You shipped two durkwood baloths. I should have stopped reading but I didn't. You could have had an INSANE RG deck, although i spose you made to it the finals so *shrug*.
Fair question, Gnawph. All of these decks I have successfully piloted to multiple wins in the Casual room, with the one exception that I used Excruciator as a sub for Avatar of Woe, as I didn't own any at the time. I don't feel comfortable posting a deck I haven't built, tested, and above all had fun with.
This is a pretty sweet series. You manage to take a format that a lot of people find constricting, but find ways to make clever, original decks. Its cool to see articles that bring up different ways of looking at the format. The more tribal, the better.
Fair comment, but just because a card costs money doesn't mean you can't have fun with it if the opportunity arises. Given that, basics, snow basics and relentless rats aside, you only need 4 of a given card online, there is no reason to hold back on what you have if you have it. There will be times when I build all-common decks, others where I go for the full blinged out invasion rare-heavy decks. I appreciate more than most that money is an issue: Practically all the funds I channel into my card collection come from either this column or player-run events, frequently taking the proceeds from one article to fund the next. I have a large collection because it has been growing online for almost half a decade, and I have the ravnica duals because they're very, very useful. All of these decks are fully adaptable: feel free to substitute cheaper equivalents (Or more expensive) as you see fit.
I have a feeling Sprout Swarm will be powerful in PDC. Even with the two Echoing removal spells, it is going to find a home in token abuse decks, especially when combined with other convoke and token generation cards. Kavu Primarch is also pretty powerful, I've seen it get kicked very early in limited, should be very good in a deck designed for convoke.
Thornweald Archer is pretty good against decks that rely on fliers. It can come down early and be a bit of a headache, plus it always trades in combat, which is pretty relevant in my opinion.
Emberwilde Augur is a fine two drop that will see play in red decks due to its versatility.
Sarcomyte Myr might be good in some decks. With two mana up it is nearly always card advantage, plus it can fly.
Vedalken Aethermage can cycle for Trinket Mage, so it should be playable.
Wrap in Vigor is a great card. It nullifies damage as a mass removal effect, and hence should see play.
5 mana for 3-6 damage is indeed risky and possibly sub-par. However, it's also giving red something very dangerous in the process. "Scry 3". Scry 3 in a red deck seems strong no matter how you're looking at it. Either you get rid of land and draw another burn spell or creature while either going to the dome or removing a creature.
For me the top 4 cards constructed wise from the set are; Judge Unworthy ( I can finally investigate WX control decks.) Ghostfire (for obvious reasons) Gathan Raiders ( again obvious reasons) and Edge of Autumn ( I love any cards which do more than 1 thing reasonable and this does 2 good things very well.
Looking at the Riddle, the cards it reminds me of are the Erratic removal spells and the Scourge mana cost matters cards. Could we be approaching a critical mass of cmc-dependent burn to devise a competitive deck?
The problem with the cards you mentioned is that the decks they would want to go in tend to run low casting cost cards. Look at Riddle of Lightning- in most red decks, the most he will deal is 6 and the average will probably be three. For the same price, Barbed Lightning will deal 3 and 3. Simply put, the benefit of scry does not push these cards over the edge.
Granted, it's been a while since I've played PDC, but it seems the Judge Unworthy and possibly riddle of lightning could see some play. Removal + smoothing a draw is something that's pretty impressive in PDC land. As for the question of PDC formats there most frequent PDC formats are Classic and Standard.
Alex, you beat me to the punch. While i do think that set reviews are cop-outs, i do think that they are necessary. They are good way to make people more aware of the new cards. Some of us (myself included) live exclusivly off MTGO and to us this is new stuff. The more we know about the new cards the more we can prepare ourselves for the coming season.
I think Foresee is going to be tested and then discarded for being too expensive and a sorcery. The only deck I could see playing it is storm, and even then I don't think it's going to get the nod over Serum Visions and Slight of Hand. If MUC wants sorcery-speed card draw, I think it's going to stick with the raw power of Rush of Knowledge. Ghostflame is going to see play in Burn Aggro, but probably only in the sideboard, since it has access to cheaper and more powerful burn effects maindeck and usually only needs the flame against sideboard hate in games 2 and 3. Still, that's an effect. I do think that the Raiders and the Slick will see maindeck play in viable archetypes, though I wonder what the Slick will replace in MBC. It's not as if black is suffering from a lack of ways to kill creatures, and six mana to kill a weenie is a significant tempo loss. Still - "Kill that thing; draw a card" is a powerful enough effect that I think we'll see it played.
What three cards do you think will have the impact? I count four (Raiders, Ghostflame, Foresee, and Slick) that will have a huge impact and many others that will have a less pronounced impact.
I disagree with your analysis of FS on the impact of classic pauper. While it will have an immediate and powerful impact on Standard, I only see three cards here that I think will realistically have an impact. I guess three out of sixty isn't bad, considering the size of the cardpool.
The trick with the Graftmage and storage lands isn't untapping the storage land, but by emptying a counter-heavy land all at once and using that mana through Pemmin's Aura on an untapper or Vigean Graftmage to fuel your kill turn. As for the Wojek, the 'two thirds of the potential opposition' I mentioned refer to the black, white, green and artifact critters which he can target with impunity. I agree that Frostwielder is usually the better choice, but sadly her common rarity excludes her for the purpose of an all-uncommon deck. Indeed, there are only three uncommon wizards online that tap to do damage.
In your uncommon deck you mention using the graftmage to uptap the charge lands, but the graftmage can't do that. It only affects creatures with +1/+1 counters...
The rare deck looks brutal however. I also like the purple deck, it has a cool flair to it.
In your uncommon deck you mention using the graftmage to uptap the charge lands, but the graftmage can't do that. It only affects creatures with +1/+1 counters...
The rare deck looks brutal however. I also like the purple deck, it has a cool flair to it.
'when a general knows himself and knows his enemy, he will not be imperiled in one hundred battles.' -Sun Tzu
You have very good question, and something that we discussed in the forums prior to this article being commissioned. You can read the discussion here: http://www.puremtgo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=293, and the above quote embodies my opinion on the subject.
The way I look at it is like this: Basically MTGO isn't the only fish in the digital sea anymore. There are other games trying to squeeze in on MTGO's collectible aspect and fight for market share with the online collecting community. This brings us to a dilemma: do we bury our heads in the sand and pretend they don't exist, or do we investigate them to see if they are a threat or perhaps even a great thing to have in coexistence? The only way to know that is if we take the time to look and share our experiences.
This article was the first of a few that will be coming from different authors about other games that share something with MTGO. Be it collectible aspects, online TCG's or what have you. I think that these are things that we as MTGO'ers really should know something about, even if we never join the other games or communities.
You shipped two durkwood baloths. I should have stopped reading but I didn't. You could have had an INSANE RG deck, although i spose you made to it the finals so *shrug*.
Wow. They just handed you red on a silver platter! Really amazing. Congratulations on your win! Here's hoping for many more!
Awful choices. I quit reading after 3th pick.
Fair question, Gnawph. All of these decks I have successfully piloted to multiple wins in the Casual room, with the one exception that I used Excruciator as a sub for Avatar of Woe, as I didn't own any at the time. I don't feel comfortable posting a deck I haven't built, tested, and above all had fun with.
Are these decks viable at all or are these just gatherer regurgitations?
This is a pretty sweet series. You manage to take a format that a lot of people find constricting, but find ways to make clever, original decks. Its cool to see articles that bring up different ways of looking at the format. The more tribal, the better.
Fair comment, but just because a card costs money doesn't mean you can't have fun with it if the opportunity arises. Given that, basics, snow basics and relentless rats aside, you only need 4 of a given card online, there is no reason to hold back on what you have if you have it. There will be times when I build all-common decks, others where I go for the full blinged out invasion rare-heavy decks. I appreciate more than most that money is an issue: Practically all the funds I channel into my card collection come from either this column or player-run events, frequently taking the proceeds from one article to fund the next. I have a large collection because it has been growing online for almost half a decade, and I have the ravnica duals because they're very, very useful. All of these decks are fully adaptable: feel free to substitute cheaper equivalents (Or more expensive) as you see fit.
Wow, $140 manabase for a "casual" deck. Thank goodness for PDC.
I have a feeling Sprout Swarm will be powerful in PDC. Even with the two Echoing removal spells, it is going to find a home in token abuse decks, especially when combined with other convoke and token generation cards. Kavu Primarch is also pretty powerful, I've seen it get kicked very early in limited, should be very good in a deck designed for convoke.
Thornweald Archer is pretty good against decks that rely on fliers. It can come down early and be a bit of a headache, plus it always trades in combat, which is pretty relevant in my opinion.
Emberwilde Augur is a fine two drop that will see play in red decks due to its versatility.
Sarcomyte Myr might be good in some decks. With two mana up it is nearly always card advantage, plus it can fly.
Vedalken Aethermage can cycle for Trinket Mage, so it should be playable.
Wrap in Vigor is a great card. It nullifies damage as a mass removal effect, and hence should see play.
5 mana for 3-6 damage is indeed risky and possibly sub-par. However, it's also giving red something very dangerous in the process. "Scry 3". Scry 3 in a red deck seems strong no matter how you're looking at it. Either you get rid of land and draw another burn spell or creature while either going to the dome or removing a creature.
For me the top 4 cards constructed wise from the set are; Judge Unworthy ( I can finally investigate WX control decks.) Ghostfire (for obvious reasons) Gathan Raiders ( again obvious reasons) and Edge of Autumn ( I love any cards which do more than 1 thing reasonable and this does 2 good things very well.
Looking at the Riddle, the cards it reminds me of are the Erratic removal spells and the Scourge mana cost matters cards. Could we be approaching a critical mass of cmc-dependent burn to devise a competitive deck?
The problem with the cards you mentioned is that the decks they would want to go in tend to run low casting cost cards. Look at Riddle of Lightning- in most red decks, the most he will deal is 6 and the average will probably be three. For the same price, Barbed Lightning will deal 3 and 3. Simply put, the benefit of scry does not push these cards over the edge.
Granted, it's been a while since I've played PDC, but it seems the Judge Unworthy and possibly riddle of lightning could see some play. Removal + smoothing a draw is something that's pretty impressive in PDC land. As for the question of PDC formats there most frequent PDC formats are Classic and Standard.
I'm only just learning about pauper magic so I like this series a lot. Is pauper played in all the normal MTG variants? ie std, block, etc?
Alex, you beat me to the punch. While i do think that set reviews are cop-outs, i do think that they are necessary. They are good way to make people more aware of the new cards. Some of us (myself included) live exclusivly off MTGO and to us this is new stuff. The more we know about the new cards the more we can prepare ourselves for the coming season.
Not bad, but i would prefer PDC Theory :)
I think Foresee is going to be tested and then discarded for being too expensive and a sorcery. The only deck I could see playing it is storm, and even then I don't think it's going to get the nod over Serum Visions and Slight of Hand. If MUC wants sorcery-speed card draw, I think it's going to stick with the raw power of Rush of Knowledge. Ghostflame is going to see play in Burn Aggro, but probably only in the sideboard, since it has access to cheaper and more powerful burn effects maindeck and usually only needs the flame against sideboard hate in games 2 and 3. Still, that's an effect. I do think that the Raiders and the Slick will see maindeck play in viable archetypes, though I wonder what the Slick will replace in MBC. It's not as if black is suffering from a lack of ways to kill creatures, and six mana to kill a weenie is a significant tempo loss. Still - "Kill that thing; draw a card" is a powerful enough effect that I think we'll see it played.
What three cards do you think will have the impact? I count four (Raiders, Ghostflame, Foresee, and Slick) that will have a huge impact and many others that will have a less pronounced impact.
I disagree with your analysis of FS on the impact of classic pauper. While it will have an immediate and powerful impact on Standard, I only see three cards here that I think will realistically have an impact. I guess three out of sixty isn't bad, considering the size of the cardpool.
The trick with the Graftmage and storage lands isn't untapping the storage land, but by emptying a counter-heavy land all at once and using that mana through Pemmin's Aura on an untapper or Vigean Graftmage to fuel your kill turn. As for the Wojek, the 'two thirds of the potential opposition' I mentioned refer to the black, white, green and artifact critters which he can target with impunity. I agree that Frostwielder is usually the better choice, but sadly her common rarity excludes her for the purpose of an all-uncommon deck. Indeed, there are only three uncommon wizards online that tap to do damage.
I like this article a lot, but I don't think Wojek is a good fit in a deck with 1 tougness creatures. I think Frostweilder would replace them here.
In your uncommon deck you mention using the graftmage to uptap the charge lands, but the graftmage can't do that. It only affects creatures with +1/+1 counters...
The rare deck looks brutal however. I also like the purple deck, it has a cool flair to it.
In your uncommon deck you mention using the graftmage to uptap the charge lands, but the graftmage can't do that. It only affects creatures with +1/+1 counters...
The rare deck looks brutal however. I also like the purple deck, it has a cool flair to it.
'when a general knows himself and knows his enemy, he will not be imperiled in one hundred battles.' -Sun Tzu
You have very good question, and something that we discussed in the forums prior to this article being commissioned. You can read the discussion here: http://www.puremtgo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=293, and the above quote embodies my opinion on the subject.
The way I look at it is like this: Basically MTGO isn't the only fish in the digital sea anymore. There are other games trying to squeeze in on MTGO's collectible aspect and fight for market share with the online collecting community. This brings us to a dilemma: do we bury our heads in the sand and pretend they don't exist, or do we investigate them to see if they are a threat or perhaps even a great thing to have in coexistence? The only way to know that is if we take the time to look and share our experiences.
This article was the first of a few that will be coming from different authors about other games that share something with MTGO. Be it collectible aspects, online TCG's or what have you. I think that these are things that we as MTGO'ers really should know something about, even if we never join the other games or communities.
INTERESTING REVIEW BUT WHY IS IT ON THIS SITE I THOUGHT PURE MTGO WAS JUST THAT PURELY DEDICATED TO MTGO