Funny you should say that. The picture was edited from our wedding photos by my wife, a professional artist. Magic IS nerdy: I'm sorry, but you're calling up mana from the lands to cast spells, to defeat a rival planeswalker. It doesn't get more nerdy than that. You don't need to be ashamed of it: That's entirely your choice. I refuse, point-blank, to be ashamed of it in any way.
You're not going to get a game built around angels, demons, sphinxes and dragons, knights and goblins, elves and zombies, respected as something which isn't 'nerdy'. It just isn't going to happen, no matter how much anyone that considers themselves a 'normal person' deludes themselves. Money really doesn't matter in this equation: Even the people who have set themselves up for life on the back of the game can't change the fundamental nature of the game. Relax, unwind, and don't worry about it.
I altered the picture as a request last week, my previous illustration apparently making me 'look like a pervert/psycho/serial killer.' If you really are incapable of reading an article because of the profile picture of the author, that is a pity, but entirely your choice.
i cant read this article as long as u leave that picture up. people like you are the reason magic is viewed as 'nerdy' and another reason why only .01 % of magic players are women. man up dude. stop making me ashamed to play this game. seriously. how are the normal people who you can actually go out and have fun with going to have any shot at making this a respected game? even the poker boom didn't help us, and magic players became millionaires.
"P1P2: No mention of Angelic Benediction? It's definitely not the best exalted card out there, but it can be a beating in a more aggressive exalted deck. I think I like it better than Ambusher, for instance, who even at free is still just a dork at heart."
I think I still like Ambusher better. It can often kill a guy when it comes into play (for free) and 2/3 reach can blank or at least trade with most of the smaller flyers in Esper (Parasitic Strix, Tidehollow Strix, Sanctum Gargoyle, Darklit Gargoyle, Faerie Mechanist etc)
"The deck: I'd much rather have a Kranioceros over Behemoth."
I could not agree more. I haven't really broken it down how you did, but I am never happy to run a Sigiled Behemoth, and I am not sure I ever have. I however have ran Krani many many times. His pump is late game relevant, and threat of activation can keep some guys at bay. He can often swing quite freely once you have WW2 mana up, double-pumping him to 5/8 makes blocking him a tough prospect. Not trying to make him out to be a great card, he's not, but in Naya he is better than Sigiled I think. I would run 1 of him and 1 Sigiled.
Like everyone else has said, thanks for this series -- it's absolutely great stuff to see. A few things that strike me going through this:
P1P2: No mention of Angelic Benediction? It's definitely not the best exalted card out there, but it can be a beating in a more aggressive exalted deck. I think I like it better than Ambusher, for instance, who even at free is still just a dork at heart.
P1P3: Beetle and Bone Splinters are both considerations, but I have a soft spot for the Treadmill and I'd definitely take it there. I think you underrate Splinters -- at its worst it's a 2-for-1, but there are a lot of opportunities to do much better with it; not just Unearth guys but fine cards like Dragon Fodder and Spore Burst (which I think you underrate a fair bit, too, but more on that later. :-)
P2P3: Sunsinger is definitely right, but with an Armillary Sphere already in your pile Spore Burst at least deserves a mention in the 'cards I'm taking Sunsinger over' list. You never know when you might score a random Gleam that will make Spore Burst into a blowout, and making even 3 guys is pretty solid with it; making 4 or 5 is just amazing.
P2P5: Seven is a lot of mana. I definitely like Sphere here -- but again, I think there's a case to be made for Burst.
P2P8: Definitely cut the Sludge Strider, there's no way that guy should be going that late and you're right that you almost certainly won't play Banquet.
P2P9: Yeah, you had it here too: Absorb Vis.
P3P2: I totally buy the rare-draft here, but I think you underestimate how solid the Borderpost would be for you. There's a decent case to be made for either Sojourner, too -- you'd almost certainly grab the Naya with your build, but Zap has always been a reasonable card.
P3P3: You have two Armillary Sphere, a landcycler, and expect to have a stack of 5-cost and above guys; I'd probably take a flyer (pun vaguely intended) on Spellbound Dragon here. It may not make your deck in the end but it's got a reasonable shot, and a couple turns' worth of 8 in the air will end games fast.
The deck: I'd much rather have a Kranioceros over Behemoth. It's weird; the dinosaur always feels like a clunky guy, but I *hate* watching opponents untap with him. I think he's better than I usually give credit for. Meanwhile, Sigiled Behemoth is strange -- I don't mind Cavern Thoctar at all, I'm not *thrilled* by the card but I'll gladly run it. Meanwhile, I'm always unhappy when I have to play Behemoth in my deck. The one White mana can't make that much difference, the point of toughness shouldn't and a clunky Firebreathing feels clunky -- but Thoctar feels like a perfectly reasonable guy, while Sigiled Behemoth is an all-around frown. Am I crazy here, or does he somehow just end up feeling that much worse??
I stand corrected. I must have correlated the paper release with MTGO release. Nevertheless, I would not be surprised if FTV:E does sell like hot cakes, even if it never reaches the mythical 5000 count.
Berserk, Balance, and Land Tax are nearly confirmed - so many casual players would like to get these cards too!
I'm an old time player, when balance was unrestricted alls i can say is... ouch.
Racks bazzar of baghdad & balance decks were all the rage. Allthough we don't have the filter/draw inherent hand disadvantage (chalked up to an advantage with 4 copies of balance) someone will break the crap out of it
"Dont like running sphere unless I really have to..."
"Seriously?"
Yes, seriously. I understand that the Sphere is a powerful mana fixing and sometimes pseudo-acceleration (allowing you not miss land drops for multiple turns at least), but any game where I am spending my whole turn 2 and most of my turn 3 setting up my mana sucks. If I can pick up a couple of cyclers, a couple of borderposts, and (god willing) a tri-land or Rupture Spire, I usually don't feel the need to run any Spheres, and will avoid it when I can.
There is a lot of fixing floating around in ACR (all told there are Panoramas, Trilands, Obelisks, all of the basic land-cyclers in Conflux, Rupture Spire, Exotic Orchard,all of the borderposts, the 2-basic-land cyclers, and some outliers like mana producing creatures (Noble, Druid of Anima etc), also some crappy fixing like Mana Cylix (awful) and Unstable Frontier (less awful but still not great).
Pulling a late game Sphere is not very good, and an early one is doesn't actually improve your board position at all. I am not saying it's a bad card, it's not I and I do run it, I am saying that if I have to run it I am bummed because I didn't get enough fixing to run a "real" card in that slot, like say a creature that actually helps me win the game. I would rather cast a Cylian Elf on T2 than a sphere for example...
Spirit tribal has a number of different paths you can take. You can go with the Judgement spirits and render them immortal by boosting power and toughness, Kamigawa soulshift shenanigans, building around the Legions muses, even just going by the Shadowmoor/Eventide Avatar Spirit cycles. I played against a build recently that used Sire of the Storm, Primordial Sage and the -Onna spirits to generate massive card advantage.
Rukcus: I think Loam is one of the better applications of Balance. In a 4 X Balance field, a UBW build is probably the way to go, for Loam, Visions, FoW, Balance, Knight, maybe even Trokar.
Whiffy: Snooze you lose.
Eddie: We'll look forward to the article
Danger: I guess I pretty much felt that demonstrating the power of 1 X Balance as the accepted "Correct" decision would be convincing enough, but I could have gone stronger in the direction of proving it as overpowered. FTV: D sold out, but fairly slowly, and has been fairly easy to get ahold of sealed and unsealed copies of. FTV: E will sell well I'm sure, but it almost has less casual appeal, so I'm not certain it will be THAT big of a hit.
Anyone who has played this format assumes balance will be restricted. It's hands down one of the most broken cards ever printed. Including power. Unrestricted balance would be mean abuse balance.dec would be the only thing played. I'm buying one set for sure, possibly 4 depending on what else they print. I bought 4 daze vs gush and one bad cards vs demonic tutor. These are pretty much the only thing i buy from the store at this point.
I don't think there needs to be much debate about whether Balance needs to be restricted - it's 100% the right call.
Unless we want to go through 3 months of another Necropotence fiasco all over again.
Edit: Also, I do think that FTV:E will sell out online much like FTV:D has. It maybe difficult to acquire 4 sets from the store directly, which will lead to availability issues. Any guesses whether these cards will show up in MED4?
It seemed like you lost the fervor of why Balance should, in fact, be restricted. While you showed how it could be well suited to several decks to prove it's overall power level, that in fact, is a point in favour of remaining unrestricted.
While I believe ultimately Balance will be born only as a singleton card, I would have loved to read that side of the Balance issue.
I can also see balance making it's way into combo decks (full of tutors anyway) alongside Silence/Chant, and of course, I could also see the possibiilties of a deck maximizg on those 3 white cards themselves.
Thanks for the look walker. It's going to be crazy. I cant wait to get myn and abuse it. I wont tell you my top 5 steals right now walker, as i plan on unveiling an article addressing just that in the near future :) Suffice it to say, it should be fantastic!
Bone Splinters is awesome in the right deck, but that to me usually means unearth or repeatable token generation. Given the self-imposed 2:1, I think it's only "good" without those deck elements present. That being said, if I don't take (Where Ancients Tread), I could have drafted a very nice RB deck that included those two Bone Splinters.
I probably overvalue Matca Rioters a bit, yeah, although when I talked about the pain of passing them, it was less about them being some kind of bomb for me, and more about them being solid for me and amazing for someone else in 4- or 5-colors.
Sphere's ability to fix two colors at once and add to the land count was particularly important for this deck. The fewer colors you are playing and the lower the curve, the worse the sphere is, but I'm thrilled to play two whenever I am 3+ colors and have multiple 5+ cc spells.
Hear Hear!! Richard Garfield invented this game as something to do between D&D games.
My Tribal Spirit deck is called Kami Tag team and in built around kami of the hunt and glitterfang.
Funny you should say that. The picture was edited from our wedding photos by my wife, a professional artist. Magic IS nerdy: I'm sorry, but you're calling up mana from the lands to cast spells, to defeat a rival planeswalker. It doesn't get more nerdy than that. You don't need to be ashamed of it: That's entirely your choice. I refuse, point-blank, to be ashamed of it in any way.
You're not going to get a game built around angels, demons, sphinxes and dragons, knights and goblins, elves and zombies, respected as something which isn't 'nerdy'. It just isn't going to happen, no matter how much anyone that considers themselves a 'normal person' deludes themselves. Money really doesn't matter in this equation: Even the people who have set themselves up for life on the back of the game can't change the fundamental nature of the game. Relax, unwind, and don't worry about it.
I altered the picture as a request last week, my previous illustration apparently making me 'look like a pervert/psycho/serial killer.' If you really are incapable of reading an article because of the profile picture of the author, that is a pity, but entirely your choice.
this game is nerdy and geeky.
At least AJ is proud to show a lighter side of it, and I commend him for it.
Kudos AJ!
i cant read this article as long as u leave that picture up. people like you are the reason magic is viewed as 'nerdy' and another reason why only .01 % of magic players are women. man up dude. stop making me ashamed to play this game. seriously. how are the normal people who you can actually go out and have fun with going to have any shot at making this a respected game? even the poker boom didn't help us, and magic players became millionaires.
really, i hope a lot of people read this.
Just submitting a rating after making a "real" account.
Responding to Shaterri:
"P1P2: No mention of Angelic Benediction? It's definitely not the best exalted card out there, but it can be a beating in a more aggressive exalted deck. I think I like it better than Ambusher, for instance, who even at free is still just a dork at heart."
I think I still like Ambusher better. It can often kill a guy when it comes into play (for free) and 2/3 reach can blank or at least trade with most of the smaller flyers in Esper (Parasitic Strix, Tidehollow Strix, Sanctum Gargoyle, Darklit Gargoyle, Faerie Mechanist etc)
"The deck: I'd much rather have a Kranioceros over Behemoth."
I could not agree more. I haven't really broken it down how you did, but I am never happy to run a Sigiled Behemoth, and I am not sure I ever have. I however have ran Krani many many times. His pump is late game relevant, and threat of activation can keep some guys at bay. He can often swing quite freely once you have WW2 mana up, double-pumping him to 5/8 makes blocking him a tough prospect. Not trying to make him out to be a great card, he's not, but in Naya he is better than Sigiled I think. I would run 1 of him and 1 Sigiled.
Like everyone else has said, thanks for this series -- it's absolutely great stuff to see. A few things that strike me going through this:
P1P2: No mention of Angelic Benediction? It's definitely not the best exalted card out there, but it can be a beating in a more aggressive exalted deck. I think I like it better than Ambusher, for instance, who even at free is still just a dork at heart.
P1P3: Beetle and Bone Splinters are both considerations, but I have a soft spot for the Treadmill and I'd definitely take it there. I think you underrate Splinters -- at its worst it's a 2-for-1, but there are a lot of opportunities to do much better with it; not just Unearth guys but fine cards like Dragon Fodder and Spore Burst (which I think you underrate a fair bit, too, but more on that later. :-)
P2P3: Sunsinger is definitely right, but with an Armillary Sphere already in your pile Spore Burst at least deserves a mention in the 'cards I'm taking Sunsinger over' list. You never know when you might score a random Gleam that will make Spore Burst into a blowout, and making even 3 guys is pretty solid with it; making 4 or 5 is just amazing.
P2P5: Seven is a lot of mana. I definitely like Sphere here -- but again, I think there's a case to be made for Burst.
P2P8: Definitely cut the Sludge Strider, there's no way that guy should be going that late and you're right that you almost certainly won't play Banquet.
P2P9: Yeah, you had it here too: Absorb Vis.
P3P2: I totally buy the rare-draft here, but I think you underestimate how solid the Borderpost would be for you. There's a decent case to be made for either Sojourner, too -- you'd almost certainly grab the Naya with your build, but Zap has always been a reasonable card.
P3P3: You have two Armillary Sphere, a landcycler, and expect to have a stack of 5-cost and above guys; I'd probably take a flyer (pun vaguely intended) on Spellbound Dragon here. It may not make your deck in the end but it's got a reasonable shot, and a couple turns' worth of 8 in the air will end games fast.
The deck: I'd much rather have a Kranioceros over Behemoth. It's weird; the dinosaur always feels like a clunky guy, but I *hate* watching opponents untap with him. I think he's better than I usually give credit for. Meanwhile, Sigiled Behemoth is strange -- I don't mind Cavern Thoctar at all, I'm not *thrilled* by the card but I'll gladly run it. Meanwhile, I'm always unhappy when I have to play Behemoth in my deck. The one White mana can't make that much difference, the point of toughness shouldn't and a clunky Firebreathing feels clunky -- but Thoctar feels like a perfectly reasonable guy, while Sigiled Behemoth is an all-around frown. Am I crazy here, or does he somehow just end up feeling that much worse??
I stand corrected. I must have correlated the paper release with MTGO release. Nevertheless, I would not be surprised if FTV:E does sell like hot cakes, even if it never reaches the mythical 5000 count.
Berserk, Balance, and Land Tax are nearly confirmed - so many casual players would like to get these cards too!
I'm an old time player, when balance was unrestricted alls i can say is... ouch.
Racks bazzar of baghdad & balance decks were all the rage. Allthough we don't have the filter/draw inherent hand disadvantage (chalked up to an advantage with 4 copies of balance) someone will break the crap out of it
"Dont like running sphere unless I really have to..."
"Seriously?"
Yes, seriously. I understand that the Sphere is a powerful mana fixing and sometimes pseudo-acceleration (allowing you not miss land drops for multiple turns at least), but any game where I am spending my whole turn 2 and most of my turn 3 setting up my mana sucks. If I can pick up a couple of cyclers, a couple of borderposts, and (god willing) a tri-land or Rupture Spire, I usually don't feel the need to run any Spheres, and will avoid it when I can.
There is a lot of fixing floating around in ACR (all told there are Panoramas, Trilands, Obelisks, all of the basic land-cyclers in Conflux, Rupture Spire, Exotic Orchard,all of the borderposts, the 2-basic-land cyclers, and some outliers like mana producing creatures (Noble, Druid of Anima etc), also some crappy fixing like Mana Cylix (awful) and Unstable Frontier (less awful but still not great).
Pulling a late game Sphere is not very good, and an early one is doesn't actually improve your board position at all. I am not saying it's a bad card, it's not I and I do run it, I am saying that if I have to run it I am bummed because I didn't get enough fixing to run a "real" card in that slot, like say a creature that actually helps me win the game. I would rather cast a Cylian Elf on T2 than a sphere for example...
I'll vote for the 2-3 quality games. As long as the games you pick remain as in depth, I think that would work just fine.
Spirit tribal has a number of different paths you can take. You can go with the Judgement spirits and render them immortal by boosting power and toughness, Kamigawa soulshift shenanigans, building around the Legions muses, even just going by the Shadowmoor/Eventide Avatar Spirit cycles. I played against a build recently that used Sire of the Storm, Primordial Sage and the -Onna spirits to generate massive card advantage.
This is the one place where my minutiae disorder comes in handy. :P
Someday I'll focus my skills and win Jeopardy or something... ha
It's coming in like 6 months, anyway.
That's why we keep you around. Your absurd anal-retentiveness. (Just kidding, that's actually interesting, and a very pertinent point).
Nitpick, I don't think FtV: D ever sold out, it was taken out of the store before it got to 5000. http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?p=17061372
Rukcus: I think Loam is one of the better applications of Balance. In a 4 X Balance field, a UBW build is probably the way to go, for Loam, Visions, FoW, Balance, Knight, maybe even Trokar.
Whiffy: Snooze you lose.
Eddie: We'll look forward to the article
Danger: I guess I pretty much felt that demonstrating the power of 1 X Balance as the accepted "Correct" decision would be convincing enough, but I could have gone stronger in the direction of proving it as overpowered. FTV: D sold out, but fairly slowly, and has been fairly easy to get ahold of sealed and unsealed copies of. FTV: E will sell well I'm sure, but it almost has less casual appeal, so I'm not certain it will be THAT big of a hit.
Anyone who has played this format assumes balance will be restricted. It's hands down one of the most broken cards ever printed. Including power. Unrestricted balance would be mean abuse balance.dec would be the only thing played. I'm buying one set for sure, possibly 4 depending on what else they print. I bought 4 daze vs gush and one bad cards vs demonic tutor. These are pretty much the only thing i buy from the store at this point.
I don't think there needs to be much debate about whether Balance needs to be restricted - it's 100% the right call.
Unless we want to go through 3 months of another Necropotence fiasco all over again.
Edit: Also, I do think that FTV:E will sell out online much like FTV:D has. It maybe difficult to acquire 4 sets from the store directly, which will lead to availability issues. Any guesses whether these cards will show up in MED4?
It seemed like you lost the fervor of why Balance should, in fact, be restricted. While you showed how it could be well suited to several decks to prove it's overall power level, that in fact, is a point in favour of remaining unrestricted.
While I believe ultimately Balance will be born only as a singleton card, I would have loved to read that side of the Balance issue.
I can also see balance making it's way into combo decks (full of tutors anyway) alongside Silence/Chant, and of course, I could also see the possibiilties of a deck maximizg on those 3 white cards themselves.
If you ever need anyone to discuss anything with on your podcast feel free to look me up.
Excellent hat... and article.
Thanks for the look walker. It's going to be crazy. I cant wait to get myn and abuse it. I wont tell you my top 5 steals right now walker, as i plan on unveiling an article addressing just that in the near future :) Suffice it to say, it should be fantastic!
Bone Splinters is awesome in the right deck, but that to me usually means unearth or repeatable token generation. Given the self-imposed 2:1, I think it's only "good" without those deck elements present. That being said, if I don't take (Where Ancients Tread), I could have drafted a very nice RB deck that included those two Bone Splinters.
I probably overvalue Matca Rioters a bit, yeah, although when I talked about the pain of passing them, it was less about them being some kind of bomb for me, and more about them being solid for me and amazing for someone else in 4- or 5-colors.
Sphere's ability to fix two colors at once and add to the land count was particularly important for this deck. The fewer colors you are playing and the lower the curve, the worse the sphere is, but I'm thrilled to play two whenever I am 3+ colors and have multiple 5+ cc spells.