I'd have one suggestion to add to your records and that is recording the win/loss rate of the initial match roll. It would be interesting to know and track how important going first is and if you have the time to tag it to which deck and maybe even find out that some decks preform much better than others on the play/draw.
1: Force of Nature - being a green mage by heart this was the dream back in the day ripping first booster
2: Rofellos Llanowar Emissary - see 1)
3) Lightning bolt - for its purity
4) Garruk Wildspeaker - for being my first and most beloved walker
5) foil Rishadan port - because it paid for my P9
6) Maze of Ith - because it threw all those pesky beasts back to their feet
7) Control magic - because being even better than threwing back
8) Tarmogyf - because being a monster for bear mana
Always love your articles i don't know if i miss it or did you not make a combo article for DTK. LOTR is good but i would also love a Hunger's game or Fast and Furious theme deck.
Love the article Alexandrino - nothing like some nostalgia
Mine are:
1: Jace - best card ever printed
2: Channel - most underrated card of all time
3: Balance - 2nd most underrated
4: Deathrite (personal affinity - ideal busybody)
5: Force of Will - Keeps formats honest
6: Mental Misstep - the ANSWER
7: Brainstorm - I miss classic
8: Fetchlands - my favorite cards in the game - changed the way Magic is played
I'm considering the most recent printing when talking about these cards being "out-of-range"--no, it's not a strict violation (like adding something like Liliana of the Veil would be), but it certainly feels against the spirit of the reprint sets: printing stuff that hasn't been printed in the last 4 years in a standard-legal set. Again, as I said in the article, only Terramorphic Expanse violated the range in the previous two sets (leading to things like Vintage Masters needing Tribute to the Wild to get a Green naturalize effect), which makes seeing fifteen "out-of-range" reprints (six of which coming from the latest core set) a disappointing surprise.
As for the financial stuff, I'm sure there are other places that are covering it, though since this needs to cover the design of the set as a whole, I do cover a bit of it. Part 3 should cover a couple parts of the puzzle (the top-heavy nature of the money, as well as the "Blood Moon problem" I've covered in previous articles.
Yeah, Raise the Alarm is the biggest offender by far, especially since it has the new M15 artwork--would it have been that bad to use the old artwork?
I don't know how strong Master's Call would be--it certainly isn't with the Metalcraft cards themselves (considering it was with them originally, and most of them other than Rusted Relic aren't that variable), but the expanded Affinity is more interesting. I feel like having so many maindeckable answers to artifacts (both Smash to Smithereens and Terashi's Grasp are good) means that Metalcraft needs to be a little stronger than normal, and it already lost the Sanctum Gargoyle engine which made it top-tier in MMA1.
There is a really simple fix to prize support. As soon as you win packs in an event a drop down box should appear. You could then select which boosters you want. If your finish awards you 12 packs, you could select 6 DTK,4 JOU, and 2 KTK. You could pick whatever it is you need to fill holes to be able to draft. This should stabilize all prices for all packs because they will all be equally available. Also it would be great if they paid immediately when your fate is decided......Ive gone 3-0 in tempest drafts smashing my final round opponent in 3 minutes, then i need to wait an hour for the other matches to finish. Theres no reason I shouldnt get those 6 packs immediately so I can join the next draft.
I agree with your Out-Of-Range Reprints, especially Raise the Alarm and Overwhelm. Overwhelm feels like a bad Overrun and doesn't actually play well with Convoke. Tromp the Domains gives you a better effect while doubling as a reward for Domain decks. When I saw Raise the Alarm in the spoiler I was very surprised since it was just printed in M15. Takes a bit away from the Modern Masters feel. Would Master's Call be balanced in the Metalcraft deck? Seems like a really strong card in that archetype.
Thanks man! I appreciate that. I really hope you build a Vintage deck someday soon, so we can play.
I know that it seems like an impossible task, but it isn't. And the decks last forever. Compare that to me paying 20-25 tickets for mutavaults for black devotion when it was the hot deck, and having to sell them for ten tickets just to avoid losing all my money.
Have a good one! Hit me up on facebook and twitter, we can chat about wtiting, interviews, and whatnot.
As an Abzaniac, I can totally relate to this article. Folks claim Abzan is 'slam Rhino and pray' deck, but it's actually very much a practice based deck. Especially as you get further towards the extreme ends of the spectrum. Super aggro versions are very hard to play correctly because you have this hand full of great stuff, but a very punishing mana base. You had better know what order to play your lands and your threats and also when to hold up and play reactive removal.
Control is even crazier because of the vast array of choices. You can play two different Abzan Control decks and have a completely different set of options available. Plus it's completely removal based control, which is very hard to play. If you don't line up your 1 for 1 removal right at any point, it costs games.
I pretty much agree with Pete that there have been a lot of improvements but it really isn't enough. MTGO is behind the times and falling further behind.
I think the idea of a prize wall is ridiculously good as long as it isn't used as an excuse to cut prize payouts (which it almost certainly would be).
Players have been asking for some sort of generic booster pack for a LONG time now, and your suggestion would be a great way to implement that. I also like most of the other prize suggestions although I probably wouldn't buy them myself.
If you complained about a bug last June and it still hasn't been fixed then I would think it is safe to say that "nothing has been done."
I agree with that other Fred. If you have complained for years about the same things and they never get fixed then, yeah, nothing has been done.
I sent in a bug LAST JUNE about Curse of Misfortunes not working. It still doesn't work. I get that it's not a well played card, but it has been almost 1 calendar year where I can't play a deck i made an investment in.
I completely believe that Wizards (with regards to Magic Online) does not listen and they should be chastised by the people when they ask for suggestions. Prize payouts are garbage. MTGO players get nothing compared to paper players.
I would have played TPR, but they didn't offer a prize structure for the casual player. No Packs per win means I'm betting on just throwing away 15 bucks for the chance at landing a wasteland.
I work for a cable provider, and we super analyze our Customer Satisfaction results each month and use them to direct the future of our company. Our customers are paying our bills, so we try to give them what they want. I feel wizards gets thousands of suggestions that go straight into the garbage unless they ask for it. Not a way to run a business.
I think the Modern Festival was very poorly thought. In my opinion it has two problems: the finals, will have much more than 64 players and the prizes should reflect that. It should have added prizes after a certain ammount of players is reached. That's one thing they have always done with top8 events that needs to be fixed.
But the biggest problem is replacing the Modern DEs with these. That doesn't make any sense! Anyone who is not able to play the Finals, has no reason to play the prelims but would probably be interested in playing Modern DEs during the week. In a similar way, anyone who qualifies, has no interest in playing more of those but would probably be interested in playing some DEs. These prelims don't even pay something to the 3-2s (in similar events 3-2s didn't qualify but paid some boosters that allowed you to get the entry fee back). The events themselves are EV- (not considering the finals) so after qualifying or if you are not able to play the finals, it's just not worth playing.
Thanks man, really respect your opinion. Standard is the best it's been for a very long time, apart from a brief period jamming the aristocrats i haven't had so much fun since I started (circa innistrad).
Really enjoyed this article. Very well thought out and insightful. I can tell you've jammed a lot of matches with the deck.
I've been interested in getting back into Standard for the first time in a while. Seems like it's in quite an interesting place at the moment. Might dip my toe in at some point.
Took me time to read all the contents, but I really enjoyed the article. You have shared a wonderful idea. Very well said Mr. writer. Cheers to you. buy soundcloud plays
I'd have one suggestion to add to your records and that is recording the win/loss rate of the initial match roll. It would be interesting to know and track how important going first is and if you have the time to tag it to which deck and maybe even find out that some decks preform much better than others on the play/draw.
1: Force of Nature - being a green mage by heart this was the dream back in the day ripping first booster
2: Rofellos Llanowar Emissary - see 1)
3) Lightning bolt - for its purity
4) Garruk Wildspeaker - for being my first and most beloved walker
5) foil Rishadan port - because it paid for my P9
6) Maze of Ith - because it threw all those pesky beasts back to their feet
7) Control magic - because being even better than threwing back
8) Tarmogyf - because being a monster for bear mana
Always love your articles i don't know if i miss it or did you not make a combo article for DTK. LOTR is good but i would also love a Hunger's game or Fast and Furious theme deck.
Love the article Alexandrino - nothing like some nostalgia
Mine are:
1: Jace - best card ever printed
2: Channel - most underrated card of all time
3: Balance - 2nd most underrated
4: Deathrite (personal affinity - ideal busybody)
5: Force of Will - Keeps formats honest
6: Mental Misstep - the ANSWER
7: Brainstorm - I miss classic
8: Fetchlands - my favorite cards in the game - changed the way Magic is played
Zach/abstrakt66
This was fun. I really enjoyed the look at how this deck came to be.
I'm considering the most recent printing when talking about these cards being "out-of-range"--no, it's not a strict violation (like adding something like Liliana of the Veil would be), but it certainly feels against the spirit of the reprint sets: printing stuff that hasn't been printed in the last 4 years in a standard-legal set. Again, as I said in the article, only Terramorphic Expanse violated the range in the previous two sets (leading to things like Vintage Masters needing Tribute to the Wild to get a Green naturalize effect), which makes seeing fifteen "out-of-range" reprints (six of which coming from the latest core set) a disappointing surprise.
As for the financial stuff, I'm sure there are other places that are covering it, though since this needs to cover the design of the set as a whole, I do cover a bit of it. Part 3 should cover a couple parts of the puzzle (the top-heavy nature of the money, as well as the "Blood Moon problem" I've covered in previous articles.
Yeah, Raise the Alarm is the biggest offender by far, especially since it has the new M15 artwork--would it have been that bad to use the old artwork?
I don't know how strong Master's Call would be--it certainly isn't with the Metalcraft cards themselves (considering it was with them originally, and most of them other than Rusted Relic aren't that variable), but the expanded Affinity is more interesting. I feel like having so many maindeckable answers to artifacts (both Smash to Smithereens and Terashi's Grasp are good) means that Metalcraft needs to be a little stronger than normal, and it already lost the Sanctum Gargoyle engine which made it top-tier in MMA1.
There is a really simple fix to prize support. As soon as you win packs in an event a drop down box should appear. You could then select which boosters you want. If your finish awards you 12 packs, you could select 6 DTK,4 JOU, and 2 KTK. You could pick whatever it is you need to fill holes to be able to draft. This should stabilize all prices for all packs because they will all be equally available. Also it would be great if they paid immediately when your fate is decided......Ive gone 3-0 in tempest drafts smashing my final round opponent in 3 minutes, then i need to wait an hour for the other matches to finish. Theres no reason I shouldnt get those 6 packs immediately so I can join the next draft.
I have perfected the method. Not really. I've been lucky, I suppose.
I agree with your Out-Of-Range Reprints, especially Raise the Alarm and Overwhelm. Overwhelm feels like a bad Overrun and doesn't actually play well with Convoke. Tromp the Domains gives you a better effect while doubling as a reward for Domain decks. When I saw Raise the Alarm in the spoiler I was very surprised since it was just printed in M15. Takes a bit away from the Modern Masters feel. Would Master's Call be balanced in the Metalcraft deck? Seems like a really strong card in that archetype.
Thanks man! I appreciate that. I really hope you build a Vintage deck someday soon, so we can play.
I know that it seems like an impossible task, but it isn't. And the decks last forever. Compare that to me paying 20-25 tickets for mutavaults for black devotion when it was the hot deck, and having to sell them for ten tickets just to avoid losing all my money.
Have a good one! Hit me up on facebook and twitter, we can chat about wtiting, interviews, and whatnot.
As an Abzaniac, I can totally relate to this article. Folks claim Abzan is 'slam Rhino and pray' deck, but it's actually very much a practice based deck. Especially as you get further towards the extreme ends of the spectrum. Super aggro versions are very hard to play correctly because you have this hand full of great stuff, but a very punishing mana base. You had better know what order to play your lands and your threats and also when to hold up and play reactive removal.
Control is even crazier because of the vast array of choices. You can play two different Abzan Control decks and have a completely different set of options available. Plus it's completely removal based control, which is very hard to play. If you don't line up your 1 for 1 removal right at any point, it costs games.
Thanks for the article.
Wow. Two great interviews on this site in a short period of time! Great work.
Freaking awesome! We need more chances to interview top players!
I really appreciate that!!! Sometimes I think I'm writing to a room full of crickets!
If you see me in game, hit me up for your prize. This week your deck gets spotlight.
Yeah, I kinda punted the morph thought. Was more trying to say Morph happens before any removal no matter what. A second removal won't stop it.
Morph happens!
Nicely done! I'm going to try to watch some of the MOCS when I get the opportunity.
I pretty much agree with Pete that there have been a lot of improvements but it really isn't enough. MTGO is behind the times and falling further behind.
I think the idea of a prize wall is ridiculously good as long as it isn't used as an excuse to cut prize payouts (which it almost certainly would be).
Players have been asking for some sort of generic booster pack for a LONG time now, and your suggestion would be a great way to implement that. I also like most of the other prize suggestions although I probably wouldn't buy them myself.
If you complained about a bug last June and it still hasn't been fixed then I would think it is safe to say that "nothing has been done."
I agree with that other Fred. If you have complained for years about the same things and they never get fixed then, yeah, nothing has been done.
I sent in a bug LAST JUNE about Curse of Misfortunes not working. It still doesn't work. I get that it's not a well played card, but it has been almost 1 calendar year where I can't play a deck i made an investment in.
I completely believe that Wizards (with regards to Magic Online) does not listen and they should be chastised by the people when they ask for suggestions. Prize payouts are garbage. MTGO players get nothing compared to paper players.
I would have played TPR, but they didn't offer a prize structure for the casual player. No Packs per win means I'm betting on just throwing away 15 bucks for the chance at landing a wasteland.
I work for a cable provider, and we super analyze our Customer Satisfaction results each month and use them to direct the future of our company. Our customers are paying our bills, so we try to give them what they want. I feel wizards gets thousands of suggestions that go straight into the garbage unless they ask for it. Not a way to run a business.
I think the Modern Festival was very poorly thought. In my opinion it has two problems: the finals, will have much more than 64 players and the prizes should reflect that. It should have added prizes after a certain ammount of players is reached. That's one thing they have always done with top8 events that needs to be fixed.
But the biggest problem is replacing the Modern DEs with these. That doesn't make any sense! Anyone who is not able to play the Finals, has no reason to play the prelims but would probably be interested in playing Modern DEs during the week. In a similar way, anyone who qualifies, has no interest in playing more of those but would probably be interested in playing some DEs. These prelims don't even pay something to the 3-2s (in similar events 3-2s didn't qualify but paid some boosters that allowed you to get the entry fee back). The events themselves are EV- (not considering the finals) so after qualifying or if you are not able to play the finals, it's just not worth playing.
how about an "archive" or "hide" all cards not currently in legally built decks?
Thanks man, really respect your opinion. Standard is the best it's been for a very long time, apart from a brief period jamming the aristocrats i haven't had so much fun since I started (circa innistrad).
Really enjoyed this article. Very well thought out and insightful. I can tell you've jammed a lot of matches with the deck.
I've been interested in getting back into Standard for the first time in a while. Seems like it's in quite an interesting place at the moment. Might dip my toe in at some point.
Took me time to read all the contents, but I really enjoyed the article. You have shared a wonderful idea. Very well said Mr. writer. Cheers to you.
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