I like the 2man idea. I have also thought a 4 man constructed would be great as well. The time it takes to complete drafts, PE's and 8-mans is a huge issue for me. I would spend more money on this game from a competitive standpoint if it wasn't for the huge time comittment.
What does having a paper mirror have anything to do with the validity of an idea?
Does anything get hurt having a 2 Man Queue?
Does anything get better having a 2 Man Queue?
Does having a 2 Man Queue make it easier/harder to test a deck?
Does having a 2 man queue make it faster/slower to test a deck?
I can't think of anyone who gets hurt by having a 2 man queue, really. It's not a replacement for a PE. And it's certainly not a replacement for the con8's, for that matter. They payout completely differently. For six tix you can win three packs in the 2MQ's, whereas for that same six tix in an 8MQ you win 5 packs if you go 3-0. The tradeoff is the faster turnaround for less overall prizes. In a hurry but want to see if your deck tweaks are working? Hop in the small queue. Got a couple hours to burn? Hop in the 8MQ.
I guess I'm just curious to your reasons as to why it's 'stupid'. The only one you listed is that it's not mimicked in Paper, which doesn't really seem like that much of a problem now-a-days.
Cube drafting is the format I want! Stack would also be nice. I have no intrest in playing 3-2-1 swiss but seems like it would be good to add to the client.
2 man queues on the other hand seem really, really stupid. They have NO parallel in paper magic and just seem silly.
Draft to me is all about playing, and nothing to do with prizes. Right now I wouldn't ever pay to draft on MTGO (I got in many drafts during free beta of course). I FNM magic draft from time to time when the format is swiss, and would do the same in MTGO. Even better for me would be swiss draft with no entry cost, just bring 3 boosters, and no prize payout, or maybe premium card prizes. In essence that's what I get at FNM (at FNM the boosters are also subsidised below retail price).
Similarly I'd love to be able to play no tix, rated, constructed matches. Right now there's nothing for me between casual and full PE.
Let's see some love for competitive budget and time challenged players.
What? You don't like the Mr Happy Face vs Mr. Frowny Face? *sob* and I spent HOURS working on getting them 'just right'...
... Okay, maybe I didn't, but, c'mon how can you not look at them and chuckle? It's impossible I say!
There are dozens and dozens of formats that I'd love to see on MTGO. However I was mostly aiming at ones that can be financially justified (one of the biggest needs for anything to be done by a company). This is why I left out formats like PDC, Reject Rare Draft and Pack Wars. There are plenty of good formats that would be awesome to have but have a very difficult sell as 'profitable' for WotC.
Something I should add is that this was wrtiten well before the Casual PE's were announced, which have a very similar payout as the 321 swiss. I think that the creation of the Casual PE's is a great sign that WotC may be okay with a Swiss Draft at somepoint as well.
First of all, the article is short fare. There are more "formats" that MTGO needs (Reject Rare draft, anyone).
But really Hammy, whatever you do for your day job, please don't switch to graphic designer! :) LOL.. Drop me a line instead and I'll get something done for you quick.
Sorry, I didn't get the TPDC metagame updated until today. I've changed it from Thresher.
I think I saw Mongrel plus Gathan Raiders, and that to me means Thresher. I did not watch closely enough at the time to determine that it was a Madness deck but not a Thresh deck. (In my defense, I was getting my face pounded in for the two games I watched most closely.)
I have been experiencing an issue where I have not been able to complete an event with out the game server saying that I was disconnected. Is thaty not a know bug. There has been a good number of posts online and when it occurs for me it happpens for multipkle people at the same time? is there a fix I don't know about or something.
I have the gut instinct that if any deck sporting clamp ever really took off in the Classic scene, it would be the death knell for clamp. I mean, you HAVE to believe that if any card is on the watch list, it's clamp.
So if you want to keep playing with this deck - don't win with it! : )
I fixed the name of the finalist. Thanks for the correction! See what I mean we I say we are a community? :)
I did not know that about the Draftling crashes or ccgdecks, though. I didn't even know that program supported all commons drafting. How did you pull that off?
I did not play the finals of MPDC, stiffdiddypinky did. But the crash did decide it :( Also, we switched from Draftling to ccgdecks.com because Draftling is still in Beta and you can feel that. It crashed on us twice....
I somehow missed that in looking at the decklist. I have gone back and corrected the article. Any chance I could get you to input that deck into Gatherling? It's the only top 4 deck that's not there, and that helps the title and archetype really stand out.
I've said goodbye to you in a few places now, but I have barely stopped thinking about you since you died, Richie. It's been great serving the community as moderator alongside you and I'll always remember your artwork, your love of the game, your friendly and giving personality, and your enthusiasm for the Rumor Mill. Wherever you are now, if you are anywhere at all, I hope it's awesome and I hope you're playing Magic and drawing. You'll be remembered as long as there's still Magic on Earth, and possibly longer.
Yeah, I went X-0 drop after Richie scooped to me in the final round of that PTQ, and I Q'd on rating. It sucks that he was never able to travel to the pro tour due to health issues. I agree with Shaun Mack's assessment of Richie as 'the best player never to have played in a pro tour'. He was a great magic player but more importantly a great person. I remember in between rounds he would always ask people if they wanted to trade and if they declined he would jokingly say "Oh I understand, you don't like trading with fat kids". He was always great times to talk to and someone you couldn't NOT root for to do well in a tournament. I will certainly not forget him, and my sympathies go out to everyone else who is coping with this loss. We all miss you Richie.
I like the 2man idea. I have also thought a 4 man constructed would be great as well. The time it takes to complete drafts, PE's and 8-mans is a huge issue for me. I would spend more money on this game from a competitive standpoint if it wasn't for the huge time comittment.
Some question for ya IA4L:
What does having a paper mirror have anything to do with the validity of an idea?
Does anything get hurt having a 2 Man Queue?
Does anything get better having a 2 Man Queue?
Does having a 2 Man Queue make it easier/harder to test a deck?
Does having a 2 man queue make it faster/slower to test a deck?
I can't think of anyone who gets hurt by having a 2 man queue, really. It's not a replacement for a PE. And it's certainly not a replacement for the con8's, for that matter. They payout completely differently. For six tix you can win three packs in the 2MQ's, whereas for that same six tix in an 8MQ you win 5 packs if you go 3-0. The tradeoff is the faster turnaround for less overall prizes. In a hurry but want to see if your deck tweaks are working? Hop in the small queue. Got a couple hours to burn? Hop in the 8MQ.
I guess I'm just curious to your reasons as to why it's 'stupid'. The only one you listed is that it's not mimicked in Paper, which doesn't really seem like that much of a problem now-a-days.
Cube drafting is the format I want! Stack would also be nice. I have no intrest in playing 3-2-1 swiss but seems like it would be good to add to the client.
2 man queues on the other hand seem really, really stupid. They have NO parallel in paper magic and just seem silly.
i would like to see 2HG PEs
Tamayto/tomahto! :D
/me bows to DL's Mad Photoshop Skillz! Thanks for those!
Draft to me is all about playing, and nothing to do with prizes. Right now I wouldn't ever pay to draft on MTGO (I got in many drafts during free beta of course). I FNM magic draft from time to time when the format is swiss, and would do the same in MTGO. Even better for me would be swiss draft with no entry cost, just bring 3 boosters, and no prize payout, or maybe premium card prizes. In essence that's what I get at FNM (at FNM the boosters are also subsidised below retail price).
Similarly I'd love to be able to play no tix, rated, constructed matches. Right now there's nothing for me between casual and full PE.
Let's see some love for competitive budget and time challenged players.
It made my eyes hurt. So I abused some of my priveledges here and skirted work for a bit and made you some nicer ones.
What? You don't like the Mr Happy Face vs Mr. Frowny Face? *sob* and I spent HOURS working on getting them 'just right'...
... Okay, maybe I didn't, but, c'mon how can you not look at them and chuckle? It's impossible I say!
There are dozens and dozens of formats that I'd love to see on MTGO. However I was mostly aiming at ones that can be financially justified (one of the biggest needs for anything to be done by a company). This is why I left out formats like PDC, Reject Rare Draft and Pack Wars. There are plenty of good formats that would be awesome to have but have a very difficult sell as 'profitable' for WotC.
Something I should add is that this was wrtiten well before the Casual PE's were announced, which have a very similar payout as the 321 swiss. I think that the creation of the Casual PE's is a great sign that WotC may be okay with a Swiss Draft at somepoint as well.
First of all, the article is short fare. There are more "formats" that MTGO needs (Reject Rare draft, anyone).
But really Hammy, whatever you do for your day job, please don't switch to graphic designer! :) LOL.. Drop me a line instead and I'll get something done for you quick.
It doesn't translate into text as well as one might think; you might want to watch out for that.
Did u get some error and have the client shut down with it recurring again when u return to the game ? I experienced that yesterday. Same problem?
Part 3 will be up soon, and will be the last part.
I have a tribal classic decxk that I will discuss in depth, and then I will briefly cover standard PDC, Extendede, and EDH.
I will also try and address any comments that are posted here.
Yup I play Fae, and Colossus is my worst enemy...
Sorry, I didn't get the TPDC metagame updated until today. I've changed it from Thresher.
I think I saw Mongrel plus Gathan Raiders, and that to me means Thresher. I did not watch closely enough at the time to determine that it was a Madness deck but not a Thresh deck. (In my defense, I was getting my face pounded in for the two games I watched most closely.)
Classic has a number of rounds dependant on the number of entrants (either 4 or 5) and a top 4 or top 8, also determined by number of participants.
I have been experiencing an issue where I have not been able to complete an event with out the game server saying that I was disconnected. Is thaty not a know bug. There has been a good number of posts online and when it occurs for me it happpens for multipkle people at the same time? is there a fix I don't know about or something.
Draftling stopped responding twice, figures since it is in beta. We just went to ccgdecks.com and last picked rares. Last pick Foil Garruk anyone?
I have the gut instinct that if any deck sporting clamp ever really took off in the Classic scene, it would be the death knell for clamp. I mean, you HAVE to believe that if any card is on the watch list, it's clamp.
So if you want to keep playing with this deck - don't win with it! : )
I freakin love the way you format your articles and recap your games. You are the man! Good article, and way to show the budgeteers options!
I fixed the name of the finalist. Thanks for the correction! See what I mean we I say we are a community? :)
I did not know that about the Draftling crashes or ccgdecks, though. I didn't even know that program supported all commons drafting. How did you pull that off?
I did not play the finals of MPDC, stiffdiddypinky did. But the crash did decide it :( Also, we switched from Draftling to ccgdecks.com because Draftling is still in Beta and you can feel that. It crashed on us twice....
Thanks for the correction walkderdog!
I somehow missed that in looking at the decklist. I have gone back and corrected the article. Any chance I could get you to input that deck into Gatherling? It's the only top 4 deck that's not there, and that helps the title and archetype really stand out.
I've said goodbye to you in a few places now, but I have barely stopped thinking about you since you died, Richie. It's been great serving the community as moderator alongside you and I'll always remember your artwork, your love of the game, your friendly and giving personality, and your enthusiasm for the Rumor Mill. Wherever you are now, if you are anywhere at all, I hope it's awesome and I hope you're playing Magic and drawing. You'll be remembered as long as there's still Magic on Earth, and possibly longer.
rancored_elf
Daron Rutter
I know you called it Thresher cuz the meta report called it that, but it was RG Beatz (it had no Thresh-related stuff MD).
Yeah, I went X-0 drop after Richie scooped to me in the final round of that PTQ, and I Q'd on rating. It sucks that he was never able to travel to the pro tour due to health issues. I agree with Shaun Mack's assessment of Richie as 'the best player never to have played in a pro tour'. He was a great magic player but more importantly a great person. I remember in between rounds he would always ask people if they wanted to trade and if they declined he would jokingly say "Oh I understand, you don't like trading with fat kids". He was always great times to talk to and someone you couldn't NOT root for to do well in a tournament. I will certainly not forget him, and my sympathies go out to everyone else who is coping with this loss. We all miss you Richie.
Craig