Hi Markus. It is true that Mono Green is weird in ZEN Block and as I said in the article I saw that after testing Mono Green in ZEN Block. It just doesn't make sense. I tried and saw that myself.
Emeria, the Sky Ruin is a fantastic card but only works in Mono White Control decks. Mono White Kor decks don't need it because they would prefer ending the game before they play their 7th Plains.
But the Control version on the other hand, likes to play Emeria simply because it likes longer games in which it can cast its Iona. And as I said in the article, naming "creature" with World Queller and bringing back the sacrificed Kor Cartographer the next turn with the land is also a very nice loop.
What you say would be true if only the card would have said "Counter target spell". But it says "Counter target creature spell". It is very narrow. It will not see play in ZEN Block Constructed. I have no idea about ZEN Limited though.
Interesting Article. Since I don't play paper magic anymore, Zendikar Block really wasn't on my radar, but this article gives me a couple of things to think about.
I do have to comment that it seems a bit weird to try to make a mono-green deck when so many of green's bombs (such as Harrow and Lotus Cobra) enable splashing colors.
Also, if the format is as fast as you say, does 4 Emeria, the Sky Ruins in the Angel deck really make sense?
you had to get in 3 minutes before me, didn't you?!?
Well, anyway, I think any blue showing up competitively will be largely on the back of sphinx and/or into the roil. I'm not completely convinced that the 4 mana counterspell which makes an elemental is unplayable either. I mean, mystic snake has been on the fringes of constructed play in the past. (and yes, i know this is a bit worse than snake, but it also doesn't require green.
But I think it would be too much of a strategic advantage for other players.
I know sometimes when I have the game wrapped up, I stop casting stuff, I would hate for my opponent to know that I have more than X of a copy of a card in my deck if I were keeping information hidden from my current opponent.
I must admit that this article feels very below par for the site. First of all you pick a random tournament list (and a substandard one at that), remove cards seemingly at random and replace them with whatever you feel like. Then you take this slightly modified tournament deck to the casual room, where you "surprisingly" crush all opposition before taking it for a spin in the TP room - again replacing cards at random including the construction of a completely haphazard sideboard with no meta considerations.
My questions are thus:
Is this article for people who wants to play competitive, but don't have the funds? Or is it for scrubs that want to grab a random tournament deck list, "tweak" it a bit (using the word "tweak" here is an insult to all tuner Spikes in the multiverse), and then prey on players having fun with their 5$ Wurm.dec? Or something else perhaps?
If you want to build really cheap decks then at least be original. If you want to make competitive decks for a fraction of the cost then at least make up arguments when you replace one card for another or stick to budget decks a la Burn. Replacing a card like Jitte in BDW for a janky 5 mana "combo" just comes off as incredibly retarded without a sound argument (not like it would look any better with a sound argument strapped on, but at least it would show that you understand the importance of the card being replaced). I also find it amusing how you just pick a random deck list and decide to play it, not even considering how it would fit into the current meta.
I'm not going to downrate this pile, but I must say it wasn't a pleasure to read and gave no useful information at all.
Just to clarify, you'd still need 12 cards (as author pointed out) but not necessarily 6 turns since you can play your Instant draw spells (like Esper Charm) during your opponent's turn and then use Howling/Font of Mythos on your turn to draw 2 or more cards. Bringing best possible scenario to 3 of your turns (plus 3 of your opponent's turns) for the Archmage Ascension to come online.
I had tons of fun with Steel of the Godhead myself sometime ago. Zendikar now brings a lot of great stuff to the format and I already have two decks ready for the format and will try to participate in PRE's after Zendikar's online release.
Archmage Acension only takes 3 turns to come online in Standard if you have Howling Mine or Font of Mythos in play. But yes, for Zen block, it is horrible.
I believe that you're flat-out wrong about blue, and expect Sphinx of Jwarr Isle to be one of the defining creatures of the format. Not in mono-U (which I agree, is not going to be competitive), but probably as the finisher in either W/U or maybe G/U.
Things in zendikar which deal with Sphinx;
Day of Judgment
Gatekeeper of Malakir (sometimes)
World Queller (Sometimes)
Vampire Nighthawk (deals with it in the sense that it can't attack until nighthawk is dead)
1- The last Mono White deck has evolved since I submitted this article. I decided to main deck 4x Kor Sanctifiers and removed 4x Conqueror's Pledge. Playtesting showed that Kor Sanctifiers is definately main deck material. And the sideboard now has 4x Landbind Ritual + 3x Conqueror's Pledge. I removed Arrow Volley Trap from the deck completely.
2- I said that blue even as a splash doesn't work. It isn't true. It works. In fact, you will see how well it works in part II. I apologize for this mistake.
It’s all about evolution if your deck is winning all of its games in casual room you would look to the next logical step up which is the tournament practice room. If you follow this process then you would not know what you would be facing when you take that step ahead, which is where I was after the 3 games in the casual room if you don’t try you will never know how well your deck could perform.
Every deck is a rogue deck to start with I could have taken the deck the next step forward which would have involved lots of time and money looking over the top decks and where I could improve it but that would be for a different article geared towards tournament play.
I think this is the place where a lot of players fall over I know I have many times when a deck is too good in casual but not good enough in the tournament practice room. Where do you go when you get to this point?
In regards to the casual deck the price was $16.54 before it was taken out of the casual room.
I love LED in Ichy, as well as Petal. They seem the obvious choice to get mana for non-dredging spells. It looks like you put a lot of effort into getting dredge to an all-in state.
One problem. Zen is released next week. Pretty sure instead of Crypts you'll be facing Traps instead. Thoughts?
I'm looking forward to Zendikar Constructed as well :)
I liked your article. I wish though that when I moused over the card names that they would pop up. It really helps when learning new cards.
I look forward to Part 2 :)
However, trying to watch games for strategy I keep getting frustrated at Wizards for the way it never occurred to them that we might want to see players' hands. I know on the list of "Things MTGO does wrong for no reason" there's plenty ahead of it. But still, it makes what should be a superb learning experience rather pointless.
From the look of it, skill doesn't enter in and whoever draws their aggro curve better wins. But then I'm not entirely certain that isn't just R&D's actual design intent coming through.
Absolutely, and it is a reasonable expectation that if your deck beats all the casual decks you come across that it isn't casual but on the same token that doesn't mean it is prepared for the gamut of TP decks. In fact quite the opposite since the two styles have very little in common. I agree it added to the article. I was just stating the expectations should have been, taking a rogue deck to tp: will need to tune this after playing a lot, because unless you already are very familiar with the metagame you will falter vs a very different level of strategic thinking that has been refined by top pros and then filtered down to lesser formats.
I was talking about online menice, not vintage of legacy with the last part of the article, just simply refering to them, shoulda cleared up confusion, but yes close to 60 percent now of the meta is relic/crypt.
Crypt is also better as once leyline is bounced, it goes bye-bye. Very rarely can you recast it, and mulliganing to try and find it is rather annoying. I like to blame the online shuffler, but in a good sample I found I'd get leyline 3/5 games in openning hand, and in a fourth game i'd draw into 1. Needle stops wasteland reccurision, you're not really caring to much about tombstalker and i've gone off quicker than the mirror, hopefully next week i'll show you in a video!
No i think after the deck did well in casual he thought he would give it a try against better decks in TP, I think alot of people have done similar things and also i feel it added to the article.
Didnt loved the music, thou didnt hated either. Even that 53N531 deserved the awards he got, I wish that some day people would be able to reply this kind of thing more politely.
More important, loved the game replays. It add a lot to readers/viewers experience and double as mtg history documentation.
Hi Markus. It is true that Mono Green is weird in ZEN Block and as I said in the article I saw that after testing Mono Green in ZEN Block. It just doesn't make sense. I tried and saw that myself.
Emeria, the Sky Ruin is a fantastic card but only works in Mono White Control decks. Mono White Kor decks don't need it because they would prefer ending the game before they play their 7th Plains.
But the Control version on the other hand, likes to play Emeria simply because it likes longer games in which it can cast its Iona. And as I said in the article, naming "creature" with World Queller and bringing back the sacrificed Kor Cartographer the next turn with the land is also a very nice loop.
LE
What you say would be true if only the card would have said "Counter target spell". But it says "Counter target creature spell". It is very narrow. It will not see play in ZEN Block Constructed. I have no idea about ZEN Limited though.
LE
Interesting Article. Since I don't play paper magic anymore, Zendikar Block really wasn't on my radar, but this article gives me a couple of things to think about.
I do have to comment that it seems a bit weird to try to make a mono-green deck when so many of green's bombs (such as Harrow and Lotus Cobra) enable splashing colors.
Also, if the format is as fast as you say, does 4 Emeria, the Sky Ruins in the Angel deck really make sense?
you had to get in 3 minutes before me, didn't you?!?
Well, anyway, I think any blue showing up competitively will be largely on the back of sphinx and/or into the roil. I'm not completely convinced that the 4 mana counterspell which makes an elemental is unplayable either. I mean, mystic snake has been on the fringes of constructed play in the past. (and yes, i know this is a bit worse than snake, but it also doesn't require green.
But I think it would be too much of a strategic advantage for other players.
I know sometimes when I have the game wrapped up, I stop casting stuff, I would hate for my opponent to know that I have more than X of a copy of a card in my deck if I were keeping information hidden from my current opponent.
I must admit that this article feels very below par for the site. First of all you pick a random tournament list (and a substandard one at that), remove cards seemingly at random and replace them with whatever you feel like. Then you take this slightly modified tournament deck to the casual room, where you "surprisingly" crush all opposition before taking it for a spin in the TP room - again replacing cards at random including the construction of a completely haphazard sideboard with no meta considerations.
My questions are thus:
Is this article for people who wants to play competitive, but don't have the funds? Or is it for scrubs that want to grab a random tournament deck list, "tweak" it a bit (using the word "tweak" here is an insult to all tuner Spikes in the multiverse), and then prey on players having fun with their 5$ Wurm.dec? Or something else perhaps?
If you want to build really cheap decks then at least be original. If you want to make competitive decks for a fraction of the cost then at least make up arguments when you replace one card for another or stick to budget decks a la Burn. Replacing a card like Jitte in BDW for a janky 5 mana "combo" just comes off as incredibly retarded without a sound argument (not like it would look any better with a sound argument strapped on, but at least it would show that you understand the importance of the card being replaced). I also find it amusing how you just pick a random deck list and decide to play it, not even considering how it would fit into the current meta.
I'm not going to downrate this pile, but I must say it wasn't a pleasure to read and gave no useful information at all.
Just to clarify, you'd still need 12 cards (as author pointed out) but not necessarily 6 turns since you can play your Instant draw spells (like Esper Charm) during your opponent's turn and then use Howling/Font of Mythos on your turn to draw 2 or more cards. Bringing best possible scenario to 3 of your turns (plus 3 of your opponent's turns) for the Archmage Ascension to come online.
I had tons of fun with Steel of the Godhead myself sometime ago. Zendikar now brings a lot of great stuff to the format and I already have two decks ready for the format and will try to participate in PRE's after Zendikar's online release.
LE
I just said it was a mistake and next week I will show why it was a mistake. Blue as a second color works very well.
LE
Yes, my comment was for ZEN Block.
LE
Archmage Acension only takes 3 turns to come online in Standard if you have Howling Mine or Font of Mythos in play. But yes, for Zen block, it is horrible.
I believe that you're flat-out wrong about blue, and expect Sphinx of Jwarr Isle to be one of the defining creatures of the format. Not in mono-U (which I agree, is not going to be competitive), but probably as the finisher in either W/U or maybe G/U.
Things in zendikar which deal with Sphinx;
Day of Judgment
Gatekeeper of Malakir (sometimes)
World Queller (Sometimes)
Vampire Nighthawk (deals with it in the sense that it can't attack until nighthawk is dead)
Thanks for the comments guys. Two things:
1- The last Mono White deck has evolved since I submitted this article. I decided to main deck 4x Kor Sanctifiers and removed 4x Conqueror's Pledge. Playtesting showed that Kor Sanctifiers is definately main deck material. And the sideboard now has 4x Landbind Ritual + 3x Conqueror's Pledge. I removed Arrow Volley Trap from the deck completely.
2- I said that blue even as a splash doesn't work. It isn't true. It works. In fact, you will see how well it works in part II. I apologize for this mistake.
LE
It’s all about evolution if your deck is winning all of its games in casual room you would look to the next logical step up which is the tournament practice room. If you follow this process then you would not know what you would be facing when you take that step ahead, which is where I was after the 3 games in the casual room if you don’t try you will never know how well your deck could perform.
Every deck is a rogue deck to start with I could have taken the deck the next step forward which would have involved lots of time and money looking over the top decks and where I could improve it but that would be for a different article geared towards tournament play.
I think this is the place where a lot of players fall over I know I have many times when a deck is too good in casual but not good enough in the tournament practice room. Where do you go when you get to this point?
In regards to the casual deck the price was $16.54 before it was taken out of the casual room.
Decided to register :)
I really like how you have done your deck lists thay look very smart and tidy.
I love LED in Ichy, as well as Petal. They seem the obvious choice to get mana for non-dredging spells. It looks like you put a lot of effort into getting dredge to an all-in state.
One problem. Zen is released next week. Pretty sure instead of Crypts you'll be facing Traps instead. Thoughts?
wrong.
you don't get points for 2-mans. likely PE and DE
I'm looking forward to Zendikar Constructed as well :)
I liked your article. I wish though that when I moused over the card names that they would pop up. It really helps when learning new cards.
I look forward to Part 2 :)
Thanks for the videos.
However, trying to watch games for strategy I keep getting frustrated at Wizards for the way it never occurred to them that we might want to see players' hands. I know on the list of "Things MTGO does wrong for no reason" there's plenty ahead of it. But still, it makes what should be a superb learning experience rather pointless.
From the look of it, skill doesn't enter in and whoever draws their aggro curve better wins. But then I'm not entirely certain that isn't just R&D's actual design intent coming through.
Absolutely, and it is a reasonable expectation that if your deck beats all the casual decks you come across that it isn't casual but on the same token that doesn't mean it is prepared for the gamut of TP decks. In fact quite the opposite since the two styles have very little in common. I agree it added to the article. I was just stating the expectations should have been, taking a rogue deck to tp: will need to tune this after playing a lot, because unless you already are very familiar with the metagame you will falter vs a very different level of strategic thinking that has been refined by top pros and then filtered down to lesser formats.
I was talking about online menice, not vintage of legacy with the last part of the article, just simply refering to them, shoulda cleared up confusion, but yes close to 60 percent now of the meta is relic/crypt.
Crypt is also better as once leyline is bounced, it goes bye-bye. Very rarely can you recast it, and mulliganing to try and find it is rather annoying. I like to blame the online shuffler, but in a good sample I found I'd get leyline 3/5 games in openning hand, and in a fourth game i'd draw into 1. Needle stops wasteland reccurision, you're not really caring to much about tombstalker and i've gone off quicker than the mirror, hopefully next week i'll show you in a video!
No i think after the deck did well in casual he thought he would give it a try against better decks in TP, I think alot of people have done similar things and also i feel it added to the article.
i dont agree with the toolbox approach but it doesnt look like a bad deck persay it just needs some tightening. quit trolling
Didnt loved the music, thou didnt hated either. Even that 53N531 deserved the awards he got, I wish that some day people would be able to reply this kind of thing more politely.
More important, loved the game replays. It add a lot to readers/viewers experience and double as mtg history documentation.