I am surprised there are no Unexpected Results decks making the stats. It seems like Unexpected 4 or 5 color has all the tools to win vs a wide variety of the field without having any serious weaknesses. The scry lands help both with fixing and with setting up the right mana as needed, Detention Sphere + Supreme Verdict hold down the fort against the aggro elements, Obzedat's Aid helps with reanimation and Garruk and Elspeth pull yoeman's duty late game finishing in a variety of fun ways. I am not saying the deck is tier 1 but it seems like it could be a contender. Heck some of the other decks you list are similar enough enough that it makes me wonder why people have rejected it.
Meanwhile until it does grow in popularity I'll be plugging away in Juff knocking down netdecks right and left with it.
You're welcome! The Belcher deck was one of those ones I was thinking of getting around to someday, but since you had already done it, why not give the curious some immediate gratification?
I originally had The Rack or Shrieking Affliction as that slot in the article, then they showed Waste Not with the new frame and all, so I felt it was a neat way for me to show the new frame off in an article. Waste Not will be tested but probably not pan out. (I was going to go with Shrieking Affliction over The Rack since Enchantments are usually harder to remove).
An interesting list to be sure. I feel like Zur has a lot of room to grow with the potential for some very exciting Enchantments to come out of the subsequent Theros Block sets. Nykthos also has the potential to be a real game changer.
I'm not convinced that Waste Not even fits into the Rack decks that currently exist in Modern, which seems like a fairly damning indictment for it. I think two mana is just too slow but I'm sure people will try it.
Delver seems like it might be seeing a bit of a resurgence in popularity which is interesting.
Homer Simpson: Son, there's only one thing punks like that understand: squealing. You've got to squeal to every teacher and every grown-up you can find. Coming to me was a good start.
My guess is that it was a lot easier to only program Planeswalkers to check the rules for loyalty abilities rather than having all permanents do it. There aren't many creatures that would be able to take advantage of this bug (Experiment Kraj is the only other one I can think of offhand) - so it probably isn't very high in the list of bugs to fix.
Not that there is anything wrong with Frats or Keggers per se. Just they generally don't mix well with social skills and mtg.
Also Jean Doh! (if you don't mind the audio pun) the precedent behind not reporting is a domino effect. If your friends hear your attitude they are more likely to shrug off whatever happens to them so that the wrongdoers get off again and again.
And if you think that not reporting it and just manning up is the way to go then that is your prerogative but that means you don't get a chance to effect change. Now it is true that just because someone is abusive,they are not necessarily terrible people. (Though they may be lacking seriously in some areas.) A conversation may arise out of such a situation if that person is really just blowing off steam and venting a bit. Or they may stop if you call them on it directly, embarrassment outweighing their rage. The idea isn't to get revenge or punish but to ensure that people stop doing it.
The bullying thing is bigger than we may think because of the very nonchalant "rise above it" and "shrug it off" attitudes that are prevalent. It isn't good to fight fire with fire in this case but it is also not good to do nothing. What if you found out that someone you value highly will no longer play the game because of what they experienced in the game? Would it seem like a small deal then? What if their self-esteem issues (outside of the game, granted) triggered from that abuse and they do harm to themselves as a result? The trigger being present isn't the abuser's fault. But the abuse is. It is inexcusable because the price paid isn't just by one person but the community as a whole.
Blocking is a good answer if you feel unable to cope with a direct confrontation or to prevent yourself from escalating it. But it isn't enough if you want to keep it from recurring.
I would have to agree, format is pretty broken. I just won't keep hands without Caryatid/Satyr cause I always assume theyre on GR or Naya. I played a DE today where I encountered 3 straight Naya opponents. I've almost debated running maindeck Naya hate, and that's certainly justified in this meta.
Just blocking them and not seeing what the big deal is is kinda part of the problem.
Abusive players (and this is me speaking as one when I first started playing.) should have no part of this game. Everyone that plays magic, does not go in to an event thinking man, some one is gonna crap all over me, I might as well accept it. No one from a pro tour winner (I've seen people rage out and treat PT Champs like they are card playing morons) to the newest player deserves to be treated with the venom and disdain that these people are capable of spewing.
It's not cool, You're not cool (not speaking to you John Doe) if you do this garbage, you're not cool if you treat a woman, a new player a minority like crap just because you lost. Magic should be an inviting game, not a game that sets up like a kegger one random Saturday night filled with Phi Kappa Tau bros.
If I had to guess, it's probably because MJ started playing Theros Block and said it was the best deck in the format. It took me awhile to figure it out as well, I knew I preferred RG over Mono Black but there wasn't any reason to switch to Naya until you realize that Naya can beat the draws that RG can't against UW/RW Heroic (the ones where they have a creature with more than 3 toughness). As a whole it's not bad that the format is broken, Born of the Gods will come out in less than a month and we'll have a fresh new format.
what surprises me though is that people hadn't figured it out until about Christmas. In the early weeks of the format, the deck was there but it was fringe. When DEs came back, it was in the same place and then suddenly people collectively decided it was the best deck and it started CRUSHING. Looking at the DEs this week, it's bad enough that I'd actually say the format is basically broken now, when a single deck makes up > 60% of winning decks, that's pretty borked (the stats might not continue for the rest of the week, but that's where they're at now).
glad you caught the reference :). After looking at the number of lists that I did, I certainly saw your name popping up a bunch of times, you're clearly doing well with the deck.
I hadn't picked up that connection between pauper getting the shaft and block getting more popular, I'm pretty sure you're on to something there. It'd also explain the upturn in popularity of UW heroic, being the super dirt cheap deck of the format.
From what you quote, it certainly does appear that the ability itself is what carries the limitation, regardless of what kind of card has managed to gain said ability.
Of course, good luck getting MTGO to address that kind of screwy specific bug.
I think that the Quicksilver/Gideon combo is actually a bug for Quicksilver Elemental.
In the article you say "...the limitation on planeswalkers only being able to use their abilities once per turn is inherent to the card type and not the abilities themselves."
But looking at the rules, it appears that the rules actually apply to the abilities and not to the card type. This is copied directly from the rules:
606. Loyalty Abilities
606.1. Some activated abilities are loyalty abilities, which are subject to special rules.
606.2. An activated ability with a loyalty symbol in its cost is a loyalty ability. Normally, only planeswalkers have loyalty abilities.
606.3. A player may activate a loyalty ability of a permanent he or she controls any time he or she has priority and the stack is empty during a main phase of his or her turn, but only if no player has previously activated a loyalty ability of that permanent that turn.
It looks to me like once the Elemental gains Gideon's abilities it should only be able to use them in the same manner that Gideon can use them.
HammyBot - for a very long time is sitting in 6k of tix, i think it will be a good idea to sell the rest to MTGO traders bots - and give the money to hammy wife , it's been to long now - how long do you plan to wait on this - it can take forever to sell all the cards.....
Delver has hands that are unbeatable. I just think that will happen sometimes. I still can't think of a deck that works better against Delver except maybe UB Trinket.
I don't love the AK. I think between Fathom and Mulldrifters (after SB) we have the card draw we need for the matches we need. I'm happy with or without Daze. It's either really great or a big let-down, that card, depending on when you get it.
Pete, Great articles week in and week out. I can certainly relate to having a job and commitments while trying to play mtgo. This is the article I look forward to most every week. I do have one question though, what is your day job (if you do not mind sharing)? Every time you talk about your life I wonder what it is that you do.
I like the top decks recaps here, even if there are other articles about them. I might not play certain formats, but I like to be generally aware of what's going on in them for card speculating or just casual interest purposes. I like that I can get that here by scrolling through on Fridays. That's all I need to know about Format X - a top deck of the week. Just Copy Paste it and link to the Format X article for anyone who wants more info. Maybe someday I'll want more info and I'll click the link.
How did I not catch that?
This is for Theros Block Constructed...
I am surprised there are no Unexpected Results decks making the stats. It seems like Unexpected 4 or 5 color has all the tools to win vs a wide variety of the field without having any serious weaknesses. The scry lands help both with fixing and with setting up the right mana as needed, Detention Sphere + Supreme Verdict hold down the fort against the aggro elements, Obzedat's Aid helps with reanimation and Garruk and Elspeth pull yoeman's duty late game finishing in a variety of fun ways. I am not saying the deck is tier 1 but it seems like it could be a contender. Heck some of the other decks you list are similar enough enough that it makes me wonder why people have rejected it.
Meanwhile until it does grow in popularity I'll be plugging away in Juff knocking down netdecks right and left with it.
You're welcome! The Belcher deck was one of those ones I was thinking of getting around to someday, but since you had already done it, why not give the curious some immediate gratification?
I originally had The Rack or Shrieking Affliction as that slot in the article, then they showed Waste Not with the new frame and all, so I felt it was a neat way for me to show the new frame off in an article. Waste Not will be tested but probably not pan out. (I was going to go with Shrieking Affliction over The Rack since Enchantments are usually harder to remove).
Thanks for the reference to my article.
An interesting list to be sure. I feel like Zur has a lot of room to grow with the potential for some very exciting Enchantments to come out of the subsequent Theros Block sets. Nykthos also has the potential to be a real game changer.
I'm not convinced that Waste Not even fits into the Rack decks that currently exist in Modern, which seems like a fairly damning indictment for it. I think two mana is just too slow but I'm sure people will try it.
Delver seems like it might be seeing a bit of a resurgence in popularity which is interesting.
Homer Simpson: Son, there's only one thing punks like that understand: squealing. You've got to squeal to every teacher and every grown-up you can find. Coming to me was a good start.
My guess is that it was a lot easier to only program Planeswalkers to check the rules for loyalty abilities rather than having all permanents do it. There aren't many creatures that would be able to take advantage of this bug (Experiment Kraj is the only other one I can think of offhand) - so it probably isn't very high in the list of bugs to fix.
Not that there is anything wrong with Frats or Keggers per se. Just they generally don't mix well with social skills and mtg.
Also Jean Doh! (if you don't mind the audio pun) the precedent behind not reporting is a domino effect. If your friends hear your attitude they are more likely to shrug off whatever happens to them so that the wrongdoers get off again and again.
And if you think that not reporting it and just manning up is the way to go then that is your prerogative but that means you don't get a chance to effect change. Now it is true that just because someone is abusive,they are not necessarily terrible people. (Though they may be lacking seriously in some areas.) A conversation may arise out of such a situation if that person is really just blowing off steam and venting a bit. Or they may stop if you call them on it directly, embarrassment outweighing their rage. The idea isn't to get revenge or punish but to ensure that people stop doing it.
The bullying thing is bigger than we may think because of the very nonchalant "rise above it" and "shrug it off" attitudes that are prevalent. It isn't good to fight fire with fire in this case but it is also not good to do nothing. What if you found out that someone you value highly will no longer play the game because of what they experienced in the game? Would it seem like a small deal then? What if their self-esteem issues (outside of the game, granted) triggered from that abuse and they do harm to themselves as a result? The trigger being present isn't the abuser's fault. But the abuse is. It is inexcusable because the price paid isn't just by one person but the community as a whole.
Blocking is a good answer if you feel unable to cope with a direct confrontation or to prevent yourself from escalating it. But it isn't enough if you want to keep it from recurring.
I would have to agree, format is pretty broken. I just won't keep hands without Caryatid/Satyr cause I always assume theyre on GR or Naya. I played a DE today where I encountered 3 straight Naya opponents. I've almost debated running maindeck Naya hate, and that's certainly justified in this meta.
Just blocking them and not seeing what the big deal is is kinda part of the problem.
Abusive players (and this is me speaking as one when I first started playing.) should have no part of this game. Everyone that plays magic, does not go in to an event thinking man, some one is gonna crap all over me, I might as well accept it. No one from a pro tour winner (I've seen people rage out and treat PT Champs like they are card playing morons) to the newest player deserves to be treated with the venom and disdain that these people are capable of spewing.
It's not cool, You're not cool (not speaking to you John Doe) if you do this garbage, you're not cool if you treat a woman, a new player a minority like crap just because you lost. Magic should be an inviting game, not a game that sets up like a kegger one random Saturday night filled with Phi Kappa Tau bros.
If I had to guess, it's probably because MJ started playing Theros Block and said it was the best deck in the format. It took me awhile to figure it out as well, I knew I preferred RG over Mono Black but there wasn't any reason to switch to Naya until you realize that Naya can beat the draws that RG can't against UW/RW Heroic (the ones where they have a creature with more than 3 toughness). As a whole it's not bad that the format is broken, Born of the Gods will come out in less than a month and we'll have a fresh new format.
I used Vorosh a long time ago, like my 17th article or something. If you check out my archives you should see it.
I just block them. I don't see what the big deal is.
what surprises me though is that people hadn't figured it out until about Christmas. In the early weeks of the format, the deck was there but it was fringe. When DEs came back, it was in the same place and then suddenly people collectively decided it was the best deck and it started CRUSHING. Looking at the DEs this week, it's bad enough that I'd actually say the format is basically broken now, when a single deck makes up > 60% of winning decks, that's pretty borked (the stats might not continue for the rest of the week, but that's where they're at now).
glad you caught the reference :). After looking at the number of lists that I did, I certainly saw your name popping up a bunch of times, you're clearly doing well with the deck.
I hadn't picked up that connection between pauper getting the shaft and block getting more popular, I'm pretty sure you're on to something there. It'd also explain the upturn in popularity of UW heroic, being the super dirt cheap deck of the format.
That's a good catch.
From what you quote, it certainly does appear that the ability itself is what carries the limitation, regardless of what kind of card has managed to gain said ability.
Of course, good luck getting MTGO to address that kind of screwy specific bug.
With Commander2013 out, I guess Oloro might also be a good choice for the WUB-version...
Anyway, keep up - I really enjoy your articles.
P.S.
Have you thought about using Vorosh as a commander (or maybe Damia)?
I think that the Quicksilver/Gideon combo is actually a bug for Quicksilver Elemental.
In the article you say "...the limitation on planeswalkers only being able to use their abilities once per turn is inherent to the card type and not the abilities themselves."
But looking at the rules, it appears that the rules actually apply to the abilities and not to the card type. This is copied directly from the rules:
606. Loyalty Abilities
606.1. Some activated abilities are loyalty abilities, which are subject to special rules.
606.2. An activated ability with a loyalty symbol in its cost is a loyalty ability. Normally, only planeswalkers have loyalty abilities.
606.3. A player may activate a loyalty ability of a permanent he or she controls any time he or she has priority and the stack is empty during a main phase of his or her turn, but only if no player has previously activated a loyalty ability of that permanent that turn.
It looks to me like once the Elemental gains Gideon's abilities it should only be able to use them in the same manner that Gideon can use them.
HammyBot - for a very long time is sitting in 6k of tix, i think it will be a good idea to sell the rest to MTGO traders bots - and give the money to hammy wife , it's been to long now - how long do you plan to wait on this - it can take forever to sell all the cards.....
Quicksand didn't come up tbh, and yeah AK is kindy iffy. I think I'm going back to Daze and more tweaks.
Delver has hands that are unbeatable. I just think that will happen sometimes. I still can't think of a deck that works better against Delver except maybe UB Trinket.
I don't love the AK. I think between Fathom and Mulldrifters (after SB) we have the card draw we need for the matches we need. I'm happy with or without Daze. It's either really great or a big let-down, that card, depending on when you get it.
What do you think of the one-of Quicksand?
Pete, Great articles week in and week out. I can certainly relate to having a job and commitments while trying to play mtgo. This is the article I look forward to most every week. I do have one question though, what is your day job (if you do not mind sharing)? Every time you talk about your life I wonder what it is that you do.
I like the top decks recaps here, even if there are other articles about them. I might not play certain formats, but I like to be generally aware of what's going on in them for card speculating or just casual interest purposes. I like that I can get that here by scrolling through on Fridays. That's all I need to know about Format X - a top deck of the week. Just Copy Paste it and link to the Format X article for anyone who wants more info. Maybe someday I'll want more info and I'll click the link.
i thought so.
Twoo has a large following of people that love his decks, if he was working on an egg deck and it was doing ok, he would want his followers to know.