Excellent points, as always Amar! :)
I'm actually going to cover that in the "Practicing the right way" since that's the way that a lot of people will have to resort to in order to get that experience. Pro's generally have the luxury of being able to build and test pretty much any deck they want. Newer tournament players don't have that same luxury and have to make due with (usually random) playtesting against the decks they need practice against.
As mentioned though, that's more in the "Practicing the right way" since practicing will be where this will be handled for most people. They will need to know how to play against the decks in the tournament, but they won't generally be able to play each and every deck themselves. :)
I apologize...I don't play online, so I did not know that Legacy was unavailable.
@Archmage: I like to think of her as a means of protecting yourself. She does a great job of warding off other people's removal spells, and sometimes you really need to prevent someone from Time Stretch-ing or Tooth and Nail-ing.
Thanks for the comments! Inneutral, I think my reasoning will become a bit more clear when part II is published (I've submitted it). The point of a fork isn't just to keep your options open; a fork gives you a significant amount of power while keeping options open. Number of mana symbols is a significant concern but it isn't the main criteria for deciding -- really, it's more of a tiebreaker than anything else. There are quite a few instances where a card is easy to cast but gets classified as filler rather than fork because the power level isn't quite there. Also, Drana and Deathless Angel are both definitely forks despite their double colored requirement -- people sometimes talk about splashing Drana in non black decks despite the BB cost, and while Deathless Angel isn't quite there it is definitely powerful enough for the double white to not matter to me. As far as colorfixing goes, some of these cards do open additional paths (colorless fixers like prism and evolving wilds) but others do not (like growth spasm, which requires that you play green -- so even though it keeps your options more open, it still cuts off more than it opens up). An exceptionally powerful fixer could absolutely be a fork, otherwise it's likely to be a good filler card. Again, this will make more sense when I describe the draft strategy in the next article.
Perhaps it would be best to think of it this way: I'm evaluating cards based on two metrics -- flexibility and power. Forks are high power, high flexibility. Cornerstones are high power, low flexibility. Filler is low to medium power, any medium to high flexibility. Sideboard cards are low to high power, low to medium flexibility (and what flexibility they do have is determined by your opponent's deck more than your own).
And yes, Enclave Cryptologist is definitely a fork. It has very high power and is great in multiple archetypes. He's at his best in a controlling build, sure -- so you might start keeping your eyes open more for one of the control archetypes, but even that is a pretty wide open category with multiple directions you can go (U/B, U/R, U/G all just off the top of my hand).
Grapplingfarang -- you make a good point, particularly about triple block pack drafts. I used thoctar in part because I knew there would be some debate there. I still think he's a cornerstone because his power level is just so much different in a Naya deck than it is in any other archetype. Yes there are many archetypes that can cast him, but he's not that ridiculous in any of them except Naya, because only Naya can really consistently cast him on turn 3. If you cast him on turn 3 he's amazing. On turn 4 he's merely very good (a bit better than Wild Leotau, for example). On turn 5 he start's losing a lot of luster because you can start comparing him to cards like Mosstodon, who is on a similar power level when cast on turn 5. Mosstodon is a very nice filler card of course. But if a card performs at a high power level in one or two archetypes and a medium power level in several more, I don't really see it as being a fork. Again, it's close though in this case!
I just finished submitting an article last night about Jund and the lack of UW or control style decks in my most recent STD DE. Your numbers seem to support the conclusion I came to that UW is on a small down swing. I thought it was just an odd draw of match up for myself, but it looks like more players are trying out different deck types. Great information.
Good stuff, however you cheated, didn't mention sea gate oracle (and definitely not lore master ;) in your pool. However i made up approximately the same deck, except added skittering invasion and smite in the main deck (of course i didn't have oracle..).
And yes i agree the value of RRR is unbelievable 0. But unfortunately still much more interesting (even after 30+ draft) then ZZW's B/R wins.
I think your basic point is correct, in that the deck that's best for one person may not be the best for another. Dave Price for example was famous for always playing red aggro. Jon Finkel always preferred islands. Gabe Nassif stuck with 5c Control for as long as it was legal. Etc.
However, there's some risk in just saying "well I'm not good at X so I won't play it." Even if you're not using that deck yourself, you need a decent understanding of it to fight it most optimally. What does Jund have to do to beat mono-red? The red deck should know, so it can play around those outs. To paraphrase Sun Tzu in The Art of War, it's as important to know the enemy as it is to know yourself.
Seems like it would be fun to try since it's not only a win faster card, but also a "beat me to death slower" card. (Except against opposing flyers!) Would go well in a deck where running Emeria Angel and Pride of the Clouds, too. Not to mention an awesome old favorite of mine - Battle Screech!
ANY burn deck, even extended, would lose this board position without Kiln Fiend. My opp gained 4 life and had COP RED access turn 3...still too late. Would any burn spell you know of do this? Would any creature? Nuff said. "...but what about removal?!" sniff sniff...people also target Keldon Marauders often with removal, you don't see that missing from any good burn lists do ya? They choose 2 damage vs. 5. With Kiln, they have another massive threat to worry about, AND this one can kill in one swing.
PS. especially fun to target a chain lightning with my own pyroblast, still get the nice bonus :)
Very impressive to see you change colors in the middle of pack 3 (!!) and still do well in the draft. I've only drafted the Kiln Fiend archetype once so far, I look forward to trying it again. I found that Battle Rattle Shaman is really handy in the deck. It's great with Goblin Tunneler as you mentioned, it's also very nice with small inexpensive flyers which I grabbed 2-3 of in that draft. The nice thing about getting Tunnelers and Battle Rattles for the deck is they keep providing value on turns when you don't have an instant or sorcery in hand, plus they also provide value under Guard Duty or Narcolepsy.
I've heard that people have tried Kiln Fiend under red/black as well as red/white. Black certainly has some ways to get things out of the way, even if you have to get blockers out of the way permanently instead of just temporarily the way you're "supposed to"!
Is there really a reliable deck to pick apart Landstill with other than getting lucky under the gun? (Only thing that comes to mind is some kind of lock deck with Black Vise and Armageddon etc, but that seems very bad.)
One of the reasons I went back to playing Jund in Std DEs is the low payout on U packs. How about something involving strategies that pick apart Landstill. It seems to be the deck to beat. Well that and dunkle's zoo list.
So it is a well thought out choice. In fact, my deck is the cheapest way I could find into Legacy. I tend to try and keep the cost vs reward in mind with just about anything I do in life. If I were to head for the check book it would be Landstill over other lists that I would be heading toward. Landstill seems to have enough of the right answers now with the addition of Jace that it certainly is starting to look like the top deck in the format. At least SICK's build is top notch in this regard.
If there was a tip to offer I would say look at Angel of Righeousness's list. It is very consistent in what it does. It seems to avoid the use of the Researchers over the Careful Studies. I have to think this is mostly due to the fact that the Study helps you add more fatties to your hand by drawing 2 cards off the deck where the researcher gives 1. I am pretty sure that one of the basics to Magic 101 is 2 for 1 is > 1 for 1.
With that said, your clan mate, Raddman, pointed out how the researcher is a sack vs the dredge match up and a body for the early block. Very solid points to support the use of the card.
Again, it is not a poke at you as a person or your bank roll. Just the way the deck played out in our match. After all, the last game found you with no creatures in the grave yard after 4 rounds if I remember correctly. This is something that Reanimator avoids. Call it a bad luck on the shuffler or maybe a hasty choice on the mulligan, but the deck did leave you open for me to steal a rather simple win in that match. With the hand I had you should have walked away with game 2 after Thoughtsiezing my only grave yard removal. Perhaps you will have me eating some humble pie at some other time. I am sure we will end up across from each other some time soon. Maybe this gives you the emotional boost to win the next match we have. Nothing like stoking a fire to get myself burned.
While I don't want to assume you are, try not to take it personally. I know it can be hard to separate one's deck from the person, but that is how I see it. There is the player and then the deck. To win, we have to beat both.
Just a quick thanks for the Draft EV tables! I'll be looking into MVW drafts (well, maybe after the Beta period is over).
Also your beginners guide is shaping up nicely. Any plans to include Limited more somewhere along the way?
Ahhh my fair maiden you get the most glorious prize of all.
You get the "Been there done that, have the T-shirt, here are your pants back" Card.
Better yet, I think you should write the woman's version of this article 80)
But where is the Veteran Bodyguard ????????
I always thought that this "Georges clooney" bodyguard participated to YMCA video clips (with his nice leather necklace as well)
I apologize...I don't play online, so I did not know that Legacy was unavailable.
@Archmage: I like to think of her as a means of protecting yourself. She does a great job of warding off other people's removal spells, and sometimes you really need to prevent someone from Time Stretch-ing or Tooth and Nail-ing.
You get the Ladies Card. (I guess.)
Thanks for the comments! Inneutral, I think my reasoning will become a bit more clear when part II is published (I've submitted it). The point of a fork isn't just to keep your options open; a fork gives you a significant amount of power while keeping options open. Number of mana symbols is a significant concern but it isn't the main criteria for deciding -- really, it's more of a tiebreaker than anything else. There are quite a few instances where a card is easy to cast but gets classified as filler rather than fork because the power level isn't quite there. Also, Drana and Deathless Angel are both definitely forks despite their double colored requirement -- people sometimes talk about splashing Drana in non black decks despite the BB cost, and while Deathless Angel isn't quite there it is definitely powerful enough for the double white to not matter to me. As far as colorfixing goes, some of these cards do open additional paths (colorless fixers like prism and evolving wilds) but others do not (like growth spasm, which requires that you play green -- so even though it keeps your options more open, it still cuts off more than it opens up). An exceptionally powerful fixer could absolutely be a fork, otherwise it's likely to be a good filler card. Again, this will make more sense when I describe the draft strategy in the next article.
Perhaps it would be best to think of it this way: I'm evaluating cards based on two metrics -- flexibility and power. Forks are high power, high flexibility. Cornerstones are high power, low flexibility. Filler is low to medium power, any medium to high flexibility. Sideboard cards are low to high power, low to medium flexibility (and what flexibility they do have is determined by your opponent's deck more than your own).
And yes, Enclave Cryptologist is definitely a fork. It has very high power and is great in multiple archetypes. He's at his best in a controlling build, sure -- so you might start keeping your eyes open more for one of the control archetypes, but even that is a pretty wide open category with multiple directions you can go (U/B, U/R, U/G all just off the top of my hand).
Grapplingfarang -- you make a good point, particularly about triple block pack drafts. I used thoctar in part because I knew there would be some debate there. I still think he's a cornerstone because his power level is just so much different in a Naya deck than it is in any other archetype. Yes there are many archetypes that can cast him, but he's not that ridiculous in any of them except Naya, because only Naya can really consistently cast him on turn 3. If you cast him on turn 3 he's amazing. On turn 4 he's merely very good (a bit better than Wild Leotau, for example). On turn 5 he start's losing a lot of luster because you can start comparing him to cards like Mosstodon, who is on a similar power level when cast on turn 5. Mosstodon is a very nice filler card of course. But if a card performs at a high power level in one or two archetypes and a medium power level in several more, I don't really see it as being a fork. Again, it's close though in this case!
Loved the article, but what about the fairer sex who plays Magic?
Just curious....:)
I just finished submitting an article last night about Jund and the lack of UW or control style decks in my most recent STD DE. Your numbers seem to support the conclusion I came to that UW is on a small down swing. I thought it was just an odd draw of match up for myself, but it looks like more players are trying out different deck types. Great information.
Good stuff, however you cheated, didn't mention sea gate oracle (and definitely not lore master ;) in your pool. However i made up approximately the same deck, except added skittering invasion and smite in the main deck (of course i didn't have oracle..).
And yes i agree the value of RRR is unbelievable 0. But unfortunately still much more interesting (even after 30+ draft) then ZZW's B/R wins.
I think your basic point is correct, in that the deck that's best for one person may not be the best for another. Dave Price for example was famous for always playing red aggro. Jon Finkel always preferred islands. Gabe Nassif stuck with 5c Control for as long as it was legal. Etc.
However, there's some risk in just saying "well I'm not good at X so I won't play it." Even if you're not using that deck yourself, you need a decent understanding of it to fight it most optimally. What does Jund have to do to beat mono-red? The red deck should know, so it can play around those outs. To paraphrase Sun Tzu in The Art of War, it's as important to know the enemy as it is to know yourself.
I will look into this.
I am a tease.
Could these graphics be combined together, so we can easily compare them against each other in future?
Quickly looking grixis and jund seem to trend to same direction.
Carefully looking there's tenfold difference in actual results. :)
Erik would like to say great addition to your article this week, used to read your articles for price checks.
Look forward to your next Chapter
So far you have put forward some good points that some people miss..
BELCH.
scratch, scratch.
Whats going on here(whiffy enters the conversation in his undys while drinking a beer.
Please , please, for the love of god, can u poke fun at the flower man. just a little. every time i read yoiu i hope for it, but to no avail.
Seems like it would be fun to try since it's not only a win faster card, but also a "beat me to death slower" card. (Except against opposing flyers!) Would go well in a deck where running Emeria Angel and Pride of the Clouds, too. Not to mention an awesome old favorite of mine - Battle Screech!
Here is yet another example of why you should be playing Kiln Fiend:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzvEdzTr1Sg
ANY burn deck, even extended, would lose this board position without Kiln Fiend. My opp gained 4 life and had COP RED access turn 3...still too late. Would any burn spell you know of do this? Would any creature? Nuff said. "...but what about removal?!" sniff sniff...people also target Keldon Marauders often with removal, you don't see that missing from any good burn lists do ya? They choose 2 damage vs. 5. With Kiln, they have another massive threat to worry about, AND this one can kill in one swing.
PS. especially fun to target a chain lightning with my own pyroblast, still get the nice bonus :)
Very impressive to see you change colors in the middle of pack 3 (!!) and still do well in the draft. I've only drafted the Kiln Fiend archetype once so far, I look forward to trying it again. I found that Battle Rattle Shaman is really handy in the deck. It's great with Goblin Tunneler as you mentioned, it's also very nice with small inexpensive flyers which I grabbed 2-3 of in that draft. The nice thing about getting Tunnelers and Battle Rattles for the deck is they keep providing value on turns when you don't have an instant or sorcery in hand, plus they also provide value under Guard Duty or Narcolepsy.
I've heard that people have tried Kiln Fiend under red/black as well as red/white. Black certainly has some ways to get things out of the way, even if you have to get blockers out of the way permanently instead of just temporarily the way you're "supposed to"!
Is there really a reliable deck to pick apart Landstill with other than getting lucky under the gun? (Only thing that comes to mind is some kind of lock deck with Black Vise and Armageddon etc, but that seems very bad.)
One of the reasons I went back to playing Jund in Std DEs is the low payout on U packs. How about something involving strategies that pick apart Landstill. It seems to be the deck to beat. Well that and dunkle's zoo list.
Now that I can ID with. Being stuck for a topic happens to me every time I write.
Rofl shows you what you know :D
So it is a well thought out choice. In fact, my deck is the cheapest way I could find into Legacy. I tend to try and keep the cost vs reward in mind with just about anything I do in life. If I were to head for the check book it would be Landstill over other lists that I would be heading toward. Landstill seems to have enough of the right answers now with the addition of Jace that it certainly is starting to look like the top deck in the format. At least SICK's build is top notch in this regard.
If there was a tip to offer I would say look at Angel of Righeousness's list. It is very consistent in what it does. It seems to avoid the use of the Researchers over the Careful Studies. I have to think this is mostly due to the fact that the Study helps you add more fatties to your hand by drawing 2 cards off the deck where the researcher gives 1. I am pretty sure that one of the basics to Magic 101 is 2 for 1 is > 1 for 1.
With that said, your clan mate, Raddman, pointed out how the researcher is a sack vs the dredge match up and a body for the early block. Very solid points to support the use of the card.
Again, it is not a poke at you as a person or your bank roll. Just the way the deck played out in our match. After all, the last game found you with no creatures in the grave yard after 4 rounds if I remember correctly. This is something that Reanimator avoids. Call it a bad luck on the shuffler or maybe a hasty choice on the mulligan, but the deck did leave you open for me to steal a rather simple win in that match. With the hand I had you should have walked away with game 2 after Thoughtsiezing my only grave yard removal. Perhaps you will have me eating some humble pie at some other time. I am sure we will end up across from each other some time soon. Maybe this gives you the emotional boost to win the next match we have. Nothing like stoking a fire to get myself burned.
While I don't want to assume you are, try not to take it personally. I know it can be hard to separate one's deck from the person, but that is how I see it. There is the player and then the deck. To win, we have to beat both.