Magic: The Gathering,GO TEAM MS!

bv310 · Wed Mar 25, 2015 11:21 am

That guy's laugh is hypnotic.

bv310 · Thu Apr 02, 2015 4:21 pm

I'm not sure what you mean by "enfranchised players" here. I've been playing for 6 years, and I regularly consume a ton of MTG content. I don't feel disenfranchised at all. Khans block actually has me caring about the game a lot more than I have in the past few years, both from a story and gameplay perspective. I feel like that article was just pointing out something that I always thought was incredibly obvious (Rosewater is selling a product, MTG is trying to sell packs which causes them to play it safe, etc.)

From my perspective, what others experience disenfranchisement with is the fact that the game has fundamentally shifted in gameplay mechanics, and is not the same game it was fifteen years ago. From where I came into the game, this is a good thing, because I learned the game as it is now.

Am I close, or completely off the mark?

bv310 · Thu Apr 02, 2015 5:11 pm

In post 6006, Natirasha wrote:
In post 6004, Klazam wrote:I actually think that the fact it isn't the exact same game it was as 2002 (when i started) is a good thing.

ideas, archetypes, paradigms evolved, making the game feel organic.

Yes, they are playing it safe. (wait, are they?)

Treasure Cruise, Thragtusk, Delver of Secrets, Jeskai ascendancy, Mental misstep, Jace the Wallet Sculptor, Walletslayer Angel, Titan cycle (all post Lorwyn, most post ISD) are example of newer really strong cards. Psychatog, Astral Slide, are examples of older strong cards. What I'm getting at is that the game at its core is still the same, with its silly strong cards, and standardized archetypes.

If you're experiencing "disenfranchisement" from this- just find a new hobby, you're burnt out on M:tG. This is a natural thing for a game that has been around since 1993, not everyone can play for that long without feeling bored.

That's not what I'm talking about at all. Anyone can make a Good card. Like, fuck, I have been designing my own set in my own time and it's easy to make good cards. It's about execution of a theme. There are a thousand ways they could have executed Return to Ravnica in such a way that it was great--I mean, the second set was named 'Gatecrash'. That's a great evolution of original Ravnica's theme!

We got a maze and the status quo. Because the status quo sells. It's cynical.

That's fair, actually. I'm fairly disappointed at the execution of DTK overall. I really, really liked Sarkhan as a character, since I like redemption stories. Narset had a cool story too, same with the Anafenza story from today. Each individual Uncharted Realms has been a fairly well-written piece of writing for Magic (except Doug Beyer's one last week. That one just sucked butts). Overall though, it feels just like they're shoehorning this set because dragons. I'm really interested in how the new rotation structure will work with the stories, since it seems like they're building up to an actual overarching story with the Eldrazi and/or Phyrexia and/or Nicol Bolas (who now has an actual counterpart, power-wise, in Ugin)

From a gameplay perspective, I'm fairly excited to see how Standard shapes up once Theros rotates out. I really like some of the themes to Khans block, and seeing them play out more will be nice once the dead weight of Theros leaves.

bv310 · Thu Apr 02, 2015 5:13 pm

In post 6007, Klazam wrote:uh, i thought the RtR theme was amazeing.

This is a bad pun and I hate you for it

bv310 · Sat Apr 04, 2015 8:10 am

It's interesting, because I feel the same way about Innistrad that you do about Lorwyn. I even did the same for lands (http://magiccards.info/scans/en/isd/251.jpg, http://magiccards.info/scans/en/isd/255.jpg, http://magiccards.info/scans/en/isd/258.jpg, http://magiccards.info/scans/en/avr/244.jpg)

I'm a fairly large fan of Khans, especially because it comes after the incredibly dull Theros draft block. Drafting Khans is FUN, just like Innistrad was. (I'm also in a small minority of people who really liked AVR draft, but I'm aware that it's not popular for very very good reasons).

The sooner October comes around and Theros rotates out, the better. I've been sick of Theros' cards since around the launch of KTK, and I don't expect that to change.

bv310 · Sun Apr 05, 2015 6:22 am

Good lord, why is that a Rare?

bv310 · Sun Apr 05, 2015 6:21 pm

Yeah, I like Resource Denial in small doses. Stone Rain and Stasis are hell to play against, but having the ability to attack ramp decks is important.

bv310 · Tue Apr 07, 2015 8:18 am

They're surprisingly fun. DTK is growing on me.

bv310 · Wed Apr 08, 2015 2:37 pm

For online, yes.

bv310 · Sun Apr 12, 2015 4:34 pm

I actually enjoyed it a lot. Why did you hate it?

bv310 · Sun Apr 12, 2015 5:56 pm

I'm not disagreeing, but it's a third set. I can't think of a third set that's ever done something actually cool to the meta, especially not at the PT so soon after launch. Game Day hasn't even happened yet.

bv310 · Thu Apr 16, 2015 11:47 am

So I think I'm cashing out my MTGO account (except Modern Affinity) and buying a set of Mox Opals and a PS4. It scares me slightly that I own that much money in digital Magic cards.

bv310 · Thu Apr 16, 2015 4:42 pm

I'll put the whole file up and let you pick through. Highlights include most of Modern Burn, all of Standard Atarka Sligh, all of Standard WU Heroic, and Modern Living End (wihtout Fulminators)

bv310 · Thu Apr 16, 2015 4:45 pm

[SNIPPED] is the whole thing. I'll cut any of you guys a good deal. This is mostly just me seeing a giant pile of cards I don't play with and wanting to use them for something useful.

EDIT: That link didn't work. Looking for other stuff.

bv310 · Thu Apr 16, 2015 6:03 pm

Oh boy, we can be friends Esp. I for sure have:

Mono-B Control
Nivix Fiend
Affinity (without Springleaf Drums because I need those)

bv310 · Sun Apr 19, 2015 4:52 am

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... sp=sharing is the Google Doc of the entire collection. It's kind of hard to maneuver without downloading it and loading it into MTGO. I might have time to go through today and mark off the full decks I have available with prices.

bv310 · Thu Apr 23, 2015 12:11 pm

In post 6098, PeregrineV wrote:Free Modern tounament tonight. Last week if was All monored burn all the time.

Is there a reason that people play modern?

Because the meta at-large is really fun?

bv310 · Sat Apr 25, 2015 7:29 pm

Sorry, I didn't hear anything from anyone after I put up the Doc, so I flipped the whole thing to MTGO Traders for $700.

bv310 · Sat Apr 25, 2015 7:44 pm

Shit. I'm sorry.

bv310 · Tue Apr 28, 2015 8:46 am

I'm sporting Temur Dragons right now. Basically RG Ramp, running blue for Kiora, Sarkhan Unbroken, and 2 Icefall Regents. Sarkhan/Kiora have been outstanding against most of the decks I've come up against, but Icefall is just awful in a ton of matches. I'm thinking I want to cut the Icefalls for Stormbreaths in the maindeck, and move them to the side.

bv310 · Tue Apr 28, 2015 12:22 pm

In post 6111, PeregrineV wrote:
In post 6110, bv310 wrote:I'm sporting Temur Dragons right now. Basically RG Ramp, running blue for Kiora, Sarkhan Unbroken, and 2 Icefall Regents. Sarkhan/Kiora have been outstanding against most of the decks I've come up against, but Icefall is just awful in a ton of matches. I'm thinking I want to cut the Icefalls for Stormbreaths in the maindeck, and move them to the side.

Why are the Regents bad? What are they doing/not doing that you expected them to? or is it something else?

Honestly, they're just not being good. Locking down one creature isn't that great in the matchups I struggle with, and I don't need the extra support in the good matchups.

In post 6112, Natirasha wrote:UU in your RG deck seems rough.

Also partially this. The UU cost isn't that hard to get, but cutting it makes my mana base way less painful.

bv310 · Wed Apr 29, 2015 8:37 am

In post 6118, Thestatusquo wrote:Just registered for Grand Prix Vegas.

Roll call. Who else is going? If we have enough it would be cool to have a MS dinner/drinks one of the days. I'll be there Thursday night til monday morning (maybe later on monday. I haven't booked my flights yet.)

I wish I could be there. MM2015 looks awesome, and I really want to get to a 2015 GP for the Griselbrand promo for my Reanimator deck. Good luck!

bv310 · Thu Apr 30, 2015 8:20 am

Man, I really enjoyed AVR Draft, but it's pretty consistently shit on as awful.

bv310 · Wed May 06, 2015 12:46 pm

I've been finding a fair amount of success in GB recently. The B Exploit cards are all solid, you get access to Flatten/Reach of Shadows, and G has some solid beaters (and Foe-Razer Regent, who is utterly bonkers). If I get the choice, it's RG all day every day, but Shea's right that it gets overdrafted right now.

bv310 · Fri May 08, 2015 11:34 am

It looks exactly like Modern Masters 1 for me. A fun draft format with a handful of $50 bills thrown in for funsies. I like the archetypes they have available, and the rarity changes are neat.

bv310 · Mon May 11, 2015 12:39 pm

Hey Shea/others who play Legacy, I have $700 in store credit to CapeFear, and have been PucaTrade'ing my way into a mono-B Reanimator for Legacy. If I want to upgrade the deck to something more powerful, would I be better off going TinFins or regular Reanimator? For either of those, am I better off buying the lands or the Force of Wills first?

bv310 · Tue May 12, 2015 9:08 am

My thing is more trying to get a deck that I'll really enjoy. I'm still living in the middle of nowhere, and likely continuing on with said middle-of-nowehereness for the next year. I'd like to have a functional Legacy deck just so I can play in whatever format tourneys happen to be going on. I'm thinking the Forces and Fetches plan (along with the Opals I need for Modern) are going to be my purchase to put together Reanimator with the stuff I already have.

Only downside for me is that they only have 2 English and 1 Spanish Force, and no Entombs, which I need either way. Gonna hit up ebay for that and pick up a 4th Daze to fill in for the 4th Force until I do.

bv310 · Tue May 12, 2015 11:38 am

Yeah, it's annoying, but I'll try and find someone to trade for either 1 English or 2 Spanish. Get the matching set at least.

That said, they actually had 4 Entomb when I went to check out, so it's all on the way. 8 Fetches, 4 Watery Grave, 4 Entomb, 3 Force of Will, and everything else on my list and it cost me personally about $50, the rest was on credit from cashing out a large portion of my MTGO account

bv310 · Tue May 12, 2015 11:40 am

White-bordered lands are awesome to infuriate people. That said, I went with snow-covered lands, just for entertainment.

bv310 · Tue May 12, 2015 2:47 pm

The super-awesome purple one from DTK?

bv310 · Tue May 12, 2015 3:38 pm

I'm still a sucker for Avacyn Restored's basics.

bv310 · Wed May 13, 2015 5:50 am

In case anyone's curious, this is what my Reanimator deck is going to look like:

2 Griselbrand
1 Inkwell Leviathan
1 Iona, Shield of Emeria
1 Elesh Norn, Grand Cenobite
1 Grave Titan
3 Force of Will
4 Daze
4 Careful Study
4 Entomb
4 Reanimate
2 Animate Dead
4 Brainstorm
4 Ponder
4 Lotus Petal
3 Exhume
3 Thoughtseize
4 Polluted Delta
4 Flooded Strand
3 Watery Grave
1 Overgrown Tomb
1 Snow-Covered Island
1 Snow-Covered Swamp
1 Empyrial Archangel
SB: 1 Ashen Rider
SB: 3 Abrupt Decay
SB: 3 Pithing Needle
SB: 2 Massacre
SB: 2 Spell Pierce
SB: 1 Thoughtseize
SB: 2 Echoing Truth
SB: 1 Sire of Insanity

I want to switch out Flooded Strands for Misty Rainforest/Verdant Catacombs when they get reprinted, but other than that I'd be comfortable taking this list to a GP/SCG IQ. I'm also wondering if Breeding Pool would be better than Overgrown Tomb for the same reason. It's fetchable Green for Abrupt Decay off of all 8 of my fetchlands, is Blue for Brainstorm/Careful Study, and is a bit more affordable to me than a Tropical Island would be.

bv310 · Wed May 13, 2015 12:47 pm

I'm hoping to hedge my bets against other decks with the maindeck Iona/Empyrial for Burn and Inkwell against anything Blue. I'm worried about my Burn matchup with the Shocklands over Fetches, and I think being able to maindeck against the most popular cheap deck is worth having 1 less Griselbrand. The 3rd one being Grave Titan is just me loving Titan. It should probably be a third Griselbrand or a Tidespout Tyrant.

bv310 · Wed May 13, 2015 5:26 pm

I like Grave Titan against Liliana of the Veil/Karakas though, which is a big part of why I wanted it in the first place. I suppose it's probably better SB material for that matchup instead of MB. I did a bit of Cockatrice testing and I found that +1 Ashen Rider MB, +1 Tidespout, -1 Grave Titan (to SB), -1 Empyrial Archangel was pretty good. Still want to find a spot for Empyrial in the 75, possibly instead of Sire of Insanity. I'm a big fan of a 5/8 Flying Shroud creature that basically shuts down Burn

I have to admit, a big appeal for me is the fact that the deck can reasonably run any big game-breaking fatty as long as it has a useful ability. Ashen Rider is a great example of a card that wouldn't see play anywhere else, but is a fantastic Reanimator target (especially against Show and Tell)

bv310 · Thu May 14, 2015 5:27 am

The only reason I could afford this in the first place was because I had a bunch of store credit to cash in. Show and Tell isn't exactly in my actual budget, but it's on my buy-eventually list

bv310 · Thu May 14, 2015 6:04 am

Abrupt Decay as well.

bv310 · Thu May 14, 2015 8:52 am

In post 6230, notscience wrote:im thinking of getting back into this and being more serious

but I have noone to play with if I get cards

MTGO is Magic that you can play while not wearing pants. It's also somewhat cheaper than regular Magic.

bv310 · Fri May 15, 2015 6:38 am

I would consider 2 Mardu Charm maindeck over 2 Crackling Doom (which should end up SB then), since it has a bit more utility against most of the field, but 4 Crackling might be better depending on the meta.

bv310 · Fri May 15, 2015 2:24 pm

I really, really hate rare redrafting, but those are some sweet picks. Nicely done

bv310 · Fri May 15, 2015 3:43 pm

I feel that it punishes new players, and makes FNM Drafting less appealing. If I'm a new player at my first FNM and I crack a foil Ugin, and then lose it because I'm not good at drafting, I'm not going to come back. I'm a pretty experienced drafter at this point, and I still wouldn't be comfortable drafting with a rare redraft because I don't always win. It just feels unnecessarily punishing, and I don't think it "encourages players to draft better", which is the usual argument I hear for it.

bv310 · Sat May 16, 2015 5:41 am

In post 6244, Thestatusquo wrote:Unless its like a 9$ draft. My store does 9$ drafts on a weekday with redrafts.

Also, Modern Masters drafts will be redrafts a large amount of the time because of the cost.

Yeah, doing redraft for a weekday draft or a casual thing with 7 of your friends is way better.

Esp, I think your Store Owner is just a cheap-ass if he's not providing prize support at FNM. Even when my old LGS was on the verge of bankruptcy, he still provded 1.5 packs per head to the Prize Pool.

bv310 · Sat May 16, 2015 2:43 pm

Australia gets super-fucked-over on prices, that's brutal.

bv310 · Sat May 16, 2015 4:04 pm

Nah man, that Aven Skirmisher wincon is unbeatable.

bv310 · Sun May 17, 2015 6:11 am

In post 6267, Thestatusquo wrote:
In post 6265, Knight of Cydonia wrote:
In post 6264, Thestatusquo wrote:KoC, just saying "the person who does better in the tournament gets better prizes" with more pejoratives doesn't actually make it a bad thing?

Context is a wonderful thing, especially when you consider the context of "$18 drafts with no other prize support"

I mean, if you want to argue that that's how we want to introduce new players to the joys of FNM, that's cool

you're an idiot.

I actually agree with KoC here, which might be the first time I've ever said that. Redrafts are not an acceptable prize structure for FNMs, and I'd rather go home and play MTGO than play a redraft-only FNM. As a casual 8-man draft, rare redrafts are great, but not at an event that's supposed to make more people want to come back and support a store. Losing your Ugin because you're not very good at drafting is the kind of thing that makes people quit and never come back.

bv310 · Sun May 17, 2015 1:00 pm

Yep, and that person likely felt like shit about it. "Git gud, scrub" is not an attitude I want in my game stores

bv310 · Mon May 18, 2015 5:43 am

In post 6276, Sudo_Nym wrote:Playmore McSpikington is my porn name.

Weird. Playmore McSpikington is my Fall Out Boy cover band

bv310 · Mon May 18, 2015 8:07 am

My old LGS was $20 CAD, which got three packs to draft plus one per person as prize support, and 2 random promos per 8-man pod. Usually we did 4-2-2-2, with 2nd place and one of the bottom half getting promos. It wasn't incredible, but everyone was happy with it. When they did FNM drafts, it was $25, 2 packs per head, and usually a promo if you didn't win anything.

bv310 · Mon May 18, 2015 12:20 pm

That seems really generous unless their other products are equally expensive. What do they charge per pack normally?

bv310 · Thu May 28, 2015 11:21 am

I'll be watching the stream all weekend for your face!

bv310 · Thu May 28, 2015 2:00 pm

In post 6294, hasdgfas wrote:Decided to impulse hop into an MM15 draft when I got home from work today. Think I made out alright

I am waiting for round 3 after an easy 2-0

Hah! That is you in the LRR chat. Said it there, I'll say it here: That's some solid value, plus your deck looks sweet.

bv310 · Thu May 28, 2015 5:03 pm

Meh, an 8-man draft is not really a trophy-worthy event. It's something you do on an afternoon because you're bored and felt like playing Magic. Splitting the prizes of an 8-4 means each of you comes out with a profit, and you can play the finals out for the MOCS QP. I prefer splitting when it's a value set because I can sell my packs for more drafts, and splitting sometimes pays for TWO drafts instead of one.

bv310 · Sun May 31, 2015 4:30 pm

In post 6307, hasdgfas wrote:
In post 6306, Natirasha wrote:I'd gladly trade standard trash below value for goyfs.

Especially when standard is as trash as it is right now.

I'm really enjoying Standard. But maybe that's my local store meta and that fact that I'm building ridiculous decks every time I go to Standard Night.

Also, the old "Do I take the foil Tarmogoyf over Burst Lightning in the GP Vegas Top 8 Draft when I'm in RW?" question. Pascal Maynard's answer?
yes

I don't think I could be strong enough to resist that, just as a souvenir of top 8'ing the biggest GP ever.

bv310 · Mon Jun 01, 2015 1:56 pm

In post 6310, Thestatusquo wrote:Missed D2 with a record of X-2-1. Guy chose to take the draw even though I had him dead on board next turn, had a banefire in hand and a draw knocked us both out.

Fucking fantastic.

Well that's just being a dickbag. Fuck that guy.

bv310 · Sun Jun 07, 2015 8:56 am

Watching Amulet Bloom on the SCG Invitational has me wanting to buy that deck again, but I just can't do it. I'm still convinced that Amulet is going to get banned in the very near future.

bv310 · Sun Jun 07, 2015 9:31 am

Either is enough to probably kill the deck, tbh.

bv310 · Mon Aug 17, 2015 6:58 am

ALLIES!

bv310 · Tue Aug 18, 2015 2:45 pm

I'm intrigued by BFZ, if only because I liked Tarkir a lot, and having a standard that's Tarkir, Origins, and BFZ is appealing to me.

bv310 · Mon Sep 07, 2015 4:19 pm

In post 6401, Natirasha wrote:Kiora is like a 12/10 planeswalker design and I can't wait to play Sultai midrange with Kiora all season.

Still kinda mad she isn't Sultai colored though

Same, but in RUG rather than Sultai. I feel a burning desire to run her alongside Sarkhan Unbroken and Savage Knuckleblade. I really love both of those cards, and Kiora feels like she'll play perfectly with them.

bv310 · Mon Sep 14, 2015 9:20 am

I'm building Ally EDH, so I'm psyched. This set is really forgettable, though.

bv310 · Mon Sep 14, 2015 11:42 am

In post 6415, hasdgfas wrote:Theros Block >>>>>>>>>> DTK/FRF

I strongly disagree. At least DTK/FRF had variety in mechanics, instead of Bestow/Constellation and nothing else relevant.

bv310 · Tue Sep 15, 2015 3:29 am

In post 6423, InflatablePie wrote:Second perk is that LRR's preview vid for that card was amazing.

Yup. Love LRR's stuff.

bv310 · Thu Sep 17, 2015 4:31 am

I also appreciate that the 7-mana "exile target permanent" is Common.

bv310 · Sat Sep 19, 2015 2:09 pm

I think Prerelease is going to be a good time. Draft seems questionable, but could be really fun.

bv310 · Sun Sep 20, 2015 1:26 pm

Okay, so I cashed out my MTGO account for store credit (EDH Staples, ho!), and now I want to buy into one Modern deck to learn backwards and forwards. I had that with Pod about a year ago, but nothing's really held my attention for quite as long.

My personal preferences:

1) It has a wincon. Something like the combo in Abzan Company or Kiki-Chord, or the beatdown plan of Elves.
2) It can actually win. I love the idea of running mono-Green Nykthos, but I don't feel like piling money into a deck, only to find out six months in that I can't go better than 2-2 in a Daily.
3) It can interact with an opponent. If I'm going to put the time in to learn a deck inside and out, I want it to have some versatility and knowledge involved
4) It gets better or more consistent the more you play it. Something like Scapeshift appeals to me for this.
5) It isn't Jund. Nothing against the deck, I'm just not comfortable paying the price for Liliana and Tarmogoyf.

Overall, I've been kicking around a couple ideas:

1) Scapeshift. I love the deck concept as a ramp/control/combo deck, and getting to play a bit of permission would be nice for a change. It also seems to be a really rewarding deck to play, which appeals to me. My big concern is that it is kind of one-dimensional. It seems like if it doesn't win off Scapeshift, it doesn't win.

2) Kiki-Chord. Tons of lines of play, neat interactions, fun cards, and a combo for inevitability. Basically everything I want, but it seems a lot less consistent than I might like.

3) Tron. I like the way the deck plays, and it gets to do a lot of powerful things. Seems really poorly positioned in the meta right now, though.

4) Elves. Tribal synergies make me happy, it has a combo-esque feel to it, and it's fast. Not sure how I feel about relying on Collected Company as much as it does, though.

Thoughts?

bv310 · Mon Sep 21, 2015 10:50 am

I actually have a similar Fish list together in paper, but I excluded it out of a hope of playing something a bit different. Right now Twin is kicking around in my mind a bit, just to fill that Combo/control itch.

Spoiler: My UW Fish list

bv310 · Mon Sep 28, 2015 10:20 am

4-2'd my prerelease. Opened an Omnath, which I promptly sent out to become my next altered Commander (Charred Maokai with a Sapling, to play off my original Maokai mono-G Omnath) Nothing else valuable there, but I did crack a Prairie Stream, Kiora, and a Greenwarden of Murasa, so I'm fairly happy.

Big fan of Landfall as a Sealed deck. Was way too fun to win off of either Akoum Hellkite or Omnath.

bv310 · Thu Oct 15, 2015 5:18 pm

I adore Modern, and it's most of the Competitive Magic I play, besides some occasional dalliances in Pauper and Standard. What do you want to know?

bv310 · Thu Oct 15, 2015 6:24 pm

Grixis Control, Merfolk, Affinity, and Burn are your missing gauntlet decks. You also need Amulet Bloom in there, probably in place of Suicide Zoo.

For Affinity, don't get fancy. The current version that runs 4 Galvanic Blasts is going to be the most efficient list. Don't tell yourself you're setting up a gauntlet, and then run mediocre versions of the decks in it. That just makes you get unrealistic expectations of your matchups. Same with Jund. Don't run some crazy Jund brew that happened to do well at one SCG IQ. Play the real version.

bv310 · Sat Oct 17, 2015 8:50 am

In post 6492, InflatablePie wrote:
In post 6488, bv310 wrote:Grixis Control, Merfolk, Affinity, and Burn are your missing gauntlet decks. You also need Amulet Bloom in there, probably in place of Suicide Zoo.

For Affinity, don't get fancy. The current version that runs 4 Galvanic Blasts is going to be the most efficient list. Don't tell yourself you're setting up a gauntlet, and then run mediocre versions of the decks in it. That just makes you get unrealistic expectations of your matchups. Same with Jund. Don't run some crazy Jund brew that happened to do well at one SCG IQ. Play the real version.

I'm proxying extras to slot in when I'm wanting to play something more standard or test against an actual gauntlet. No worries there.

Is Merfolk that common? I feel like I'd see more Bloom Titan (and Suicide Zoo is a deck I'm letting esu try out, not necessarily using it for testing). On the other hand it also seems like a difficult deck to pilot properly with a bunch of inexperienced players attempting to learn their own decks so idk

Merfolk, Titan, Jund, and Affinity are the 4 most popular lists in Dailies according to mtggoldfish

bv310 · Sun Oct 18, 2015 5:55 pm

Modern and Legacy are much more diverse, simply due to card pool size. I recommend either of those if you're in the mood for deck variety.

bv310 · Mon Oct 19, 2015 6:24 am

In post 6499, DeathNote wrote:But the top decks are usually 3 to 5 archtypes then?

I think it depends on how you define "archetypes". Modern has about a dozen top decks that fall loosely under the big 5 archetypes (Combo, Control, Aggro, Midrange, and Tempo). http://www.mtggoldfish.com/metagame/modern#online is a good measure of what decks are currently doing well, though it's slow to update sometimes.

bv310 · Thu Oct 22, 2015 6:15 pm

Netdecking isn't a bad thing, though. Gives those of us who want to brew a framework to work against.

bv310 · Thu Oct 29, 2015 1:30 pm

Fwiw, I'd consider getting back in to MTGO. They've improved by leaps and bounds in the past year-ish of dev time.

bv310 · Mon Nov 02, 2015 3:35 pm

In post 6597, chamber wrote:
In post 6591, bv310 wrote:Fwiw, I'd consider getting back in to MTGO. They've improved by leaps and bounds in the past year-ish of dev time.

I hadn't played MTGO in a while, but I wanted something to do to pass some time before the Server downtime later, and it was ISD flashback drafts. So I log on, buy some tickets, it crashes. I go to my collection and it shows 2 tickets, which I assume I already had. I had just tried to buy 14. I go back to the purchase page, it immediately crashes again. Finally I get into it. I join the draft, I'm the first person, cool I'll go do some other stuff, seems like a while has passed so I go back to look at it, 10 seconds left on pack 1, no visual or audio cue that the draft had started. The program is a piece of shit.

That's brutal, but I've been playing near-daily for months with zero issues beyond memory leak.

bv310 · Fri Nov 06, 2015 9:48 am

I'm probably picking up the UR deck. Been wanting to play a Spellslinger-type deck, and that deck is a really solid shell for it.

bv310 · Sun Nov 08, 2015 6:03 pm

Yeah, Rath was negated in the Rathi Overlay, where the Phyrexians invaded and Teferi phased Zhalfir.

bv310 · Sun Nov 08, 2015 6:42 pm

Obvi. I'd love to find out what Teferi is up to these days. He's immortal, after all.

bv310 · Wed Nov 11, 2015 2:21 pm

In post 6636, Shinobi wrote:Is it really?
The only thing I know about Innistrad is that there were Werewolves and Vampires in it. I signed up for MTGO just so I could play those drafts but I don't see them anywhere.

Flashback drafts only stick around for two weeks or so, sadly. Rise of the Eldrazi should make a return appearance around Christmas, and I'd recommend you get in on those, they're rad.

bv310 · Wed Nov 11, 2015 3:45 pm

Two weeks, but it was the one before and after Halloween. It was only Flashback Drafts anyway, you'll get to gorge on Innistrad in April when Shadows comes out.

bv310 · Wed Nov 11, 2015 5:33 pm

From what I've read, the set isn't 2hg-focused, just the Prerelease. Don't think that's a bad thing, tbh.

bv310 · Mon Nov 16, 2015 6:41 pm

Yeah, I'm a big fan of Allies. What list are you running? http://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/342724#online is my current one.

bv310 · Tue Nov 17, 2015 5:53 am

That sounds rad. I'm going to play around with it a bit,

bv310 · Wed Nov 18, 2015 2:35 pm

Meh, I'm withholding judgement until they actually confirm those. I hate getting hyped only to be let down.

bv310 · Fri Nov 20, 2015 6:49 pm

Several hundred dollars less than Paper. www.mtggoldfish.com has a good metagame analysis, if you're looking for prices on everything.

bv310 · Sun Nov 22, 2015 11:23 am

Apparently the company running it are really terrible. Capped a Modern GP at like 2500 players, which is really low. According to Twitter, people were scalping tickets to get in to the main event.

bv310 · Tue Nov 24, 2015 9:46 am

I'm going this way for Meren. Looks super fun so far: http://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/345402#paper

bv310 · Sat Nov 28, 2015 5:22 am

Nice! I've come around a lot on Bloom, to the point that I'm probably buying it on MTGO in the next day or so. Shit's fun, yo.

bv310 · Sat Nov 28, 2015 10:47 am

Yeah, that's what worries me. I'm not going to buy any paper parts of it until the January B&R, and will probably cash out of the MTGO one about two weeks before the B&R Update just to be safe. It seems like it's just visible enough that they're going to just shit on it for the January Pro Tour, which is Modern.

bv310 · Mon Dec 07, 2015 8:46 am

That bites. This format is super weird.

bv310 · Mon Dec 07, 2015 11:02 am

That feels accurate to my experience. Done a handful of Phantoms on MTGO and had pools where I opened Ob Nixilis and Hero's Downfall 2.0, or pools where I cracked that rare RW Angel and Painful Truths. I played a shitload of Khans drafts, and have zero desire to draft this set.

bv310 · Wed Dec 09, 2015 2:21 pm

Now I wish I was qualified for the PT. $38k for an event that tops out at $40K seems like a no-brainer.

bv310 · Thu Jan 07, 2016 8:51 am

So I bought Modern Storm. I figured that if I was going to make a cheap-ish combo deck to learn, I may as well learn a classic. It's far too much fun to combo out on Turn 3, or get my hand stripped by Jund and just win via Past in Flames.

bv310 · Sun Jan 10, 2016 8:22 am

Pauper EDH is a great way to level the playing field if you both don't want to spend a lot, plus playing brand-new decks will help you find the discrepancy a little better. If you're both using decks on the same power level, you can look for differences in how you'd play.

Alternatively, try going to an LGS and playing some 2-Headed Giant with her. Then you can see exactly what she's doing.

bv310 · Mon Jan 11, 2016 4:53 am

Maybe pick up some of the Commander precons? Meren and Mizzix are pretty unique, and similar on power level (Just don't buy Kalemne, the deck is weakest)

bv310 · Mon Jan 11, 2016 12:22 pm

In post 6722, Thestatusquo wrote:Roommates play lot of commander.
Shea hates commander.
Shea wants to play magic with roommates despite this fact.
Shea throws every black green or blue rare he owns into a deck
Commander Sidisi.
Shea can play commander with roommates.
Shea sometimes wins games which seems absurd to him.

BV approves of this post

bv310 · Tue Jan 12, 2016 4:27 am

In post 6727, Thestatusquo wrote:I mean, I played omni for a long time. That deck was fucking fantastic.

I miss the hell out of that deck. Never more fun than free-casting Griselbrand, Drawing 7, then casting all of those for free.

For me: Felidar Sovereign, Laboratory Maniac, Shaman of Forgotten Ways, Test of Endurance, Mortal Combat, Biovisionary (in Commander, which I am proud of), Door to Nothingness, Infect, Celestial Convergence (B/W EDH with Vampire Hexmage), and Mayael's Aria.

Most of these are Commander wins, except for Door to Nothingness, Infect, and Laboratory Maniac.

bv310 · Fri Jan 15, 2016 1:40 pm

I didn't know you were an L1, Shea. I am going to ask you sooooooooooooo many questions now.

bv310 · Wed Jan 20, 2016 4:39 am

I actually have no problem with the bans. The timing is what bothers me. I get that they're keeping bans to make sure every Modern PT has a new meta, but I wish they'd just show the damn format as it is. Bloom was a reasonable ban (and overdue imo), as was Twin, but I wish they didn't do it JUST for the PT. Unban shit for the PT, ban stuff at other times to remove problematic cards/decks.

bv310 · Wed Jan 20, 2016 8:06 am

Honestly, buying in to Modern with something Tier 1.5 seems about the safest way to go. I just built Storm and I'm slowly building Mono-B Eldrazi for exactly that reason. Aaron Forsythe has been talking on Twitter about a possible Ancestral Visions unbanning if the Twin-less meta is safe for it, and I'm hoping they'd look similarly at Sword of the Meek.

Sidenote: If you haven't had a chance to try the mono-B Eldrazi list, I recommend it. It's really fun, and Thought-Knot Seer is a big deal for it.

bv310 · Wed Jan 20, 2016 10:32 am

In post 6765, Natirasha wrote:Eye of Ugin is gonna be the next big ban probably, so have fun for now.

I doubt it. The deck had a big burst of popularity because it was new and unknown. It'll settle around the same level as Bogles once people get used to it.

bv310 · Thu Jan 21, 2016 4:11 am

In post 6784, AGar wrote:Didn't Eggs get banned for pretty much the same reason as Pod and now Twin?

Nah, Eggs got banned because it took fucking ages to win. If you're in Turn 5 of extra turns, you shouldn't have to wait fifteen minutes while the Eggs player combos out.

bv310 · Thu Jan 21, 2016 4:14 am

In post 6786, InflatablePie wrote:Been considering trying Pauper on MTGO instead of "wasting" money on cube drafts. Looking for a deck that's about 20tix or less. Any fun suggestions? I know next to nothing avout Pauper. Currently leaning towards UB Teachings from the decks I've seen, or maybe messing with a Delver shell replacing Cloud of Faeries (is Phantasmal Bear good? Jeskai Sage over Spellstutter? I have no idea).

Bonus points if it has Pauper staples; I have next to nothing on MTGO.

I'll never not recommend Kiln Fiend. Replace Gitaxian Probes with Gut Shot or Mutagenic Growth and you're at about 10 tix for the whole deck. http://www.mtggoldfish.com/deck/357369#online

bv310 · Thu Jan 21, 2016 4:39 am

I would love a Fetchland ban, especially since I finally bought my Blood Moons. The amount of time I lose waiting for my opponent to shuffle every single fetch is bullshit. I've had games against things like Jund or Jeskai Delver where the shuffling lasted longer than the actual game play.

bv310 · Fri Jan 22, 2016 4:06 am

Not the actual shuffling, but the time it takes to do it.

bv310 · Fri Jan 22, 2016 4:56 am

The only downside would be all of the sick value I'd lose off of Cosi's Trickster

bv310 · Sun Jan 24, 2016 7:36 am

In post 6802, DeathNote wrote:Pulled an Ancient Tomb and Horizon Canopy Expeditions yesterday. I'd say its the luckiest I've been opening packs.

Dat value. Nice pulls

In post 6804, Shinobi wrote:The only good thing about the Splinter Twin ban is that I don't have to spend money/time building it only to have it banned when I actually had it.
Is UR still viable in modern outside of twin?

Yep. Delver gained a new 2-drop beater in Stormchaser Mage, and a Kiki-Jiki deck is likely still strong.

bv310 · Mon Jan 25, 2016 7:55 pm

In post 6819, Shinobi wrote:
In post 6805, bv310 wrote:
In post 6802, DeathNote wrote:Pulled an Ancient Tomb and Horizon Canopy Expeditions yesterday. I'd say its the luckiest I've been opening packs.

Dat value. Nice pulls

In post 6804, Shinobi wrote:The only good thing about the Splinter Twin ban is that I don't have to spend money/time building it only to have it banned when I actually had it.
Is UR still viable in modern outside of twin?

Yep. Delver gained a new 2-drop beater in Stormchaser Mage, and a Kiki-Jiki deck is likely still strong.

Is there a decklist for UR Delver floating around? It sounds interesting but idk if it'd be solid enough to play against top tier stuff - I already run G/R ramp in standard so Tron is/was my other modern option outside of Twin.

Something along the lines of:

4 Delver of Secrets
4 Monastery Swiftspear
4 Snapcaster Mage
3 Stormchaser Mage
1 Grim Lavamancer

4 Lightning Bolt
4 Serum Visions
4 Gitaxian Probe
4 Remand
2 Spell Snare
2 Izzet Charm
2 Electrolyze
1 Cryptic Command
1 Mutagenic Growth

4 Scalding Tarn
4 Flooded Strand
2 Polluted Delta
3 Steam Vents
2 Sulfur Falls
4 Island
1 Mountain

with a Sideboard that includes at least 2-3 Blood Moons

Grixis could be spicy too, with Gurmag Angler, Kolaghan's Command, Thoughtseize, Terminate, and Tasigur.

bv310 · Tue Jan 26, 2016 5:40 pm

They're both really strong. I'd try to make a 4/2 Golem/Geist split, if you can swing it.

bv310 · Sun Jan 31, 2016 7:51 am

In post 6836, Shanba wrote:Looking at that calculator again, the value they have for packs seems extremely high. I haven't played mtgo in a while, but it would be quite shocking if packs were able to maintain a sell price over 3 tix a pack. And it doesn't allow me to adjust for that :/. Or to put it another way, new sets have higher booster prices and as they drop the value of these events will drop too.

Because of the switch to playpoints, pack prices are quite high. 3tix seems fairly reasonable except in the month before a release.

bv310 · Tue Feb 02, 2016 6:37 pm

The Wastelands were a great choice, Shea. Wasteland is best land.

bv310 · Mon Feb 15, 2016 7:07 am

I'm excited to draft it. If it's anything like VMA was on MTGO, it'll be a ton of fun.

bv310 · Mon Feb 15, 2016 1:35 pm

Honestly, you're not the first person I've seen say that. "Eternal" as a format name seems to be a rumour gaining traction (and a reason for me to finish my playsets of Shocklands before those spike hard on this rumour)

bv310 · Fri Feb 19, 2016 2:03 pm

I've picked up Gurmag Delver recently for Pauper. THAT feels dirty. Brainstorm, Counterspell, and Delver in Pauper feel phenomenal.

bv310 · Sat Mar 05, 2016 7:42 am

Don't buy Eldrazi unless you like shelling out a bunch of money for a deck that's going to lose a key card in three weeks