Again, thanks for the feedback. You're totally right on this one, but I didn't take notes from the beginning and so I can't be more accurate than this. I'll try to not commt the same error again in the future.
Still, I do have a concrete piece of information: when I started this I had exactly zero packs and four tickets in my account (I had buy the additional two tickets for the entry fee of my first daily event with my credit card) AND my credit card has been shut since then. Not even a cent came out of it for MTGO expenditures. At the time of this article I had the product that you can see in the picture, wich we can qualify as "profit".
I'd love to have (Duress) in block constructed but Mire Toll is only a bad (Blackmail). It's basically unplayable in the early turns and worse than Sludge or Ritualist later.
My problem with not having one of each basic land out is that it seems I always end up getting a big legend with an upkeep cost that I can't pay. What are people's thoughts on upkeeps for fatties in Momir? Pay them or just kill off the creature and try again?
Also, right click and "always yield to" the Avatar saves a ton of time.
Again thanks for the feedback. Right now I don't think UW is the best deck: Vamps has some hard to answer threats and the lack of cheap card drawing is a big flaw for the deck. After Worldwake, it's a totally different matter, it should become the best deck.
The manlands are great cards against UW, since the deck only packs sorcery-speed removal and can't really afford maindeck Tectonic Edges. The B/R manland has the firebreathing ability, wich is a great mana sink for those games that last long (pretty much every game aginst control), while the U/B manland always deals damages. Probably the choice will depend on how easily the control player can clog the board, if they start running more creatures then the U/B Manland is certainly better. B/R also gives you the 2/1 Goblin that forces the opponent to discard whenever it's damaged by it if you control a swamp, wich might be another viable card against the U/W Control menace.
The Ritualist is certainly better in a two color version, while I would still prefer the Sludge in Monoblack: for the same effect Ritualist is more expensive.
Nissa gains some good stuff, the deck should become faster and lean towards a more aggressive approach.
WW gains some cards, but its pretty much only new, better beaters wich I don't think is what the deck needs.
I wish there was support for MOJOS (like rotating it with Momir from time to time). I find that it retains the fun and suspensful randomness of Momir but add a substantial amount of strategy and skill to the mix.
well of course it makes you a jerk...just kidding, though apparently the rules of the internet are very different than in real life.
I get my fair share of conceeders as well. Mainly because most of my decks has combos in them. I have an Immortal Coil/Puca's Mischief deck that i play in casual since well, thats wat it is.... However in the creature base i have mulldrifter and galepowder mage, i was looping those in my attack step like anyone would do, when i got yelled at in not so nice terms for playing tourney cards...
But then even straight aggro which i will build and test sometimes i get in trouble for it not being casual, im sorry but any well built aggro deck with removal and a smooth curve should win turn 3 or 4, i see no point to run bad cards so your day is better...
ok true they don;t know I'm only running two, but I don't think Planeswalkers are even something to concede to.. I wish I had time to run the numbers, but I'm betting that at least 80% of all tournament decks run without Planeswalkers... sure they are powerful, but clearly not powerful enough to auto-win the game
Thanks for the feedback, I guess you're right on Omnath but the Wolfbriar I think that the Wolfbriar is a fine beater on his own, with an additional late-game advantage. Of course it's way better with more green mana.
First off, your mana base is atrocious. There's ample amount of color fixing available in Pauper and you should avail yourself of it. 4 Terramorphics and a sampling of Karoos would be a good start. Second, as somebody noted, this deck has no real cohesive plan. This is in part belied by the fact that this deck is labeled as "mid-range aggro", something of a contradiction in terms.
Here's something of a shell for a slower more mid-range/controlling build:
4 Mulldrifter
4 Momentary Blink
4 Aven Riftwatcher
3 Guardian of the Guildpact
4 Lightning Bolt
Of course, this will never be a competitive deck but it'll probably be fun for casual.
If you want to take this the aggro route, I would suggest cutting a color and lowering the curve. Plated Geopede may be worth including if you want to take things this route.
Also, I definitely like the flow of your article, but as has been suggested you should thoroughly read through your article and fix up misspellings and odd phrasing. If you haven't written in a while, well, this is a skill like any other and requires practice.
By casual I was referring to the casual subcategory of various formats :P Almost implied by my referencing gentleman's rules right after. ;)
You had me up till "expectations" though, since they you take that wide range and focus it on corporate values...
While someone sharking with tier 1-2 (really 3? I'm pretty sure once you hit 3 a solid curve of random creatures can beat your deck half the time) in the casual room for kicks is like kicking puppies (:(), what if an 9 year old wants to have fun on his/her dad/mom/siblings account, or you are just picking up a deck for the first time but don't want to goldfish.
You can't just assume everyone doing it is a jerk.. maybe they're doing it because they think they are terrible or are 9 and just trying to have fun. Heck, it might not even be someone who keeps track of the meta's and just had a friend go "omg! did you see thoper/sword interaction omg!!bbQ11!!" and built a similar shell... too many possibilities to list. (the other way as well, of course)
I guess using your analogy.. it's like someone with a doctor's note for a speedo or something...?
I don't think it's card envy. (edit, in your case at least)
Also with your only running 2 argument, they can't see your deck list. For all they know you are running 8. I one time had someone yell at me for 30 seconds and then concede because I played a first turn
horizon canopy (this was when WRG goyf was big).. and it was a Muraganda Petroglyphs deck :P when I revealed my hand and explained I only ran one he blocked me, since that apparently makes me the jerk.
I'm just saying, people draw the lines in different places so you can't really predict how any individual will react to a given card/deck anywhere near the casual room.
This article hits on some interesting points and I love block constructed. However, the lack of statistical rigor and unreliable assertions is appalling. Some choice quotes:
"...to my memory I can say that I participated in about twenty daily events...I went 3-1 more or less 8 times..."
"With a little math we can say that I won product in 50% of the dailies I participated. The math is probably a little off and I think the real number is closer to 45%...This number is probably a little off too and I guess I won a little more."
So essentially what you are telling us is absolutely nothing. You probably went infinite but maybe you didn't or maybe this could all be a joke (I hope). If this had been posted at any semi-serious poker site people would be rabidly flaming it for weeks. Once you are trying to evaluate a game as a source of income with expenditures, all variables must be carefully record. Otherwise it's like an election where the votes "more or less" count but pretty much this one guy we like just wins.
It's not hard to do, Windows Vista has now copied Mac and you can literally type in X-1 or 0-2 in 0.5 seconds on your desktop as a little note. Otherwise you are doing a disservice to your readers and the reputation of the game's strategy.
There's actually a deck list very similar to yours that I saw in a TPDC once, I think it was created by rickwins. His deck also abused RWu come-into-play creatures with blink and it was very effective. I would recommend skyknight be dropped for Kor Skyfishers though, since they let you replay the marauders and riftwatchers too. I also think those pilgrims could be replaced by Obsidian / Crimson Acolyte (though they are more expensive) and moved to the SB since they won't always be useful. They can be replaced by filling up on your missing marauders or hookmasters, or even more removal from journey to nowhere. The deck can really be effective as midrange / aggro, marauders being recast over and over really puts pressure.
Welcome, I really liked your use of small pic opening hands...that's a nice touch I'll have to incorporate soon. I'm assuming your doing as much as you can with whatever you have, if this isn't the case, try the Crimson and Obsidian Acolytes - one mana less, and they let you save all creatures for a "W"
I love Ponder, but the legionaire has got to go imo. The Kor Skyfisher would serve your blinking theme better, survive more and also be a better blocker.
Don't be shy with tix...Pauper decks(minus the storm deck) will cost at most about 2 tickets, better come with your best cards than giving your opponent all those extra turns/chances.
I may have played against you (or someone else playing this same deck) last night. It got rolled by my goblins deck pretty easily. My main criticism is that while all the cards are solid you have no cohesive plan which leads to high variance, it can easily draw the wrong kind of hand for a given deck. For instance, against me this deck drew lots of skyknights and no guardians.
I'm not a huge fan of the skyknights, which, while aggressive, get blocked by a lot of format relevant creatures. But I really dislike the marauders and the split pilgrims, it looks like you were experimenting with some options to see how they play but none of these cards seem to be particularly good fits.
Maybe I'm biased based on what I saw, but those are my $0.02.
I wouldn't say card envy, at least in my case. I have the cards to put together these popular tournament decks, but I don't play them in the casual room.
I understand some people have a problem with planeswalkers and sure there is a line, but look at the deck list, I'm running 2 in a 60 card deck so its a 1 in 30 chance for the draw, hardly overowered
Paul- Thanks for your input and I will do that. As far as english, it is my native tongue, I just hadn't not written anything since High School. That was like 5 years ago. Maybe you can give me your email too help me out by proof reading it?
Anonymous- Apparanetly I do don't have terramorphic expanse. I know I meant to put them in. I would cut the hookmaster, 2 plains, and a mountain.. Its a 62 card deck.
Ian- Kor Skyfisher really never did come to mind but it could definently work.
Anonymous2- Thanks its a 65 Mustang that belongs to a customer of mine. I did the bodywork and paint on the car.
Another play secret is to activate the Avatar before tapping the lands. I have seen many people tap out, active and leave mana in the pool. It is also quicker since clock can come into play in stalled board positions.
There IS a fixed definition of casual :) its in the dictionary. However, the point of the word is that it figuratively means 'informal' which implies a wide range of possible attitudes and expectations. Casual Attire? Does that mean I can wear a Speedo and nothing else to work? Hardly. It is expected that we wear appropriate clothing (clean, not risque and hopefully not full of inconvenient holes.) In fact some companies stipulate what is and isn't casual because of this very argument. Informal is a wide range of variance. That said I think it is fairly obvious that bringing a tier 1-3 deck to casual is like wearing a Speedo to the work place. Inappropriate and guaranteed to generate some hostility even if its just card envy.
... I beg to differ ^... (edit:wait.. maybe... not... depends which may you meant it :P)
comment 8
"Not much to say. I really hate when this thing happens. I've seen people playing tournament level decks in the casual room and I don't usually stick around to play them. Had I stuck with it the game would have been over in a couple of turns any ways, but I really think high level decks should be kept out of casual."
Replace "(tournament/high) level decks" with planeswalkers.
That is probably exactly what these players (below) are thinking...
comment 5
"I don't understand some players. I mean I understand some people dislike the addition of Planeswalkers, but do they really just leave every game that someone uses one? The deck I'm playing isn't even really about Garruk Wildspeaker... there are only two copies in the whole deck. Oh well I guess I can't make people play."
The main point is, there is no fixed definition of casual (unlike.. what's it called.. gentleman's rules) and some cards/decks will cross some peoples lines and they will think you're the jerk and leave... but you won't think it crosses the line so they're the jerk for leaving.
swamps is the toughest land in my opinion. If you get a black pump creature you want the mana definitely, but then again swampwalk is i think the most common landwalk...
Again, thanks for the feedback. You're totally right on this one, but I didn't take notes from the beginning and so I can't be more accurate than this. I'll try to not commt the same error again in the future.
Still, I do have a concrete piece of information: when I started this I had exactly zero packs and four tickets in my account (I had buy the additional two tickets for the entry fee of my first daily event with my credit card) AND my credit card has been shut since then. Not even a cent came out of it for MTGO expenditures. At the time of this article I had the product that you can see in the picture, wich we can qualify as "profit".
I'd love to have (Duress) in block constructed but Mire Toll is only a bad (Blackmail). It's basically unplayable in the early turns and worse than Sludge or Ritualist later.
My problem with not having one of each basic land out is that it seems I always end up getting a big legend with an upkeep cost that I can't pay. What are people's thoughts on upkeeps for fatties in Momir? Pay them or just kill off the creature and try again?
Also, right click and "always yield to" the Avatar saves a ton of time.
go under settings and then game setting i think and change it from big card to compact
Again thanks for the feedback. Right now I don't think UW is the best deck: Vamps has some hard to answer threats and the lack of cheap card drawing is a big flaw for the deck. After Worldwake, it's a totally different matter, it should become the best deck.
The manlands are great cards against UW, since the deck only packs sorcery-speed removal and can't really afford maindeck Tectonic Edges. The B/R manland has the firebreathing ability, wich is a great mana sink for those games that last long (pretty much every game aginst control), while the U/B manland always deals damages. Probably the choice will depend on how easily the control player can clog the board, if they start running more creatures then the U/B Manland is certainly better. B/R also gives you the 2/1 Goblin that forces the opponent to discard whenever it's damaged by it if you control a swamp, wich might be another viable card against the U/W Control menace.
The Ritualist is certainly better in a two color version, while I would still prefer the Sludge in Monoblack: for the same effect Ritualist is more expensive.
Nissa gains some good stuff, the deck should become faster and lean towards a more aggressive approach.
WW gains some cards, but its pretty much only new, better beaters wich I don't think is what the deck needs.
I wish there was support for MOJOS (like rotating it with Momir from time to time). I find that it retains the fun and suspensful randomness of Momir but add a substantial amount of strategy and skill to the mix.
well of course it makes you a jerk...just kidding, though apparently the rules of the internet are very different than in real life.
I get my fair share of conceeders as well. Mainly because most of my decks has combos in them. I have an Immortal Coil/Puca's Mischief deck that i play in casual since well, thats wat it is.... However in the creature base i have mulldrifter and galepowder mage, i was looping those in my attack step like anyone would do, when i got yelled at in not so nice terms for playing tourney cards...
But then even straight aggro which i will build and test sometimes i get in trouble for it not being casual, im sorry but any well built aggro deck with removal and a smooth curve should win turn 3 or 4, i see no point to run bad cards so your day is better...
ok true they don;t know I'm only running two, but I don't think Planeswalkers are even something to concede to.. I wish I had time to run the numbers, but I'm betting that at least 80% of all tournament decks run without Planeswalkers... sure they are powerful, but clearly not powerful enough to auto-win the game
Thanks for the feedback, I guess you're right on Omnath but the Wolfbriar I think that the Wolfbriar is a fine beater on his own, with an additional late-game advantage. Of course it's way better with more green mana.
First off, your mana base is atrocious. There's ample amount of color fixing available in Pauper and you should avail yourself of it. 4 Terramorphics and a sampling of Karoos would be a good start. Second, as somebody noted, this deck has no real cohesive plan. This is in part belied by the fact that this deck is labeled as "mid-range aggro", something of a contradiction in terms.
Here's something of a shell for a slower more mid-range/controlling build:
4 Mulldrifter
4 Momentary Blink
4 Aven Riftwatcher
3 Guardian of the Guildpact
4 Lightning Bolt
Of course, this will never be a competitive deck but it'll probably be fun for casual.
If you want to take this the aggro route, I would suggest cutting a color and lowering the curve. Plated Geopede may be worth including if you want to take things this route.
Also, I definitely like the flow of your article, but as has been suggested you should thoroughly read through your article and fix up misspellings and odd phrasing. If you haven't written in a while, well, this is a skill like any other and requires practice.
By casual I was referring to the casual subcategory of various formats :P Almost implied by my referencing gentleman's rules right after. ;)
You had me up till "expectations" though, since they you take that wide range and focus it on corporate values...
While someone sharking with tier 1-2 (really 3? I'm pretty sure once you hit 3 a solid curve of random creatures can beat your deck half the time) in the casual room for kicks is like kicking puppies (:(), what if an 9 year old wants to have fun on his/her dad/mom/siblings account, or you are just picking up a deck for the first time but don't want to goldfish.
You can't just assume everyone doing it is a jerk.. maybe they're doing it because they think they are terrible or are 9 and just trying to have fun. Heck, it might not even be someone who keeps track of the meta's and just had a friend go "omg! did you see thoper/sword interaction omg!!bbQ11!!" and built a similar shell... too many possibilities to list. (the other way as well, of course)
I guess using your analogy.. it's like someone with a doctor's note for a speedo or something...?
I don't think it's card envy. (edit, in your case at least)
Also with your only running 2 argument, they can't see your deck list. For all they know you are running 8. I one time had someone yell at me for 30 seconds and then concede because I played a first turn
horizon canopy (this was when WRG goyf was big).. and it was a Muraganda Petroglyphs deck :P when I revealed my hand and explained I only ran one he blocked me, since that apparently makes me the jerk.
I'm just saying, people draw the lines in different places so you can't really predict how any individual will react to a given card/deck anywhere near the casual room.
This article hits on some interesting points and I love block constructed. However, the lack of statistical rigor and unreliable assertions is appalling. Some choice quotes:
"...to my memory I can say that I participated in about twenty daily events...I went 3-1 more or less 8 times..."
"With a little math we can say that I won product in 50% of the dailies I participated. The math is probably a little off and I think the real number is closer to 45%...This number is probably a little off too and I guess I won a little more."
So essentially what you are telling us is absolutely nothing. You probably went infinite but maybe you didn't or maybe this could all be a joke (I hope). If this had been posted at any semi-serious poker site people would be rabidly flaming it for weeks. Once you are trying to evaluate a game as a source of income with expenditures, all variables must be carefully record. Otherwise it's like an election where the votes "more or less" count but pretty much this one guy we like just wins.
It's not hard to do, Windows Vista has now copied Mac and you can literally type in X-1 or 0-2 in 0.5 seconds on your desktop as a little note. Otherwise you are doing a disservice to your readers and the reputation of the game's strategy.
Nice start and welcome to puremtgo!
There's actually a deck list very similar to yours that I saw in a TPDC once, I think it was created by rickwins. His deck also abused RWu come-into-play creatures with blink and it was very effective. I would recommend skyknight be dropped for Kor Skyfishers though, since they let you replay the marauders and riftwatchers too. I also think those pilgrims could be replaced by Obsidian / Crimson Acolyte (though they are more expensive) and moved to the SB since they won't always be useful. They can be replaced by filling up on your missing marauders or hookmasters, or even more removal from journey to nowhere. The deck can really be effective as midrange / aggro, marauders being recast over and over really puts pressure.
Welcome, I really liked your use of small pic opening hands...that's a nice touch I'll have to incorporate soon. I'm assuming your doing as much as you can with whatever you have, if this isn't the case, try the Crimson and Obsidian Acolytes - one mana less, and they let you save all creatures for a "W"
I love Ponder, but the legionaire has got to go imo. The Kor Skyfisher would serve your blinking theme better, survive more and also be a better blocker.
Don't be shy with tix...Pauper decks(minus the storm deck) will cost at most about 2 tickets, better come with your best cards than giving your opponent all those extra turns/chances.
Good stuff - I'm a black mage at heart too :)
AG
Howdy, Congrats on your first article.
I may have played against you (or someone else playing this same deck) last night. It got rolled by my goblins deck pretty easily. My main criticism is that while all the cards are solid you have no cohesive plan which leads to high variance, it can easily draw the wrong kind of hand for a given deck. For instance, against me this deck drew lots of skyknights and no guardians.
I'm not a huge fan of the skyknights, which, while aggressive, get blocked by a lot of format relevant creatures. But I really dislike the marauders and the split pilgrims, it looks like you were experimenting with some options to see how they play but none of these cards seem to be particularly good fits.
Maybe I'm biased based on what I saw, but those are my $0.02.
I wouldn't say card envy, at least in my case. I have the cards to put together these popular tournament decks, but I don't play them in the casual room.
I understand some people have a problem with planeswalkers and sure there is a line, but look at the deck list, I'm running 2 in a 60 card deck so its a 1 in 30 chance for the draw, hardly overowered
I'm sorry, but how does running 2 planeswalkers in a deck act as the same as running a tier 1 combo deck?
Thanks you everyone for all your comments.
Paul- Thanks for your input and I will do that. As far as english, it is my native tongue, I just hadn't not written anything since High School. That was like 5 years ago. Maybe you can give me your email too help me out by proof reading it?
Anonymous- Apparanetly I do don't have terramorphic expanse. I know I meant to put them in. I would cut the hookmaster, 2 plains, and a mountain.. Its a 62 card deck.
Ian- Kor Skyfisher really never did come to mind but it could definently work.
Anonymous2- Thanks its a 65 Mustang that belongs to a customer of mine. I did the bodywork and paint on the car.
Thank goodness there's finally a primer on momir basic.
Other than these ones of course
http://puremtgo.com/articles/explorations-19-next-level-momir-basic-primer
http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/daily/fk13
http://www.starcitygames.com/php/news/article/12118.html
http://mtgsalvation.com/489-momir-basic-60-luck-40-skill-100-awesome.html
http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/misc/13653_The_Beautiful_Struggle_Mom...
Another play secret is to activate the Avatar before tapping the lands. I have seen many people tap out, active and leave mana in the pool. It is also quicker since clock can come into play in stalled board positions.
There IS a fixed definition of casual :) its in the dictionary. However, the point of the word is that it figuratively means 'informal' which implies a wide range of possible attitudes and expectations. Casual Attire? Does that mean I can wear a Speedo and nothing else to work? Hardly. It is expected that we wear appropriate clothing (clean, not risque and hopefully not full of inconvenient holes.) In fact some companies stipulate what is and isn't casual because of this very argument. Informal is a wide range of variance. That said I think it is fairly obvious that bringing a tier 1-3 deck to casual is like wearing a Speedo to the work place. Inappropriate and guaranteed to generate some hostility even if its just card envy.
... I beg to differ ^... (edit:wait.. maybe... not... depends which may you meant it :P)
comment 8
"Not much to say. I really hate when this thing happens. I've seen people playing tournament level decks in the casual room and I don't usually stick around to play them. Had I stuck with it the game would have been over in a couple of turns any ways, but I really think high level decks should be kept out of casual."
Replace "(tournament/high) level decks" with planeswalkers.
That is probably exactly what these players (below) are thinking...
comment 5
"I don't understand some players. I mean I understand some people dislike the addition of Planeswalkers, but do they really just leave every game that someone uses one? The deck I'm playing isn't even really about Garruk Wildspeaker... there are only two copies in the whole deck. Oh well I guess I can't make people play."
The main point is, there is no fixed definition of casual (unlike.. what's it called.. gentleman's rules) and some cards/decks will cross some peoples lines and they will think you're the jerk and leave... but you won't think it crosses the line so they're the jerk for leaving.
Thanks for the kind words and thought-provoking comments. There are many I want to respond to, but I won't have the time until this weekend...
swamps is the toughest land in my opinion. If you get a black pump creature you want the mana definitely, but then again swampwalk is i think the most common landwalk...
That's a cool car!