I don't agree with the Bazaar of Baghdad. A world where we are too afraid to express political opinions would be a sad and scary world.
I also say get over it. Life is not just about matters like drawing 2 cards, then discarding 3 cards.
(The line can, however, be crossed if one constantly rams political views down another's throat, usually when we already know what the person's political views are, and it just becomes tired and repetitive. But this was not an example of that. It was tactfully done and I honestly can't think of a better way of expressing how some of us feel, using MTG imagery).
I suspect we may end up with that anyway. (Is Nixon the current benchmark or Harding? Were any of the 18th- or 19th-century presidents especially corrupt?)
Endure what? Why bring politics into this, implying an insult to our president-elect in the process? FWIW, I didn't vote for Trump, but I feel so grateful we were saved from the most corrupt political regime in American history.
Your pie chart says "Infest" not "Infect" in the key. Otherwise great stuff, Pete.
I really like the change to the draft leagues, since I do not care for QPs, I was hoping WotC would do what they did. This will keep the sharks out of the kiddie pool, so to speak. It will allow newer drafters to get a good taste of it without as much discouragement, IMO.
So treasure chests are good except they are not good? Seems like a contradiction.
You do know that if they stuff them with non-useless crap, it will become useless crap anyway because of excess supply. I dont think treasure chests can be executed better than the old pack system.
Treasure chests are a great idea, but Wizards keeps filling it with 100% useless stuff. I can't for the life of me understand their reasoning for the common/uncommon slot. The fact that we get a random worthless Modern rare as our "main" reward more often than not is by itself borderline offensive for a paying customer, but the common/uncommon slot really takes the cake. Like Brian Kibler noted, they're probably just copying Hearthstone - except you can transform Hearthstone commons/uncommons into in-game currency (or so I understand - I have no real extensive experience with the game).
It amuses me that the 'Best in show' are also all constructs. I'm thinking of trying out Kambal in Orzhov Advisors, he's got some pretty nice synergy there.
"the focus is on all the Constructed applications"
These articles are not about Tribal Wars. That's one format that utilizes tribal strategies (the one that makes them the focus of the format). But you can use tribal strategies in Legacy, in Modern, and so on. And even in Limited. When they build tribal themes within sets, they certainly are not thinking of Tribal Wars.
Plus, this is also a review of all the creatures in the set, divided by creature type rather than by color or CMC.
Kambal, Consul of Allocation is decently costed, but he only does one situational thing that's going to be relevant only against storm build, or at least Delver.dek. So maybe he's bound to become a sideboard card against those archetypes?
I'm confused, are sideboards permitted in Tribal Wars now?
If having all players split prizes for which they were tied would reduce bribery, seems like that should happen instead. Spitting prizes among tied players works well enough for chess tournaments at any rate.
we will see about that. I personally think it is worth restriction. on the other hand the current paradoxical outcome decks are very vulnerable to stony silence or null rod (that is easy to get rid of). i think that the following power nine challenge will show how strong the PO decks can trully be and if they can deal with Shops and Eldrazi.
In theory any deck with a ton of removal would be good. I was just naming decks that are in the upper tiers that people would be familiar with. I do doubt that Subtle Strike will see any play though. There are cards like Darkblast and Disfure and many others that match up much better.
A valiant effort. One reason I could never compete in the higher rel tourneys is the time commitment. I get tired after a couple hours of MTG. Playing for 8-12 hours? Forget about it.
I don't agree with the Bazaar of Baghdad. A world where we are too afraid to express political opinions would be a sad and scary world.
I also say get over it. Life is not just about matters like drawing 2 cards, then discarding 3 cards.
(The line can, however, be crossed if one constantly rams political views down another's throat, usually when we already know what the person's political views are, and it just becomes tired and repetitive. But this was not an example of that. It was tactfully done and I honestly can't think of a better way of expressing how some of us feel, using MTG imagery).
I suspect we may end up with that anyway. (Is Nixon the current benchmark or Harding? Were any of the 18th- or 19th-century presidents especially corrupt?)
Your opinion. Mine is we have to endure no matter what. It is a fair statement, get over it.
Endure what? Why bring politics into this, implying an insult to our president-elect in the process? FWIW, I didn't vote for Trump, but I feel so grateful we were saved from the most corrupt political regime in American history.
Your pie chart says "Infest" not "Infect" in the key. Otherwise great stuff, Pete.
I really like the change to the draft leagues, since I do not care for QPs, I was hoping WotC would do what they did. This will keep the sharks out of the kiddie pool, so to speak. It will allow newer drafters to get a good taste of it without as much discouragement, IMO.
So treasure chests are good except they are not good? Seems like a contradiction.
You do know that if they stuff them with non-useless crap, it will become useless crap anyway because of excess supply. I dont think treasure chests can be executed better than the old pack system.
Treasure chests are a great idea, but Wizards keeps filling it with 100% useless stuff. I can't for the life of me understand their reasoning for the common/uncommon slot. The fact that we get a random worthless Modern rare as our "main" reward more often than not is by itself borderline offensive for a paying customer, but the common/uncommon slot really takes the cake. Like Brian Kibler noted, they're probably just copying Hearthstone - except you can transform Hearthstone commons/uncommons into in-game currency (or so I understand - I have no real extensive experience with the game).
MMA13 was good but not THAT good
It amuses me that the 'Best in show' are also all constructs.
It was sort of an in-joke, but it's also more or less true. :)
We absolutely live to make people smile. Your photo shows a nice one. :D Yeah Broken mechanic was damned witty. That AJ and his wit. :D
I smiled because of your "Broken" mechanic :)
It amuses me that the 'Best in show' are also all constructs. I'm thinking of trying out Kambal in Orzhov Advisors, he's got some pretty nice synergy there.
"the focus is on all the Constructed applications"
These articles are not about Tribal Wars. That's one format that utilizes tribal strategies (the one that makes them the focus of the format). But you can use tribal strategies in Legacy, in Modern, and so on. And even in Limited. When they build tribal themes within sets, they certainly are not thinking of Tribal Wars.
Plus, this is also a review of all the creatures in the set, divided by creature type rather than by color or CMC.
Not if it is still Tribal Wars...
Kambal, Consul of Allocation is decently costed, but he only does one situational thing that's going to be relevant only against storm build, or at least Delver.dek. So maybe he's bound to become a sideboard card against those archetypes?
I'm confused, are sideboards permitted in Tribal Wars now?
Hi Pete, I liked your comments on bribery, thanks for addressing that issue in your commentary.
If having all players split prizes for which they were tied would reduce bribery, seems like that should happen instead. Spitting prizes among tied players works well enough for chess tournaments at any rate.
Just wanted to say that I, for one, miss the judge questions. Those were quite fun. :)
Liliana in particular dropped very likely due to the Innistrad Flahsbacks.
we will see about that. I personally think it is worth restriction. on the other hand the current paradoxical outcome decks are very vulnerable to stony silence or null rod (that is easy to get rid of). i think that the following power nine challenge will show how strong the PO decks can trully be and if they can deal with Shops and Eldrazi.
the Esper or UW mentor lists are rather scary.
In theory any deck with a ton of removal would be good. I was just naming decks that are in the upper tiers that people would be familiar with. I do doubt that Subtle Strike will see any play though. There are cards like Darkblast and Disfure and many others that match up much better.
Wouldn't BW or Mardu decks be good versus infect, adding Ethersworn Canonist, Subtle Strike, and Crackling Doom all sound like good additions.
Paradoxical Outcome with Moxen & friends seems a bit obvious, I wonder if WotC planned on restricting it sooner or later?
I suppose tis a good time to be running Storm/Mentor hate.
I started writing here - then realized I should probably put it in this week's article. Look for it there.
A valiant effort. One reason I could never compete in the higher rel tourneys is the time commitment. I get tired after a couple hours of MTG. Playing for 8-12 hours? Forget about it.