The fact that the heroic aggro deck can be built for about 5 dollars will undoubtedly keep some people working on it. Maybe some of the deck's better pilots are going 3-1 consistently and making bank that way, no way to know anymore. It looked like a skill-intensive deck for limited specialists on my first impressions, but with the slew of unplayable hands you've highlighted, I'm doubting it can be consistent enough to 4-0 dailies.
Mono-black would otherwise look like the "budget deck" of the format, since it doesn't require mythics, but it uses playsets of two extremely high-demand rares in Thoughtseize and Hero's Downfall that are nearly as expensive as all but the two most pricey cards in the set.
I expect that, given the history of INN and RTR block constructed, some folks are probably taking it as a welcome reprieve that there isn't a budget aggro deck enjoying a huge slice of that Metagame Pie this time around.
Thanks for listening. We are in the process of getting a new RSS feed set up and hope to have that up and running in the next few weeks. Sorry about the inconvenience.
Grey merchant is certainly one of the strongest commons, but it's generally a difficult card to "force," and if you're not heavily black, it goes from stellar to mediocre. So it can be very swingy, plus Coordinated Assault can be anywhere from decent to amazing in some decks, and will get in any deck that has a little red and do good work.
That's not to say it would be bad or wrong to take Merchant there.
Also, if you look at my last draft, here, you'll see a RG-based result:
I've been a huge fan of the podcast for a long time, but after it disappeared from the MTGCast network I haven't be able to find it anywhere on iTunes (or any other feeds). Is there a podcast RSS feed set-up, or is the only way to get it by manually downloading it from here?
Eternal Dragon is one of my favorite cards of all time! It brings me back to my very first trip to Nationals, where everyone was playing affinity and I was having sucess with a white-green control deck running 4 Oxidize, 4 Molder Slug, and 4 Akroma's Vengeance in the maindeck. Ah, those were the days. :)
Good stuff, I enjoyed looking over these decks and seeing cards that I would normally pass over (Scrib Nibblers!). One thing though, I've seen several people play Reverent Hunter and have been severely unimpressed. Maybe they just didn't put enough Devotion stuff in their deck, but I've never seen it bigger than a 3/3. Don't know what kind of success you've had with it.
I would be hard pressed to avoid playing Dark Prophecy and Bitterblossom in the Erebos deck too.
Interesting draft too. I thought you had multiple opportunities to draft a different, potentially stronger deck (RU, RG for example). I completely disagreed with most of your draft choices in the first pack. For instance, I thought it was common wisdom take the grey merchant for your first pick if you see it, just in case you know it becomes relevant? Yet your deck end up 3-0 so what do I know!
Loving the Theros drafting at the moment. So many different strategies and tricks, the set is so deep. Now if you could try and draft a successful RG deck please I'd be really grateful!
Oona Queen of the Fae, i like her as my General. Downside is I need lots of Mana. If you have a problem writing your essay, worry no more because write my essay can help you solve your problem. Check it out to know how.
I've been a huge fan of the podcast for a long time, but after it disappeared from the MTGCast network I haven't be able to find it anywhere on iTunes (or any other feeds). Is there a podcast RSS feed set-up, or is the only way to get it by manually downloading it from here?
I've been a huge fan of the podcast for a long time, but after it disappeared from the MTGCast network I haven't be able to find it anywhere on iTunes (or any other feeds). Is there a podcast RSS feed set-up, or is the only way to get it by manually downloading it from here?
It could be that they were able to renegotiate or prchase extensions for the rights for some of these, but not others. Not sure. Lotus and the Moxen are all Christopher Rush, and other Christopher Rush art from early sets was in MED, so could be. Maybe Wizards just wants more use out of the art they originally Commissioned for the Vintage Champs.
At first I thought your thoughts about Wizards not holding digital rights for very old cards might be true. However, so far they have "reprinted" cards with old artworks whenever they wanted. They even have Alpha art from most artists online, that did power nine pieces, even for pieces that had the exact same lifespan as the power nine (ABU). There are Christopher Rush, Dan Frazier, Mark Poole, Amy Weber, and Mark Tedin. Examples would be Berserk (Dan Frazier), Time Vault (Mark Tedin), Illusionary Mask & Copper Tablet (Amy Weber), Gauntlet of Might (Christopher Rush). It would be pretty weird if they did hold all the rights except for the power nine, don't you think?
The original P9 art exists on MTGO already. It will simply be a matter of locating the new art files and replacing them - and they may already be there, I have not looked for some time.
A little off-topic, but would it be too difficult to give us a setting to switch between new and old frames for cards? This seems like a simple change that would add a lot of joy to some players experience.
Thanks for the comments dude. My co-casters are indifferent to the fact they logon with out clan account and don't distinguish who left comments, but I am assuming the above is Josh as there were no "afficiando" references.
The difference between the sky hussar point and the selkie point is hussar draws one singular card off basically 3 (2 taps and one in hand), while selkie draws one for each of your exalted dudes pending contact to their FACE, but I can see where you are coming from.
Do you have contact info for Ethan Fleischer? I'd reach out to him personally if so, seems like a great idea.
Really appreciate you listening each week and giving feedback. Really good stuff!
Vintage: I generally agree with what you guys said about it. I will add that I think the two most important reprints would be Force and Wasteland. If LED, Port, and Misdirection don't get reprinted, not very many people will play with those cards. If Force and Wasteland don't get reprinted, not very many people will play Vintage. As for art, I agree that the new Moxen art leaves much to be desired, but as long as they cost zero and tap for mana, that's all that matters to me. I even bought the crappy-looking versions of Sol Ring and Demonic Tutor to save a couple bucks.
If you do try to get someone from Wizards on, one interesting person to consider might be Ethan Fleischer from R&D. I know he's pretty enthusiastic about Vintage and lurks on The Mana Drain. He probably wouldn't know too much as far as purely online-related stuff like how long they plan on running the drafts, etc, but he would be interesting to talk to in terms of just the design philosophy and choices about what goes into the set. Obviously, probably not much has been decided now and who knows how busy he is, but he might be interesting to try and reach out to as the release gets closer.
Classic: I liked how you guys were making the same point I was making regarding Edric v. Selkie when you were talking about Sky Hussar. :) Also, I like Tarmogoyf, even though he isn't seeing much play as of late. He's a dumb beater, but sometimes you just need a dumb beater to finish off the game. I'm only running 1 because I have GSZ, but I'd definitely run more if I didn't have Zenith in my deck.
To me that Master of the Hunt picture brings back the urge to slap whoever hired Jeff Menges on the face. Unless he was someone's 12-year-old kid. Still, my friend's 8-year-old daughter does better art. Just look at those dogs! Other than horribly rendered, they're shepherd dogs! They don't make any sense nor they convey any feeling associated with a wild hunt.
I also need to poing out that Fire Dragon works kind any ETB ability. There is errata. Check Gatherer. Again, another one I use in Zirilan, so I noticed,
The fact that the heroic aggro deck can be built for about 5 dollars will undoubtedly keep some people working on it. Maybe some of the deck's better pilots are going 3-1 consistently and making bank that way, no way to know anymore. It looked like a skill-intensive deck for limited specialists on my first impressions, but with the slew of unplayable hands you've highlighted, I'm doubting it can be consistent enough to 4-0 dailies.
Mono-black would otherwise look like the "budget deck" of the format, since it doesn't require mythics, but it uses playsets of two extremely high-demand rares in Thoughtseize and Hero's Downfall that are nearly as expensive as all but the two most pricey cards in the set.
I expect that, given the history of INN and RTR block constructed, some folks are probably taking it as a welcome reprieve that there isn't a budget aggro deck enjoying a huge slice of that Metagame Pie this time around.
Thanks for listening. We are in the process of getting a new RSS feed set up and hope to have that up and running in the next few weeks. Sorry about the inconvenience.
It would be super if you would playlist your drafts on youtube.
Grey merchant is certainly one of the strongest commons, but it's generally a difficult card to "force," and if you're not heavily black, it goes from stellar to mediocre. So it can be very swingy, plus Coordinated Assault can be anywhere from decent to amazing in some decks, and will get in any deck that has a little red and do good work.
That's not to say it would be bad or wrong to take Merchant there.
Also, if you look at my last draft, here, you'll see a RG-based result:
http://puremtgo.com/articles/theros-2-now-something-little-different
Thanks for the response.
Hi Guys,
I've been a huge fan of the podcast for a long time, but after it disappeared from the MTGCast network I haven't be able to find it anywhere on iTunes (or any other feeds). Is there a podcast RSS feed set-up, or is the only way to get it by manually downloading it from here?
Cheers
Eternal Dragon is one of my favorite cards of all time! It brings me back to my very first trip to Nationals, where everyone was playing affinity and I was having sucess with a white-green control deck running 4 Oxidize, 4 Molder Slug, and 4 Akroma's Vengeance in the maindeck. Ah, those were the days. :)
Good stuff, I enjoyed looking over these decks and seeing cards that I would normally pass over (Scrib Nibblers!). One thing though, I've seen several people play Reverent Hunter and have been severely unimpressed. Maybe they just didn't put enough Devotion stuff in their deck, but I've never seen it bigger than a 3/3. Don't know what kind of success you've had with it.
I would be hard pressed to avoid playing Dark Prophecy and Bitterblossom in the Erebos deck too.
Always satisfying beating an a**e. Good job!
Interesting draft too. I thought you had multiple opportunities to draft a different, potentially stronger deck (RU, RG for example). I completely disagreed with most of your draft choices in the first pack. For instance, I thought it was common wisdom take the grey merchant for your first pick if you see it, just in case you know it becomes relevant? Yet your deck end up 3-0 so what do I know!
Loving the Theros drafting at the moment. So many different strategies and tricks, the set is so deep. Now if you could try and draft a successful RG deck please I'd be really grateful!
Oona Queen of the Fae, i like her as my General. Downside is I need lots of Mana. If you have a problem writing your essay, worry no more because write my essay can help you solve your problem. Check it out to know how.
Hi Guys,
I've been a huge fan of the podcast for a long time, but after it disappeared from the MTGCast network I haven't be able to find it anywhere on iTunes (or any other feeds). Is there a podcast RSS feed set-up, or is the only way to get it by manually downloading it from here?
Cheers
Hi Guys,
I've been a huge fan of the podcast for a long time, but after it disappeared from the MTGCast network I haven't be able to find it anywhere on iTunes (or any other feeds). Is there a podcast RSS feed set-up, or is the only way to get it by manually downloading it from here?
Cheers
It could be that they were able to renegotiate or prchase extensions for the rights for some of these, but not others. Not sure. Lotus and the Moxen are all Christopher Rush, and other Christopher Rush art from early sets was in MED, so could be. Maybe Wizards just wants more use out of the art they originally Commissioned for the Vintage Champs.
Thanks for the continuing suport! :)
I've already uploaded a Theros Block Constructed 8-man event, and will work on getting those dailies up soon enough.
At first I thought your thoughts about Wizards not holding digital rights for very old cards might be true. However, so far they have "reprinted" cards with old artworks whenever they wanted. They even have Alpha art from most artists online, that did power nine pieces, even for pieces that had the exact same lifespan as the power nine (ABU). There are Christopher Rush, Dan Frazier, Mark Poole, Amy Weber, and Mark Tedin. Examples would be Berserk (Dan Frazier), Time Vault (Mark Tedin), Illusionary Mask & Copper Tablet (Amy Weber), Gauntlet of Might (Christopher Rush). It would be pretty weird if they did hold all the rights except for the power nine, don't you think?
The original P9 art exists on MTGO already. It will simply be a matter of locating the new art files and replacing them - and they may already be there, I have not looked for some time.
A little off-topic, but would it be too difficult to give us a setting to switch between new and old frames for cards? This seems like a simple change that would add a lot of joy to some players experience.
He has a twitter account @EthanFleischer and it looks like there is a contact form to send an email to him at the bottom of his articles on the Wizards site. It looks like the last one he did is right here: http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/2...
That's a great idea Mr. Leebs.
I'll look for one that I would play - but you should also take it with a grain of salt, as I know what I don't know in vintage, and it's a LOT!
Thanks for listening and the comments bro. Always appreciated!
Zach
Worst art has to be the promo bloodstained mire! That card gives me an "innie" each time I see it...
Thanks for the comments dude. My co-casters are indifferent to the fact they logon with out clan account and don't distinguish who left comments, but I am assuming the above is Josh as there were no "afficiando" references.
The difference between the sky hussar point and the selkie point is hussar draws one singular card off basically 3 (2 taps and one in hand), while selkie draws one for each of your exalted dudes pending contact to their FACE, but I can see where you are coming from.
Do you have contact info for Ethan Fleischer? I'd reach out to him personally if so, seems like a great idea.
Really appreciate you listening each week and giving feedback. Really good stuff!
Zach
Enjoyed the cast, guys.
Vintage: I generally agree with what you guys said about it. I will add that I think the two most important reprints would be Force and Wasteland. If LED, Port, and Misdirection don't get reprinted, not very many people will play with those cards. If Force and Wasteland don't get reprinted, not very many people will play Vintage. As for art, I agree that the new Moxen art leaves much to be desired, but as long as they cost zero and tap for mana, that's all that matters to me. I even bought the crappy-looking versions of Sol Ring and Demonic Tutor to save a couple bucks.
If you do try to get someone from Wizards on, one interesting person to consider might be Ethan Fleischer from R&D. I know he's pretty enthusiastic about Vintage and lurks on The Mana Drain. He probably wouldn't know too much as far as purely online-related stuff like how long they plan on running the drafts, etc, but he would be interesting to talk to in terms of just the design philosophy and choices about what goes into the set. Obviously, probably not much has been decided now and who knows how busy he is, but he might be interesting to try and reach out to as the release gets closer.
Classic: I liked how you guys were making the same point I was making regarding Edric v. Selkie when you were talking about Sky Hussar. :) Also, I like Tarmogoyf, even though he isn't seeing much play as of late. He's a dumb beater, but sometimes you just need a dumb beater to finish off the game. I'm only running 1 because I have GSZ, but I'd definitely run more if I didn't have Zenith in my deck.
Actually, the Modern PTQ season for 2014 is June 07- August 24, 2014. They changed it up. Details at this link, way at the bottom of the article.
http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcove...
Yah I agree GB, that Demonic was terrible. I just want the original p9 in all its splendor on modo. Hate those silver new art p9.
Love everything Foglio. It's a shame that there are not cards by either of them
To me that Master of the Hunt picture brings back the urge to slap whoever hired Jeff Menges on the face. Unless he was someone's 12-year-old kid. Still, my friend's 8-year-old daughter does better art. Just look at those dogs! Other than horribly rendered, they're shepherd dogs! They don't make any sense nor they convey any feeling associated with a wild hunt.
I also need to poing out that Fire Dragon works kind any ETB ability. There is errata. Check Gatherer. Again, another one I use in Zirilan, so I noticed,