Another nice article, olaw. My friend just built this deck and he is having a lot of fun with it so far. I pointed him to your article so hopefully he checks it out.
P.S.
Wish Wizards would fix Electrolyze already. Sure would help people like us out.
Since I had to finish this article very quickly in order to get it out in a reasonable time after the spoiler released, I made some errors, which I can group into a couple categories:
1. Both Plagued Rusalka and Sickleslicer are actually rarity downgrades--I'll cover the rarity downgrades in more detail in Part 2, but that's an error in my tables.
2. I missed a couple important parts of each archetype, mostly from cards not directly in the main colors. GB TokenSac gets a lot of help from both Runed Servitor and Cathodion, and while RW Equipment not only needs Boros Swiftblade and Hearthfire Hobgoblin, a card that helps it a lot is Mutagenic Growth, which isn't obvious.
3. I only mention that the set review will be two parts, but it turns out I have even more to say than I thought. In fact, this will end up being a three-part review, with Part 1 (above) being the archetypes, Part 2 (coming out soon, hopefully Friday if I can and end up submitting it tonight) covering mechanics, rarity shifts, and out-of-range reprints, and Part 3 (next week, hopefully getting back to the normal Tuesday timeslot if Part 2 does come out this week) being the comparison with my design and the wrap-up.
i really enjoyed this format for presenting a draft strategy. much more clear and concise then the "stacks of 15 card art images or less", over and over and over and over and over and over. blah.i understand they present it that way in order to provide ultimate context for each pick, but i personally found this format much more concise and rewarding to read.
Since morphing doesn't use the stack, one of my favorite tricks was using Willbender. When someone casts a card with Split Second you can still flip the Willbender to change the target.
@CalmLittleBuddy - hey, got your comment about the contest. I won't be around much this week (we are moving this weekend), but next week I should be on in the evenings.
Also, nobody on the site nails the entertaining bitter rant the way you do. : ) Just know that somebody else found the 'E.D.' references worth all of the chuckles!
There are actually a lot of us trying to champion the casual building of decks. I have read the 5 decks for 5 dollars article but i guess there are just a lot of writers writing for competition and not for casual plays that is making it hard for casual to come back. You should have put up a room for us to socialize and chat while waiting or something becase it would be sad if we cannot talk to those who would come, Lastly what time is it in the philippines I am really not that good at timing.I don't know if my hound deck would be a dollar deck after i take out the rare and mythics but i can't seem to have a place to use it since I always fall asleep before Tribal starts here.
Definitely do what makes you happy. Personally, I'm too dedicated to being a professional gamer to walk away, but I would never fault someone for having different priorities than me. Glad things are working out for you.
This isn't supposed to be a tournament. This is supposed to be just a come and play kind of thing. However, we have a time, date and theme going on. It's kind of the same vein as EDH. You just show up and play other people.
I'm trying to steer clear of prizes. As soon as there is something monetary, it begins to warp whatever it is that you are doing. It happens all the time to EDH as Grand Prix's. People just want to win the packs at those and it quickly degenerates to somebody winning with a combo. It's not fun. I was about giving out squires or some other horrible card in foil to people randomly.
I also wasn't trying to get too carried away here at the start. First, I don't know if this is going anywhere. Two, I believe in letting it evolve naturally. Maybe the casual players want something else. Maybe there are other things I am not thinking about. I figured I'll test the waters a little bit first before getting too carried away.
Maybe you should not think of it as a tournament but more of an Event. People get together with decks constructed over the same theme or easy rule set. Then they play each other without any specified tournament structure. Instead they do it just for fun and join any open game.
Since it is very casual then you can probably do without a strict control of whether the decks follow all the rules. If you care enough to show up then you probably have a legal deck. Or else just concede and more on.
You may be right in your analysis. However, personally, I don't think the succes of certain formats at the LGSs have killed off those formats online. There may be correlation but not causality. I used to play a lot of EDH online. I dont do that anymore. But it is not because I am playing somewhere with paper cards.
I wish you all the best with your project. If I am to return to casual then I need to be able to open the client at any time and join a game within 5-10 minutes. More PREs will not do the trick for me.
Oh nearly forgot to say my answer to the issue is community building, if you want this to succeed the casual player base to grow and prosper you need to build a good community of players with your own chat room / clan(s) etc
It's no small project, I've been there before but it's possible.
Good article Meyou, though I don't believe the decline of casual players has anything to do with the paper world.
I believe it's more to do with client changes the Mythic rare and Planeswalkers. Also people move on, from a casual perspective there's only so many times the same card can be re-printed via either Masters or a different version. If you've played for as long as me you will see that Wizards are struggling to make each set interesting without stepping on their own toes. Sometimes a set is amazing sometimes not in the case of Khans. I suppose it really depends on your format of choice, if you prefer Vintage/Legacy you wont see many interesting cards coming into the system.
In regards to your casual tournament, which I wish you the best of luck with. A few points you need some prizes to entice people to play, two there isn't a format called classic any more. three how will you validate the cost of players decks?
One more thing I wanted to raise is why would casual players want to play in a tournament, doesn't it defeat the object of the article to play casually? I'm not bashing you I think its a good idea but it did make me wonder.
Yeah, I realize this is a total experiment and it will need refining. I also acknowledge this can turn out to be a total bust. I think of it like fishing. There's no harm in trying. Plus, I'm not going to catch anything by staying home.
I should mention that tribal isn't the only thing on my casual to do list. I just simply thought tribal was the simplest way to start. The "utopian" idea would be to have different themes each week. Next week it might be "alternate win conditions". The following week might be "Trying to Lose", "No creatures" and etc. Anyway, you get the idea.
I'm going to try and fit one more revoker in the main.
I'm playing the full load of taxing effects, so the fact that my opponent was able to resolve dack should show that I had some unlikely draws.
I had a belcher player turn one me (ironic that I made that specific reference in my article!), and I also had an opponent go turn One lotus into energy flux.
Every game that I lost involved my opponents managing to resolve one bomb threat Before I could lock the door on them.
Thanks man. Always glad to hear people spreading the word.
The deck is a lot of fun. A lot of cool plays and dropping in Elves at instant speed with Chord and Company can be very cool.
I hate that Electrolyze ruins my replays - happens all too often to me. Would help a lot if they sorted it out.
Another nice article, olaw. My friend just built this deck and he is having a lot of fun with it so far. I pointed him to your article so hopefully he checks it out.
P.S.
Wish Wizards would fix Electrolyze already. Sure would help people like us out.
Since I had to finish this article very quickly in order to get it out in a reasonable time after the spoiler released, I made some errors, which I can group into a couple categories:
1. Both Plagued Rusalka and Sickleslicer are actually rarity downgrades--I'll cover the rarity downgrades in more detail in Part 2, but that's an error in my tables.
2. I missed a couple important parts of each archetype, mostly from cards not directly in the main colors. GB TokenSac gets a lot of help from both Runed Servitor and Cathodion, and while RW Equipment not only needs Boros Swiftblade and Hearthfire Hobgoblin, a card that helps it a lot is Mutagenic Growth, which isn't obvious.
3. I only mention that the set review will be two parts, but it turns out I have even more to say than I thought. In fact, this will end up being a three-part review, with Part 1 (above) being the archetypes, Part 2 (coming out soon, hopefully Friday if I can and end up submitting it tonight) covering mechanics, rarity shifts, and out-of-range reprints, and Part 3 (next week, hopefully getting back to the normal Tuesday timeslot if Part 2 does come out this week) being the comparison with my design and the wrap-up.
Cool and insightful article - tx!
i really enjoyed this format for presenting a draft strategy. much more clear and concise then the "stacks of 15 card art images or less", over and over and over and over and over and over. blah.i understand they present it that way in order to provide ultimate context for each pick, but i personally found this format much more concise and rewarding to read.
well done!
j
Since morphing doesn't use the stack, one of my favorite tricks was using Willbender. When someone casts a card with Split Second you can still flip the Willbender to change the target.
@CalmLittleBuddy - hey, got your comment about the contest. I won't be around much this week (we are moving this weekend), but next week I should be on in the evenings.
Also, nobody on the site nails the entertaining bitter rant the way you do. : ) Just know that somebody else found the 'E.D.' references worth all of the chuckles!
I create the following chat room: casualweekly
Tnx AJ. This would be like Tribal without prizes. but at least i can play. Its actually morning here.
9 PM Eastern Standard on Tuesday is 9 AM Philippines time on Wednesday.
There are actually a lot of us trying to champion the casual building of decks. I have read the 5 decks for 5 dollars article but i guess there are just a lot of writers writing for competition and not for casual plays that is making it hard for casual to come back. You should have put up a room for us to socialize and chat while waiting or something becase it would be sad if we cannot talk to those who would come, Lastly what time is it in the philippines I am really not that good at timing.I don't know if my hound deck would be a dollar deck after i take out the rare and mythics but i can't seem to have a place to use it since I always fall asleep before Tribal starts here.
Definitely do what makes you happy. Personally, I'm too dedicated to being a professional gamer to walk away, but I would never fault someone for having different priorities than me. Glad things are working out for you.
Ah I see I missed the "Then they play each other without any specified tournament structure" part thinking it was going to be run like a normal PRE.
Yes, this is exactly what I was thinking.
Thanks for you input as well.
This isn't supposed to be a tournament. This is supposed to be just a come and play kind of thing. However, we have a time, date and theme going on. It's kind of the same vein as EDH. You just show up and play other people.
I'm trying to steer clear of prizes. As soon as there is something monetary, it begins to warp whatever it is that you are doing. It happens all the time to EDH as Grand Prix's. People just want to win the packs at those and it quickly degenerates to somebody winning with a combo. It's not fun. I was about giving out squires or some other horrible card in foil to people randomly.
I also wasn't trying to get too carried away here at the start. First, I don't know if this is going anywhere. Two, I believe in letting it evolve naturally. Maybe the casual players want something else. Maybe there are other things I am not thinking about. I figured I'll test the waters a little bit first before getting too carried away.
Again, thanks for you input.
Maybe you should not think of it as a tournament but more of an Event. People get together with decks constructed over the same theme or easy rule set. Then they play each other without any specified tournament structure. Instead they do it just for fun and join any open game.
Since it is very casual then you can probably do without a strict control of whether the decks follow all the rules. If you care enough to show up then you probably have a legal deck. Or else just concede and more on.
You may be right in your analysis. However, personally, I don't think the succes of certain formats at the LGSs have killed off those formats online. There may be correlation but not causality. I used to play a lot of EDH online. I dont do that anymore. But it is not because I am playing somewhere with paper cards.
I wish you all the best with your project. If I am to return to casual then I need to be able to open the client at any time and join a game within 5-10 minutes. More PREs will not do the trick for me.
Oh nearly forgot to say my answer to the issue is community building, if you want this to succeed the casual player base to grow and prosper you need to build a good community of players with your own chat room / clan(s) etc
It's no small project, I've been there before but it's possible.
Good article Meyou, though I don't believe the decline of casual players has anything to do with the paper world.
I believe it's more to do with client changes the Mythic rare and Planeswalkers. Also people move on, from a casual perspective there's only so many times the same card can be re-printed via either Masters or a different version. If you've played for as long as me you will see that Wizards are struggling to make each set interesting without stepping on their own toes. Sometimes a set is amazing sometimes not in the case of Khans. I suppose it really depends on your format of choice, if you prefer Vintage/Legacy you wont see many interesting cards coming into the system.
In regards to your casual tournament, which I wish you the best of luck with. A few points you need some prizes to entice people to play, two there isn't a format called classic any more. three how will you validate the cost of players decks?
One more thing I wanted to raise is why would casual players want to play in a tournament, doesn't it defeat the object of the article to play casually? I'm not bashing you I think its a good idea but it did make me wonder.
All the best Flip
Thanks for the input.
Yeah, I realize this is a total experiment and it will need refining. I also acknowledge this can turn out to be a total bust. I think of it like fishing. There's no harm in trying. Plus, I'm not going to catch anything by staying home.
I should mention that tribal isn't the only thing on my casual to do list. I just simply thought tribal was the simplest way to start. The "utopian" idea would be to have different themes each week. Next week it might be "alternate win conditions". The following week might be "Trying to Lose", "No creatures" and etc. Anyway, you get the idea.
Much of the Tribal crowd isn't based in the U.S.: It might be worth going for another time slot.
Just reading through the article again, I realize I forgot something very important. I'm drock8493 online. See everyone tomorrow!
Thanks for the perspective. I'll keep that in the back of my mind moving forward.
I'm going to try and fit one more revoker in the main.
I'm playing the full load of taxing effects, so the fact that my opponent was able to resolve dack should show that I had some unlikely draws.
I had a belcher player turn one me (ironic that I made that specific reference in my article!), and I also had an opponent go turn One lotus into energy flux.
Every game that I lost involved my opponents managing to resolve one bomb threat Before I could lock the door on them.
I'll keep trying. I'm not ever going to stop.
In case you ever read this @Procrastination. I will be looking for you in game to give you your prize.