightful I know). The Mox ruby art being released is pretty strong evidence that at least one mox will be included in the next set, maybe one mox and one other power card per med from now on. Like one mox + one of time walk, ancestral, black lotus, and time twister per set. Seems like a reasonable way to go to me if they reprint FOW with one of them as an alternate "power" card to fill out a 2fer for each set.
Hm... it's definitely competitive to the point where u have to work on making your deck streamlined and consistent. You will need to be prepared to face the hard-to-beat cards of the format as well. The one-off nature makes it so that every card is valuable so your overall deck has to be planned properly i guess..
The payout at the moment are urza block packs... which go for around 10 a draft set.. the pe gives out a 3 packs to t16, 6 pax to t8, 12 to t4 and 20 to 2nd, 30 to first...
The pes have started at abt 24 players as of late so 2/3 of the people cover their entry and each t8 has a few 3-2s making the cut.. that's very hard to beat.. even when pax are worth so little, it's probably worth your time (unless you're talking about working)..
Even if the pe doesn't have tons of player support, there are enough players playing in the casual room for one to be able to get into a game without much waiting when one is bored.. (unlike std singleton which can hardly be found anywhere)
Glad to hear that you like the format =)
after readint his Im glad I picked up Felidar Sovereign for my mono white edh deck last week before nationals..phew.
I've been playing Esper combo for a while now, minus the Grindtone, and it's probably become my favorite format. I've never actually commented on one of your articles, which is truly a shame as it was one of YOUR articles that got me interested in the format in the first place! So thanks for that, and keep it up. Always enjoy these.
I've never entered a 100cs event though. Are they really competitive, or does the Highlander nature even the field quite a lot. Also speaking of EV, what are the payouts anyway?
Glad to be back.. lol..
U should try the format. it's generally cheaper than playing standard in the long run and u get the best EV. =)
Honestly it's kind of upsetting, but I suppose it's unavoidable. Every time some card(s) look interesting to me, or finally tank in price (Ranger of Eos), and I decide to go pick them up, some "pro" has top 14'd a large event, or wrote an article, and the card value increases by 500%! Ah well...
The funny thing about Conley Woods' deck is that we (AJ and I) were tinkering with variants of said ideas before Nats trying to get them to work in Tribal Wars Classic. I am certain others were working along the samelines (One guy brought a clerics deck with a similar theme to the PRE one weekend.) Of course when a pro brings the same deck its components become more valued.
I'm all for an article that covers the MTGO forums. And while I don't agree with everything that JK said (does anyone every really agree to all ideas online or anywhere), I find it very useful and refreshing to see that there is coverage of the "official" boards and perhaps such articles may lead to some less moderated by WOTC type discussion.
the mysticals are not in there purely for tinker they are to get that tinker or show and tell, a lot of decks will side in enchantment hate and having two more ways to plop out a fattie are why i like the mystical.
i have the helm line package purely as a misers out and to give me a small edge against dredge.
i also think terastodon is superioor if the metagame looks this way. sphinx has almost 0 application in my rounds for the event, while the don one me 2 matches. that sphinx would have lost me.
Maindeck
-1 Helm
-2 Leyline
+ 1 Yawgmoth's Will
+ 1 Balance
+ 1 Echoing Truth
If your alt win is going to be helmline, you need to run Drain and you aren't running drains. If you are going to run Mystical Tutor, you need to run the best sorcery's in the game - and echoing truth!
Running Mystical just to get Tinker so you can hopefully tinker out a Helm and get 4 more mana to try to merge to form Devastator is way too mana intensive for a deck like Oath
Sideboard
I like terestradon but he can't be tinkered - Steel Wind can - and he can win your random aggro match up. Tough meta choice but I like Steel wind right now as the 4th.
You also need to put 2 more leylines in there, so I would go with -1 Show and Tell and -1 Claim. I know you wnt 4 Claim, but Oath already beats down on Stax (especially Classic Stax).
My favourite one is Elvish Piper in fact if it was real I would have purchased the avatar and built a deck by now and be sat in the casual room waiting for a game.
Watch classic games in TP involving at least one person you know. Seriously. If you are unsure of whether or not they are aware of what is good, come msg me and I'll be glad to help anyone- ANYONE who's new and has questions. One of the things I know I asked regulars to do was to stop making unwatchable classic games - that doesn't help (unless you think you have super secret tech - and lets be fair - you don't).
I'm sure the above goes for people like Whiffy and Many other regulars, but I'm not going to speak for everyone in that regard. We are *much* happier letting you know that your Soldier/Honor of the Pure deck isn't going to play out well than to trounce it with a Tier 1 classic deck.
And since most people have questions about which cards to buy for classic or what deck to play, I would also like to shill that CQs website has a tournaments section which will tell you under no uncertain terms the answers to both those questions with a little research.
Here's an example for online.
Say your general is Mirri the Cursed if you play her and some one else plays a version from their deck there's dies and yours dosen't.
If you play Mirri the Cursed as your commander and some one else also plays Mirri the Cursed which is also their commander then nothing happens and they both stay in play.
Hi
I missed your State article last week, and don't know if it's late this week, or not coming?
Come back Hamtastic!
Cheers
A fan.
So for Magic Online, the General will not die to a legend of the same named creature if it's not a genreal itself?