I feel your pain moving into flagstaff, I prefer much warmer climate so i live in southern part of AZ. But Phoenix is like a hour or 2 away from where you live you can go there and play with your paper collection.
Many people don't use Second Life for fun. Some people use to SL to take classes. Others use it to visit with family members (which isn't always fun). Still others use it to do business (e.g. selling cars).
The Second Life Terms of Service is very clear about who owns what. In particular, if you use SL to create original intellectual property inside SL (e.g. a stack of boxes that you linked together), then you retain ownership in that intellectual property. Everyone else (including Linden Lab) just gets a license to view and interact with that intellectual property.
This feature is one that makes SL different from typical video games, where the game publisher owns all intellectual property in the game. It's not unusual online, however. For example, when I go to Google Docs and write a book there, I retain ownership of the intellectual property in that book. (Google doesn't get to own the book just because I used their service to help me write it.)
Other parts of Second Life, such as the currency and the land (simulated land) are services that users get a license to use (but Linden Lab retains ownership).
That's the general idea (perhaps oversimplified). If you want the specifics, then check out the actual SL Terms of Service at:
@The Elf Deck: Yeah I was happy with it for being something different then typical Elves. I know others have done some variants for Bloodbraid. I almost ran it this weekend in the PRE, but was not happy enough with it's success as shown here so until it gets tuned a bit then maybe we'll see it. It was better I brought the Giants I guess since there is no way this would have handled the drones.
@Scar: Perhaps it's a bit of a bitter response, but I'm getting tired of playing Blau and his many Eldrazi variants lol like Ranth's red deck, sometimes you just get so tired of facing the same deck over and over, its not a personal shot at the player behind the deck, just frustration with the deck type or in this case Wizard's complete lack of common sense in RnD
@LE: Yep ya never know when a game is going to be reported :P Though there will be downtime from match reports for awhile while I do the block series
i have no idea about any attorney generals...I just heard this yesterday talking to a friend of mine while playing ps3 and discussing the lack of people on PSN for SSF4
Maybe you missed the part where the states Attorney Generals get involved? If so be assured all wouldn't but enough would to make a right mess of Hasbro. Well that is a bit of conjecture but based on past behaviors where multinationals were involved (Nintendo for example) compensation wasn't swift but it did happen and the punishment was not light. Pulling support for a game console's interactive portion is a relatively minor effect compared to shutting down a game completely. That said, as I remarked before, Caveat Emptor.
Glad to see an elf deck that wasn't the typical Wellwisher/Timberwatch Elf nonsense. Very creative.
My ape deck used to be one of my favorites, but I haven't updated it since Coldsnap. It would occasionally get wins with Zodiac Monkey enchanted with Moldervine Cloak. Top of the curve was Ancient Silverback, with the regeneration coming in handy. I should update that deck.
In the case you stated above the LL company seized the assets and liquidated them. In a bar it is you that seizes your assets and does the liquidation off the booze. =). Very informative article.
sadly the compensation would not have to be much. Xbox live just pulled support from xbox games like halo 2 making them unplayable online through the xbox live...they paid customers who still played these original xbox games 400 microsoft points....roughly 4-5 dollars. This is assuming WotC would even consider compensation which...they probably wouldnt.
Yep. It is a reality of the internet and software programming in general. But the other reality is, Hasbro (the mothership's big Sister) would catch holy hell if WotC were to close MODO without proper compensation to its thousands of customers. Same way the various telephone/electric companies and other pseudo-mononopolies would if they stopped service to their clients. I am not saying it can't happen but it is a real doomsday scenario that would ensue should that happen. (Doomsday for the stockholders.) Despite the legalese or maybe because of it, the customers have a certain expectation of fair trade practices that is upheld by most states. I don't know the specifics of each state but I am certain this is some protection. Note I say 'some' because as a digital product magic cards as individual items are in quite a bit of flux in market value so it would be hard to put an estimated value on a large stock. On the other hand there is a reason why every update the legal jargon comes up and MUST be scrolled to activate the update. Caveat Emptor. And may God(dess) help us all whom ever she is.
Great article, and the Anne Frank reference was hilarious...im a horrible person. Though the "guitar lesson/legos" story I could not help but ::facepalm:: just a little.
Nice article. I like the elf deck a good bit. Though for those on a budget like myself I think I would have to run Farhaven Elf over the wood elves, mainly because I would have far more basics, but nice use of the Ultimatum. And yes, the Eldrazi must for the most part suck. Eldrazi Drone decks are kinda cool, but the big ones are just meh.
There's one card you totally need to work into your hunger decks...
Goblin Tunneler.
You make your 1/1 or 2/2 guy unblockable first, then you have him eat a bunch of token creatures to grow huge and swing in - while still unblockable. gg.
Hey, nice to see a primer for this deck! I've been grinding through the 2-mans with it for a month now (I've even played you twice!), and I love it.
What do you think of having Flash of Defiance is the sideboard? I run three, and it has greatly improved my WW matchup, often either getting in for Bushwhacker-like amounts of damage or trading for both halves of Strands. Incidentally, it has proven pretty useful against most green decks too (including Dead Dog, which I have no real SB cards for anyway). My sideboard is the same as yours but -1 shudder and -2 martyrs, +3 flash.
Doctor Anime: 4/3 haste is good, specially when there are so many planeswalkers in the format. Having 3 more hasty creatures really improves my chances of not letting my opp take full advantage of the planeswalkers. The possibility to recur it is always nice as BBE into a creature or just something like a Leech and a Thrinax returning it after a Day of Judgment is always great.
Kmaster: What are you talking about? That didn't happen.
rainin6: I certainly could have played in a different way r1g1. My reason to not play Leech turn2 was to increase my chances of playing Ruinblaster on turn4. Ruinblaster is only good is casted early. Also most of the time if I have something else to play I'd rather wait to play BBE when I also have Red open to kick Ruinblaster if I get it. When I played blightning I knew I was taking a risk. I could very well lose without casting all my spells if he topdecked a BBE (like he did) but it would also put him in a position where he had to topdeck otherwise he just loses. Still I'm pretty sure I would have lost to Siege-Gang if he had played it on turn5. One thing's for sure: I had a plan and I played according to it. I certainly had the tools to make it work. When I say I got unlucky it was because both games there were some decisive moments where both of us could have topdecked or cascaded in a different way and most of those times luck was on my opp's side. G1 he topdecks BBE and after that bolt to finish me and by BBE cascaded into the only dead cascade. Ruinblaster wouldn't have been very good either but it would still be better. G2 he plays 3 ruinblasters in a row and the whole 4 thrinax. I also only got the the 5th land when Slave of Bolas wasn't as devastating as it would have been several turns earlier. After the initial screw I was pretty flooded. And he drew bolt, BBE into bolt when I was at 6.
Lunco: I certainly could have slow rolled the Leech. I could even have slow rolled Vengevine by playing it turn6 hoping he would flashfreeze it and after that play Leech to get Vengevine back right away (but I don't think this is a very good play because if he does have path, this play is terrible). I decided to play the Leech so I could start applying pressure with it and the Ravine in the following turn, while still having BBE in hand to only play it when it has a smaller (or 0) chance of whiffing the cascade. About the first round I already talked enough about it but I just want to say that even if my plan wasn't the best one you certainly can't talk about "really bad misplays". I had a plan and I had reasons to follow it, I didn't just randomly play my cards.
To everyone: it's good that we're discussing the plays here. It's always nice to have outside opinions about the way I played so I can look at it in another way and maybe find flaws in my play.
For future articles, do work on formatting, this article, though interesting, is *ugly*.
Also, since you're analysing a draft archetype, what about some sample decklists? You link to a draft replay in the comments, but honestly, that's not enough if you want to grab people's attention.
In terms of the actual content, your claim of UG Tempo being the strongest deck in RoE limited is not very useful. Whilst I haven't tried the deck myself, let's be realistic, green and blue are likely the two strongest, most drafted colours (albeit not necessarily in conjunction) in this format. And while my experience with RoE is still limited (only play online), it seems so far like a bit of a rock-paper-scissors environment, with some archetypes completely smashing others and in turn being destroyed by another kind of deck. So to present a draft archetype as strongest in this format seems a bit futile.
Sorry if I'm appearing harsh with all the criticism, but that's the only way to improve :) and well done for writing a good article, I look forward to more stuff from you.
As for reckless charge I can agree (though I think it should be tested), I still think manamorphose should be in. As for the argument for countering, if it wasn't manamorphose but other card that you have it still will be countered. In top deck mode you really don't want to draw needle but manamorphose is ok, as when you draw it you can cast it and dig for more. Even if it gets countered - there is no diffrence as the kill spell you draw would be countered too and it still pumps the kiln fiend. And the cost, well you don't have to play full four copies of it ;)
I feel your pain moving into flagstaff, I prefer much warmer climate so i live in southern part of AZ. But Phoenix is like a hour or 2 away from where you live you can go there and play with your paper collection.
Many people don't use Second Life for fun. Some people use to SL to take classes. Others use it to visit with family members (which isn't always fun). Still others use it to do business (e.g. selling cars).
The Second Life Terms of Service is very clear about who owns what. In particular, if you use SL to create original intellectual property inside SL (e.g. a stack of boxes that you linked together), then you retain ownership in that intellectual property. Everyone else (including Linden Lab) just gets a license to view and interact with that intellectual property.
This feature is one that makes SL different from typical video games, where the game publisher owns all intellectual property in the game. It's not unusual online, however. For example, when I go to Google Docs and write a book there, I retain ownership of the intellectual property in that book. (Google doesn't get to own the book just because I used their service to help me write it.)
Other parts of Second Life, such as the currency and the land (simulated land) are services that users get a license to use (but Linden Lab retains ownership).
That's the general idea (perhaps oversimplified). If you want the specifics, then check out the actual SL Terms of Service at:
http://secondlife.com/corporate/tos.php
Thanks for the comments guys!
@The Elf Deck: Yeah I was happy with it for being something different then typical Elves. I know others have done some variants for Bloodbraid. I almost ran it this weekend in the PRE, but was not happy enough with it's success as shown here so until it gets tuned a bit then maybe we'll see it. It was better I brought the Giants I guess since there is no way this would have handled the drones.
@Scar: Perhaps it's a bit of a bitter response, but I'm getting tired of playing Blau and his many Eldrazi variants lol like Ranth's red deck, sometimes you just get so tired of facing the same deck over and over, its not a personal shot at the player behind the deck, just frustration with the deck type or in this case Wizard's complete lack of common sense in RnD
@LE: Yep ya never know when a game is going to be reported :P Though there will be downtime from match reports for awhile while I do the block series
I didn't know our game was recorded! Anyway, it was a very nice game and yours was a very innovative elves deck.
Good article!
LE
i have no idea about any attorney generals...I just heard this yesterday talking to a friend of mine while playing ps3 and discussing the lack of people on PSN for SSF4
Solid article. I admit to not seeing all the signs sometimes. A good review of what is really most important.
Maybe you missed the part where the states Attorney Generals get involved? If so be assured all wouldn't but enough would to make a right mess of Hasbro. Well that is a bit of conjecture but based on past behaviors where multinationals were involved (Nintendo for example) compensation wasn't swift but it did happen and the punishment was not light. Pulling support for a game console's interactive portion is a relatively minor effect compared to shutting down a game completely. That said, as I remarked before, Caveat Emptor.
Glad to see an elf deck that wasn't the typical Wellwisher/Timberwatch Elf nonsense. Very creative.
My ape deck used to be one of my favorites, but I haven't updated it since Coldsnap. It would occasionally get wins with Zodiac Monkey enchanted with Moldervine Cloak. Top of the curve was Ancient Silverback, with the regeneration coming in handy. I should update that deck.
Nice article.
In the case you stated above the LL company seized the assets and liquidated them. In a bar it is you that seizes your assets and does the liquidation off the booze. =). Very informative article.
sadly the compensation would not have to be much. Xbox live just pulled support from xbox games like halo 2 making them unplayable online through the xbox live...they paid customers who still played these original xbox games 400 microsoft points....roughly 4-5 dollars. This is assuming WotC would even consider compensation which...they probably wouldnt.
Yep. It is a reality of the internet and software programming in general. But the other reality is, Hasbro (the mothership's big Sister) would catch holy hell if WotC were to close MODO without proper compensation to its thousands of customers. Same way the various telephone/electric companies and other pseudo-mononopolies would if they stopped service to their clients. I am not saying it can't happen but it is a real doomsday scenario that would ensue should that happen. (Doomsday for the stockholders.) Despite the legalese or maybe because of it, the customers have a certain expectation of fair trade practices that is upheld by most states. I don't know the specifics of each state but I am certain this is some protection. Note I say 'some' because as a digital product magic cards as individual items are in quite a bit of flux in market value so it would be hard to put an estimated value on a large stock. On the other hand there is a reason why every update the legal jargon comes up and MUST be scrolled to activate the update. Caveat Emptor. And may God(dess) help us all whom ever she is.
Great article, and the Anne Frank reference was hilarious...im a horrible person. Though the "guitar lesson/legos" story I could not help but ::facepalm:: just a little.
"I'd like a refund from Wizards for every minute of my life that's been wasted by Eldrazi."
Here here...
Nice article. I like the elf deck a good bit. Though for those on a budget like myself I think I would have to run Farhaven Elf over the wood elves, mainly because I would have far more basics, but nice use of the Ultimatum. And yes, the Eldrazi must for the most part suck. Eldrazi Drone decks are kinda cool, but the big ones are just meh.
Would love to play with this list, as soon as Urza's Legacy brings the price of Rancor back into pauper range.
It was good overall, but in the future I would certainly doublecheck my spellings in the decklist generator...it will make it much easier to read.
Just for the record for everyone reading this, aclog's list also reached top8 in the last PE after this article went up. Grats!
There's one card you totally need to work into your hunger decks...
Goblin Tunneler.
You make your 1/1 or 2/2 guy unblockable first, then you have him eat a bunch of token creatures to grow huge and swing in - while still unblockable. gg.
very nice, one-of-a-kind article :) Great read!
Hey, nice to see a primer for this deck! I've been grinding through the 2-mans with it for a month now (I've even played you twice!), and I love it.
What do you think of having Flash of Defiance is the sideboard? I run three, and it has greatly improved my WW matchup, often either getting in for Bushwhacker-like amounts of damage or trading for both halves of Strands. Incidentally, it has proven pretty useful against most green decks too (including Dead Dog, which I have no real SB cards for anyway). My sideboard is the same as yours but -1 shudder and -2 martyrs, +3 flash.
I don't like either now, you need to draw damage, not tricks. Try it and see.
Doctor Anime: 4/3 haste is good, specially when there are so many planeswalkers in the format. Having 3 more hasty creatures really improves my chances of not letting my opp take full advantage of the planeswalkers. The possibility to recur it is always nice as BBE into a creature or just something like a Leech and a Thrinax returning it after a Day of Judgment is always great.
Kmaster: What are you talking about? That didn't happen.
rainin6: I certainly could have played in a different way r1g1. My reason to not play Leech turn2 was to increase my chances of playing Ruinblaster on turn4. Ruinblaster is only good is casted early. Also most of the time if I have something else to play I'd rather wait to play BBE when I also have Red open to kick Ruinblaster if I get it. When I played blightning I knew I was taking a risk. I could very well lose without casting all my spells if he topdecked a BBE (like he did) but it would also put him in a position where he had to topdeck otherwise he just loses. Still I'm pretty sure I would have lost to Siege-Gang if he had played it on turn5. One thing's for sure: I had a plan and I played according to it. I certainly had the tools to make it work. When I say I got unlucky it was because both games there were some decisive moments where both of us could have topdecked or cascaded in a different way and most of those times luck was on my opp's side. G1 he topdecks BBE and after that bolt to finish me and by BBE cascaded into the only dead cascade. Ruinblaster wouldn't have been very good either but it would still be better. G2 he plays 3 ruinblasters in a row and the whole 4 thrinax. I also only got the the 5th land when Slave of Bolas wasn't as devastating as it would have been several turns earlier. After the initial screw I was pretty flooded. And he drew bolt, BBE into bolt when I was at 6.
Lunco: I certainly could have slow rolled the Leech. I could even have slow rolled Vengevine by playing it turn6 hoping he would flashfreeze it and after that play Leech to get Vengevine back right away (but I don't think this is a very good play because if he does have path, this play is terrible). I decided to play the Leech so I could start applying pressure with it and the Ravine in the following turn, while still having BBE in hand to only play it when it has a smaller (or 0) chance of whiffing the cascade. About the first round I already talked enough about it but I just want to say that even if my plan wasn't the best one you certainly can't talk about "really bad misplays". I had a plan and I had reasons to follow it, I didn't just randomly play my cards.
To everyone: it's good that we're discussing the plays here. It's always nice to have outside opinions about the way I played so I can look at it in another way and maybe find flaws in my play.
For future articles, do work on formatting, this article, though interesting, is *ugly*.
Also, since you're analysing a draft archetype, what about some sample decklists? You link to a draft replay in the comments, but honestly, that's not enough if you want to grab people's attention.
In terms of the actual content, your claim of UG Tempo being the strongest deck in RoE limited is not very useful. Whilst I haven't tried the deck myself, let's be realistic, green and blue are likely the two strongest, most drafted colours (albeit not necessarily in conjunction) in this format. And while my experience with RoE is still limited (only play online), it seems so far like a bit of a rock-paper-scissors environment, with some archetypes completely smashing others and in turn being destroyed by another kind of deck. So to present a draft archetype as strongest in this format seems a bit futile.
Sorry if I'm appearing harsh with all the criticism, but that's the only way to improve :) and well done for writing a good article, I look forward to more stuff from you.
i had three, sold one for 32, figure ill catch up later one. 2 should be enough for casual fun for now
As for reckless charge I can agree (though I think it should be tested), I still think manamorphose should be in. As for the argument for countering, if it wasn't manamorphose but other card that you have it still will be countered. In top deck mode you really don't want to draw needle but manamorphose is ok, as when you draw it you can cast it and dig for more. Even if it gets countered - there is no diffrence as the kill spell you draw would be countered too and it still pumps the kiln fiend. And the cost, well you don't have to play full four copies of it ;)