Zenith refers to height from the ground, where as Solstice is in regards to distance from the sun in the elliptical orbit. So we should get together on AIM to arrange this eh? I am thinking we can use UPS to exchange the weather systems?
Still not seeing the drop in prices you are talking about regarding the shock lands on Traders etc. Maybe they are about .3 to .5 cheaper so far. Perhaps the major sites haven't caught on yet.
I'll swap you then. 90 degree+ sounds a lot better than cold and windy. Although to be fair, now it's warm and cloudy, in defiance of the blisteringly clear and perfect day that was predicted.
Oh, and I meant Solstice, not Zenith. Although I think technically that's correct too.
I bet the lower CMC cost is more due to the "friendly opponent/team" environment then an optimum Commander strategy. You can rush a player while still having another player watch your back. This doesn't happen in normal multiplayer games, where if you overextend yourself one of the other opponents is going to take advantage of it.
I enjoyed this very much. Especially the part where you "ran the numbers" on Divine Intervention versus Great Wall. Although, DI is a real beast with Opalescence, and it thwarts Aether Snap.
There's also hideaway lands for casting Biorhythm (a recent idea of mine) and of course Hurricane, which has been drawing games since Alpha. Who says green doesn't have reach?
I'm usually on weeknights, 9:30 to 11:30 pm Pacific Standard Time. No playgroup, I just do pick up games with whoever is there. Not on every night though.
Very nice article Doc. I just wanted to say that IMHO, -1 Ninja, +1 Jilt, could be quite good. I've found that 2 Ninja are really more than enough in a deck like this, b/c you don't really want one in your opener, and hardcasting them sucks. Jilt is also tutorable. :)
Excellent article........makes me want to put down my Legacy cards and play some pauper again. Are the pauper events held by WOTC always on Sunday, that is a super bad time for me usually.
gribo:
Last PT article I showed a Goblins queue match against me where he takes a game since all my lands were Ancient Dens while I drew my Holy Light the turn after. Fortunately only 8/23 lands are artifacts so even if a Gorilla lands he usually doesn't do much damage. I also have 4x Holy Light, 4x Journey and a Longbow to deal with it, so it's more likely that I'll have an answer for it than Goblins drawing it in the first place. You're right that it can sometimes hurt, but it's pretty rare and has yet to lose me a match.
ImSoHawt:
Jilt's a good card but I couldn't fit it in anywhere. I originally compared it with Steamcore Weird but often liked a 1/3 creature more than a bounce (though Jilt is more versatile). I did cut Muddle / Hurly / Rolling for 3x Izzet Chronarch though and that's worked surprisingly well, since it's red for Martyr, bouncable with ninja and I underestimated how good picking up a Counterspell or Staggershock in the lategame would be.
I'll have to try out Jilt again, but it'll be a tough squeeze.
Well the article come out a little late, like a week late and by the time I was playing it then it was more like an overlooked deck since the Summons version was heavily played. But I see your point.
The point actually is that a version of RDW including summonings and kargan dragonlord won't be as efficient as the proposed version, not that a budget RDW is possible.
I don't believe you can have colored mana of any sort that your commander doesn't cost. I haven't tested that in a while but I remember it being distinctly warned against when I was first rolling up my commander lists.
I don't understand what Maga and Zur have in common other than people might assume both are some heinous combo deck for the kill. I happen to like the way Zur works. I have played with him in very casual decks elsewhere (not on MODO) so I have a great like for his abilities. Now Maga is just heinous in and of himself and needs no intruction. As soon as I first saw that card I knew it was a kill or be killed fight. No time for slow development against that deck. Also Jhoira is another "fun" commander whom I like. But then again I hate cards like Emrakul so you would not catch me suspending him for 4 anyway in any casual format.
No offense, I just "scattered" through the article fast, but what "overlooked" deck? This is just RDW with different card there and there. We know it wins decks as it's very competitive (duh, it's RDW), and adding few expensive cards out like summonings and dragonlord, does not make it a burn deck, but rather a budget RDW deck, wouldn't you agree?
I bumped into mono blue 3 times on Friday, the top 8 had FIVE! Good god, whoever plays this Sunday better be able to auto win vs. this deck, as its popularity in the premiere challenges is skyrocketing weekly.
I don't know if I'm going to look at the Community decks. They really didn't do all that poorly, it's just that the way the scoring worked, there was a pretty huge disparity between the teams that won, and those that didn't. In fact, the Community only lost one more match than the WotC team, including the third, unreported round that dealt with determining the multiball multiplier. However, I don't know how comfortable I feel critiquing their decks, especially since it appears one (or two) guys created all of them the night before. I may take a look at them after some time has passed.
Next article I'm writing about an effective 65 land deck. So it can be done. Some of the other Community decks definitely went for a more punishing, versus a more outright powerful, strategies. I know I played against Tempesteye as he was practicing, but I didn't see anyone else. You are correct, there wasn't as much hype this year. But I think your article last week talked about that already.
The scoring for unified Standard seemed normal. I'm sure that the WotC team wants to win for bragging rights, but I don't believe that they would screw with the scoring system just to make sure they would win.
Wow, you want to build the Zur deck? I'm surprised, especially after your professed hatred of Maga decks. Talk about bringing the hate! It is obviously a good deck though, and there are a lot of options for changes.
You can use Bosh as your commander. However, the client checks the colors used in the casting cost of your commander to determine what kind of colors your lands can produce. Meaning that if you play Bosh, your lands will only be able to produce colorless mana. Therefore, you will have a tough time being able to use Bosh's ability. However, I'm not sure if that precludes artifacts like signets from producing colored mana. It's worth looking into.
Same issue with including him in your Karn deck. Lands should only produce colorless mana. At least that's the way it used to be. I'm not sure if there have been any changes to the rules manager recently.
It is a cool rules issue though. I saw someone use Momentary Blink in a Teneb deck the other night, so it's not only for creatures.
Zenith refers to height from the ground, where as Solstice is in regards to distance from the sun in the elliptical orbit. So we should get together on AIM to arrange this eh? I am thinking we can use UPS to exchange the weather systems?
Still not seeing the drop in prices you are talking about regarding the shock lands on Traders etc. Maybe they are about .3 to .5 cheaper so far. Perhaps the major sites haven't caught on yet.
I'll swap you then. 90 degree+ sounds a lot better than cold and windy. Although to be fair, now it's warm and cloudy, in defiance of the blisteringly clear and perfect day that was predicted.
Oh, and I meant Solstice, not Zenith. Although I think technically that's correct too.
I envy you your English summer. Would trade my NYC summer any day for yours. 90 degree+ weather every day is no fun at all.
I bet the lower CMC cost is more due to the "friendly opponent/team" environment then an optimum Commander strategy. You can rush a player while still having another player watch your back. This doesn't happen in normal multiplayer games, where if you overextend yourself one of the other opponents is going to take advantage of it.
Very slick write up. Keep it up!
I enjoyed this very much. Especially the part where you "ran the numbers" on Divine Intervention versus Great Wall. Although, DI is a real beast with Opalescence, and it thwarts Aether Snap.
There's also hideaway lands for casting Biorhythm (a recent idea of mine) and of course Hurricane, which has been drawing games since Alpha. Who says green doesn't have reach?
The weekly pauper premeire events seem to rotate between Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.
I'm usually on weeknights, 9:30 to 11:30 pm Pacific Standard Time. No playgroup, I just do pick up games with whoever is there. Not on every night though.
Very nice article Doc. I just wanted to say that IMHO, -1 Ninja, +1 Jilt, could be quite good. I've found that 2 Ninja are really more than enough in a deck like this, b/c you don't really want one in your opener, and hardcasting them sucks. Jilt is also tutorable. :)
When do you play or is there a playgroup that gets together on MTGO?
Excellent article........makes me want to put down my Legacy cards and play some pauper again. Are the pauper events held by WOTC always on Sunday, that is a super bad time for me usually.
Amazing breakdown and the pictures look fantastic while also being informative. Great stuff!
To find the latest tournament results, go here:
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Digital/MagicOnline.aspx?x=mtg/digital/magi...
It's in the bottom right.
gribo:
Last PT article I showed a Goblins queue match against me where he takes a game since all my lands were Ancient Dens while I drew my Holy Light the turn after. Fortunately only 8/23 lands are artifacts so even if a Gorilla lands he usually doesn't do much damage. I also have 4x Holy Light, 4x Journey and a Longbow to deal with it, so it's more likely that I'll have an answer for it than Goblins drawing it in the first place. You're right that it can sometimes hurt, but it's pretty rare and has yet to lose me a match.
ImSoHawt:
Jilt's a good card but I couldn't fit it in anywhere. I originally compared it with Steamcore Weird but often liked a 1/3 creature more than a bounce (though Jilt is more versatile). I did cut Muddle / Hurly / Rolling for 3x Izzet Chronarch though and that's worked surprisingly well, since it's red for Martyr, bouncable with ninja and I underestimated how good picking up a Counterspell or Staggershock in the lategame would be.
I'll have to try out Jilt again, but it'll be a tough squeeze.
Well the article come out a little late, like a week late and by the time I was playing it then it was more like an overlooked deck since the Summons version was heavily played. But I see your point.
I must be going blind.. I didn't see it when I first looked at the list.
That link is awesome - I had no idea how to get data prior to the Thursday post on Daily MTG.
Is there a way to know the event number in advance or if you cannot get online the day of the event?
This is why I still play magic. Occasionally. Might have to track down some old cards so I can actually give these a shot.
The point actually is that a version of RDW including summonings and kargan dragonlord won't be as efficient as the proposed version, not that a budget RDW is possible.
I don't believe you can have colored mana of any sort that your commander doesn't cost. I haven't tested that in a while but I remember it being distinctly warned against when I was first rolling up my commander lists.
I don't understand what Maga and Zur have in common other than people might assume both are some heinous combo deck for the kill. I happen to like the way Zur works. I have played with him in very casual decks elsewhere (not on MODO) so I have a great like for his abilities. Now Maga is just heinous in and of himself and needs no intruction. As soon as I first saw that card I knew it was a kill or be killed fight. No time for slow development against that deck. Also Jhoira is another "fun" commander whom I like. But then again I hate cards like Emrakul so you would not catch me suspending him for 4 anyway in any casual format.
No offense, I just "scattered" through the article fast, but what "overlooked" deck? This is just RDW with different card there and there. We know it wins decks as it's very competitive (duh, it's RDW), and adding few expensive cards out like summonings and dragonlord, does not make it a burn deck, but rather a budget RDW deck, wouldn't you agree?
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Digital/MagicOnlineTourn.aspx?x=mtg/digital...
I bumped into mono blue 3 times on Friday, the top 8 had FIVE! Good god, whoever plays this Sunday better be able to auto win vs. this deck, as its popularity in the premiere challenges is skyrocketing weekly.
I don't know if I'm going to look at the Community decks. They really didn't do all that poorly, it's just that the way the scoring worked, there was a pretty huge disparity between the teams that won, and those that didn't. In fact, the Community only lost one more match than the WotC team, including the third, unreported round that dealt with determining the multiball multiplier. However, I don't know how comfortable I feel critiquing their decks, especially since it appears one (or two) guys created all of them the night before. I may take a look at them after some time has passed.
Next article I'm writing about an effective 65 land deck. So it can be done. Some of the other Community decks definitely went for a more punishing, versus a more outright powerful, strategies. I know I played against Tempesteye as he was practicing, but I didn't see anyone else. You are correct, there wasn't as much hype this year. But I think your article last week talked about that already.
The scoring for unified Standard seemed normal. I'm sure that the WotC team wants to win for bragging rights, but I don't believe that they would screw with the scoring system just to make sure they would win.
Wow, you want to build the Zur deck? I'm surprised, especially after your professed hatred of Maga decks. Talk about bringing the hate! It is obviously a good deck though, and there are a lot of options for changes.
You can use Bosh as your commander. However, the client checks the colors used in the casting cost of your commander to determine what kind of colors your lands can produce. Meaning that if you play Bosh, your lands will only be able to produce colorless mana. Therefore, you will have a tough time being able to use Bosh's ability. However, I'm not sure if that precludes artifacts like signets from producing colored mana. It's worth looking into.
Same issue with including him in your Karn deck. Lands should only produce colorless mana. At least that's the way it used to be. I'm not sure if there have been any changes to the rules manager recently.
It is a cool rules issue though. I saw someone use Momentary Blink in a Teneb deck the other night, so it's not only for creatures.