1) Guardian is terrible. Abjectly awful. You're paying 4 mana for 2 power in a format that ofte is decided on turn 4. Do you really want that? Every other card either has power equal to or greater than it's cost OR can pump itself OR can prevent you from dying as easily.
Ivory Giant would be better if there were any decks in the format that blocked. Sorry, nothing blocks.
The Trooper is fine, except MBC is becoming more popular in the casual room. I am not willing to drop either Kami or Calvary for it and Leitbur just helps so much against Black.
no guardian of the guildpact? or suspend the ivory giant whatever it's called im curious why these 2 didn't make the list and i have to agree with LE the solatari's would be a nice addition to the WW deck. just curious on why they didn't make the cut
I'm also playing a Mono-White deck these days and first here's my own list and my thoughts:
4 Akrasan Squire (obvious) 4 Icatian Javelineers (obvious) 4 Soltari Trooper (A perfect edition to WW from Tempest. Simply awesome) 4 Ballynock Cohort (obvious) 4 Burrenton Bombardier (Until now, I never played this one but always used its reinforce ability. Very useful and very surprising, both on the offense and defense. It can save a creature from Crypt Rats or kill a creature with Cloak or help you deal that final blow to your opponent) 4 Kithkin Zephyrnaut (my whole deck is either Kithkin or Soldier; or both. So if my topdeck is a creature, this one's a guaranteed 4/4 flyer-vigilance) 4 Surging Sentinels (I like this one. Many times it's only him but there is always a chance that he might bring one or two more of his gang along with him)
That's 28 creatures. Here are my other spells:
4 Oblivion Ring (obvious) 4 Unmake (again obvious) 2 Cenn's Enlistment (I like this one a lot. Most of the time, I play all my cards in hand in just a few turns and I go into topdeck mode. And the worst thing in that case is always to draw a land. But not with this card. A land always means two 1/1 Kithkins)
And 22 lands (4 being Secluded Steppe).
Anyway, I hope this list might be useful in some way to someone.
Right, missed that it wasn't a Moonfolk, I did a keyword search on Moonfolk and it came up because of its Moonfolk offering ability. My bad there.
Not sure I'm in agreement with you on flash. Sure, flash is shared with green as a opposing ability, but green didn't completely dominate in flash, and it certainly looks like the direction is to make it a province of blue and white with the inception of Lorwyn. Before Lorwyn, it was 12 green creatures to 10 blue, but that doesn't say much really, especially considering white got 15. From Lorwyn on, blue got another 16 while green got another 3 and white 5, so it does seem to be becoming a province of blue. That was what I was going on pretty much.
Though it honesty, another argument in your favor is Aluren and Vernal Equinox, which pretty much gives all your creatures flash. In that respect, you would be correct, and I would definitely agree that one green cards giving some spectrum of other cards flash would be right on. So, with that, I will just have to say that my comments, though correct, didn't reflect green accurately, and I apologize.
Thanks for the article, and thanks also for the budget sections! Cards like Cryptic Command and Reflecting Pool are out of my reach (but Christmas is coming so who knows?) Also, I really liked the Phage deck from a couple weeks back. I love alternate win conditions, and that's what made me want to build a helix deck too.
After reading your article I built the budget version and went on a killer losing streak. Whatever the opposite of undefeated is, that's my record with this deck. That experience inspired me to create an extended version, and since that other dude didn't post his list, here's what I came up with:
4 Forest
3 Plains
3 Temple Garden
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
-------------------------------------22 Land
1 Platinum Angel
1 Stuffy Doll
3 Birds of Paradise
2 Carven Caryatid
2 Penumbra Spider
2 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Thallid Shell-Dweller
--------------------------- 13 Creatures
4 Ghostly Prison
3 Helix Pinnacle
3 Oblivian Ring
1 Righteos Cause
3 Faith's Fetters
2 Recumbent Bliss
1 Austere Command
1 Hallowed Burial
3 Reap and Sow
4 Sylvan Scrying
-------------------------- 25 Other Spells
I went with white instead of blue for cards like ghostly prison and faith's fetters to try to slow down the game long enough to accumulate tower counters over time since my deck lacks an infinite mana engine. I don't really miss the counters, but I do miss the card draw and I've thought about adding Harmonize. I went with the Urzatron instead of 8 post mostly because I don't have any vesuvas yet but I did have the tron. Some of the 1 of's are because that's all I have, but also because I'm still playing with the numbers and I like to see which cards are working for me. Each of the creatures works towards the goal of slowing my opponent down, the only decent attacker is Platinum Angel, but they can all block and/or accelerate mana.
I've had fun with the deck, and I also managed to win a few games. As I said before I really enjoy alternate win conditions, so it's a blast to win by accumulating 100 counters.
So please, spg, (or anyone else interested) take a look and maybe take it for a spin. I'd like to hear your feedback. Anything you think I missed? Would it be worth it to shell out for the Vesuvas? A playset is under 10 bucks, which is doable, and it would give more access to colored mana which can be a problem on occasion. Maybe there's a downside I'm not seeing though, plus in my experience I either can successfully stall the game and fill up the helix or I get swarmed or have key permanents destroyed and lose before I can stabilize. I have only had one game so far where I lost with more than 70 counters in which case maybe faster mana would have won it for me.
Thanks again and I look forward to seeing what you've got for us next week.
It's funny, cuz you come off all condescending, but calling plague wind a board sweeper is wrong in so many ways... since it doesn't kill your men. Do I like the card? No, but this is pretty obviously a casual oriented video. Let it be.
p1p1: I think you did underestimate the Ranger of Eos. As iceage4life already mentioned it can and should you commit more to Naya. This card can turn games around. Think about it: it doesn't matter if you play it in late or early game (alltough in early game it's much stronger), but even in late game you pick out the low-mana creatures out of your deck, what not only may give you 2 times a 3/3 creature (Nactals in Naya) but also increases the chances of drawing a fatty or missing mana. But it's a tough decision, with all the unearth creatures in the set, magma spray is always an good choice.
p2p4: Bad choice in my opinion. You already have plenty of mana fixing. Alltough it's still important it shouldn't have priority. Scourge Devil is an amazing card that can turn the games around and thanks to it's unearth ability no-one actually likes to kill this one. You already did let him go in p1p3, what may be OK, but here for me the much better choice.
p3p12: Since you are missing fatties, I would had taken the Rockcaster Platoon here. It's right that he is expensive but it's the better choice than to hate-pick the goblet.
To the deck building:
I again ag ree with iceage4life, this deck didn't seem so strong to me. You had a lot of low-budget creatures, but nothing to get rith of them. There was no devour-creature around what's kind of bad. Excommunicate is a very underestimated card. You did not play this card, what's a big mistake. Give the card a try and you will start to love it! I didn't play it for a long time, but when i got raped several times due to this card I started to understand it's true power. Over the last couple of drafts it saved me several time. No matter if it did bounce the last blocker for the final attack or the big-token-fatty or if I was mana-short and it did just buy me time.Remember: if you play this on turn 3 on a wolly, your opponent loses his turn what gives you the time draw for a real solution!
This is wrong in so many ways. NOTE TO NEW PLAYERS: Playing plague wind in a 20 land deck is incredibly stupid.So is playing a board sweeper with goblins. Plunder is one of the worst cards in standard.
1) Loyalty program from WOTC would be great. 2) Loyalty program or not, peeps who bully and harass others will still see being MTGO as being about 'dominating' others. 3) The community on MTGO is not large enough to dismiss new users as being irrelevant, or okay to dismiss through trash talk. 4) We each have a responsibility to extend respect to our peers. 5) Counterspells and LD represent a cheap way of buying a place at a 2hg table. As a new player you can influence the outcome, without spending the tix. Like all parts of magic the absence of change makes something dull, but we aren't 'helping' peeps deck build by trash talking them, or by disconnecting from their game if they play a card we don't like.
There needs to bea real commitment to this. It is fairly easy to get into a flame war, and point out a stupid play, or mistake, or card you don't like. BUT your opponent has a right to play whatever the description said they could.
Loyalty rewards from WOTC would be good. (Please) But as the saying goes if you think every is a nail, you will still use your hammer. Players need to make a choice to help newer players, or players who don't have access to the same card pool. Counters can be a cheap way of buying a place at a table where your contribution is meaninful. (Annoying to some, but meaningful). LD is the same. Can be cheap, does matter to the game. Can matter more than the $ spell if the $ spell can't be cast.
The 'we are the only' group 'i am am the only person' who 'gets magic' as it is meant to be played, attitude. Has only one future - and it will exclude players. The best environment will include more players, and to include more players we have lto make a choice to make them feel included.
Forgive the noob for trashtalking your expert ass - he doesn't know you spend 18 hours a day online, and haven't lost a game since 2001. The biggest problem I see, however, is players who should know better. I am guilty as any, at times, at stating the painful obvious.
Lastly, text is not a very robust communication medium. Sarcasm VERY RARELY translates as intended. Misunderstandings are many. Apologise if you said something that has been misunderstood, and try not to offend.
MTGO is such a fun game, and MOST of the players are brilliant, engaging, fun, interesting, good humoured people. Lets not suck the fun out of it by letting the minority turn it in to "Lord of the Flies".
Because it specifies they are still wolves, the +1/+1 it also grants is in effect as well, thus 5/2. In terms of humans, I see nothing wrong with the flavour of taking the human-werewolf-wolf line from the other side.
I enjoyed the article, and have noticed a deteriation of sportsmanship and manners in MTGO. It is kind of sad, but that can also be said of our society in general. It is easy to hide behind a computer screen. I'm just a johnny, that loves playing and building decks, trying to use cards that are not normally seen. I play only in the casual room, and have never entered an event. I have played thousands of duels and every time I see sniping between folks as to what is causal and what should be tourney. I have no answers but it is very frustrating to observe. I get killed by turn 3-4 everytime I run into a tourney deck, and I will win most of the time against the newbies, who probably think my deck is way to tough, just because of the their lack of experience.
Clearly the world is becoming more tech savay, as we all spend more time on the pc that than we should. So I think MTGO should lean to meet that future world wide potential. Just a couple of off the cuff ideas that might help MTGO grow.
Take the time limit off redemtions. People might just keep playing with them on MTGO if the did not have to rush to redeem them.
Create an additional reward system for online play. Amount of tourneys entered. Amount of duels completed. The largest number of completed duels against different opponents. Tie the reward system to what you want.....more play.
Sell complete sets of MTGO cards in edition to the starter decks and boosters. I see lots of complaints about have difficult it is to get the really strong rares even with buying 50 booster packs or whatever.
Lower the price a bit. If 30-50% of the sales are already from MTGO as widely reported, it seems the world is sending a clear signal that MTGO is preferred to face to face meetings in hobby stores. The whole world is driven by supply and demand. Lower the price slowly incrementally, and the demand would probably grow. In time we may get to have MTGO tourneys face to face with our laptops on MTGO in a hobby store. No cards to spill drinks on. The don't get wrinkled, marked etc.
Good luck to all, and I hope the game continues to grow.
Patron of the Moon is not a moonfolk, so that doesn't really matter. Also, annoyed at:
"I never understood why it gives Wolves flash, unless you were going for the "suddenly a werewolf appears" surprise value. Still, that is the providence of blue mostly."
Flash is as much a green ability as it is a blue ability. Before Lorwyn block, there were more green creatures with flash than blue ones.
I happened upon Faerie Squadron while browsing some card database one day and thought, "Oh my god! Why have I been settling for Thought Nibbler all this time?" It was a couple of hours before I realized my error.
Yeah. It took me a while to really piece together the problems. It was Javasci's comments in the town hall meeting that really cast it into my focus, though. The casual and cutthroat player gets nothing from WotC currently (in the means of payback for playing), only the competitive players get promo cards and opportunities for cool things. The competitive players *should* be the main focus of prize support, but that has been stolen and given to casual players. And the cut-throat (non-competitive, not 'just casual') players get diddly squat and are getting sick of all the love towards Casual and Competitive players.
And it's starting to come to a head.
I don't know what's to be done besides treat everyone I play against with respect and ask my fellow players to do the same.
Thank you for the kind words! I do have the data for each card each week, so it seems doable that I can trend hot cards over a few weeks at a time. I'll look into it and hopefully have some charts like those next week!
RDW must find the martyrs. And IIRC it does not have card draw or tutors.
The usual builds of MUTC are too slow to beat MGA. It has been tested and it's not winning. Of course the deck can evolve to adapt to the metagame, but the analysis focuses on the current builds. MUC is not part of the Extended metagame. If it gets played, it will be included in the analysis.
1) Guardian is terrible. Abjectly awful. You're paying 4 mana for 2 power in a format that ofte is decided on turn 4. Do you really want that? Every other card either has power equal to or greater than it's cost OR can pump itself OR can prevent you from dying as easily.
Ivory Giant would be better if there were any decks in the format that blocked. Sorry, nothing blocks.
The Trooper is fine, except MBC is becoming more popular in the casual room. I am not willing to drop either Kami or Calvary for it and Leitbur just helps so much against Black.
-Alex
no guardian of the guildpact? or suspend the ivory giant whatever it's called im curious why these 2 didn't make the list and i have to agree with LE the solatari's would be a nice addition to the WW deck. just curious on why they didn't make the cut
Hi,
I'm also playing a Mono-White deck these days and first here's my own list and my thoughts:
4 Akrasan Squire (obvious)
4 Icatian Javelineers (obvious)
4 Soltari Trooper (A perfect edition to WW from Tempest. Simply awesome)
4 Ballynock Cohort (obvious)
4 Burrenton Bombardier (Until now, I never played this one but always used its reinforce ability. Very useful and very surprising, both on the offense and defense. It can save a creature from Crypt Rats or kill a creature with Cloak or help you deal that final blow to your opponent)
4 Kithkin Zephyrnaut (my whole deck is either Kithkin or Soldier; or both. So if my topdeck is a creature, this one's a guaranteed 4/4 flyer-vigilance)
4 Surging Sentinels (I like this one. Many times it's only him but there is always a chance that he might bring one or two more of his gang along with him)
That's 28 creatures. Here are my other spells:
4 Oblivion Ring (obvious)
4 Unmake (again obvious)
2 Cenn's Enlistment (I like this one a lot. Most of the time, I play all my cards in hand in just a few turns and I go into topdeck mode. And the worst thing in that case is always to draw a land. But not with this card. A land always means two 1/1 Kithkins)
And 22 lands (4 being Secluded Steppe).
Anyway, I hope this list might be useful in some way to someone.
LE
Right, missed that it wasn't a Moonfolk, I did a keyword search on Moonfolk and it came up because of its Moonfolk offering ability. My bad there.
Not sure I'm in agreement with you on flash. Sure, flash is shared with green as a opposing ability, but green didn't completely dominate in flash, and it certainly looks like the direction is to make it a province of blue and white with the inception of Lorwyn. Before Lorwyn, it was 12 green creatures to 10 blue, but that doesn't say much really, especially considering white got 15. From Lorwyn on, blue got another 16 while green got another 3 and white 5, so it does seem to be becoming a province of blue. That was what I was going on pretty much.
Though it honesty, another argument in your favor is Aluren and Vernal Equinox, which pretty much gives all your creatures flash. In that respect, you would be correct, and I would definitely agree that one green cards giving some spectrum of other cards flash would be right on. So, with that, I will just have to say that my comments, though correct, didn't reflect green accurately, and I apologize.
That's the way I was thinking too....be more interesting to turn all humans in play to wolves....LOL
Thanks for the article, and thanks also for the budget sections! Cards like Cryptic Command and Reflecting Pool are out of my reach (but Christmas is coming so who knows?) Also, I really liked the Phage deck from a couple weeks back. I love alternate win conditions, and that's what made me want to build a helix deck too.
After reading your article I built the budget version and went on a killer losing streak. Whatever the opposite of undefeated is, that's my record with this deck. That experience inspired me to create an extended version, and since that other dude didn't post his list, here's what I came up with:
4 Forest
3 Plains
3 Temple Garden
4 Urza's Mine
4 Urza's Power Plant
4 Urza's Tower
-------------------------------------22 Land
1 Platinum Angel
1 Stuffy Doll
3 Birds of Paradise
2 Carven Caryatid
2 Penumbra Spider
2 Sakura-Tribe Elder
2 Thallid Shell-Dweller
--------------------------- 13 Creatures
4 Ghostly Prison
3 Helix Pinnacle
3 Oblivian Ring
1 Righteos Cause
3 Faith's Fetters
2 Recumbent Bliss
1 Austere Command
1 Hallowed Burial
3 Reap and Sow
4 Sylvan Scrying
-------------------------- 25 Other Spells
I went with white instead of blue for cards like ghostly prison and faith's fetters to try to slow down the game long enough to accumulate tower counters over time since my deck lacks an infinite mana engine. I don't really miss the counters, but I do miss the card draw and I've thought about adding Harmonize. I went with the Urzatron instead of 8 post mostly because I don't have any vesuvas yet but I did have the tron. Some of the 1 of's are because that's all I have, but also because I'm still playing with the numbers and I like to see which cards are working for me. Each of the creatures works towards the goal of slowing my opponent down, the only decent attacker is Platinum Angel, but they can all block and/or accelerate mana.
I've had fun with the deck, and I also managed to win a few games. As I said before I really enjoy alternate win conditions, so it's a blast to win by accumulating 100 counters.
So please, spg, (or anyone else interested) take a look and maybe take it for a spin. I'd like to hear your feedback. Anything you think I missed? Would it be worth it to shell out for the Vesuvas? A playset is under 10 bucks, which is doable, and it would give more access to colored mana which can be a problem on occasion. Maybe there's a downside I'm not seeing though, plus in my experience I either can successfully stall the game and fill up the helix or I get swarmed or have key permanents destroyed and lose before I can stabilize. I have only had one game so far where I lost with more than 70 counters in which case maybe faster mana would have won it for me.
Thanks again and I look forward to seeing what you've got for us next week.
It's funny, cuz you come off all condescending, but calling plague wind a board sweeper is wrong in so many ways... since it doesn't kill your men. Do I like the card? No, but this is pretty obviously a casual oriented video. Let it be.
p1p1: I think you did underestimate the Ranger of Eos. As iceage4life already mentioned it can and should you commit more to Naya. This card can turn games around. Think about it: it doesn't matter if you play it in late or early game (alltough in early game it's much stronger), but even in late game you pick out the low-mana creatures out of your deck, what not only may give you 2 times a 3/3 creature (Nactals in Naya) but also increases the chances of drawing a fatty or missing mana. But it's a tough decision, with all the unearth creatures in the set, magma spray is always an good choice.
p2p4: Bad choice in my opinion. You already have plenty of mana fixing. Alltough it's still important it shouldn't have priority. Scourge Devil is an amazing card that can turn the games around and thanks to it's unearth ability no-one actually likes to kill this one. You already did let him go in p1p3, what may be OK, but here for me the much better choice.
p3p12: Since you are missing fatties, I would had taken the Rockcaster Platoon here. It's right that he is expensive but it's the better choice than to hate-pick the goblet.
To the deck building:
I again ag ree with iceage4life, this deck didn't seem so strong to me. You had a lot of low-budget creatures, but nothing to get rith of them. There was no devour-creature around what's kind of bad. Excommunicate is a very underestimated card. You did not play this card, what's a big mistake. Give the card a try and you will start to love it! I didn't play it for a long time, but when i got raped several times due to this card I started to understand it's true power. Over the last couple of drafts it saved me several time. No matter if it did bounce the last blocker for the final attack or the big-token-fatty or if I was mana-short and it did just buy me time.Remember: if you play this on turn 3 on a wolly, your opponent loses his turn what gives you the time draw for a real solution!
I can't find the first extended pdc deck analysis. Would you be so kind as to link it?
I really like how you have a video to help players understand.
HOWEVER
This deck is good for the goblin obsessed player, If you want to win matchs (even in the casual room) this deck isnt for you.
This is wrong in so many ways. NOTE TO NEW PLAYERS: Playing plague wind in a 20 land deck is incredibly stupid.So is playing a board sweeper with goblins. Plunder is one of the worst cards in standard.
Great discussion.
1) Loyalty program from WOTC would be great.
2) Loyalty program or not, peeps who bully and harass others will still see being MTGO as being about 'dominating' others.
3) The community on MTGO is not large enough to dismiss new users as being irrelevant, or okay to dismiss through trash talk.
4) We each have a responsibility to extend respect to our peers.
5) Counterspells and LD represent a cheap way of buying a place at a 2hg table. As a new player you can influence the outcome, without spending the tix. Like all parts of magic the absence of change makes something dull, but we aren't 'helping' peeps deck build by trash talking them, or by disconnecting from their game if they play a card we don't like.
Huma
There needs to bea real commitment to this. It is fairly easy to get into a flame war, and point out a stupid play, or mistake, or card you don't like. BUT your opponent has a right to play whatever the description said they could.
Loyalty rewards from WOTC would be good. (Please) But as the saying goes if you think every is a nail, you will still use your hammer. Players need to make a choice to help newer players, or players who don't have access to the same card pool. Counters can be a cheap way of buying a place at a table where your contribution is meaninful. (Annoying to some, but meaningful). LD is the same. Can be cheap, does matter to the game. Can matter more than the $ spell if the $ spell can't be cast.
The 'we are the only' group 'i am am the only person' who 'gets magic' as it is meant to be played, attitude. Has only one future - and it will exclude players. The best environment will include more players, and to include more players we have lto make a choice to make them feel included.
Forgive the noob for trashtalking your expert ass - he doesn't know you spend 18 hours a day online, and haven't lost a game since 2001. The biggest problem I see, however, is players who should know better. I am guilty as any, at times, at stating the painful obvious.
Lastly, text is not a very robust communication medium. Sarcasm VERY RARELY translates as intended. Misunderstandings are many. Apologise if you said something that has been misunderstood, and try not to offend.
MTGO is such a fun game, and MOST of the players are brilliant, engaging, fun, interesting, good humoured people. Lets not suck the fun out of it by letting the minority turn it in to "Lord of the Flies".
Huma
Because it specifies they are still wolves, the +1/+1 it also grants is in effect as well, thus 5/2. In terms of humans, I see nothing wrong with the flavour of taking the human-werewolf-wolf line from the other side.
shouldnt the werewolf guy make humans into wolfs at 4/1???
Well now we have seen the event come and go and guess what MGA was out in force but what 1 deck took home both 1st and 2nd???
Gobostorm!
So what will we need to bring next week??
I enjoyed the article, and have noticed a deteriation of sportsmanship and manners in MTGO. It is kind of sad, but that can also be said of our society in general. It is easy to hide behind a computer screen. I'm just a johnny, that loves playing and building decks, trying to use cards that are not normally seen. I play only in the casual room, and have never entered an event. I have played thousands of duels and every time I see sniping between folks as to what is causal and what should be tourney. I have no answers but it is very frustrating to observe. I get killed by turn 3-4 everytime I run into a tourney deck, and I will win most of the time against the newbies, who probably think my deck is way to tough, just because of the their lack of experience.
Clearly the world is becoming more tech savay, as we all spend more time on the pc that than we should. So I think MTGO should lean to meet that future world wide potential. Just a couple of off the cuff ideas that might help MTGO grow.
Take the time limit off redemtions. People might just keep playing with them on MTGO if the did not have to rush to redeem them.
Create an additional reward system for online play. Amount of tourneys entered. Amount of duels completed. The largest number of completed duels against different opponents. Tie the reward system to what you want.....more play.
Sell complete sets of MTGO cards in edition to the starter decks and boosters. I see lots of complaints about have difficult it is to get the really strong rares even with buying 50 booster packs or whatever.
Lower the price a bit. If 30-50% of the sales are already from MTGO as widely reported, it seems the world is sending a clear signal that MTGO is preferred to face to face meetings in hobby stores. The whole world is driven by supply and demand. Lower the price slowly incrementally, and the demand would probably grow. In time we may get to have MTGO tourneys face to face with our laptops on MTGO in a hobby store. No cards to spill drinks on. The don't get wrinkled, marked etc.
Good luck to all, and I hope the game continues to grow.
agree with the panorama there and you shoul´ve played 17 lands at least.
Argh! I look at it now and its so obvious!
I should have looked at Tolsmir while I was doing it up.
Must do better...
Congrats to the winners
Patron of the Moon is not a moonfolk, so that doesn't really matter. Also, annoyed at:
"I never understood why it gives Wolves flash, unless you were going for the "suddenly a werewolf appears" surprise value. Still, that is the providence of blue mostly."
Flash is as much a green ability as it is a blue ability. Before Lorwyn block, there were more green creatures with flash than blue ones.
I made the same mistake.
I happened upon Faerie Squadron while browsing some card database one day and thought, "Oh my god! Why have I been settling for Thought Nibbler all this time?" It was a couple of hours before I realized my error.
Yeah. It took me a while to really piece together the problems. It was Javasci's comments in the town hall meeting that really cast it into my focus, though. The casual and cutthroat player gets nothing from WotC currently (in the means of payback for playing), only the competitive players get promo cards and opportunities for cool things. The competitive players *should* be the main focus of prize support, but that has been stolen and given to casual players. And the cut-throat (non-competitive, not 'just casual') players get diddly squat and are getting sick of all the love towards Casual and Competitive players.
And it's starting to come to a head.
I don't know what's to be done besides treat everyone I play against with respect and ask my fellow players to do the same.
Thank you for the kind words! I do have the data for each card each week, so it seems doable that I can trend hot cards over a few weeks at a time. I'll look into it and hopefully have some charts like those next week!
RDW must find the martyrs. And IIRC it does not have card draw or tutors.
The usual builds of MUTC are too slow to beat MGA. It has been tested and it's not winning. Of course the deck can evolve to adapt to the metagame, but the analysis focuses on the current builds.
MUC is not part of the Extended metagame. If it gets played, it will be included in the analysis.
Regarding the ninjutsu bug that I mentioned in the article, it has been fixed by WotC with the latest patch. Ninja cards were allowed last XPDC.