I suck at Magic, so I think these are really ideas (opinions may vary among better players). 3-2-1 Swiss would have me drafting a lot more frequently, I usually just get blown out in one round of 4-3-2-2, and it's a very steep curve to climb at $14/match.
hey all! I'm mitchy, the designer/programmer/host of PureMTGO. I'm doing alot of work to get PureMTGO back up to speed and running perfectly. Tomorrow we're getting a new dedicated web server and the hosting company has their own datacenter so downtime will be reduced by ALOT.
Thanks for everyone for their patience! The downtime tomorrow should only last a few hours, or however long it takes for the DNS to refresh to the new IP.
From what I understand we are going to be down all day tomorrow, I will have an update on the site when we relaunch on Friday, and I will not be making updates over the weekend, I'll be out of town for Grand Prix: Indy, and away from computers.
Lotus Petal aside, I would have liked to have seen a little about other PDC artifact mana: RGD signets and Prismatic Lens. I don't follow PDC closely but I understand they're not used much and I'm curious why.
I cannot play in premier events without IDs, its just too big of a block of time. I played these events religiously in v2. If the system continues as is though it will be rare that I can play.
I'm onboard with 2man and 4 man queues. My main concern there is that the 8 man queues might not fire, however, if thats the case then its probably because people like 2 and 4 man queues better. So screw the minority.
321 Swiss. I don't like it. I don't believe that a player should be rewarded for going 1-2. Winning a pack for losing more than you won just doesn't feel right. Secondly, I hate the reverse inflation that we have seen in the MTGO world. It sucks. Winning a Premier event used to mean 100's of packs. I can't remember if drafting has ever been more than 8-4. But i'll tell you this, now that 4-3-22 exists, I never play 8-4 because I can't win. Its basic pot odds. The best of the best play 8-4 because they are the only people where the payout structure makes it worth it. For average drafters like me that have to pray on the bad drafters on the 4-3-22 queue to win, we get screwed. Either make the 8-4 queue payout dramatically better so that you are approriately rewarded for beating the best magic players in the world OR add the pack back in to the 4322 queue.
Very nice article! I do have to admit that I am one of those guys who max out Expanse and bouncelands with some freqency My rationale is that I would rather be a turn behind tempo-wise than mana or color screwed but I see where you are coming from
As for Lotus Petal, I agree that it only plays in Affinity and Storm Combo (and maybe as a 1-of in Trinket Mage decks, though I'm not certain). However, I don't think its impact in those decks, especially in Storm, can be understated. Between Manamorphose and the coming Lotus Petal, Storm Combo may be able to call itself a tier-1 Classic PDC option very soon.
I have been critical of you at times in the past, so I owe it to you to give you a fair shake when you write something truly excellent and valuable to the PDC community. This article falls squarely into that latter category; it's fantastic, and I have no real quibbles with it anywhere. You even came around on Shimmering Grotto for small splashes in control decks! I am really impressed top-to-bottom. Bravo!
It's hammy's tables. Try as I might to get them to fit there, but there is just so much information in them that if I make them any smaller, then well, the information within them shrink :(
With regards to Lotus Petal; only two decks will reap the full rewards of this card: Storm combo and Affinity. They are the ones best set to use this card by swapping out cards less central to their mission (for example, I could see taking Welding Jar out of Affinity to gain the extra two turns a Lotus Petal would provide).
Next up, we have your one color aggro decks and Freed Combo. Freed might just run this card to speed up their kill, and on the other hand may not be able to cut anything to make this card work, since they have to his at least 4 mana to go off. One color aggro is really the only deck, in my mind, that can sacrifice the late game benefits of land for that early burst of power. Stompy and RDW/TDR could probably run the Petal's without much fear, whereas the two color decks tend to want more mana in the mid and late game, where drawing a petal could be hazardous to one's health.
In other words, Petal will see play, but most likely will not be format warping, since the other best mana spell ever, Dark Ritual, sees hardly any play.
You forgot to mention a pretty decent card, especially for MP: Cauldron of Souls
The ability to recur in a format filled with Wrath effects is powerful, and the fact that Cauldron is active as soon as it hits play is a big bonus. I've already seen it used to advantage in several games.
Additionally, I think you're undervaluing Wort. Conspire is a powerful mechanic, especially considering the big spells played in EDH.
From the article, and where I think some of your reservations stem from:
the proposed setup would be that each player provides two tickets, plays one match, and the winner gets a booster.
So it wouldn't be a 6 tix for three boosters setup, it's a much lower buy in for a much shorter experience. Six tix for 20 minutes is steep. Two tickets is a paltry sum for most constructed players, hence the small buy in, small reward. Bigger rewards take bigger buy ins and more people (con8's, then PE's).
Harrier is way better than greatheart, and mothdust changeling should have been picked over equipment that you dont need.The fact that you passed removal for mediocre creatures was astonishing too. Overall i give it a c-, though you were on the right colors/tribe for a b+/a- deck.from what you ended up with i think wand and hillcomber giant should have been out of deck and ameboid changeling and mosquito guard in deck. Oh and always take a harbinger if you have bombs to pull up with it , espescially a trio that can then champion the harbinger
Well half the reasons you mention are about "testing." I think they would be awful for testing. First off, you play against one random person. Their playskill and deck are random. How does this help you test? Other issue at 6 tix with 3 pack payout seems like they would be super easy to rig for profit if packs were over 4 tix (say Shadowmoor during release.)
I don't see how this helps testing. I guess it would sometimes be nice if you had 45 minutes to spend but not 2-3 hours.
2MQ seem to me like ante games, I'll play you one match for all the marbles. I'd maybe be intrested in real ante matches, but don't think WOTC will ever allow it. 6 tix to play a random dude for 3 packs doesn't float my boat.
To be honest, I think the world of MTGO is changing. I think what used to be the norm (plugging away for hours in an event) is no longer as easily accepted. People want quick events with a fast return on their time and money when it comes to certain events. I think the 2 man queue or 4 man queue helps a lot. I know that as I've gotten older I've had less and less time to set aside for *anything* and even three hours is getting tough to swing in the summer months.
Of course I'm not advocating getting rid of any other queues to make way for this one. I think that an option for quick turn around play would be beneficial as another addition to the MTGO experience.
bring on the two man que that would rock some days i just dont have the time to do an 8 man and for formats with out alot people be nice to test a deck say singleton, classic, EDH?, and what ever it may be this may help increase support for those formats.
So are we migrated? There was some downtime earlier today, but I don't know if that was just downtime or migration...
Heh, and this post is brought to you by the most evilist security code on the site... 666 to post this. ZONO!
I talked to Mitch he said it should not be down long at all today.
I suck at Magic, so I think these are really ideas (opinions may vary among better players). 3-2-1 Swiss would have me drafting a lot more frequently, I usually just get blown out in one round of 4-3-2-2, and it's a very steep curve to climb at $14/match.
hey all!
I'm mitchy, the designer/programmer/host of PureMTGO. I'm doing alot of work to get PureMTGO back up to speed and running perfectly. Tomorrow we're getting a new dedicated web server and the hosting company has their own datacenter so downtime will be reduced by ALOT.
Thanks for everyone for their patience! The downtime tomorrow should only last a few hours, or however long it takes for the DNS to refresh to the new IP.
From what I understand we are going to be down all day tomorrow, I will have an update on the site when we relaunch on Friday, and I will not be making updates over the weekend, I'll be out of town for Grand Prix: Indy, and away from computers.
Good to hear! Any ETA on how long things will be 'in transit', or should it be seemless?
Anything folks can do to help out along the way?
Lotus Petal aside, I would have liked to have seen a little about other PDC artifact mana: RGD signets and Prismatic Lens. I don't follow PDC closely but I understand they're not used much and I'm curious why.
I cannot play in premier events without IDs, its just too big of a block of time. I played these events religiously in v2. If the system continues as is though it will be rare that I can play.
I'm onboard with 2man and 4 man queues. My main concern there is that the 8 man queues might not fire, however, if thats the case then its probably because people like 2 and 4 man queues better. So screw the minority.
321 Swiss. I don't like it. I don't believe that a player should be rewarded for going 1-2. Winning a pack for losing more than you won just doesn't feel right. Secondly, I hate the reverse inflation that we have seen in the MTGO world. It sucks. Winning a Premier event used to mean 100's of packs. I can't remember if drafting has ever been more than 8-4. But i'll tell you this, now that 4-3-22 exists, I never play 8-4 because I can't win. Its basic pot odds. The best of the best play 8-4 because they are the only people where the payout structure makes it worth it. For average drafters like me that have to pray on the bad drafters on the 4-3-22 queue to win, we get screwed. Either make the 8-4 queue payout dramatically better so that you are approriately rewarded for beating the best magic players in the world OR add the pack back in to the 4322 queue.
ive gotten alot of adware from poxnora and when i run nortan virus protection the adware comes up as a threat
i did get virus but im not sure if it was poxnora
Very nice article! I do have to admit that I am one of those guys who max out Expanse and bouncelands with some freqency My rationale is that I would rather be a turn behind tempo-wise than mana or color screwed but I see where you are coming from
Yeah I could see Cauldron working out, don't like it much in limited but seems nice in EDH. As far as Wort:
Rating: A-
Pros: Powerful, seems fun
Unless she is one of the best generals ever I don't think I'm underrating her.
Great piece Spike! You second best article so far (I consider the one about beating MUC slightly better). Keep it up!
As for Lotus Petal, I agree that it only plays in Affinity and Storm Combo (and maybe as a 1-of in Trinket Mage decks, though I'm not certain). However, I don't think its impact in those decks, especially in Storm, can be understated. Between Manamorphose and the coming Lotus Petal, Storm Combo may be able to call itself a tier-1 Classic PDC option very soon.
Spikeboym,
I have been critical of you at times in the past, so I owe it to you to give you a fair shake when you write something truly excellent and valuable to the PDC community. This article falls squarely into that latter category; it's fantastic, and I have no real quibbles with it anywhere. You even came around on Shimmering Grotto for small splashes in control decks! I am really impressed top-to-bottom. Bravo!
It's hammy's tables. Try as I might to get them to fit there, but there is just so much information in them that if I make them any smaller, then well, the information within them shrink :(
With regards to Lotus Petal; only two decks will reap the full rewards of this card: Storm combo and Affinity. They are the ones best set to use this card by swapping out cards less central to their mission (for example, I could see taking Welding Jar out of Affinity to gain the extra two turns a Lotus Petal would provide).
Next up, we have your one color aggro decks and Freed Combo. Freed might just run this card to speed up their kill, and on the other hand may not be able to cut anything to make this card work, since they have to his at least 4 mana to go off. One color aggro is really the only deck, in my mind, that can sacrifice the late game benefits of land for that early burst of power. Stompy and RDW/TDR could probably run the Petal's without much fear, whereas the two color decks tend to want more mana in the mid and late game, where drawing a petal could be hazardous to one's health.
In other words, Petal will see play, but most likely will not be format warping, since the other best mana spell ever, Dark Ritual, sees hardly any play.
-Alex
You forgot to mention a pretty decent card, especially for MP: Cauldron of Souls
The ability to recur in a format filled with Wrath effects is powerful, and the fact that Cauldron is active as soon as it hits play is a big bonus.
I've already seen it used to advantage in several games.
Additionally, I think you're undervaluing Wort. Conspire is a powerful mechanic, especially considering the big spells played in EDH.
You managed to fit the article into a usable width, Hamtastic take note.
From the article, and where I think some of your reservations stem from:
the proposed setup would be that each player provides two tickets, plays one match, and the winner gets a booster.
So it wouldn't be a 6 tix for three boosters setup, it's a much lower buy in for a much shorter experience. Six tix for 20 minutes is steep. Two tickets is a paltry sum for most constructed players, hence the small buy in, small reward. Bigger rewards take bigger buy ins and more people (con8's, then PE's).
And Lotus Petal is unleashed on PDC? It is a common...
Harrier is way better than greatheart, and mothdust changeling should have been picked over equipment that you dont need.The fact that you passed removal for mediocre creatures was astonishing too. Overall i give it a c-, though you were on the right colors/tribe for a b+/a- deck.from what you ended up with i think wand and hillcomber giant should have been out of deck and ameboid changeling and mosquito guard in deck. Oh and always take a harbinger if you have bombs to pull up with it , espescially a trio that can then champion the harbinger
Well half the reasons you mention are about "testing." I think they would be awful for testing. First off, you play against one random person. Their playskill and deck are random. How does this help you test? Other issue at 6 tix with 3 pack payout seems like they would be super easy to rig for profit if packs were over 4 tix (say Shadowmoor during release.)
I don't see how this helps testing. I guess it would sometimes be nice if you had 45 minutes to spend but not 2-3 hours.
2MQ seem to me like ante games, I'll play you one match for all the marbles. I'd maybe be intrested in real ante matches, but don't think WOTC will ever allow it. 6 tix to play a random dude for 3 packs doesn't float my boat.
To be honest, I think the world of MTGO is changing. I think what used to be the norm (plugging away for hours in an event) is no longer as easily accepted. People want quick events with a fast return on their time and money when it comes to certain events. I think the 2 man queue or 4 man queue helps a lot. I know that as I've gotten older I've had less and less time to set aside for *anything* and even three hours is getting tough to swing in the summer months.
Of course I'm not advocating getting rid of any other queues to make way for this one. I think that an option for quick turn around play would be beneficial as another addition to the MTGO experience.
bring on the two man que that would rock some days i just dont have the time to do an 8 man and for formats with out alot people be nice to test a deck say singleton, classic, EDH?, and what ever it may be this may help increase support for those formats.