I really like this concept, since.. well, I build lots of PDC Tribal decks ;-)
I actually have a Magewright Stone.dec, and I liked the aproach here.
The rare and purple ones are definitly interessting but nothing that I could try.
Overall, another fine article.
Strong article. It is a shame we do not have access to the "ancient" RG lists which were purely anti-Affinity, with maindeck Electrostatic Bolt and Tel-Jilad Chosen.
Excellent article, Tom. I really like the general theme of detailing the evolution of a deck throughout PDC history and I look forward to future installments.
Another article I'd love to read from you would be one detailing a subject you touched upon a couple of times in this article: the Aggro Mirror Match. You mentioned that your thinking had changed a bit over time on how to best play the mirror and I would really appreciate learning more about how you approach this matchup.
Keep up the great work and Good Luck at Worlds! (/me hopes for a detailed tourney report)
I noticed that this game was a resource HOG. It's sucked up about 400 megs of ram (200 physical 200 virtual). It may need less if less is available but I have to admit that I was stunned when I saw its usage stats.
The game itself is pretty fun but the deckbuilding is a HUGE pain. Also trading is a complete joke. I wish the game was not written in java also but oh well. Still when your tired of MTGO it's a good break but doesn't come close to mtgo.
You can play for free using pre-made decks, but you can't upgrade the runes in them (called 'forging'). If you decide to buy packs, it's 3.00 for a 10 rune pack. But you *have* to have 20 runes to build a deck, so at least $6. However those are all random so your deck will be 20 random runes, and well, most likely crappy. So in order to get better runes for your deck you have to try to trade, but can't as you will likely only have a couple of decent runes. So then what? You can either try to buy runes from other players, or go 'Premium' for a monthly cost and get access to their rune store.
The article is very friendly worded and a good read.
I got a free account when the forum-members began to talk about pox..
Today I take a look again and everything changed.. and the trading system is mostly wrecked by the improvements, to me it looks like they try to run a game that is based on collectible runes like a MMORPG, and that seems to wreck it.
Single rune store with prices that change based on demand? Seems dangerous, especially since the creditsystem is replaced by the almighty $-system.
Before those changes I played a few rounds to get a feeling for it, and talked to people about the game, some were evcen considering pdc-style armys after I explained the concept..
Now it seems that this won't be possible anymore, outside of games with friends, but..
Overall, it is not looking like I will spend any money anytime soon on this.
This article clocked in around 2k words as there was a lot to cover before I could get to the basis for my review. All in all I think the game itself is fun but I have serious worries about it in the long run, especially how the commerce side is configured for it to be both a collectable game and a membership game.
Well done Tom! Nice to see another article from a well respected and well like Pauper. The article was well detailed and well informed. Keep up the good work
A fine debut article, but I strongly recommend putting your pictures and decks into tables for ease of reading. Your writing style is clear, the text is informative and well researched. Keep it up.
I'm inclined to agree. It seems like you were possibly the only black drafter within 20 miles of your draft, and clearly 3-4 people were squabbling over white and green.
Hi SpikeBoyM, i love your articles, PDC format is amazing. Creating cheap decks but competitive decks.
I like to play madness and one interesting card for this is Dreamscape Artist.
I enjoy and learn very much with your articles THANX.
Passing Tidings Pack 1 Pick 1, is in my opinion flatout wrong when its passed for any non bomb rare. Card Advantage wins games in slower draft formats and there are few slower than core set limited. Then going into blue after passing Tidings seems dodgy and Pack 2 did seem to lack depth to the blue that came your way, soul feast would have been my pick if I'd taken Nekraatal, but taking Tidings first would have allowed you to completely cut blue pack 1 and then reap the benefits.
A few things I wonder. Is feast of flesh the right call here? It seems out of place in this deck. If Urborg Syphon Mage is so good, why are there only two? How do I seperate lines of text in these comments? Good series; I'm looking forward to seeing it next week!
I'm pretty sure Tidings is the pick over Nekrataal. Nekrataal is very good, but Tidings is insane. From there my second color probably doesn't seem to become clear until the last pack. The blue here was so strong. I'm going to miss 999; hopefully TPF will be just as good!
Edit: the 60th card appears to be the crucial Dread Return.
And my last post should read "...less mana sources".
To speak to the sideboarding, this deck is going to be all about dealing with permanents. Leyline is at the top of the heap, but also Chalice, True Believer, Samurai Of The Pale Curtain, and the like. I would pack a ton of bounce options primarily. Past that, some anti-control cards will be important, and the mirror will be something to consider, since this thing is going to be all over the place.
Hey Lancer,
Keep up the good work. I love draft articles and yours is top notch. I always learn a lot. I am a piss poor drafter myself so I love seeing people break down their picks like this. If nothing else, it helps me see what kinds of things I need to be thinking about when I am making my own picks.
First, for the "Defensive" list, what is the 60th card? And in the "Turn One" list, I count 66 cards, which has to be a mistake, as diluting the deck that much would drastically cut into how often you find the combo early.
Next, I'm interested as to why a faster list would run so mana sources. 25 seems a bit high, almost even for control lists. It seems to me that lsee mana sources, and more draw/tutoring would work better here. (Street Wraith? the additional two Mystical Tutor?)
Regarding Deep Analysis: I considered it. However, I wanted instant speed draw and was also wary of the payment of life.
Regarding Call, I have tried it in other Madness decks and it was nearly always underwhelming. In almost every case Grim Harvest is just better as you can leave mana open to reuse it or discard it. Chucking a Call with no critters in the yard just strikes me as a poor choice. However, due to the high concentration of Black creatures here, it may be something to look at later.
Finally, with Rootwalla, I feel that there are far too many fragile creatures in this deck to include a 1/1. He will almost always come down too late for a 1/1 to matter.
The purple tribe is awesome. Perfect as always. 6 out of 5.
I really like this concept, since.. well, I build lots of PDC Tribal decks ;-)
I actually have a Magewright Stone.dec, and I liked the aproach here.
The rare and purple ones are definitly interessting but nothing that I could try.
Overall, another fine article.
Strong article. It is a shame we do not have access to the "ancient" RG lists which were purely anti-Affinity, with maindeck Electrostatic Bolt and Tel-Jilad Chosen.
Excellent article, Tom. I really like the general theme of detailing the evolution of a deck throughout PDC history and I look forward to future installments.
Another article I'd love to read from you would be one detailing a subject you touched upon a couple of times in this article: the Aggro Mirror Match. You mentioned that your thinking had changed a bit over time on how to best play the mirror and I would really appreciate learning more about how you approach this matchup.
Keep up the great work and Good Luck at Worlds! (/me hopes for a detailed tourney report)
I've actually played this before, was fun if you can get a non quitting player.
Too bad its such a resource hog.
I noticed that this game was a resource HOG. It's sucked up about 400 megs of ram (200 physical 200 virtual). It may need less if less is available but I have to admit that I was stunned when I saw its usage stats.
The game itself is pretty fun but the deckbuilding is a HUGE pain. Also trading is a complete joke. I wish the game was not written in java also but oh well. Still when your tired of MTGO it's a good break but doesn't come close to mtgo.
You can play for free using pre-made decks, but you can't upgrade the runes in them (called 'forging'). If you decide to buy packs, it's 3.00 for a 10 rune pack. But you *have* to have 20 runes to build a deck, so at least $6. However those are all random so your deck will be 20 random runes, and well, most likely crappy. So in order to get better runes for your deck you have to try to trade, but can't as you will likely only have a couple of decent runes. So then what? You can either try to buy runes from other players, or go 'Premium' for a monthly cost and get access to their rune store.
wait so how much does it cost to get started?
The article is very friendly worded and a good read.
I got a free account when the forum-members began to talk about pox..
Today I take a look again and everything changed.. and the trading system is mostly wrecked by the improvements, to me it looks like they try to run a game that is based on collectible runes like a MMORPG, and that seems to wreck it.
Single rune store with prices that change based on demand? Seems dangerous, especially since the creditsystem is replaced by the almighty $-system.
Before those changes I played a few rounds to get a feeling for it, and talked to people about the game, some were evcen considering pdc-style armys after I explained the concept..
Now it seems that this won't be possible anymore, outside of games with friends, but..
Overall, it is not looking like I will spend any money anytime soon on this.
This article clocked in around 2k words as there was a lot to cover before I could get to the basis for my review. All in all I think the game itself is fun but I have serious worries about it in the long run, especially how the commerce side is configured for it to be both a collectable game and a membership game.
Well done Tom! Nice to see another article from a well respected and well like Pauper. The article was well detailed and well informed. Keep up the good work
The articles itself is pretty good, but as AJ said before, consider tables for the next one. =)
Thanks for the comment:), I'v discussed the pictures with Heath and that'll be something I'll work on for the next article.
A fine debut article, but I strongly recommend putting your pictures and decks into tables for ease of reading. Your writing style is clear, the text is informative and well researched. Keep it up.
I'm inclined to agree. It seems like you were possibly the only black drafter within 20 miles of your draft, and clearly 3-4 people were squabbling over white and green.
Hi SpikeBoyM, i love your articles, PDC format is amazing. Creating cheap decks but competitive decks.
I like to play madness and one interesting card for this is Dreamscape Artist.
I enjoy and learn very much with your articles THANX.
You got pretty lucky with what you opened and were passed, so its a shame you didnt even win the first round.
Passing Tidings Pack 1 Pick 1, is in my opinion flatout wrong when its passed for any non bomb rare. Card Advantage wins games in slower draft formats and there are few slower than core set limited. Then going into blue after passing Tidings seems dodgy and Pack 2 did seem to lack depth to the blue that came your way, soul feast would have been my pick if I'd taken Nekraatal, but taking Tidings first would have allowed you to completely cut blue pack 1 and then reap the benefits.
A few things I wonder. Is feast of flesh the right call here? It seems out of place in this deck. If Urborg Syphon Mage is so good, why are there only two? How do I seperate lines of text in these comments? Good series; I'm looking forward to seeing it next week!
I'm pretty sure Tidings is the pick over Nekrataal. Nekrataal is very good, but Tidings is insane. From there my second color probably doesn't seem to become clear until the last pack. The blue here was so strong. I'm going to miss 999; hopefully TPF will be just as good!
Edit: the 60th card appears to be the crucial Dread Return.
And my last post should read "...less mana sources".
To speak to the sideboarding, this deck is going to be all about dealing with permanents. Leyline is at the top of the heap, but also Chalice, True Believer, Samurai Of The Pale Curtain, and the like. I would pack a ton of bounce options primarily. Past that, some anti-control cards will be important, and the mirror will be something to consider, since this thing is going to be all over the place.
--->DJ
Hey Lancer,
Keep up the good work. I love draft articles and yours is top notch. I always learn a lot. I am a piss poor drafter myself so I love seeing people break down their picks like this. If nothing else, it helps me see what kinds of things I need to be thinking about when I am making my own picks.
A few questions...
First, for the "Defensive" list, what is the 60th card? And in the "Turn One" list, I count 66 cards, which has to be a mistake, as diluting the deck that much would drastically cut into how often you find the combo early.
Next, I'm interested as to why a faster list would run so mana sources. 25 seems a bit high, almost even for control lists. It seems to me that lsee mana sources, and more draw/tutoring would work better here. (Street Wraith? the additional two Mystical Tutor?)
Just a few thoughts.
--->DJ
Regarding Deep Analysis: I considered it. However, I wanted instant speed draw and was also wary of the payment of life.
Regarding Call, I have tried it in other Madness decks and it was nearly always underwhelming. In almost every case Grim Harvest is just better as you can leave mana open to reuse it or discard it. Chucking a Call with no critters in the yard just strikes me as a poor choice. However, due to the high concentration of Black creatures here, it may be something to look at later.
Finally, with Rootwalla, I feel that there are far too many fragile creatures in this deck to include a 1/1. He will almost always come down too late for a 1/1 to matter.