Kind of surprised Kor Hookmaster doesn't make the cut for your mono white deck it's a pseudo-fog shut down opponents biggest creature for one turn making it a pretty fog effect for your deck. Matter of fact I'd say if your going to use Luminarch Ascension more fog such as Silence might make more since especially against red, and blue decks.
I agree, especially on the Wall of Frost and Sleep. I was shocked when I got to the Wall pick and not only was it not taken, it wasn't even mentioned. Defender does usually suck, but it's one of the best cards for locking up the ground while your fliers get through.
Sleep I would have taken on general principle because of all the games it has won me, or saved me and allowed me to come back.
I also think the looters were a bit too excessive. It's nice to get one down early, but it doesn't take long to go through 40 cards with two or three of them out.
I had the same feeling as well about Jotun Grunt Its ok but I found I never played it as a two drop on the second turn which would have been more valuable adding green for Knight of the Reliquary was a lot stronger.
1st place is usually a prize worth around $6; 2nd, a prize worth about $3; Top 4, a prize worth about $1 (or just a few random cards); and Top 8, if offered at all, just a few random cards. MTGOTraders sponsors the current Monday Standard PRE, and those prizes (other than Top 8) are all gift certificates ($9, $4, and $2 respectively).
Season Finals also offer much more substantial gifts.
So, while these prizes are certainly not incredible, they are quite nice for something that doesn't cost you anything to enter.
I wouldve done a lot of different plays than the ones you and your opponent did. Usually I do the opposite of what others are bound by common sense. I gladly trade creature for creature unless its a far superior creature. I know whats in villains hand and I still do it in hoping they throw some sort of removal. Couple days ago I had 3 sparmages in my deck and he had a green open and he attacked while I had Lurking Predators out. He attackd with a 4/5 forest. Since I knew he had a GG in hand I decided to Double block and force him to play his GG so I can hopefully Lurk out the Sparkmage to kill his druid. It did just so.
That was surely a "bad play" but I dont think so. Considering I have 3 in my deck and 20 cards left its a good chance to Lurk it out.
I consider myself not bound by commonsense in most situations. People think they are smart and sneak in dmg by attacking with a 1/4 or or 1/3 or a bear into my 2/3, 3/4, 4/4. One would think they have a trick so they decide to not block because its "only one dmg" but I could careless and block. Getting rid of Removal is far more important than taking dmg and having a bomb destroyed by removal.
Ever since I stopped playing M10 Ive rose 100+ points in about a month or so and now am up 1670+ I was close to 1700 but decided to play M10 again... Stupid mistake. I should know M10 sucks by now. So I only play ACR.
Nice draft report BTW. It was quite long and extensive. Read all xept the extra part.
I would like to start by saying I am a 1650 or so limited player so I read these articles to try and get better. I enjoy your draft reviews and like the way you talk through your decision making process. Also your wilingness to admit where you probably made mistakes is good to see and I think shows you do this to teach but also to learn.
I also don't believe there are definite pick orders in a limited format. Yes there are general pick orders but depending on the type of deck you are building, what you have already drafted and later on the situations you find yourself in card value obviously varies. However I saw 3 spots in your draft you made picks I would not have made.
The first was Pack 2 pick 6. You took a third Rightousness over Wall of Frost. I think the Wall is the pick here. You already have 2 Righousness and a Harm's way as combat tricks as well as a Horned Turtle and Palace guard to block up the ground. But I still think the Wall is a better pick for u/w flyers. Also in your macth you said "My opponent swings in with all three, 'cause what kind of nutcase would have TWO righteousness in the same deck?". Well don't you think there is a reason people don't play 2 and you drafted you third over a perfectly good ground staller.
Then there are the other 2. Let me say that maybe I over value this card. But aside from Rares, Air Elemental and Mind Control there is nothing in Blue I am taking over Sleep. Again this is my opinion and maybe it is wrong so I can see you taking the Snapping drake over Sleep pack 3 Pick 2 (I wouldn't but I can see it), however I really can't see taking a third merfolk looter over this card pack 3 pick 5. I mean one of the strengths of the looter is it allows you to filter you draws. Wouldn't it have been nice to be able use the Looter to filter your way to a Sleep instead of finding a 3rd rightousness or another looter??
Again I am here to learn so I would apperciate your opinion on this, in hindsight would you pick diferently? Also anyone else's opinion on these picks would be appreciated.
Oh right I remember Furcadia! I signed up years ago and then left as it wasn't really my cup of tea. Glad to see you stuck with it. I have yet to draft an actual M10 draft so I have very little say of value about yours but it seems to me that with Red being underdrafted perhaps there was a way to draft a blue red deck instead but I have no idea of that would have been superior. 3x looters seems excessive but it does almost guarantee you drawing one to start. The other thing I noticed is you passed some very strong blue cards in favor of white. I might have been more tempted to stay mono blue as long as possible to force the color. Yes I know it isn't a generally good strategy but hey :)
Nice touch at the end there adding in the outcomes of the other matches.
Well thought out, crisply formatted and well written with an informed tone and feel. Nicely done! I don't agree on every aspect of your critique but overall it was very on target and enjoyable to read. I am not sure I have a favorite ME3 as many cards from both base sets vie for the title. What I find enjoyable for example is weird stuff like Gwendolyn Dicorci and the Abyss. Thanks for this article. :)
I intended to merely glance at the article and ended up reading the whole piece voraciously. Thank you for bringing a different perspective and reminding us that Magic has yet another layer to its attraction. I am looking forward to your next articles.
no i knew the deck was BDW i was just agreeing the original list was an odd variant. though the list Flipper made is fun to play. And regardless of the effectiveness of hypergenesis by sheer numbers in the beginning it will probably come out as the deck to beat. It doesnt matter how easily its destroyed if you have to face 8-9 rounds of it some of them will just win.
I have this sinking feeling that Hypergenesis is going to be "the deck" at the Pro Tour, since it is a combo that takes little effort to assemble, and all of the hate cards can be easily foiled. Luckily for Hypergenesis, most of the Blue-Goyf decks are a tad too slow to compete with some of the other combo decks, which may leave them with a ridiculously unprepared metagame come the PT. Chalice of the Void and Ethersworn Canonist are fine answers to Hypergenesis, but the problem is that they can actually cast their big spells when necessary via storage lands. On top of that, they pack anti-artifact cards like Krosan Grip and Ingot Chewer to destroy the foils to their combo. The problem with Hypergenesis isn't assembling the combo, its knowing when to go for the combo and when to wait until your hand is a little bit better.
thanks for making me feel old runeliger apparently i have been paying longer than the average age as well...oh and us east coasters know about soulja boy. Though in all honesty I wish I chose a better time than 3:00am to start listening.
Eh, you might want to check the name of the list he used (hint: there's a "B", a "D" and a "W"), but I agree on it not being an optimal list, hence my comment about the original list being subpar (no Soltari Priest, Figure, no Boom/Bust, Molten Rain et al.).
As for your other comments you are right about MVC being "most valueable card", but I didn't mean it in regards to the format but to the deck itself. If you think that Jitte isn't the most powerful card in BDW then you don't know your archetypes. It's that simple.
Regarding that Hypergenesis is the "deck to beat" of the format, I can really only lol. Seriously, that deck is hosed by so many sideboard/maindeck cards, and you can simply counter Hypergenisis itself. I'm not saying that it isn't powerful, but it's certainly not the best deck around. Hypergenisis is popular because it can be piloted by even the worst players around. Can you tap out three mana? If yes, then you can play Hypergenisis. The deck is also weakened by the fact that it can't use a lot of sideboard cards due to the cascade mechanic itself.
To me the new Extended will be a ton of aggro decks (Bant, Doran, Naya et al.) with a sprinkle of silly combo decks like Scapeshift and Hypergenisis, and hopefully ruled by the mighty MWC overlords (yeah right :P). Faeries is really the interesting one here. I foresee another season of domination for our metrosexual friends of the nightsky.
No offense was taken and thank you for your comments. As I said above, the mono White deck has evolved since I submitted this article. Yes, 4x Conqueror's Pledge were too much. And they are replaced with 4x Kor Sanctifiers.
4x something is not wrong especially in a format where there is only 1 (ONE) set to choose from. Diversity is good and having main deck answers to different situations is also good but the format is not that diverse at the moment. Maybe after Worldwake it would be.
4x Emeria Angel is a must, 4x World Queller is also a must as I want to have them as soon as possible. Oh and by the way, these aren't rough ideas, these are tested decks. Not very heavily and throughoutly perhaps but some is always better than none.
well judging by the fact that zendikar is not even released yet they are obviously just examples of ideas and actually using 4x of a card is generally considered to be good deckbuilding. Its offers consistency to the deck. Im sure after testing some numbers maybe be tweaked a little but 4x is generally how good deckbuilding starts. Unless of course your one of those people that prefer a buncg of 1 and 2 ofs with no amount of consistency in games whatsoever.
hmmm i have now run the deck with a few of my own ghanges. Mainly -1 Isamaru +1 Elite Vanguard, and then -2w and -2r +4Battlefield forge.. I like it so far. The crusher is nice but then so is winning but turn 5 from straight aggro though Jotun Grunt is the only card im not really feeling at all. I know its great once your crusher goes active but sometimes i under if its worth it...
Thanks for the game, Flippers. The deck was interesting but not too competitive. I was afraid you'd blow me out of the match with Kataki but I guess you weren't packing it. I was also surprised on my final attack that you didn't want to sacrifice your deathtouching pinger by blocking one attacker and pinging away the other - instead you ping'd one and i just modular'd counters around to get through for the win. It wouldn't have mattered since I had Soul's Fire in hand, but made me think maybe you were too concerned about the combo than trying to win with the deck. :-)
The article was ok, but I'd prefer something more competitive - focusing on the more budget friendly decks that are good in X format, or inexpensive rogue decks that can compete against Y metagame.
I was also a little lost on why you were priming us with rotating Onslaught cards but then moved to the deck featuring Crusher. It didn't bother me too much though - I like to hear others' insight on what cards might be worth picking up at rotation.
I like the decks a lot, but just throwing 4 of 9 different cards into a list and then some lands doesn't make a deck. Like your mono white list used 4 world quellers 4 emeria angel and 4 conquerors pledge. Thats the top of your curve a lot of the time, especially in an aggressive of a format as zen block looks to be.
Try for a little more diversity... throwing 4 of every good card into a deck seems like lazy deck building.
Not trying to troll, but when I see that it just makes me less inclined to believe these deck lists are the right built.
I've found a good midpoint between dominating the Casual Room and getting Spiked to death in the TP room is offering matches instead of single games. When you play a 2/3 game, you're going to attract more "serious" casual players, people who've put enough thought into their decs to build sideboards.
BDW is Boros Deck Wins which a super aggro r/w deck featuring much of the same cards but with a slightly different game plan in my opinion. This deck was more of a variant of BDW and by MVC im assuming he was calling jitte the most valuable card. While this may have been the case last season in extended there are plenty of articles and pros saying this simply wont be the case this year. Jitte has lost some functionality from m10 rule changes as well as being ineffective against the "supposed" best deck which as most testing has proved is currently Hypergenesis.
Yeah, Pauper as the official Wizards format includes all Commons released online. But PDCMagic.com hosts a variety of Pauper formats, including those that match the official formats of Standard and Extended. These Player Run Events (or PREs) are free weekly tournaments that offer small prizes to players making Top 8 or better. So, although I mostly play only Pauper, I play enough Standard Pauper that the Zendikar rotation affects me almost as much as it does other Standard players.
Maybe, and just maybe, 3 Emeria, the Sky Ruin could also work. 2 is too few because with 26x lands and 4x Kor Cartographers, you never miss a land drop and reach to 7 Plains easily. And when you do, Emeria should be there.
I never tried 3 copies and play 4 since the beginning and never had problems. But now that you mentioned it, maybe I should try 3 and see if it's working or not.
I have no idea what you mean when you say BDW and MVC I think I'm missing something there but the Vulshok / Flail was an amazing combo in the casual room.
In regards to the sideboard it was spot on from what I faced in the article last week that's why I stuck with it.
Wheel of Sun and Moon vs dredge
Volanic Fallout vs fae
Shatterstorm vs Affinity
Magus and Blood Moon vs Affinity and Merfolk
Opal Guardian vs Goblins/Red Deck Wins
Kind of surprised Kor Hookmaster doesn't make the cut for your mono white deck it's a pseudo-fog shut down opponents biggest creature for one turn making it a pretty fog effect for your deck. Matter of fact I'd say if your going to use Luminarch Ascension more fog such as Silence might make more since especially against red, and blue decks.
I agree, especially on the Wall of Frost and Sleep. I was shocked when I got to the Wall pick and not only was it not taken, it wasn't even mentioned. Defender does usually suck, but it's one of the best cards for locking up the ground while your fliers get through.
Sleep I would have taken on general principle because of all the games it has won me, or saved me and allowed me to come back.
I also think the looters were a bit too excessive. It's nice to get one down early, but it doesn't take long to go through 40 cards with two or three of them out.
I had the same feeling as well about Jotun Grunt Its ok but I found I never played it as a two drop on the second turn which would have been more valuable adding green for Knight of the Reliquary was a lot stronger.
Depends on which event, but generally...
1st place is usually a prize worth around $6; 2nd, a prize worth about $3; Top 4, a prize worth about $1 (or just a few random cards); and Top 8, if offered at all, just a few random cards. MTGOTraders sponsors the current Monday Standard PRE, and those prizes (other than Top 8) are all gift certificates ($9, $4, and $2 respectively).
Season Finals also offer much more substantial gifts.
So, while these prizes are certainly not incredible, they are quite nice for something that doesn't cost you anything to enter.
I wouldve done a lot of different plays than the ones you and your opponent did. Usually I do the opposite of what others are bound by common sense. I gladly trade creature for creature unless its a far superior creature. I know whats in villains hand and I still do it in hoping they throw some sort of removal. Couple days ago I had 3 sparmages in my deck and he had a green open and he attacked while I had Lurking Predators out. He attackd with a 4/5 forest. Since I knew he had a GG in hand I decided to Double block and force him to play his GG so I can hopefully Lurk out the Sparkmage to kill his druid. It did just so.
That was surely a "bad play" but I dont think so. Considering I have 3 in my deck and 20 cards left its a good chance to Lurk it out.
I consider myself not bound by commonsense in most situations. People think they are smart and sneak in dmg by attacking with a 1/4 or or 1/3 or a bear into my 2/3, 3/4, 4/4. One would think they have a trick so they decide to not block because its "only one dmg" but I could careless and block. Getting rid of Removal is far more important than taking dmg and having a bomb destroyed by removal.
Ever since I stopped playing M10 Ive rose 100+ points in about a month or so and now am up 1670+ I was close to 1700 but decided to play M10 again... Stupid mistake. I should know M10 sucks by now. So I only play ACR.
Nice draft report BTW. It was quite long and extensive. Read all xept the extra part.
I would like to start by saying I am a 1650 or so limited player so I read these articles to try and get better. I enjoy your draft reviews and like the way you talk through your decision making process. Also your wilingness to admit where you probably made mistakes is good to see and I think shows you do this to teach but also to learn.
I also don't believe there are definite pick orders in a limited format. Yes there are general pick orders but depending on the type of deck you are building, what you have already drafted and later on the situations you find yourself in card value obviously varies. However I saw 3 spots in your draft you made picks I would not have made.
The first was Pack 2 pick 6. You took a third Rightousness over Wall of Frost. I think the Wall is the pick here. You already have 2 Righousness and a Harm's way as combat tricks as well as a Horned Turtle and Palace guard to block up the ground. But I still think the Wall is a better pick for u/w flyers. Also in your macth you said "My opponent swings in with all three, 'cause what kind of nutcase would have TWO righteousness in the same deck?". Well don't you think there is a reason people don't play 2 and you drafted you third over a perfectly good ground staller.
Then there are the other 2. Let me say that maybe I over value this card. But aside from Rares, Air Elemental and Mind Control there is nothing in Blue I am taking over Sleep. Again this is my opinion and maybe it is wrong so I can see you taking the Snapping drake over Sleep pack 3 Pick 2 (I wouldn't but I can see it), however I really can't see taking a third merfolk looter over this card pack 3 pick 5. I mean one of the strengths of the looter is it allows you to filter you draws. Wouldn't it have been nice to be able use the Looter to filter your way to a Sleep instead of finding a 3rd rightousness or another looter??
Again I am here to learn so I would apperciate your opinion on this, in hindsight would you pick diferently? Also anyone else's opinion on these picks would be appreciated.
Thanks, can't wait of the next article
Oh right I remember Furcadia! I signed up years ago and then left as it wasn't really my cup of tea. Glad to see you stuck with it. I have yet to draft an actual M10 draft so I have very little say of value about yours but it seems to me that with Red being underdrafted perhaps there was a way to draft a blue red deck instead but I have no idea of that would have been superior. 3x looters seems excessive but it does almost guarantee you drawing one to start. The other thing I noticed is you passed some very strong blue cards in favor of white. I might have been more tempted to stay mono blue as long as possible to force the color. Yes I know it isn't a generally good strategy but hey :)
Nice touch at the end there adding in the outcomes of the other matches.
Oh and Shock + Bolt to your article rating
Well thought out, crisply formatted and well written with an informed tone and feel. Nicely done! I don't agree on every aspect of your critique but overall it was very on target and enjoyable to read. I am not sure I have a favorite ME3 as many cards from both base sets vie for the title. What I find enjoyable for example is weird stuff like Gwendolyn Dicorci and the Abyss. Thanks for this article. :)
I intended to merely glance at the article and ended up reading the whole piece voraciously. Thank you for bringing a different perspective and reminding us that Magic has yet another layer to its attraction. I am looking forward to your next articles.
no i knew the deck was BDW i was just agreeing the original list was an odd variant. though the list Flipper made is fun to play. And regardless of the effectiveness of hypergenesis by sheer numbers in the beginning it will probably come out as the deck to beat. It doesnt matter how easily its destroyed if you have to face 8-9 rounds of it some of them will just win.
I have this sinking feeling that Hypergenesis is going to be "the deck" at the Pro Tour, since it is a combo that takes little effort to assemble, and all of the hate cards can be easily foiled. Luckily for Hypergenesis, most of the Blue-Goyf decks are a tad too slow to compete with some of the other combo decks, which may leave them with a ridiculously unprepared metagame come the PT. Chalice of the Void and Ethersworn Canonist are fine answers to Hypergenesis, but the problem is that they can actually cast their big spells when necessary via storage lands. On top of that, they pack anti-artifact cards like Krosan Grip and Ingot Chewer to destroy the foils to their combo. The problem with Hypergenesis isn't assembling the combo, its knowing when to go for the combo and when to wait until your hand is a little bit better.
thanks for making me feel old runeliger apparently i have been paying longer than the average age as well...oh and us east coasters know about soulja boy. Though in all honesty I wish I chose a better time than 3:00am to start listening.
Eh, you might want to check the name of the list he used (hint: there's a "B", a "D" and a "W"), but I agree on it not being an optimal list, hence my comment about the original list being subpar (no Soltari Priest, Figure, no Boom/Bust, Molten Rain et al.).
As for your other comments you are right about MVC being "most valueable card", but I didn't mean it in regards to the format but to the deck itself. If you think that Jitte isn't the most powerful card in BDW then you don't know your archetypes. It's that simple.
Regarding that Hypergenesis is the "deck to beat" of the format, I can really only lol. Seriously, that deck is hosed by so many sideboard/maindeck cards, and you can simply counter Hypergenisis itself. I'm not saying that it isn't powerful, but it's certainly not the best deck around. Hypergenisis is popular because it can be piloted by even the worst players around. Can you tap out three mana? If yes, then you can play Hypergenisis. The deck is also weakened by the fact that it can't use a lot of sideboard cards due to the cascade mechanic itself.
To me the new Extended will be a ton of aggro decks (Bant, Doran, Naya et al.) with a sprinkle of silly combo decks like Scapeshift and Hypergenisis, and hopefully ruled by the mighty MWC overlords (yeah right :P). Faeries is really the interesting one here. I foresee another season of domination for our metrosexual friends of the nightsky.
No offense was taken and thank you for your comments. As I said above, the mono White deck has evolved since I submitted this article. Yes, 4x Conqueror's Pledge were too much. And they are replaced with 4x Kor Sanctifiers.
4x something is not wrong especially in a format where there is only 1 (ONE) set to choose from. Diversity is good and having main deck answers to different situations is also good but the format is not that diverse at the moment. Maybe after Worldwake it would be.
4x Emeria Angel is a must, 4x World Queller is also a must as I want to have them as soon as possible. Oh and by the way, these aren't rough ideas, these are tested decks. Not very heavily and throughoutly perhaps but some is always better than none.
Thanks again for taking time and commenting.
LE
well judging by the fact that zendikar is not even released yet they are obviously just examples of ideas and actually using 4x of a card is generally considered to be good deckbuilding. Its offers consistency to the deck. Im sure after testing some numbers maybe be tweaked a little but 4x is generally how good deckbuilding starts. Unless of course your one of those people that prefer a buncg of 1 and 2 ofs with no amount of consistency in games whatsoever.
i was under the impression that the PREs didn't offer any prizes - what are they? i might be interested in playing...
hmmm i have now run the deck with a few of my own ghanges. Mainly -1 Isamaru +1 Elite Vanguard, and then -2w and -2r +4Battlefield forge.. I like it so far. The crusher is nice but then so is winning but turn 5 from straight aggro though Jotun Grunt is the only card im not really feeling at all. I know its great once your crusher goes active but sometimes i under if its worth it...
Thanks for the game, Flippers. The deck was interesting but not too competitive. I was afraid you'd blow me out of the match with Kataki but I guess you weren't packing it. I was also surprised on my final attack that you didn't want to sacrifice your deathtouching pinger by blocking one attacker and pinging away the other - instead you ping'd one and i just modular'd counters around to get through for the win. It wouldn't have mattered since I had Soul's Fire in hand, but made me think maybe you were too concerned about the combo than trying to win with the deck. :-)
The article was ok, but I'd prefer something more competitive - focusing on the more budget friendly decks that are good in X format, or inexpensive rogue decks that can compete against Y metagame.
I was also a little lost on why you were priming us with rotating Onslaught cards but then moved to the deck featuring Crusher. It didn't bother me too much though - I like to hear others' insight on what cards might be worth picking up at rotation.
I like the decks a lot, but just throwing 4 of 9 different cards into a list and then some lands doesn't make a deck. Like your mono white list used 4 world quellers 4 emeria angel and 4 conquerors pledge. Thats the top of your curve a lot of the time, especially in an aggressive of a format as zen block looks to be.
Try for a little more diversity... throwing 4 of every good card into a deck seems like lazy deck building.
Not trying to troll, but when I see that it just makes me less inclined to believe these deck lists are the right built.
wu control will be the best deck.
12 islands
12 plains
4 sphinx
4 day of judgment
4 pitfall trap
4 iona
4 luminarch ascension
4 spihinx of lost truths
4into the roil
4 summoners bane
4worldqueller
I've found a good midpoint between dominating the Casual Room and getting Spiked to death in the TP room is offering matches instead of single games. When you play a 2/3 game, you're going to attract more "serious" casual players, people who've put enough thought into their decs to build sideboards.
BDW is Boros Deck Wins which a super aggro r/w deck featuring much of the same cards but with a slightly different game plan in my opinion. This deck was more of a variant of BDW and by MVC im assuming he was calling jitte the most valuable card. While this may have been the case last season in extended there are plenty of articles and pros saying this simply wont be the case this year. Jitte has lost some functionality from m10 rule changes as well as being ineffective against the "supposed" best deck which as most testing has proved is currently Hypergenesis.
Yeah, Pauper as the official Wizards format includes all Commons released online. But PDCMagic.com hosts a variety of Pauper formats, including those that match the official formats of Standard and Extended. These Player Run Events (or PREs) are free weekly tournaments that offer small prizes to players making Top 8 or better. So, although I mostly play only Pauper, I play enough Standard Pauper that the Zendikar rotation affects me almost as much as it does other Standard players.
Oh sorry I misunderstood.
Maybe, and just maybe, 3 Emeria, the Sky Ruin could also work. 2 is too few because with 26x lands and 4x Kor Cartographers, you never miss a land drop and reach to 7 Plains easily. And when you do, Emeria should be there.
I never tried 3 copies and play 4 since the beginning and never had problems. But now that you mentioned it, maybe I should try 3 and see if it's working or not.
Thanks for the suggestion.
LE
Sounds good
I have no idea what you mean when you say BDW and MVC I think I'm missing something there but the Vulshok / Flail was an amazing combo in the casual room.
In regards to the sideboard it was spot on from what I faced in the article last week that's why I stuck with it.
Wheel of Sun and Moon vs dredge
Volanic Fallout vs fae
Shatterstorm vs Affinity
Magus and Blood Moon vs Affinity and Merfolk
Opal Guardian vs Goblins/Red Deck Wins