I would even argue that it might mean competitive. But not in a formal rules oriented sense but that people still play to win. Perhaps not cut throat but definitely not with just vanilla bad creature cards.
I don't think its the cards that decide whether a game is casual or not but the players. In my humble opinion, in the context of playing a crappy (because of its hard to fix manabase) combo, it is ok to play with good cards to offset some of the inherent weaknesses. If you don't like it don't play against it. I think this argument will never resolve itself as there will be people who think every efficient or effective card is automagically not casual. I mean is lightning bolt more casual than cryptic command? I don't think so. Cryptic Command isn't as widely available because bolt was reprinted as a common in m10 and it costs 10x as much (or more) but it is just a card. It is the player who determines how it is played. In the right hands bad cards are broken. In the wrong hands good cards are merely equalizers at best.
The point of the commentary on the first video and the reason for its inclusion was that it illustrates an interesting phenomenon.
The correct stack should have been: Chittering Rats, ok. I am playing around Tendrils of Corruption and should just place the first of the two Lightning Bolts on the top of my deck and be content to draw it on the next turn. My opponent then has to decide if they want to play around Fireblast or not.
However my misplay of casting Lightning Bolt in response to the Chittering Rats was washed over by my opponent's misplay with the Tendrils.
However your victory in the first MBC video seems to be solely the result of a misplay on your opponent's part at ~6:15. Had he waited until you either a) cast the second spell in your hand, or b) let the Chittering Rats resolve pushing your only card off the table, he could have then guaranteed his Tendrils for 8 life on his own creature, leaving him at 6 life to your 8 with a 2/2 on the board and 5 cards in hand. Nothing you could have possibly had in hand would make him not waiting to Tendrils a positive odds move.
I'm not fully sold on your pure burn deck. Even after the rule changes, I very much like Mogg Fanatic. Three reasons:
a) Fanatic can frequently get in 2-3 damage before being neutralized;
b) It can prevent one attacker's damage for a turn, hopefully buying you a bit of extra time. I play 20 lands in my version of RDW, and everything in the deck swings for at least 3, making an extra turn worth an estimated two damage. So an optimistic two extra damage plus the guaranteed one of sacrificing the Fanatic gets me to my goal of three damage per non-land.
c) Fanatic also works nicely with needle drop. E.g., Needle Drop, Lightning Bolt, then Sac Mogg on threatening 2 toughness creature.
The question of what fills those final four direct damage slots (I use Volcanic Hammer, but would love the pricey Thunder Bolt) is thankfully being resolved by Chain Lightning.
Finally, I love the idea of Drooling Ogre in a Goblin deck, but would take the more cautious approach and sideboard it. It's a great card when it works, but just disastrous otherwise. I guess cards like Bonesplitter, land affinity Golems, Strix, etc are just more common in the metagame I'm seeing, even setting aside Cogs and Affinity, and making them all into mini-Vedalken Shackles is just asking to shave 10% off your win percentage. Spark Elemental, on the other hand, can lead to some monstrous swings on turn 3-4 and while not spectacular, won't cost you the match. Mogg War Marshall might also slot in nicely as it activates all your other goblins, blocks for free for a turn, and gives you two tokens to activate a Flunky/Jackal. I'd replace the land destruction as well... you need as many creatures as possible to activate your attackers.
i first played magic when my older brother brought a couple decks home and promptly proceeded to whoop me while pretending to "tech" me how to play. he beat me so bad I think I almost refused to ever play again, but something about it intrigued me. All I can really remember about those first few games was 1)royal assassin must be the best card EVER 2)Serra Angels were incredibly powerful 3)lord of the pit was brutal. hehe. how things have changed huh?
So I played on and off until mirage came out and then i just completed got out of the game entirely. fast forward wuite a while... about 3 months ago I heard about duel of the planeswalkers for xbox and wanted to see what MTGO was like. Honestly I hated it at first, but now I think i'm hopelessly addicted all over again.
plus I really enjoy the Pauper and Momir formats. All in all i like Magic. There's really not another game that I've found that can match all of the strategy that goes into deck building and playing.
Thought I would comment that for one, the deck should be 40 cards but yes 17 lands is correct. Also, soul warden is a great card. If you're going to pick apart someone's draft, make sure you actually have a clue what you're talking about first. As far as the draft itself, think you undervalue removal way too much... removal should be picked 2nd only to bombs.
I've been playing a "Puca Plans" like deck on and off in the casual room since Shadowmoor came out. Here are some of the ideas I've tried (with varying results)...
2 drop defence - the Blue/Black Blades, festercreep, zombie outlander (I used ravenous rats before M2010). These are important for being able to trade in combat with other dudes early or to trade with the opponents better dudes (literally) later
Disperse - Give them a creature, then take it back. Also useful for bouncing a Colfenor's plan if it doesn't hit the needed mischief. Cryptic command may be better, but I don't have any.
Resounding Wave - Again, makes trading away random things, including the Puca's mischief itself, profitable. late game it can be back breaking. I use 2 as they aren't great early and may be a "win more" late card.
Shriekmaw - Early turn creature kill, mid to late game trade bait.
Flash Creatures and instant kill - Colfenor's Plans is a greta draw spell, but the one spell a turn limit is a pain. Make sure you have instants like Agonizing demise, doomblade, nameless inversion to keep you alive. Also, Wydwen the Biting Gale is a nice flash creature to play off a Plans.
Biting Tether - I've played around with this a bit. Its nice when it works, but sometimes its just too slow. Combos nicely with the bounce.
Borderposts - you should be running borderposts to help fix mana and to trade away mid game for creatures.
Jyhad was definitely designed exclusively for Multiplayer...one on one games were just brutal and not fun. The funny thing is Jyhad helped cement my addiction to tcgs because while I wasn't playing magic I spent a good deal of time playing Jyhad with my SCAdian friends. And of course Rage when that came out and not to mention L5R and Starwars. L5R was a great sealed deck for 2 people but it really was meant for more than that.
I'm not saying it's a good idea for a pure burn deck, but running out of cards is the biggest problem for a burn deck. There are some other drawing, and cycling considerations. Zap, Flare, Solar Blast, and Orcish Cannonade. Chartooth Cougar is a good Mountaincycling card. Last of all why not run Oxidda Golem?
Ice cream is horrible. As a diabetic I am forbidden and haven't had any sweets in years but it still calls my name when I walk by Baskin Robins etal.
I think a good red deck can be quite thought provoking and challenging to play against the better decks in a format. The problems that arise for the game plan (20 to dome before dying or decking) are not easily solved by just throwing Lava spells every turn and praying the op doesn't have life gain and counters. You have to deal with opposing threats (particularly fast Naya creatures, and shrouded creatures) and other game plans that disrupt your plan (discard being a prime suspect.) That is why I dislike Lava Spike even though it does the efficient 3 to the dome. It doesn't double as removal. I am not a fan of Volcanic Hammer either but at least it is multi-use.
Not sure the goblins deck you post is really any good...(land destruction seems randomly added for example, drooling ogre is bad, flunkies seem meh, not a huge fan of jackel outside of sligh which this aint.) Id like to see some games to confirm/dispel these beliefs.
The thing about trix which is what this resembles is that its tricks were all low cmc and had dark rituals to help power them out (Until it was banned in extended). That sounds like crux of your problem with this deck. The inability to stabilize your mana. Maybe sacrificing some removal/combo components for stability is what you need. That is my 2 cents without having built it myself.
Hmm not sure it works out right for land count, but you could add a few fetch lands Esper Panorama, or
Terramorphic Expanse perhaps which also help by thinning and shuffling your library. (Cryptic Command) control decks imo requires at least 24 land, so I'm not sure if adding the fetch lands are a good idea in general for a control deck.
the point of the article was to show that this set is not mana drain, bazaar and 5 dual lands. I mentioned that most of the cards were not going to be usable right off the bat and there are more then a few players that do not follow legacy.
So in essence the point of the article was to illuminate decks that these currently unusable cards will eventually find a home in.
With the exception of the Dream Halls deck, all the lists you provided aren't even playable online. Rishadan Port, Argothian Enchantress/Serra Sanctum, Turnabout are still months away.
I'm not really sure what the point of this article is aside from listing Legacy decklists that aren't playable on MTGO.
"However one of my first matches in the queue presented what I believe to be the most interesting video segment I've featured thus far"
You were up against Belette (if I read the name correctly): he's a very good control player, it would seem strange to me if he didn't put up quite the fight. And, by the way, kudos to you too for beating him. ;)
I always enjoy your articles and videos, keep it up! :)
I would even argue that it might mean competitive. But not in a formal rules oriented sense but that people still play to win. Perhaps not cut throat but definitely not with just vanilla bad creature cards.
i can't understand this comment. casual means "uncompetitve", not drudge drudge skeletons vs grizzly bears all the time
I don't think its the cards that decide whether a game is casual or not but the players. In my humble opinion, in the context of playing a crappy (because of its hard to fix manabase) combo, it is ok to play with good cards to offset some of the inherent weaknesses. If you don't like it don't play against it. I think this argument will never resolve itself as there will be people who think every efficient or effective card is automagically not casual. I mean is lightning bolt more casual than cryptic command? I don't think so. Cryptic Command isn't as widely available because bolt was reprinted as a common in m10 and it costs 10x as much (or more) but it is just a card. It is the player who determines how it is played. In the right hands bad cards are broken. In the wrong hands good cards are merely equalizers at best.
Cryptic/Jace on casual? You gotta be joking. Dont care you youre running Colfenors. Doesnt people even pretend to be casual anymore?
The point of the commentary on the first video and the reason for its inclusion was that it illustrates an interesting phenomenon.
The correct stack should have been: Chittering Rats, ok. I am playing around Tendrils of Corruption and should just place the first of the two Lightning Bolts on the top of my deck and be content to draw it on the next turn. My opponent then has to decide if they want to play around Fireblast or not.
However my misplay of casting Lightning Bolt in response to the Chittering Rats was washed over by my opponent's misplay with the Tendrils.
So basically he should just play goblins?
Nice little write up.
However your victory in the first MBC video seems to be solely the result of a misplay on your opponent's part at ~6:15. Had he waited until you either a) cast the second spell in your hand, or b) let the Chittering Rats resolve pushing your only card off the table, he could have then guaranteed his Tendrils for 8 life on his own creature, leaving him at 6 life to your 8 with a 2/2 on the board and 5 cards in hand. Nothing you could have possibly had in hand would make him not waiting to Tendrils a positive odds move.
I'm not fully sold on your pure burn deck. Even after the rule changes, I very much like Mogg Fanatic. Three reasons:
a) Fanatic can frequently get in 2-3 damage before being neutralized;
b) It can prevent one attacker's damage for a turn, hopefully buying you a bit of extra time. I play 20 lands in my version of RDW, and everything in the deck swings for at least 3, making an extra turn worth an estimated two damage. So an optimistic two extra damage plus the guaranteed one of sacrificing the Fanatic gets me to my goal of three damage per non-land.
c) Fanatic also works nicely with needle drop. E.g., Needle Drop, Lightning Bolt, then Sac Mogg on threatening 2 toughness creature.
The question of what fills those final four direct damage slots (I use Volcanic Hammer, but would love the pricey Thunder Bolt) is thankfully being resolved by Chain Lightning.
Finally, I love the idea of Drooling Ogre in a Goblin deck, but would take the more cautious approach and sideboard it. It's a great card when it works, but just disastrous otherwise. I guess cards like Bonesplitter, land affinity Golems, Strix, etc are just more common in the metagame I'm seeing, even setting aside Cogs and Affinity, and making them all into mini-Vedalken Shackles is just asking to shave 10% off your win percentage. Spark Elemental, on the other hand, can lead to some monstrous swings on turn 3-4 and while not spectacular, won't cost you the match. Mogg War Marshall might also slot in nicely as it activates all your other goblins, blocks for free for a turn, and gives you two tokens to activate a Flunky/Jackal. I'd replace the land destruction as well... you need as many creatures as possible to activate your attackers.
i first played magic when my older brother brought a couple decks home and promptly proceeded to whoop me while pretending to "tech" me how to play. he beat me so bad I think I almost refused to ever play again, but something about it intrigued me. All I can really remember about those first few games was 1)royal assassin must be the best card EVER 2)Serra Angels were incredibly powerful 3)lord of the pit was brutal. hehe. how things have changed huh?
So I played on and off until mirage came out and then i just completed got out of the game entirely. fast forward wuite a while... about 3 months ago I heard about duel of the planeswalkers for xbox and wanted to see what MTGO was like. Honestly I hated it at first, but now I think i'm hopelessly addicted all over again.
plus I really enjoy the Pauper and Momir formats. All in all i like Magic. There's really not another game that I've found that can match all of the strategy that goes into deck building and playing.
Same neighbourly dispatch but there are some nub where I wish not agree. But blanket its completely good.
Thought I would comment that for one, the deck should be 40 cards but yes 17 lands is correct. Also, soul warden is a great card. If you're going to pick apart someone's draft, make sure you actually have a clue what you're talking about first. As far as the draft itself, think you undervalue removal way too much... removal should be picked 2nd only to bombs.
I've been playing a "Puca Plans" like deck on and off in the casual room since Shadowmoor came out. Here are some of the ideas I've tried (with varying results)...
2 drop defence - the Blue/Black Blades, festercreep, zombie outlander (I used ravenous rats before M2010). These are important for being able to trade in combat with other dudes early or to trade with the opponents better dudes (literally) later
Disperse - Give them a creature, then take it back. Also useful for bouncing a Colfenor's plan if it doesn't hit the needed mischief. Cryptic command may be better, but I don't have any.
Resounding Wave - Again, makes trading away random things, including the Puca's mischief itself, profitable. late game it can be back breaking. I use 2 as they aren't great early and may be a "win more" late card.
Shriekmaw - Early turn creature kill, mid to late game trade bait.
Flash Creatures and instant kill - Colfenor's Plans is a greta draw spell, but the one spell a turn limit is a pain. Make sure you have instants like Agonizing demise, doomblade, nameless inversion to keep you alive. Also, Wydwen the Biting Gale is a nice flash creature to play off a Plans.
Biting Tether - I've played around with this a bit. Its nice when it works, but sometimes its just too slow. Combos nicely with the bounce.
Borderposts - you should be running borderposts to help fix mana and to trade away mid game for creatures.
Just some ideas. Your mileage may vary
Jyhad was definitely designed exclusively for Multiplayer...one on one games were just brutal and not fun. The funny thing is Jyhad helped cement my addiction to tcgs because while I wasn't playing magic I spent a good deal of time playing Jyhad with my SCAdian friends. And of course Rage when that came out and not to mention L5R and Starwars. L5R was a great sealed deck for 2 people but it really was meant for more than that.
Scrubland as well eh?
perhaps the time is ripe for a wild mongrel-gush deck? :)
Thanks for the two very useful articles. They certainly helped me as my knowledge of the format is still somewhat limited.
I'm not saying it's a good idea for a pure burn deck, but running out of cards is the biggest problem for a burn deck. There are some other drawing, and cycling considerations. Zap, Flare, Solar Blast, and Orcish Cannonade. Chartooth Cougar is a good Mountaincycling card. Last of all why not run Oxidda Golem?
Well then in that case, anyone want to trade thier online 'Noughts for my paper ones? *SIGH*
Ice cream is horrible. As a diabetic I am forbidden and haven't had any sweets in years but it still calls my name when I walk by Baskin Robins etal.
I think a good red deck can be quite thought provoking and challenging to play against the better decks in a format. The problems that arise for the game plan (20 to dome before dying or decking) are not easily solved by just throwing Lava spells every turn and praying the op doesn't have life gain and counters. You have to deal with opposing threats (particularly fast Naya creatures, and shrouded creatures) and other game plans that disrupt your plan (discard being a prime suspect.) That is why I dislike Lava Spike even though it does the efficient 3 to the dome. It doesn't double as removal. I am not a fan of Volcanic Hammer either but at least it is multi-use.
Not sure the goblins deck you post is really any good...(land destruction seems randomly added for example, drooling ogre is bad, flunkies seem meh, not a huge fan of jackel outside of sligh which this aint.) Id like to see some games to confirm/dispel these beliefs.
The thing about trix which is what this resembles is that its tricks were all low cmc and had dark rituals to help power them out (Until it was banned in extended). That sounds like crux of your problem with this deck. The inability to stabilize your mana. Maybe sacrificing some removal/combo components for stability is what you need. That is my 2 cents without having built it myself.
Hmm not sure it works out right for land count, but you could add a few fetch lands Esper Panorama, or
Terramorphic Expanse perhaps which also help by thinning and shuffling your library. (Cryptic Command) control decks imo requires at least 24 land, so I'm not sure if adding the fetch lands are a good idea in general for a control deck.
the point of the article was to show that this set is not mana drain, bazaar and 5 dual lands. I mentioned that most of the cards were not going to be usable right off the bat and there are more then a few players that do not follow legacy.
So in essence the point of the article was to illuminate decks that these currently unusable cards will eventually find a home in.
LOL Stupid! fling is in stronghold!
With the exception of the Dream Halls deck, all the lists you provided aren't even playable online. Rishadan Port, Argothian Enchantress/Serra Sanctum, Turnabout are still months away.
I'm not really sure what the point of this article is aside from listing Legacy decklists that aren't playable on MTGO.
fling is from stronghold therefore legal.
"However one of my first matches in the queue presented what I believe to be the most interesting video segment I've featured thus far"
You were up against Belette (if I read the name correctly): he's a very good control player, it would seem strange to me if he didn't put up quite the fight. And, by the way, kudos to you too for beating him. ;)
I always enjoy your articles and videos, keep it up! :)