Show her Time Spiral or Alara for the encore article. Not only is modern Magic art (post-Urza's) wayyyy better, but those sets are both free of jewelry themed artifacts.
Hint: she likes emeralds. (Now I'm the one being facetious.)
I do see your point and I too mull hands with more than 3 lands , where I was trying to get was that sometimes during a game as happened to me that I do draw lots of lands and sometimes Firebolt just helps you.As you can see in the video vs Affinity , it happens , not always but times enough that Im happy with it. Thunderbolt is a very good card , I just dont like to have extra "incinerates" since its probably a turn that I lose
I'm a long time pauper burn player. I've only played it in two 8-man queues, and only once did I win a pack, but I've played it a lot in the practice room. And my experience is that Shard Volley and Fireblast are keepers, and I never see 5 land. If I see 5 land, I should've mulled that hand. I keep 1 or 2. I'll keep 3 rather than go down 6 only because the ideal 6 card hand would be 2 lands + 4 burn anyway. But if any of those 4 burn spells are Volley/Fireblast, or I see 4 lands, then that hand is gone.
Of course, mulling with this deck and winning is that much harder. But keeping a bad hand is an auto-loss, so I go for it.
Where was I going with this. Oh yeah. So spending 5-mana on 2 damage is rough. If it's good against blue, sideboard it. My goal is to spend 1.5 mana and 1 card in hard per 3 damage. Lava Spike is fantastic. Incinerate barely makes the cut, though Spark Elemental and the Fanatic are conditional. That said, I do play Thunderbolt over Firebolt solely because I know I won't hit 5 lands.
Good article, with some good analysis. I would have liked to keep reading about some other decks, but you can't get everything you wish for. Getting excited for the PE.
Ive actually started out in Pauper by playing with MUC because I felt it was the best deck. Nowadays I believe I got that stigma out of being a above average player and not being afraid of playing with burn. MUC right now just feels wrong to me since I dont believe it can win vs a decent sliver / storm / burn player and even vs Rats it has a dificult time. But since I didnt play with the deck recently I cant say that for sure and I dont know how the list has evolved recently. Ive seen some odd card choices in queues like running Trinket Mage for bonesplitter or tangleboom vs Burn.
Im actually still trying to play the PE because Im qualified for the RGD but as all magic players around the world I would like to play in a pre release.
The right mono-blue list is very strong and it does require a familiarity with the deck to know what to counter.
You might not feel you face COP or Prismatic Strands enough to warrant a sideboard option, but I have a different take on sideboards than most people. Even if I am 96% sure I will not face Storm, I will always have sideboard cards devoted to the deck because I know I only have to face it one time to ruin a tournament. If the deck has good match-ups against most of the field, a lot of times you might not even need to sideboard. But if there is one card that can wreck your deck on its own, then I feel I should have a sideboard card for it.
Also, I have a feeling we will see more Storm and Slivers in the PE than currently show up in the queues. Just a hunch.
Flaring Pain absolutely destroys COP and Strands. Sure, you might not face them much, but a sliver player probably only needs to hit Strands once to end the game in his or her favor. Not only does Flaring Pain trump all the cards that can wreck you, but you can use it a second time, for a cheaper price...If they counter it, no problem.
Don't worry about the grammar/language, I'm an editor by trade, so I just happen to notice things and I like to help people improve. I love this site, so I want it to be the best it can be. I can see you have an interest in writing, so don't stop!
Hey, that's right. It hadn't occurred to me that the PE was on the day of the Superbowl. Boo on Wizards. And a Conflux pre-release? Oh come on! I suppose Wizards will look at the low turnout (if) and use that as an excuse to make pauper PEs less frequent than other PEs or something.
I like how you expressed the popularity as a range instead of a single percentage and how you showed that certain decks might vanish one week and reappear the next. But if I average your numbers:
18% burn
15% storm combo
15% rogue
14% MBC
12% affinty
10% established decks
8% MUC
8% GW slivers
...wow!
Normally a healthy meta is 4 decks or something. So I guess we can play anything that meets your three rules? The three most popular decks seem to be burn, storm, and "Efficient commons."
Ive added Flaring Pain to the decklist and Ill give it a spin to see how it works. I actually see how powerful it can be but Im a little restrained because I feel like its a card that you can only use against 1 or 2 cards of the field ( Correct me If Im wrong but I can only think of CoP and Prismatic Strands) and I feel like actually wasting slots in the side. But of course scooping to CoP its not that nice. Ive been playing something like 5 or 6 Pauper queues per day and I didnt feel that Slivers or Storm are as much played as the decks I analysed the matchups against but again its not that I dont face them , I just dont feel that I face them enough. Its hard to see MUC this days but just the other day I faced 2 straight ones piloted by 1900+ players so sometimes i dont know if I have the correct take on the format.
I too agree on the editing part. It was my first article for the site and I tryied my best and since im planning on keep writing Ill try to Improve next time.
I've been following your series for a while now. In the beginning, they were messy and difficult to read. I kept coming back to check the economy, and little else (side note: when world economy falters, MTGO gets healthy?). Now, I look forward to them. You've made great strides with the layout and how you present information.
That said, I noticed the past 2 weeks or so, you've been showing off a few cards that have gained dramatically in price over a long period of time, like Lightning Bolt and Rite of Flame. This is interesting and useful information.
But, I'm thinking, what about the opposite? What about cards that been knocked from their pedestal? Old standard threats? Cards that used to be expensive but have fallen off the radar? I'm always looking to score good cards on the cheap, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
I was surprised to see some of the comments on this article, seeing as I'm the lady-friend who picked the cards and obviously a woman. All my friends I showed the article to didn't have a problem with it at all, didn't think it was sexist or that it was speaking for all women in any way. I guess I can see that some people just wouldn't like the content of the article, but as a person who does not play or know anything about Magic at all, these are the only types of articles I would ever want to read. I guess you could say it would be a good way to get a more diverse readership.
Nice article and some good analysis. I tend to disagree about the level of the red decks, but if you're having success with the deck, then perhaps I am off. I think Storm and Slivers are a bigger part of the metagame, as well.
I agree about Flaring Pain. As a non-red player, Flaring Pain is the card I hate the most.
I would work a little bit on editing the article before you submit, just to make it a bit more readable, but overall I liked reading the article and its analysis. Good work.
i had no intent to bash i was just saying that i guess it was lost on me. im sorry if i offended wasent my intent. just wanted to say that iliked the style just wassent in to the content.
About the Seal of Fire vs Firebolt and the Flashback cost with Fireblast and Shard Volley, my opinion is that Firebolt in this deck bring more than Seal of Fire and sacrifice cards don't clash with it.
Like we see in this videos Fireblast and Shard Volley are mostly used as the killer shot and that is the use i see for Flashbacked Firebolt, when you got bad draws and instead of burn you draw lands you can give the last shot with Firebolt. Most of the time you will not use it, but in teory it can make the diference.
Its actually true what you said about Firebolt with Fireblast + Volley but its also true that those games with 5 lands actually happen. Its a pain when they do but since the alternative its playing a 2 mana Thunderbolt or a non reusable Seal I do prefer the Firebolt.About Flaring Pain Its worth considering but the feeling ive been having with the deck and meta is that CoP Red is not that much around. Flaring Pain can also help you vs Prismatic Strands but im still unsure wether is worth 3 or 4 Slots in the Sideboard. The Card in the side I would consider taking out/ changing the numbers would be Electrostatic bolt or maybe Pyroblast
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment! Its a shame you won't make it on Sunday - some poor timing with the Conflux paper prerelease & the Superbowl.
Hopefully the community will be able to compile some good information from the PE. I'm not certain whether replays are available for PEs, would be nice to have 'em for the top 8 so we can get an accurate breakdown.
I enjoyed reading about your perspective as a new Pauper and a player of Burn. Its also nice to see the thought that you put in considering the metagame breakdown. I didn't watch the videos but they're a nice touch, I'm sure some will enjoy them.
I was confused initially because the list you posted is not what you're playing. It took me some back-and-forth between your comments and the list to figure things out. I'll also offer that Firebolt is a great card, but doesn't seem to fit here. With Rift Bolt and Fireblast the deck is going to have a rough time ramping up to 5 lands.
Lastly, please put Flaring Pain in your sideboard and stop your thoughts on scooping to COP: Red. :-)
I'm excited about listening once it's polished a bit. Please stop breathing into the mic tho, it's gross.
Show her Time Spiral or Alara for the encore article. Not only is modern Magic art (post-Urza's) wayyyy better, but those sets are both free of jewelry themed artifacts.
Hint: she likes emeralds. (Now I'm the one being facetious.)
I do see your point and I too mull hands with more than 3 lands , where I was trying to get was that sometimes during a game as happened to me that I do draw lots of lands and sometimes Firebolt just helps you.As you can see in the video vs Affinity , it happens , not always but times enough that Im happy with it. Thunderbolt is a very good card , I just dont like to have extra "incinerates" since its probably a turn that I lose
I'm a long time pauper burn player. I've only played it in two 8-man queues, and only once did I win a pack, but I've played it a lot in the practice room. And my experience is that Shard Volley and Fireblast are keepers, and I never see 5 land. If I see 5 land, I should've mulled that hand. I keep 1 or 2. I'll keep 3 rather than go down 6 only because the ideal 6 card hand would be 2 lands + 4 burn anyway. But if any of those 4 burn spells are Volley/Fireblast, or I see 4 lands, then that hand is gone.
Of course, mulling with this deck and winning is that much harder. But keeping a bad hand is an auto-loss, so I go for it.
Where was I going with this. Oh yeah. So spending 5-mana on 2 damage is rough. If it's good against blue, sideboard it. My goal is to spend 1.5 mana and 1 card in hard per 3 damage. Lava Spike is fantastic. Incinerate barely makes the cut, though Spark Elemental and the Fanatic are conditional. That said, I do play Thunderbolt over Firebolt solely because I know I won't hit 5 lands.
Good article, with some good analysis. I would have liked to keep reading about some other decks, but you can't get everything you wish for. Getting excited for the PE.
Ive actually started out in Pauper by playing with MUC because I felt it was the best deck. Nowadays I believe I got that stigma out of being a above average player and not being afraid of playing with burn. MUC right now just feels wrong to me since I dont believe it can win vs a decent sliver / storm / burn player and even vs Rats it has a dificult time. But since I didnt play with the deck recently I cant say that for sure and I dont know how the list has evolved recently. Ive seen some odd card choices in queues like running Trinket Mage for bonesplitter or tangleboom vs Burn.
Im actually still trying to play the PE because Im qualified for the RGD but as all magic players around the world I would like to play in a pre release.
The right mono-blue list is very strong and it does require a familiarity with the deck to know what to counter.
You might not feel you face COP or Prismatic Strands enough to warrant a sideboard option, but I have a different take on sideboards than most people. Even if I am 96% sure I will not face Storm, I will always have sideboard cards devoted to the deck because I know I only have to face it one time to ruin a tournament. If the deck has good match-ups against most of the field, a lot of times you might not even need to sideboard. But if there is one card that can wreck your deck on its own, then I feel I should have a sideboard card for it.
Also, I have a feeling we will see more Storm and Slivers in the PE than currently show up in the queues. Just a hunch.
Flaring Pain absolutely destroys COP and Strands. Sure, you might not face them much, but a sliver player probably only needs to hit Strands once to end the game in his or her favor. Not only does Flaring Pain trump all the cards that can wreck you, but you can use it a second time, for a cheaper price...If they counter it, no problem.
Don't worry about the grammar/language, I'm an editor by trade, so I just happen to notice things and I like to help people improve. I love this site, so I want it to be the best it can be. I can see you have an interest in writing, so don't stop!
Hey, that's right. It hadn't occurred to me that the PE was on the day of the Superbowl. Boo on Wizards. And a Conflux pre-release? Oh come on! I suppose Wizards will look at the low turnout (if) and use that as an excuse to make pauper PEs less frequent than other PEs or something.
I like how you expressed the popularity as a range instead of a single percentage and how you showed that certain decks might vanish one week and reappear the next. But if I average your numbers:
18% burn
15% storm combo
15% rogue
14% MBC
12% affinty
10% established decks
8% MUC
8% GW slivers
...wow!
Normally a healthy meta is 4 decks or something. So I guess we can play anything that meets your three rules? The three most popular decks seem to be burn, storm, and "Efficient commons."
Just re-readed the comment, please dont notice all the "I feel" , its 3.35 am here at Lisbon and my English gets a little sloppy.
Ive added Flaring Pain to the decklist and Ill give it a spin to see how it works. I actually see how powerful it can be but Im a little restrained because I feel like its a card that you can only use against 1 or 2 cards of the field ( Correct me If Im wrong but I can only think of CoP and Prismatic Strands) and I feel like actually wasting slots in the side. But of course scooping to CoP its not that nice. Ive been playing something like 5 or 6 Pauper queues per day and I didnt feel that Slivers or Storm are as much played as the decks I analysed the matchups against but again its not that I dont face them , I just dont feel that I face them enough. Its hard to see MUC this days but just the other day I faced 2 straight ones piloted by 1900+ players so sometimes i dont know if I have the correct take on the format.
I too agree on the editing part. It was my first article for the site and I tryied my best and since im planning on keep writing Ill try to Improve next time.
I've been following your series for a while now. In the beginning, they were messy and difficult to read. I kept coming back to check the economy, and little else (side note: when world economy falters, MTGO gets healthy?). Now, I look forward to them. You've made great strides with the layout and how you present information.
That said, I noticed the past 2 weeks or so, you've been showing off a few cards that have gained dramatically in price over a long period of time, like Lightning Bolt and Rite of Flame. This is interesting and useful information.
But, I'm thinking, what about the opposite? What about cards that been knocked from their pedestal? Old standard threats? Cards that used to be expensive but have fallen off the radar? I'm always looking to score good cards on the cheap, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.
I was surprised to see some of the comments on this article, seeing as I'm the lady-friend who picked the cards and obviously a woman. All my friends I showed the article to didn't have a problem with it at all, didn't think it was sexist or that it was speaking for all women in any way. I guess I can see that some people just wouldn't like the content of the article, but as a person who does not play or know anything about Magic at all, these are the only types of articles I would ever want to read. I guess you could say it would be a good way to get a more diverse readership.
Great article!
PS-Tradewind Riders???
Nice article and some good analysis. I tend to disagree about the level of the red decks, but if you're having success with the deck, then perhaps I am off. I think Storm and Slivers are a bigger part of the metagame, as well.
I agree about Flaring Pain. As a non-red player, Flaring Pain is the card I hate the most.
I would work a little bit on editing the article before you submit, just to make it a bit more readable, but overall I liked reading the article and its analysis. Good work.
No worries, at all. I know all articles won't be for every reader, just wanted to make sure my intents with the article were clear.
modo mumblings
i had no intent to bash i was just saying that i guess it was lost on me. im sorry if i offended wasent my intent. just wanted to say that iliked the style just wassent in to the content.
Nice Article.
About the Seal of Fire vs Firebolt and the Flashback cost with Fireblast and Shard Volley, my opinion is that Firebolt in this deck bring more than Seal of Fire and sacrifice cards don't clash with it.
Like we see in this videos Fireblast and Shard Volley are mostly used as the killer shot and that is the use i see for Flashbacked Firebolt, when you got bad draws and instead of burn you draw lands you can give the last shot with Firebolt. Most of the time you will not use it, but in teory it can make the diference.
Thank you for your reply Giraffe
Its actually true what you said about Firebolt with Fireblast + Volley but its also true that those games with 5 lands actually happen. Its a pain when they do but since the alternative its playing a 2 mana Thunderbolt or a non reusable Seal I do prefer the Firebolt.About Flaring Pain Its worth considering but the feeling ive been having with the deck and meta is that CoP Red is not that much around. Flaring Pain can also help you vs Prismatic Strands but im still unsure wether is worth 3 or 4 Slots in the Sideboard. The Card in the side I would consider taking out/ changing the numbers would be Electrostatic bolt or maybe Pyroblast
Well thank you , it was actually a Glitch since when I tried to copy the table in order to have it look nice I didnt put my deck but here is the list;
4 Keldon Marauders
4 Mogg Fanatic
4 Spark Elemental
4 Fireblast
4 Firebolt
4 Shard Volley
4 Lava Spike
4 Incinerate
4 Lighting Bolt
4 Rift Bolt
19 Mountains
1 Forgotten Cave
Sideboard:
4 Electrostatic Bolt
4 Smash to Smithereens
4 Martyr of Ashes
3 Pyroblast
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment! Its a shame you won't make it on Sunday - some poor timing with the Conflux paper prerelease & the Superbowl.
Hopefully the community will be able to compile some good information from the PE. I'm not certain whether replays are available for PEs, would be nice to have 'em for the top 8 so we can get an accurate breakdown.
I meant Shard Volley, not Rift Bolt. I'm not sure why I always transpose those two! ;-)
I enjoyed reading about your perspective as a new Pauper and a player of Burn. Its also nice to see the thought that you put in considering the metagame breakdown. I didn't watch the videos but they're a nice touch, I'm sure some will enjoy them.
I was confused initially because the list you posted is not what you're playing. It took me some back-and-forth between your comments and the list to figure things out. I'll also offer that Firebolt is a great card, but doesn't seem to fit here. With Rift Bolt and Fireblast the deck is going to have a rough time ramping up to 5 lands.
Lastly, please put Flaring Pain in your sideboard and stop your thoughts on scooping to COP: Red. :-)
umm I believe you posted the wrong list at the top.
Sorry it wasn't for you, thanks for the anonymous read.