Messages

16

General Magic / The problem I'm facing with Arena

« on: March 04, 2019, 02:18:34 pm »

The platform is awesome. I just love playing games of MTG on Arena. Everything about it: the speed of gameplay, the visuals, ease of use,... Just so good. It makes MTGO near unplayable now. It's like you only ever playing basketball in your driveway and now you are playing at Madison Square Gardens.

The design of card accumulation is my major issue with Arena. I get tired of playing decks over time. A pretty common comment for a certain segment of the community. A thing I loved about MTGO was I would purchase a deck, play it for a few weeks, then flip the cards when I was done. You would of course take a loss, but it was minimal in the grand scheme of things. About 6 months ago I discovered manatraders (if you don't know it is a website that lets you rent decks for MTGO). The price use to be pretty steep, but with the crash of card prices on MTGO it became very affordable. Unfortunately, you have to play on MTGO.

I thought drafting might help build up a collection, so that switching up decks is easier. It does help build up a card base, but then I have to play games of MTG with awful draft decks. I'm constructed all the way (unless it's cube). Playing with crap cards is just not my thing. It takes so long to build up enough wildcards to change decks. Oh my lord how long. Even straight buying packs has proven to be way to long a process. I just wish Arena had any way to trade cards. Of course this is against WotC's bottom line, so I'm not foolish and understand why it is that way.

Does anyone have a solution that they have found to getting cards at a faster rate on Arena? Getting 5/6 free packs a week and buying a few more is just not cutting it. Arena is actually costing me way more money than MTGO ever did and that is sad.

17

General Magic / Re: Best One Mana Cards in Ravnica Allegiance

« on: January 28, 2019, 07:24:12 pm »

The true best 1cmc cards in the set are the two red spectacle cards, Light up the Stage and Skewer the Critics. I know they are not true 1cmc cards, but they always get played for 1cmc. 

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General Magic / Re: Best overall card in Ravnica Allegiance?

« on: January 18, 2019, 04:00:38 pm »

Here are my thoughts (I'm only considering standard playability)

Most format altering card (not counting the shock lands):

Rhythm of The Wild

-Rhythm of the Wild will end up being the best or most format altering card in my opinion.
-in a format with Llanowar Elves, Rhythm is so powerful. The options of creatures that can follow it on turn 3 and 4 are pure powerhouses.
-the synergy with Growth-Chamber Guardian is pretty nasty. It gains the counter as it enters, therefore you search your library for another copy. You can then play the second copy that turn (turn 3) and search for another copy for your hand. The result is two creatures on board (totalling 6 power/toughness) and a third creature in your hand that allows you to do the same trick next turn if you want. 
-it is fairly certain that U/W or U/W/x control is going to be a major player in this standard, if so dropping a Rhythm before the opponent can counter it with a 3cmc counter may be game over for them.
-Rhythm may be such a problem for control that it forces players to change from draw-go to tap-out control.
-The truest sign of a "best card", is one that warps a format to respond to it

Cards to look out for:

1) Bedevil would probably be the best card, however it is hard to cast and is color restrictive.
2) Judith, the Scourge Diva may be the card to watch out for if an Aristocrats style strategy rises to be tier 1.
3) Frilled Mystic is crazy powerful, however it is likely that the hardcore simic color restrictions holds it down from seeing a lot of play.

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General Magic / Re: The Best Two Mana Cards in Ravnica Allegiance

« on: January 18, 2019, 03:30:18 pm »

I'd say the contest of best 2cmc card will come down between Rix Maadi Reveler and Growth-Chamber Guardian. RMR is probably better on its own, but GCG has a bonkers synergy with Rhythm of the Wild.

20

General Magic / Re: Good article from Sheldon Menery about EDH

« on: January 15, 2019, 02:29:14 pm »

I feel the biggest hurdle for EDH is that players are told it is casual at entry. They are told to buy an intro deck or just play some fun cards and you will be fine. Good times. Then they go to the LGS and run into crazy combo decks week after week. There can't be any fun in that. I think that is the undertone people are commenting on from the article. In my opinion this was the purpose of the format, it has become something else. Things evolve as they grow, unfortunately EDH lost something when it became more competitive. It went from anything can happen to I see what is going to happen.

If you have your own playgroup this is certainly a non-issue. You can make modifications and your player base should be like minded individuals with similar bugets and skill levels. But if you are a beginning player who is just looking to have some fun at the LGS then it is a real issue. I feel it is very similar to the main problem standard has. It is sold as the step after kitchen table, however when players go to FNM they run into guys who think they are training for the Pro Tour.

21

General Magic / Re: A new non-rotating format derived from Arena

« on: December 14, 2018, 04:25:23 pm »

I'm wondering if there is a way to add previous sets without killing MTGO and the market that so many players have their money invested in. I got out of my collection when arena rolled out, not because I feel WotC wants to kill it but that the player base would kill the value of the cards through panic. (already happening)

22

General Magic / A new non-rotating format derived from Arena

« on: December 13, 2018, 06:54:27 pm »

Arena is going to need changes moving forward regarding its formats. My question pertains to if arena will cause the creation of a new format to include cards that are on the platform (once existing sets begin to rotate out of standard). Currently there is no way to exchange your cards, not for a reasonable value at least. I'm just thinking ahead to what happens when all those x4 Mythics players own are no longer standard playable. That is a lot of time and in some cases money invested into earning cards no longer playable outside of casual MTG.

Everyone is on an Arena high right now, but I think there is a crash to come unlike anything we've ever seen at standard rotation in the past. A rotation where your cards have no other format to be played in outside of casual and cannot be sold is going to be a monumental fail. I really assume WotC has planned ahead on this one. This might not hit the gamer section of the Arena player base hard, but entrenched MTG players are going to backlash against this if there is not a proper plan in place (either a new format or the expansion into past sets opening up existing formats.

23

General Magic / Re: What would Modern be like if we limited fetch lands to 4 per deck

« on: December 13, 2018, 06:39:03 pm »

I think making major changes to any format is never a good call once the format is well established. That being said, I think if WotC ever sanctions a new "eternal" (I know that is not technically correct to call modern eternal) then they should consider banning cards that search decks from the outset. This would never happen, but it would prevent a lot of shuffling and hold down some abusive decks from surfacing over time. If the player base knows in advance that something would be banned then it is so much better.

I personally think it is a good time for WotC to look at a new non-rotating format and to get out in front of the possible issues it may have. Arena is the perfect vehicle to promote the new format (start where arena's card base starts). They could look at all the issues that developed over time for modern and take preventative measures at the outset of the format. 

24

General Magic / Potential New Format

« on: November 13, 2018, 04:30:22 pm »

Ok, so this was an interesting statement I came across randomly today. In an article on tcgplayer Jon Corpora states that players have been speculating heavily lately on Dig Through Time and Heart of Kiran. He says his research into this has uncovered that players believe that a new format that is designed much like Frontier is coming down the pipeline soon. These players are basing this partly off of artwork for Ultimate Masters.

I'm not sure if this is something WotC has planned, but I hope it is. I played a fair amount of frontier for a while and had fun doing so. Not a bad thing to have another supported format to play on MTGO.

One note on those players making those speculations: if that format breaks Dig Through Time would likely be banned pretty quickly and wouldn't Smuggler's Copter be more likely to hit than Heart of Kiran? Not that they both couldn't hit, but don't they remember how broken Copter was? The card would be everywhere.

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General Magic / Where does Golgari go from here in standard?

« on: November 02, 2018, 01:15:49 pm »

Mike Sigrist had an article on channelfireball today stating that he felt that the Golgari deck is being planned for to the point that the deck is "buried alive". The current deck, as it is, is not poised to do well in the meta, however he feels it is still a good deck.

It is undeniable that the deck is packed with powerful cards, I guess my question is where does the deck go from here? What changes do you feel need to be made to the deck? At the start of the format I thought there was a couple of different ways the deck could go. I'm wondering if the deck needs to lose the explore package in favor of a more aristocrats style package. I'm not saying go all in aristocrats, but Mike mentioned in the article, people playing Midnight Reaper did better as of late at major tournaments. I guess one problem with this strategy is that the format has gone towards exile removal which makes not just Midnight Reaper but also Find and Golgari Findbroker weaker options.

I've considered that maybe abzan is the proper direction to take, opening you up to: History of Benalia, Knight of Autumn, Settle the Wreckage, Shalai, maybe Lyra Dawnbringer. Going this route might move you into black being a splash color, and thus making you have to consider cutting your 4cmc cards due to casting issues. I'm not sure if that is the correct plan either.

The Golgari deck is also weak to flying and there is enough of that in the format right now. Myself, I have been on a boros flyers plan since the start of the format and have found it does very well. Since the popularization of the drake deck I have gone more towards an exile removal package and it has strengthened my matchup against golgari even more. I just wonder if the meta just makes Golgari unplayable since it feels that most of the other top decks in the format do well against it.

As Sigrist says in the article, it feels like the golgari deck has to plan for playing against 3 or 4 very different matchups while also planning heavily for the mirror, therefore making it weak against everything. Maybe a change they need to make is to stop game planning as much for the mirror. It seems that last set of main board changes to the deck all revolved around beating the mirror, after a few weeks in a row of poor showings at top end events there may not be as many mirror matches. I have noticed myself (on MTGO) that there is a strong decrease in the amount of Golgari pairings I have had lately, it seems Izzet is everywhere on there right now.

What are your thoughts on the direction of the deck?

26

General Magic / Which card is better: Lyra Dawnbringer vs Doom Whisperer

« on: November 01, 2018, 06:23:03 pm »

I'm going to be doing a series of posts where people simply pick which card is the better MTG card and then give reasoning to back it up. You choose your own reasoning for why the card is better (better means different things to different people).


#1 Lyra Dawnbringer vs Doom Whisperer

I feel these two match up very well in power level and both are powerhouses of the standard environment. The 5cmc creature slot is very weak right now in standard, and these two are clearly the two most powerful options on their own. So, which is better and why?

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General Magic / Most underrated current evergreen keyword on creatures?

« on: October 20, 2018, 01:48:46 am »

What do you feel is the most underrated evergreen keyword on creatures?

My choice is first strike.

First strike gets overlooked so often when people evaluate creatures.

Look at the current standard meta. Goblin Chainwhirler is busted, but I believe the most unnecessary part is giving it first strike. It wins in combat against so many other creatures at around the same cmc. Knight of Grace is another example. If it hits 3 power it wins combat versus a crap ton of stuff, but even at 2 power it can still cause a lot of issues for an opponent blocking.

The other part that makes first strike so amazing is that it has so many tricks that people overlook:
1) The fact that it applies damage first allows for all kinds of shenanigans. Use a Knight of Grace to block a Golgari Findbroker and then Shock it while the first strike damage is being applied. Your Knight survives and kills the Findbroker.
2) Use the fight mechanic with first strike and see what happens. Super fun. Lyra Dawnbringer is awesome with this. Watch an opponent mistakenly try to use a Kraul Harpooner to kill Lyra. Ok, your Harpooner dies, Lyra survives, and I gain life from the lifelink. Funny.

I feel some people may argue for deathtouch. Well deathtouch can trade up, but it is going to die to every creature that it would die to in combat against anyway. First strike allows your creature to survive where a creature with the same stats would not. And let's not forget that in combat first strike trumps deathtouch as it deals damage first.

That's my thoughts. Anyone else have a choice they'd like to make a case for?

28

Deck Reviews / Re: Looking for Improvement Advice on Boros Standard Build

« on: October 03, 2018, 01:41:48 pm »

Saying the Fire-Shrine Keeper is bad may be going too far, but at the same time it is not good. I get the logic of mentoring it, then you have a 2/2 or 3/3 with menace. Solid attacker then. What you really want is to either have haste or self pump with mentor. The haste is so good because you can play it after turn 1 and still have it be useful. If you play a Fanatical Firebrand on turn 4, then it can attack that turn and get a mentor trigger right away. The ability on the Fire-Shrine keeper may as well not exist at all, you are never getting to 8 mana in this deck (and if you do you are in trouble lol).

Some other cards to consider are:
Runaway Steam-Kin, it gets pretty big since pretty much every card you play is red and is a good late game payoff removing counters.
Experimental Frenzy- it's worth trying out instead of Risk Factor. When it goes off, it goes off big. Your curve may be too high right now for this card though, so maybe not.

P.S. The current deck you have built looks pretty solid. You should have some good results with this deck.

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Deck Reviews / Re: Looking for Improvement Advice on Boros Standard Build

« on: October 02, 2018, 07:42:34 pm »

I'm not a master deckbuilder or anything myself, but I will lay out some tips for you as best I can. I'll be pretty honest and blunt, but only to help.

1) Cut all the green, it is creating confusion in the deck. You are building a boros deck (by the looks of it primarily red).

2) Mana base tips:
*You can't play that mana base and play Goblin Chainwhirler. At most one land, maybe two,  that cannot produce red.
*Your curve goes up to 5, so you start with 25 lands. That is the norm (without playing cards that accelerate your mana).

*Here is a mana base better suited for your deck.
-Sacred Foundry x4, Clifftop Retreat x4, Boros Guildgate x4, Evolving Wilds x2, Plains x1, Mountains x10.

*Playing Guildgates is bad in standard, however if you want to play Goblin Chainwhirler and Lyra Dawnbringer in the same deck that requires at least 15 white sources of mana, and like i said to cast Chainwhirler turn three you want pretty much every land to provide red.

3) You are playing too many 3cmc creatures. Instead of playing the Skynight Legionnaire (it's not great) try playing x4 Chainwhirler, x4 Legion Warboss, and x2 Tajic (because it is legendary). That is still 10 3cmc creatures, but the are your best ones. ***If you find you are still drawing too many cut a Legion's Warboss.

4) One of your 1cmc creatures is very good and the other is pretty bad. Keep the Goblin Banneret because the mentor and pump is really good in your deck. Drop the Fire Shrine Keeper for something like Fanatical Firebrand or Ghitu Lavarunner (only Lavarunner if you play a lot of instants and sorceries, so Firebrand probably better here).

5) I was going to say cut the Demotion, but it serves a purpose. I'd play straight removal myself, but to each their own.

6) You are playing 12 "support cards", cut it to 8. What I mean is that these are cards such as removal or card draw that cannot attack (which is your decks main objective). Maybe try x2 Risk Factor, x2 Lava Coil, x4 Lightning Strike. The ability to damage the opponent with Lightning Strike is important for you as you are an aggressive deck and those 3 damage can finish a game.
*Seal Away is not as good in your deck as in other decks since you are the aggressor and you want to remove blockers.

7) As far as a sideboard, you do have some decent pieces. Shalai and Remorseful Cleric stay. Response is good, could be in the main deck instead. I'd play Settle the Wreckage or Defeaning Clarion in the sideboard as a sweeper...Wreckage is one-sided so probably better for you if you play against other aggro decks. banefire is great against control. Experimental Frenzy is a whacky card that can go off pretty big against slower decks. Conclave Tribunal is a nice catch all in the sideboard, that you can convoke in this deck. Finally, play a couple Shock to play against other aggro decks.

*The bones of the deck are really nice, it just needs some fine tuning. A good rule when building decks is to put together 28 cards first that fit the theme of your deck (creatures that pound face). These cards should be creatures or cards that help your creatures. Next add in 7/8 support cards (cards that give you card advantage-removal or card draw). Step 3 add your lands. Chainwhirler is a difficult one to do, but generally if you play a card that is 1RR then that requires 17 sources of red...it counts down by one source for each you go up the curve (2RR=16, 3RR=15,....)

*In the sideboard you want cards that answer particular threats or replace cards in your main deck that are weak aganst certain archetypes. What i mean by the second part is Lava Coil does nothing against control, so you need a card to replace for that matchup.

Hope any of this was helpful. Good luck with your deck.

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Deck Comments / Re: Best Golgari Graveyard Strategy? (Aristocrats) Deck 2 of 4 - Comments

« on: October 02, 2018, 01:46:22 pm »

To the comments:

Finnish Flash
1) I think Abnormal EnduranIt might be a little cute for the main deck, but you'd need to test it to see. If the meta is heavy midrange or control then it looks solid.
2) Song of Freyalise is more of a tokens card IMO. While this deck has some tokens, it probably has better homes then here since usually you are just playing one creature per turn most games.
3) I agree Plaguecrafter is a bit clunky, I anticipating a lot of green stompy in this standard, at least for a while, so it is nice to have a main board answer to hexproof.
*I appreciate all the suggestions, it's funny that I was thinking over an abzan deck today that Song of Freyalise will go perfect in.

Mister Ri
1) Torgaar is a very interesting possibility that I never gave much thought. It's a huge sac engine that can save your butt or cut down an opponent. Besides being a solid body. Really interesting.
2) Rite of Belzenlok being 4cmc is the killer. It is such a busy slot. It does do everything you want to do with this deck though.
3) I think Aristocrats will be a real thing upon the release of Ravnica Allegience. I really expect Orzhov to contribute to this archetype.
4) I had a one of Journey to Eternity in the deck originally, but I just don't  like aura's lol. If you time it right JtE overcomes the normal aura issues, but if the opponent has mana up you can't cast it in fear of the two for one. It is awful powerful if you stick it though.
*I am definitely using some of these suggestions. Thanks. I anxious to see if a Golgari graveyard strategy can be tier 1 (or close), i just think the cards don't work well enough together. I bet the best parts simply slide into a midrange deck with little care of the graveyard. Hopefully not.