I look forward to every Friday when I get to read your report. Yet again, another interesting and informative overview. You provide a great service to the MTGO community, and for that I salute you.
Why has Primalcrux has increased in price? Is their a new standard MGA deck, or is it being added to elves decks?
Also, it's interesting to see Wasteland rise so much. Uncommons are plentiful. This leads me to believe that hoarding has yet again played a role in the MTGO economy. How many users must there be with 100+ wastelands for the price of an uncommon to reach such lofty prices?
I've been tinkerin with alot of decks, but there are lots of cards you left out of the must haves. Most of them have been hit on already. Here's my curret trial run at Grixis Control
Great article as ever from you. I do really like the concept of banning a combo without having to ban all (or even any) of it's parts. Probably a nightmare for WotC to implement given the apparent state of thier software but still a fantastic idea.
I was thinking about a deck list and your article helped me put it to paper, so thank you much for that. the origin of my decklist was to look at all that was good in Naya, and splash Black for Terminate and Mortify :D
Here's my decklist (i dont know how to use Decktags, so build it yourself if you wish. :)
Lands:
4 Pillar of the Paruns
4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple Garden
4 Godless Shrine
4 Sacred Foundry
2 Fetid Heath
Creatures:
4 Watchwolf
(4) Knight of the New Alara
3 Woolly Thoctar
4 Figure of Destiny
3 Sprouting Thrinax
You said these decklists are rough and I agree wholeheartedly. A deck needs at least one basic land to fetch for those times when you just need a colorless mana to cast your spell. I'd probably feel more comfortable running three-four basics.
Wydwen and Augustin are legends. Playing four of them is a mistake.
Agreed. In this format, Mortify is ALMOST strictly better than Pure actually. The only thing Pure has going for it over Mortify is that it can kill Planewalkers. Other than that, there is nothing Pure can kill than Mortify cannot (other than various pro-color stuff).
Pure is not strictly better; it's a sorcery where Mortify is an instant. It's better if you need to kill something that's not a creature or enchantment, or has protection from white or black, but worse if you need to kill a creature or enchantment other than in your main phase with an empty stack, or of course if the permanent in question has pro red or pro green. There are situations where each is better than the other, and I think both will see lots of play. Rumor has it a certain cheap red/black removal spell is going to be reprinted in Alara Reborn, and I'm sure that one will see lots of play as well.
A good article. I'm really looking forward to seeing some Kaleidscope games in action.
Also isn't Ethersworn Adjudicator banned due to it being a mono-blue card, even though it has an off-color activaction ability.
My gut reaction is that a bigger Esper emphasis would be good for your Tri-Hue Control deck. Sphinx Summoner, Sharuum the Hegemon, and Tower Gargoyle seem pretty good to me.
As always, I very nice article that gives me quite a bit to think about.
I hope you don't mind if I make a few comments.
I'm not sure you can make any valid conclusions about what decks are viable based on the last 2 premiere events. For one thing I believe it is much easier/quicker to fine tune a mono-colored deck than a multi-colored deck. Therefore I would expect higher quantities of those types of decks in a format that is harder to playtest. (It takes longer to find a competitive opponent for unofficial formats than official formats, and the 2-man tourneys are the only other viable way to test out a deck, without clan support) Since there are relatively fewer 100 singleton tournies than standard or block, I can see a lot of people putting together simpler decks for them if only to avoid the effort of playtesting a complex deck for such a small number of higher payout tournaments.
The islands versus nonbasics argument gets harder because Ruination is coming Stronghold along with Price of Progress in Exodus.
I don't think unbanning Gifts Ungiven and Intuition is such a good idea. I've played against enough control decks in the 2-man queues to know they are alive, kicking, and very strong already.
The biggest issue I see is that you're using mortify when a strictly better choice of Pure is available. Pure kills anything but lands. Also how do you plan to deal with Oversoul of Dusk?
Awesome. I was looking for this kind of data. I real like to read that kind of info . So if u have some more i would realy like to read them more. :] I like the way u show statistics.
Nice article, it was really interesting for being about a format that doesn't even exist yet. It looks like Firespout with be the sweeper of choice and that 4-toughness creatures will have a bit more value in the format (Lightning Helix, Branching Bolt anyone?) and that the format will be very slow. Shakey mana bases could give Fulminator Mage a bit of a competitive push too. Will be very interesting to see a meta-game develop. So far, I imagine big spells, fatties and great multiplayer. Just my two cents. Good job.
Ok, 6 packs >> free drink, but how does that relate to anything? Why does that make it OK to b**ch around because somebody got something for free and you (presumably) didn't?
Nice stuff.....Good job clannie
Your weekly articles are "my favorite thing to read" about MTGO.
I look forward to every Friday when I get to read your report. Yet again, another interesting and informative overview. You provide a great service to the MTGO community, and for that I salute you.
Why has Primalcrux has increased in price? Is their a new standard MGA deck, or is it being added to elves decks?
Also, it's interesting to see Wasteland rise so much. Uncommons are plentiful. This leads me to believe that hoarding has yet again played a role in the MTGO economy. How many users must there be with 100+ wastelands for the price of an uncommon to reach such lofty prices?
I've been tinkerin with alot of decks, but there are lots of cards you left out of the must haves. Most of them have been hit on already. Here's my curret trial run at Grixis Control
4 Agony Warp
2 Hit/Run
2 Ajani Vengeant
1 Nicol Bolas, Planeswalker
4 Esper Charm
3 Blightning (Good discard)
4 Rise/Fall
2 Countersquall
4 Trial/Error
3 Cruel Ultimatum
1 Garza Zol, Plague Queen
4 Shadowmage Infiltrator
1 Oona, Queen of the Fae
2 Dimir Aqueduct
2 Island
1 Izzet Boilerworks
2 Mountain
4 Pillar of the Paruns
1 Rakdos Carnarium
4 Reflecting Pool
3 Rupture Spire
2 Swamp
4 Vesuva
3 Stillmoon Cavalier
3 Firespout
4 Guttural Response
3 Electrolyze
2 Void
Great article as ever from you. I do really like the concept of banning a combo without having to ban all (or even any) of it's parts. Probably a nightmare for WotC to implement given the apparent state of thier software but still a fantastic idea.
I was thinking about a deck list and your article helped me put it to paper, so thank you much for that. the origin of my decklist was to look at all that was good in Naya, and splash Black for Terminate and Mortify :D
Here's my decklist (i dont know how to use Decktags, so build it yourself if you wish. :)
Lands:
4 Pillar of the Paruns
4 Stomping Ground
4 Temple Garden
4 Godless Shrine
4 Sacred Foundry
2 Fetid Heath
Creatures:
4 Watchwolf
(4) Knight of the New Alara
3 Woolly Thoctar
4 Figure of Destiny
3 Sprouting Thrinax
Other Spells:
4 Lightning Helix
3 Mortify
4 Terminate
3 Sarkhan Vol
3 Ajani Vengent
3 Naya Charm
4 wyden may be a mistake but I doubt Augustin is. He seems really good
I think you made an excellent point with Wilderness Elemental . I hadn't considered that on my own.
Oh Iridesecent Angel isn't Ext legal if I felt like nitpicking.
You said these decklists are rough and I agree wholeheartedly. A deck needs at least one basic land to fetch for those times when you just need a colorless mana to cast your spell. I'd probably feel more comfortable running three-four basics.
Wydwen and Augustin are legends. Playing four of them is a mistake.
YOU LINKED TO MY THREAD!
that is soooooooo cool
but hey i'm not original
Originality is totally overrated
Agreed. In this format, Mortify is ALMOST strictly better than Pure actually. The only thing Pure has going for it over Mortify is that it can kill Planewalkers. Other than that, there is nothing Pure can kill than Mortify cannot (other than various pro-color stuff).
Pure is not strictly better; it's a sorcery where Mortify is an instant. It's better if you need to kill something that's not a creature or enchantment, or has protection from white or black, but worse if you need to kill a creature or enchantment other than in your main phase with an empty stack, or of course if the permanent in question has pro red or pro green. There are situations where each is better than the other, and I think both will see lots of play. Rumor has it a certain cheap red/black removal spell is going to be reprinted in Alara Reborn, and I'm sure that one will see lots of play as well.
A good article. I'm really looking forward to seeing some Kaleidscope games in action.
Also isn't Ethersworn Adjudicator banned due to it being a mono-blue card, even though it has an off-color activaction ability.
My gut reaction is that a bigger Esper emphasis would be good for your Tri-Hue Control deck. Sphinx Summoner, Sharuum the Hegemon, and Tower Gargoyle seem pretty good to me.
As always, I very nice article that gives me quite a bit to think about.
I hope you don't mind if I make a few comments.
I'm not sure you can make any valid conclusions about what decks are viable based on the last 2 premiere events. For one thing I believe it is much easier/quicker to fine tune a mono-colored deck than a multi-colored deck. Therefore I would expect higher quantities of those types of decks in a format that is harder to playtest. (It takes longer to find a competitive opponent for unofficial formats than official formats, and the 2-man tourneys are the only other viable way to test out a deck, without clan support) Since there are relatively fewer 100 singleton tournies than standard or block, I can see a lot of people putting together simpler decks for them if only to avoid the effort of playtesting a complex deck for such a small number of higher payout tournaments.
The islands versus nonbasics argument gets harder because Ruination is coming Stronghold along with Price of Progress in Exodus.
I don't think unbanning Gifts Ungiven and Intuition is such a good idea. I've played against enough control decks in the 2-man queues to know they are alive, kicking, and very strong already.
Anyway, thanks for writing.
-Marcus
Good article, but you forgot a few crucial, format-defining cards:
Pure/Simple: Vindicate for non-lands.
Trial/Error: Counterspell
Supply Demand: Demonic Tutor (the other half is pretty good, too)
The biggest issue I see is that you're using mortify when a strictly better choice of Pure is available. Pure kills anything but lands. Also how do you plan to deal with Oversoul of Dusk?
http://puremtgo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=882&view=unread#unread has the details, you should be able to get it via:
https://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZFinance.woa/wa/pingPodcast?id=3103...
Awesome. I was looking for this kind of data. I real like to read that kind of info . So if u have some more i would realy like to read them more. :] I like the way u show statistics.
Bender from futurama(my fav show of all time)
and the deck is just really fun to play.
Is there a plan to publish these podcasts through iTunes? I don't mind the manual process, but it would be nice.
Nice article, it was really interesting for being about a format that doesn't even exist yet. It looks like Firespout with be the sweeper of choice and that 4-toughness creatures will have a bit more value in the format (Lightning Helix, Branching Bolt anyone?) and that the format will be very slow. Shakey mana bases could give Fulminator Mage a bit of a competitive push too. Will be very interesting to see a meta-game develop. So far, I imagine big spells, fatties and great multiplayer. Just my two cents. Good job.
!
For maximum comedy, don't put any win conditions in your deck and play with 4 Death Wishes.
..."a MAGICAL liopleurodon!"
Ok, 6 packs >> free drink, but how does that relate to anything? Why does that make it OK to b**ch around because somebody got something for free and you (presumably) didn't?
free drink equals 89 cents, six packs of product (of which is never discounted) 25 bucks.
math anyone?