You got pretty lucky with what you opened and what you were passed, so it sucks when you bow out round 1 due to forces beyond your control. I've been there too many times and what you said about "going on tilt" (playing recklessly after a bad beat) is very true. Also, I think you should have ran at least 2 mountains in your revised build, even with your card drawing. After all, you do have to draw both your blaze and your mountain in order to cast it.
I'm not someone who participates in PRE's but I really do appreciate what you and people like you are doing for the community. Just wanted to say that.
Pete, and chance of reducing the size of that screen shot? It is so large that it stretches my screen (my resolution is 1024x768), which means I have to use the left-to-right scroll bar just to read a paragraph.
Aside from that, I like what I've been able to read of the article. Good job finding a use for Radha.
This was just th sort of info I needed to keep up with PRE's. Without these sorts of contributions, it all becomes word of mouth. Nothing wrong with word of mouth, of course, but being able to refrence this article is VERY helpful. Keep 'em coming!
Yes, I know that red Akroma can find white Akroma - but since I only own one red Akroma, and just got her, I haven't tried to work her into the mix. More importantly, she's another expensive (mana wise) card, and the deck doesn't want that many super high cost cards.
Thanks for the kind words
and again
Yes, it makes the Marauders a 7/7. That fetches, in block, Nicol Bolas, Leige of the Pit and Tectonic Fiend. I don't really want any of those. Or am I missing something good?
Nice packs! The lesson I learn from this draft of yours is actually not how mana screw and mana flood can effect your game in a draft but rather that sometimes with perfect decks you just lose in the first round and sometimes with less perfect decks you can even win the draft! So drafting is a way of gambling if you'd ask me and this article of yours is another proof of it. You have here a great deck and a great cardpool but you lost in the first round. Great article and it was fun to read it as always.
Yay! I love your articles Mystic. Cept, I gots me one suggestion. In Pick 41, I would have taken the Mending Hands. Sure, the Urzatron is Great, but so are Combat Tricks, and Mending is one of the best white ones IMHO.
Great article! It's really nice to see someone write these types of articles with an honest slant, and it's nice to see how you've improved since your first article! Glad you got those good rares in your draft. Good luck with your finals!
So, if you cast Keldon Marauders, then hit the Marauders with Might of Old Krosa while the ability is on the stack, when you finally go search, you will be looking for a creature with power and toughness that add to ten.
Actually marauder + might would make it a 7/7 ( might checks if it is played DURING your main phase, not as a sorcery) and could get anything that adds up to 14.
Also, if you wanna side in Boom/Bust ( and want to cast Boom) you want Terramoprhic Expanse , cause you can target it and then sacrifce so you dont lose a land yourself ( make sure to hold control key online to do this)
Well, although I'm pretty sure you guys know where I stand on this, I'll have to make a comment in terms of the cards themselves. One must always realize, multiplayer formats weren't in the design scape for the majority (if not 99.9%) of all cards that have been printed up until this point. There are a few that were designed for mutliplayer play, but the rest were designed with competitive magic or casual magic in mind. That said, cards like Erayo and Kokusho have a much higher power level than intended. My only problem with the banning of Mind's Desire, is that the card inherently DOES NOT have any increased power level in mutliplayer play. It doesn't lock out 5 other players, nor does it kill everyone, but rather facilitates a combo (TEPS) to its utmost ability. One last thing, there's a forum topic up called "Banning, PRE's, and Doing Your Thang" on the forums, and since this article will disappear from the front page in a few days, if you guys want to keep discussing this, that topic might be a suitable place to.
"If it's better than all other cards, ban it" (as well as "if it wins, ban it") doesn't work, as in any selection of cards there will be some that are better than others, and thus there will be some that are the best of that selection (and those cards will win). I agree with Erman here, WotC bans sparingly for a reason. That reason is that bannings are bad for any format. The only time that cards should be banned is when leaving the card in the format is worse. Banning power cards should not be done, as you will end up with more power cards. If you ban them, the same will happen, and eventually nothing but vanilla creatures will be left. I also agree with Anonymous ("FFA Metagame") and with michaelrossignol. Tournaments are not meant for everyone to have an equal chance, otherwise we might as well be flipping coins. They are meant for the most skilled people to win. The most skilled will either play the dominant deck or play something that is better, which will become a new dominant deck. MotoX: only one of those cards you listed shows up at all in a tournament deck, Orim's Chant, and that is nothing without Isochron Scepter (except insurance when you're one turn away from a win, which makes it just a "win more" card).
To recap my point of view: WotC prints cards for a reason, and the more skilled players will use the best cards to win games. They are meant to do so, otherwise we might as well be flipping coins.
First let me say that Radha is one of my favorite cards, especially the flavor text. I've been working on a deck built around here online, and this article has given me ideas of where I want to go next with the deck. You do also know of the Radha + Akroma, Angel of Hawtness, er, I mean Fury combo? Radha also works very well with Jaya once she's in play.
The others posts are correct in that it is really hard to "redo" a draft after the fact, especially if you intend to switch colors. I don't want to say it's useless, but it seems more like you're not quite sure what you want to do in this article. Having a simple evaluation of the top commons in the set and where they fit into different archetypes would have sufficed, and you wouldn't be locked in a futile attempt to change a draft gone awry. The truth is, there really are only one or two specific "I should have done" points in the draft, and when you recognize where you went wrong, you have more or less learned your lesson and can move on. Another truth is, there is so much luck involved in what gets passed to you that it is essentially impossible to "master" any given draft. Card evaluation and sending good signals is the key to good drafting, as well as knowing when to abandon your preferred colors. But really, people should realize that drafting is gambling, and it is also merely a form of entertainment, not something that you should set out to try and dominate, as you will soon find yourself with empty pockets.
I am glad to see these cards banned the game should be fair if I had it my way Beacon of Imortality, Phage, Door to nothing, coaliton victory, platanium angel, orims chant, battle of wits, test of endurance, guilty on stuffy etc. Stuff that you automatically win has got to go
"The following effects are effects that tournament players do not care about:
* Pure life gain. Loxodon Hierarch is good because it wins the game. Sacred Nectar does nothing other than life gain, thus it is bad."
Apparently you have never lost to a Martyrtron player who sat back under 12 skipped turns from a Chronosavant as you decked yourself on his Howling Mines.
It was banned with out even talking with the players. The banning was unnessecary(spelling) and all the new players always complained when they easily could have used Arcane labratory trickbind discard etc many budget. Not too many players even played TEPS and it started to get hated out by the pro's of PRE's what will be next? Banning Islands cause they can counter?
Play tribal goblins. End of story best tribal deck
Hmm not sure what Azure is, but who cares?
Good article, aggro FTW!
You got pretty lucky with what you opened and what you were passed, so it sucks when you bow out round 1 due to forces beyond your control. I've been there too many times and what you said about "going on tilt" (playing recklessly after a bad beat) is very true. Also, I think you should have ran at least 2 mountains in your revised build, even with your card drawing. After all, you do have to draw both your blaze and your mountain in order to cast it.
I'm not someone who participates in PRE's but I really do appreciate what you and people like you are doing for the community. Just wanted to say that.
Pete, and chance of reducing the size of that screen shot? It is so large that it stretches my screen (my resolution is 1024x768), which means I have to use the left-to-right scroll bar just to read a paragraph.
Aside from that, I like what I've been able to read of the article. Good job finding a use for Radha.
This was just th sort of info I needed to keep up with PRE's. Without these sorts of contributions, it all becomes word of mouth. Nothing wrong with word of mouth, of course, but being able to refrence this article is VERY helpful. Keep 'em coming!
Last to first...
Yes, I know that red Akroma can find white Akroma - but since I only own one red Akroma, and just got her, I haven't tried to work her into the mix. More importantly, she's another expensive (mana wise) card, and the deck doesn't want that many super high cost cards.
Thanks for the kind words
and again
Yes, it makes the Marauders a 7/7. That fetches, in block, Nicol Bolas, Leige of the Pit and Tectonic Fiend. I don't really want any of those. Or am I missing something good?
Nice packs! The lesson I learn from this draft of yours is actually not how mana screw and mana flood can effect your game in a draft but rather that sometimes with perfect decks you just lose in the first round and sometimes with less perfect decks you can even win the draft! So drafting is a way of gambling if you'd ask me and this article of yours is another proof of it. You have here a great deck and a great cardpool but you lost in the first round. Great article and it was fun to read it as always.
Yay! I love your articles Mystic. Cept, I gots me one suggestion. In Pick 41, I would have taken the Mending Hands. Sure, the Urzatron is Great, but so are Combat Tricks, and Mending is one of the best white ones IMHO.
Great article! It's really nice to see someone write these types of articles with an honest slant, and it's nice to see how you've improved since your first article! Glad you got those good rares in your draft. Good luck with your finals!
So, if you cast Keldon Marauders, then hit the Marauders with Might of Old Krosa while the ability is on the stack, when you finally go search, you will be looking for a creature with power and toughness that add to ten.
Actually marauder + might would make it a 7/7 ( might checks if it is played DURING your main phase, not as a sorcery) and could get anything that adds up to 14.
Also, if you wanna side in Boom/Bust ( and want to cast Boom) you want Terramoprhic Expanse , cause you can target it and then sacrifce so you dont lose a land yourself ( make sure to hold control key online to do this)
Well, although I'm pretty sure you guys know where I stand on this, I'll have to make a comment in terms of the cards themselves. One must always realize, multiplayer formats weren't in the design scape for the majority (if not 99.9%) of all cards that have been printed up until this point. There are a few that were designed for mutliplayer play, but the rest were designed with competitive magic or casual magic in mind. That said, cards like Erayo and Kokusho have a much higher power level than intended. My only problem with the banning of Mind's Desire, is that the card inherently DOES NOT have any increased power level in mutliplayer play. It doesn't lock out 5 other players, nor does it kill everyone, but rather facilitates a combo (TEPS) to its utmost ability. One last thing, there's a forum topic up called "Banning, PRE's, and Doing Your Thang" on the forums, and since this article will disappear from the front page in a few days, if you guys want to keep discussing this, that topic might be a suitable place to.
Really great article. Simple, fun, and your Wild Pair tech was very interesting.
"If it's better than all other cards, ban it" (as well as "if it wins, ban it") doesn't work, as in any selection of cards there will be some that are better than others, and thus there will be some that are the best of that selection (and those cards will win). I agree with Erman here, WotC bans sparingly for a reason. That reason is that bannings are bad for any format. The only time that cards should be banned is when leaving the card in the format is worse. Banning power cards should not be done, as you will end up with more power cards. If you ban them, the same will happen, and eventually nothing but vanilla creatures will be left. I also agree with Anonymous ("FFA Metagame") and with michaelrossignol. Tournaments are not meant for everyone to have an equal chance, otherwise we might as well be flipping coins. They are meant for the most skilled people to win. The most skilled will either play the dominant deck or play something that is better, which will become a new dominant deck. MotoX: only one of those cards you listed shows up at all in a tournament deck, Orim's Chant, and that is nothing without Isochron Scepter (except insurance when you're one turn away from a win, which makes it just a "win more" card).
To recap my point of view: WotC prints cards for a reason, and the more skilled players will use the best cards to win games. They are meant to do so, otherwise we might as well be flipping coins.
I always liked Rahda's potential... pulling out turn four bogardan hellkitez on Magic Workstation always had me going....
good to see this article I like
First let me say that Radha is one of my favorite cards, especially the flavor text. I've been working on a deck built around here online, and this article has given me ideas of where I want to go next with the deck. You do also know of the Radha + Akroma, Angel of Hawtness, er, I mean Fury combo? Radha also works very well with Jaya once she's in play.
The others posts are correct in that it is really hard to "redo" a draft after the fact, especially if you intend to switch colors. I don't want to say it's useless, but it seems more like you're not quite sure what you want to do in this article. Having a simple evaluation of the top commons in the set and where they fit into different archetypes would have sufficed, and you wouldn't be locked in a futile attempt to change a draft gone awry. The truth is, there really are only one or two specific "I should have done" points in the draft, and when you recognize where you went wrong, you have more or less learned your lesson and can move on. Another truth is, there is so much luck involved in what gets passed to you that it is essentially impossible to "master" any given draft. Card evaluation and sending good signals is the key to good drafting, as well as knowing when to abandon your preferred colors. But really, people should realize that drafting is gambling, and it is also merely a form of entertainment, not something that you should set out to try and dominate, as you will soon find yourself with empty pockets.
I love MSE. I recently found it about 3 weeks ago and already made some of my own cards for my casual games.
Just so you know there already is a Hatred card.
Awesome article!
To follow up on my previous comment until then ill use those broken cards to win =) lol
I am glad to see these cards banned the game should be fair if I had it my way Beacon of Imortality, Phage, Door to nothing, coaliton victory, platanium angel, orims chant, battle of wits, test of endurance, guilty on stuffy etc. Stuff that you automatically win has got to go
I kinda agree with all of the last 3 ( or 1 ) comment(s).
The big elephant is also good for tempo reasons. If he was just a 4/4 he would be pretty bad but the lifegain matters tremendously.
"The following effects are effects that tournament players do not care about:
* Pure life gain. Loxodon Hierarch is good because it wins the game. Sacred Nectar does nothing other than life gain, thus it is bad."
Apparently you have never lost to a Martyrtron player who sat back under 12 skipped turns from a Chronosavant as you decked yourself on his Howling Mines.
It was banned with out even talking with the players. The banning was unnessecary(spelling) and all the new players always complained when they easily could have used Arcane labratory trickbind discard etc many budget. Not too many players even played TEPS and it started to get hated out by the pro's of PRE's what will be next? Banning Islands cause they can counter?
http://www.puremtgo.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=878