I looked at the link you gave and read each word you wrote and yet I cannot make a connection between the deck of mine and the one you suggested. Your deck has Cancel, Dismal Failure, Draining Whelk, Riftwing Cloudskate, Call of the Herd etc... I mean I play a BGW deck and yours is UG with a black splash for Damnation and Extirpate. What is the connection between those 2 decks? You play counters, I play something totally different. Just so that you have Damnation and Extirpate in your (fantasy) deck doesn't mean that we are playing the same deck. I play Harmonize too and so does MonoGreenAggro, does this means anything???!?? The most important part of my deck is NOT Stupor or Damnation, it is Extirpate/Gargoyle combination and the deck you suggested has no signs of this.
I wrote this http://www.mtgotraders.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=675&highlight= basic deck build last week. The Walls are kool but hell with them Call of herds if really fun and if you loose to a needed Damnation fine. He'll be back. The real meat of your deck is in your stupors, sweepers and extirpate. With so many creatures in your build I can see the 4 Tenebs but I think my UBG would run you. If that like works, have a read and comment how ever you please. But extirpate, not wall of roots...lol...is the win! The addition of Harmanize to my version might be nice. However the control would keep you out of play and the willbenders would send your hand snatch back at you or your extirpate back at your gy. Too bad I dont have either the extirpates or the Damnations cause I would be happy to show you a match or 2 with the build.
Porphyry Nodes was a card I considered while building the deck but then it prevents me playing my own Wall of Roots and so I didn't put it in the deck. Without the sideboard WW is a great threat, it is true. After sideboarding, I add 4x Spike Feeder in and take 4x Stupor out as Stupor is better against control decks and also take 2 Gargoyles out and 2 Arrows comes in. Playtesting showed that if I win against WW, it is always 2-1 and if I lose it is always 0-2. The deck handles Green Aggro but WW is really a big big big problem. Thanks for reading by the way.
You seem to be relying upon wall of roots in the early game to slow down quick aggro decks. However, the one aggro deck you list here that starts quckest is white weenie.
Unless you get Damnation online quickly you may have trouble against WW. I would suggest some Porphyry Nodes, at least in the sideboard. They could slow down aggro much more potently than the Wall of Roots, which truth be told, can't stop either of WW's power creatures you displayed earlier in the article.
You seem to be relying upon wall of roots in the early game to slow down quick aggro decks. However, the one aggro deck you list here that starts quckest is white weenie.
Unless you get Damnation online quickly you may have trouble against WW. I would suggest some Porphyry Nodes, at least in the sideboard. They could slow down aggro much more potently than the Wall of Roots, which truth be told, can't stop either of WW's power creatures you displayed earlier in the article.
Good to hear your comments on the rules of the day.
Based on the meta I see, we are turning into a meta of "best attrition deck" vs. "best anti-attrition deck". The best attrition deck is something like Parlor Tricks, Orzhov Blink, or some hybrid, while the anti-attrition decks are the ones that can win while disrupting those expensive recursive cards and being themselves resilient to discard. I don't see a lot of room for pure beatdown decks with zero disruption, as long as there are Aven Riftwatchers winging around.
I think that fundamentally, PDC is about creature combat. While there are powerful control decks and potent combo decks, most games are decided in the Red Zone. Even control decks have to play a more aggressive game due to the lack of board sweepers, IMO. They play alot more like Angelfire decks, without Wrath and such- beat down slightly, control the game, and burn you out (in the case of the UR deck).
Another good article from the man in charge of PDC games here on PureMTGO. The only comment I will have is that you showed PDC as a format of creature fights only or so I understood. But I don't agree with that. Recently I build a RedBlue control deck which is performing very well. The deck is all about burn, counter, bounce, card drawing, getting those cards back via Izzet Chronarch and then mass burn via Martyr of Ashes and finally win with Wee Dragonauts or Kaerverk's Torch(es). I should also mention that famous mono blue counter deck which is popular and also very powerful. Overall another good article. I might try that BlueGreen deck of yours. Nicely done.
Great Stuff! Ive seen these sorts of things before , but I never understood what was going on. Also, great that you included the links to the PRE calander and thread - they've been bookmarked!
Good article - a nice overview of important "online only" non-game issues. I had not known about the server vs. programming question as it relates to crashes. Thanks for the scoop!
The only eyebrow raised was when I read this bit:
"About the only downside is that refunds usually take a couple days to a couple weeks to process."
Now, I'm pretty sure that what was meant was that the only downside to getting your money back in this way is that it takes a couple of days. However, it can also be read as if the only downside to crashes is that it takes a couple of days to get your money back. And as we all know (sadly), this is not the case – a major downside is losing the chance to play (especially in a tournament, as your example illustrates!). No biggy, but I did need to read it twice to understand what was meant.
Overall, a solid article – keep up the good work!
I think it's a great article for beginners and lets them know what they are getting into exactly and what to expect. MTGO has a lot of shortcomings but it also lets you play Magic the Gathering while sitting in your boxers and eating captain crunch.
As someone who plays predominately in PRE's (see dangerlinto's article for more on those), crashes really cut to the heart of the matter. Too often PRE's are delayed or altered simply because of an extended crash. And with the account theivery part, I remember hearing about this. The best advice I can give to avoid having that happen is (in addition to not giving out your password) is to change your password occasionally.
Despite what many think, the problem is not a hardware problem, it is a SOFTWARE problem. The company who designed the original system (Leaping Lizards) designed it in such a way that most of the non-game functions must be handled by a single server. Eventually, the user base grew large enough that a single server, no matter how powerful, was unable to handle all of the load at once. WotC is developing a new version, MO:III, with a completely scalable server architecture. It is currently undergoing beta testing and is currently scheduled for release before July 2007. As for the article, I liked the ranting, but didn't really get much out of this.
when are they going to fix the servers? this game makes more money than most mmorpg's by a long shot and our servers go down waaay more often. we don't even have 3d graphics! they need to spend the money and fix these nightly crashes...
Hey guys make sure to sign up so your ip isn't shown to the world and so you can use a cool avatar :) Great article Erman
had no idea these even existed, wow am I happy i was unable to log in today
Gaea's blessing's a great sideboard card for those silly u/b milling decks
I looked at the link you gave and read each word you wrote and yet I cannot make a connection between the deck of mine and the one you suggested. Your deck has Cancel, Dismal Failure, Draining Whelk, Riftwing Cloudskate, Call of the Herd etc... I mean I play a BGW deck and yours is UG with a black splash for Damnation and Extirpate. What is the connection between those 2 decks? You play counters, I play something totally different. Just so that you have Damnation and Extirpate in your (fantasy) deck doesn't mean that we are playing the same deck. I play Harmonize too and so does MonoGreenAggro, does this means anything???!?? The most important part of my deck is NOT Stupor or Damnation, it is Extirpate/Gargoyle combination and the deck you suggested has no signs of this.
I wrote this http://www.mtgotraders.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=675&highlight= basic deck build last week. The Walls are kool but hell with them Call of herds if really fun and if you loose to a needed Damnation fine. He'll be back. The real meat of your deck is in your stupors, sweepers and extirpate. With so many creatures in your build I can see the 4 Tenebs but I think my UBG would run you. If that like works, have a read and comment how ever you please. But extirpate, not wall of roots...lol...is the win! The addition of Harmanize to my version might be nice. However the control would keep you out of play and the willbenders would send your hand snatch back at you or your extirpate back at your gy. Too bad I dont have either the extirpates or the Damnations cause I would be happy to show you a match or 2 with the build.
Porphyry Nodes was a card I considered while building the deck but then it prevents me playing my own Wall of Roots and so I didn't put it in the deck. Without the sideboard WW is a great threat, it is true. After sideboarding, I add 4x Spike Feeder in and take 4x Stupor out as Stupor is better against control decks and also take 2 Gargoyles out and 2 Arrows comes in. Playtesting showed that if I win against WW, it is always 2-1 and if I lose it is always 0-2. The deck handles Green Aggro but WW is really a big big big problem. Thanks for reading by the way.
sorry,
You seem to be relying upon wall of roots in the early game to slow down quick aggro decks. However, the one aggro deck you list here that starts quckest is white weenie.
Unless you get Damnation online quickly you may have trouble against WW. I would suggest some Porphyry Nodes, at least in the sideboard. They could slow down aggro much more potently than the Wall of Roots, which truth be told, can't stop either of WW's power creatures you displayed earlier in the article.
Just a suggestion, good luck in the PE's.
You seem to be relying upon wall of roots in the early game to slow down quick aggro decks. However, the one aggro deck you list here that starts quckest is white weenie.
Unless you get Damnation online quickly you may have trouble against WW. I would suggest some Porphyry Nodes, at least in the sideboard. They could slow down aggro much more potently than the Wall of Roots, which truth be told, can't stop either of WW's power creatures you displayed earlier in the article.
Just a suggestion, good luck in the PE's.
It doesn't stops them of course. It just gets the cards you discarded or lost to LD back to your library. Sorry if it wasen't clear enough.
Good to hear your comments on the rules of the day.
Based on the meta I see, we are turning into a meta of "best attrition deck" vs. "best anti-attrition deck". The best attrition deck is something like Parlor Tricks, Orzhov Blink, or some hybrid, while the anti-attrition decks are the ones that can win while disrupting those expensive recursive cards and being themselves resilient to discard. I don't see a lot of room for pure beatdown decks with zero disruption, as long as there are Aven Riftwatchers winging around.
How does Gaea's Blessing stop LD and Discard?
I think that fundamentally, PDC is about creature combat. While there are powerful control decks and potent combo decks, most games are decided in the Red Zone. Even control decks have to play a more aggressive game due to the lack of board sweepers, IMO. They play alot more like Angelfire decks, without Wrath and such- beat down slightly, control the game, and burn you out (in the case of the UR deck).
There are infinit combos in PDC classic. As a matter of fact I believe I got one from MTGOtraders in the past.
Another good article from the man in charge of PDC games here on PureMTGO. The only comment I will have is that you showed PDC as a format of creature fights only or so I understood. But I don't agree with that. Recently I build a RedBlue control deck which is performing very well. The deck is all about burn, counter, bounce, card drawing, getting those cards back via Izzet Chronarch and then mass burn via Martyr of Ashes and finally win with Wee Dragonauts or Kaerverk's Torch(es). I should also mention that famous mono blue counter deck which is popular and also very powerful. Overall another good article. I might try that BlueGreen deck of yours. Nicely done.
Karaganda Pit-Skulk? What was I thinking, that card is terrible!
Great Stuff! Ive seen these sorts of things before , but I never understood what was going on. Also, great that you included the links to the PRE calander and thread - they've been bookmarked!
Good article - a nice overview of important "online only" non-game issues. I had not known about the server vs. programming question as it relates to crashes. Thanks for the scoop!
The only eyebrow raised was when I read this bit:
"About the only downside is that refunds usually take a couple days to a couple weeks to process."
Now, I'm pretty sure that what was meant was that the only downside to getting your money back in this way is that it takes a couple of days. However, it can also be read as if the only downside to crashes is that it takes a couple of days to get your money back. And as we all know (sadly), this is not the case – a major downside is losing the chance to play (especially in a tournament, as your example illustrates!). No biggy, but I did need to read it twice to understand what was meant.
Overall, a solid article – keep up the good work!
three cheers for PREs!!!
I think it's a great article for beginners and lets them know what they are getting into exactly and what to expect. MTGO has a lot of shortcomings but it also lets you play Magic the Gathering while sitting in your boxers and eating captain crunch.
As someone who plays predominately in PRE's (see dangerlinto's article for more on those), crashes really cut to the heart of the matter. Too often PRE's are delayed or altered simply because of an extended crash. And with the account theivery part, I remember hearing about this. The best advice I can give to avoid having that happen is (in addition to not giving out your password) is to change your password occasionally.
What will the system requirements be for mtgo 3? i fear i'll have to buy a new comp?
To answer the question:
Despite what many think, the problem is not a hardware problem, it is a SOFTWARE problem. The company who designed the original system (Leaping Lizards) designed it in such a way that most of the non-game functions must be handled by a single server. Eventually, the user base grew large enough that a single server, no matter how powerful, was unable to handle all of the load at once. WotC is developing a new version, MO:III, with a completely scalable server architecture. It is currently undergoing beta testing and is currently scheduled for release before July 2007. As for the article, I liked the ranting, but didn't really get much out of this.
when are they going to fix the servers? this game makes more money than most mmorpg's by a long shot and our servers go down waaay more often. we don't even have 3d graphics! they need to spend the money and fix these nightly crashes...
I wasen't even aware of such events! What was I doing all the time?!!? Anyway, you helped me learn something, I therefore I salute you.