i know this has nothing at all to do with the article, but i just gotta say. Having to login or register to make a post? YESSSSS! Thank you for finally implementing this. we may lose some though provoking posts, but at least there will be no more utter garbage from people who feel thay have the freedom to post what ever they want because they could do it anon.
I already had playsets of Tusker and Mongrel and picked up 3 Exhume (so far). I specifically want the Eldrazi commons to build a bad Reanimator for pauper. I figure Tusker or either Eldarazi is going to be better than my opponent's best creature in the graveyard most of the time.
I had one ally in my pile when presented with the first pyromancer, and would still not take it over the Greenweaver Druid on a do-over. Druid was way more important for the deck that was coming together at that point, as evidenced by round one.
The second one immediately after was up against a Tuktuk Grunts, which I think is a much better second ally than pyromancer, but that pick is certainly more debatable than druid vs. pyromancer. Frankly, I wasn't all that happy with the tuktuk pick, and I would have been slightly less happy with the pyromancer pick.
Given the multiple Oran-Rief Survivalists that went around in pack 1, plus a late Tuktuk Grunts, I would have considered taking the Pyromancers picks 2 and 3 in pack two. Given that they were passed, when I looked at that scouted deck with red/white allies, I figured he'd gotten at least one if not both.
Dying in two games to a double-pyromancer draw is just ironic (and unlikely), though. I did draft red/green allies in my first ever ZZZ draft, in paper, and ended up 2-1 with the deck. I think even if you just get a burn for 1 then a burn for 2 out of one and nothing else, you're getting some nice value there - and the blowout potential is nice.
I agree the Geyser Glider is much better for signaling purposes, and I like the white/red archetype in ZZW better than white/green. Geyser Glider is a decently strong card, though he doesn't fit with the classic white/red plan of loading up with tiny creatures and doing a quick aggro rush. He could still be an evasive finisher in that style of deck, mopping up if the initial quick rush doesn't get the whole job done.
All that said, I just think the power level of the Baloth is way higher than any other card in that pack. He can end games decisively and quickly, especially if you pick up a couple Harrow or even Khalni Heart Expedition, giving you the potential to swing with a 12/12 or even a 16/16 trampler.
The gamble of getting cut out of green in pack 2 reduces his value some. But if green were flowing from the right, we could see a decent amount of green in packs 1 and 3, probably getting enough playables in conjunction with our other color. Also the green passed isn't so bombish it would keep people from switching out of it, if the green stopped flowing their way after pack 2.
Also pack 1 I would strongly suspect the two people to my immediate left grab Nighthawk and Hideous End, and then one of them picks the Vampire Lacerator pick 2, so probably the green drafters are further around the table anyway & I might get some decent pick 2 and pick 3 cards in the secound round. Looking at the actual draft, I see decent round two options in picks 2 through 5, including a River Boa and a Harrow. Probably the green drafters were halfway around the table, which is fine.
Of course the green dried up pretty quick in pack 1, which is why I ended up blue/white. Most likely there were one or two people closer to my right grabbing green. Pack 3 didn't show me a lot of strong green.
I feel you may be practicing in the wrong format, Tribal is a waste of time. I would recommend playing in the pauper que, it gives an even playing field in relation to power levels.
Is currently held by Wasteland. Fact or Fiction topped off at 17 back in the day, and the other big nostalgia card like Eternal Witness and Flametongue Kavu never broke 10.
Orim's Chant still holds the record for rare though, neither LED or FoW has broken 125 yet.
what cards you have access to that we don't online...Invigorate? I would estimate the level of competition you are playing with your Exhume deck is nowhere near the level online, which is the case with most paper vs. online instances. I play both types quite regularly and if the paper format is less than a PTQ the online level of comp blows it out of the water. I have an Exhume deck built online and its average at best, contains many of the cards you listed also. I am going to build you deck and run it a bit, but I don't see it going undefeated by a long shot, the storm combo deck is just to explosive for any deck with no disruption.
Yeah I completely agree. It's obvious when people are in multiple events, when they are tapped out and aren't hitting ok through second main phase. I get that maybe some people out there can do it quickly and not make mistakes as a result of it, but it's not a good idea.
When I play online poker, I play in multiple events, but obviously magic is much harder. And don't tell me your computer is 'slow' when you were blazing through game 1 when the sealed event was in between rounds.
that's all a matter of opinion, I'm not sure they're is a real answer because I was readin an article a couple weeks ago that said successful multitasking isn't a myth, just that there are a select few who can do it
I love reading your articles and was thrilled to see a new one. In R2G3, when he plays the Stonework Puma and the Pyromancer's ability is still on the stack, couldn't you play the Relic Crush to kill the Puma (and the Nimbus Wings while you're at it) to save your Rover? You were planning on blowing up the Puma and wings anyway next turn.
Surely the Wasteland price is the highest an uncommon has ever reached on MTGO. I know Fact or Fiction had a very high price once, but 24 has got to be the record.
So I found a link to your last article on PDCmagic.com, so I made an account specifically to comment on it, as I do not often play online (it has been over a year now) but anyway, I play lots of pauper, in the paper format (for various reasons) and I have an exhume deck. It is a very potent one. I have never lost with it. Although I must admit I have access to cards you don't, I am still going to post the decklist here. Also, it fits with this article as it is very fluid, there is almost never a dead card in my hand.
4 Rancor
4 Expunge
4 Penumbra Bobcat
4 Putrid Leech
4 Gnarlid Pack Yay! New additions to help fill out my mana curve!
4 Twisted Abomination
4 Krosan Tusker
4 Feast or Famine
4 Exhume
The Sideboard
2 Funeral Charm
2 Lingering Death
4 Invigorate
4 Unburden
3 Evincar's Justice
The Exhume is actually in there as a incidental win condition. If I have it in my opening hand, I play it, if not I play the deck normally. The major advantage to this deck is that if I don't need or can't use a card I cycle it for a new one. Also Feast or Famine is nice removal if I run into MBC because I can still spit out an instant speed blocker. The sideboard's Funeral Charms and Lingering Deaths and Unburdens are to help deal with MBC and the Evincar's Justices deal with Empty the Warrens decks.
Like I said, I've been very successful. This is probably because I have cards you don't, but also because you don't build a deck AROUND Exhume. Instead you put Exhume into a deck in which it will shine if you have it.
Nice report once again! Out of interest, you didn't mention considering Shatterskull Giant Pack 1 Pick 6? I think that's what I would have taken, but then I have an aversion to non-red picks in zendikar..
Good article Alex. About Exhume, I remember you playing around with the idea of reanimator in Pauper, a while ago, due to this card's release in MTGO. At the time I replied that as much as I'd like to play reanimator, I didn't think we had any busted creatures to cheat into play in pauper, but now..
Enter the two common Eldrazi! Could these creatures alone make an Exhume-based reanimator deck playable in pauper? I for one an very keen to try this. What are your thoughts?
I'm against people playing more than one event at once. I think it's rude to make me wait two minutes for you to hit ok in your upkeep. Plus, I can't concentrate on two games at once, so I'm insanely jealous of people who can, and even more so when those people beat me. I just heard something on npr about research on multitasking... they said human brains aren't really built for it. So for those people playing in simultaneous events -- it will catch up to you. And I hope I'm the one who beats you when it does.
we tried an anything goes event, and to be honest it sucked...imo unless you retrict the crap out of the event all its going to be is spikes doing whatever they can to win. If I felt like playing games like that I would just go join real tourney's and netdeck like everyone else
I spent over a month denying Scryb Sprites. I didn't really consider them because they were too wimpy. And I would never claim they don't have down sides
But I'm telling you, they're necessary. They turn on bloodthirst, they ignore the ground game (which stompy rarely wins), they avoid martyr of ashes, seismic shudder, and krak-clan shaman
I just made a long write up on pdcmagic.com but trust me, without scryb sprites you lose more games to goblins, affinity, slivers, r/g beats and anything midrange really.
I am not really a fan of Scryb Sprites either, but they're key in this deck. (as is Silhana Ledgewalker btw)
Also being able to take on flyers is pretty important as well.
I've always disliked Lord of Tresserhorn but it is cool to see a deck created to take advantage of his weaknesses. Commander does seem particularly suited for odd decks like this. :)
Honestly Id rather have a format where you could bring whatever but it seems like water many players gravitate to the flow with the least resistance. You can't expect everyone to be innovative or original but a little creativity goes a long way. I am a bit annoyed that it is so hard to test for this without encountering 40x elves, 15 goblins, assorted Zombie Bidding decks and just the usual counter slivers etc. I did see one angels deck yesterday but then the same guy came back with elves "druids". I wasn't playing with my pauper tribals for those games but still...
i know this has nothing at all to do with the article, but i just gotta say. Having to login or register to make a post? YESSSSS! Thank you for finally implementing this. we may lose some though provoking posts, but at least there will be no more utter garbage from people who feel thay have the freedom to post what ever they want because they could do it anon.
I already had playsets of Tusker and Mongrel and picked up 3 Exhume (so far). I specifically want the Eldrazi commons to build a bad Reanimator for pauper. I figure Tusker or either Eldarazi is going to be better than my opponent's best creature in the graveyard most of the time.
I had one ally in my pile when presented with the first pyromancer, and would still not take it over the Greenweaver Druid on a do-over. Druid was way more important for the deck that was coming together at that point, as evidenced by round one.
The second one immediately after was up against a Tuktuk Grunts, which I think is a much better second ally than pyromancer, but that pick is certainly more debatable than druid vs. pyromancer. Frankly, I wasn't all that happy with the tuktuk pick, and I would have been slightly less happy with the pyromancer pick.
Given the multiple Oran-Rief Survivalists that went around in pack 1, plus a late Tuktuk Grunts, I would have considered taking the Pyromancers picks 2 and 3 in pack two. Given that they were passed, when I looked at that scouted deck with red/white allies, I figured he'd gotten at least one if not both.
Dying in two games to a double-pyromancer draw is just ironic (and unlikely), though. I did draft red/green allies in my first ever ZZZ draft, in paper, and ended up 2-1 with the deck. I think even if you just get a burn for 1 then a burn for 2 out of one and nothing else, you're getting some nice value there - and the blowout potential is nice.
I agree the Geyser Glider is much better for signaling purposes, and I like the white/red archetype in ZZW better than white/green. Geyser Glider is a decently strong card, though he doesn't fit with the classic white/red plan of loading up with tiny creatures and doing a quick aggro rush. He could still be an evasive finisher in that style of deck, mopping up if the initial quick rush doesn't get the whole job done.
All that said, I just think the power level of the Baloth is way higher than any other card in that pack. He can end games decisively and quickly, especially if you pick up a couple Harrow or even Khalni Heart Expedition, giving you the potential to swing with a 12/12 or even a 16/16 trampler.
The gamble of getting cut out of green in pack 2 reduces his value some. But if green were flowing from the right, we could see a decent amount of green in packs 1 and 3, probably getting enough playables in conjunction with our other color. Also the green passed isn't so bombish it would keep people from switching out of it, if the green stopped flowing their way after pack 2.
Also pack 1 I would strongly suspect the two people to my immediate left grab Nighthawk and Hideous End, and then one of them picks the Vampire Lacerator pick 2, so probably the green drafters are further around the table anyway & I might get some decent pick 2 and pick 3 cards in the secound round. Looking at the actual draft, I see decent round two options in picks 2 through 5, including a River Boa and a Harrow. Probably the green drafters were halfway around the table, which is fine.
Of course the green dried up pretty quick in pack 1, which is why I ended up blue/white. Most likely there were one or two people closer to my right grabbing green. Pack 3 didn't show me a lot of strong green.
I'm gonna build me that skyfisher gobbo's deck, it looks like a lot of fun (which I know is a bad word;)
Thanks for the comments guys. Shard it looks like you're decision will be the deciding vote.
I feel you may be practicing in the wrong format, Tribal is a waste of time. I would recommend playing in the pauper que, it gives an even playing field in relation to power levels.
Is currently held by Wasteland. Fact or Fiction topped off at 17 back in the day, and the other big nostalgia card like Eternal Witness and Flametongue Kavu never broke 10.
Orim's Chant still holds the record for rare though, neither LED or FoW has broken 125 yet.
what cards you have access to that we don't online...Invigorate? I would estimate the level of competition you are playing with your Exhume deck is nowhere near the level online, which is the case with most paper vs. online instances. I play both types quite regularly and if the paper format is less than a PTQ the online level of comp blows it out of the water. I have an Exhume deck built online and its average at best, contains many of the cards you listed also. I am going to build you deck and run it a bit, but I don't see it going undefeated by a long shot, the storm combo deck is just to explosive for any deck with no disruption.
Yeah I completely agree. It's obvious when people are in multiple events, when they are tapped out and aren't hitting ok through second main phase. I get that maybe some people out there can do it quickly and not make mistakes as a result of it, but it's not a good idea.
When I play online poker, I play in multiple events, but obviously magic is much harder. And don't tell me your computer is 'slow' when you were blazing through game 1 when the sealed event was in between rounds.
wow that new raredraft replay whatever u call it is very cool, good stuff as always
that's all a matter of opinion, I'm not sure they're is a real answer because I was readin an article a couple weeks ago that said successful multitasking isn't a myth, just that there are a select few who can do it
I love reading your articles and was thrilled to see a new one. In R2G3, when he plays the Stonework Puma and the Pyromancer's ability is still on the stack, couldn't you play the Relic Crush to kill the Puma (and the Nimbus Wings while you're at it) to save your Rover? You were planning on blowing up the Puma and wings anyway next turn.
Surely the Wasteland price is the highest an uncommon has ever reached on MTGO. I know Fact or Fiction had a very high price once, but 24 has got to be the record.
This Price table seem to be the same one from last week.
So I found a link to your last article on PDCmagic.com, so I made an account specifically to comment on it, as I do not often play online (it has been over a year now) but anyway, I play lots of pauper, in the paper format (for various reasons) and I have an exhume deck. It is a very potent one. I have never lost with it. Although I must admit I have access to cards you don't, I am still going to post the decklist here. Also, it fits with this article as it is very fluid, there is almost never a dead card in my hand.
4 Rancor
4 Expunge
4 Penumbra Bobcat
4 Putrid Leech
4 Gnarlid Pack Yay! New additions to help fill out my mana curve!
4 Twisted Abomination
4 Krosan Tusker
4 Feast or Famine
4 Exhume
2 Quicksand
4 Barren Moor
4 Tranquil Thicket
7 Forest
7 Swamp
The Sideboard
2 Funeral Charm
2 Lingering Death
4 Invigorate
4 Unburden
3 Evincar's Justice
The Exhume is actually in there as a incidental win condition. If I have it in my opening hand, I play it, if not I play the deck normally. The major advantage to this deck is that if I don't need or can't use a card I cycle it for a new one. Also Feast or Famine is nice removal if I run into MBC because I can still spit out an instant speed blocker. The sideboard's Funeral Charms and Lingering Deaths and Unburdens are to help deal with MBC and the Evincar's Justices deal with Empty the Warrens decks.
Like I said, I've been very successful. This is probably because I have cards you don't, but also because you don't build a deck AROUND Exhume. Instead you put Exhume into a deck in which it will shine if you have it.
Nice report once again! Out of interest, you didn't mention considering Shatterskull Giant Pack 1 Pick 6? I think that's what I would have taken, but then I have an aversion to non-red picks in zendikar..
Good article Alex. About Exhume, I remember you playing around with the idea of reanimator in Pauper, a while ago, due to this card's release in MTGO. At the time I replied that as much as I'd like to play reanimator, I didn't think we had any busted creatures to cheat into play in pauper, but now..
Enter the two common Eldrazi! Could these creatures alone make an Exhume-based reanimator deck playable in pauper? I for one an very keen to try this. What are your thoughts?
I'm against people playing more than one event at once. I think it's rude to make me wait two minutes for you to hit ok in your upkeep. Plus, I can't concentrate on two games at once, so I'm insanely jealous of people who can, and even more so when those people beat me. I just heard something on npr about research on multitasking... they said human brains aren't really built for it. So for those people playing in simultaneous events -- it will catch up to you. And I hope I'm the one who beats you when it does.
we tried an anything goes event, and to be honest it sucked...imo unless you retrict the crap out of the event all its going to be is spikes doing whatever they can to win. If I felt like playing games like that I would just go join real tourney's and netdeck like everyone else
lol wow, brain fart. dunno how i forgot about those
I spent over a month denying Scryb Sprites. I didn't really consider them because they were too wimpy. And I would never claim they don't have down sides
But I'm telling you, they're necessary. They turn on bloodthirst, they ignore the ground game (which stompy rarely wins), they avoid martyr of ashes, seismic shudder, and krak-clan shaman
I just made a long write up on pdcmagic.com but trust me, without scryb sprites you lose more games to goblins, affinity, slivers, r/g beats and anything midrange really.
I am not really a fan of Scryb Sprites either, but they're key in this deck. (as is Silhana Ledgewalker btw)
Also being able to take on flyers is pretty important as well.
I've always disliked Lord of Tresserhorn but it is cool to see a deck created to take advantage of his weaknesses. Commander does seem particularly suited for odd decks like this. :)
Honestly Id rather have a format where you could bring whatever but it seems like water many players gravitate to the flow with the least resistance. You can't expect everyone to be innovative or original but a little creativity goes a long way. I am a bit annoyed that it is so hard to test for this without encountering 40x elves, 15 goblins, assorted Zombie Bidding decks and just the usual counter slivers etc. I did see one angels deck yesterday but then the same guy came back with elves "druids". I wasn't playing with my pauper tribals for those games but still...