I don't think the new Beta client is too terrible. The only problem fo me is that it is just unresponsive to keyboard clicks for me somehow and that's why I prefer the V3 client to play on . I use beta solely for trading because the old client crashes for me a lot in trades.
100% agree with Gabriel Strasburg's comment. Scrap this whole project. Get rid of everyone involved. If they keep the current client and give us automated trading (auction house) and leagues, it would be a million times better than getting this new steaming pile of nonsense.
All I do is draft, I use the Beta Client for everything but trading. My system sucks (7-year old Windows XP with 3GB RAM), so I expect issues. I'm willing to restart the client between drafts to minimize crashes. Still, I've never had it crash while drafting. It waits until I am sideboarding or playing. I'm not saying this is acceptable, but the inconvenience is worth it to me. If the crash effects my match (i.e. if I lose), I just file for compensation. If its crashed once during an event, I know I'll be able to play the rest of the draft safely. Perhaps I should just restart between rounds?
Something that I think is often overlooked is that the Beta Client store checkout process is pretty awesome/simple compared to V3.
Really cool article. Very thorough! I have been trying to figure this deck out and I think I am getting closer. I have found (in Tournament Practice) that the mirror matches can go very long so I can see the potential for time-outs. You are probably a very good player so I think the average player cannot expect the same win rates that you get, but I don't really know. Anyway, good job and thanks for this! I'll be interested to hear PB's perspective as well.
Regarding Red: Well, I simply dislike that color (wouldn't say I hate it, so the word "dislike" is okay here). If I had to kill a color in Magic, that would definitely be Red. I would give its cheap creatures to White, bigger ones to Green along with most of the other stuff (artifact hate, LD, random card drawing etc), and move its removal to Black.
Most of the dragons would go to Black considering they're just greedy and selfish creatures. Coin flipping can be colorless or Green or Black depending on what the card does. And I would move those "chaos" cards to other colors depending on what they do. Guild Feud can be Green or Possibility Storm can be Blue.
And Koth of the Hammer would have been an excellent Green planeswalker if you ask me. And Chandra's "copy target spell" abilities or "play the top card of your library" ability are all very Blue.
So yeah, Red is only good as a support color for me. I wouldn't say never but I can't see myself playing a mono Red deck anytime soon.
Thanks again and see you next week (and I will be talking about a mono colored deck next week, lol!).
Red is the color of passion; you don't want to exclude that flavor from your palette. You just have to go BIG with it (I can't wait to report on my Braid of Fire/Koth deck. I changed every card in it but those two, and it does amazing things now, thanks to a very obscure, very amusing big dude).
I don't have much patience for RDW either, it just strikes me as an archetype you build because you don't really want to play Magic, so you find a loophole to win games without actually having to play them. This said, Skullcrack is possibly one of the few instances where the RDW player has to make a proper strategic decision, so there's that (in fact, I think a massive lifegaining deck should always be able to play around Skullcrack, because they can't keep mana open for long, their battleplan results in automatic defeat if they let the opponent build their own). And I actually applaud the existence of cards like Leyline of Punishment and Everlasting Torment, because they fight Soul Sisters, and Soul Sisters is so smug and insufferable that I'd rather play against RDW any day.
I want to play your deck so much, but that happens every week. It's true that Angelic Accord is a winmore card, though: when you have to put a lot of lifegaining cards in your deck (and you want to use the good ones, not Stream of Life), chances are you don't need those Angels. In fact, I think yours is more of a Gift of Immortality combo deck. And Gift of Immortality is cooler than Angelic Accord, so it's all good.
(Kuma here, I always forget to switch back to my account, groan)
It's true, Granger Guildmage is the man if you have access to red. I don't want to pretend that I wrote the perfect, all-encompassing guide. It is long enough as is I supoose, and I haven't drafted this a million times either. In the end you are right, though, this is not like AVR, where you have to know exactly what you are doing to make black work. Green may be worse than the rest, but this can certainly mitigated with a good plan.
Thanks for the link. It is a good place to look for if you want some archetype specific evaluation as his guide is basically a how to draft RG in MVW.
We have no idea who they are paying how much to do exactly what. I am not saying we are entitled to such information, but I will certainly maintain a healthy dose of skepticism until I see results.
There's also a quick MVW drafting guide on mtgoacademy.com from 2010. It just says "draft red/green." With all the 2/2s, and not even any high toughness walls, there might not be many good answers to the big Green creatures.
I'm happy that I can start drafting this format again, thanks for the walkthrough, even though I had a different idea about green in general... maybe it was because I used to pair it a lot of times with red, and red being fairly deep, I had some success.
Thanks for a great read! Although, I think you incorrectly evaluate Naya's matchup against Junk Reanimator. I have been beating it consistently and Aggro match-ups are also not as terrible as you are making them. I wouldn't give any aggro deck 70% against Junk, especially after siding.
I think that one of the factors weaking UW Heroic is popularity of enchanment removal due to Mono-Black and Reanimator, these cards are great against Bestow creatures. Also, with more than Downfalls to remove big Voltrons (Gild) these heroes have a harder time surviving without Gods Willing than pre-BNG.
Great article! I'll be interested in hearing what you have to say about Dredge. I've been testing a version in Tournament Practice and really haven't had much success at all. I think your map of the meta at the beginning is helpful in understanding a lot of this stuff.
The UW deck feels a little like Mono-Red from RTR Block.
Congrats on the finish and perspective! While I appreciate the ability of ordeals to steal a game, I never considered them to be the top uncommons in Theros (I much prefer the Emissaries), but I also never made Top 8 of a GP so maybe there is something going on there. :)
I don't remember them ever explicitly stating that they hired outside experts to help, then saying that experts improved the code, then saying they are still using those experts help.
I was playing a Sealed Daily the day the MOCS crashed and even though the event was able to Rise From the Grave, I still got my entry comped. I went 2-2 so I ended up getting 9 packs, two tickets, and my pool, which happened to include Brimaz. I didn't have too many problems with the policy then.
In the link provided above someone claims that they got 6 boosters from being 3-0 in a Modern Daily event (at the time of the crash). So that is something else than the entry fee.
When we say entry fee it is whatever product you used to enter the tournament with. If you used pure tickets you will get pure tickets back. If you used boosters and tickets you will get exactly that back if entry fee is reimbursed.
Thanks for the primer! It can be a hard format just from the low card quality. There was a time when I had done a few weeks of MVW flashback drafts (especially back a few years ago when they used to come around much more often) and not won a single game. I've gotten better every time it has come around though. This primer will help this time.
The entry fee for drafts includes packs so when Wizards comps you your entry fee you get the 3 packs and 2 tickets it cost to enter. Like I recently experienced a crash during a RTR Block draft and was compensated 1 RTR pack, 1 GTC pack, 1 DGM pack and 2 tickets.
Technically you can pay 14 tickets and then would be compensated 14 tickets but you can generally get the '12 tickets worth' of packs for 9-11 tickets off of a booster bot.
We've heard this several times in the past and each time it has proven to be less than accurate. It isn't that I don't believe them but that I still fear they will tinker with the result for their own ends despite being inexpert at doing so.
I don't think the new Beta client is too terrible. The only problem fo me is that it is just unresponsive to keyboard clicks for me somehow and that's why I prefer the V3 client to play on . I use beta solely for trading because the old client crashes for me a lot in trades.
100% agree with Gabriel Strasburg's comment. Scrap this whole project. Get rid of everyone involved. If they keep the current client and give us automated trading (auction house) and leagues, it would be a million times better than getting this new steaming pile of nonsense.
All I do is draft, I use the Beta Client for everything but trading. My system sucks (7-year old Windows XP with 3GB RAM), so I expect issues. I'm willing to restart the client between drafts to minimize crashes. Still, I've never had it crash while drafting. It waits until I am sideboarding or playing. I'm not saying this is acceptable, but the inconvenience is worth it to me. If the crash effects my match (i.e. if I lose), I just file for compensation. If its crashed once during an event, I know I'll be able to play the rest of the draft safely. Perhaps I should just restart between rounds?
Something that I think is often overlooked is that the Beta Client store checkout process is pretty awesome/simple compared to V3.
Really cool article. Very thorough! I have been trying to figure this deck out and I think I am getting closer. I have found (in Tournament Practice) that the mirror matches can go very long so I can see the potential for time-outs. You are probably a very good player so I think the average player cannot expect the same win rates that you get, but I don't really know. Anyway, good job and thanks for this! I'll be interested to hear PB's perspective as well.
I'm glad you guys liked this one.
Regarding Red: Well, I simply dislike that color (wouldn't say I hate it, so the word "dislike" is okay here). If I had to kill a color in Magic, that would definitely be Red. I would give its cheap creatures to White, bigger ones to Green along with most of the other stuff (artifact hate, LD, random card drawing etc), and move its removal to Black.
Most of the dragons would go to Black considering they're just greedy and selfish creatures. Coin flipping can be colorless or Green or Black depending on what the card does. And I would move those "chaos" cards to other colors depending on what they do. Guild Feud can be Green or Possibility Storm can be Blue.
And Koth of the Hammer would have been an excellent Green planeswalker if you ask me. And Chandra's "copy target spell" abilities or "play the top card of your library" ability are all very Blue.
So yeah, Red is only good as a support color for me. I wouldn't say never but I can't see myself playing a mono Red deck anytime soon.
Thanks again and see you next week (and I will be talking about a mono colored deck next week, lol!).
Red is the color of passion; you don't want to exclude that flavor from your palette. You just have to go BIG with it (I can't wait to report on my Braid of Fire/Koth deck. I changed every card in it but those two, and it does amazing things now, thanks to a very obscure, very amusing big dude).
I don't have much patience for RDW either, it just strikes me as an archetype you build because you don't really want to play Magic, so you find a loophole to win games without actually having to play them. This said, Skullcrack is possibly one of the few instances where the RDW player has to make a proper strategic decision, so there's that (in fact, I think a massive lifegaining deck should always be able to play around Skullcrack, because they can't keep mana open for long, their battleplan results in automatic defeat if they let the opponent build their own). And I actually applaud the existence of cards like Leyline of Punishment and Everlasting Torment, because they fight Soul Sisters, and Soul Sisters is so smug and insufferable that I'd rather play against RDW any day.
I want to play your deck so much, but that happens every week. It's true that Angelic Accord is a winmore card, though: when you have to put a lot of lifegaining cards in your deck (and you want to use the good ones, not Stream of Life), chances are you don't need those Angels. In fact, I think yours is more of a Gift of Immortality combo deck. And Gift of Immortality is cooler than Angelic Accord, so it's all good.
(Kuma here, I always forget to switch back to my account, groan)
amazing article!
that red rant!
Also your articles are such a refreshment from almost everything that gets written today.
I look forward to them alot!
It's true, Granger Guildmage is the man if you have access to red. I don't want to pretend that I wrote the perfect, all-encompassing guide. It is long enough as is I supoose, and I haven't drafted this a million times either. In the end you are right, though, this is not like AVR, where you have to know exactly what you are doing to make black work. Green may be worse than the rest, but this can certainly mitigated with a good plan.
Thanks for the link. It is a good place to look for if you want some archetype specific evaluation as his guide is basically a how to draft RG in MVW.
We have no idea who they are paying how much to do exactly what. I am not saying we are entitled to such information, but I will certainly maintain a healthy dose of skepticism until I see results.
Yeah, but your event got reanimated after it was entombed. That's not actually very common, even with the new team overseeing events in place.
My boar accord deck uses Trading post because I am not you :D Excellent read as usual. :D I loled at the red rant.
There's also a quick MVW drafting guide on mtgoacademy.com from 2010. It just says "draft red/green." With all the 2/2s, and not even any high toughness walls, there might not be many good answers to the big Green creatures.
http://www.mtgoacademy.com/the-quick-guide-to-mvw-drafting/
Also this article leaves out Granger Guildmage as a notable Green common.
I'm happy that I can start drafting this format again, thanks for the walkthrough, even though I had a different idea about green in general... maybe it was because I used to pair it a lot of times with red, and red being fairly deep, I had some success.
Thanks :)
Thanks for a great read! Although, I think you incorrectly evaluate Naya's matchup against Junk Reanimator. I have been beating it consistently and Aggro match-ups are also not as terrible as you are making them. I wouldn't give any aggro deck 70% against Junk, especially after siding.
I think that one of the factors weaking UW Heroic is popularity of enchanment removal due to Mono-Black and Reanimator, these cards are great against Bestow creatures. Also, with more than Downfalls to remove big Voltrons (Gild) these heroes have a harder time surviving without Gods Willing than pre-BNG.
Brilliant article. It was really entertaining to read it.
You're indeed a true rogue deck brewer with a unique perspective that we rarely see around these days.
I'm looking forward to read your new articles every week, like it used to be before your long hiatus.
Great article! I'll be interested in hearing what you have to say about Dredge. I've been testing a version in Tournament Practice and really haven't had much success at all. I think your map of the meta at the beginning is helpful in understanding a lot of this stuff.
The UW deck feels a little like Mono-Red from RTR Block.
Congrats on the finish and perspective! While I appreciate the ability of ordeals to steal a game, I never considered them to be the top uncommons in Theros (I much prefer the Emissaries), but I also never made Top 8 of a GP so maybe there is something going on there. :)
Thanks!
I don't remember them ever explicitly stating that they hired outside experts to help, then saying that experts improved the code, then saying they are still using those experts help.
I was playing a Sealed Daily the day the MOCS crashed and even though the event was able to Rise From the Grave, I still got my entry comped. I went 2-2 so I ended up getting 9 packs, two tickets, and my pool, which happened to include Brimaz. I didn't have too many problems with the policy then.
In the link provided above someone claims that they got 6 boosters from being 3-0 in a Modern Daily event (at the time of the crash). So that is something else than the entry fee.
When we say entry fee it is whatever product you used to enter the tournament with. If you used pure tickets you will get pure tickets back. If you used boosters and tickets you will get exactly that back if entry fee is reimbursed.
Thanks for the primer! It can be a hard format just from the low card quality. There was a time when I had done a few weeks of MVW flashback drafts (especially back a few years ago when they used to come around much more often) and not won a single game. I've gotten better every time it has come around though. This primer will help this time.
The entry fee for drafts includes packs so when Wizards comps you your entry fee you get the 3 packs and 2 tickets it cost to enter. Like I recently experienced a crash during a RTR Block draft and was compensated 1 RTR pack, 1 GTC pack, 1 DGM pack and 2 tickets.
Technically you can pay 14 tickets and then would be compensated 14 tickets but you can generally get the '12 tickets worth' of packs for 9-11 tickets off of a booster bot.
We've heard this several times in the past and each time it has proven to be less than accurate. It isn't that I don't believe them but that I still fear they will tinker with the result for their own ends despite being inexpert at doing so.
Congrats on the invite and win. :)