Good article overall, but there are still some better budget uncommons that could replace a few of these as I said on MODO. As you stated though, you're only listing uncommons that aren't in Tenth Edition. Look forward to your next article though.
Mono Black, Mono White, or Mono Green will give you a great deck.
Mono Black has perhaps the most aggressive cards in the set. Erg Raiders, pump knights, Black Knight, Derelor, and removal. Black/Red is pretty good too as you get Bolt, and possibly the incredibly swingy Midnight Covenant to open the alpha strike.
Mono white is alright but not as aggro as mono black. Although you do get exiles, which, well, yeah... it's rediculous. Pick the flyers, the removal, and the banding for fun with white.
The only acceleration is in green, so picking up a couple of fyndhorns and a few wyluli's will make your shambling striders redonkulous.
I'd possibly put dragon engine at #1 though as it can kill many things and is one of the few uses for late game mana in the format.
Onulet is nothing to pass up too much either. 2/2 for 3 in any color + life boost is not bad in this set.
However, prepare yourself for bizarre picks in the format and strange game states. It's a weird format for sure...
I agree with Khiraeq's assessment of commune with Nature... a good card... also, I noticed Lava Axe in your "junk/sideboard" pile... honestly, Lava Axe is a great card in limited. Very Splashable and 1/4 of their life gone is amazing... Lava Axe, Incinerate, and Blaze are three red cards that are all VERY playable/splashable in most decks, especially with the manafixing available to you... (not saying you had all 3, but the addition of Incinerate and Lava Axe into a deck such as the one you built probably woulnd't ahve been a bad idea... the chance to dome somebody for 25% of their life makes and breaks games consistantly.
I disagree with you about Commune with Nature. If you go down 5 cards without hitting a creature in sealed, did you really want those 5 cards? Most of the time the answer is "no", since you probably just moved a land clump to the bottom of your deck. Sure, there are occassions when you'll kick yourself for putting your tidings or terror at the bottom of your library when you really needed it, but that's your fault for searching for creatures when you really needed something else. Normally what will happen is you'll get to pick the best of a pair of creatures at the top of your deck.
The ridiculous caricatures you use are way too hoary to be funny. Hell, I didn't know this was intended to be comedy until you said something about what "good comedy does."
I just read this myself and I want to apologize for the grammar, I have been sick lately and thats just how it came out. Nonetheless I think anyone wanting to get better at 10th drafts can learn something from it.
I agree with gameben about the sporesower and it's possible you'd have seen better green pack 2 if you hadn't passed it. Also the green in future sight wasn't terrible in fact it looked quite solid. I like hivestone over think twice in pack 1 knowing that foresee and some other draw gets passed through in fs. Hivestone absolutely kills an oppononent coming off the board against slivers. It's really an undervalued card in limited. Most people wouldn't run it main deck but you only need a couple slivers to make it worth it. namely the 2 headed you saw in the next pack. I also was suprised you passed the flowstone. Overall blue red is fun. It's fun for me to see how someone else drafts so I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate you sharing as I'm sure many others do. good luck in future drafts.
I disagree with your first pick completely as Sporesower is easily one of the best uncommons you can get first pack due to the power of the saproling decks with the addition of Sproutswarm. The again from looks of it you got lucky and didn't get passed much green. I am not doubting that Empty the Warrens has great power, it's just harder to ignite then it used to be. Other than that there was a couple a of mispicks, at in my opinion. Pack 21, you took Piracy Charm. Again a decent card that can be valued as removal or a trick in the blue mirrors, but the Frenetic Sliver is a decent sliver to play by itself and I even think the Vieling Oddity might have been might have been better. The other misclick was pack 33, I'm not sure if you have been drafting much(judging by this pick), but Flowstone Embrace should have been the pick as it is removal and normally the myr would wheel as it goes very late. Thats all I saw that was maybe a mistake other than the Flagstones, but that understandable for a new account. All in all, great job...sorry the deck didn't pan out.
totally agree with the anonimous before me... and after that, it was so long and boring... Sad about it cause i've found your latter article very amusing and interesting.
i didn't like the article.. mostly because it wasn't serious and mostly offensive and not funny.. there is a fine line between "maddox" offensive funny and just being offensive.. i thought I was going into something that would actually have some kind of thought and intellegence behind it.. but instead it was some wonky grid layout with funky colors and just really bad stereotyping and had absolutely no inherent value behind it.. I guess I just missed the bus..
in terms of MED none of the cards are released yet so really, no one knows how its going to affect it.. I would have liked it better with a straight man (like someone actually writing a "real" article) and then the characters showing up talking about top 10.. the best way i can describe this is look at how MaRo writes an intereview article (like the one for vampire week comes to mind)
Rotwurm is far to expensive for a deck that runs 22 land. And as far as reach goes, flipping over Infernal Caretaker to reuse every dead Zombie seems to provide enough of a reach for me, especially when combined with Grim Harvest. As I said in the article, it is not usually a Red Deck but can take the role in a given metagame.
Regarding Drooling Ogres, I would never never run them, but rather bide my time. There are those rare moments where Artifact decks are not prevalent in the meta and then the upside of having a 3/3 is greater than the chance of losing one of them (against MUC, sometimes you just remove it since you have a mass of removal). Again, this is more about targeting specific metagames with a deck than trying to attack all decks at once- a slow development in PDC.
For the record, I don't approve of Keldon Marauders or Vulshok Sorcerer in Burn Range, although it's true that versions of the deck with those cards in them have still been doing quite well.
In my experience, Top Deck Red's weakness was a heavy reliance on card interactions. The original version ran cards like Goblin Cohort or Ember Beast that could be more or less shut down if you could deal with the other cards around them. This updated version seems to address that problem a bit.
I think that calling Xombies! a Red Deck is a stretch, and not just because of the colors. In order to be the Red Deck, you have to have a lot of reach, and I think 4 Gempalm Polluters doesn't quite cut it. But have you considered a couple of Golgari Rotwurms in that deck? It's an efficient creature that's in your colors, has the Zombie type, and provides some reach.
Agreed that Bonesplitter, or any equipment, is too often a dead card. As for the Drooling Ogre angle, I wouldn't ever maindeck Drooling Ogre in this format. Affinity, MUC, and any cog deck will steal it from you more times than you can steal it back.
the best time to buy cards is the window between 2 weeks before the release and then imediately after the new "standard" gets established.. i don't think the duals will dip much.. they are still played in extended, but this article did bring to my attention that I definately need to bulk up my Rav block collection before they rotate.. absolutely no mention of signets and bouncelands (IMO the more important cards for budget deck building.. but i realize you were just talking about green)..
And to echo Cashew's statements. Generally it's during the huge hype of the new set/block/etc that the about to rotate cards are at their lowest. So keep an eye out for the cards right before the Lorwyn full spoiler is out and buy what you feel is reasonable for your decks. :)
The lands will hold a decent amount of their value. For sure. They will dip initially when standard players are looking to off load their cards. But they will climb back from that initial dip once players realize that they are not going to be sold until they're reprinted eventually, and they're the best lands on MTGO right now (well, maybe not as good as the fetches... tough call...)
I've found the best time to buy is just before they leave standard, when the next set looms. Generally Standard/Drafters sell off en masse as prices drop. For instance, I remember Jitte dropping from 12 tix to as low as 2 tix in a single day about 3 weeks before Time Spiral hit. I imagine the same will happen for many cards in Ravinca.
Think the article is maybe a month premature since Lorwynn is still realtively far off. Although there may be an early barnblitz sale on Ravincia as people try to raise tix for Master's Edition next week.
Particurally from the ones you mentioned, these I imagine drastically dropping in price: Giant Solifuge, Kudzu, Skyswallower, Slum, Shaman. Voidslime, Leyline, Chord
Birds, Watchwolf, Life from the Loam, Hulk should maintain value - even with Hulk getting restricted.
Hard to predict Heiarch, but I think it's body and cost are solid enough to maintain it for awhile to come in Extended much like Baloth's pricing.
What I'm most interested in and unsure how to predict will be the pricing on the lands. Will they suffer an initial price drop or will they maintain value such as the Fetchlands.
Liked the article, two questions. First as this is an article about Magic Online shouldn't Classic be mentioned in regards to Flash? Second I don't think now is the best time to buy I think the best time to buy is after these cards leave standard.
Good article overall, but there are still some better budget uncommons that could replace a few of these as I said on MODO. As you stated though, you're only listing uncommons that aren't in Tenth Edition. Look forward to your next article though.
Mono Black, Mono White, or Mono Green will give you a great deck.
Mono Black has perhaps the most aggressive cards in the set. Erg Raiders, pump knights, Black Knight, Derelor, and removal. Black/Red is pretty good too as you get Bolt, and possibly the incredibly swingy Midnight Covenant to open the alpha strike.
Mono white is alright but not as aggro as mono black. Although you do get exiles, which, well, yeah... it's rediculous. Pick the flyers, the removal, and the banding for fun with white.
The only acceleration is in green, so picking up a couple of fyndhorns and a few wyluli's will make your shambling striders redonkulous.
I'd possibly put dragon engine at #1 though as it can kill many things and is one of the few uses for late game mana in the format.
Onulet is nothing to pass up too much either. 2/2 for 3 in any color + life boost is not bad in this set.
However, prepare yourself for bizarre picks in the format and strange game states. It's a weird format for sure...
Very useful information; thanks for writing it.
Any thoughts on which color combinations are the best?
I think you needed an intro.
And why in god's name are you only playing 16 lands?
And why in god's name are you only playing 16 lands?
I agree with Khiraeq's assessment of commune with Nature... a good card... also, I noticed Lava Axe in your "junk/sideboard" pile... honestly, Lava Axe is a great card in limited. Very Splashable and 1/4 of their life gone is amazing... Lava Axe, Incinerate, and Blaze are three red cards that are all VERY playable/splashable in most decks, especially with the manafixing available to you... (not saying you had all 3, but the addition of Incinerate and Lava Axe into a deck such as the one you built probably woulnd't ahve been a bad idea... the chance to dome somebody for 25% of their life makes and breaks games consistantly.
I disagree with you about Commune with Nature. If you go down 5 cards without hitting a creature in sealed, did you really want those 5 cards? Most of the time the answer is "no", since you probably just moved a land clump to the bottom of your deck. Sure, there are occassions when you'll kick yourself for putting your tidings or terror at the bottom of your library when you really needed it, but that's your fault for searching for creatures when you really needed something else. Normally what will happen is you'll get to pick the best of a pair of creatures at the top of your deck.
Not a bomb, but very playable.
I disliked everything about this article.
The ridiculous caricatures you use are way too hoary to be funny. Hell, I didn't know this was intended to be comedy until you said something about what "good comedy does."
http://youtube.com/watch?v=X551IPFcA_8
They're interesting... But the flavor texts could use some work.
Wording isn't perfect either, but hey - I don't play anymore.
I just make cards with MTG Set Editor. What's with the font?
Isn't it supposed to be MATRIX? O_o
LOL!
I had no idea what you were talking about, or why he didn't take the Howling Mine, but I see now...
Pick 23-- wow.. you did your job on reading the table... that card is rediculous- Congrats on making OTJ... good luck getting a wish card!
I just read this myself and I want to apologize for the grammar, I have been sick lately and thats just how it came out. Nonetheless I think anyone wanting to get better at 10th drafts can learn something from it.
Hmm2,
I agree with gameben about the sporesower and it's possible you'd have seen better green pack 2 if you hadn't passed it. Also the green in future sight wasn't terrible in fact it looked quite solid. I like hivestone over think twice in pack 1 knowing that foresee and some other draw gets passed through in fs. Hivestone absolutely kills an oppononent coming off the board against slivers. It's really an undervalued card in limited. Most people wouldn't run it main deck but you only need a couple slivers to make it worth it. namely the 2 headed you saw in the next pack. I also was suprised you passed the flowstone. Overall blue red is fun. It's fun for me to see how someone else drafts so I just wanted to let you know that I appreciate you sharing as I'm sure many others do. good luck in future drafts.
Bigd
Char won't hold it's value?
I disagree with your first pick completely as Sporesower is easily one of the best uncommons you can get first pack due to the power of the saproling decks with the addition of Sproutswarm. The again from looks of it you got lucky and didn't get passed much green. I am not doubting that Empty the Warrens has great power, it's just harder to ignite then it used to be. Other than that there was a couple a of mispicks, at in my opinion. Pack 21, you took Piracy Charm. Again a decent card that can be valued as removal or a trick in the blue mirrors, but the Frenetic Sliver is a decent sliver to play by itself and I even think the Vieling Oddity might have been might have been better. The other misclick was pack 33, I'm not sure if you have been drafting much(judging by this pick), but Flowstone Embrace should have been the pick as it is removal and normally the myr would wheel as it goes very late. Thats all I saw that was maybe a mistake other than the Flagstones, but that understandable for a new account. All in all, great job...sorry the deck didn't pan out.
totally agree with the anonimous before me... and after that, it was so long and boring... Sad about it cause i've found your latter article very amusing and interesting.
Lets keep these comments a little more constructive here guys. There is a nice way to say things and there is a nice way to say things.. Nuff said.
i didn't like the article.. mostly because it wasn't serious and mostly offensive and not funny.. there is a fine line between "maddox" offensive funny and just being offensive.. i thought I was going into something that would actually have some kind of thought and intellegence behind it.. but instead it was some wonky grid layout with funky colors and just really bad stereotyping and had absolutely no inherent value behind it.. I guess I just missed the bus..
in terms of MED none of the cards are released yet so really, no one knows how its going to affect it.. I would have liked it better with a straight man (like someone actually writing a "real" article) and then the characters showing up talking about top 10.. the best way i can describe this is look at how MaRo writes an intereview article (like the one for vampire week comes to mind)
Rotwurm is far to expensive for a deck that runs 22 land. And as far as reach goes, flipping over Infernal Caretaker to reuse every dead Zombie seems to provide enough of a reach for me, especially when combined with Grim Harvest. As I said in the article, it is not usually a Red Deck but can take the role in a given metagame.
Regarding Drooling Ogres, I would never never run them, but rather bide my time. There are those rare moments where Artifact decks are not prevalent in the meta and then the upside of having a 3/3 is greater than the chance of losing one of them (against MUC, sometimes you just remove it since you have a mass of removal). Again, this is more about targeting specific metagames with a deck than trying to attack all decks at once- a slow development in PDC.
-Alex
For the record, I don't approve of Keldon Marauders or Vulshok Sorcerer in Burn Range, although it's true that versions of the deck with those cards in them have still been doing quite well.
In my experience, Top Deck Red's weakness was a heavy reliance on card interactions. The original version ran cards like Goblin Cohort or Ember Beast that could be more or less shut down if you could deal with the other cards around them. This updated version seems to address that problem a bit.
I think that calling Xombies! a Red Deck is a stretch, and not just because of the colors. In order to be the Red Deck, you have to have a lot of reach, and I think 4 Gempalm Polluters doesn't quite cut it. But have you considered a couple of Golgari Rotwurms in that deck? It's an efficient creature that's in your colors, has the Zombie type, and provides some reach.
Agreed that Bonesplitter, or any equipment, is too often a dead card. As for the Drooling Ogre angle, I wouldn't ever maindeck Drooling Ogre in this format. Affinity, MUC, and any cog deck will steal it from you more times than you can steal it back.
the best time to buy cards is the window between 2 weeks before the release and then imediately after the new "standard" gets established.. i don't think the duals will dip much.. they are still played in extended, but this article did bring to my attention that I definately need to bulk up my Rav block collection before they rotate.. absolutely no mention of signets and bouncelands (IMO the more important cards for budget deck building.. but i realize you were just talking about green)..
Nice coverage of the Green Ravnica cards.
And to echo Cashew's statements. Generally it's during the huge hype of the new set/block/etc that the about to rotate cards are at their lowest. So keep an eye out for the cards right before the Lorwyn full spoiler is out and buy what you feel is reasonable for your decks. :)
The lands will hold a decent amount of their value. For sure. They will dip initially when standard players are looking to off load their cards. But they will climb back from that initial dip once players realize that they are not going to be sold until they're reprinted eventually, and they're the best lands on MTGO right now (well, maybe not as good as the fetches... tough call...)
I've found the best time to buy is just before they leave standard, when the next set looms. Generally Standard/Drafters sell off en masse as prices drop. For instance, I remember Jitte dropping from 12 tix to as low as 2 tix in a single day about 3 weeks before Time Spiral hit. I imagine the same will happen for many cards in Ravinca.
Think the article is maybe a month premature since Lorwynn is still realtively far off. Although there may be an early barnblitz sale on Ravincia as people try to raise tix for Master's Edition next week.
Particurally from the ones you mentioned, these I imagine drastically dropping in price:
Giant Solifuge, Kudzu, Skyswallower, Slum, Shaman. Voidslime, Leyline, Chord
Birds, Watchwolf, Life from the Loam, Hulk should maintain value - even with Hulk getting restricted.
Hard to predict Heiarch, but I think it's body and cost are solid enough to maintain it for awhile to come in Extended much like Baloth's pricing.
What I'm most interested in and unsure how to predict will be the pricing on the lands. Will they suffer an initial price drop or will they maintain value such as the Fetchlands.
Liked the article, two questions. First as this is an article about Magic Online shouldn't Classic be mentioned in regards to Flash? Second I don't think now is the best time to buy I think the best time to buy is after these cards leave standard.