Hey Beau nicely done! It seems obvious to me that people have different points of view on casual because it is such a vaguely defined word. From the strict interpretation to the looser interpretation people fit the usage they want to it. Even the questions you ask about "A Ship For Bolas" might be answered very differently by different people. On the other hand, the average person might assume it is something very specific to all players which it isn't.
To clarify some thoughts. While the TA is a friendly community with some great guys, make no mistake: Most of the regulars would as soon as cut your throat as look at you, in game. In other words, they are serious. (Which is the antonym I am most apt to use with casual.) And you can see that in the records of those who answered your questions. Miha who gave you a very narrow definition is one of the top players and rarely brings anything that he doesn't win with. (On the other hand he does experiment, as can be seen by his less spectacular results on occasion.)
AJ is also pretty serious about the format (ask him about WOTC + Tribal Wars sometime...) but he regularly brings decks that are more outlandish than good. And I know because I am one of his playtesters and partners in deck building crimes. That all legends deck above is an example. Fun in the sense of who expects Sissay to bring ALL of her weatherlight buddies?? And evil, because of Nicol. But also worthy because of what he (AJ) plans to do with it all. (This was the deck he took down 3 Achievements with in one match. And THAT was his purpose in building and playing it.)
I play Tribal Wars somewhat seriously but my decks tend to be less than good. So I skip a lot of the time. (Also the time schedule doesn't typically work well for me. If it started at 3pm est or even maybe 2pm I'd be much more likely to join weekly even with subpar decks.) My personal goal when I play is to win with new decks. I don't tune my decks to be awesomely dull or boringly good. If they work out that way they work out that way. I like surprising my opponents and stunning them into submission.
I am a grinder (the chess player in me likes that approach) in the sense that I get pleasure from taking control and never giving it back but AJ has influenced me a bit here to not being SOOOOOoooo boring.
To sum I am glad you got this article out of the gate and got your thoughts out there. I think the question might not be so much "What is casual?" but "What is your reason for playing the way you do?" Whether your reasons and modus operandi are casual or not is less relevant to me by itself. Because as I said we have different points of view of what is relevant. I find it much more satisfying to also look at it from the psychological and philosophical points of view.
Whatever the case on your doubts maybe I think you should continue exploring and writing about that. Write until your fingers are numb because it is good for you and imho it is good for us too. I should be taking my own advice here but I have been unable to launch an article off my pad for a while now. Waiting for inspiration seems like waiting for Godot at times.
I noticed that, I think interest has gone over to Monastary and FRF right now so buying KTK has slowed. I am holding on Brimaz thinking it will rebound, but as I mention in the article a key is whether Brimaz is played in tourney decks along side of Monastary rather than getting pushed out...
As it turned out the format (or at least the first dip into it) was a lot slower than I expected. I think I did as well as I did because my opponents weren't prepared for plays on turns 1 and 2, plus two cards on turn 3. I just was faster and better equipped to take advantage of that speed.
If I could go back and try the Abzan approach, it would be interesting to see how it would have done in my grouping. I was definitely not gutsy enough to roll with Abzan the first time out. To be honest, I still think it's a toss up between BW and Abzan just based on the tapped lands. If the dual lands had a better effect that 1 life gain, I think it would be Abzan all the way
Oddly Whisperer of the Wilds was what almost sold me on Abzan.
This is going to be tough to choose. Such similarities between the decks so far.
Good article to remind us why we, as players, play. To put it in a different way by using the proverbial archetypes that WoTC provides - casual is the opposite of "Spike".
Okay, here we go. The first thing I noticed when looking is the Charm and the Tri-Land, so you obviously went Abzan for your seeded pack. Combine that with the Abzan Guide and the Dromoka and I wanted to add green for sure. I briefly tossed around the idea of Temur after seeing the Ascendancy but like Marcos mentions above, the red and blue are lacking depth so that doesn't look like a great option. Here's the list -
This deck is also a bit slower and plays for the mid game. Whisperer of the Wilds is a card that I have been very happy with and that can shine here with plenty of Ferocious opportunities. There is a ton of synergy with the Abzan Battle Priest and the Tuskguard Captain and a lot of counters all over the place. I also included the Mardu Woe-Reaper and kept the Warrior theme to get as much value out of it as possible. This is an underrated card with an effect that seems small but can add up. If your opponent is on any sort of Delve plan, the value gets even better.
I kept 2 Executioner in the deck - I've always been a huge fan of cards like this and having answers to Hexproof creatures or Feat of Resistance-style cards is no small thing. Ruthless Instincts is a card that is absolutely great here. Cards that can untap creatures and/or give ground-pounders reach can lead to massive blowouts. Being able to do both, along with Deathtouch is savage for sure. Add to that the option of using it aggressively and the card is very versatile. Soul Summons is a card I initially cut, but kept in as the deck needed something more in the two-drop creature slot.
The Typhoid Rats were one of the last cards I cut, and they can come in against any sort of green stompy deck or fast aggro deck. They don't do a ton against the decks that win late game with evasion, which is why they ended up in the board in this case. The Throttle is also in the board - you have a ton of removal already and this was the most expensive of the conditional removal. It can certainly come in when you need more removal.
The Vanguard and Skycaptain came out simply because the deck needed to cut something. Both have uses against the right deck and can be brought in (vanguard when you need more aggression, Skycaptain for a board stall-ish matchup).
Anyway, you can see that Abzan tends to be the direction most of us are going, and each of our builds have their own intricacies. I think a few of the differences in my deck than others give it a tad more versatility but it all depends on your playstyle.
But what I like best is what you left in. Harshe Sustenance and Douse in Gloom both cannot be cut if they can be played so I like that you got some green without cutting two of the removal cards that give us some lfe gain.
You would think my deck has no late game but with Crux of Fate, dash abilities, Noxious Dragon and Harsh Sustenance I was able to win 4 games very late. One was even a come from behind late shocker out of nowhere. I tended to slow roll my plays past turn 5, use removal like Merciless Executioner very selectively, and keep the board locked with death touch while my fliers applied slow pressure until I got the situation I wanted.
I think your deck is more flexible, and looking back, having the green white dragon probably was better and didn't kill my speed because I didn't really win on speed alone.
Unfortunately, nothing would have beat my last opponent except a totally different crd pool.
My build is a bit slower than yours, but can get free wins from Dromoka, is better suited to handle bombs and can race better with Abzan Guide.
I didn't like the Clerics and the Swiftwing, but I can see why you would play them. Your pool doesn't have that much great late game, you can't really play 5 color and your blue/red are bad so you're locked into BW or Abzan. I think either deck is correct, you just have to choose if you want speed over power. Overall your pool is forcing you to be aggressive because there aren't that many expensive spells, so building what you built was right.
I literally had this as a plan. I had to post again because it's so weird that I almost had an identical list to this...
I sacked the Executioner to itself more than 5 times. I literally counted it as removal with possible upside. I had so many one and two drops that many times he was removal plus an upgrade.
I think I won with BW as much as I did because I played ZERO tapped lands. I wanted to be fast, but to also have late game outs. The guy that quit when he timed out had no answer for Dash. Alesha's Vanguard would drop, and attack, then be gone before sorcery speed removal could send it away for good.
You did a lot of work, because unless you know these cards by heart, it's not obvious what's going on without looking them all up. With no links, I salute you!
It will be interesting to see if anyone finds something to do with the Blue or Red cards. I was majorly disappointed in the Blue selection. But I guess when you pick the Abzan kick starter, it means your blue and red will suck.
I was so close to splashing Green that I even had it as my main sideboard plan, but I just kept winning with BW that I never made a single substitution. Thanks for the list!
Executioner is like a 3 mana kill spell, often I find myself sacc'ing itself. Sudden reclamation can get him back for another kill. Dromoka, followed by Crux of Fate (picking to keep dragons, of course) is just insane most times; attacking for 7, then 9.
I like the events, but I still haven't done any this time. My time is very limited, so I'm playing less limited :). Just been jamming legacy at every opportunity.
I like the release events. The prize support is reasonable and the only real downside is not being able to pay in packs. That's not much of a problem, since I generally don't have many packs that early anyway.
The prerelease events are not good value - but I did play in two. I look at it as paying a premium to play with the new set right away.
Believe me, even though I haven't played MTGO in many many months, I still get on here to read it Friday. I am extremely grateful he continued this column after Hammy. I just thought it was some tribute to Whiffy perhaps his birthday or something. Obviously my time away has taken me "out of the know".
So our worst matchup is the most played deck. Even worse our sideboard is inefficient against that deck too. I really wish there was a great sideboard to deal with Delver but I just don't see it. I thought about Fade Away and COP:Blue but I doubt it'll work well. I have kind of accepted the fact that the delver matchup is a lost cause. As long as we perform decent against the other 87% we're doing okay.
Hey Beau nicely done! It seems obvious to me that people have different points of view on casual because it is such a vaguely defined word. From the strict interpretation to the looser interpretation people fit the usage they want to it. Even the questions you ask about "A Ship For Bolas" might be answered very differently by different people. On the other hand, the average person might assume it is something very specific to all players which it isn't.
To clarify some thoughts. While the TA is a friendly community with some great guys, make no mistake: Most of the regulars would as soon as cut your throat as look at you, in game. In other words, they are serious. (Which is the antonym I am most apt to use with casual.) And you can see that in the records of those who answered your questions. Miha who gave you a very narrow definition is one of the top players and rarely brings anything that he doesn't win with. (On the other hand he does experiment, as can be seen by his less spectacular results on occasion.)
AJ is also pretty serious about the format (ask him about WOTC + Tribal Wars sometime...) but he regularly brings decks that are more outlandish than good. And I know because I am one of his playtesters and partners in deck building crimes. That all legends deck above is an example. Fun in the sense of who expects Sissay to bring ALL of her weatherlight buddies?? And evil, because of Nicol. But also worthy because of what he (AJ) plans to do with it all. (This was the deck he took down 3 Achievements with in one match. And THAT was his purpose in building and playing it.)
I play Tribal Wars somewhat seriously but my decks tend to be less than good. So I skip a lot of the time. (Also the time schedule doesn't typically work well for me. If it started at 3pm est or even maybe 2pm I'd be much more likely to join weekly even with subpar decks.) My personal goal when I play is to win with new decks. I don't tune my decks to be awesomely dull or boringly good. If they work out that way they work out that way. I like surprising my opponents and stunning them into submission.
I am a grinder (the chess player in me likes that approach) in the sense that I get pleasure from taking control and never giving it back but AJ has influenced me a bit here to not being SOOOOOoooo boring.
To sum I am glad you got this article out of the gate and got your thoughts out there. I think the question might not be so much "What is casual?" but "What is your reason for playing the way you do?" Whether your reasons and modus operandi are casual or not is less relevant to me by itself. Because as I said we have different points of view of what is relevant. I find it much more satisfying to also look at it from the psychological and philosophical points of view.
Whatever the case on your doubts maybe I think you should continue exploring and writing about that. Write until your fingers are numb because it is good for you and imho it is good for us too. I should be taking my own advice here but I have been unable to launch an article off my pad for a while now. Waiting for inspiration seems like waiting for Godot at times.
I noticed that, I think interest has gone over to Monastary and FRF right now so buying KTK has slowed. I am holding on Brimaz thinking it will rebound, but as I mention in the article a key is whether Brimaz is played in tourney decks along side of Monastary rather than getting pushed out...
As it turned out the format (or at least the first dip into it) was a lot slower than I expected. I think I did as well as I did because my opponents weren't prepared for plays on turns 1 and 2, plus two cards on turn 3. I just was faster and better equipped to take advantage of that speed.
If I could go back and try the Abzan approach, it would be interesting to see how it would have done in my grouping. I was definitely not gutsy enough to roll with Abzan the first time out. To be honest, I still think it's a toss up between BW and Abzan just based on the tapped lands. If the dual lands had a better effect that 1 life gain, I think it would be Abzan all the way
Oddly Whisperer of the Wilds was what almost sold me on Abzan.
This is going to be tough to choose. Such similarities between the decks so far.
Good article to remind us why we, as players, play. To put it in a different way by using the proverbial archetypes that WoTC provides - casual is the opposite of "Spike".
Okay, here we go. The first thing I noticed when looking is the Charm and the Tri-Land, so you obviously went Abzan for your seeded pack. Combine that with the Abzan Guide and the Dromoka and I wanted to add green for sure. I briefly tossed around the idea of Temur after seeing the Ascendancy but like Marcos mentions above, the red and blue are lacking depth so that doesn't look like a great option. Here's the list -
Creatures
1 Dromoka, the Eternal
1 Whisperer of the Wilds
1 Abzan Guide
1 Tuskguard Captain
1 Abzan Skycaptain
1 Mardu Woe-Reaper
1 Noxious Dragon
2 Merciless Executioner
1 Mardu Strike Leader
1 Hooded Assassin
1 Abzan Battle Priest
1 Mardu Hordechief
1 Disowned Ancestor
1 Orc Sureshot
Spells
1 Abzan Charm
1 Hunt the Weak
1 Ruthless Instincts
1 Soul Summons
1 Crux of Fate
1 Reach of Shadows
1 Douse in Gloom
1 Harsh Sustenance
Lands
1 Sandsteppe Citadel
1 Nomad Outpost
3 Jungle Hollow
1 Blossoming Sands
4 Plains
4 Swamp
3 Forest
Relevant Sideboard Cards
2 Typhoid Rats
1 Alesha's Vanguard
1 Abzan Skycaptain
1 Throttle
This deck is also a bit slower and plays for the mid game. Whisperer of the Wilds is a card that I have been very happy with and that can shine here with plenty of Ferocious opportunities. There is a ton of synergy with the Abzan Battle Priest and the Tuskguard Captain and a lot of counters all over the place. I also included the Mardu Woe-Reaper and kept the Warrior theme to get as much value out of it as possible. This is an underrated card with an effect that seems small but can add up. If your opponent is on any sort of Delve plan, the value gets even better.
I kept 2 Executioner in the deck - I've always been a huge fan of cards like this and having answers to Hexproof creatures or Feat of Resistance-style cards is no small thing. Ruthless Instincts is a card that is absolutely great here. Cards that can untap creatures and/or give ground-pounders reach can lead to massive blowouts. Being able to do both, along with Deathtouch is savage for sure. Add to that the option of using it aggressively and the card is very versatile. Soul Summons is a card I initially cut, but kept in as the deck needed something more in the two-drop creature slot.
The Typhoid Rats were one of the last cards I cut, and they can come in against any sort of green stompy deck or fast aggro deck. They don't do a ton against the decks that win late game with evasion, which is why they ended up in the board in this case. The Throttle is also in the board - you have a ton of removal already and this was the most expensive of the conditional removal. It can certainly come in when you need more removal.
The Vanguard and Skycaptain came out simply because the deck needed to cut something. Both have uses against the right deck and can be brought in (vanguard when you need more aggression, Skycaptain for a board stall-ish matchup).
Anyway, you can see that Abzan tends to be the direction most of us are going, and each of our builds have their own intricacies. I think a few of the differences in my deck than others give it a tad more versatility but it all depends on your playstyle.
But what I like best is what you left in. Harshe Sustenance and Douse in Gloom both cannot be cut if they can be played so I like that you got some green without cutting two of the removal cards that give us some lfe gain.
You would think my deck has no late game but with Crux of Fate, dash abilities, Noxious Dragon and Harsh Sustenance I was able to win 4 games very late. One was even a come from behind late shocker out of nowhere. I tended to slow roll my plays past turn 5, use removal like Merciless Executioner very selectively, and keep the board locked with death touch while my fliers applied slow pressure until I got the situation I wanted.
I think your deck is more flexible, and looking back, having the green white dragon probably was better and didn't kill my speed because I didn't really win on speed alone.
Unfortunately, nothing would have beat my last opponent except a totally different crd pool.
So far so good guys. I like what I see!
Brimaz steadily lost value down to 16 tix, right now.
20% in just 3 weeks
I talk about your pool in depth here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5k0Uhrrkpbg
My list is as follows: (In the interest of full disclosure, I tend to build decks assuming I'm on the draw.)
2 Typhoid Rats
1 Disowned Ancestor
1 Mardu Hordechief
1 Hooded Assassin
1 Mardu Strike Leader
1 Merciless Executioner
1 Tuskguard Captain
1 Abzan Battle Priest
2 Abzan Skycaptain
1 Orc Sureshot
1 Krumar Bond-Kin
1 Dromoka, the Eternal
1 Noxious Dragon
1 Abzan Guide
1 Douse in Gloom
1 Harsh Sustenance
1 Abzan Charm
1 Hunt the Weak
1 Reach of Shadows
1 Throttle
1 Crux of Fate
3 Jungle Hollow
1 Nomad Outpost
1 Blossoming Sands
1 Sandsteppe Citadel
5 Swamps
5 Plains
1 Forest
My build is a bit slower than yours, but can get free wins from Dromoka, is better suited to handle bombs and can race better with Abzan Guide.
I didn't like the Clerics and the Swiftwing, but I can see why you would play them. Your pool doesn't have that much great late game, you can't really play 5 color and your blue/red are bad so you're locked into BW or Abzan. I think either deck is correct, you just have to choose if you want speed over power. Overall your pool is forcing you to be aggressive because there aren't that many expensive spells, so building what you built was right.
I literally had this as a plan. I had to post again because it's so weird that I almost had an identical list to this...
I sacked the Executioner to itself more than 5 times. I literally counted it as removal with possible upside. I had so many one and two drops that many times he was removal plus an upgrade.
I think I won with BW as much as I did because I played ZERO tapped lands. I wanted to be fast, but to also have late game outs. The guy that quit when he timed out had no answer for Dash. Alesha's Vanguard would drop, and attack, then be gone before sorcery speed removal could send it away for good.
You did a lot of work, because unless you know these cards by heart, it's not obvious what's going on without looking them all up. With no links, I salute you!
It will be interesting to see if anyone finds something to do with the Blue or Red cards. I was majorly disappointed in the Blue selection. But I guess when you pick the Abzan kick starter, it means your blue and red will suck.
I look forward to it!
And there's a good reason why.
I was so close to splashing Green that I even had it as my main sideboard plan, but I just kept winning with BW that I never made a single substitution. Thanks for the list!
1 Abzan Battle Priest
1 Mardu Hordechief
1 Gurmag Swiftwing
2 Typhoid Rats
1 Disowned Ancestor
1 Abzan Skycaptain
2 Arashin Cleric
1 Mardu Woe-Reaper
1 Orc Sureshot
1 Alesha's Vanguard
2 Merciless Executioner
1 Mardu Strike Leader
1 Hooded Assassin
1 Tuskguard Captain
1 Dromoka, the Eternal
1 Crux of Fate
1 Throttle
1 Reach of Shadows
1 Abzan Charm
1 Hunt the Weak
1 Sudden Reclamation
1 Sandsteppe Citadel
3 Jungle Hollow
1 Blossoming Sands
1 Forest
5 Swamp
5 Plains
Executioner is like a 3 mana kill spell, often I find myself sacc'ing itself. Sudden reclamation can get him back for another kill. Dromoka, followed by Crux of Fate (picking to keep dragons, of course) is just insane most times; attacking for 7, then 9.
The most interesting thing I noticed about Paulo's list isn't what is in his list, but what isn't. No Courser of Kruphix.
I like the events, but I still haven't done any this time. My time is very limited, so I'm playing less limited :). Just been jamming legacy at every opportunity.
I'll be posting my decklist later - awesome idea! I may begin doing something similar, I always love deckbuilding contests/sealed leagues/etc.
here is done then. One person who didn't notice now does. Thank you sir. :-D
Yeah, Wizards needs to get their stuff together.
Thanks Pete, I like your feedback about the Release vs Pre-Release events.
I like the release events. The prize support is reasonable and the only real downside is not being able to pay in packs. That's not much of a problem, since I generally don't have many packs that early anyway.
The prerelease events are not good value - but I did play in two. I look at it as paying a premium to play with the new set right away.
i didn't get the penguin thing until you guys mentioned it and I went back and noticed it. I hope he's a happy bird.
Thanks Pete for this article.
May I ask, do you consider Release Events to be good EV?
Believe me, even though I haven't played MTGO in many many months, I still get on here to read it Friday. I am extremely grateful he continued this column after Hammy. I just thought it was some tribute to Whiffy perhaps his birthday or something. Obviously my time away has taken me "out of the know".
I've been having a lot of problems with the client as well. Tons of lag, even after restart.
It's the most played deck with 13.67% according to https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ScLGLozISqVO2jz9cfZ2m0rNzdigh-0j...
So our worst matchup is the most played deck. Even worse our sideboard is inefficient against that deck too. I really wish there was a great sideboard to deal with Delver but I just don't see it. I thought about Fade Away and COP:Blue but I doubt it'll work well. I have kind of accepted the fact that the delver matchup is a lost cause. As long as we perform decent against the other 87% we're doing okay.