Fantastic column, bro! So much data in here, and you've pulled so many helpful pieces out. As someone who doesn't get updates like these piece by piece, it's brilliant to have them all together in one place. Keep them coming!
I think that this deck has since been abandoned by Todd, there's better ways to build it in my opinion. couple friends of mine got together and we built a much different version, and I ended up taking second at states with it, will probably write an article about it this week.
Yeah, I think it's partly a fluke and partly at least some MBC decks going too heavy on the top end. One deck that 3-1'd had 4 Gary and 2 corrupt and it's not hard to picture a deck like that getting run over.
I don't mind disagreement. That's the great thing about Magic. Everyone sees something different. Although you can't have disagreed with everything as your Tokens deck features two of the cards I am very high on. Ojutai Exemplars and Myth Realized.
I wonder why no one tried running the Hammer in the combo before? When I first saw the Temur Ascendancy lists and figured out what it did, I was impressed. Then I played against it and saw how super fragile the combo was and how clunky the deck became without drawing the Temur Ascendancy.
Playing only 2 colors definitely makes the deck faster and meaner. Just playing 1 less land is huge. Not relying on tap lands as much is big too. This format is so slow that the Hammer list is bound to grab some wins off of opponent's bad draws or incorrect mulligans. Plus, it's got the misinformation thing going for it. If I saw the mana I'd think RG Monsters for sure.
I am swearing to anyone who will listen, there's a Mono-Green Aggro deck that blows up the planet. It runs a ton of Baby Greens and Collected Company. It's fast. It has silver bullets. It has devotion mana. It's crazy. I recommend folks doing a little research on this baby, as I certainly wouldn't give out the list even if I knew it. I don't want to be facing it in the queues non-stop.
I saw that dig at Abzan Control! I see you! But yeah, at least it's a fair deck. No auto win draws, just a stack of good cards that play well together. If you're playing against someone who's very very well practiced in it, you are in for a game. If you're playing an average player, you'll have the chance to win. I blow games with it constantly.
I've been fiddling around with other lists, waiting for Dragons to come out so I can settle into my deck for providence. It's going to be... oh I'm not giving that away quite yet. Not even in this week's article! Still have to finish my set review.
Welcome back to Standard. If you see me on, give a shout. if I don't respond, I'm afk, in a tight match or didn't see you. Shout again in 5 minutes. Those new chat messages don't really get my attention.
I'm looking forward to this series since I only play budget MTGO but my buys are always kind of random and usually do not move my collection forward (like: "hum, that cheap rare looks fun, I'm gonna buy it" and never play it).
Feel free to delete this comment if it sounds like shameless advertising. But if you play Standard Pauper PRE's (SPDC and MPDC)you will put those commons you buy for this series to competitive use and as you eventually make it to top 8/top 4 you will add tickets to your collection for free and use them on your $5 weekly investment or to get extra cards beyond that value. It's a win-win imo. Just a tip ;)
I guess I'm the one who's confused. I didn't do a paper pre-release this time around, but went to the release tourney last weekend which was 3 of each. I just assumed that's what this was also.
The really crazy thing is that when I went to the Help chat there were at least 2 ORCs there. Neither of them mentioned that I should have only received one FRF land. Not only that, but one of them told me to report it as an issue (which is why I got compensation). I wasn't sure if this was something that was worthy of compensation, so I made sure to include a screen shot of the ORC telling me to report it.
I'm confused--if you're talking about the sealed, there only was one FRF pack in the pool, so you should only get one land (barring Crucible or a foil).
Did anyone else have issues with the DTK pre-release?
I entered one on Friday night and only received 1 land in my FRF packs. I mentioned this to an ORC who told me to report it. I got compensated and joined another tourney - and for the second time, I received only 1 land in my FRF packs.
"Implementing the New Commander Tuck Rule on Magic Online
A recent change to the Commander rules states that, "If your commander would go into the library or your hand, you may choose to put it into the command zone." While this ruling applies to face-to-face Commander, it is not yet implemented in Magic Online. Our current goal is for this ruling change to go into effect on July 24, alongside the launch of Magic Origins Prerelease Events on Magic Online."
Yeah the irony of that statement hit me when I was playing cmdr with some people in paper Thursday. Some guy was playing a half dozen altars in his deck to minimize the chances of his commander being tucked and his comment was exactly like yours. If anything this change will see a marked increase in tutor usage since there is less space being taken up with defensive cards.
Honestly, the night you crushed me in three separate matches were a bit discouraging. Switching decks helped a lot though, plus I feel that if you play good opponents, and learn from your mistakes, that is the fastest way to get better.
I'm looking forward to that article, by the way! I'll collect the cards and try out the deck soon.
I'm loving watching your foray into Vintage. It's reassuring you are quickly honing in on some of the format's intricacies, because I *TRULY* believe that is what makes the difference between good players and normal vintage players.
Other formats don't suffer from what my friends and I like to call LOTTO FEVER (aka opening a 7 with multiple pieces of power and just winning) - but the very fact that the law of averages typically has the cream rising in any given tournament is what seems to make vintage fun.
Continued success to you - I'm going to put out a comprehensive article on Tasigur BURG this week too. I was proud to see it dueling in the 4-0 bracket last night in a mirror match and I wasn't even playing it!
While bans can become necessary, I think it's important to realize that they aren't a precision tool. Bans are more like a nuke launched from orbit that obliterates the target. Sure, they eliminate the problem card, but there is always fall out to such a strike.
The banning of Birthing Pod has become an important example of how dangerous a banning can be. The backlash was unparalleled to any other banning I've seen in the last 12 years of this game. There are people that abandoned the format over it who might never come back. The Modern community was damaged by the ban, even if it will be good for us in the long run.
Every time Wizards is forced to use a ban to fix a problem card, they brave the unpredictable. That should be the only time they use bans though; when forced to.
Wizards have some very strict rules when it comes to Modern, as they are completely aware that Eternal formats can get broken very fast. They are very afraid of turn 2-3 combos and dominating strategies.
Abrupt decay was a good choice I believe, as it keeps in checks many troublesome pernaments.
But the subtlier is the thing they print the more narrow it's uses will be.
Printing goblins or soldiers like that would be obvious pushing of one strategy which is something I think they do not want to do. They try to let it grow naturally but they must cut some cancerous growths sometimes.
I'm thinking of unloading my Omnisciences and using the tickets towards a second misdirection, but I'm not sure. My testing has not been positive with Omniscience. The card flat out ruins so many games, it's unreal.
The converse, I don't think I've ever had a game with regular oath where I was thinking how I wish I had omniscience right now. The omni deck plays less control elements. The first time you lose because the two ten-drops in your hand aren't flusterstorms instead, it feels bad.
Also, it is very possible to have an omniscience out and not have any digs or tutors, in which case you can easily lose before you draw one and get that emrakul.
Fantastic column, bro! So much data in here, and you've pulled so many helpful pieces out. As someone who doesn't get updates like these piece by piece, it's brilliant to have them all together in one place. Keep them coming!
Thanks for the comment.
Sounds interesting. I look forward to your article.
I think that this deck has since been abandoned by Todd, there's better ways to build it in my opinion. couple friends of mine got together and we built a much different version, and I ended up taking second at states with it, will probably write an article about it this week.
yep! that's why its ~$25!
Aye, list variance can be a big factor as well as the relative skill of the pilots.
With MBC having been cold on the shelf for so long the warmer lists are doing better in the meta.
Yeah, I think it's partly a fluke and partly at least some MBC decks going too heavy on the top end. One deck that 3-1'd had 4 Gary and 2 corrupt and it's not hard to picture a deck like that getting run over.
I'm kind of shocked that UR Fiend is going 4-2 versus MBC. When I've played MBC, UR Fiend is as close to a bye as you can get.
I don't mind disagreement. That's the great thing about Magic. Everyone sees something different. Although you can't have disagreed with everything as your Tokens deck features two of the cards I am very high on. Ojutai Exemplars and Myth Realized.
Thanks for the correction.
I wonder why no one tried running the Hammer in the combo before? When I first saw the Temur Ascendancy lists and figured out what it did, I was impressed. Then I played against it and saw how super fragile the combo was and how clunky the deck became without drawing the Temur Ascendancy.
Playing only 2 colors definitely makes the deck faster and meaner. Just playing 1 less land is huge. Not relying on tap lands as much is big too. This format is so slow that the Hammer list is bound to grab some wins off of opponent's bad draws or incorrect mulligans. Plus, it's got the misinformation thing going for it. If I saw the mana I'd think RG Monsters for sure.
Let us know how it works out.
I am swearing to anyone who will listen, there's a Mono-Green Aggro deck that blows up the planet. It runs a ton of Baby Greens and Collected Company. It's fast. It has silver bullets. It has devotion mana. It's crazy. I recommend folks doing a little research on this baby, as I certainly wouldn't give out the list even if I knew it. I don't want to be facing it in the queues non-stop.
I saw that dig at Abzan Control! I see you! But yeah, at least it's a fair deck. No auto win draws, just a stack of good cards that play well together. If you're playing against someone who's very very well practiced in it, you are in for a game. If you're playing an average player, you'll have the chance to win. I blow games with it constantly.
I've been fiddling around with other lists, waiting for Dragons to come out so I can settle into my deck for providence. It's going to be... oh I'm not giving that away quite yet. Not even in this week's article! Still have to finish my set review.
Welcome back to Standard. If you see me on, give a shout. if I don't respond, I'm afk, in a tight match or didn't see you. Shout again in 5 minutes. Those new chat messages don't really get my attention.
I'm looking forward to this series since I only play budget MTGO but my buys are always kind of random and usually do not move my collection forward (like: "hum, that cheap rare looks fun, I'm gonna buy it" and never play it).
Feel free to delete this comment if it sounds like shameless advertising. But if you play Standard Pauper PRE's (SPDC and MPDC)you will put those commons you buy for this series to competitive use and as you eventually make it to top 8/top 4 you will add tickets to your collection for free and use them on your $5 weekly investment or to get extra cards beyond that value. It's a win-win imo. Just a tip ;)
I guess I'm the one who's confused. I didn't do a paper pre-release this time around, but went to the release tourney last weekend which was 3 of each. I just assumed that's what this was also.
The really crazy thing is that when I went to the Help chat there were at least 2 ORCs there. Neither of them mentioned that I should have only received one FRF land. Not only that, but one of them told me to report it as an issue (which is why I got compensation). I wasn't sure if this was something that was worthy of compensation, so I made sure to include a screen shot of the ORC telling me to report it.
I'm confused--if you're talking about the sealed, there only was one FRF pack in the pool, so you should only get one land (barring Crucible or a foil).
Did anyone else have issues with the DTK pre-release?
I entered one on Friday night and only received 1 land in my FRF packs. I mentioned this to an ORC who told me to report it. I got compensated and joined another tourney - and for the second time, I received only 1 land in my FRF packs.
I can't be the only person this happened to.
Thanks Pete for your insights.
I am very sad to hear that the price of Wasteland will not tank. I hope you are wrong, but I suspect that you are right.
Don't hold your breath.
"Implementing the New Commander Tuck Rule on Magic Online
A recent change to the Commander rules states that, "If your commander would go into the library or your hand, you may choose to put it into the command zone." While this ruling applies to face-to-face Commander, it is not yet implemented in Magic Online. Our current goal is for this ruling change to go into effect on July 24, alongside the launch of Magic Origins Prerelease Events on Magic Online."
Yeah the irony of that statement hit me when I was playing cmdr with some people in paper Thursday. Some guy was playing a half dozen altars in his deck to minimize the chances of his commander being tucked and his comment was exactly like yours. If anything this change will see a marked increase in tutor usage since there is less space being taken up with defensive cards.
That's great man.
Honestly, the night you crushed me in three separate matches were a bit discouraging. Switching decks helped a lot though, plus I feel that if you play good opponents, and learn from your mistakes, that is the fastest way to get better.
I'm looking forward to that article, by the way! I'll collect the cards and try out the deck soon.
Joe -
I'm loving watching your foray into Vintage. It's reassuring you are quickly honing in on some of the format's intricacies, because I *TRULY* believe that is what makes the difference between good players and normal vintage players.
Other formats don't suffer from what my friends and I like to call LOTTO FEVER (aka opening a 7 with multiple pieces of power and just winning) - but the very fact that the law of averages typically has the cream rising in any given tournament is what seems to make vintage fun.
Continued success to you - I'm going to put out a comprehensive article on Tasigur BURG this week too. I was proud to see it dueling in the 4-0 bracket last night in a mirror match and I wasn't even playing it!
Best,
Zach
Has not hit mtgo yet
On the other hand they can easily make a broken answer card which warps the format forever. (Mental Misstep comes to mind for legacy)
While bans can become necessary, I think it's important to realize that they aren't a precision tool. Bans are more like a nuke launched from orbit that obliterates the target. Sure, they eliminate the problem card, but there is always fall out to such a strike.
The banning of Birthing Pod has become an important example of how dangerous a banning can be. The backlash was unparalleled to any other banning I've seen in the last 12 years of this game. There are people that abandoned the format over it who might never come back. The Modern community was damaged by the ban, even if it will be good for us in the long run.
Every time Wizards is forced to use a ban to fix a problem card, they brave the unpredictable. That should be the only time they use bans though; when forced to.
Wizards have some very strict rules when it comes to Modern, as they are completely aware that Eternal formats can get broken very fast. They are very afraid of turn 2-3 combos and dominating strategies.
Abrupt decay was a good choice I believe, as it keeps in checks many troublesome pernaments.
But the subtlier is the thing they print the more narrow it's uses will be.
Printing goblins or soldiers like that would be obvious pushing of one strategy which is something I think they do not want to do. They try to let it grow naturally but they must cut some cancerous growths sometimes.
Has the new tuck rule hit Mtgo yet? I need to know when so I can take out all the sac engines from my Skullbriar deck and add more tutors.
I'm thinking of unloading my Omnisciences and using the tickets towards a second misdirection, but I'm not sure. My testing has not been positive with Omniscience. The card flat out ruins so many games, it's unreal.
The converse, I don't think I've ever had a game with regular oath where I was thinking how I wish I had omniscience right now. The omni deck plays less control elements. The first time you lose because the two ten-drops in your hand aren't flusterstorms instead, it feels bad.
Also, it is very possible to have an omniscience out and not have any digs or tutors, in which case you can easily lose before you draw one and get that emrakul.