I decided to try out this WB tokens list. While at first I thought the glorius athems didn't make any sense, after playing the list, they are fantastic, and they should not be cut. Even if they have esper charm, you have both bitterblossom and glorious anthem, and thus eventually your enchantments will stick, and when either sticks they are both pheomenal. I can't tell you how many times I have hidden one underneath a windbrisk heights and swung in for a ton, messing with combat math. It is very good in this deck.
If you do not cut the glorious anthem, then you cannot afford to play unmake due to curve issues. I do like your thinking on figure of destiny, although unfortunately i will not be adding him cause I don't feel like spending 105 tix to do so :).
Brainstorm has been around in PDC since Coldsnap came online almost two years ago. It is barely played in top flight decks including the reigning top combo deck.
In other words, I do not feel as if it will be banned any time soon, if at all.
Evidently I need to explain the commentary and what I dusted off.
The original (and the updates) were written 95% about community issues, not V3/V2.
Because let's face it... V3 is still pretty much craptacular. The look is better, there are a couple new features, but really that's about it. It's still really bad in most aspects and not much has changed in that regard since launch.
The commentary isn't saying that V3 is fine, or even that V3 is getting much better. It's saying that the interaction with the community has improved greatly.
The bugs mentioned were bad, yep. But they aren't any worse than the bugs we had pre-V3, and the number that do make it out seem to be lower than before. And when they DO get out they actually tell us about them (via a couple different avenues). Obvioulsy it's better if they never happen, but I'm glad that they're at least telling us about them when they do happen now.
But I don't think anyone will argue about the status of V3 = bad.
The reason the 'anger' died down on the boards is many people, myself included, left the game. Since I love magic, I've gotten in the habit of reading your updates and checking the MOTL boards three times a month. If they ever fix MTGO, I'll be there soon.
Redemption has been off from April 2008-present. Eight months, about.
And Hammy, I've seen more angst about v3 bugs than anything going on in v2. During Shadowmoor it was a common that ruined games (Elsewhere Flask not changing land types). Let's keep going. A popular draft uncommon pick (Skeletonize) auto-crashing the game during the Alara release? Banding not displaying attackers properly during MED2 release (still not fixed)? Profane Command not working during the last standard season? And Tarmogofy/Sutured Ghoul still doesn't work (AFAIK)... I mean these are highly visible bugs in a flagship product, and the AREN'T fixed for weeks and months.
Is it a suprise people like me have quit the game?
All i hear you saying here is that things have gotten better point by point but from where i'm sitting the thing _I_ care about - playing mtgo - haven't changed one tiny bit. It is still as lousy as ever. Cards are released with simple bugs and the program itself is still littered with the same annoyances it had months and months and months ago. As if not enough new errors appears too. Recently games have been starting to get canceled a lot. Every day that goes by the feeling that v3 is the biggest let down in gaming that i've experienced since 1984 gets even more cemented. Nothing short of a v4 announcement will make me think something good is being done behind the scene. If that happens i can only hope the jokes me and some pals had about how mtgo v4 will need you to type in cardnames to play them and how v5 will present stuff in ascii graphics won't come true. Since v3 I can't be sure anymore.
1. If I read it correctly, there is a subtle indication that in the mid to long-term they want to support PREs with TO tools QUOTE:
AU:How do the MTGO staff feel about Player Run Event's, in general?
MG: They are great! Sanctioned events are what have kept Magic the Gathering strong and growing on the paper side and it is an eventual goal to set up more official systems to allow sanctioned events to be run on Magic Online as well. Current Player Run events are just in the vanguard.
UNQUOTE. Of course Mike may just talk about WotC sanctioned events, but I read that as them intending non-WotC to set up tournaments.
The other thing is just that they keep insisting that 100-singleton is most played. I still think they are basing that upon EDH, and sanctioning 100-singleton instead of 60+15 in the queues still irritates me as I personally would play 60+15 but won't play 100.
I like that Token deck though it's mana base is wrong. Zero reason not to run one Reflecting Pool, lots of reasons to run 2-4. Oh and Puppeteer Clique in the side is so Blocky, its pretty awful in STD. Running Terror over Unmake also seems suspect though curve is already kinda wack.
I think I'd also want at least a Cloudgoat Ranger or two. Have not seen list before but I'd change it a ton:
Land: 4x Windbrisk Heights 4x Caves of Koilos 4x Fetid Heath 4x Reflecting Pool 3x Swamp 6x Plains
Mana base gets both better and worse but B/W aggro decks in STD always are kinda troubled in that regard. Only three lands don't pump Figure which should be fine with 25 as hitting a Heath means that problem goes away. Possible 24 land is the right call but that seems low to me. Profane is the total nuts in this type of deck with fear, zombify, and drain life all being awesome. Might want more than 2 but not sure what else to cut.
Deck is very cool just seemed super loose and I'd much rather play the above list.
I liked this article, especially the part where you anaylze individual cards. We need more articles (perhaps a series) that can teach (new) players how to better assess cards and there places in decks.
Wow. I never realized how many awesome 2 drops there were in standard. And you made the Qasali Ambusher look really good. I thought it was funny when you said "Out: 4x Quirion Dryad" since that was your starting point. It happens.
The Seismic Assault deck looked interesting. I bet it's 40+ lands with just the cards you saw. Since I own the Siesmic Assults (from my Countryside Crusher deck) I should try this out.
I built the deck "Budget Growing Up Angry" and I like it. The R/G strategy is favorite and I already owned some of the burn spells. But getting a late Dryad instead of a late Javelin hurts, though.
Yeah, it's a bummer, but I wouldn't hold your breath for Wizards to print a bunch of new 'free' blue counterspells and card drawing... I think that us Miracle Grow fans are probably going to have to stick to Vintage.
I might try to work on a more aggro-control-oriented Quirion Dryad deck sometime in the future... I'm sure it can be at least casually competitive - maybe with Stoic Angel?
Great article, man. If you keep writing this way, you might even become one of my favorite Magic writers! Just a quick side note:
The major factors that let MiracleGrow decks of past really abuse Quirion Dryad (IMHO were the cheated manabase (10 lands!), insane card selection spells and free spells. The deck really doesn't need/want to get past the 2nd or 3rd land, and can consistently reach that land drop even with a 10-land manabase running Lay of the Land, Sleight of Mind and Brainstorm. After that, you'll almost never draw another land, and if you do they can simply dump them to Foil/Looter. Besides that, Gush REALLY let you cheat your mana. That led to an imense virtual card advantage (as even if you're drawing less cardsthan your opp, you draw no excess lands, just action spells that at the very least will protect/grow your dryad), no mana flood and almost always better topdecks than your opponent had, which I think were the major strengths of the deck. Without the means of cheating the mana base that way and the absence of free spells, I don't think there's a successful way of recreating Miracle grow in the current Ext/Std environment. That also makes me sad, Grow and TurboLand were my favorite decks of that season :(
I'll be covering singleton 100 from now cos it doesn't look like wotc wants to revive 60 card singleton anymore. It's much easier to test and write for a single format I guess.. I'll definitely want to rake in some wins in the 4 man queues in the near future so I'll be testing singleton 100 ideas instead ;p
I signed up just so I could give non anonymous feedback! lol
Thanks for starting to cover S100 specifically and I look forward to more articles. As I've said before I personally think that S60+75 is better but I like to play in the 4-man queues so it's S100 or nothing. You get bonus points for listening and responding to previous feedback. Don't give up on the normal Singleton articles completely though.
I think Peter missed my request for comparing time spent by Berlin's Elves to time spent by Top games.
Fortunately Riki (SCG article) discusses them in detail. A must read for everyone that is interested in the under-discussed logistic problems that Elves presents (and that Riki confirms are very similar to those presented by Top, as I imagined). Even if Elves doesn't get banned for power level* they SHOULD ban something for logistic reasons if they want to be consistent with what happened to the Top.
*something which I agree is borderline (not clear at the moment which side of the line it stands on, but it'scertainly close to the line). I welcome the opportunity to have Worlds data, although I still lean towards "Elves is over the line".
I think mtgo v3 is great. First and last time this quiet majority speaks.
Brainstorm has been around in PDC since Coldsnap came online almost two years ago. It is barely played in top flight decks including the reigning top combo deck.
In other words, I do not feel as if it will be banned any time soon, if at all.
Evidently I need to explain the commentary and what I dusted off.
The original (and the updates) were written 95% about community issues, not V3/V2.
Because let's face it... V3 is still pretty much craptacular. The look is better, there are a couple new features, but really that's about it. It's still really bad in most aspects and not much has changed in that regard since launch.
The commentary isn't saying that V3 is fine, or even that V3 is getting much better. It's saying that the interaction with the community has improved greatly.
The bugs mentioned were bad, yep. But they aren't any worse than the bugs we had pre-V3, and the number that do make it out seem to be lower than before. And when they DO get out they actually tell us about them (via a couple different avenues). Obvioulsy it's better if they never happen, but I'm glad that they're at least telling us about them when they do happen now.
But I don't think anyone will argue about the status of V3 = bad.
The only banned card is Cranial Plating, but in time I wonder if others will be banned like Brainstorm.
The reason the 'anger' died down on the boards is many people, myself included, left the game. Since I love magic, I've gotten in the habit of reading your updates and checking the MOTL boards three times a month. If they ever fix MTGO, I'll be there soon.
Redemption has been off from April 2008-present. Eight months, about.
And Hammy, I've seen more angst about v3 bugs than anything going on in v2. During Shadowmoor it was a common that ruined games (Elsewhere Flask not changing land types). Let's keep going. A popular draft uncommon pick (Skeletonize) auto-crashing the game during the Alara release? Banding not displaying attackers properly during MED2 release (still not fixed)? Profane Command not working during the last standard season? And Tarmogofy/Sutured Ghoul still doesn't work (AFAIK)... I mean these are highly visible bugs in a flagship product, and the AREN'T fixed for weeks and months.
Is it a suprise people like me have quit the game?
All i hear you saying here is that things have gotten better point by point but from where i'm sitting the thing _I_ care about - playing mtgo - haven't changed one tiny bit. It is still as lousy as ever. Cards are released with simple bugs and the program itself is still littered with the same annoyances it had months and months and months ago. As if not enough new errors appears too. Recently games have been starting to get canceled a lot. Every day that goes by the feeling that v3 is the biggest let down in gaming that i've experienced since 1984 gets even more cemented. Nothing short of a v4 announcement will make me think something good is being done behind the scene. If that happens i can only hope the jokes me and some pals had about how mtgo v4 will need you to type in cardnames to play them and how v5 will present stuff in ascii graphics won't come true. Since v3 I can't be sure anymore.
Two things that may go unnoticed:
1. If I read it correctly, there is a subtle indication that in the mid to long-term they want to support PREs with TO tools
QUOTE:
AU:How do the MTGO staff feel about Player Run Event's, in general?
MG: They are great! Sanctioned events are what have kept Magic the Gathering strong and growing on the paper side and it is an eventual goal to set up more official systems to allow sanctioned events to be run on Magic Online as well. Current Player Run events are just in the vanguard.
UNQUOTE. Of course Mike may just talk about WotC sanctioned events, but I read that as them intending non-WotC to set up tournaments.
The other thing is just that they keep insisting that 100-singleton is most played. I still think they are basing that upon EDH, and sanctioning 100-singleton instead of 60+15 in the queues still irritates me as I personally would play 60+15 but won't play 100.
The second "link" at the bottom i.s just text, not a link
Good Interview, his answers were reassuring, hope that the support they seem to want to give actually stays.
Great to see Pauper actually recognised though
You are quickly becoming my favorite deck building writer!
Thanks for the great articles.
I like that Token deck though it's mana base is wrong. Zero reason not to run one Reflecting Pool, lots of reasons to run 2-4. Oh and Puppeteer Clique in the side is so Blocky, its pretty awful in STD. Running Terror over Unmake also seems suspect though curve is already kinda wack.
I think I'd also want at least a Cloudgoat Ranger or two. Have not seen list before but I'd change it a ton:
1cc:
4x Figure of Destiny
3x Thoughtseize
2cc:
4x Bitterblossom
4x Tidehollow Sculler
3cc:
4x Finks
4x Spectral Procession
4x Unmake
4cc:
2x Ajani
2x Elspeth
5cc:
2x Cloudgoat Ranger
xcc:
2x Profane Command
Land:
4x Windbrisk Heights
4x Caves of Koilos
4x Fetid Heath
4x Reflecting Pool
3x Swamp
6x Plains
Mana base gets both better and worse but B/W aggro decks in STD always are kinda troubled in that regard. Only three lands don't pump Figure which should be fine with 25 as hitting a Heath means that problem goes away. Possible 24 land is the right call but that seems low to me. Profane is the total nuts in this type of deck with fear, zombify, and drain life all being awesome. Might want more than 2 but not sure what else to cut.
Deck is very cool just seemed super loose and I'd much rather play the above list.
Thanks for the feedback guys, I will do my best to incorporate these suggestions into future articles.
I liked this article, especially the part where you anaylze individual cards. We need more articles (perhaps a series) that can teach (new) players how to better assess cards and there places in decks.
Great article man. Very well written and with tons of info. Best reading i had in ages:)
Aw man, you've made me start thinking about a decklist already ^^206
Wow. I never realized how many awesome 2 drops there were in standard. And you made the Qasali Ambusher look really good. I thought it was funny when you said "Out: 4x Quirion Dryad" since that was your starting point. It happens.
The Seismic Assault deck looked interesting. I bet it's 40+ lands with just the cards you saw. Since I own the Siesmic Assults (from my Countryside Crusher deck) I should try this out.
I built the deck "Budget Growing Up Angry" and I like it. The R/G strategy is favorite and I already owned some of the burn spells. But getting a late Dryad instead of a late Javelin hurts, though.
Yeah, it's a bummer, but I wouldn't hold your breath for Wizards to print a bunch of new 'free' blue counterspells and card drawing... I think that us Miracle Grow fans are probably going to have to stick to Vintage.
I might try to work on a more aggro-control-oriented Quirion Dryad deck sometime in the future... I'm sure it can be at least casually competitive - maybe with Stoic Angel?
Great article, man. If you keep writing this way, you might even become one of my favorite Magic writers! Just a quick side note:
The major factors that let MiracleGrow decks of past really abuse Quirion Dryad (IMHO were the cheated manabase (10 lands!), insane card selection spells and free spells. The deck really doesn't need/want to get past the 2nd or 3rd land, and can consistently reach that land drop even with a 10-land manabase running Lay of the Land, Sleight of Mind and Brainstorm. After that, you'll almost never draw another land, and if you do they can simply dump them to Foil/Looter. Besides that, Gush REALLY let you cheat your mana. That led to an imense virtual card advantage (as even if you're drawing less cardsthan your opp, you draw no excess lands, just action spells that at the very least will protect/grow your dryad), no mana flood and almost always better topdecks than your opponent had, which I think were the major strengths of the deck. Without the means of cheating the mana base that way and the absence of free spells, I don't think there's a successful way of recreating Miracle grow in the current Ext/Std environment. That also makes me sad, Grow and TurboLand were my favorite decks of that season :(
Thanks for the feedback man, I appreciate it.
I really enjoy reading your articles. Thanks for all of your effort.
wow.. thanks for the support.. =)
I'll be covering singleton 100 from now cos it doesn't look like wotc wants to revive 60 card singleton anymore. It's much easier to test and write for a single format I guess.. I'll definitely want to rake in some wins in the 4 man queues in the near future so I'll be testing singleton 100 ideas instead ;p
I signed up just so I could give non anonymous feedback! lol
Thanks for starting to cover S100 specifically and I look forward to more articles. As I've said before I personally think that S60+75 is better but I like to play in the 4-man queues so it's S100 or nothing. You get bonus points for listening and responding to previous feedback. Don't give up on the normal Singleton articles completely though.
I think Peter missed my request for comparing time spent by Berlin's Elves to time spent by Top games.
Fortunately Riki (SCG article) discusses them in detail. A must read for everyone that is interested in the under-discussed logistic problems that Elves presents (and that Riki confirms are very similar to those presented by Top, as I imagined). Even if Elves doesn't get banned for power level* they SHOULD ban something for logistic reasons if they want to be consistent with what happened to the Top.
*something which I agree is borderline (not clear at the moment which side of the line it stands on, but it'scertainly close to the line). I welcome the opportunity to have Worlds data, although I still lean towards "Elves is over the line".
Oh man, that's my bad - I've only actually played EDH, and for some reason I thought the 40 life carried over..