^^ Echo what they said. Also Reclamation + Star is funny as heck. Well I guess tapping out for anything and then untapping to counter your op's next move is pretty sweet. I'm a little surprised Electrodominance isn't in the list somewhere. It feels like an OK answer to Niv (as is Banefire) while still catering to the deck's main idea.
Thanks for sharing and good job on your finish. I'm glad you managed to do well and had some fun playing the Temur deck. Crushing Canopy seemed like a must have to me in any green based deck (even with main deck cards being able to deal with flyers and enchantments). I was boarding that card way too often :-/
Niv-Mizzet is a great card, you should play it in Vintage! (see RUG Xerox)
I expect that with Arena that tabletop Magic will still be supported, just not with tournament play as that will eventually be all Arena all the time. Instead, the focus will be on the casual players, which would help explain why retailers such as Walmart and Amazon now sell booster boxes as it increases accessibility to these players.
Sadly, that does mean that the traditional LGS model is in danger, because they not only have to compete with these large retailers, but a lot of their inventory is geared toward the competitive players and their prices are not competitive with online options. The best option for those LGSs is to transition into the cafe business while allowing renting of board games and usage of space for casual players, but that creates its own set of problems.
Commander will be the primary paper format going forward, and Brawl was an attempt to make the format more palatable to both the casual users and to the higher-ups because of the focus on Standard cards and rotation.
Where that leaves MTGO is in an awkward space, because the most profitable formats for Wizards are Standard and Limited, and it makes more sense to support those on Arena. I suspect there will be a plan to phase it out, with no collection compensation whatsoever, but it will take a while. This does mean that Modern's future is in danger, but that is probably of minimal concern to the higher-ups.
The recent moves fit with this paradigm, in that it makes more sense to go after the casual players because they spend money on actual product, unlike most of the top-tier competitive players.
Channel Fireball is apparently taking over coverage, as they have announced they are taking on text coverage and it is likely that they are also going to take over video coverage even though no official announcement has been made, and it makes sense for Wizards to outsource their tournaments as much as possible, because money spent on tournaments is better used for player acquisition via Arena.
Remember that the number one priority for Wizards is Hasbro shareholders, and it is their responsibility to maximize return on investment, which the GP/PT circuit does not do well enough compared to what is expected from Arena. While that may seem unfair to enfranchised players, the reality is that their opinions do not matter that much given the business model does not favor them.
Re: Eric Fletcher
Good catch! I am definitely more familiar with quirky old cards than viable tournament strategies.
Also I just realized two other alternate solutions:
- In Puzzle #2, the Scion can become a Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon, and the Demonic Tutor can get any number of pump spells.
- Puzzle #3 can be solved with Minion of the Wastes.
Actually, I wrote that it is exceptional as a Salamander, and great elsewhere. It's playable in every format, in Standard it's in the Monoblue Tempo deck which is at least tier-2 in the meta. In Modern, it could show up in Izzet Phoenix.
I believe ThyShuffler meant to reinforce what I wrote, not contrast it.
It's worth a thought! It's not the direction I had in mind, since so many of these answers are deducible with some quick Google searches. These puzzles were meant more to be fun self-monitored challenges, comparable to a book of crosswords. But send me an email if you have specific changes in mind for upcoming articles, or how a prize structure would work. (If you have access to my Drafts page, you can see there are several more on the way.)
The card itself is very good. I just don't think that Gruul alone is good enough for it. After some testing it seemed to me that all the three color decks I tried were better or at least they had the upper hand over Gruul and some of my salty opponents certainly had that feeling and had to share it with me. Some decks profit from Rhythm better than others but playing without Rhythm is also a possibility. All depends on how the metagame will turn out to be. At some point the card can be really good and at others it may be more of a liability since it takes time to cast it and it may be a target for Enchantment removal...of which we might see a lot.
I had far better results with Rhythm in my deck when I used that as an enabler for stuff that needs counters or haste (vannifar decks for example, or naya with with some annoying angels and knight of autumn)
When I was playing Standard with new cards a thought came to my mind - Crushing Canopy might be one of the best removal spells in Standard. While I laughed at that idea, there was some truth as well. I decided to run Vivien Reid instead instead because she's seriously overpowered and does what both modes of Crushing Canopy it didn't change the fact that Crushing Canopy would be a very good choice for someone who wasn't ready to pay 20 tix for Vivien.
(I'd say the best card is Skewer the Critics, lol and I'd try to avoid it as much as I can)
yeah Pteramander is really good, in multiple formats, and I think we just let a poorly worded statement come out. These are written with an eye towards tribal wars, and it probably is unplayable in the tribal format.
Also, you can't choose to pay life instead of the whole activation cost. You still need to pay 1 per activation.
And Lavinia does nothing against creature spells, unless you pay no mana for them. "Creature ramping via Llanowar Elves" is entirely outside her purview unless the payoff is a noncreature spell.
This requires admin level work. Something we lack. :/
Ideally the bots would bannable by moderators (such as yourself) but that would require a lot of admin attention. There are blacklists and other techniques but the current system of captcha only works against human users (ironically).
yeah I've had to turn off normal commenting due to the influx of spam bots posting comments. We are working on a fix for that and hope to have it back on soon!
Sorry to put this comment here, think on the article I wanted to comment, I had to log onto FB...I fortunately or unfortunately don't do the FB.
Wanted to leave a note on a debate that you and Gen had in regards to fetch land inclusion in mono-chromatic lists:
Heya Kuma, wanted to chime in on the merits or lack there of fetch lands in mono-chromatic decks. The more aggressive a deck is the more merit there is to running fetch lands...I tend to be a huge proponent for running fetch lands in highly aggressive monochromatic decks given a good understanding of a meta-game, but from a slightly different perspective. I actually think the thinning argument is a poor one in general as it looks like you and Gen came to agreement on...I actually think it comes down to enriching the deck! The point in time in which most games (especially involving short games with aggro...because in these decks your nut doesn't involve going long) involve the highest variance is during the opening seven...fetch lands allow you to actually cheat on land count in your aggressive decks...you can play more land in general (maybe only 3 more than a non-fetch land variant), which at 60 cards highly increases your possible draws of assured mana development on an opening 7 card hand (ie more keepables) while over the course of the first 3 draw steps playing similar to the same deck with 3 less lands (this is where the very marginal gain of thinning comes in). So, the question you have to ask yourself is are you willing to assume less variance in the opening seven card hand to ensure that your deck has a much higher likelihood of functioning as intended for the trade-off of a shock or an LB with suspend 3 on it. I often find that the trade off in virtual advantage is worth it, at one point in the Sligh, RDW mirror it was proffered by David Price (once proclaimed the Beat Down King and such) that he gave his opponent the play in the mirror, to acquire the added advantage of one card in what he thought of as a card advantage fight where that one last card would serve to better suit him in best accomplishing the goal of the Philosophy of Fire...I don't think that's as true now-a-days, or rather it's not true in the same way, ie I don't want to give my opponent the play anymore because independent cards are too good, but if I can acquire a 3-4 card draw advantage over an opponent over a 3-5 turn game virtually through a different construction of my mana base (and understanding of the increased range of my keepable 7's) that better assures higher probability of expected development, then it's basically the same thing. The issue becomes the nut draw on the best aggro deck without fetch lands is still going to beat the nut on the fetch land deck, but the inclusion increases range of keepables and provides a lot of advantage during the highest probability moment of these sort of decks game life--ie making a keep or mull decision.
Don't know if it's still an open debate, but I think a lot of folks think it's solely about thinning, while I tend to look at that aspect of fetch lands as a probably relevant but marginal side-effect given the higher prob keepables they give you on openers. Take it easy dudes!
^^ Echo what they said. Also Reclamation + Star is funny as heck. Well I guess tapping out for anything and then untapping to counter your op's next move is pretty sweet. I'm a little surprised Electrodominance isn't in the list somewhere. It feels like an OK answer to Niv (as is Banefire) while still catering to the deck's main idea.
Great job mate, congrats on the finish!
Thanks for sharing and good job on your finish. I'm glad you managed to do well and had some fun playing the Temur deck. Crushing Canopy seemed like a must have to me in any green based deck (even with main deck cards being able to deal with flyers and enchantments). I was boarding that card way too often :-/
Niv-Mizzet is a great card, you should play it in Vintage! (see RUG Xerox)
A reminder of what I wrote on Dec 14:
I expect that with Arena that tabletop Magic will still be supported, just not with tournament play as that will eventually be all Arena all the time. Instead, the focus will be on the casual players, which would help explain why retailers such as Walmart and Amazon now sell booster boxes as it increases accessibility to these players.
Sadly, that does mean that the traditional LGS model is in danger, because they not only have to compete with these large retailers, but a lot of their inventory is geared toward the competitive players and their prices are not competitive with online options. The best option for those LGSs is to transition into the cafe business while allowing renting of board games and usage of space for casual players, but that creates its own set of problems.
Commander will be the primary paper format going forward, and Brawl was an attempt to make the format more palatable to both the casual users and to the higher-ups because of the focus on Standard cards and rotation.
Where that leaves MTGO is in an awkward space, because the most profitable formats for Wizards are Standard and Limited, and it makes more sense to support those on Arena. I suspect there will be a plan to phase it out, with no collection compensation whatsoever, but it will take a while. This does mean that Modern's future is in danger, but that is probably of minimal concern to the higher-ups.
The recent moves fit with this paradigm, in that it makes more sense to go after the casual players because they spend money on actual product, unlike most of the top-tier competitive players.
Channel Fireball is apparently taking over coverage, as they have announced they are taking on text coverage and it is likely that they are also going to take over video coverage even though no official announcement has been made, and it makes sense for Wizards to outsource their tournaments as much as possible, because money spent on tournaments is better used for player acquisition via Arena.
Remember that the number one priority for Wizards is Hasbro shareholders, and it is their responsibility to maximize return on investment, which the GP/PT circuit does not do well enough compared to what is expected from Arena. While that may seem unfair to enfranchised players, the reality is that their opinions do not matter that much given the business model does not favor them.
Re: Eric Fletcher
Good catch! I am definitely more familiar with quirky old cards than viable tournament strategies.
Also I just realized two other alternate solutions:
- In Puzzle #2, the Scion can become a Skithiryx, the Blight Dragon, and the Demonic Tutor can get any number of pump spells.
- Puzzle #3 can be solved with Minion of the Wastes.
Actually, I wrote that it is exceptional as a Salamander, and great elsewhere. It's playable in every format, in Standard it's in the Monoblue Tempo deck which is at least tier-2 in the meta. In Modern, it could show up in Izzet Phoenix.
I believe ThyShuffler meant to reinforce what I wrote, not contrast it.
Keep up the good work!
I know, and I am excited for them!
if that is not the direction you want to go, by all means don't let me make you feel like you have to change direction!
It's worth a thought! It's not the direction I had in mind, since so many of these answers are deducible with some quick Google searches. These puzzles were meant more to be fun self-monitored challenges, comparable to a book of crosswords. But send me an email if you have specific changes in mind for upcoming articles, or how a prize structure would work. (If you have access to my Drafts page, you can see there are several more on the way.)
The card itself is very good. I just don't think that Gruul alone is good enough for it. After some testing it seemed to me that all the three color decks I tried were better or at least they had the upper hand over Gruul and some of my salty opponents certainly had that feeling and had to share it with me. Some decks profit from Rhythm better than others but playing without Rhythm is also a possibility. All depends on how the metagame will turn out to be. At some point the card can be really good and at others it may be more of a liability since it takes time to cast it and it may be a target for Enchantment removal...of which we might see a lot.
I had far better results with Rhythm in my deck when I used that as an enabler for stuff that needs counters or haste (vannifar decks for example, or naya with with some annoying angels and knight of autumn)
When I was playing Standard with new cards a thought came to my mind - Crushing Canopy might be one of the best removal spells in Standard. While I laughed at that idea, there was some truth as well. I decided to run Vivien Reid instead instead because she's seriously overpowered and does what both modes of Crushing Canopy it didn't change the fact that Crushing Canopy would be a very good choice for someone who wasn't ready to pay 20 tix for Vivien.
(I'd say the best card is Skewer the Critics, lol and I'd try to avoid it as much as I can)
I still stand by my opinion that Rhythm is the best card in the set.
I'm probably wrong though.
i know that the potential exists for it, but I'd really like to start hiding answers, or maybe making this into a little contest.
I enjoy the puzzles and trivia stuff.
yeah Pteramander is really good, in multiple formats, and I think we just let a poorly worded statement come out. These are written with an eye towards tribal wars, and it probably is unplayable in the tribal format.
Pteramander is seeing legacy play.
https://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/legacy-ur-65573#paper
thanks all ^^
Also, you can't choose to pay life instead of the whole activation cost. You still need to pay 1 per activation.
And Lavinia does nothing against creature spells, unless you pay no mana for them. "Creature ramping via Llanowar Elves" is entirely outside her purview unless the payoff is a noncreature spell.
2 small errors: Pod is Phyrexian green, not blue. Vannifar is immune to Cast Down, but not Price of Fame.
i may turn comments back on next week, and just be prepared to delete them more often.
This requires admin level work. Something we lack. :/
Ideally the bots would bannable by moderators (such as yourself) but that would require a lot of admin attention. There are blacklists and other techniques but the current system of captcha only works against human users (ironically).
I have been testing it to see if they were gone.
I don't know how spam bots work, I guess. I thought maybe there was a logic behind them, like hey, this site stop letting us comment, let's move on.
I am not a smart man :/
You forgot to turn it off on the most recent article ;)
yeah I've had to turn off normal commenting due to the influx of spam bots posting comments. We are working on a fix for that and hope to have it back on soon!
Hey Kuma,
Sorry to put this comment here, think on the article I wanted to comment, I had to log onto FB...I fortunately or unfortunately don't do the FB.
Wanted to leave a note on a debate that you and Gen had in regards to fetch land inclusion in mono-chromatic lists:
Heya Kuma, wanted to chime in on the merits or lack there of fetch lands in mono-chromatic decks. The more aggressive a deck is the more merit there is to running fetch lands...I tend to be a huge proponent for running fetch lands in highly aggressive monochromatic decks given a good understanding of a meta-game, but from a slightly different perspective. I actually think the thinning argument is a poor one in general as it looks like you and Gen came to agreement on...I actually think it comes down to enriching the deck! The point in time in which most games (especially involving short games with aggro...because in these decks your nut doesn't involve going long) involve the highest variance is during the opening seven...fetch lands allow you to actually cheat on land count in your aggressive decks...you can play more land in general (maybe only 3 more than a non-fetch land variant), which at 60 cards highly increases your possible draws of assured mana development on an opening 7 card hand (ie more keepables) while over the course of the first 3 draw steps playing similar to the same deck with 3 less lands (this is where the very marginal gain of thinning comes in). So, the question you have to ask yourself is are you willing to assume less variance in the opening seven card hand to ensure that your deck has a much higher likelihood of functioning as intended for the trade-off of a shock or an LB with suspend 3 on it. I often find that the trade off in virtual advantage is worth it, at one point in the Sligh, RDW mirror it was proffered by David Price (once proclaimed the Beat Down King and such) that he gave his opponent the play in the mirror, to acquire the added advantage of one card in what he thought of as a card advantage fight where that one last card would serve to better suit him in best accomplishing the goal of the Philosophy of Fire...I don't think that's as true now-a-days, or rather it's not true in the same way, ie I don't want to give my opponent the play anymore because independent cards are too good, but if I can acquire a 3-4 card draw advantage over an opponent over a 3-5 turn game virtually through a different construction of my mana base (and understanding of the increased range of my keepable 7's) that better assures higher probability of expected development, then it's basically the same thing. The issue becomes the nut draw on the best aggro deck without fetch lands is still going to beat the nut on the fetch land deck, but the inclusion increases range of keepables and provides a lot of advantage during the highest probability moment of these sort of decks game life--ie making a keep or mull decision.
Don't know if it's still an open debate, but I think a lot of folks think it's solely about thinning, while I tend to look at that aspect of fetch lands as a probably relevant but marginal side-effect given the higher prob keepables they give you on openers. Take it easy dudes!
I think the Golem's fine, its body is very underwhelming and it can't hit lands. Acidic Slime makes for a better recursion target in my opinion.
+1
I agree.
I do hope they bring back VMA drafts soon.