Today was Zendikar Game Day. I decided to go, since it was essentially FNM + 3 bucks and extra prizes. Not bad. We ended up with exactly 17 people showing up, so it was 5 rounds of Swiss into top 8. X-2 was enough to make it in by my calculations.
I got my Nissa's Chosen and gushed over it (I almost wish I was playing R/G Elves, since that Chosen looks SO DAMN COOL!) and then it was on to the first round.
Round 1 vs. U/B Mill
First round, he came out of the gates, and I drew very few creatures. I drew a Bloodbraid Elf with 8 cards left in my library, and he Mind Funeraled me. Sadly, out of those 8 cards, only 3 were land.
Game 2 I had Anathemancers in just as another guy to replace my removal. I managed to get double Bloodbraid Elf and kill him.
Game 3 I was hitting him and he played Nemesis of Reason. I swung with Sprouting Thrinax and Bloodbraid Elf (into Putrid Leech) and he killed the Thrinax, just as I planned. Sure he Doom Bladed the Elf, but meh. What happened next is something I'm not sure about.
He declared an attack with Nemesis of Reason, then said 'Wait no, play Traumatize first'. I said that he'd declared an attack, and he swung, knocked me to 14 cards (I killed the Nemesis) then Traumatized me to 7. It turned out it didn't matter in the end, as I killed him next turn, but since it was REL 1, should I have let him take it back? I'd appreciate feedback on this for next time.
1-0
Round 2 vs. Mono-White
She was running a deck with Baneslayers, Emeria, and various soldiers with Honor of the Pure. She had a fair bit of removal as well. I can't remember much of this round, but I do remember going 2-1.
2-0
Round 3 vs. Vampires
Game 1 he played some guys, but I played some better guys. Not much to it.
Game 2 I knocked him to 5, but he Tendrilled for about 8 and played Malakir Bloodwitch and was able to defeat me handily.
Game 3 I took him to 2 before he stabilised, but I had the Lightning Bolt.
3-0
Round 4 vs. Jund
I offer the ID, but he declines for whatever reason, so we end up playing it out.
Round 1 he's playing Borderland Ranger, which is odd. He eventually kills me with Broodmate Dragon.
Round 2 about the same thing happens, but I get a Bituminous Blast. It cascades into an Elf cascading into a Thrinax, but he plays another Broodmate. Despite my Deathmark, he gets through for the win.
Afterwards he tells me he runs 4 Broodmates but no Leeches. He runs Borderland Ranger as a source of card advantage.
3-1
Round 5 vs. ID
I offer the draw to him, and explain my reasoning, and he accepts.
3-1-1
I make Top 8, and we go into single elimination.
Top 8 vs. Luminarch Control
I go up against the guy who ID'ed with me last round. Game 1 I knock him down to 3, but he gets Luminarch active with 8 mana. I die.
Game 2 I manage to simply answer every real threat he plays, with Pulses for the Ascension and Wall of Reverence, and Bituminous Blast for the World Queller. My board overwhelms him.
Game 3 he draws triple Path, double O-Ring, and Journey to Nowhere. I knock him down to literally 1, but he gets Wall of Reverence and active Ascension, stifling my attempts to win.
Eliminated in Top 8.
And that's my tournament. I get a very nice-looking foil full-art Emeria Angel. The guy playing Luminarch Control ends up eliminated against the Jund guy who beat me, and the Mill deck makes the finals against Jund Guy. Jund Guy wins the whole tournament, but doesn't get his certificate since it's not in Australia yet.
I then proceed to get my prize packs, choosing M10, and out of my first pack, see a Garruk staring back at me. I show it to a couple of people, and proclaim it's going straight in my Jund deck. I then open the second pack, only to find ANOTHER GARRUK WILDSPEAKER! The whole store exclaims at my luck, and I immediately slot them both into my Jund deck. That was very damn lucky.
And that's the Game Day! I had a great time, and am definitely going to attend the Worldwake Game Day, and hopefully do better that time! I would recommend the Worldwake Game Day to anyone thinking of attending: it's like an FNM, but with more prizes! What more could you ask for?
Until next time!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
How To Use Magic Workstation Part 3 - Playing The Game
Welcome back to How To Use Magic Workstation. Previously we've covered setting it up and making your deck, and today we'll cover the more common commands in a game of Magic Workstation.
When you start playing, press Ctrl + S a couple of times to shuffle your deck. You can chat with your opponent with the chat box, but most are there to just play. A simple 'hi' will suffice. Ctrl + I rolls a 20-sided dice, to see who goes first. Once you decide, press Ctrl + M to mulligan (Mulliganing from 0 draws 7 cards). until you're happy with your hand.
During your turn, you can play cards from your hand by dragging them from your hand to the field. You tap a card by right-clicking and selecting tap, or double-clicking. You can also click and drag a box to tap several permanents at once, say for a big spell or large attack.
Ctrl + D draws you a card, which you'll need sooner or later. To attack, go to the Declare Attackers step (the phases are at the top left of your half of the screen. You don't need to worry too much about them in a casual pick-up match unless the play is complex.) and right-click to choose Declare Attack.
To untap your permanents, use Ctrl + U, and to end the turn, press Ctrl + Enter. It's customary to say 'End my turn' or something similar, and your opponent will then end your turn for you assuming he has no EOT effects. You do the same for him.
Now that you know the basics, here's a rule of thumb for advanced functions. When in doubt, right-click. You need to search your library? Right-click your library and select the option. If right-clicking doesn't help, go to the Card menu on the bar at the top. That should teach you 99% of what you need to know. If you still don't know, ask your opponent.
Enjoy MWS! Next week: Etiquette of MWS. It's actually pretty important.
When you start playing, press Ctrl + S a couple of times to shuffle your deck. You can chat with your opponent with the chat box, but most are there to just play. A simple 'hi' will suffice. Ctrl + I rolls a 20-sided dice, to see who goes first. Once you decide, press Ctrl + M to mulligan (Mulliganing from 0 draws 7 cards). until you're happy with your hand.
During your turn, you can play cards from your hand by dragging them from your hand to the field. You tap a card by right-clicking and selecting tap, or double-clicking. You can also click and drag a box to tap several permanents at once, say for a big spell or large attack.
Ctrl + D draws you a card, which you'll need sooner or later. To attack, go to the Declare Attackers step (the phases are at the top left of your half of the screen. You don't need to worry too much about them in a casual pick-up match unless the play is complex.) and right-click to choose Declare Attack.
To untap your permanents, use Ctrl + U, and to end the turn, press Ctrl + Enter. It's customary to say 'End my turn' or something similar, and your opponent will then end your turn for you assuming he has no EOT effects. You do the same for him.
Now that you know the basics, here's a rule of thumb for advanced functions. When in doubt, right-click. You need to search your library? Right-click your library and select the option. If right-clicking doesn't help, go to the Card menu on the bar at the top. That should teach you 99% of what you need to know. If you still don't know, ask your opponent.
Enjoy MWS! Next week: Etiquette of MWS. It's actually pretty important.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Fetch A Shockland: Part 1 - A Journey Into Extended
Hello, new and returning readers and welcome to my newest series: Fetch A Shockland. This series will chronicle my journeys into learning more about Extended as a format, and becoming more skilled in playing it. This first post will be all about the introduction: where I am now, and where I intend to go.
I know a bit about Extended already. I know the major players in the format and I keep a casual view of the metagame. So here's my current, immature analysis of the metagame:
The major players are Zoo, Faeries, Next Level Blue, Hypergenesis, and recently Dark Depths. Various Rock decks including Death Cloud also exist in some capacity. Dredge is a rogue deck that comes and goes in cycles. Everyone forgets about it, and it strikes. Everyone boards in hate, and it dies. People stop boarding in hate, and forget about it. It strikes again.
The deck I intend to begin with is Zoo. It's the only really Tier 1 aggressive deck, but comes in a few flavours. Here are the decks I considered:
Rubin Zoo
Pros:
Homework: Play 10 matches of Rubin Zoo (either through real-life, proxies, MODO or MWS, I'm really not picky).
I know a bit about Extended already. I know the major players in the format and I keep a casual view of the metagame. So here's my current, immature analysis of the metagame:
The major players are Zoo, Faeries, Next Level Blue, Hypergenesis, and recently Dark Depths. Various Rock decks including Death Cloud also exist in some capacity. Dredge is a rogue deck that comes and goes in cycles. Everyone forgets about it, and it strikes. Everyone boards in hate, and it dies. People stop boarding in hate, and forget about it. It strikes again.
The deck I intend to begin with is Zoo. It's the only really Tier 1 aggressive deck, but comes in a few flavours. Here are the decks I considered:
Rubin Zoo
Pros:
- Has controllish elements in Baneslayer and Punishing Fire / Grove of the Burnwillows.
- Good lategame: something many Zoo decks lack.
Cons:
- Noble Hierarch is a bad topdeck.
- Has to play 24 lands, thus has more chance of flood.
- A lot of people will be playing it, since it won PT: Austin.
Spectral Zoo:
Pros:
- Has random tech against Hexmage Depths
- Has Jitte, which Rubin Zoo couldn't fit in.
Cons:
- Sideboard seems weird.
- Spectral Procession puts a lot of strain on the manabase.
Landfall Zoo:
Pros:
- Abuses the HELL out of landfall. I mean, seriously.
- Has very aggressive starts.
- Has better Knights than other Zoo builds.
Cons:
- Can attack from less angles.
- Hasn't got much of a late-game.
- Can't really defend with it's landfall guys.
Hyper Aggressive Zoo:
Pros:
- 16 1-drops.
- Fastest Zoo deck ever.
Cons:
- Runs out of gas too quickly.
- NO lategame.
- Sweeper = you lose.
I decided to go with a process of elimination. I figured Hyper Aggressive Zoo simply wouldn't cut it in the mirror, so that was out. I also want a deck to start that will teach me a lot about the format, and mindless attacking won't do it. That ends the chances of Landfall Zoo.
I really like Rubin Zoo, but I also like the Jitte. However, in the end, I'm a sucker for an aggro deck that can control the game (that's why I play Jund) and the Grove / Punishing Fire combo simply suckered me in, so I decided to choose Rubin Zoo.
Here's the decklist I will be using, copied almost card for card from Brian Kibler's deck:
Lands (24)
4 Arid Mesa
2 Ghost Quarter
4 Grove of the Burnwillows
1 Marsh Flats
4 Misty Rainforest
1 Sacred Foundry
2 Stomping Ground
1 Temple Garden
2 Treetop Village
Creatures (21)
3 Baneslayer Angel
4 Knight of the Reliquary
3 Noble Hierarch
3 Qasali Pridemage
4 Tarmogoyf
4 Wild Nacatl
Spells (15)
1 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
4 Lightning Bolt
2 Lightning Helix
4 Path to Exile
4 Punishing Fire
Sideboard (15)
3 Ancient Grudge
3 Blood Moon
3 Celestial Purge
2 Ghost Quarter
1 Kataki, War's Wage
3 Tormod's Crypt
The only change I made (and the changes that rippled from that) was removing the Meddling Mages. I don't have enough of a handle on the format to name the right card. Because of that, I removed the Hallowed Fountain from the sideboard, and due to that was able to cut a Marsh Flats for a second Ghost Quarter (against the mirror). To make up for the missing slots, I added Tormod's Crypt as an anti-Dredge mechanism and Celestial Purge against Dark Depths.
I'm concerned about my ability to beat Hypergenesis now, so the next thing to do was to look at the match reports for an idea on how Zoo can combat the deck. I don't know too much about how it works, either.
After a read up on Kibler's beating Hypergenesis, I find that Hierarch into Blood Moon is a strong move, and Ghost Quarter is very good. (So it's good against Hypergenesis, Dark Depths AND Rubin Zoo? Why am I not playing FOUR!?)
And so this is the deck I've decided to play. I'll be playing some matchups over the next week, and that, as well as the lessons I learn about the format, will be featured next week!
Play Along At Home:
This is the Play Along At Home portion of the post. If you want to learn more about Extended yourself, you can follow along with my journey and do what I intend to do in order to improve our knowledge of the format.
Homework: Play 10 matches of Rubin Zoo (either through real-life, proxies, MODO or MWS, I'm really not picky).
Look up some articles on the current metagame and Rubin Zoo.
See you next week with Fetch A Shockland: Part 2!
Monday, October 26, 2009
How to Use Magic Workstation Part 2 - Using The Interface
Hi everyone, and welcome to part 2 of How To Use Magic Workstation! Today we'll be covering how to use the interface: i.e, building decks.
Now that you've gotten all 173 million cards in Magic, how do you sort them into formats? To do that, first press Ctrl + F2. You will then be in the Deckbuilding screen. Now, notice the row of pictures below the menu (the bar with File and Edit in it.) Click on the fourth one. You can then select Classic, Extended, Standard, or Custom. Standard or Extended may not be updated, so if so, trim the sets that are no longer legal, then you're ready to build decks.
The deck building interface is so ridiculously simple that I almost feel guilty for writing a guide about it. It seems...cheap somehow. Anyway, here's the ridiculously complicated way to add a card to your deck:
Select the card.
Click the blue arrow.
To remove the card, select it from the deck menu, and press the red arrow. To put a card in your sideboard, select the card from the left, and click the green arrow. Simple as that.
To make this post last longer than 200 words, let's talk about connecting.
Either press Ctrl + I, or go to Game -> Connect to Opponent to bring up the connection window. Choose mwsplay.net (the default one) and press Connect. From there, you can join a game by clicking Join, or start your own, and Accept players who enter it. Next time we'll cover how to play the game in MWS and go over some shortcuts you'll use very often.
See you next time!
Now that you've gotten all 173 million cards in Magic, how do you sort them into formats? To do that, first press Ctrl + F2. You will then be in the Deckbuilding screen. Now, notice the row of pictures below the menu (the bar with File and Edit in it.) Click on the fourth one. You can then select Classic, Extended, Standard, or Custom. Standard or Extended may not be updated, so if so, trim the sets that are no longer legal, then you're ready to build decks.
The deck building interface is so ridiculously simple that I almost feel guilty for writing a guide about it. It seems...cheap somehow. Anyway, here's the ridiculously complicated way to add a card to your deck:
Select the card.
Click the blue arrow.
To remove the card, select it from the deck menu, and press the red arrow. To put a card in your sideboard, select the card from the left, and click the green arrow. Simple as that.
To make this post last longer than 200 words, let's talk about connecting.
Either press Ctrl + I, or go to Game -> Connect to Opponent to bring up the connection window. Choose mwsplay.net (the default one) and press Connect. From there, you can join a game by clicking Join, or start your own, and Accept players who enter it. Next time we'll cover how to play the game in MWS and go over some shortcuts you'll use very often.
See you next time!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
How To Use Magic Workstation: Part 1 - Download and Installation
Welcome to How To Use Magic Workstation! This series will cover the basics and not-so-basics of Magic Workstation (henceforth referred to as MWS), and get you up to speed with getting it up and running with all the cards, the interface of both building and playing, and the etiquette of the program.
To download the core of Magic Workstation, you can follow this link: http://www.magicworkstation.com/downloads.php. It's the first file.
Alright! You've downloaded it. Installing it is easy, simply follow the prompts.
However, when you bring up your Magic Workstation, you'll probably see some very odd cards. These aren't Magic cards, so we're going to need the gamepack. Thus, follow this link: http://www.mwsgames.com/index.php/Main_Page and download the MTG Card Database.
There's one small problem: the database as of this writing does not contain Zendikar cards. To get those, we'll need to add a new set. Since you have to do this every few months anyway, I'll walk you through the process. First, Google up <set name> MWS patch. To make it easier on you, the Zendikar one is here.
Once it's downloaded, we need to install it. First, go to the toolbar at the top (the one with File, Edit and View in it in basically all programs) and go to Tools. Under there, select Analyse/Add/Remove Editions. Once there, choose Add New Edition, then tick the "Get data from text spoiler" option.
You can then proceed to go to your Downloads folder and select the Zendikar file. Click Next. Under the booster pack option, change the basic lands value to 1, and the commons value to 10. Then you're done! Go to File -> Save, or simply press Ctrl + S, and you're ready to play with the new cards.
Join us next time, when we talk about how to build some new decks and connect to your opponent!
P.S: I apologise for the lack of screenshots. Magic Workstation takes up most of the screen and I have a big screen, so screenshots are generally nearly useless. I'll do my best to explain it all with text.
To download the core of Magic Workstation, you can follow this link: http://www.magicworkstation.com/downloads.php. It's the first file.
Alright! You've downloaded it. Installing it is easy, simply follow the prompts.
However, when you bring up your Magic Workstation, you'll probably see some very odd cards. These aren't Magic cards, so we're going to need the gamepack. Thus, follow this link: http://www.mwsgames.com/index.php/Main_Page and download the MTG Card Database.
There's one small problem: the database as of this writing does not contain Zendikar cards. To get those, we'll need to add a new set. Since you have to do this every few months anyway, I'll walk you through the process. First, Google up <set name> MWS patch. To make it easier on you, the Zendikar one is here.
Once it's downloaded, we need to install it. First, go to the toolbar at the top (the one with File, Edit and View in it in basically all programs) and go to Tools. Under there, select Analyse/Add/Remove Editions. Once there, choose Add New Edition, then tick the "Get data from text spoiler" option.
You can then proceed to go to your Downloads folder and select the Zendikar file. Click Next. Under the booster pack option, change the basic lands value to 1, and the commons value to 10. Then you're done! Go to File -> Save, or simply press Ctrl + S, and you're ready to play with the new cards.
Join us next time, when we talk about how to build some new decks and connect to your opponent!
P.S: I apologise for the lack of screenshots. Magic Workstation takes up most of the screen and I have a big screen, so screenshots are generally nearly useless. I'll do my best to explain it all with text.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Announcing...
Beginning one week from today, every Thursday will be devoted to my new series: Fetch A Shockland: An Extended Journey. This series will be about my attempts to get better at Extended and learn more about how to play it, and about the metagame.
Features will include:
- Match reports
- List of lessons learnt
- Links to good articles I've found
- "Homework" tasks for anyone who's interested in following along.
- A progressive journey through different, steadily more complex, decks.
My plan is to move from Zoo, to a Rock deck, to Bant, to various forms of Combo, and finally to Control. The series will last until the end of the Extended season if all goes to plan, so it'll have a pretty long lifespan.
I hope you enjoy the series! Next week will be the introduction, where I talk about where I'm at and more about where I intend to head, and after that we'll move into the journey.
See you next Thursday! (and before that, since I'll be doing other posts too).
Monday, October 19, 2009
Zendikar Decks Part VIII: Conclusion and Analysis
Hello everyone, and welcome to the final Zendikar Decks. Rather than talk a new deck, we're going to analyse the results of the ratings. So here we go!
Salivanth's Rating:
1st: Time Sieve Combo (4.5 / 5)
1st: Soldiers (4.5 / 5)
3rd: Jund (4 / 5)
4th: Warp World (3.5 / 5)
4th: Bloodchief Ascension (3.5 / 5)
6th: Vampire Aggro (2 / 5)
7th: W/B/R Control (1.5 / 5)
Match Rating:
1st: Jund (6 / 8)
1st: Soldiers (6 / 8)
3rd: Bloodchief Ascension (4 / 8)
3rd: Vampire Aggro (4 / 8)
3rd: Time Sieve Combo (4 / 8)
3rd: Warp World (4 / 8)
7th: W/B/R Control (2 / 8)
Total Ranking:
1st: Soldiers (10.5 / 13)
2nd: Jund (10 / 13)
3rd: Time Sieve (8.5 / 13)
4th: Bloodchief Ascension (7.5 / 13)
4th: Warp World (7.5 / 13)
6th: Vampire Aggro (6 / 13)
7th: W/B/R Control (3.5 / 13)
And there you have it! The winner of my analysis is Soldiers!
One must note however, that it was pretty foolish of me to do this analysis so soon. Since then, many new decks have popped up which I hadn't tested. I'll be analysing them over the next few weeks, when I deign to. So in the meantime, if there's one thing I've taught you:
Time Sieve is not dead. Remember that.
Good luck in your testing!
Salivanth's Rating:
1st: Time Sieve Combo (4.5 / 5)
1st: Soldiers (4.5 / 5)
3rd: Jund (4 / 5)
4th: Warp World (3.5 / 5)
4th: Bloodchief Ascension (3.5 / 5)
6th: Vampire Aggro (2 / 5)
7th: W/B/R Control (1.5 / 5)
Match Rating:
1st: Jund (6 / 8)
1st: Soldiers (6 / 8)
3rd: Bloodchief Ascension (4 / 8)
3rd: Vampire Aggro (4 / 8)
3rd: Time Sieve Combo (4 / 8)
3rd: Warp World (4 / 8)
7th: W/B/R Control (2 / 8)
Total Ranking:
1st: Soldiers (10.5 / 13)
2nd: Jund (10 / 13)
3rd: Time Sieve (8.5 / 13)
4th: Bloodchief Ascension (7.5 / 13)
4th: Warp World (7.5 / 13)
6th: Vampire Aggro (6 / 13)
7th: W/B/R Control (3.5 / 13)
And there you have it! The winner of my analysis is Soldiers!
One must note however, that it was pretty foolish of me to do this analysis so soon. Since then, many new decks have popped up which I hadn't tested. I'll be analysing them over the next few weeks, when I deign to. So in the meantime, if there's one thing I've taught you:
Time Sieve is not dead. Remember that.
Good luck in your testing!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Call to Action: Testers Wanted
After the comments in my Time Sieve post, I've come to realise that I could use a cadre of testers to call upon for certain posts. For anyone interested in helping out the blog or simply playing a few extra matches of Magic against a competent opponent every now and then, this is for you.
Required:
Some experience of playing Magic at a tournament level
Ability to play at least one current Tier 1 deck well
Basic competency at MWS
The skills mentioned above are essentially what I'd like, in order to provide an interesting and challenging experience for me, and an interesting and balanced series of matches for my blog.
If you're interested, please post in the comments section with your e-mail and which (if any) instant messenging service you use. Which Tier 1 deck(s) you are good at is optional, but that information can change quickly so I'd ask the question before we began testing.
Thank you to everyone who replies.
Required:
Some experience of playing Magic at a tournament level
Ability to play at least one current Tier 1 deck well
Basic competency at MWS
The skills mentioned above are essentially what I'd like, in order to provide an interesting and challenging experience for me, and an interesting and balanced series of matches for my blog.
If you're interested, please post in the comments section with your e-mail and which (if any) instant messenging service you use. Which Tier 1 deck(s) you are good at is optional, but that information can change quickly so I'd ask the question before we began testing.
Thank you to everyone who replies.
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Zendikar Decks Part VII: Time Sieve
Welcome to the final deck in the Zendikar Decks series: Time Sieve. This potent combo deck doesn't lose too much from the rotation, and can still be a competitor. It seems to have fallen out of favor...which is the perfect time for combo decks to strike.
Here's the list I used:
Lands (17)
4 Glacial Fortress
5 Island
3 Marsh Flats
3 Plains
2 Swamp
Creatures (4)
4 Architects of Will
Spells (39)
4 Angelsong
4 Fieldmist Borderpost
1 Font of Mythos
4 Howling Mine
3 Jace Beleren
4 Kaleidostone
4 Mistvein Borderpost
4 Open the Vaults
3 Tezzeret the Seeker
4 Time Sieve
4 Time Warp
Sideboard:
4 Baneslayer Angel
4 Wall of Denial
4 Day of Judgement
3 Path to Exile
I hopped on to MWS to do battle.
Round 1 vs. Boros Bushwhacker
He gets Goblin Guide, then Goblin Guide, then Steppe Lynx, a fetchland, and Bushwhacker. I exclaim disbelief over his Turn 3 kill. Jesus Christ.
Game 2 he gets Goblin Guide and Steppe Lynx, but I get Wall of Denial. He tries a swarm. I go for Day of Judgement. I get Howling Mine and Font. I set up my hand while using fogs to keep him at bay, then go off.
Game 3 he drops me down to 2 before I attempt to go off. I get numerous extra turns, but can't get 6 artifacts to let my Font stick. I eventually run out of Time Warps and Open the Vaults' and lose.
0-1
Round 2 vs. Landfall Ramp
He Pulses my double Howling Mine draw, and I play another Howling Mine. He gets Ob Nixilis and Empyrial Archangel, I get Tezzeret and go for Time Sieve -> Open the Vaults. With the Mines and Architects in the graveyard, I easily assemble enough artifacts to go lethal.
Game 2 he doesn't do much til he gets a Baneslayer. He plays Pithing Needle and names Time Sieve, then Identity Crisis blows me out.
Game 3 I whiff on an attempt to go off. He casts Baneslayer, and I get Open the Vaults to try again. I then spend a difficult 8 minutes comboing off. He quits halfway through, claiming I'm too slow, but he's tapped out, so I simply combo off anyway, since he couldn't do anything. I call that a win, since I eventually reach critical mass and would kill him.
1-1
Round 3 vs. Boros Bushwhacker
He gets some early beats. I lay Tezz and Jace, and he kills Tezz with his guys. I manage to stall him long enough to combo off.
Game 2 he gets 2 Steppe Lynxes and some fetchlands, knocking me down to 2 in short order. Luckily I manage to go off (there's not much details in these logs for a reason. It's a pretty consistent deck: either it goes infinite and wins, or it doesn't.)
2-1
Round 4 vs. Goblins
Game 1 he gets Goblin Guide and Warren Instigator, which brings in Siege-Gang Commander. I'm on 6 and trying to go off when I totally punt this: with 7 mana and 1 black source, I use my black source to play a Kaleidostone and then play another artifact before realising that I needed that black for Time Sieve, to combo off, and win. I deserve to lose this game.
Game 2 he gets Goblin Chieftain and assorted goblins. In 20 cards, I see one Time Warp and zero Time Sieves. I can't go off, and therefore cannot win. He beats me to death.
2-2
Salivanth's Rating: 4.5/5
Match Rating: 4/8
Total Rating: 8.5
Unlike some decks in this series, Time Sieve is a deck that takes some time to master. If my performance was the sole indicator of it's strength, I'd rate it a 3.5, but as it is, I know if I took the time to master the deck, I could do far better with it.
The next post will be an analysis of the decks' scores and attributes, and I'll make some recommendations, and then we'll move on to other things again! It only took about a month to do the series...
See you next time!
Here's the list I used:
Lands (17)
4 Glacial Fortress
5 Island
3 Marsh Flats
3 Plains
2 Swamp
Creatures (4)
4 Architects of Will
Spells (39)
4 Angelsong
4 Fieldmist Borderpost
1 Font of Mythos
4 Howling Mine
3 Jace Beleren
4 Kaleidostone
4 Mistvein Borderpost
4 Open the Vaults
3 Tezzeret the Seeker
4 Time Sieve
4 Time Warp
Sideboard:
4 Baneslayer Angel
4 Wall of Denial
4 Day of Judgement
3 Path to Exile
I hopped on to MWS to do battle.
Round 1 vs. Boros Bushwhacker
He gets Goblin Guide, then Goblin Guide, then Steppe Lynx, a fetchland, and Bushwhacker. I exclaim disbelief over his Turn 3 kill. Jesus Christ.
Game 2 he gets Goblin Guide and Steppe Lynx, but I get Wall of Denial. He tries a swarm. I go for Day of Judgement. I get Howling Mine and Font. I set up my hand while using fogs to keep him at bay, then go off.
Game 3 he drops me down to 2 before I attempt to go off. I get numerous extra turns, but can't get 6 artifacts to let my Font stick. I eventually run out of Time Warps and Open the Vaults' and lose.
0-1
Round 2 vs. Landfall Ramp
He Pulses my double Howling Mine draw, and I play another Howling Mine. He gets Ob Nixilis and Empyrial Archangel, I get Tezzeret and go for Time Sieve -> Open the Vaults. With the Mines and Architects in the graveyard, I easily assemble enough artifacts to go lethal.
Game 2 he doesn't do much til he gets a Baneslayer. He plays Pithing Needle and names Time Sieve, then Identity Crisis blows me out.
Game 3 I whiff on an attempt to go off. He casts Baneslayer, and I get Open the Vaults to try again. I then spend a difficult 8 minutes comboing off. He quits halfway through, claiming I'm too slow, but he's tapped out, so I simply combo off anyway, since he couldn't do anything. I call that a win, since I eventually reach critical mass and would kill him.
1-1
Round 3 vs. Boros Bushwhacker
He gets some early beats. I lay Tezz and Jace, and he kills Tezz with his guys. I manage to stall him long enough to combo off.
Game 2 he gets 2 Steppe Lynxes and some fetchlands, knocking me down to 2 in short order. Luckily I manage to go off (there's not much details in these logs for a reason. It's a pretty consistent deck: either it goes infinite and wins, or it doesn't.)
2-1
Round 4 vs. Goblins
Game 1 he gets Goblin Guide and Warren Instigator, which brings in Siege-Gang Commander. I'm on 6 and trying to go off when I totally punt this: with 7 mana and 1 black source, I use my black source to play a Kaleidostone and then play another artifact before realising that I needed that black for Time Sieve, to combo off, and win. I deserve to lose this game.
Game 2 he gets Goblin Chieftain and assorted goblins. In 20 cards, I see one Time Warp and zero Time Sieves. I can't go off, and therefore cannot win. He beats me to death.
2-2
Salivanth's Rating: 4.5/5
Match Rating: 4/8
Total Rating: 8.5
Unlike some decks in this series, Time Sieve is a deck that takes some time to master. If my performance was the sole indicator of it's strength, I'd rate it a 3.5, but as it is, I know if I took the time to master the deck, I could do far better with it.
The next post will be an analysis of the decks' scores and attributes, and I'll make some recommendations, and then we'll move on to other things again! It only took about a month to do the series...
See you next time!
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
The Trap Of Rogue Decks
How many of you try to make decks for tournaments? Decks that try to beat the best decks, decks that are innovative, or fun, or cool...and decks that lose. I was That Guy. Now I'm not. Unless you're one of the top players in the world, you probably shouldn't be trying to innovate totally new decks. Play a Tier 1 deck. You'll win more.
And even further! Some people actually COMPLAIN about netdecks! That they're somehow stifling the originality and creativity of the game, that it's less 'skilful' to win with it. If it's not netdecks in general, it's one deck. Affinity, Faeries, Five-Color Control...
"Everyone uses that deck!"
"That manabase in cash could feed a starving child for a year."
"That deck's cheap / broken / not fun."
Well guess what? It wins. And if you want to win, you need to play the best deck or beat the best deck, and if you want to beat the best deck, generally you want another Tier 1 deck (unless you're happy to get beaten by every deck EXCEPT the Tier 1 deck. Then you can make a hate deck just fine.) if you want to win.
How many of you have been in PTQ's? Tournaments are hard enough without self-inflicting rules. Nobody other than you is going to obey your rules unless your rules are "Do whatever you legally can to win."
Note that I'm not saying 'always play the best deck'. You should play the deck you think has the best position and power in the metagame: the deck most likely to make you win. And it's almost certainly not your creation. Warp World is cute, but can it win? Vampires is new and shiny, but will it win?
If you're not doing your best with deck selection, you're not doing your best as a player. And that's the road to losing. Because if you're not doing your best and playing one of the best decks, you'll be competing against someone who is. And in the end, when the dust settles, the only thing that matters is who has won, and who has lost.
N.B: I do not condone cheating. That's not a legal way to win. Anyone who points to this article as justification for cheating is a fool. Play Magic to the best of your ability. A game of Magic where you cheat is not a game of Magic. So play legally: but play the very best you can within the legal limits.
See you next time, when I bring you Time Sieve.
And even further! Some people actually COMPLAIN about netdecks! That they're somehow stifling the originality and creativity of the game, that it's less 'skilful' to win with it. If it's not netdecks in general, it's one deck. Affinity, Faeries, Five-Color Control...
"Everyone uses that deck!"
"That manabase in cash could feed a starving child for a year."
"That deck's cheap / broken / not fun."
Well guess what? It wins. And if you want to win, you need to play the best deck or beat the best deck, and if you want to beat the best deck, generally you want another Tier 1 deck (unless you're happy to get beaten by every deck EXCEPT the Tier 1 deck. Then you can make a hate deck just fine.) if you want to win.
How many of you have been in PTQ's? Tournaments are hard enough without self-inflicting rules. Nobody other than you is going to obey your rules unless your rules are "Do whatever you legally can to win."
Note that I'm not saying 'always play the best deck'. You should play the deck you think has the best position and power in the metagame: the deck most likely to make you win. And it's almost certainly not your creation. Warp World is cute, but can it win? Vampires is new and shiny, but will it win?
If you're not doing your best with deck selection, you're not doing your best as a player. And that's the road to losing. Because if you're not doing your best and playing one of the best decks, you'll be competing against someone who is. And in the end, when the dust settles, the only thing that matters is who has won, and who has lost.
N.B: I do not condone cheating. That's not a legal way to win. Anyone who points to this article as justification for cheating is a fool. Play Magic to the best of your ability. A game of Magic where you cheat is not a game of Magic. So play legally: but play the very best you can within the legal limits.
See you next time, when I bring you Time Sieve.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Zendikar Decks Part VI: Soldiers
Welcome, people, to the penultimate article in the Zendikar Decks series. The series is almost over, and I'm quite glad for it. 4 matches can take as many hours in MWS due to the amount of people who don't play a full match.
Anyway, let's get to the deck: Soldiers.
Lands (23)
23 Plains
Creatures (20)
4 Elite Vanguard
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Kor Aeronaut
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Veteran Armorsmith
Spells (17)
3 Ajani Goldmane
2 Brave the Elements
4 Conqueror's Pledge
2 Harm's Way
4 Honor of the Pure
2 Path to Exile
Sideboard:
2 Brave the Elements
4 Celestial Purge
3 Devout Lightcaster
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Harm's Way
2 Path to Exile
I couldn't decide between the three awesome one-mana tricks, Brave the Elements, Harm's Way, and Path to Exile. However, having all 3 makes it impossible for my opponents to play around them all.
I hopped on to MWS. ThatDamnAussie from Twitter graciously took the first battle.
Round 1 vs. Bushwhacker Aggro
He plays Goblin Guide, which I trump with Kor Skyfisher. He plays a Geopede and a Teetering Peaks next turn. I keep playing Soldiers, but his fetchlands are going well with his Geopede and Lynx. I drop to 5, then get my fifth land and play Conqueror's Pledge. I play a SECOND Pledge and start trying to kill his dudes: not an easy proposition. Eventually he gets Ranger of Eos for 2 Goblin Guides and swarms me to death after I lose most of my Soldiers.
Game 2 I play Kazandu Blademaster, and he, Steppe Lynx. I play a second one, and he Paths the 3/3. He smashes me down at an alarming rate. I cast a Pledge at 6 life, but this time I have a trump. With 4 tokens still in play, I drop double Honor of the Pure! I crush him in short order.
Game 3 he gets out 3 Steppe Lynxes but misses his second land drop. He plays Goblin Guide and swings. When I block with my 2/3, he Paths his own Guide to landfall his Lynxes. Pretty clever. I manage to stabilise however, then play Conqueror's Pledge, then Ajani Goldmane! I win.
1-0
Round 2 vs. Bant
I get turn 2 Blademaster, he gets turn 2 War Monk. I Path it, he gets Dauntless Escort. He then plays Rafiq and Baneslayer. I concede pretty quickly.
Game 2 I have 3 3/5's in play by Turn 4, and I crush him to death.
Game 3 I get some early beats, he gets Elspeth and War Monk. He uses the combo to bring me to 7 while his life skyrockets. I get an Ajani and beat Elspeth to death. I then get a Conqueror's Pledge, he plays Day of Judgement. So what do I play? Another Pledge. With Ajani. What could possibly beat that? ANOTHER DAY OF JUDGEMENT! Talk about nut draws for both sides!
I get an Elspeth and start climbing loyalty with my two 'walkers. He plays a Baneslayer, and I topdeck another Pledge. He kills Ajani with Baneslayer. I play Honor of the Pure and attack for 24! I then play an Aeronaut to block with next turn, and then succeed in the impossible: winning a race against a Baneslayer Angel.
2-0
Round 3 vs. Grixis Megrim
I get a Vanguard, he Doom Blades it. He then plays Megrim, and Duresses my hand: of lands and Conqueror's Pledge. GAH! I play an Armorsmith with Honor of the Pure, and he Blades it, too. I play Aeronaut, he Twincasts a Blightning. Luckily I only have 2 cards to discard. I go to 7. I then teach him the finer points of the problem of discard by playing every card I draw: the first being a Pledge. Remembering I still have Honor of the Pure out. I win in 2 turns.
Game 2 he plays a Howling Mine, and I play an Armorsmith. I Devout Lightcaster his Megrim, he Terminates my Armorsmith. I use Skyfisher to bounce the Lightcaster. He concedes after his next draw. I presume he got mana flooded.
I think he conceded too quickly, but still...
3-0.
Round 4 vs. Cruel Control
Unfortunately I lost the notes, but here's what I remember:
Game 1 he gets Wall of Denial and Kathari Remnant. His powerful cascades win while I fail to break through his guys.
Game 2 he doesn't get much, and I knock him to 8 before he plays his first spell. I'm able to defeat him with massive Soldiers.
Game 3 goes pretty long, and he Cruels me after I Pledge. I'm hoping I can win with my double Honor of the Pure, but he plays a second Cruel, and manages to Pulse the Honors of the Pure. It takes a long time, but he eventually wins with 18 cards left in his library (and 36 in mine. He drew a LOT of cards).
3-1
Salivanth's Rating: 4.5/5
Match Rating: 6/8
Total Score: 10.5
Overall, I'm quite satisfied with most of the Soldier deck. If I could do it over again, I'd cut the Harm's Ways and go up to 3 Paths and 3 BtE's, and also try to find a replacement for Kor Aeronaut, which didn't quite cut it. It was the weakest card in the deck and I was consistently siding him out. Perhaps Veteran Swordsmith would do better there.
Thanks for reading!
Anyway, let's get to the deck: Soldiers.
Lands (23)
23 Plains
Creatures (20)
4 Elite Vanguard
4 Kazandu Blademaster
4 Kor Aeronaut
4 Kor Skyfisher
4 Veteran Armorsmith
Spells (17)
3 Ajani Goldmane
2 Brave the Elements
4 Conqueror's Pledge
2 Harm's Way
4 Honor of the Pure
2 Path to Exile
Sideboard:
2 Brave the Elements
4 Celestial Purge
3 Devout Lightcaster
2 Elspeth, Knight-Errant
2 Harm's Way
2 Path to Exile
I couldn't decide between the three awesome one-mana tricks, Brave the Elements, Harm's Way, and Path to Exile. However, having all 3 makes it impossible for my opponents to play around them all.
I hopped on to MWS. ThatDamnAussie from Twitter graciously took the first battle.
Round 1 vs. Bushwhacker Aggro
He plays Goblin Guide, which I trump with Kor Skyfisher. He plays a Geopede and a Teetering Peaks next turn. I keep playing Soldiers, but his fetchlands are going well with his Geopede and Lynx. I drop to 5, then get my fifth land and play Conqueror's Pledge. I play a SECOND Pledge and start trying to kill his dudes: not an easy proposition. Eventually he gets Ranger of Eos for 2 Goblin Guides and swarms me to death after I lose most of my Soldiers.
Game 2 I play Kazandu Blademaster, and he, Steppe Lynx. I play a second one, and he Paths the 3/3. He smashes me down at an alarming rate. I cast a Pledge at 6 life, but this time I have a trump. With 4 tokens still in play, I drop double Honor of the Pure! I crush him in short order.
Game 3 he gets out 3 Steppe Lynxes but misses his second land drop. He plays Goblin Guide and swings. When I block with my 2/3, he Paths his own Guide to landfall his Lynxes. Pretty clever. I manage to stabilise however, then play Conqueror's Pledge, then Ajani Goldmane! I win.
1-0
Round 2 vs. Bant
I get turn 2 Blademaster, he gets turn 2 War Monk. I Path it, he gets Dauntless Escort. He then plays Rafiq and Baneslayer. I concede pretty quickly.
Game 2 I have 3 3/5's in play by Turn 4, and I crush him to death.
Game 3 I get some early beats, he gets Elspeth and War Monk. He uses the combo to bring me to 7 while his life skyrockets. I get an Ajani and beat Elspeth to death. I then get a Conqueror's Pledge, he plays Day of Judgement. So what do I play? Another Pledge. With Ajani. What could possibly beat that? ANOTHER DAY OF JUDGEMENT! Talk about nut draws for both sides!
I get an Elspeth and start climbing loyalty with my two 'walkers. He plays a Baneslayer, and I topdeck another Pledge. He kills Ajani with Baneslayer. I play Honor of the Pure and attack for 24! I then play an Aeronaut to block with next turn, and then succeed in the impossible: winning a race against a Baneslayer Angel.
2-0
Round 3 vs. Grixis Megrim
I get a Vanguard, he Doom Blades it. He then plays Megrim, and Duresses my hand: of lands and Conqueror's Pledge. GAH! I play an Armorsmith with Honor of the Pure, and he Blades it, too. I play Aeronaut, he Twincasts a Blightning. Luckily I only have 2 cards to discard. I go to 7. I then teach him the finer points of the problem of discard by playing every card I draw: the first being a Pledge. Remembering I still have Honor of the Pure out. I win in 2 turns.
Game 2 he plays a Howling Mine, and I play an Armorsmith. I Devout Lightcaster his Megrim, he Terminates my Armorsmith. I use Skyfisher to bounce the Lightcaster. He concedes after his next draw. I presume he got mana flooded.
I think he conceded too quickly, but still...
3-0.
Round 4 vs. Cruel Control
Unfortunately I lost the notes, but here's what I remember:
Game 1 he gets Wall of Denial and Kathari Remnant. His powerful cascades win while I fail to break through his guys.
Game 2 he doesn't get much, and I knock him to 8 before he plays his first spell. I'm able to defeat him with massive Soldiers.
Game 3 goes pretty long, and he Cruels me after I Pledge. I'm hoping I can win with my double Honor of the Pure, but he plays a second Cruel, and manages to Pulse the Honors of the Pure. It takes a long time, but he eventually wins with 18 cards left in his library (and 36 in mine. He drew a LOT of cards).
3-1
Salivanth's Rating: 4.5/5
Match Rating: 6/8
Total Score: 10.5
Overall, I'm quite satisfied with most of the Soldier deck. If I could do it over again, I'd cut the Harm's Ways and go up to 3 Paths and 3 BtE's, and also try to find a replacement for Kor Aeronaut, which didn't quite cut it. It was the weakest card in the deck and I was consistently siding him out. Perhaps Veteran Swordsmith would do better there.
Thanks for reading!
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Zendikar Decks Part V: Jund Aggro
Well, with a combo of parties, too much World of Warcraft, and just plain laziness, it's been 3 days since I last posted. This is unacceptable, and hopefully will not happen in the near future. As soon as this Zendikar Decks series is finished I hope to move back to my regular 6-a-week update schedule. (The day I don't post is 'whenever the hell I feel like it')
Meanwhile, let's move on to my Jund list.
Here's the list I decided to use:
Lands (24)
4 Dragonskull Summit
2 Forest
4 Mountain
3 Rootbound Crag
4 Savage Lands
3 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
Creatures (17)
4 Bloodbraid Elf
2 Broodmate Dragon
3 Great Sable Stag
4 Putrid Leech
4 Sprouting Thrinax
Spells (19)
4 Bituminous Blast
4 Jund Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Sign in Blood
Sideboard (15)
3 Blightning
4 Deathmark
1 Great Sable Stag
4 Pyroclasm
3 Terminate
Jund Charm is my pet card, but it's so good. People almost never see it coming because it doesn't see play. It's a maindeck sweeper or combat trick: what's not to love? I also don't like Blightning in Jund that much. Yeah it's card advantage, but I prefer to win by affecting the board.
I just realised as I said that. That would mean Sign in Blood isn't good, but it is.
Dear god, what have I done?
We interrupt this revelation to bring you our actual article. (BTW, I'm totally trying out Blightning soon.)
I hopped on to MWS to do battle. (Forgetting all about Oran-Rief, no less).
Match 1 vs. BGW Rock
He Duresses my Jund Charm, and I lay Sprouting Thrinax. He plays Scute Mob, and I Jund Charm to kill it. I play Putrid Leech and knock him to 7 life. He makes a beast with Garruk, and I draw Pulse. I Pulse the token and ignore Garruk, swinging for exactly lethal.
Game 2 I play a Putrid Leech. When I swing and pump, he Purges it. He plays a Scute Mob, and I Bit Blast into a Leech to kill it. He plays a second Scute Mob, and I play Jund Charm. He plays Baneslayer Angel. I play Broodmate Dragon. He Paths my Putrid Leech (???), and attacks. I topdeck, and play, a Maelstrom Pulse, then swing. He Pulses BMD. I play Putrid Leech, and 2 Thrinaxes. He casts Day of Judgement, and I win with my army of Saprolings.
1-0
Match 2 vs. Armament Master WW
He plays Kor Duelist and Spidersilk Net. I play Putrid Leech. He passes and I swing with it, then play Great Sable Stag. He plays Quietus Spike, so I Jund Charm. He plays a Hookmaster, but I Bit Blast it and beat him to death with Sable Stag and Putrid Leech.
Game 2 He gets out Armament Master. I let him equip the Machete, then Deathmark the Master. He plays Skyfisher and equips it, I Pulse it. He plays another Skyfisher, I Bit Blast it. My Leech gets Pathed, but I Bloodbraid into Sign in Blood. I play Putrid Leech, swing him for 7, then win with Sign In Blood.
Achievement gotten: Here Have Some Cards.
Turns out killing every dude they play is a good strategy. Who knew?
2-0
Match 3 vs. Jund Landfall
I play fetches and Sign in Blood, he plays Khalni Heart and a fetchland. I Bloodbraid Elf into a Maelstrom Pulse to kill his Khalni Heart Expedition. A quick note: so many people keep hands assuming their mana accelerator will survive. If you kill it, you can throw their plans out of whack.
I start beating him, but he kills my guys. He then Bloodbraid Elfs into Birds. I topdeck Broodmate Dragon. He BE's into Zektar Shrine Expedition. I BE into Great Sable Stag. I then sac a fetchland before I beat him to death to take 1 more damage for:
Achievement gotten: Suicide Indeed.
(I also got this achievement in an FNM game on Saturday)
Game 2 he plays and unearths Hellspark Elemental. I play Sprouting Thrinax. He plays Bloodbraid Elf into Earthquake. I double block with my Saprolings. I kill his two new Hellsparks with LB and Terminate, then the unearthed ones by Bit Blasting into Maelstrom Pulse. I love this deck.
He gets a Zektar Shrine and activates it next turn. I Bit Blast into Bloodbraid Elf into Great Sable Stag, untap, and play Broodmate Dragon.
Yeah, I won that game.
3-0
Match 4 vs. Sphinx Control
The first play is a Jace. We both draw, and my draw is ironically a Pulse, which I use next turn. Irony is sweet. I play Great Sable Stag, which gets Bolted. He plays (unkicked) Sphinx of Lost Truths. I play another Stag, and he bashes with the Sphinx. He bolts my GSS, so I play a Thrinax.
I swing, then he blocks. I Jund Charm. He Negates, so I Jund Charm again. He plays Pyroclasm and Lightning Bolt to kill my 5/5 Thrinax. I BE into LB, and beat him to death over the next couple of turns.
Game 2 I get stuck on 2 land. He plays Jace and helps me draw my third land. How kind. I play GSS. He Cruels me. I discard, then play a second GSS. He Cruels me for the rest of my hand and board, and I concede.
Game 3 he plays Jace, I play Thrinax. He plays Wretched Banquet. I kill Jace with Lightning Bolt and play another Thrinax. He kills it too, then Cruels me. I play another Thrinax. I begin to hope I might actually win this. He Cruels me again, however, and Pyroclasms my Saproling army. He plays a Sphinx with me at 4 life. I play a Pulse, and he Negates it. That ends up being game.
3-1
Salivanth's Score: 4/5
Match Score: 6/8
Total Score: 10
Overall, the deck needs a bit of tuning. It's not the best it can be yet, but it's still one of the strongest decks in the new format. I'm looking forward to testing more ideas in it.
Notes: Broodmate Dragon and Sprouting Thrinax are friggin' nuts. I want to go up to 3 Broodmates.
Thanks for reading!
Meanwhile, let's move on to my Jund list.
Here's the list I decided to use:
Lands (24)
4 Dragonskull Summit
2 Forest
4 Mountain
3 Rootbound Crag
4 Savage Lands
3 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
Creatures (17)
4 Bloodbraid Elf
2 Broodmate Dragon
3 Great Sable Stag
4 Putrid Leech
4 Sprouting Thrinax
Spells (19)
4 Bituminous Blast
4 Jund Charm
4 Lightning Bolt
4 Maelstrom Pulse
3 Sign in Blood
Sideboard (15)
3 Blightning
4 Deathmark
1 Great Sable Stag
4 Pyroclasm
3 Terminate
Jund Charm is my pet card, but it's so good. People almost never see it coming because it doesn't see play. It's a maindeck sweeper or combat trick: what's not to love? I also don't like Blightning in Jund that much. Yeah it's card advantage, but I prefer to win by affecting the board.
I just realised as I said that. That would mean Sign in Blood isn't good, but it is.
Dear god, what have I done?
We interrupt this revelation to bring you our actual article. (BTW, I'm totally trying out Blightning soon.)
I hopped on to MWS to do battle. (Forgetting all about Oran-Rief, no less).
Match 1 vs. BGW Rock
He Duresses my Jund Charm, and I lay Sprouting Thrinax. He plays Scute Mob, and I Jund Charm to kill it. I play Putrid Leech and knock him to 7 life. He makes a beast with Garruk, and I draw Pulse. I Pulse the token and ignore Garruk, swinging for exactly lethal.
Game 2 I play a Putrid Leech. When I swing and pump, he Purges it. He plays a Scute Mob, and I Bit Blast into a Leech to kill it. He plays a second Scute Mob, and I play Jund Charm. He plays Baneslayer Angel. I play Broodmate Dragon. He Paths my Putrid Leech (???), and attacks. I topdeck, and play, a Maelstrom Pulse, then swing. He Pulses BMD. I play Putrid Leech, and 2 Thrinaxes. He casts Day of Judgement, and I win with my army of Saprolings.
1-0
Match 2 vs. Armament Master WW
He plays Kor Duelist and Spidersilk Net. I play Putrid Leech. He passes and I swing with it, then play Great Sable Stag. He plays Quietus Spike, so I Jund Charm. He plays a Hookmaster, but I Bit Blast it and beat him to death with Sable Stag and Putrid Leech.
Game 2 He gets out Armament Master. I let him equip the Machete, then Deathmark the Master. He plays Skyfisher and equips it, I Pulse it. He plays another Skyfisher, I Bit Blast it. My Leech gets Pathed, but I Bloodbraid into Sign in Blood. I play Putrid Leech, swing him for 7, then win with Sign In Blood.
Achievement gotten: Here Have Some Cards.
Turns out killing every dude they play is a good strategy. Who knew?
2-0
Match 3 vs. Jund Landfall
I play fetches and Sign in Blood, he plays Khalni Heart and a fetchland. I Bloodbraid Elf into a Maelstrom Pulse to kill his Khalni Heart Expedition. A quick note: so many people keep hands assuming their mana accelerator will survive. If you kill it, you can throw their plans out of whack.
I start beating him, but he kills my guys. He then Bloodbraid Elfs into Birds. I topdeck Broodmate Dragon. He BE's into Zektar Shrine Expedition. I BE into Great Sable Stag. I then sac a fetchland before I beat him to death to take 1 more damage for:
Achievement gotten: Suicide Indeed.
(I also got this achievement in an FNM game on Saturday)
Game 2 he plays and unearths Hellspark Elemental. I play Sprouting Thrinax. He plays Bloodbraid Elf into Earthquake. I double block with my Saprolings. I kill his two new Hellsparks with LB and Terminate, then the unearthed ones by Bit Blasting into Maelstrom Pulse. I love this deck.
He gets a Zektar Shrine and activates it next turn. I Bit Blast into Bloodbraid Elf into Great Sable Stag, untap, and play Broodmate Dragon.
Yeah, I won that game.
3-0
Match 4 vs. Sphinx Control
The first play is a Jace. We both draw, and my draw is ironically a Pulse, which I use next turn. Irony is sweet. I play Great Sable Stag, which gets Bolted. He plays (unkicked) Sphinx of Lost Truths. I play another Stag, and he bashes with the Sphinx. He bolts my GSS, so I play a Thrinax.
I swing, then he blocks. I Jund Charm. He Negates, so I Jund Charm again. He plays Pyroclasm and Lightning Bolt to kill my 5/5 Thrinax. I BE into LB, and beat him to death over the next couple of turns.
Game 2 I get stuck on 2 land. He plays Jace and helps me draw my third land. How kind. I play GSS. He Cruels me. I discard, then play a second GSS. He Cruels me for the rest of my hand and board, and I concede.
Game 3 he plays Jace, I play Thrinax. He plays Wretched Banquet. I kill Jace with Lightning Bolt and play another Thrinax. He kills it too, then Cruels me. I play another Thrinax. I begin to hope I might actually win this. He Cruels me again, however, and Pyroclasms my Saproling army. He plays a Sphinx with me at 4 life. I play a Pulse, and he Negates it. That ends up being game.
3-1
Salivanth's Score: 4/5
Match Score: 6/8
Total Score: 10
Overall, the deck needs a bit of tuning. It's not the best it can be yet, but it's still one of the strongest decks in the new format. I'm looking forward to testing more ideas in it.
Notes: Broodmate Dragon and Sprouting Thrinax are friggin' nuts. I want to go up to 3 Broodmates.
Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Zendikar Decks Part IV: Warp World
Welcome readers, to Part Four of the Zendikar Decks series. Today, we tackle Warp World.
Here's the decklist I chose:
Lands: (23)
4 Forest
5 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Savage Lands
2 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
Creatures: (29)
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Bogardan Hellkite
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Greenweaver Druid
2 Keeper of Progenitus
4 Lotus Cobra
2 Noble Hierarch
3 Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
4 Siege-Gang Commander
Spells (8)
4 Trace of Abundance
4 Warp World
I hopped on MWS to do battle.
Match 1 vs. U/B Mill
Game 1 he gets manascrewed while I get a Turn 4 Siege-Gang Commander and a Turn 6 Hellkite. His only plays are Hedron Crab and Jace.
Game 2 he plays a Turn 1 Hedron Crab. I play a Savage Lands. He plays a fetch, then Archive Traps me when I sacrifice my own fetch. I play Lotus Cobra.
I get to Warp World mana, and he mills me down to 12 cards in library. In my last turn before I die, I play Warp World and float 2 mana. He goes from 8 permanents to 4, and I get two Lotus Cobras and five lands so I can play another Warp World. This one gets him to one permanent, and I flip over Ob Nixilis. The landfall triggers kill him.
1-0
Match 2 vs. White Control
I get some early ramps, and lay out my hand. He casts Day of Judgement. He plays a Seraph and a Baneslayer, and I don't reach Warp World mana in time.
Game 2 I get a Turn 4 Ob Nixilis, and he uses Lapse of Certainty. He plays Guardian Seraph, I play Ob Nixilis, then play and sac a fetchland. He O-Rings it. I go for a Warp World, and he Lapses it. I play Warp World with one in hand. He gets Iona, Shield of Emeria and names red. He kills me with the giant flier next turn.
1-1
Match 3 vs. Naya
I play Lotus Cobra and Elvish Visionary: he plays Bloodbraid Elf into Trace of Abundance. He plays Cliffrunner Behemoth and a Garruk, then another Cliffrunner. When he uses his ultimate, I can't keep up with the raw power.
Game 2 We both play Trace of Abundance. He plays Cliffrunner. I play Keeper of Progenitus. He uses Bituminous Blast to cascade into another one, then finishes it with two Lightning Bolts to the dome.
1-2
Match 4 vs. Four-Color Midrange
He plays Noble Hierarch, I play Lotus Cobra. He Paths it, and plays Knight of the Reliquary. I get Ob Nixilis plus a fetch to out-do the 6/6 Knight. He passes. I swing, he goes to 2, and I Hellkite him to win.
Game 2 I curve out massively into a Turn 4 Warp World. Unfortunately, his 3 lands flip up 3 lands. I play Hellkite, he plays Rhox War Monk and Harrow. I get him to 4 life but he plays Baneslayer, then Realm Razer next turn. I chump with Birds and eventually Hellkite, but am never able to draw an answer.
Game 3 I get a Warp World, but he's lucky enough to Warp into Baneslayer while I fail to Warp into my finishers, and he bashes me to death.
1-3
Salivanth's Rating:
3.5/5
Matches x2:
2/5
Total Score: 5.5
I think the main reason Warp World failed was both my lack of knowledge of when to Warp, and the luck and raw power of some of my opponents' decks. When the metagame shifts to accommodate control, Warp World should become a lot better.
Next time: New Jund!
Here's the decklist I chose:
Lands: (23)
4 Forest
5 Mountain
4 Rootbound Crag
4 Savage Lands
2 Swamp
4 Verdant Catacombs
Creatures: (29)
4 Birds of Paradise
2 Bogardan Hellkite
4 Elvish Visionary
4 Greenweaver Druid
2 Keeper of Progenitus
4 Lotus Cobra
2 Noble Hierarch
3 Ob Nixilis, the Fallen
4 Siege-Gang Commander
Spells (8)
4 Trace of Abundance
4 Warp World
I hopped on MWS to do battle.
Match 1 vs. U/B Mill
Game 1 he gets manascrewed while I get a Turn 4 Siege-Gang Commander and a Turn 6 Hellkite. His only plays are Hedron Crab and Jace.
Game 2 he plays a Turn 1 Hedron Crab. I play a Savage Lands. He plays a fetch, then Archive Traps me when I sacrifice my own fetch. I play Lotus Cobra.
I get to Warp World mana, and he mills me down to 12 cards in library. In my last turn before I die, I play Warp World and float 2 mana. He goes from 8 permanents to 4, and I get two Lotus Cobras and five lands so I can play another Warp World. This one gets him to one permanent, and I flip over Ob Nixilis. The landfall triggers kill him.
1-0
Match 2 vs. White Control
I get some early ramps, and lay out my hand. He casts Day of Judgement. He plays a Seraph and a Baneslayer, and I don't reach Warp World mana in time.
Game 2 I get a Turn 4 Ob Nixilis, and he uses Lapse of Certainty. He plays Guardian Seraph, I play Ob Nixilis, then play and sac a fetchland. He O-Rings it. I go for a Warp World, and he Lapses it. I play Warp World with one in hand. He gets Iona, Shield of Emeria and names red. He kills me with the giant flier next turn.
1-1
Match 3 vs. Naya
I play Lotus Cobra and Elvish Visionary: he plays Bloodbraid Elf into Trace of Abundance. He plays Cliffrunner Behemoth and a Garruk, then another Cliffrunner. When he uses his ultimate, I can't keep up with the raw power.
Game 2 We both play Trace of Abundance. He plays Cliffrunner. I play Keeper of Progenitus. He uses Bituminous Blast to cascade into another one, then finishes it with two Lightning Bolts to the dome.
1-2
Match 4 vs. Four-Color Midrange
He plays Noble Hierarch, I play Lotus Cobra. He Paths it, and plays Knight of the Reliquary. I get Ob Nixilis plus a fetch to out-do the 6/6 Knight. He passes. I swing, he goes to 2, and I Hellkite him to win.
Game 2 I curve out massively into a Turn 4 Warp World. Unfortunately, his 3 lands flip up 3 lands. I play Hellkite, he plays Rhox War Monk and Harrow. I get him to 4 life but he plays Baneslayer, then Realm Razer next turn. I chump with Birds and eventually Hellkite, but am never able to draw an answer.
Game 3 I get a Warp World, but he's lucky enough to Warp into Baneslayer while I fail to Warp into my finishers, and he bashes me to death.
1-3
Salivanth's Rating:
3.5/5
Matches x2:
2/5
Total Score: 5.5
I think the main reason Warp World failed was both my lack of knowledge of when to Warp, and the luck and raw power of some of my opponents' decks. When the metagame shifts to accommodate control, Warp World should become a lot better.
Next time: New Jund!
Monday, October 5, 2009
The Alternative Goldfish
A lot of people goldfish their aggro decks. They find out how quickly it can kill. While that's all well and good, real testing is a lot better. But what if you don't have someone to test with, or you don't have more than a few minutes to test something quickly, or your internet's down and you're an MWS / MTGO player?
I present: The Alternative Goldfish Gauntlet! While it's not as good as real testing, it's a decent way to find out if you can handle certain strategies.
Note: The following gauntlet is designed for aggressive decks. Control decks shouldn't be goldfishing at all: they NEED real testing for even slight benefits.
Note: This gauntlet is designed for a 3-game sideboard match. Hopefully you win each game: don't stop after 2 games. Record your results.
Opponent 1: Plague Rats Guy.
This opponent will play a Plague Rats every turn. Attack and block as you would if you were on the other side of the table. Strategy tip: try not to trade if you can help it. Your rats get quite big, quite fast.
Opponent 2: Terminate Guy.
This guy will Terminate your best Terminatable dude each turn, during his turn.
Opponent 3: Wall Guy.
This guy will play a 0/5 Wall token every turn.
Opponent 4: Token Guy.
This guy plays 2 1/1 tokens each turn. Attack and block to the best of your ability.
Opponent 5: Uberman Guy.
This guy starts with a 10/10 indestructible creature. He plays nothing else. (This guy always starts on the draw.)
Opponent 6: Sower Guy.
This guy will steal your best creature on every even turn. (Turn 2, Turn 4, Turn 6)
Opponent 7: Wrath Guy.
This guy casts Planar Cleansing on every turn with a multiple of 3. (Turn 3, Turn 6, Turn 9)
Opponent 8: Aggro Guy.
This guy plays a 2/1 with haste every turn. He always attacks unless it's completely unprofitable. He tries to force trades.
Opponent 9: Banshee Guy.
All your creatures get a -1/-1 counter at the beginning of your upkeep.
Opponent 10: Nicol Bolas.
Your opponent has a Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker in play and nothing else. Every turn you don't play a card it gains +1 loyalty. Nicol Bolas cannot play an ability on his first turn. He is always on the draw.
Opponent 11: Choice Guy.
In his main phase, Choice Guy chooses one of the following:
Put a 2/1 with haste onto the battlefield.
Put a 0/5 defender onto the battlefield.
Destroy target creature.
Put a -1/-1 counter on each creature.
Put 2 1/1 creatures onto the battlefield.
Steal target creature. Choice Guy cannot choose this option for two more turns.
Destroy all non-land permanents. Choice Guy skips his next turn and cannot choose this option for two more turns after that.
There you have it, the alternative goldfish brigade! Work your way through them, and see if you can beat each one! Happy testing!
I present: The Alternative Goldfish Gauntlet! While it's not as good as real testing, it's a decent way to find out if you can handle certain strategies.
Note: The following gauntlet is designed for aggressive decks. Control decks shouldn't be goldfishing at all: they NEED real testing for even slight benefits.
Note: This gauntlet is designed for a 3-game sideboard match. Hopefully you win each game: don't stop after 2 games. Record your results.
Opponent 1: Plague Rats Guy.
This opponent will play a Plague Rats every turn. Attack and block as you would if you were on the other side of the table. Strategy tip: try not to trade if you can help it. Your rats get quite big, quite fast.
Opponent 2: Terminate Guy.
This guy will Terminate your best Terminatable dude each turn, during his turn.
Opponent 3: Wall Guy.
This guy will play a 0/5 Wall token every turn.
Opponent 4: Token Guy.
This guy plays 2 1/1 tokens each turn. Attack and block to the best of your ability.
Opponent 5: Uberman Guy.
This guy starts with a 10/10 indestructible creature. He plays nothing else. (This guy always starts on the draw.)
Opponent 6: Sower Guy.
This guy will steal your best creature on every even turn. (Turn 2, Turn 4, Turn 6)
Opponent 7: Wrath Guy.
This guy casts Planar Cleansing on every turn with a multiple of 3. (Turn 3, Turn 6, Turn 9)
Opponent 8: Aggro Guy.
This guy plays a 2/1 with haste every turn. He always attacks unless it's completely unprofitable. He tries to force trades.
Opponent 9: Banshee Guy.
All your creatures get a -1/-1 counter at the beginning of your upkeep.
Opponent 10: Nicol Bolas.
Your opponent has a Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker in play and nothing else. Every turn you don't play a card it gains +1 loyalty. Nicol Bolas cannot play an ability on his first turn. He is always on the draw.
Opponent 11: Choice Guy.
In his main phase, Choice Guy chooses one of the following:
Put a 2/1 with haste onto the battlefield.
Put a 0/5 defender onto the battlefield.
Destroy target creature.
Put a -1/-1 counter on each creature.
Put 2 1/1 creatures onto the battlefield.
Steal target creature. Choice Guy cannot choose this option for two more turns.
Destroy all non-land permanents. Choice Guy skips his next turn and cannot choose this option for two more turns after that.
There you have it, the alternative goldfish brigade! Work your way through them, and see if you can beat each one! Happy testing!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Zendikar Achievements Part 2
Once I wrote my first achievements post, ThatDamnAussie from Twitter took an interest in it. We came up with a lot of achievements, so here's the best of them:
Too Cruel For School: Have Cruel Ultimatum successfully resolve against you, then win the game. (30 points)
Pyrrhic Victory: Win a game on 1 life. (20 points)
Got It By That Much: Win a game with 7 or less cards in your library. (20 points)
Overachiever - Complete 3 or more achievements in the same game. (30 points)
Forgot To Carry The One - Win a game because an opponent drew too many cards and decked himself. (10 points)
Lose with Style - Have a spell or permanent you control deal the last points of damage to you to lose the game. (15 points)
Just To Be Sure - Win a game by reducing an opponents life total to 0 while they have no cards in their library (20 points)
Money Don't Buy No Respect - Destroy or exile an opponent's Mythic Rare permanent with a common. (10 points)
Backstabber - Defeat an opponent with a card they own. (10 points)
Land Developer - Sacrifice 3 or more land in a single game. (10 points)
Card Drawing Machine - Draw 5 or more cards in a single turn. (10 points)
Survival of the Weakest - Win a game with a negative life total. (10 points)
Speedy Gonzales - Be victorious in a completed match that lasts 10 minutes or less (10 points) Concessions or intentional draws do not grant this achievement.
Not Very Observant - Play 3 traps for their alternate casting costs in one game. (10 points)
And a couple of new ones that weren't on Twitter:
Neutron Bomb - Destroy 50 permanents in one turn. (30 points)
I <3 Zendikar - With no cards in hand, topdeck a land to win the game. (20 points)
Hacks! - After an opponent topdecks a removal spell to kill the permanent they have to kill, topdeck another one in your next draw. (10 points)
Pack Hacker - Play 2 or more copies of the same Mythic/Rare in the same Limited game. (20 points for Rare, 30 points for Mythic)
Bend it like Beckham - Kick 5 spells in a single game. (20 points)
Clear your Quest Log - "Complete" 3 or more Quests in the same turn (Complete = Sacrificing a common or uncommon quest or unlocking the ability of a rare quest). (20 points)
Ascended Ascension - Have two different Ascensions active at the same time (20 points)
Too Cruel For School: Have Cruel Ultimatum successfully resolve against you, then win the game. (30 points)
Pyrrhic Victory: Win a game on 1 life. (20 points)
Got It By That Much: Win a game with 7 or less cards in your library. (20 points)
Overachiever - Complete 3 or more achievements in the same game. (30 points)
Forgot To Carry The One - Win a game because an opponent drew too many cards and decked himself. (10 points)
Lose with Style - Have a spell or permanent you control deal the last points of damage to you to lose the game. (15 points)
Just To Be Sure - Win a game by reducing an opponents life total to 0 while they have no cards in their library (20 points)
Money Don't Buy No Respect - Destroy or exile an opponent's Mythic Rare permanent with a common. (10 points)
Backstabber - Defeat an opponent with a card they own. (10 points)
Land Developer - Sacrifice 3 or more land in a single game. (10 points)
Card Drawing Machine - Draw 5 or more cards in a single turn. (10 points)
Survival of the Weakest - Win a game with a negative life total. (10 points)
Speedy Gonzales - Be victorious in a completed match that lasts 10 minutes or less (10 points) Concessions or intentional draws do not grant this achievement.
Not Very Observant - Play 3 traps for their alternate casting costs in one game. (10 points)
And a couple of new ones that weren't on Twitter:
Neutron Bomb - Destroy 50 permanents in one turn. (30 points)
I <3 Zendikar - With no cards in hand, topdeck a land to win the game. (20 points)
Hacks! - After an opponent topdecks a removal spell to kill the permanent they have to kill, topdeck another one in your next draw. (10 points)
Pack Hacker - Play 2 or more copies of the same Mythic/Rare in the same Limited game. (20 points for Rare, 30 points for Mythic)
Bend it like Beckham - Kick 5 spells in a single game. (20 points)
Clear your Quest Log - "Complete" 3 or more Quests in the same turn (Complete = Sacrificing a common or uncommon quest or unlocking the ability of a rare quest). (20 points)
Ascended Ascension - Have two different Ascensions active at the same time (20 points)
Saturday, October 3, 2009
8 Arguments Against Online PTQs And Why They Are Wrong
Ever since Wizards announced their online PTQ campaign, there's been a lot of backlash about it. (You know, like the backlash to the new card frames, Fourth Edition Rules, M10 rules, black-bordered core sets, etc.) I don't get it. Frankly, if you don't like them, you don't HAVE to participate...so I fail to see how it affects you.
However, let's go after the main arguments that are against online PTQs. People think online PTQs are far worse than real ones because of several reasons. Here they are, and my rebuttals:
1. It's Not "Pure" Magic
Response: While the opportunities for bluffing are largely gone in MTGO, there are ways to still bluff. Leaving lands untapped, pausing before response to a spell, faking missing your fourth land drop to bait your opponent into walking into Day of Judgement, etc.
Also, because of the lack of opportunities to exploit superior rule knowledge and Jedi mind tricks, MTGO is actually more about the technical play than actual Magic. So saying it's not pure Magic is ridiculous. You don't get the same fun experience as playing with friends, and I certainly don't think you shouldn't play offline, but the debate here is MTGO's ability to run a series of high-level events with the same integrity and level of competition as real Magic.
I believe it certainly can.
2. MTGO can crash.
WOTC has made mistakes with MTGO before, but the fact that they're releasing online PTQ's makes me think that they have, in fact, made absolutely sure that the PTQ's will not crash. It's perfectly possible to reinforce a particular server to handle a greater load than normal which is probably what they've done here. They wouldn't do it unless they felt sure that there was a 99.99% chance the server could flawlessly handle a 512-player tournament.
3. It's easy to cheat. Just get a skilled player to play for you.
MTGO, thanks to it's interface, has a HUGE list of infractions that are impossible to commit online. Here are some of the major ones:
Deck/Decklist Mismatch
Illegal Deck
Missed Triggers
Game Rule Violation
Drawing/Looking at Extra Cards
Manipulation of Game Materials
Insufficient Randomisation
Disagreement about the game state
Slow Play
Lying about the rules
Compared to this, I'd say that the chance that you would get someone to play as you and give you the prizes is a lot less problematic than this plethora of activities which, accidentally or maliciously, cannot be done online.
4. Misclicks could cost an invite to the Pro Tour.
Mishearing your opponent can cost an invite to the Pro Tour. So can a host of real-life misclicks like drawing extra cards by mistake, flipping an opponent's card by mistake, etc. If you practice MTGO diligently, you shouldn't misclick often, just like you should handle cards well at the level where you can realistically consider winning a PTQ.
5. The competition will be lesser.
This is just crap. If anything, the competition could be greater. The really serious PTQers who are the best at your PTQ, guess what? If they haven't qualified they're probably playing in them. The best players will want every chance they can get, and good players from the other side of the world can compete, not just those within a few hundred kilometres of your PTQ.
6. If an MTGO-exclusive player makes it to the PT they can make mistakes, due to not being familiar with physical testing.
That's like saying you're not familiar with your deck. If I was an MTGO player who won one of these, I'd find some people who played physical Magic and join them! I would practice playing physically so I could learn to pick up on everything MTGO does for me and learn the nuances of physical play just like you need to test your deck to be familiar with it's nuances. And you can test both at the same time. No extra time needed.
7. You have to buy the cards twice to compete in MTGO.
I quote ThatDamnAussie here, whom I corresponded with over Twitter in preparation for this article.
"Everything costs money if you want to do well. You don't HAVE to play in the Modo PTQs to make the PT. These are bonus chances"
He's right. If you want to practice Zendikar Sealed, you have an expense ahead. If you want to bring two decks, as I recommend at one point, and several potential sideboards, as I have recommended, that's another expense. So is MTGO. You don't have to do it, but it maximises your chances. Also, if you play with RL friends testing for the PTQ, get them into it as well so you can share cards again. Plus, singles cost less on MTGO than they do in real life.
8. It's too easy to just let people play from their homes.
No, you're being an elitist.
That's it.
Alright, fine.
The fact that you can play from home does not diminish the mental stamina you'll require or the skill you'll need to command. Other people have the same bonuses. Do you honestly believe that if you've worked on your stamina, it won't pay off in an online PTQ? It will. Just because you can go to the fridge and get food rather than try to search for it, or go to the bathroom mid-round if you're okay losing a minute off your clock, doesn't mean your stamina won't help you. It lets you focus on what matters: playing Magic.
So, therefore, in my opinion, online PTQs are helpful for the game and community in general. I'm sure this'll spark a discussion in the comments, and I welcome it. I'll add my own insights as I check in.
In a few days I'll also release another article about the benefits of online PTQs that offline PTQs lack.
See you!
However, let's go after the main arguments that are against online PTQs. People think online PTQs are far worse than real ones because of several reasons. Here they are, and my rebuttals:
1. It's Not "Pure" Magic
Response: While the opportunities for bluffing are largely gone in MTGO, there are ways to still bluff. Leaving lands untapped, pausing before response to a spell, faking missing your fourth land drop to bait your opponent into walking into Day of Judgement, etc.
Also, because of the lack of opportunities to exploit superior rule knowledge and Jedi mind tricks, MTGO is actually more about the technical play than actual Magic. So saying it's not pure Magic is ridiculous. You don't get the same fun experience as playing with friends, and I certainly don't think you shouldn't play offline, but the debate here is MTGO's ability to run a series of high-level events with the same integrity and level of competition as real Magic.
I believe it certainly can.
2. MTGO can crash.
WOTC has made mistakes with MTGO before, but the fact that they're releasing online PTQ's makes me think that they have, in fact, made absolutely sure that the PTQ's will not crash. It's perfectly possible to reinforce a particular server to handle a greater load than normal which is probably what they've done here. They wouldn't do it unless they felt sure that there was a 99.99% chance the server could flawlessly handle a 512-player tournament.
3. It's easy to cheat. Just get a skilled player to play for you.
MTGO, thanks to it's interface, has a HUGE list of infractions that are impossible to commit online. Here are some of the major ones:
Deck/Decklist Mismatch
Illegal Deck
Missed Triggers
Game Rule Violation
Drawing/Looking at Extra Cards
Manipulation of Game Materials
Insufficient Randomisation
Disagreement about the game state
Slow Play
Lying about the rules
Compared to this, I'd say that the chance that you would get someone to play as you and give you the prizes is a lot less problematic than this plethora of activities which, accidentally or maliciously, cannot be done online.
4. Misclicks could cost an invite to the Pro Tour.
Mishearing your opponent can cost an invite to the Pro Tour. So can a host of real-life misclicks like drawing extra cards by mistake, flipping an opponent's card by mistake, etc. If you practice MTGO diligently, you shouldn't misclick often, just like you should handle cards well at the level where you can realistically consider winning a PTQ.
5. The competition will be lesser.
This is just crap. If anything, the competition could be greater. The really serious PTQers who are the best at your PTQ, guess what? If they haven't qualified they're probably playing in them. The best players will want every chance they can get, and good players from the other side of the world can compete, not just those within a few hundred kilometres of your PTQ.
6. If an MTGO-exclusive player makes it to the PT they can make mistakes, due to not being familiar with physical testing.
That's like saying you're not familiar with your deck. If I was an MTGO player who won one of these, I'd find some people who played physical Magic and join them! I would practice playing physically so I could learn to pick up on everything MTGO does for me and learn the nuances of physical play just like you need to test your deck to be familiar with it's nuances. And you can test both at the same time. No extra time needed.
7. You have to buy the cards twice to compete in MTGO.
I quote ThatDamnAussie here, whom I corresponded with over Twitter in preparation for this article.
"Everything costs money if you want to do well. You don't HAVE to play in the Modo PTQs to make the PT. These are bonus chances"
He's right. If you want to practice Zendikar Sealed, you have an expense ahead. If you want to bring two decks, as I recommend at one point, and several potential sideboards, as I have recommended, that's another expense. So is MTGO. You don't have to do it, but it maximises your chances. Also, if you play with RL friends testing for the PTQ, get them into it as well so you can share cards again. Plus, singles cost less on MTGO than they do in real life.
8. It's too easy to just let people play from their homes.
No, you're being an elitist.
That's it.
Alright, fine.
The fact that you can play from home does not diminish the mental stamina you'll require or the skill you'll need to command. Other people have the same bonuses. Do you honestly believe that if you've worked on your stamina, it won't pay off in an online PTQ? It will. Just because you can go to the fridge and get food rather than try to search for it, or go to the bathroom mid-round if you're okay losing a minute off your clock, doesn't mean your stamina won't help you. It lets you focus on what matters: playing Magic.
So, therefore, in my opinion, online PTQs are helpful for the game and community in general. I'm sure this'll spark a discussion in the comments, and I welcome it. I'll add my own insights as I check in.
In a few days I'll also release another article about the benefits of online PTQs that offline PTQs lack.
See you!
Thursday, October 1, 2009
No Post Today
Due to technical issues, there will be no post going up tonight. My Internet will be out during some building work. However, I will be able to test Warp World tomorrow. Sorry for the delay!
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