I bought a bunch of counterbalance's (53 @ final count) amoung other things,on the assumption that with increasing demand from legacy i could possibly make a few tixs off them, a few other people likely did the same(i mean its not exactly rocket science) and a false scarcity was created.
This isn't hoarding, its a bunch of individuals speculating based on publicly available information (obviously this comment is moot if it turns out someone is buying counterbalance's en-masse).
Personally i find it more worrying that all the major bot chains can consistantly come to the same singles sales prices "independantly".
The point of this article is not about what cards the opponent played it's about, getting beat by what appears to be a vastly inferior deck, because of an early mistake. Unfortunately it happens to me way too often. I'm still a newb when it comes to Magic, but one thing that was obvious from the start is that Magic is an extremely unforgiving game, especially for newbies like me. Mistakes get you beat, big mistakes get you beat real fast. I think the take-away from this article is at the end. Watch your replays, learn from your mistakes and be honest about your play. There's a reason everybody has a "bad beat" story and as RF is paraphrased by Pete, luck is rarely the mitigating factor in the match.
I enjoyed the read, however I don't think I agree with your Lyzolda deck. Her abilities seem to tell you exactly how to build the deck. Mono-red burn + Grafted Skullcap work really well. The deck I have is more built around getting her first ability to fire. A pyroclasm that deals 4 damage is extremely useful. Many players won't let Browbeat deal 10 damage to them in order to prevent you from drawing 3 cards.
"If I see LSV or Sam Black cracking an Expanse on his turn one in Limited, I may change my mind"
That's precisely the kind of situation where you'd be 100% right. Because if I see LSV sitting opposite me, no amount of terramorphic cracking is ever going to convince me that he's a bad player. That would not neccesarily be the case if someone random sat down opposite me.
As it happens, I agree with you on the terramorphic issue, but you're using a deliberately misleading example, and it does you no service.
Nice Article, but you hit one of my main pet peaves about magic writing...
"He's Kird Ape on crack"
Unless you have some promo/alternate art version that I've never seen, Wild Nactl is a girl. Or woman if you prefer. But definitely a chick. You'd never call Serra Angel "he", I think the kitty cat deserves the same respect.
Snark Ended.... ;)
Not your best article, Pete, confusing stuff with the DoJ, and having read previous articles from you, I know this is not the case but you do come across as not lacking in arrogance.
Also, your deck has a total 1 ways of killing the Acolyte, and he played it T1. Not the worst sideboard card against you.
ok so far i llike all these suggestions do to curve issues i think im going to try out rite of consumption/bone splinters. also there common and pretty much free
completely agree with bloodbraid elf. i finished 33rd this past ptq on the back of bbe. i just ran him straight in a rubin zoo list that i made up and it was stellar. everything you said about him compared to ranger is true. in fact, it's going to act like ranger of eos but instead of 2 1 drops in hand you get a dude into play generally - or a burn spell - either way, the game wasn't going to go long anyways. although i'd question playing negate in the board if you have bbe main.
That calendar is pretty sweet. It's easier to read than the client, and it loads faster too. Seeing it every week will get me planning for events.
Wind Zendikon on my Strip Mine? Wind Zendikon on an opponent's land to trigger my Oath? Wind Zendikon for plan-B beats? Wind Zendikon + Balance = down a creature, down a land, and you don't get the card-in-hand until after Balance finishes resolving. Haha! Wind Zendikon on Mishra's Factory, too. I like it!
Counterbalance is probably "hoarding fail". This is the first I'd heard of it. I bet someone thought they'd be clever and horde something that everyone will want, like the Vampiric Tutor guy or the Natural Order guy. But unlike those successful hoarders, this person choose a penny stock. So congrats on raising the price to $1. Now have fun trying to sell 100 copies at a $1 each to make your $25 profit. The reason this is "hoarding fail" is because you can make just as money off of a playset of Goyfs or top tier dual lands. Four transactions vs 100. I should be thankful that the goon choose a card that I already own.
Why were you playing in the 4322? Why would you cast the looter instead of removal bait? Why DoJ when it has to be Planar Cleansing? Why say "just joking" when you obviously are not due to multiple dissing when opponent and you did not crack a expanse throughout the article ?
Stop, Please...
I like your list, but I really wish we could stop calling all these decks "blank" Zoo. Yes, they all like to attack with creatures for the win, but don't they have different enough gameplans to be considered different decks? In your article it's not really a problem, because you discuss them all individually, but I've seen way too many people lump them all together when discussing the metagame, saying "here's your sideboard strategy against Zoo," when that can mean either fighting against 4/5 Lynxes on turn 2, or having to worry about a turn 4 Baneslayer and getting all your dudes killed by recurring Punishing Fires. Maybe that's just me, though.
Wait, I just reread that part, and you said he only dropped a second Plains before he played the sweeper. PLanar Cleansing requires 3. What exactly did happen that turn? Now I'm really confused.
If this was a real life draft, then your opponent was cheating. If it was online, then I think you meant to say he played Planar Cleansing, since I've never once seen Day of Judgment in an M10 draft. :)
actually if u re-read what i said actually said that applaud this desire to do things other then just play magic.
However my comments were directed at that his articles since he's quit playing the format in a competitive nature and should say as much rather then let newer players be mislead into believing that the decks have a realistic chance of winning a PRE let alone a weekend event. Just as the header for the article was misleading.
Keep in mind he created WW when he was still playing competitively and that was an amazing find alex well done
rite of consumption.... life gain to you... life loss to them... 2cc ... and when you steal their biggest crit you get to throw it at their face right after you smack them with it... granted they get it back.... but it should have done its job by then....
Tried Vanguard for the first time today - I couldn't pass up Cloudposts + Clockwork Dragons with the guarantee there would be four 'posts on the table by turn four. The deck is a lot of fun. I threw in a Mountain so Bosh, Iron Golem could throw some of the artifacts around.
I find his articles very informative and useful. I have been playing magic a long time and recently introduced the game to a long time friend. Because my friend has no experience in the game at all, he has been able to rely upon articles likes this one to help him create decklists and improve his game. Just because someone's article doesn't fit your personal need, doesn't meet it doesn't fit the need of another. Before you become overly critical of his lack of tournament playing, try going out and having a wife and 3 kids and a job, then come back and tell us how much time you really have to play the game. Personally I dont even know Alex, but attacking him for pursing things outside of the game is just plain ignorant. Seriously, there is more to life than Magic.
Keep writing the articles Alex, I know I enjoy them!
BTW I have been messing around with a Black/Green deck featuring a host of men and rancor. Mostly relying on a fast early game featuring carnopage and a few other 2/2 or 2/1 creatures, hello jungle lion.
Try messing around with these colors for me would ya!
Hi,
Thanks for the kind words. The unwritten etiquette for casual vanguard is basically the same as the unwritten etiquette for any casual game. Turn two wins are generally frowned upon. Which is not to say you never see them, just that they're not usually greeted with warm smiles by their opponents! As for these decks, they do "move fast" but really their clock is very reasonable and is nothing like the spirit guide / charbelcher deck you're talking about.
I read your articles out of bordom (that wasn't a dig; I don't play vanguard, so it's basically mindless reading about magic for me). This article was awesome and hilarious to me for some reason---probably because the hermit deck was my favorite that I've seen you make thus far. So, sweet, maybe I will pick up a copy of the hermit and the rest of the deck (err not, I mean, I don't even think I have a single one of those cards! haha.)
Such a great read. Things will get more familiar just by reading this.
I bought a bunch of counterbalance's (53 @ final count) amoung other things,on the assumption that with increasing demand from legacy i could possibly make a few tixs off them, a few other people likely did the same(i mean its not exactly rocket science) and a false scarcity was created.
This isn't hoarding, its a bunch of individuals speculating based on publicly available information (obviously this comment is moot if it turns out someone is buying counterbalance's en-masse).
Personally i find it more worrying that all the major bot chains can consistantly come to the same singles sales prices "independantly".
The point of this article is not about what cards the opponent played it's about, getting beat by what appears to be a vastly inferior deck, because of an early mistake. Unfortunately it happens to me way too often. I'm still a newb when it comes to Magic, but one thing that was obvious from the start is that Magic is an extremely unforgiving game, especially for newbies like me. Mistakes get you beat, big mistakes get you beat real fast. I think the take-away from this article is at the end. Watch your replays, learn from your mistakes and be honest about your play. There's a reason everybody has a "bad beat" story and as RF is paraphrased by Pete, luck is rarely the mitigating factor in the match.
I suspect it's because the whole story's made up?
I enjoyed the read, however I don't think I agree with your Lyzolda deck. Her abilities seem to tell you exactly how to build the deck. Mono-red burn + Grafted Skullcap work really well. The deck I have is more built around getting her first ability to fire. A pyroclasm that deals 4 damage is extremely useful. Many players won't let Browbeat deal 10 damage to them in order to prevent you from drawing 3 cards.
"If I see LSV or Sam Black cracking an Expanse on his turn one in Limited, I may change my mind"
That's precisely the kind of situation where you'd be 100% right. Because if I see LSV sitting opposite me, no amount of terramorphic cracking is ever going to convince me that he's a bad player. That would not neccesarily be the case if someone random sat down opposite me.
As it happens, I agree with you on the terramorphic issue, but you're using a deliberately misleading example, and it does you no service.
Nice Article, but you hit one of my main pet peaves about magic writing...
"He's Kird Ape on crack"
Unless you have some promo/alternate art version that I've never seen, Wild Nactl is a girl. Or woman if you prefer. But definitely a chick. You'd never call Serra Angel "he", I think the kitty cat deserves the same respect.
Snark Ended.... ;)
Not your best article, Pete, confusing stuff with the DoJ, and having read previous articles from you, I know this is not the case but you do come across as not lacking in arrogance.
Also, your deck has a total 1 ways of killing the Acolyte, and he played it T1. Not the worst sideboard card against you.
ok so far i llike all these suggestions do to curve issues i think im going to try out rite of consumption/bone splinters. also there common and pretty much free
nice article.
completely agree with bloodbraid elf. i finished 33rd this past ptq on the back of bbe. i just ran him straight in a rubin zoo list that i made up and it was stellar. everything you said about him compared to ranger is true. in fact, it's going to act like ranger of eos but instead of 2 1 drops in hand you get a dude into play generally - or a burn spell - either way, the game wasn't going to go long anyways. although i'd question playing negate in the board if you have bbe main.
Pez is growing in popularity among pauper players. Maybe all those counterbalance are in pez decks now. How many cards are we talking about anyway?
That calendar is pretty sweet. It's easier to read than the client, and it loads faster too. Seeing it every week will get me planning for events.
Wind Zendikon on my Strip Mine? Wind Zendikon on an opponent's land to trigger my Oath? Wind Zendikon for plan-B beats? Wind Zendikon + Balance = down a creature, down a land, and you don't get the card-in-hand until after Balance finishes resolving. Haha! Wind Zendikon on Mishra's Factory, too. I like it!
Counterbalance is probably "hoarding fail". This is the first I'd heard of it. I bet someone thought they'd be clever and horde something that everyone will want, like the Vampiric Tutor guy or the Natural Order guy. But unlike those successful hoarders, this person choose a penny stock. So congrats on raising the price to $1. Now have fun trying to sell 100 copies at a $1 each to make your $25 profit. The reason this is "hoarding fail" is because you can make just as money off of a playset of Goyfs or top tier dual lands. Four transactions vs 100. I should be thankful that the goon choose a card that I already own.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THAT CALENDAR! :)
Why were you playing in the 4322? Why would you cast the looter instead of removal bait? Why DoJ when it has to be Planar Cleansing? Why say "just joking" when you obviously are not due to multiple dissing when opponent and you did not crack a expanse throughout the article ?
Stop, Please...
I like your list, but I really wish we could stop calling all these decks "blank" Zoo. Yes, they all like to attack with creatures for the win, but don't they have different enough gameplans to be considered different decks? In your article it's not really a problem, because you discuss them all individually, but I've seen way too many people lump them all together when discussing the metagame, saying "here's your sideboard strategy against Zoo," when that can mean either fighting against 4/5 Lynxes on turn 2, or having to worry about a turn 4 Baneslayer and getting all your dudes killed by recurring Punishing Fires. Maybe that's just me, though.
Wait, I just reread that part, and you said he only dropped a second Plains before he played the sweeper. PLanar Cleansing requires 3. What exactly did happen that turn? Now I'm really confused.
If this was a real life draft, then your opponent was cheating. If it was online, then I think you meant to say he played Planar Cleansing, since I've never once seen Day of Judgment in an M10 draft. :)
actually if u re-read what i said actually said that applaud this desire to do things other then just play magic.
However my comments were directed at that his articles since he's quit playing the format in a competitive nature and should say as much rather then let newer players be mislead into believing that the decks have a realistic chance of winning a PRE let alone a weekend event. Just as the header for the article was misleading.
Keep in mind he created WW when he was still playing competitively and that was an amazing find alex well done
rite of consumption.... life gain to you... life loss to them... 2cc ... and when you steal their biggest crit you get to throw it at their face right after you smack them with it... granted they get it back.... but it should have done its job by then....
That is just insane. In a good way :) Props yet again for an entertaining read Cotton.
Tried Vanguard for the first time today - I couldn't pass up Cloudposts + Clockwork Dragons with the guarantee there would be four 'posts on the table by turn four. The deck is a lot of fun. I threw in a Mountain so Bosh, Iron Golem could throw some of the artifacts around.
I quite like Spawning Pit in decks that need a sac outlet, as it provides a permanent free instant speed option.
I find his articles very informative and useful. I have been playing magic a long time and recently introduced the game to a long time friend. Because my friend has no experience in the game at all, he has been able to rely upon articles likes this one to help him create decklists and improve his game. Just because someone's article doesn't fit your personal need, doesn't meet it doesn't fit the need of another. Before you become overly critical of his lack of tournament playing, try going out and having a wife and 3 kids and a job, then come back and tell us how much time you really have to play the game. Personally I dont even know Alex, but attacking him for pursing things outside of the game is just plain ignorant. Seriously, there is more to life than Magic.
Keep writing the articles Alex, I know I enjoy them!
BTW I have been messing around with a Black/Green deck featuring a host of men and rancor. Mostly relying on a fast early game featuring carnopage and a few other 2/2 or 2/1 creatures, hello jungle lion.
Try messing around with these colors for me would ya!
Hi,
Thanks for the kind words. The unwritten etiquette for casual vanguard is basically the same as the unwritten etiquette for any casual game. Turn two wins are generally frowned upon. Which is not to say you never see them, just that they're not usually greeted with warm smiles by their opponents! As for these decks, they do "move fast" but really their clock is very reasonable and is nothing like the spirit guide / charbelcher deck you're talking about.
I read your articles out of bordom (that wasn't a dig; I don't play vanguard, so it's basically mindless reading about magic for me). This article was awesome and hilarious to me for some reason---probably because the hermit deck was my favorite that I've seen you make thus far. So, sweet, maybe I will pick up a copy of the hermit and the rest of the deck (err not, I mean, I don't even think I have a single one of those cards! haha.)
Cheers and Hazza for the sweet deck(s).