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Author Topic: More Primers, Please  (Read 817 times)

Slyvester12

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More Primers, Please
« on: March 18, 2020, 02:34:27 am »
WizardSpartan mentioned that this site has a lack of primers compared to Tappedout, and we both made Ezuri primers. I'm currently working on one for my Scion of the Ur-Dragon deck. They're a lot of work, but I've had a lot of fun trying to explain and present my favorite decks for other people to see and maybe try out. It's also made me realize that I would really, really like to see primers on other people's pet decks.

Sure, not every deck or even most decks deserve a primer. But those decks that have stuck with us for years, have been slowly improved over dozens of iterations and games, the decks that have taken genuine efforts of imagination and labors of love to improve--those are the decks that I want to have primers. Morganator and Soren could talk about their favorite cEDH decks (Edric and Sliver Hulk, right?), WWolfe could tell us about his Sidisi deck, MustaKotka could share his Merieke Ri Berit deck. There are a lot of regulars on this site, and reading their posts over time gives you a pretty good idea of what their favorite decks are. After hearing so much about them in random allusions and requests for help or advice, I'd really be interested in hearing more about how they actually work.

Again, I'm not suggesting that people need a primer to understand every Krenko, Mob Boss goblin swarm deck, or even these more complicated decks. But, I think it would help grow the site and I expect people would really enjoy reading about the decks we spend so much time testing and revising. (I also understand if people are waiting for the primer builder update Nils has mentioned working on, but I'm a tad impatient because the coronavirus still has Japanese schools closed and my job consists of looking at Deckstats and pretending to work at the moment.)
« Last Edit: March 18, 2020, 02:42:16 am by Slyvester12 »
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Morganator 2.0

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Re: More Primers, Please
« Reply #1 on: March 18, 2020, 03:08:58 am »
Again, I'm not suggesting that people need a primer to understand every Krenko, Mob Boss goblin swarm deck

Okay... but I'm still going to do that.

Ideally if you're writting a primer it's for a deck that you know a lot about. You have a more than decent idea of what cards work and what doesn't work. You've taken different approaches to deckbuilding, and you're able to give advice to other deckbuilders.

With this in mind, I'll see what I can do...

Slyvester12

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Re: More Primers, Please
« Reply #2 on: March 18, 2020, 03:16:15 am »
My point was more that primers shouldn't only be to explain complicated decks, but to detail all of the choices that went into building decks that have been repeatedly refined. I'm equally as interested in a Krenko primer as in a combo deck primer.
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Red_Wyrm

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Re: More Primers, Please
« Reply #3 on: March 18, 2020, 04:51:51 am »
Krenko is mine, Morgy. Make a primer of your Lavania deck :p

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Nils

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Re: More Primers, Please
« Reply #4 on: March 18, 2020, 10:12:34 am »
I would love to see more primers here, so I am definitely keen to do as much as I can do support this!

As you mentioned I am hoping to launch the Markdown formatting soon. But there isn't really any downside to using markdown syntax in your descriptions now already. For the moment you will have some extra characters in the text but as soon as I turn on the new formatting those will automatically get converted into headings, lists, etc.

Here is a quick overview over some of the things I am planning to support:

Code: [Select]
# Markdown example
The line above will become a heading because it is prefixed with an #.

## Introduction
Two ## make a sub-heading.

Leave an empty line to make a new paragraph. **This text will be shown in bold**, *while this will be in italics*.

You can also make lists by starting lines with a dash - or insert a link [like this](https://deckstats.net).

## > Hidden sections
If you start a section heading with a > after the # then it will be hidden by default, and can be revealed by clicking on the heading.

## Lists
Here is a list of a few items:

- item1
- item2
- item3

## Advanced syntax
You can even make tables:

First Header | Second Header
------------ | -------------
Content from cell 1 | Content from cell 2
Content in the first column | Content in the second column

I would also suggest that you add the tag "Primer" to any primers you write. It will be good to have a way of finding all the primers quickly.

I think once we have a few of these we could also make a separate primer forum to collect and discuss them in one place.
« Last Edit: March 18, 2020, 11:05:41 am by Nils »

Aetherium Slinky

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Re: More Primers, Please
« Reply #5 on: March 18, 2020, 12:07:02 pm »
How are we planning to make the primers more visible? Should there be an actual primer section for most popular primers or is this just something that is searchable through the search engine? Could the search engine support primers in more ways than just tags?
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Nils

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Re: More Primers, Please
« Reply #6 on: March 18, 2020, 12:13:20 pm »
Adding the tag would just be the first step. One way to further highlight them would be to have a separate Primer Forum as I mentioned, but I would also consider supporting them in other ways. For example, we could think about having a separate page listing all the primers or showing the latest primers on the home page.

WizardSpartan

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Re: More Primers, Please
« Reply #7 on: March 18, 2020, 02:12:51 pm »
When I make one post discussing primers and all this starts:


I like it Nils! One question: For the hidden sections, how would you end a hidden section. Would you just do an empty line?

WWolfe

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Re: More Primers, Please
« Reply #8 on: March 18, 2020, 02:25:31 pm »
Since it appears we're going to have plenty of time, I may consider doing one or two.
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CleanBelwas

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Re: More Primers, Please
« Reply #9 on: March 18, 2020, 02:54:28 pm »
I've been working on one for my Dante's Inferno deck:

http://deck.tk/0Uah0Tm5

Here's what I've got so far. Any suggestions and advice for improvements are welcome, as ever.



# About the deck
This deck is shit. Do not play it. You will lose. I've played it more than 20 times and haven't won a game with it yet.

# But CleanBelwas, Athreos isn't used to portray Dante. Why is he the Commander and not Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim?
Ayli is shit and Athreos is good. Athreos and Greed were the two cards that made me want to build the deck in the first place.

# How does this deck win?
You have to hope someone gets to below 3 life. Then, with Athreos out, cast Blood Pet, sacrifice it, target the low life player with the Athreos trigger, they can't pay. Use the black mana to recast Blood Pet once it's back in your hand. Get infinite cast and death triggers. Hope you have Field of Souls on the board and all the spirits can survive a turn cycle.

Alternatively, sometimes Fallen Angel can just kill people. I think Fallen Angel is the card that has swung the most stalemates in my favour out of all of my Magic history. It's just generically good in quite a boring way.

# What's a good opening hand?
Anything with more than one land. This deck does not have enough lands.

# Notable inclusions
Gary is pretty good sometimes. Also, we managed to find a legitimate thematic excuse to include a Sol Ring

# Notable Exclusions
All of the good black and white cards.

# Conclusion
THIS DECK IS SHIT. DO NOT PLAY IT.

Nils

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Re: More Primers, Please
« Reply #10 on: March 18, 2020, 03:31:50 pm »
I like it Nils! One question: For the hidden sections, how would you end a hidden section. Would you just do an empty line?

Everything up to the next section heading will be considered part of the hidden section. So to end a hidden section, just start the next section.

This will also keep track of the level (ie. how many # you used). A section started with "#>" will extend until the next section starting with a single "#" and a section started with "##>" will extend until the next section starting with "##" or "#". So for example, you can still use "###" to mark sub-sections within a hidden section started with "##>".

Aetherium Slinky

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Re: More Primers, Please
« Reply #11 on: March 18, 2020, 03:35:31 pm »
Since you asked nicely I'm now putting together a Mer Ber primer. Man it's a lot of work but I hope someone reads it at some point!

EDIT: And it's done. Go and have a read: https://deckstats.net/forum/index.php?language=english-utf8&topic=53363
« Last Edit: March 18, 2020, 05:06:01 pm by MustaKotka »
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WizardSpartan

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Re: More Primers, Please
« Reply #12 on: March 18, 2020, 04:26:53 pm »
If you write fast and know what you're talking about, it's pretty easy to knock out in one sitting during one afternoon. It's surprisingly fast, especially if you know specifically what type of stuff you will be writing about.

@Nils: That makes sense. Sounds good to me! Tell us when it's implemented!

CleanBelwas

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Re: More Primers, Please
« Reply #13 on: March 19, 2020, 10:18:25 am »
Seriously guys, your primers are all looking sick. Great jobs all of you.

You've inspired me to make a serious one. Mono black aristocrats is my jam so I'll be working on that over the coming days. I hope to do you all proud and not lower the excellent standard you have all set.

Nils

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Re: More Primers, Please
« Reply #14 on: March 26, 2020, 11:13:53 pm »