I think the deck is still quite inexpensive when you compare it to other standard builds. Nylea and Polukranos are the biggest offenders, so maybe a solution would be to suggest budget-friendly replacements.
Perhaps you should retitle your series "brewing on a bigger than average budget" or something akin. Many of the cards in that deck are fairly pricy, especially right now. Give them a couple months and many may hit the bargain bins but right now they going for multiple tix.
Brainstorm probably helps, but I think the simplest answer is Oath is the best blue deck against Shops and Shops are the best deck in Classic, ergo Oath is the best blue deck in Classic. It also helps that there aren't a lot of creatureless or near-creatureless decks seeing a lot of play in Classic right now.
I ended up playing Fishy's deck in Round 4. Basically, the idea as I understand it is to lay down Cavern, play uncounterable guys that double as disruption, draw cards with Sky Hussar, play more annoying creatures, and then finally play Hussar, untap with everything and hit you with an alpha strike of dudes. At least that's what he did to me Game 1. Game 2, I had a back-breaking Balance that Wrathed and Mind Twisted him and Game 3, I lost to my own Mana Crypt after I finally stabilized with a Terminus. Also, I think Bodyguard is there because you don't have to tap it to use its ability and it's on curve.
Funny that Rick published an almost mono-black draft with Abhorrent Overlord concurrently with yours. :)
And he has almost the opposite opinion on mono-black on the format. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, but you guys should compare notes. :)
I assume, it would look like something of this sort.
2 Bident of Thassa
4 Voyage's End
3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
3 Annul
2 Mnemonic Wall
4 Artisan of Forms
4 Dissolve
4 Omenspeaker
4 Triton Shorethief
4 Master of Waves
4 Thassa, God of the Sea
20 Island
2 Meletis Charlatan
- Pauper Harley (and I really hope you get the "Hot Shots!" reference)
- Pauper-Leaf Angel or some other card with "Copper" in its title
- MMMpaup (k Ill stop now)
Pauper?? I don't even know 'er!!
The Princely Pauper
A Common Serf
Pauper's Cage *
Common Bond *
Common Cause *
Common Courtesy *
Common Criminal
Common Theme
Common Thread
A Common Problem
Yeah, it does seem like the merchant is way better than I initially gave it credit for (I have been on a receiving end of a couple since I recorded this draft last week). Maybe it's the good common creature I was missing?
Still, black keeps being my least favorite color, especially due to the lack of good combat tricks. I don't see myself jumping into it P1P1 unless I open the uncommon deathtouch mostrosity gorgon or one of the good rares. More often than not, I'll have commons that are as good as the Merchant in colors that are deeper.
I have to say, though I haven't played many drafts, Black is my least favourite colour in Theros Draft. A lot of the black commons seem pretty underwhelming and as you said unless you find some bomb rares or uncommons in that colour I would generally avoid it.
I find it interesting you are down on black as much as you are, but twice (!) during the draft you passed what is widely considered blacks best common - Gray Merchant of Asphodel. Having played black as my main in color in most of my drafts, the merchant is amazing and black overall seems great.
Yeah, this was an interesting experience. Some games I was targeted early, some games I wasn't. Check out the vids to see how people played against me. I did notice that Skittles was always targeted for tucking though. Even the people that complained about him never conceded on sight, like I used to see back in the day.
After playing the deck I'm just not sure how much of a "single card win" he really is. Unassisted he still takes 3 hits to take an opponent out, similar to cards like Karrthus, Maelstrom Wanderer and Borborygmos. And I would argue that Wanderer is more powerful. I dunno, it was a learning experience, and made me realize that Skittles isn't the huge bogeyman I originally thought he was.
The issue I see with all the PT mono lists is the vast majority of the cards in the decks are from RTR. The blue creatures in Theros just aren't that strong. People will definitely try to make the deck work though
I think with mono u going to be so big in std; that people will try it in block. With 3-4 copies of Annul main. Solves the god problems, with just 1 mana. I was actually coming up with a list. Blue does not get good card draw, but it sets up the draws nicely. With 4 dissolve, 4 voyage's end, and 3-4 annul; it should be ok. Maybe not as good as mono b, but we won't know that until we practice.
I think it's less of an issue with whether it's cheating or not than whether people actually enjoy seeing it at the table. If a certain commander gets focused every game without fail, you really have to wonder whether that card is good for the format. I am usually against banning cards in casual formats - I think people should be able to use their own judgement when deciding how to enjoy a game in a social setting - but it's really a bit counter-productive to promote single-card-win strategies in a 100cs format (especially if that card is the commander).
The beta has been a disaster from the start. It does not a new company to fix it. It needs a new company to do a completely new program. Or better yet, drop the beta and just fix the program we have now.
I think the deck is still quite inexpensive when you compare it to other standard builds. Nylea and Polukranos are the biggest offenders, so maybe a solution would be to suggest budget-friendly replacements.
The Sounds of J-Paup could be another good podcast name. (or whatever J-Pop pun you prefer)
Perhaps you should retitle your series "brewing on a bigger than average budget" or something akin. Many of the cards in that deck are fairly pricy, especially right now. Give them a couple months and many may hit the bargain bins but right now they going for multiple tix.
Brainstorm probably helps, but I think the simplest answer is Oath is the best blue deck against Shops and Shops are the best deck in Classic, ergo Oath is the best blue deck in Classic. It also helps that there aren't a lot of creatureless or near-creatureless decks seeing a lot of play in Classic right now.
I ended up playing Fishy's deck in Round 4. Basically, the idea as I understand it is to lay down Cavern, play uncounterable guys that double as disruption, draw cards with Sky Hussar, play more annoying creatures, and then finally play Hussar, untap with everything and hit you with an alpha strike of dudes. At least that's what he did to me Game 1. Game 2, I had a back-breaking Balance that Wrathed and Mind Twisted him and Game 3, I lost to my own Mana Crypt after I finally stabilized with a Terminus. Also, I think Bodyguard is there because you don't have to tap it to use its ability and it's on curve.
Another nice cast! Thanks for doing this, guys.
Michael
Anyone sorry if this look bad or anything. This is my first article. I plan to do more if I can hopefully on a less "dry" subject. Thanks.
Prince of Paupers
MMM Paup sounds like a really good name for a podcast!
This is why they both went up today, it was unplanned by the writers, but I liked the two voices presented in their opinions on mono black
Funny that Rick published an almost mono-black draft with Abhorrent Overlord concurrently with yours. :)
And he has almost the opposite opinion on mono-black on the format. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle, but you guys should compare notes. :)
The current client has a number of fatal flaws that cannot be fixed. A new architecture is needed. Just not sure the Wide Beta is that architecture.
I assume, it would look like something of this sort.
2 Bident of Thassa
4 Voyage's End
3 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
3 Annul
2 Mnemonic Wall
4 Artisan of Forms
4 Dissolve
4 Omenspeaker
4 Triton Shorethief
4 Master of Waves
4 Thassa, God of the Sea
20 Island
2 Meletis Charlatan
- Pauper Harley (and I really hope you get the "Hot Shots!" reference)
- Pauper-Leaf Angel or some other card with "Copper" in its title
- MMMpaup (k Ill stop now)
I like hex parasite / deadly grub for insects deck...LOL
The Mammas and the Paupers
Paup Secret
Once you Paup, you can't stop
Pauper or Plastic?
The Morning Pauper
Common Sense (props to Leviathan for showing you can branch out in other ways!)
Project P.O.P.R. (make up whatever you want for the those...)
Pauper?? I don't even know 'er!!
The Princely Pauper
A Common Serf
Pauper's Cage *
Common Bond *
Common Cause *
Common Courtesy *
Common Criminal
Common Theme
Common Thread
A Common Problem
* name's of actual cards if that matters
Yeah, it does seem like the merchant is way better than I initially gave it credit for (I have been on a receiving end of a couple since I recorded this draft last week). Maybe it's the good common creature I was missing?
Still, black keeps being my least favorite color, especially due to the lack of good combat tricks. I don't see myself jumping into it P1P1 unless I open the uncommon deathtouch mostrosity gorgon or one of the good rares. More often than not, I'll have commons that are as good as the Merchant in colors that are deeper.
I have to say, though I haven't played many drafts, Black is my least favourite colour in Theros Draft. A lot of the black commons seem pretty underwhelming and as you said unless you find some bomb rares or uncommons in that colour I would generally avoid it.
The All Pauper Review
Pauper for the Players
Pauper's Back Yard
The Pauper Hang Out
I find it interesting you are down on black as much as you are, but twice (!) during the draft you passed what is widely considered blacks best common - Gray Merchant of Asphodel. Having played black as my main in color in most of my drafts, the merchant is amazing and black overall seems great.
Yeah, this was an interesting experience. Some games I was targeted early, some games I wasn't. Check out the vids to see how people played against me. I did notice that Skittles was always targeted for tucking though. Even the people that complained about him never conceded on sight, like I used to see back in the day.
After playing the deck I'm just not sure how much of a "single card win" he really is. Unassisted he still takes 3 hits to take an opponent out, similar to cards like Karrthus, Maelstrom Wanderer and Borborygmos. And I would argue that Wanderer is more powerful. I dunno, it was a learning experience, and made me realize that Skittles isn't the huge bogeyman I originally thought he was.
The issue I see with all the PT mono lists is the vast majority of the cards in the decks are from RTR. The blue creatures in Theros just aren't that strong. People will definitely try to make the deck work though
I think with mono u going to be so big in std; that people will try it in block. With 3-4 copies of Annul main. Solves the god problems, with just 1 mana. I was actually coming up with a list. Blue does not get good card draw, but it sets up the draws nicely. With 4 dissolve, 4 voyage's end, and 3-4 annul; it should be ok. Maybe not as good as mono b, but we won't know that until we practice.
I think it's less of an issue with whether it's cheating or not than whether people actually enjoy seeing it at the table. If a certain commander gets focused every game without fail, you really have to wonder whether that card is good for the format. I am usually against banning cards in casual formats - I think people should be able to use their own judgement when deciding how to enjoy a game in a social setting - but it's really a bit counter-productive to promote single-card-win strategies in a 100cs format (especially if that card is the commander).
Sorry for punting the finals, Zach. Or, rather, you're welcome...?:P
The beta has been a disaster from the start. It does not a new company to fix it. It needs a new company to do a completely new program. Or better yet, drop the beta and just fix the program we have now.