The question isn't whether it is possible but whether it is feasible. I have to draw the line somewhere, otherwise I can't aggregate the data. However, if someone is playing so much crap that I don't understand what is going on, I'm not marking it down. So a turn one Goblin Guide, turn two Sudden Shock, turn three Plated Geopede isn't going to be assigned an archeytpe.
Well, the r/g aggro ones are listed seperately as r/g valakut, so that shouldn't be a problem. I think he's talking about just trying to go through each list individually and going "he's not running condescend, so must be a bad list" or something. I can see the logic behind doing it, but I can't see any way to actually go about doing it, especially as you have to make the assertion that some specific build is suitably different to name a different archetype.
It only occured to me reading the two cards in close succession in yur article, but equipping a maordant dragon with a basilisk collar would be so sweet...
Other than that, I've only just started playing commander (it's a sedris deck, and is literally just a pile of random u/b/r rares i've drafted over the years), so I don't know how EDH ratings would differ from normal constructed. For normal constructed, I personally think stirring wildwood is the best of the cycle, but I am aware that creatures are bigger in EDH, so it might not be as good.
I top 8'ed last sundays PE using a slightly modified version of your second deck. the g/b card advantage deck. My changes were -1 citanul woodreader -1 warren pilferer -4 sakura tribe elder +2 okiba gang shinobi +4 putrid leech main and +1 pilferer -1 okiba gang also -1 swamp +1 forest as in testing it came up more often then needed the swamp for some reason.
I lost only to UW blink. (a deck which I also beat twice) The time I lost was the first time playing vs it and I sideboarded very improperly. I misevaluated the roles and sided out removal, when in this matchup you want to side out your late game drops, side in duress, and be the beatdown.
Sakura tribe elder does nothing, putrid leech does everything. It gives you game vs WW, it lets you be the beatdown. Sakura tribe elder didnt ever do anything impressive for me in testing, getting stuck at 3 mana is hardly a problem as you have rats (of both kinds) and rager to draw you out of it.
I really like the deck, I beat storm the 2 time I played it thanks to nourish and rats+okiba gang.
is it possible to elminate let's say weaker built scapeshift decks from the data.
I mean if i'm not running curio in my elf deck and just go for coat of arms, win a few matches and get included for my 8th place finish... then that's not really the data i'm looking for.
The fact is that Dark Depths has a ton of tutors to find whatever pieces they are missing. By playing Pithing Needle, they can spend their time searching out the other combo, while Damping Matrix forces them to find the answer with their tutor, and THEN find their combo. Usually, they will not have enough time to do this. While Pithing Needle is an ok card, I think that it being vulnerable to Engineered Explosives is relevant, where Damping Matrix is obviously not.
I have also found that with Pithing Needle, if you are planning to cast it on turn 1, you will often name the wrong combo piece, and they will just beat you with the other one.
Pithing Needle also shuts down both parts of the combo in Dark Depths -- name either Hexmage or Foundry. And it costs two less mana than Damping Matrix. Just sayin.
To be more precise, sacrifice in this case is a cost which means it must be paid. Also It supersedes regeneration, indestructibility, protection and shroud. (You never are targeting things you sacrifice.) This is what makes Diabolic Edict such a good card for example.
The promo foil Treetop Village-Swamp bug has NOT been fixed. The Vengeful Rebirth and Soul's Fire bugs were though. Just tested them while listening. Congrats on 50 casts guys! :)
If you say the Kor is good, then I take your word for it.
It's too early to say this or that deck will beat WU Control in Block but I'm sure there will be something equally strong as it is. Hedron Crab is also my first guess.
If all your lands are indestructible and you sacrifice quicksand to use it's ability, how does that affect quicksand? it's still sacrificed correct? i take sacrifice to be different than the word destroy, but i'm not sure.
Great article I definitely agree with some of your insights especially black, I saw that demon and can't wait to get my hands on it so brutal and with a setback that isn't really hard to overcome... 4 for a 6/6 flying trampler is what I like to see... I also hadn't considered the mill deck idea, I really like the list your provided there.. it may not become a competitive level thing, but at the very least from a casual standpoint I love to see something different like that instead of any number of 'fake' teir-1s
When it comes to Stoneforge Mystic I think people really underestimate her because they don't think there are any worthwhile pieces of equipment in standard. I think that's a false assumption. Adventuring Gear is very solid, and with the new Halimar Depths, I can see Explorer's Scope getting some play time as well. Especially when you only need 1 copy that you can search for with the Mystic.
Well, I've been playing White Kor Weenie in block for a couple of weeks now and I haven't lost a match to Vampires. (about 10 matches) I can't see the match-up changing that much, especially if they are going to switch out Disfigure for Smother.
Brave the Elements, Devout Lightcaster, and equipment is usually more than Vampires can handle. Devout Lightcaster with equipment back-up can certainly outrace the much slower Malakir Bloodwitch.
The main problem that White Kor Weenie has is with White/Blue control. I've won only one out of five matches I've played against White/Blue control, and that match-up is probably only going to get worse with Worldwake.
So, at the moment I'm just trying to find a deck that has a favorable match-up against White/Blue.... About the only thing I've come up with is White/Blue with Archive Trap and Hedron Crab.
Excellent article. Keep up the good work! It will be very interesting to see how the results will shift now that thopter/depths has become such a large part of the metagame in recent weeks. I'm guessing that both of the scapeshift decks as well as some of the other random fringe decks have terrible records against thopter/depths, and thus will post worse results and fall out of favor.
Best flavor text
- "The best expedition would be an entire team of me"
Lol... AGREED! (about the part being the best)
(There won't be that much incremental difference with more of me around =x)
Red did get kicked in the face but in my pre-release sealed I faced down a Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs, and all I can say is wow. If you can't remove him he makes attacking effictivly with agro HARD! Cunning sparkmage is also amazing. Nothing else to be excited about in red, BUT that's why packs 1 and 2 are Zen ^_^;
I think that Stoneforge Mystic will be played in those formats where you can fetch Jitte with her. But as I'm no expert of those formats, I skipped this card. I don't believe the Kor will be played in Standard and I don't believe that they can beat Vampires in Block. And only time will tell if I'm right or wrong.
I totally agree that WU Control is now better in Block. In this article I mentioned all the cards that will make it better other than the manland, but that card belongs to "Lands" and lands belong to next week's Part II.
The only card I really forgot to mention is the Blue Zendikon. It's a great card and deserves a few words but somehow I forgot it.
Black's new removal spells are making them better because Smother and Urge to Feed are better than Disfigure and Feast of Blood. None of those older ones could do anything to the WU manland but Smother will destroy it on sight. Smother will actually destoy all manlands and that's the reason why it's in the set. So yes, Vampires are better than ever because they can now deal with the new threats (and old ones) more efficiently.
The question isn't whether it is possible but whether it is feasible. I have to draw the line somewhere, otherwise I can't aggregate the data. However, if someone is playing so much crap that I don't understand what is going on, I'm not marking it down. So a turn one Goblin Guide, turn two Sudden Shock, turn three Plated Geopede isn't going to be assigned an archeytpe.
Well, the r/g aggro ones are listed seperately as r/g valakut, so that shouldn't be a problem. I think he's talking about just trying to go through each list individually and going "he's not running condescend, so must be a bad list" or something. I can see the logic behind doing it, but I can't see any way to actually go about doing it, especially as you have to make the assertion that some specific build is suitably different to name a different archetype.
It only occured to me reading the two cards in close succession in yur article, but equipping a maordant dragon with a basilisk collar would be so sweet...
Other than that, I've only just started playing commander (it's a sedris deck, and is literally just a pile of random u/b/r rares i've drafted over the years), so I don't know how EDH ratings would differ from normal constructed. For normal constructed, I personally think stirring wildwood is the best of the cycle, but I am aware that creatures are bigger in EDH, so it might not be as good.
I top 8'ed last sundays PE using a slightly modified version of your second deck. the g/b card advantage deck. My changes were -1 citanul woodreader -1 warren pilferer -4 sakura tribe elder +2 okiba gang shinobi +4 putrid leech main and +1 pilferer -1 okiba gang also -1 swamp +1 forest as in testing it came up more often then needed the swamp for some reason.
I lost only to UW blink. (a deck which I also beat twice) The time I lost was the first time playing vs it and I sideboarded very improperly. I misevaluated the roles and sided out removal, when in this matchup you want to side out your late game drops, side in duress, and be the beatdown.
Sakura tribe elder does nothing, putrid leech does everything. It gives you game vs WW, it lets you be the beatdown. Sakura tribe elder didnt ever do anything impressive for me in testing, getting stuck at 3 mana is hardly a problem as you have rats (of both kinds) and rager to draw you out of it.
I really like the deck, I beat storm the 2 time I played it thanks to nourish and rats+okiba gang.
Thanks for the decklist!
-orvn
how would you define the weaker build though? the r/g aggro or the u/r/g combo versions?
this is good shit.
is it possible to elminate let's say weaker built scapeshift decks from the data.
I mean if i'm not running curio in my elf deck and just go for coat of arms, win a few matches and get included for my 8th place finish... then that's not really the data i'm looking for.
Basilisk Collar makes this card pretty ridiculous.
The fact is that Dark Depths has a ton of tutors to find whatever pieces they are missing. By playing Pithing Needle, they can spend their time searching out the other combo, while Damping Matrix forces them to find the answer with their tutor, and THEN find their combo. Usually, they will not have enough time to do this. While Pithing Needle is an ok card, I think that it being vulnerable to Engineered Explosives is relevant, where Damping Matrix is obviously not.
I have also found that with Pithing Needle, if you are planning to cast it on turn 1, you will often name the wrong combo piece, and they will just beat you with the other one.
Pithing Needle also shuts down both parts of the combo in Dark Depths -- name either Hexmage or Foundry. And it costs two less mana than Damping Matrix. Just sayin.
To be more precise, sacrifice in this case is a cost which means it must be paid. Also It supersedes regeneration, indestructibility, protection and shroud. (You never are targeting things you sacrifice.) This is what makes Diabolic Edict such a good card for example.
The promo foil Treetop Village-Swamp bug has NOT been fixed. The Vengeful Rebirth and Soul's Fire bugs were though. Just tested them while listening. Congrats on 50 casts guys! :)
K.
(Meant for post two above me, not directly above.)
It should be said that the metagame shares are very interesting and helpful.
data not standardized, faulty hypothesis, etc.
You're correct, indestructibility does not save sacrificed lands.
If you say the Kor is good, then I take your word for it.
It's too early to say this or that deck will beat WU Control in Block but I'm sure there will be something equally strong as it is. Hedron Crab is also my first guess.
LE
This is from the last couple of weeks.
If all your lands are indestructible and you sacrifice quicksand to use it's ability, how does that affect quicksand? it's still sacrificed correct? i take sacrifice to be different than the word destroy, but i'm not sure.
Great article I definitely agree with some of your insights especially black, I saw that demon and can't wait to get my hands on it so brutal and with a setback that isn't really hard to overcome... 4 for a 6/6 flying trampler is what I like to see... I also hadn't considered the mill deck idea, I really like the list your provided there.. it may not become a competitive level thing, but at the very least from a casual standpoint I love to see something different like that instead of any number of 'fake' teir-1s
When it comes to Stoneforge Mystic I think people really underestimate her because they don't think there are any worthwhile pieces of equipment in standard. I think that's a false assumption. Adventuring Gear is very solid, and with the new Halimar Depths, I can see Explorer's Scope getting some play time as well. Especially when you only need 1 copy that you can search for with the Mystic.
Well, I've been playing White Kor Weenie in block for a couple of weeks now and I haven't lost a match to Vampires. (about 10 matches) I can't see the match-up changing that much, especially if they are going to switch out Disfigure for Smother.
Brave the Elements, Devout Lightcaster, and equipment is usually more than Vampires can handle. Devout Lightcaster with equipment back-up can certainly outrace the much slower Malakir Bloodwitch.
The main problem that White Kor Weenie has is with White/Blue control. I've won only one out of five matches I've played against White/Blue control, and that match-up is probably only going to get worse with Worldwake.
So, at the moment I'm just trying to find a deck that has a favorable match-up against White/Blue.... About the only thing I've come up with is White/Blue with Archive Trap and Hedron Crab.
Excellent article. Keep up the good work! It will be very interesting to see how the results will shift now that thopter/depths has become such a large part of the metagame in recent weeks. I'm guessing that both of the scapeshift decks as well as some of the other random fringe decks have terrible records against thopter/depths, and thus will post worse results and fall out of favor.
Best flavor text
- "The best expedition would be an entire team of me"
Lol... AGREED! (about the part being the best)
(There won't be that much incremental difference with more of me around =x)
Red did get kicked in the face but in my pre-release sealed I faced down a Kazuul, Tyrant of the Cliffs, and all I can say is wow. If you can't remove him he makes attacking effictivly with agro HARD! Cunning sparkmage is also amazing. Nothing else to be excited about in red, BUT that's why packs 1 and 2 are Zen ^_^;
Great article, did you and ollie stomp Marshal?
Thanks for the comment ArchGenius.
I think that Stoneforge Mystic will be played in those formats where you can fetch Jitte with her. But as I'm no expert of those formats, I skipped this card. I don't believe the Kor will be played in Standard and I don't believe that they can beat Vampires in Block. And only time will tell if I'm right or wrong.
I totally agree that WU Control is now better in Block. In this article I mentioned all the cards that will make it better other than the manland, but that card belongs to "Lands" and lands belong to next week's Part II.
The only card I really forgot to mention is the Blue Zendikon. It's a great card and deserves a few words but somehow I forgot it.
Black's new removal spells are making them better because Smother and Urge to Feed are better than Disfigure and Feast of Blood. None of those older ones could do anything to the WU manland but Smother will destroy it on sight. Smother will actually destoy all manlands and that's the reason why it's in the set. So yes, Vampires are better than ever because they can now deal with the new threats (and old ones) more efficiently.
Thanks again for taking time and commenting.
LE