I read it -because- he started it that way. It's refreshing to read something written in an honest style, rather than someone who has no idea what they are talking about, but making it sound like they just won a pro tour.
I never expected people to answer those questions in their responses.
It's also refreshing to hear people who have had positive experiences with the casual room. I've had a couple of positive experiences, mostly neutral experiences, and a few really awful experiences. Guess which ones I remember most vividly.
Anyway, I've helped new players out as much as I can. I have lost in tournaments because of this, and I don't really consider it a bad thing. However so much of the time when I get into tournaments with prizes on the line, everything seems so serious. Some players whine and complain, some players trash talk, and it sometimes seems like a very unwelcoming environment.
I thought those questions would prove the point that Magic Online can be unfriendly to new players, and therefore show the need for teams. So far it's had the opposite effect, it's actually shown Me that there are other players out there that are more interested in doing the right thing over winning prizes.
I'm not expecting Wizards to jump on the idea of teams and implement anything soon. I just want it to be on their radar screen.
Customer feedback is a good thing.
Microsoft is pretty much exclusively promoting Windows 7 as the "we're finally listening to customers" product.... so I figure why not add a couple of my suggestions to the Magic Online community.
I know that there are some difficulties with creating a Magic Online environment with teams but I think it's worth it.
It's much easier to form friendships with teammates than opponents, and you're much more likely to enjoy a game with friends than when you're alone.
I don't know how difficult it would be for WotC to implement some team promoting features, but at this point, anything they could do would be appreciated.
It's worth noting that Eldrazi Monument is showing up more and more in the Zen-block Vampire decks (and of course in the standard mono-Green decks, which don't show up here yet at all but will presumably be everywhere next week). I wouldn't be surprised, in fact, to see some sort of 4-Monument mono-W monstrosity w/ a full complement of Emeria Angel and Conqueror's Pledge show up at some point, though w/o Day of Judgement (and it's hard to run Day and Monument side by side) I'm not sure if the deck could beat Malakir Bloodwitch. Still, an interesting angle to try and attack the metagame from.
I won't be doing any swiss articles on M10 anymore because there just isn't the interest anymore. Frankly, I've been doing quite well at 4-3-2-2 and will be writing up another article shortly.
1)Of course, I try not to be a jerk.
2)If I'm not in a game then sure because, once again, I'm not a jerk.
3)I'd probably point them to mtgotradersfreebot or somesuch.
4)All the time.
5)All the time.
6)Not as often as i'd like. I'm darn glad I found puremtgo (I think I was pointed here to read about rainbow stairwell) because we seem to attract really nice folks who are interested in talking about Magic.
7)Yesterday. (Haven't logged on today ;)
Back to #1, for a second. If I say nothing, then our hypothetical newbie can at least hop over to another room and ask an ORC. However, if I were to decieve said newbie, by saying "sorry you're screwed" or "I dunno", then IMHO you are at least ethically guilty of cheating.
Hey, this is just RUNCH swingin by to say thanx for the shouts for Kedoria! The members are havin a great time and MTGOTraders has agreed to contribute 20 credits to the prize pool! Thanx all, stop on by and join the fun!
My answers are very similar to LEs with the exceptions as follows: 2) I have often helped a new player with not only UI but just general advice and how to get into the meat of the game etc. 4) This varies quite a lot. I find the people whom I add to my buddy list are usually the most reliable for a good game. 5) I've encountered some real "winners" in casual. That said there are some actually very cool people in casual, particularly among the regulars. Even people come in to deliberately make waves and piss people off eventually settle into the rhythm of the room which is really just about playing magic. So the answer is conditional on time and day. 6) Very often. Happens almost every time I log in and play in casual for any length of time. 7) Often enough that my block list (from turning off the malice players) is huge. I do recognize that some people just can't make the leap to talk online. They may be very shy personalities (though usually the reverse is true, shy people tend to bloom in anonymity) or they may just be angry people without social skills, or they may not know how to type enough English to be understood. Whatever the cause is, I find this less of a problem playing certain formats like Tribal Wars Classic and Hundred Classic Singleton.
Teams would be interesting. Back in the beta I remember clans having some team functionality. Or maybe my clan was just tight enough since we all know each other irl that we just felt like a team. My memory isn't great so :/ Anyway one thing Id change is the size. 3 man teams makes more sense to me. This is what the Pro Tour had. (PTNY 01 was the last time I saw this in person) and it allows for a greater variety of formats: 2HG, 3HG, Emperor, 6 man draft, etc. This said I seriously doubt WotC will include this fine idea. At least not for now. Give it a few years and they might think about it but at the moment it seems like they are more concerned about fixing current problems than creating new ones (thankfully).
I am having some very nice and sometimes really long discussions with players every now and then and they mostly start with the "are you the guy from puremtgo?" question. I meet some really nice people while playing. Then we both stop playing and chat. But most of the time it's the routine stone cold silence; sometimes with "gl" and "gg" included.
Recently I started joining the Tribal PRE hosted by ShardFenix and that event is the main time when I can have decent conversation with others (which I enjoy a lot). But most of the time MTGO feels like you described: Me against the rest of the world (which I don't enjoy a lot).
Teams require two things: Common interest and availability at the same time. I cannot do much with a guy who likes mainly Extended because I don't play the format. And I would bore that person to death if I talk about things like Core Set Constructed, Singleton, Tribal etc... So teams should consist of people with a common goal and interest.
Secondly players cannot team with each other if they can't meet each other on MTGO. The world is huge and people live on different parts of the planet. I don't think that a guy from Japan could team up with someone from LA just because of the time difference between them.
I for example have two real life friends playing MTGO but one is a die hard Classic player and sadly I'm no good to him and the other is a budget casual player and sadly he's no good to me. So we only chat from time to time but when it comes to playing, we just can't.
So teams would be great but it would not be possible for everyone... sadly.
LE
PS:
1- I would tell him about alt-u.
2- Depends on what I'm doing and my mood at that moment.
3- I don't give commons to anyone because I don't own any extras. I have only 4x everything. And I don't play in drafts or in sealed events so I never have extras.
4- Very often.
5- Almost never.
6- 2 days ago, which again started with the "are you the guy from puremtgo" question.
7- Recently but cannot remember exactly when.
Both myself and Alex asked Mike Gills about alternate formats for Pauper (like Standard).
Alex will probably write more about it, but essentially the answer is "no", There are a few reasons, but the largest is that the format is so small and shallow that it would be solved too fast to be viable in the long term. Think KScope, but faster, and less balanced.
And this is next part is just a guess; but I imagine that many things have to get approved, and to do that, it has to make sense and have a purpose in a business sense. Looking at std pauper, it's hard to come up with business explanations that really make sense. But like I said, that's just a guess...
To be honest, I'm so obessive with counterspells and therefore I always prefer(ed) having Defense Grid on table. I haven't tried the other way. Thanks for pointing out though, I will try it and see what happens then.
Most of the time I trick them to counter a planeswalker or a Persecute and then play my Defense Grid.
you're playing it wrong. play the defense grid first! then your threat.... i'd much rather have a defense grid countered and stick either persecute or a planeswalker.
Thanks for the comments guys. I'm glad you decided to join the format because it's definately a fun format. And Baneslayer is only a must if you decide to play WU Control. Then yes, no other creature can fill that slot.
But there are many other Tier-1 strategies that don't need her and if you don't own the card, you may try those (such as Vore, Opposition, Burn, Mono White Aggro etc...). I personally recommend Mana Ramp because it really is a strong deck. Just don't forget to pack Boil in the sideboard though.
LE
Edit: I just remembered that I saw a couple of WU Control decks without Baneslayer. They were playing Captain of the Watch from M10 instead of her. Not exactly the same but it's not that bad after all.
Good article, however a bit controversial. You stated that you don't need Baneslayers to stay competitive, yet the winner decks are both uw control, with Baneslayers:) So it seems to me, that the best deck of the format (so far) has Baneslayers.
You really made me want to join this format!
Do you know when v3.5 will be released? I'm on a Mac and MTGO on a virtual machine isn't very good... I can't wait to play it on my browser!
I was able to get this information from members of Wizards. The short story is that there are no plans ton institute other Pauper formats, like Standard, in the near future.
Is Lee responsible at all for getting the standings posted with the Decks of the Week lists? That's a nice touch, I've heard numerous people appreciating it.
I read it -because- he started it that way. It's refreshing to read something written in an honest style, rather than someone who has no idea what they are talking about, but making it sound like they just won a pro tour.
Plus, he was writing to my level. :)
I never expected people to answer those questions in their responses.
It's also refreshing to hear people who have had positive experiences with the casual room. I've had a couple of positive experiences, mostly neutral experiences, and a few really awful experiences. Guess which ones I remember most vividly.
Anyway, I've helped new players out as much as I can. I have lost in tournaments because of this, and I don't really consider it a bad thing. However so much of the time when I get into tournaments with prizes on the line, everything seems so serious. Some players whine and complain, some players trash talk, and it sometimes seems like a very unwelcoming environment.
I thought those questions would prove the point that Magic Online can be unfriendly to new players, and therefore show the need for teams. So far it's had the opposite effect, it's actually shown Me that there are other players out there that are more interested in doing the right thing over winning prizes.
I'm not expecting Wizards to jump on the idea of teams and implement anything soon. I just want it to be on their radar screen.
Customer feedback is a good thing.
Microsoft is pretty much exclusively promoting Windows 7 as the "we're finally listening to customers" product.... so I figure why not add a couple of my suggestions to the Magic Online community.
I know that there are some difficulties with creating a Magic Online environment with teams but I think it's worth it.
It's much easier to form friendships with teammates than opponents, and you're much more likely to enjoy a game with friends than when you're alone.
I don't know how difficult it would be for WotC to implement some team promoting features, but at this point, anything they could do would be appreciated.
It's worth noting that Eldrazi Monument is showing up more and more in the Zen-block Vampire decks (and of course in the standard mono-Green decks, which don't show up here yet at all but will presumably be everywhere next week). I wouldn't be surprised, in fact, to see some sort of 4-Monument mono-W monstrosity w/ a full complement of Emeria Angel and Conqueror's Pledge show up at some point, though w/o Day of Judgement (and it's hard to run Day and Monument side by side) I'm not sure if the deck could beat Malakir Bloodwitch. Still, an interesting angle to try and attack the metagame from.
Thanks for the reply. Nobody plays M10 Swiss anymore, so future articles will be on M10 43.
Interesting thoughts on Mind Rot. In this format I think you're probably right and a card like Divination also holds more value.
I won't be doing any swiss articles on M10 anymore because there just isn't the interest anymore. Frankly, I've been doing quite well at 4-3-2-2 and will be writing up another article shortly.
1)Of course, I try not to be a jerk.
2)If I'm not in a game then sure because, once again, I'm not a jerk.
3)I'd probably point them to mtgotradersfreebot or somesuch.
4)All the time.
5)All the time.
6)Not as often as i'd like. I'm darn glad I found puremtgo (I think I was pointed here to read about rainbow stairwell) because we seem to attract really nice folks who are interested in talking about Magic.
7)Yesterday. (Haven't logged on today ;)
Back to #1, for a second. If I say nothing, then our hypothetical newbie can at least hop over to another room and ask an ORC. However, if I were to decieve said newbie, by saying "sorry you're screwed" or "I dunno", then IMHO you are at least ethically guilty of cheating.
Hey, this is just RUNCH swingin by to say thanx for the shouts for Kedoria! The members are havin a great time and MTGOTraders has agreed to contribute 20 credits to the prize pool! Thanx all, stop on by and join the fun!
So you read the comments but not the article? How bassackwards of you.
My answers are very similar to LEs with the exceptions as follows: 2) I have often helped a new player with not only UI but just general advice and how to get into the meat of the game etc. 4) This varies quite a lot. I find the people whom I add to my buddy list are usually the most reliable for a good game. 5) I've encountered some real "winners" in casual. That said there are some actually very cool people in casual, particularly among the regulars. Even people come in to deliberately make waves and piss people off eventually settle into the rhythm of the room which is really just about playing magic. So the answer is conditional on time and day. 6) Very often. Happens almost every time I log in and play in casual for any length of time. 7) Often enough that my block list (from turning off the malice players) is huge. I do recognize that some people just can't make the leap to talk online. They may be very shy personalities (though usually the reverse is true, shy people tend to bloom in anonymity) or they may just be angry people without social skills, or they may not know how to type enough English to be understood. Whatever the cause is, I find this less of a problem playing certain formats like Tribal Wars Classic and Hundred Classic Singleton.
Teams would be interesting. Back in the beta I remember clans having some team functionality. Or maybe my clan was just tight enough since we all know each other irl that we just felt like a team. My memory isn't great so :/ Anyway one thing Id change is the size. 3 man teams makes more sense to me. This is what the Pro Tour had. (PTNY 01 was the last time I saw this in person) and it allows for a greater variety of formats: 2HG, 3HG, Emperor, 6 man draft, etc. This said I seriously doubt WotC will include this fine idea. At least not for now. Give it a few years and they might think about it but at the moment it seems like they are more concerned about fixing current problems than creating new ones (thankfully).
Ah, socialization on MTGO. A very good subject.
I am having some very nice and sometimes really long discussions with players every now and then and they mostly start with the "are you the guy from puremtgo?" question. I meet some really nice people while playing. Then we both stop playing and chat. But most of the time it's the routine stone cold silence; sometimes with "gl" and "gg" included.
Recently I started joining the Tribal PRE hosted by ShardFenix and that event is the main time when I can have decent conversation with others (which I enjoy a lot). But most of the time MTGO feels like you described: Me against the rest of the world (which I don't enjoy a lot).
Teams require two things: Common interest and availability at the same time. I cannot do much with a guy who likes mainly Extended because I don't play the format. And I would bore that person to death if I talk about things like Core Set Constructed, Singleton, Tribal etc... So teams should consist of people with a common goal and interest.
Secondly players cannot team with each other if they can't meet each other on MTGO. The world is huge and people live on different parts of the planet. I don't think that a guy from Japan could team up with someone from LA just because of the time difference between them.
I for example have two real life friends playing MTGO but one is a die hard Classic player and sadly I'm no good to him and the other is a budget casual player and sadly he's no good to me. So we only chat from time to time but when it comes to playing, we just can't.
So teams would be great but it would not be possible for everyone... sadly.
LE
PS:
1- I would tell him about alt-u.
2- Depends on what I'm doing and my mood at that moment.
3- I don't give commons to anyone because I don't own any extras. I have only 4x everything. And I don't play in drafts or in sealed events so I never have extras.
4- Very often.
5- Almost never.
6- 2 days ago, which again started with the "are you the guy from puremtgo" question.
7- Recently but cannot remember exactly when.
Yes, the standings are from Lee's work! Very awesome!
Both myself and Alex asked Mike Gills about alternate formats for Pauper (like Standard).
Alex will probably write more about it, but essentially the answer is "no", There are a few reasons, but the largest is that the format is so small and shallow that it would be solved too fast to be viable in the long term. Think KScope, but faster, and less balanced.
And this is next part is just a guess; but I imagine that many things have to get approved, and to do that, it has to make sense and have a purpose in a business sense. Looking at std pauper, it's hard to come up with business explanations that really make sense. But like I said, that's just a guess...
We didn't ask about extended though. ;(
To be honest, I'm so obessive with counterspells and therefore I always prefer(ed) having Defense Grid on table. I haven't tried the other way. Thanks for pointing out though, I will try it and see what happens then.
LE
Most of the time I trick them to counter a planeswalker or a Persecute and then play my Defense Grid.
you're playing it wrong. play the defense grid first! then your threat.... i'd much rather have a defense grid countered and stick either persecute or a planeswalker.
Thanks for the comments guys. I'm glad you decided to join the format because it's definately a fun format. And Baneslayer is only a must if you decide to play WU Control. Then yes, no other creature can fill that slot.
But there are many other Tier-1 strategies that don't need her and if you don't own the card, you may try those (such as Vore, Opposition, Burn, Mono White Aggro etc...). I personally recommend Mana Ramp because it really is a strong deck. Just don't forget to pack Boil in the sideboard though.
LE
Edit: I just remembered that I saw a couple of WU Control decks without Baneslayer. They were playing Captain of the Watch from M10 instead of her. Not exactly the same but it's not that bad after all.
In his defense, who would -want- to read an article titled like -THAT-. I'm not sure he even read it, because I didn't.
Good article, however a bit controversial. You stated that you don't need Baneslayers to stay competitive, yet the winner decks are both uw control, with Baneslayers:) So it seems to me, that the best deck of the format (so far) has Baneslayers.
You really made me want to join this format!
Do you know when v3.5 will be released? I'm on a Mac and MTGO on a virtual machine isn't very good... I can't wait to play it on my browser!
Nice article(s)
You've sold me on the format. I'll be trying it out as soon as I can. Would work on decks right away, but it's Wednesday downtime at the moment :(
Love that we've been working on that deck for over a month over at MTG: Salvation and it gets noticed because it won a Tourney on MTGO. (http://forums.mtgsalvation.com/showthread.php?t=189346)
I also love that I bought a lot of extra Extractor Demons and Crypts when we first started building this deck. Hope I can cash in on them now....
I was able to get this information from members of Wizards. The short story is that there are no plans ton institute other Pauper formats, like Standard, in the near future.
-Alex
Is Lee responsible at all for getting the standings posted with the Decks of the Week lists? That's a nice touch, I've heard numerous people appreciating it.