Hello and welcome back to In General. In this series we talk about a vast array of topics relating, sometimes only loosely, to the game of Magic. Last week we discussed Advantage and several key measurements you can use to decide who has the advantage in a given game or matchup. That article can be found: Here! Today we will conclude our discussion of advantage in MtG by discussing two of the more complex theories: Interaction advantage and Mana Sum Theory.
Interaction Advantage:
Interaction is a word that gets tossed around quite a bit in coverage. Simply put, interaction is the name for using your cards to negate, nullify, circumvent, or overcome your opponents cards. Duress-ing your opponent's hand? Interactive. Countering an opposing spell? Interactive. Blocking and incoming attacker? Interactive. Interaction is the capability of your cards to do something meaningful about the opponent's cards. The person with more cards that can FAVORABLY interact with their opponent has the interaction advantage. To illustrate, let's talk about two examples:
Have you ever played a match where you went to side boarding and thought...'I have nothing good to bring in'? Even worse, have you been in the situation where you have so many dead cards to take out that you just don't have enough good cards to replace them? This is a telltale sign that you are at an interaction disadvantage.
Second scenario: Generic Burn deck vs. Generic Combo deck (think Modern Twin vs Mono Red Burn). These archetypal match-ups tend to play out as pure race scenarios. Because neither player has any ability to interact with the other, they are forced to simply win faster in order to win at all.
A simply way to quantify interaction advantage is to take each card in your deck, multiply the number of copies of that card by the number of cards that it interacts favorably against in your opponent's deck. If you sum up these values for all cards in a player's deck you will have what I call the Interaction Index, or I^2 value. The theoretical maximum is 3600 and the minimum is, of course, 0. The higher the number the more interactive your deck is.
There are some problems with using interaction as an advantage metric though. As I pointed out above, you can build purely non-interactive decks in MtG. Some are very strong in fact. These decks have an I^2 of close to zero, but are still very good. E.g. ANT in Legacy. Secondly, interaction is a highly reactive strategy element. There are many formats where simply having a strong proactive game plan is superior to trying to disrupt your opponent's strategy. E.g. Triple Theros Draft or Cube. Lastly, consider the nature of interactive cards, i.e. removal, counterspells, and disruption. They each only work at specific times. Thoughtseize won't interact with a Creature that is already in play. Having the broadest possible answers, and a good mix of different kinds of answers, is necessary to having a strong interactive deck, but that isn't any guarantee of victory.
Mana Sum Theory:
So far, most of the advantage metrics I have discussed break down when you try to use them on 'unfair' decks. Combo decks tend to use resources in an unconventional way; combining cards to generate more than the sum of their parts. Most combo decks though, still utilize the core mechanic of the game: using mana to cast spells. Finally we have a theory that can successfully measure advantage even among decks that aren't trying to win in the same way.
The mana sum is a measurement of how much mana you SPEND throughout the game. Not just how many lands you get into play, but how much mana actually gets used to DO SOMETHING. The idea that drives this theory is that most cards are balanced using their mana cost; meaning that each unit of mana has some value in the context of the game. It is a measurement of the power to produce effects. With no mana, or nothing to spend your mana on, you cannot affect the game state. This conclusively explains both flood and screw, which are difficult corner cases for other theories to evaluate.
Mana sum theory also elegantly accesses the idea of mana efficiency. Using ALL your mana on every turn is a very easy way to get ahead in a game. Think of an aggro deck's 'god draw'. It is hard to beat a deck that curves out perfectly because they are constantly doing the most they can to affect the board on every turn.
To evaluate who has the advantage in mana sum you simply need to add up all the mana that you have spent in the game and compare it to your opponents. You will be surprised how often the player who spends the most, wins the most.
And now, one final note. Despite the fact that mana sum theory is our most robust, most developed advantage theory, it still has a few problems, but they are somewhat niche. Free spells and effects that don't require mana (like tap abilities) are definitely useful in the game, but do not add to your mana sum. This can mislead you into thinking that your deck isn't doing as much as it really is. Also, Dredge. The perennial boogie man of the Legacy format, and Magic in general, Dredge wins easily by spending little or sometimes no mana. The mechanics of this deck are so unconventional that we really don't have a good way to describe it.
There is not a grand unified theory of advantage in Magic, but there is an abundance of good indicators you can use to assess who is ahead. I hope that this article has helped you learn about a few new ones so that you may grow in your ability to analyze the game. As always, leave any comments or questions below. I'll see you again next Sunday when we begin coverage of Conspiracy!
-GG
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Thursday, May 29, 2014
THE RETURN OF ILL-GOTTEN GAMES!
Last year, I attempted to make video content for the blog. It was an interesting first experiment, but there were significant issues with the quality of the production as well as the technology platform I was using to record. I vowed to return when I could produce higher quality videos, with clearer audio, and no disappearing recordings. That time has come. The second coming begins now.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Card Corner: Skeletal Scrying
Today's card is Skeletal Scrying, an odd little card I picked up a couple years ago for a Toshiro Umezawa deck.
After travelling a while from various places, SS has found a nice home in my dopey Dromar deck, the home of Instant-speed silliness and supreme durdling.
Back in Toshiro, Skeletal Scrying had a big problem- finding the balance between how many cards wanted to be exiled from the graveyard. For a black card to do this, it is rather counterintuitive, but still understandable from a flavor perspective. To dig for more resources, we must give up the color's favorite resource, and an equal amount of life.
Consistently, it was drawing me 1-2, maybe four cards if I was lucky. So I cut it, and eventually took that deck apart because it was mechanically tough to play anyway.
What's great about it in Dromar is that all of these problems are basically moot. Playing control, I don't have a lot of creatures, I don't mind taking damage and paying life to get more stuff, and with a bunch of older cards, I have nothing to recur. At Instant speed, the value is also tough to beat. Holding up counterspell mana looks the same as holding it up for Skeletal Scrying, and I don't have the silly end step requirement of a card like Necrologia, or the limits of other cards with similar functions (Promise of Power, Moonlight Bargain).
Overall, the results have been great. Being able to keep the X cost variable is what makes this useful too. I've used it for anywhere between 3-7 cards, and found that it's a decent budget card for multi-colored decks dedicated to control and mostly uninterested in having a graveyard. It can even protect your Graveyard, if you have a metagame where that's troublesome too.
Skeletal Scrying- Full of flavor, decent artwork, and a cheap flexible role player, if you like getting a chunk of cards. Try it out, and share your comments below.
Pass.
-UL
Saturday, May 24, 2014
In General: Advantage Theories: Metrics
Hello and welcome to In General. In this series we talk about broad topics related to the game of Magic. In today's article we will be discussing advantage. Advantage is a word that gets used a lot in coverage or commentary on games. It is simple in theory: the person with the advantage is the person more likely to win that game. The tricky bit is to analyze the game state and decide who has the advantage. Boards in Magic can get very complex. Even at their most simple, they are constantly changing as players acquire new cards and can take more actions on each turn.
Many Magic writers have discussed the topic of advantage theory throughout the games history. Names like Zvi Mowshowitz, Michael J. Flores, Patrick Chapin (congrats on the PT Win), have had formative influences on the development of these theories. Treatise on this subject have been as specific as single game analysis and as broad as full-length novels.
No single theory is perfect for determining a victor ahead of time and there are several different metrics by which we can measure who has the advantage. Let's take a look at a few important ones:
Advantage Metrics
Mana Advantage - Who has access to more mana? This implies that more mana means the ability to make more plays or more impactful plays. This is a good metric for control mirror matches, but isn't as good when lands are 'dead draws' such as in aggro decks or late game limited scenarios. If you find yourself wanting to draw a land at all points in the game, that is a good signal that the having the mana advantage is important to winning the matchup.
Card Advantage - This is about who has access to more cards. Count up all the physical cards that you have in your hand and add that to the number of cards you have in play. Whichever player has the higher total has the advantage in cards. This is an important statistic in any mirror match, or in any match where the winner is likely to be decided by the 'last threat standing'. Any deck that mixes both threats and removal cares about card advantage because having more of either means you can simply overwhelm your opponent. There are problems with this though:
1. This metric assumes all cards have a standard value or are at least similar in value. This isn't true; value is both quantum and variable. Island has less impact on the game than Cruel Ultimatum, but early on the game you would rather have the Island because you can't even cast Cruel Ultimatum yet.
2. Some strategies don't depend on using their cards in an economical way. Mono Red Burn for example. This deck operates by discarding its own cards as they are played, exchanging cards for the opponent's life points. It is true that it takes a certain amount of burn spells to kill and thus some measure of card advantage is worth counting, but every card over that theoretical 20 damage mark is simply irrelevant.
Sometimes it is better to discuss Virtual Card advantage. This takes into account a more detailed assessment of the game state and the decks that are involved. Excess lands aren't useful to an aggro deck, so they won't be counted as cards. Creature tokens can be relevant to the board state, but they aren't a physical card. There are more examples to explore, but in short: a virtual card is something that isn't a card, but still 'counts as a card'. Conversely, even if you lose access to a physical card, it may not be a loss in card advantage if that card was already dead, i.e. not useful.
Resource Advantage - Resource advantage or materiel advantage is simply an aggregation of all your resources. Whoever has more of these total resources has the advantage. The problem with this valuation is deciding what weight to place on each resource. Simply put, not all resources are equally valuable to each deck. Storm Combo needs a critical mass of card draw and mana, but doesn't really care how many cards are left in their deck. Ad Nauseum requires a high life total, but once you translate that life into dozens of cards every other resource becomes abundant. Dredge would rather have cards in the graveyard than in the hand and some Dredge decks don't even require any mana to operate. What is the pattern here? 'Unfair' decks tend to be hard to evaluate from a resource angle because they are using specific combinations of cards that, when utilized in concert, create more than the expected value of those cards.
Tempo Advantage - Tempo or time advantage is a measure of how many turns a deck will need to win. The deck that can win in fewer turns from the current board state is advantaged. This is much better for evaluating unfair decks, but there are still a few problems. For one, tempo doesn't necessarily have to come in full turn increments. Sometimes you can pick up bits and pieces throughout the game that will eventually snowball into a large advantage later. Secondly, some decks don't have a specific time frame for when they want to kill the opponent. Consider the match-up of aggro vs. control. Aggro wants to kill a.s.a.p., but control decks only try to end the game once control of the game has already been established. In many of these games it seems as though things are 'over' long before the game actually ends. Either the aggro deck has tons of burn left in hand to kill the opponent whenever it is convenient or, on the opposite side, the control deck might be slow rolling a board sweeper which will make the game unwinnable for the opponent, but doesn't actually kill them.
Fundamental Turns - What we are discussing here is the Fundamental Turn. A turning point in the game that signals when advantage has shifted firmly into one side's favor. An example: Modern Splinter Twin combo. On turn four they will create infinite Pestermite tokens and attack for lethal. If they get to untap on turn four unmolested, they can simply combo off and win immediately. You must do something to disrupt them by that time or lose the game outright.
Inevitability - A consequence of the fundamental turn is Inevitability. If an aggro deck doesn't win in the early turns of the game, their chances of winning drop dramatically. This is the idea that, rather than trying to win by a specific turn, some decks chances of winning go up incrementally as long as the game goes on, edging ever-closer to certain victory. Take a look at this totally scientific chart that I made to illustrate:
What are the inflection points on this graph and what do they mean? Well, the aggro deck will be amassing forces and attacking throughout turns 1-3. On turn four or so though, the control deck will cast a board sweeper which dramatically disadvantages the aggro deck. Turns 4-5 are spent doing nothing or casting more Creatures which are now irrelevant. On around turn 6 or so the control deck will deploy a massive finishing threat that the aggro deck cannot beat, which further drops their chances of winning near to zero. Ever resolute, note that the chance of winning approaches, but never actually reaches zero. THERE IS STILL HOPE! A top-decked burn spell or Haste Creature can still offer some small chance of victory.
Are you confused? Do you not quite understand what the fundamental turn is? Can two decks both have inevitability? Grandpa, why are you so bad at using MS Paint? Not to fear Zoners. These questions will all be answered in due time. Specifically, future In General articles.
The main idea that I want you to take away from today's post is this: there are many ways to think about advantage in Magic, many ways to GET an advantage, and each has specific strengths and weaknesses as a system of measurement. Next week we will be discussing two more advantage theories in-depth. Interaction Advantage and Mana Sum Theory. I am singling these two out because they are the most advanced, most developed, and most accurate predictors of success that we have.
See you next week.
-GG
Many Magic writers have discussed the topic of advantage theory throughout the games history. Names like Zvi Mowshowitz, Michael J. Flores, Patrick Chapin (congrats on the PT Win), have had formative influences on the development of these theories. Treatise on this subject have been as specific as single game analysis and as broad as full-length novels.
No single theory is perfect for determining a victor ahead of time and there are several different metrics by which we can measure who has the advantage. Let's take a look at a few important ones:
Advantage Metrics
Mana Advantage - Who has access to more mana? This implies that more mana means the ability to make more plays or more impactful plays. This is a good metric for control mirror matches, but isn't as good when lands are 'dead draws' such as in aggro decks or late game limited scenarios. If you find yourself wanting to draw a land at all points in the game, that is a good signal that the having the mana advantage is important to winning the matchup.
Card Advantage - This is about who has access to more cards. Count up all the physical cards that you have in your hand and add that to the number of cards you have in play. Whichever player has the higher total has the advantage in cards. This is an important statistic in any mirror match, or in any match where the winner is likely to be decided by the 'last threat standing'. Any deck that mixes both threats and removal cares about card advantage because having more of either means you can simply overwhelm your opponent. There are problems with this though:
1. This metric assumes all cards have a standard value or are at least similar in value. This isn't true; value is both quantum and variable. Island has less impact on the game than Cruel Ultimatum, but early on the game you would rather have the Island because you can't even cast Cruel Ultimatum yet.
2. Some strategies don't depend on using their cards in an economical way. Mono Red Burn for example. This deck operates by discarding its own cards as they are played, exchanging cards for the opponent's life points. It is true that it takes a certain amount of burn spells to kill and thus some measure of card advantage is worth counting, but every card over that theoretical 20 damage mark is simply irrelevant.
Sometimes it is better to discuss Virtual Card advantage. This takes into account a more detailed assessment of the game state and the decks that are involved. Excess lands aren't useful to an aggro deck, so they won't be counted as cards. Creature tokens can be relevant to the board state, but they aren't a physical card. There are more examples to explore, but in short: a virtual card is something that isn't a card, but still 'counts as a card'. Conversely, even if you lose access to a physical card, it may not be a loss in card advantage if that card was already dead, i.e. not useful.
Resource Advantage - Resource advantage or materiel advantage is simply an aggregation of all your resources. Whoever has more of these total resources has the advantage. The problem with this valuation is deciding what weight to place on each resource. Simply put, not all resources are equally valuable to each deck. Storm Combo needs a critical mass of card draw and mana, but doesn't really care how many cards are left in their deck. Ad Nauseum requires a high life total, but once you translate that life into dozens of cards every other resource becomes abundant. Dredge would rather have cards in the graveyard than in the hand and some Dredge decks don't even require any mana to operate. What is the pattern here? 'Unfair' decks tend to be hard to evaluate from a resource angle because they are using specific combinations of cards that, when utilized in concert, create more than the expected value of those cards.
Tempo Advantage - Tempo or time advantage is a measure of how many turns a deck will need to win. The deck that can win in fewer turns from the current board state is advantaged. This is much better for evaluating unfair decks, but there are still a few problems. For one, tempo doesn't necessarily have to come in full turn increments. Sometimes you can pick up bits and pieces throughout the game that will eventually snowball into a large advantage later. Secondly, some decks don't have a specific time frame for when they want to kill the opponent. Consider the match-up of aggro vs. control. Aggro wants to kill a.s.a.p., but control decks only try to end the game once control of the game has already been established. In many of these games it seems as though things are 'over' long before the game actually ends. Either the aggro deck has tons of burn left in hand to kill the opponent whenever it is convenient or, on the opposite side, the control deck might be slow rolling a board sweeper which will make the game unwinnable for the opponent, but doesn't actually kill them.
Fundamental Turns - What we are discussing here is the Fundamental Turn. A turning point in the game that signals when advantage has shifted firmly into one side's favor. An example: Modern Splinter Twin combo. On turn four they will create infinite Pestermite tokens and attack for lethal. If they get to untap on turn four unmolested, they can simply combo off and win immediately. You must do something to disrupt them by that time or lose the game outright.
Inevitability - A consequence of the fundamental turn is Inevitability. If an aggro deck doesn't win in the early turns of the game, their chances of winning drop dramatically. This is the idea that, rather than trying to win by a specific turn, some decks chances of winning go up incrementally as long as the game goes on, edging ever-closer to certain victory. Take a look at this totally scientific chart that I made to illustrate:
What are the inflection points on this graph and what do they mean? Well, the aggro deck will be amassing forces and attacking throughout turns 1-3. On turn four or so though, the control deck will cast a board sweeper which dramatically disadvantages the aggro deck. Turns 4-5 are spent doing nothing or casting more Creatures which are now irrelevant. On around turn 6 or so the control deck will deploy a massive finishing threat that the aggro deck cannot beat, which further drops their chances of winning near to zero. Ever resolute, note that the chance of winning approaches, but never actually reaches zero. THERE IS STILL HOPE! A top-decked burn spell or Haste Creature can still offer some small chance of victory.
Are you confused? Do you not quite understand what the fundamental turn is? Can two decks both have inevitability? Grandpa, why are you so bad at using MS Paint? Not to fear Zoners. These questions will all be answered in due time. Specifically, future In General articles.
The main idea that I want you to take away from today's post is this: there are many ways to think about advantage in Magic, many ways to GET an advantage, and each has specific strengths and weaknesses as a system of measurement. Next week we will be discussing two more advantage theories in-depth. Interaction Advantage and Mana Sum Theory. I am singling these two out because they are the most advanced, most developed, and most accurate predictors of success that we have.
See you next week.
-GG
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
UL's Better Deckbuilding: Melira, Sylvok Outcast EDH
After months of testing a bunch of multi-colored failures, I decided to dedicate myself to another set of mono-colored Commander decks. Soon I'll have a double rainbow in my portfolio, and though I don't know what that's supposed to mean, they are surely going to be bright and vivid and bursting with cool ideas.
Melira's the first deck that's stuck in a couple months, and while my list isn't 100% tuned and ready, it is well enough long that we can talk about its oddities and its Hipster-chique today on TGZ.
WHY MELIRA?
Long story short, a Melira style deck is almost the exact opposite of all the things I'm doing in Silvos, my other mono-Green deck. Where Silvos costs 6, Melira costs 2. While Silvos beats face with his size and synergies, Melira's 2/2 body isn't likely to be winning with 21 Commander damage. And most importantly, while people might be expecting Silvos in the face, seeing Melira means people have a good idea that you're going to be doing something that's either 1) Not trying to win the game or 2) Something that exceeds what most people consider "fair."
| If this were an in-class assignment, the Design team's parents would've probably gotten a call to schedule a teacher conference. |
From Standard and Modern, Melira is a component to value when used with Birthing Pod and other sac outlets. However, without access to low-cost value like Murderous Redcap, Melira's breakability is held in serious check. Short of the beat-me-over-the-head nonsense with Woodfall Primus, Cauldron of Souls, and a very silly flyer damage trigger with Aerie Ouphes, we're left with little design space for a combo deck as resilient as Sharuum or Saffi- but it still has potential.
THE STRATEGY
So with a few nice combo tricks with your basic sac outlet package (Phyrexian/Ashnod's Altar, Altar of Dementia, Birthing Pod, and Greater Good), we can assemble some infinite nastiness with Woodfall/Ouphes and give this deck a powerful backbone. This is why I've jokingly called it, "Bad Saffi." But how do we get there? How do we make it consistent? How do we make it resilient?
The answer was simple: We create engines to go along with what we've got already. So we splash in a little bit of the artifact power I use in Glissa T's, and Voila! Like Frankenstein's Monster, Melira's beginning to will herself into an identity. It's Alive!
Although the design is going to be similar, and even have some cards in the other two, it's still got to be different and consistent. So let's look at what gets powered up in this design.
THE CARDS
I only have one copy of Woodfall, mostly so I won't totally abuse it. Still, this is the first time it's been a featured part of what I'm trying to do in a deck, and I think that always makes certain cards in any decks, like people in certain job positions, a lot more powerful. Specializing the labor, as I've said before, makes bad cards better, and better cards great.
The optimal setup is to get Woodfall in with Altar of Dementia and Melira, for super-feel-bad-rage-quits. That sounds pretty aggressive, but it's like any other red button- just because it's there, doesn't mean you have to push it. Without access to reliable artifact tutors, it doesn't necessarily mean you're going to get there either.
Still, I don't mind the challenge. I'm potentially looking into playing Darksteel Colossus as a way to give the deck a little more of that "Green Beats Down" plan, as well as a little sturdiness for the mill combo decks that have begun to start popping around (Phenax is a problem).
What's better about Forgemaster over Weatherlight is that I have the option of beating face, it can be sacrificed, and I can potentially target it with a Cauldron of Souls to get it back and re-use it. Real decks are never going to give me the chance, but in more casual 1v1 and multiplayer games I have been able to get this going.
With Genesis in the graveyard and sac outlets in play, it keeps your opponents holding up a lot of unnecessary removal in the early game. Later on, it can be trouble, but with Melira preventing poison strategy, and access to some incremental life gain in addition to not being attacked, it will probably be used to prevent you from going downhill at them moreso than them pointing at your guys to win the game, which I prefer most of the time.
Especially when Phil Collins and the gang (Before he sang Lion King songs, he was in a band called Genesis) can go get it back.
This is a card I'm particularly happy about because it's one I haven't been able to power-up in design. Most mono-Green decks want to get his ability in a force chump situation or battling with it downhill.
Here, I'm going to get his ability no matter what, and that's pretty cool.
I threw Rusalka in at the last minute, guessing I'd be taking it out later when I get my Phyrexian Altar in the mail this week, or another cheaper sac-outlet equivalent.
What I've realized through playtesting, is that the deck really needs this Starving Ghost Grandmother. It being a creature means I can tutor up an outlet. Our colors being green and having plenty of ways to get mana means this ability isn't hard to trigger, and gaining a little life along the way secures Starved Rusalka a spot in my starting 99 for now.
Also, another odd thing I realized was how much Birthing Pod still wants to have a few 1-drops, regardless of importance.
As it is a work in progress, here's the link, check it out, and be sure to give me some more ideas.
Melisandre Pod- Melira, Sylvok Outcast EDH
Pass Turn.
-UL
Monday, May 19, 2014
You Make the Pick #7: PT JOU Edition
Hey Zoners! Pro Tour Journey Into Nyx was this weekend and, if you're anything like me, you were glued to the webcast the entire weekend soaking up all the coverage you can get LIVE from Atlanta, Georgia. We were treated to a special treat early on in the tournament as we got to watch Pro Tour Theros champion Jeremy Dezani in the day one draft. Dezani is a hot topic right now as he was at the top of the standings for the Player of the Year race going into the event; an award which would cap off a stellar 2013-14 season if he can manage to win it.
So try to picture yourself in his shoes. You are playing the best Magic of your life, it is nine a.m. on the first day of the Pro Tour. You have flown all the way accross the Atlantic ocean, tested for countless hours over the past two weeks to familiarize yourself with the new draft format, there is $40,000 up for grabs, and Player of the Year honors at stake. This is the pack you open:
Rather than tell you about the pack myself, I am going to let you hear it straight from the former PT champ himself. Brian David Marshall met up with Dezani live on stream to break down his picks and get some insight into the thought process he had as he was drafting. Check out the video here:
You can look over the draft viewer which lets you see every pick from every seat in Dezani's pod, as well as tons of other articles and videos at the PT coverage page here if you missed any of the action over the weekend: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/ptjou14/welcome
So now you know the stakes, you've heard the analysis, and you know what Dezani took. The only question left is...what would you pick?
So try to picture yourself in his shoes. You are playing the best Magic of your life, it is nine a.m. on the first day of the Pro Tour. You have flown all the way accross the Atlantic ocean, tested for countless hours over the past two weeks to familiarize yourself with the new draft format, there is $40,000 up for grabs, and Player of the Year honors at stake. This is the pack you open:
Rather than tell you about the pack myself, I am going to let you hear it straight from the former PT champ himself. Brian David Marshall met up with Dezani live on stream to break down his picks and get some insight into the thought process he had as he was drafting. Check out the video here:
You can look over the draft viewer which lets you see every pick from every seat in Dezani's pod, as well as tons of other articles and videos at the PT coverage page here if you missed any of the action over the weekend: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/eventcoverage/ptjou14/welcome
So now you know the stakes, you've heard the analysis, and you know what Dezani took. The only question left is...what would you pick?
Sunday, May 18, 2014
In General: The Metagame Sheriff
It's a showdown. Pistols at high noon. An indeterminate number will enter, but only one will leave. Time to lay down the law! What am I talking about? Commander lawbreakers beware, there is a new sheriff in town...you!
Today I am going to be discussing some tips on how to adapt to a degenerate play environment. I call this philosophy: taking responsibility for your metagame. To best demonstrate what this means and when it is appropriate, I will begin with what it ISN'T.
This isn't the fun police. I am not encouraging you to pick apart your playgroup's interests. Don't single people out. Don't be spiteful or malicious. I am advocating increasing the interaction in your games; increasing the amount of mental skill, and decision density. This should enhance the fun you have with Magic, not ruin it. Done correctly, this will also help you, and everyone you play, with grow as a player.
How to spot the problem
If you are in a degenerate metagame, then you are no stranger infinite combos, 'broken cards', or unfair collusion between players. Those aren't the only issues that could exist though. Stagnation is an equally large problem, and one that will occur more often for some groups. By stagnation I mean: a deck or decks that consistently win with the same cards. Do you have several different decks in your metagame that are looking to land an Elesh Norn, a Mindslaver, or an Eldrazi? If your play group is experiencing convergent evolution in their decks. That is, they have identified what is strong and are now abusing it, then games can get boring. It almost defeats the purpose of even playing. I don't want to live in a world where, no matter who wins or what deck they were playing, the game always ends the same way.
Be a disruptive force
So how do you prevent this? How do you combat it? Well the answer is two-fold. You need to be disruptive; both in the game and the mind.
1. You need to inspire, and foster, a culture of innovation. If the primary goal of play is to create an interesting and unique experience, it is less likely that you will fall into the same habits. In essence you must create a new way to 'win', adjusting the reward structure so that you compliment, validate, and encourage unique decks and cards instead of stagnant ones.
2. Play disruption. Play a ton of it. Play so much that you can literally hate out the stagnant metagame threats. Imagine if you had a constructed deck that was pre-sideboarded. It would hard for your opponent to win. That is what we are aiming for. Come armed with so much discard, land destruction, counters, and graveyard hate that your opponents will have to come up with a new idea.
I don't typically recommend this kind of card because it puts you behind on resources. You give up a card in your hand, but your opponent doesn't lose a card of his own. It does however let you dismantle combos and remove key win conditions. This makes it the perfect tool for what we are trying to do here. It also lets you see your opponents entire deck before you make your choice of what to remove; so this is even useful against unknown opponents. Kicking this is prohibitively expensive, but it is unlikely that an opponent can win after you resolve a kicked sacrament. You will simply have more removal in your deck than they have threats left in theirs, ensuring you win the long game.
A major cost will be incurred during deck building. You will have to use so much space on disruption and removal that you will have a dangerously low threat density. It is unlikely you will be able to win a typical multiplayer game. That is the sacrifice a hero has to make. It is no longer about you trying to win, but rather getting someone else to win in an interesting or innovative way.
Again, I am not advocating fighting a personal battle, but instead a philosophical one. Increasing the interactivity of your decks, increasing the interactivity of your games, and most importantly - your playgroup.
Next week, we will be discussing interaction more in-depth. The "Interaction Advantage", a phrase I first heard from Zach Hill, and how we can use it to build strong decks that promote the mental game of Magic. See you next week Zoners.
Today I am going to be discussing some tips on how to adapt to a degenerate play environment. I call this philosophy: taking responsibility for your metagame. To best demonstrate what this means and when it is appropriate, I will begin with what it ISN'T.
This isn't the fun police. I am not encouraging you to pick apart your playgroup's interests. Don't single people out. Don't be spiteful or malicious. I am advocating increasing the interaction in your games; increasing the amount of mental skill, and decision density. This should enhance the fun you have with Magic, not ruin it. Done correctly, this will also help you, and everyone you play, with grow as a player.
How to spot the problem
If you are in a degenerate metagame, then you are no stranger infinite combos, 'broken cards', or unfair collusion between players. Those aren't the only issues that could exist though. Stagnation is an equally large problem, and one that will occur more often for some groups. By stagnation I mean: a deck or decks that consistently win with the same cards. Do you have several different decks in your metagame that are looking to land an Elesh Norn, a Mindslaver, or an Eldrazi? If your play group is experiencing convergent evolution in their decks. That is, they have identified what is strong and are now abusing it, then games can get boring. It almost defeats the purpose of even playing. I don't want to live in a world where, no matter who wins or what deck they were playing, the game always ends the same way.
Be a disruptive force
So how do you prevent this? How do you combat it? Well the answer is two-fold. You need to be disruptive; both in the game and the mind.
1. You need to inspire, and foster, a culture of innovation. If the primary goal of play is to create an interesting and unique experience, it is less likely that you will fall into the same habits. In essence you must create a new way to 'win', adjusting the reward structure so that you compliment, validate, and encourage unique decks and cards instead of stagnant ones.
2. Play disruption. Play a ton of it. Play so much that you can literally hate out the stagnant metagame threats. Imagine if you had a constructed deck that was pre-sideboarded. It would hard for your opponent to win. That is what we are aiming for. Come armed with so much discard, land destruction, counters, and graveyard hate that your opponents will have to come up with a new idea.
| In a strange twist, Magic has literally dozens of cards that reference lobotomy. Juicy. |
A major cost will be incurred during deck building. You will have to use so much space on disruption and removal that you will have a dangerously low threat density. It is unlikely you will be able to win a typical multiplayer game. That is the sacrifice a hero has to make. It is no longer about you trying to win, but rather getting someone else to win in an interesting or innovative way.
Again, I am not advocating fighting a personal battle, but instead a philosophical one. Increasing the interactivity of your decks, increasing the interactivity of your games, and most importantly - your playgroup.
Next week, we will be discussing interaction more in-depth. The "Interaction Advantage", a phrase I first heard from Zach Hill, and how we can use it to build strong decks that promote the mental game of Magic. See you next week Zoners.
Saturday, May 17, 2014
The Stack #54- Comic Relief
Happy Weekend Zoners!
Often we find that the best "tell" for having fun is laughter. So we're bringing you what we believe are some of the funniest plays/cards that aren't part of an Un-set.
So get ready to kind of laugh. THIS IS THE STACK!
VENSER'S JOURNALIST'S PICK
Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
In terms of pure goofy, I find it hard to top this card. It's unexpected, so like many good jokes, timing is key when playing this card. You don't want to use this on a creature that has been Voltron-ed to no end, lest you be killed by the most badass frog in the history of MTG.
Flavor text is also part of what makes this card so funny. Brevity is the soul of wit. Nobody really likes pouring through mounds of flavor text on a card - unless it's the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote on Phantom Warrior. I appreciate Emerson's philosophies.
Though not the most effective Instant, Frogger here has originality and the kind of quirky personality that makes a card memorable for more than just its worth as an excellent spell.
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
Although I'm much more apt to use Snakeform or Lignify, turning real creatures into other things is fun.
One of the best tricks I've seen with TtF is casting this on a Szadek with a bunch of counters before damage was dealt. Although it doesn't thwart expectations innately, you should see the surprise on someone's face when they die to a Szadek because of General Damage.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS DOWN
Call me curmudgeonly, but I couldn't disagree more. Humor is about subverting expectations. This is giving me EXACTLY what I expected and I am not pleased. Sometimes the obvious can be funny, but it is usually when something obvious has been overlooked or undersold and doing this too much leads to the subject matter becoming cliche and therefore no longer funny.
This is hardly original. There are half a dozen cards, or more, that have an effect nearly identical to this one. Turning Creatures into cats, goats, snakes, random subtypes, etc - it is played out. R&D includes effects like this to spice up Blue Instants without printing overpowered countermagic. A noble goal, but they keep trying to hit the same note over and over again. Some players, who only ever see one or two of them, are seduced by the novelty and "quirk", but in reality this is a cookie cutter design. Pick out a new obscure Creature type and you're good to go.
Here is a real head game for you: the feeling of being 'small', i.e. overwhelmed and powerless, is uniquely human as far as we know. Why not make a card that turns things into humans? We have psychological struggles against ourselves that hamstring us all the time. Stress, expectations loss, inadequacy, jealousy, mortality. I guess it isn't as much fun when it 'gets real'.
GRANDPA GROWTH'S PICK
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
I am not going to make any attempt to justify this pick. Rather I will cue the video and let the chaos speak for itself. If you have ever wondered about that funny wording on Detention Sphere...well now you know why. Action begins at 1:55...and then grinds to a halt at about 2:00.
Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
Though not what I would call funny, O-Rings can cause some zany things to happen on the battlefield (like the video demonstrates). The endless O-Ring cycle is not a winning strategy, but more for those games where you just don't feel like letting anyone win.
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
Not an innately funny card, but definitely a funny situation. And like googling "Google," O-Ring-ing O-Rings will in fact, break the internet.
UNCLE LANDDROPS' PICK
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
Benefactor is a card that you'll probably see people play in Kingmaker/Group Hug decks. Now, I'll never get this archetype, so you'll never see me play it.
Still, I have to admit Noble Benefactor creates a very interesting subgame in my playgroup. This is a result of putting a lot of miles in against each other, and knowing what kinds of cards we tend to go get from our Rich Uncle.
The reason I find this card funny is that one of us almost always goes for Teferi's Puzzle Box, which is both cruel and against everything this card is supposed to do to the game. I find this strategy to be particularly hilarious, but I'm going to relish the day that someone goes to search up their Noble Benefactor, sac it, tutor up some Reanimation, rinse, and repeat, until we're all out of cards. I feel like this could be done. I think I'll hire a Johnny Think Tank to figure this one out.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
I have put some very limited play on this card. It is an interesting destabilizing element that can help excite new gameplay, but it is unlikely you will be able to actually leverage this to any significant advantage in a multiplayer setting. In 1-v-1, this is already heavily played. A sub-staple, if you will. I am not sure what this has to offer in terms of comedy value though. I haven't had any memorable/humorous stories arise because of it.
Because we're sure there's bound to be funnier things out there on the web, share them with us. We like funny stuff too.
-GG/VJ/UL
Often we find that the best "tell" for having fun is laughter. So we're bringing you what we believe are some of the funniest plays/cards that aren't part of an Un-set.
So get ready to kind of laugh. THIS IS THE STACK!
VENSER'S JOURNALIST'S PICK
In terms of pure goofy, I find it hard to top this card. It's unexpected, so like many good jokes, timing is key when playing this card. You don't want to use this on a creature that has been Voltron-ed to no end, lest you be killed by the most badass frog in the history of MTG.
Flavor text is also part of what makes this card so funny. Brevity is the soul of wit. Nobody really likes pouring through mounds of flavor text on a card - unless it's the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote on Phantom Warrior. I appreciate Emerson's philosophies.
Though not the most effective Instant, Frogger here has originality and the kind of quirky personality that makes a card memorable for more than just its worth as an excellent spell.
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
Although I'm much more apt to use Snakeform or Lignify, turning real creatures into other things is fun.
One of the best tricks I've seen with TtF is casting this on a Szadek with a bunch of counters before damage was dealt. Although it doesn't thwart expectations innately, you should see the surprise on someone's face when they die to a Szadek because of General Damage.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS DOWN
Call me curmudgeonly, but I couldn't disagree more. Humor is about subverting expectations. This is giving me EXACTLY what I expected and I am not pleased. Sometimes the obvious can be funny, but it is usually when something obvious has been overlooked or undersold and doing this too much leads to the subject matter becoming cliche and therefore no longer funny.
This is hardly original. There are half a dozen cards, or more, that have an effect nearly identical to this one. Turning Creatures into cats, goats, snakes, random subtypes, etc - it is played out. R&D includes effects like this to spice up Blue Instants without printing overpowered countermagic. A noble goal, but they keep trying to hit the same note over and over again. Some players, who only ever see one or two of them, are seduced by the novelty and "quirk", but in reality this is a cookie cutter design. Pick out a new obscure Creature type and you're good to go.
Here is a real head game for you: the feeling of being 'small', i.e. overwhelmed and powerless, is uniquely human as far as we know. Why not make a card that turns things into humans? We have psychological struggles against ourselves that hamstring us all the time. Stress, expectations loss, inadequacy, jealousy, mortality. I guess it isn't as much fun when it 'gets real'.
GRANDPA GROWTH'S PICK
I am not going to make any attempt to justify this pick. Rather I will cue the video and let the chaos speak for itself. If you have ever wondered about that funny wording on Detention Sphere...well now you know why. Action begins at 1:55...and then grinds to a halt at about 2:00.
Venser's Journalist- THUMBS UP
Though not what I would call funny, O-Rings can cause some zany things to happen on the battlefield (like the video demonstrates). The endless O-Ring cycle is not a winning strategy, but more for those games where you just don't feel like letting anyone win.
Uncle Landdrops- THUMBS UP
Not an innately funny card, but definitely a funny situation. And like googling "Google," O-Ring-ing O-Rings will in fact, break the internet.
UNCLE LANDDROPS' PICK
Benefactor is a card that you'll probably see people play in Kingmaker/Group Hug decks. Now, I'll never get this archetype, so you'll never see me play it.
Still, I have to admit Noble Benefactor creates a very interesting subgame in my playgroup. This is a result of putting a lot of miles in against each other, and knowing what kinds of cards we tend to go get from our Rich Uncle.
The reason I find this card funny is that one of us almost always goes for Teferi's Puzzle Box, which is both cruel and against everything this card is supposed to do to the game. I find this strategy to be particularly hilarious, but I'm going to relish the day that someone goes to search up their Noble Benefactor, sac it, tutor up some Reanimation, rinse, and repeat, until we're all out of cards. I feel like this could be done. I think I'll hire a Johnny Think Tank to figure this one out.
Grandpa Growth- THUMBS UP
I have put some very limited play on this card. It is an interesting destabilizing element that can help excite new gameplay, but it is unlikely you will be able to actually leverage this to any significant advantage in a multiplayer setting. In 1-v-1, this is already heavily played. A sub-staple, if you will. I am not sure what this has to offer in terms of comedy value though. I haven't had any memorable/humorous stories arise because of it.
Because we're sure there's bound to be funnier things out there on the web, share them with us. We like funny stuff too.
-GG/VJ/UL
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Easy Deck Pimping
Heya Zoners!
For most, pimping out an EDH deck means going foreign, foil, or both. Obviously, that's not going to come cheap.
So today, I'd like to run down a few subtle, less expensive ways to improve the deck aesthetic.
LANDS
Getting a uniform mana base is one of the cheapest ways to make your deck look nice. Strategically, this is more relevant in decks that run green. This is because your opponents can actually keep track of your land if they can remember the artwork and set. For example, the Zendikar full art lands, or any of the white border lands tend to stick out if someone goes to search for them. Unless the deck is playing all Zendikar lands, or they're all white-bordered, this could be easy to see.
Still, this is not just color-specific. While having a varying mana base can be a great way for you to count cards and study your own shuffle mechanics, it can also create distraction for you and your opponents. So there is value to collecting basics from each set, if that's what you like.
My favorite way is to try and collect lands with the same art and design template. Wizards of the Coast frequently reprints lands, so the set symbol won't necessarily matter more than the condition of a card.
With most basic lands and some specialties like Zendikar full art, obtaining uniformity might be a little trickier, so if you can't do it, focus on template more than artwork at first. Remember to pay special attention to "T" for tap versus the tap symbol, or just the big symbol in the box, etc. The more uniform the lands look, the less distracting and more impressive it looks on the battlefield.
Picking an artwork you like is cool (I'm partial to Ravnica and Return to Ravnica basics myself), but there is a further step you can take here- matching it to your Commander.
Mirage Plains Version C, which is here to my left, is one of the closest I found to matching the color palette for my Lin Sivvi deck. Not only is does it match color wise, but it's also a land from an older template, so it's yet another level of pimping.
Although it's a relatively old set, the only challenge is getting enough of them together for a mono-colored deck. Most of the old lands can be bought for less $.25, so re-doing lands won't cost more than $20 US plus shipping.
Doing multiple colors could be even easier, as the number of lands per color decrease, so you won't have to trade or buy from multiple places.
ALTERNATE ARTWORK
Although there are many played cards re-printed at FNM, GameDay, Prerelease, and for Judges, most of these cards are either a few bucks more or astronomically more than their originals. Obviously, we're not talking about old-bordered Swords reprints, or a full art Doran, or the new bordered Force of Will scheduled to come out soon.
What I'm talking about is something like altered Sakura-Tribe Elder, Elvish Visionary, or like the Everflowing Chalice below.
Between Duel Decks, Commander Products, and From The Vault, Wizards is always coming out with cool, different versions of cards every year. Like my old-bordered Dromar deck, having a deck featuring all alternate artwork has started to become a design theme, which is a nice way to be pimp without breaking the bank. Also, it's a lot more doable if you play multiple Magic formats and do well in those environments.
Back to this Everflowing Chalice. Some times, the color of the art is also more on theme. To me, this version is a lot better to look at, but the original artwork has more pink, so it might look nicer in an Aurelia deck, if we're going off of the Commander background.
Older sets also had different artworks for a lot of the same cards. Fallen Empires has three different copies of Hymn To Tourach. Additionally, there are many Core Set reprints for basic utility spells, like Naturalize and Disenchant. Now, I'm not condoning a huge compromise for themes, but picking out versions of cards that have a more aligned visual cohesion with your deck is more impressive to me than just finding whatever you can in foil.
SLEEVES
The last way, and perhaps the overall cheapest way to pimp a deck, is with sleeves.
I'll admit I'm a sleeve snob. Though they tend to break a lot, and are cut even worse, I prefer the color and texture-back Ultra Pro sleeves. I played a lot of Player's Choice and KMC at the beginning, but Ultra Pro tends to last better, I don't have artwork to protect, and they don't get "sticky."
As we've been talking about pimping, the ultimate principle of pimping has been to align and cater our stuff to fit our Commander. This is no different.
My requirements aren't so picky, but I do tend to avoid sleeving up a deck when my Commander looks bad in a certain color of sleeves. My original mono-colored decks all have sleeves that match their color identity, and my multi-colored ones have aesthetically pleasing alternatives.
Another great way to match up sleeves with your deck is to make them align with your theme. Recently, I've strayed from my loyalties to Ultra Pro and purchased these sweet House Stark sleeves as a pretty nice home for my new Isamaru deck.
Although he's not a direwolf, the artwork on the 2/2 hound and the backs of these sleeves have a similar menacing pose which, once again, really ties the deck together.
Now, I know none of this really should have an effect on how you play any deck, be it good or bad.
Still, any and all of these are little tweaks and adjustments you can make to help further your "connection" with the deck. This all about staying excited and wanting to keep certain decks around, and most times, just finding the right sleeves is enough to renew vigor in a deck you may have lost interest in playing.
If you have any cool ways to pimp out your deck that I've missed, or you'd would like me to help you pimp something out, leave me a comment below.
Have a great one. Turn's to you.
-UL
For most, pimping out an EDH deck means going foreign, foil, or both. Obviously, that's not going to come cheap.
So today, I'd like to run down a few subtle, less expensive ways to improve the deck aesthetic.
LANDS
Getting a uniform mana base is one of the cheapest ways to make your deck look nice. Strategically, this is more relevant in decks that run green. This is because your opponents can actually keep track of your land if they can remember the artwork and set. For example, the Zendikar full art lands, or any of the white border lands tend to stick out if someone goes to search for them. Unless the deck is playing all Zendikar lands, or they're all white-bordered, this could be easy to see.
Still, this is not just color-specific. While having a varying mana base can be a great way for you to count cards and study your own shuffle mechanics, it can also create distraction for you and your opponents. So there is value to collecting basics from each set, if that's what you like.
My favorite way is to try and collect lands with the same art and design template. Wizards of the Coast frequently reprints lands, so the set symbol won't necessarily matter more than the condition of a card.
With most basic lands and some specialties like Zendikar full art, obtaining uniformity might be a little trickier, so if you can't do it, focus on template more than artwork at first. Remember to pay special attention to "T" for tap versus the tap symbol, or just the big symbol in the box, etc. The more uniform the lands look, the less distracting and more impressive it looks on the battlefield.
Picking an artwork you like is cool (I'm partial to Ravnica and Return to Ravnica basics myself), but there is a further step you can take here- matching it to your Commander.
Although it's a relatively old set, the only challenge is getting enough of them together for a mono-colored deck. Most of the old lands can be bought for less $.25, so re-doing lands won't cost more than $20 US plus shipping.
Doing multiple colors could be even easier, as the number of lands per color decrease, so you won't have to trade or buy from multiple places.
ALTERNATE ARTWORK
Although there are many played cards re-printed at FNM, GameDay, Prerelease, and for Judges, most of these cards are either a few bucks more or astronomically more than their originals. Obviously, we're not talking about old-bordered Swords reprints, or a full art Doran, or the new bordered Force of Will scheduled to come out soon.
What I'm talking about is something like altered Sakura-Tribe Elder, Elvish Visionary, or like the Everflowing Chalice below.
Back to this Everflowing Chalice. Some times, the color of the art is also more on theme. To me, this version is a lot better to look at, but the original artwork has more pink, so it might look nicer in an Aurelia deck, if we're going off of the Commander background.
Older sets also had different artworks for a lot of the same cards. Fallen Empires has three different copies of Hymn To Tourach. Additionally, there are many Core Set reprints for basic utility spells, like Naturalize and Disenchant. Now, I'm not condoning a huge compromise for themes, but picking out versions of cards that have a more aligned visual cohesion with your deck is more impressive to me than just finding whatever you can in foil.
SLEEVES
The last way, and perhaps the overall cheapest way to pimp a deck, is with sleeves.
I'll admit I'm a sleeve snob. Though they tend to break a lot, and are cut even worse, I prefer the color and texture-back Ultra Pro sleeves. I played a lot of Player's Choice and KMC at the beginning, but Ultra Pro tends to last better, I don't have artwork to protect, and they don't get "sticky."
As we've been talking about pimping, the ultimate principle of pimping has been to align and cater our stuff to fit our Commander. This is no different.
My requirements aren't so picky, but I do tend to avoid sleeving up a deck when my Commander looks bad in a certain color of sleeves. My original mono-colored decks all have sleeves that match their color identity, and my multi-colored ones have aesthetically pleasing alternatives.
Another great way to match up sleeves with your deck is to make them align with your theme. Recently, I've strayed from my loyalties to Ultra Pro and purchased these sweet House Stark sleeves as a pretty nice home for my new Isamaru deck.
Now, I know none of this really should have an effect on how you play any deck, be it good or bad.
Still, any and all of these are little tweaks and adjustments you can make to help further your "connection" with the deck. This all about staying excited and wanting to keep certain decks around, and most times, just finding the right sleeves is enough to renew vigor in a deck you may have lost interest in playing.
If you have any cool ways to pimp out your deck that I've missed, or you'd would like me to help you pimp something out, leave me a comment below.
Have a great one. Turn's to you.
-UL
Sunday, May 11, 2014
In General: Journey Into Nyx Pauper Picks
Hey Zoners! Welcome to another In General. In a rare departure from the norm, I am going to be discussing individual cards in today's article. I don't usually get so nitty-gritty, but I wanted a chance to talk about some of the great new common cards before we concluded our coverage of the new set. So with the preamble behind us, here are a few of my favorite commons from Journey Into Nyx.
Going in roughly alphabetical order here. Cloaked Siren is interesting. Unlike some historical comparables this card has definite upside. Snapping Drake? Psssh. Old hat. This is a much more aggressive card than Nephalia Seakite, but that comes at a cost. This is much less likely to be able to ambush attackers profitably. I see this as a high draft pick in it's block format, but at this point, I am not going to be putting it in my Pauper Cube.
I am always disappointed when Divination gets reprinted. It isn't...bad, per se, but it certainly isn't great. The real problem though, is that falling back on the default all the time stops innovative new cards like this from getting printed. I am really excited by this card. I am sure it is going to be a popular card in draft and I think it is even capable of making the jump to Standard where there really aren't good two-mana counters. This is a shoe-in for my cube, where I predict it will be making a permanent home.
Still on the topic of sweet, succulent card advantage, Font of Return is literally soaked in value. There is no shortage of good graveyard recursion spells in Pauper, but I am considering increasing the size of my cube just so that I can include more sweet cards like this that may otherwise have to get cut for space concerns.
Flurry of Horns? It's like...font of minotaurs! A 2/3 Haste for 3 is a decent-to-strong common. Getting two at once can threaten lethal amounts of damage. I am going to be giving this a shot in my Pauper cube, but I do have some concerns. Do aggressive decks even have enough lands to reliably cast a five drop? Is this better than just having literally any burn spell? I don't want to include this if it is just a way for slower decks to immediately catch up in the race or clog the board so aggressive decks stall out. If I am going to include a Red threat with Haste, I want it to reinforce aggressive strategies, not neuter them.
Anybody could tell you that Red is in desperate need of more card selection at common. This is as welcome a card as I could imagine for its color and cost. It isn't overpowered, it isn't flashy, just rock solid. If they spend removal on this, they have less for your more aggressive/scarier Creatures. If they don't, the Scry is likely to take over the late game. It is unfortunate that this is not a 2/2, as there are almost infinite ways to kill a one-toughness Creature in Pauper.
I have a soft spot for unique cards and make it a point to try and include the widest variety of effects possible in my cube, even when that means compromising slightly on power. White counterspells, Green card draw, Blue mana accelerators, and now repeatable Red Scry effects.
About uniqueness...Starfish have it. There just aren't enough of them in the game. They are super cool, although from a flavor perspective, I think they should all regenerate.
This puts the brakes on early aggressive plays and ensures that you will draw into critical lands or removal. That is a heck of a lot of value for a tiny echinoderm.
This is a big-booty for an airborne supply squad. How do they fly with a badonkadonk like that? As a 3/5 for 5, this is the largest White Flier in Pauper. It is also capable of blocking an Errant Ephemeron, the actual largest Flier in the format. That is enough for me. It can easily outclass Plover Knights in size, and that card is a big game in my cube.
That is all for this week folks. Next week we will be off the Journey Into Nyx bandwagon. That means it is back to the old rail road grind for me with a more regular In General next Sunday! See you then, Zoners.
| Flavor plot twist: This siren is a mute. |
| My hand runneth over...with cards! |
| There is definitely a cup, but I am not sure you would call this a fountain. |
| The real question is: can minotaurs tell the difference between satyrs and themselves? |
| I like to think that this lizard is in the middles of delivering a Wayans bros. style "WHAAAZZZZZZAAAAAAAPP!" |
I have a soft spot for unique cards and make it a point to try and include the widest variety of effects possible in my cube, even when that means compromising slightly on power. White counterspells, Green card draw, Blue mana accelerators, and now repeatable Red Scry effects.
| I am eagerly awaiting the printing of the first, Ninja Starfish. Part shuriken. Part sea life. |
This puts the brakes on early aggressive plays and ensures that you will draw into critical lands or removal. That is a heck of a lot of value for a tiny echinoderm.
That is all for this week folks. Next week we will be off the Journey Into Nyx bandwagon. That means it is back to the old rail road grind for me with a more regular In General next Sunday! See you then, Zoners.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Command Zone OG's #4: RUG LYFE
Welcome to our fourth installment of Command Zone OG's, the place TGZ takes the pulse on the EDH trends on the internet, and brings it to your attention.
Riku isn't a deck in my metagame, or "a deck," as in something I believe that's worth playing- yet it still seems to linger and get people excited to talk about.
ON THE RISE
Finally, it seems, the Internet is catching up with the aggressive nature of this deck.
In the past year, Animar decks have been gaining steady ground, and I can definitely understand why. In 1v1, there are very few consistent strategies that can beat it, outside of some of the "Top Tier" UR decks. Edric is banned in the silly French formats, and this is the next best thing. Though it doesn't draw you into counterspells, here's a nice little combo with Man-o'-War and Phyrexian Metamorph if you can afford the Imperial Recruiter to go along with it.
In the past year, Animar decks have been gaining steady ground, and I can definitely understand why. In 1v1, there are very few consistent strategies that can beat it, outside of some of the "Top Tier" UR decks. Edric is banned in the silly French formats, and this is the next best thing. Though it doesn't draw you into counterspells, here's a nice little combo with Man-o'-War and Phyrexian Metamorph if you can afford the Imperial Recruiter to go along with it.
This deck has a lot of trouble beating Wraths, but it does make a majority of your opponent's best single removal useless. Animar's a deck that wants to play aggressive, and makes a case for being the best aggressive deck, as well as a very powerful Tier 2 deck.
In multiplayer, beware though- you are the innate threat. So just don't die.
ALWAYS AROUND(?)
Riku isn't a deck in my metagame, or "a deck," as in something I believe that's worth playing- yet it still seems to linger and get people excited to talk about.
I consider it very overrated, especially when you compare it to the value oozing out of Animar and the next card we're going to talk about, Maelstrom Wanderer.
Allegedly, Riku is supposed to be a competitive "Toolbox" deck predicated on doing a lot of Kiki-Jiki/Pestermite style cards with Tooth and Nail as security. Clearly, this is just shenanigans, because this is something the better decks in the format already do, and they can do it in a more concentrated, less diluted way.
This deck needs a bunch of mana to get online, and while it has green, that doesn't mean we can actualize its dream. Once Riku is gone, your little 2/2 Dudes (cause he's two creatures, I think) cost 7 to play again. Hence, why I think the fact that Riku being a playable deck, even in more casual multiplayer environments, is as mythic as the card itself.
Allegedly, Riku is supposed to be a competitive "Toolbox" deck predicated on doing a lot of Kiki-Jiki/Pestermite style cards with Tooth and Nail as security. Clearly, this is just shenanigans, because this is something the better decks in the format already do, and they can do it in a more concentrated, less diluted way.
This deck needs a bunch of mana to get online, and while it has green, that doesn't mean we can actualize its dream. Once Riku is gone, your little 2/2 Dudes (cause he's two creatures, I think) cost 7 to play again. Hence, why I think the fact that Riku being a playable deck, even in more casual multiplayer environments, is as mythic as the card itself.
UNDER THE RADAR(?)
Relative to RUG Legends, I do feel that Wanderer is slighted due to mana cost.
Still, if people haven't played this, or played against this deck, they need to know that the deck is a total house. Unlike Riku, Wanderer's need for land is aligned with the strategy that you're going to get big and play big stuff, whether it's off a Cascade trigger, or out of your hand, it doesn't matter.
Additionally, Wanderer is a 3-turn clock by itself, which forces trades, thereby allowing you to keep casting him.
While Wanderer is a key part of what I do in Animar, GG plays a deck designed around Wanderer, and it's pretty good.
Recently, one surfaced in my new playgroup, and it's doing some serious face-beating with any and all Storm spells he could find.
From what I can tell, Wanderer and Animar do a pretty good job of straddling the fun/power balance. Though certainly not fair in design, they are aggressive, and have provided the metagame with some serious threat power in the RUG wedge. In my opinion, it's just what they needed to really "tie the room together."
Until next time, don't let thugs or school bullies put your head in a toilet, or nihilists unleash a marmot unsuspectingly at bath time.
-UL
Still, if people haven't played this, or played against this deck, they need to know that the deck is a total house. Unlike Riku, Wanderer's need for land is aligned with the strategy that you're going to get big and play big stuff, whether it's off a Cascade trigger, or out of your hand, it doesn't matter.
Additionally, Wanderer is a 3-turn clock by itself, which forces trades, thereby allowing you to keep casting him.
While Wanderer is a key part of what I do in Animar, GG plays a deck designed around Wanderer, and it's pretty good.
Recently, one surfaced in my new playgroup, and it's doing some serious face-beating with any and all Storm spells he could find.
From what I can tell, Wanderer and Animar do a pretty good job of straddling the fun/power balance. Though certainly not fair in design, they are aggressive, and have provided the metagame with some serious threat power in the RUG wedge. In my opinion, it's just what they needed to really "tie the room together."
Until next time, don't let thugs or school bullies put your head in a toilet, or nihilists unleash a marmot unsuspectingly at bath time.
-UL
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
You Make the Pick #6
Hey Zoners! Grandpa Growth here. Journey into Nyx has finally been released and you know what that means! It is time for more "You Make the Pick" action. Obviously we have to start off by cracking a few packs of the new set. Let the drafting commence!
So, we have a pretty interesting pack here: a tough to evaluate rare, strong uncommons, and several playable common cards to choose from. Let's begin at the top.
The Green and Red commons are poor at best; we won't be taking those.
The White is only slightly better. Two playable cards, but nothing worth taking early.
Rotted Hulk is no good, but Bloodcrazed Hoplite is solid and Black/White heroic was a real deck in Botg/Theros/Theros, so it is probably still good in the full block draft.
The Blue commons are by far the strongest: all three are very good, but not necessarily in the same deck. If I were going to first pick one, it would be Font of Fortunes because it can fit easily into any deck, even with only a light Blue splash. The other two want to be in a more aggressive tempo-based deck. I haven't had much success with that strategy for Blue decks so far in Theros draft. If I am playing Blue I want to have the better late game.
Moving on to the uncommons: Knowledge and Power just can't be good. This type of effect has been hit or miss in previous formats at converted mana cost three. Five is simply too much for me to attempt this. Spite of Mogis is okay in certain decks, but not something I want to first pick. Strangely, it probably goes in the same deck as Knowledge and Power and both may wheel. Brain Maggot is just an awesome card and I would be happy to first pick it. I stand by the statement that Black was the strongest color in the previous format. I would imagine that has to extend into the third set as well.
Finally, we arrive at Mana Confluence. The card is financially valuable, so some may snap-take it on that basis. I have a different idea...WE'RE FORCING FIVE COLOR! It is my favorite thing to do in any format. Do I think it is a good idea to try in your 8-4 cue? No. Is it going to fun, and awesome, and totally appropriate for a casual draft or a Swiss cue? Absolutely. If we take confluence here, we will almost certain wheel Market Festival and be well on our way to a solid mana base. From there, who knows? But we can take whatever we want in packs two and three and play all of it!
So you know what I would do...the only question left it is: what would you take?
So, we have a pretty interesting pack here: a tough to evaluate rare, strong uncommons, and several playable common cards to choose from. Let's begin at the top.
The Green and Red commons are poor at best; we won't be taking those.
The White is only slightly better. Two playable cards, but nothing worth taking early.
Rotted Hulk is no good, but Bloodcrazed Hoplite is solid and Black/White heroic was a real deck in Botg/Theros/Theros, so it is probably still good in the full block draft.
The Blue commons are by far the strongest: all three are very good, but not necessarily in the same deck. If I were going to first pick one, it would be Font of Fortunes because it can fit easily into any deck, even with only a light Blue splash. The other two want to be in a more aggressive tempo-based deck. I haven't had much success with that strategy for Blue decks so far in Theros draft. If I am playing Blue I want to have the better late game.
Moving on to the uncommons: Knowledge and Power just can't be good. This type of effect has been hit or miss in previous formats at converted mana cost three. Five is simply too much for me to attempt this. Spite of Mogis is okay in certain decks, but not something I want to first pick. Strangely, it probably goes in the same deck as Knowledge and Power and both may wheel. Brain Maggot is just an awesome card and I would be happy to first pick it. I stand by the statement that Black was the strongest color in the previous format. I would imagine that has to extend into the third set as well.
Finally, we arrive at Mana Confluence. The card is financially valuable, so some may snap-take it on that basis. I have a different idea...WE'RE FORCING FIVE COLOR! It is my favorite thing to do in any format. Do I think it is a good idea to try in your 8-4 cue? No. Is it going to fun, and awesome, and totally appropriate for a casual draft or a Swiss cue? Absolutely. If we take confluence here, we will almost certain wheel Market Festival and be well on our way to a solid mana base. From there, who knows? But we can take whatever we want in packs two and three and play all of it!
So you know what I would do...the only question left it is: what would you take?
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
(Bringin' It) Back From The Brink #5: The Fifth Dawn "Bacon"
Welcome back to (Bringin' It) Back Zoners!
Beacon of Tomorrows is definitely in the Top 2 of this cycle, both in popularity and playability. Everyone loves extra turns, and with Omniscience and Enter the Infinite, it's even more infinite.
Still, Eight is a hefty cost. I find that unlike Time Warp or Stretch, this Beacon really relies on a lot more setup in the turns leading up to casting it. Chances are you probably want to have mana open when you cast it, or enough stuff to do damage and generate tempo so that it's worthwhile. That's not unlike these other Warp spells, but the problem with this is that it isn't as likely to be cast for free without the aforementioned goodies I talked about.
Since it's been a long time since our last installment, and we've spent last week reviewing Theros' descending block Journey Into Nyx, I thought it'd be good to do a quick review of my retro-cyle review.
Today's cycle is one of my favorites- The Fifth Dawn Beacon cycle, which I affectionately call the "Bacon." Mostly it's out of my knack for lazy slang and wanting to fit square jokes into round board states, but the fact of the matter is, most of the cards in this cycle really can bring it home. And by it, I mean, "the bacon."
Today's cycle is one of my favorites- The Fifth Dawn Beacon cycle, which I affectionately call the "Bacon." Mostly it's out of my knack for lazy slang and wanting to fit square jokes into round board states, but the fact of the matter is, most of the cards in this cycle really can bring it home. And by it, I mean, "the bacon."
So if you like bacon (which, I don't know anyone other than annoying left-winged protest vegetarians who doesn't), then this might also be the cycle for you. Let's bring it back now.
Beginning at the stroke of midnight on our color pie clock, we've got "Bacon of Immortality."
This is one I know GG and I both really like. For starters, it's our favorite card type. Being an Instant means this is something control players and aggro players facing early hate can really get behind. The power scale for this in EDH is pretty incredible, and I find that it's castable basically until your life dips below 15.
Life gain is a subtle, underrated part of Commander. Only since the beginning of Oloro's do-nothing-but-get-life reign have players begun to understand how manipulating the value of this resource can change the game.
Although it isn't going to get you out of a hole against dedicated Voltron decks, there are some Commander players who don't play the 21-and-done rule. In that variant it's a house. In your average game, it's still pretty good.
This is one I know GG and I both really like. For starters, it's our favorite card type. Being an Instant means this is something control players and aggro players facing early hate can really get behind. The power scale for this in EDH is pretty incredible, and I find that it's castable basically until your life dips below 15.
Life gain is a subtle, underrated part of Commander. Only since the beginning of Oloro's do-nothing-but-get-life reign have players begun to understand how manipulating the value of this resource can change the game.
Although it isn't going to get you out of a hole against dedicated Voltron decks, there are some Commander players who don't play the 21-and-done rule. In that variant it's a house. In your average game, it's still pretty good.
Still, Eight is a hefty cost. I find that unlike Time Warp or Stretch, this Beacon really relies on a lot more setup in the turns leading up to casting it. Chances are you probably want to have mana open when you cast it, or enough stuff to do damage and generate tempo so that it's worthwhile. That's not unlike these other Warp spells, but the problem with this is that it isn't as likely to be cast for free without the aforementioned goodies I talked about.
For me, Beacon of Unrest is the ace in this cycle, and it's not even close.
Although it's sorcery-slow, the value it reaps off of other cards in your deck and your opponent's is enormous. Unlike Ashen Powder or some of the other black reanimator spells, it doesn't just target a specific graveyard, and it's liable to be cast multiple times in a game. This ability has actually saved me from milling myself out, which has happened with frightening frequency over the past couple years.
Although it's sorcery-slow, the value it reaps off of other cards in your deck and your opponent's is enormous. Unlike Ashen Powder or some of the other black reanimator spells, it doesn't just target a specific graveyard, and it's liable to be cast multiple times in a game. This ability has actually saved me from milling myself out, which has happened with frightening frequency over the past couple years.
There's not many bad things I can say about this Beacon. It's truly a powerful card in our format, and it has several of the qualities I look for when I'm trying to build decks and play cards.
And now for possibly the worst of the set.
I haven't played this one, but I've considered it. I play Red Sun's Zenith in Heartless Hidetsugu, and it is excellent.
The problem with this card is that that it's a product of both the pre-Commander era and "fairness."
Five damage for 5 at instant speed is just a little too basic, and it doesn't hit the primary threats in the format- the Titan archetype, a 6/6 for six.
Would it be unfair if it was 6 damage for five? Probably. In 20 life formats, that doesn't compute well with the even-keel design and players. We already have a designated "Bolt Range." This might have been taking it too far.
So Beacon of Destruction is sort of a product of itself, and at a design impasse where R&D has consistently stood on the conservative side of the room, avoiding the firestorm, which is fine, if they believe that the game they design is fair.
I haven't played this one, but I've considered it. I play Red Sun's Zenith in Heartless Hidetsugu, and it is excellent.
The problem with this card is that that it's a product of both the pre-Commander era and "fairness."
Five damage for 5 at instant speed is just a little too basic, and it doesn't hit the primary threats in the format- the Titan archetype, a 6/6 for six.
Would it be unfair if it was 6 damage for five? Probably. In 20 life formats, that doesn't compute well with the even-keel design and players. We already have a designated "Bolt Range." This might have been taking it too far.
So Beacon of Destruction is sort of a product of itself, and at a design impasse where R&D has consistently stood on the conservative side of the room, avoiding the firestorm, which is fine, if they believe that the game they design is fair.
Our last one has me befuddled as well. Combined with its aggressive cost (versus the other pieces of Bacon in this cycle), the ability of BoC to scale to the game makes it much more playable in mono-Green Commander. Azusa and Omnath both can quickly turn this into incredible power, and when combined with Doubling Season and Primal Vigor, well the number of Insects can, "go to Jupiter and get more stupider."
I like BoC, but I've cut it from a lot of my decks, so I can see why it might be a hair above Beacon of Destruction.
Still, this is a lot of tokens to Skullclamp.
That's all I've got for now. Be sure to share your thoughts on these in the comments below, and if you haven't played them, save them from being extinct- BRING THEM BACK FROM THE BRINK!
Pass.
Pass.
-UL
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Journey Into Nyx Set Review: Utility and Mana
Hello! Welcome back to The General Zone's review of Journey into Nyx! This is the final installment, so if you missed the first three parts you can find them here: Legends Threats Answers . Today, we will be going over the mana and utility cards.
Mana is self-explanatory, this category includes anything that produces mana or puts extra lands into play. Utility cards are somewhat harder to classify. This includes things that expands the functionality of your deck. They let you do different things that threats and answers don't normally do like drawing cards or searching through your deck. Many different kinds of cards fall into this category, but as always, an explanation of why is important.
This is going to get some people, that is for sure. Flash makes a huge addition to any pump effect, particularly a team-wide boost. This has an appropriate cost for its effect as well and is likely to be a shoe-in for token decks like Rhys the Redeemed or Darien.
I love the flavor behind these dictate cards as well. There is an established motif of divine intervention in Greek mythology. This is a perfect mechanical adaptation of the late-hour deus ex machina moment so often used to resolve seemingly un-winnable problems; a common element of classical literature. The nyx-infused image of the gods matches perfectly with Terese Nielsen's style. It is almost as if this visual theme was created just to leverage the stirring power of her art.
So this is an expensive equipment that is also expensive to equip, and doesn't really generate any value for you. Exiling blockers...why even block? Unless you are going to chump that is, but Godsend doesn't punish them at all for chumping. Also, in a format that restricts you to playing only a single copy of any card, the 'meddling' effect will have almost no value. Once again a home run flavor hit that falls flat in constructed.
Speaking of that flavor, it is spicy. Normally, I try to keep flavor rants to a minimum, but this exceeds my threshold for awesomeness. If people know YOUR name, you must be pretty cool. If your weapon is so famous that it has its own name? You are a master badass. It reminds me of old school JRPGs. Everyone's final weapon always had a sweet name. If you are going to stab somebody, wouldn't you rather stab them a spear called the Venus Gospel?
This is a strange card to evaluate. On the one hand: Flash allows you to bypass the lamentable cost of symmetry that plagues cards like Howling Mine. Your opponent got to draw first and also had a chance to remove it before you could benefit from it at all. Dictate fixes that completely and that is an incredible benefit. On the other hand, the only decks that are playing this style of card right now actually want their opponents drawing the cards. Nekusar. I drill it so often because it just refuses to go away. These decks are popular right now, but are also getting better as more tools show up in each new set. If this has no place in a Nekusar deck, it has no place in Commander. Unfortunate, but at this point, very true.
It's the riddle of cards! For all the people who played with Riddle of Lightning in Time Spiral, this set has a lot of nostalgia packed in between the reprinting of the aforementioned card and now this Blue iteration. CMCs can get pretty big in Commander, so you could conceivably net a bunch of cards from this, but even if you average 4-6, this probably isn't worth it. There are just better prospects for drawing cards, even at the same converted mana cost.
Recursion. Card advantage. Blue. This is basically what wins in Commander right? How could it not be good? Compared to Call to Mind, you get one extra card for one extra Blue mana. Compared to Spelltwine you don't get to cast them for free, but this has a much more reasonable cost. Both of those are far out on the fringes of playability though. It is unclear what impact, if any, this is going to have, but I can think of some decks, like Talrand, that would want this.
Once again, Flash really pushes this cycle over the top. At Sorcery-speed you would drop this into play and your opponent would get time to consider the relative benefits of attacking into your inferior board. Now, you set up some chump blocks and play this mid-combat. Want to know what your friends look like with their pants down? This is a window into that possibility space.
I dig the creative concept of: extreme close-up art + badass narration. As always, the flavor text could have been better. In this case, a more succinct form of this message would have delivered more punch, but the art and the flavor combine beautifully to give this card a very cinematic feel.
In the case of this and Dictate of Erebos, the mana costs are higher, but less color intensive than their historical comparables Furnace of Rath and Grave Pact, respectively. In general, I don't think that alters their playability much, but it certainly opens up the possibility of this card being played in more decks; decks with a wider variety of strategies at that. I can think of many decks that would want this, mostly R/W or mono Red, but my main question is whether or not those decks are even good enough to consider 'relevant'. Historically, those have been two of the worst color combinations in the format. Flash actually adds remarkably little to the effect of this card, since it is unlikely you would want to play this in a race situation anyway. You want this if you are beating down and they are trying to stabilize, so the opponent stands to gain very little from this effect being that they aren't attacking in that situation.
This on the other hand, is greatly enhanced by Flash. Although for this price you can easily find a 'mana doubler' effect that doesn't grant any benefit to your opponent. Still, if you put this in your deck, you should be set up much better to take advantage of it than anyone else. EOT this bad boy, play an Eldrazi, clean up shop, and start a new game.
Ugh...this is a very expensive, very fragile enchantress effect. People will play this, but it isn't good. Don't get any ideas of riding to value town on this broken down jalopy.
Does it have a face? This thing reminds me of Pyramid Head in Silent Hill....except with flowers.
I play Rampant Growth. This is worse than Rampant Growth, but not by so much that I think it is unplayable. It is strange, the simplest effects are hard to ruin. You just need a way to get more lands in play. After the dust settles, it doesn't matter so much what you used to do it.
Very few cards in the history of the game include the phrase "choose one or both". With the exception of Dawn to Dusk, I have played all of them in Commander. Modal spells are excellent within the game, choice is just always going to be better than no choice in the hands of a skilled player. In my heart, I like to think of this as part of a super-cycle with Grim Discovery and Remember the Fallen. In my fantasy I am looking forward to the hypothetical Red and Blue versions. What will they be like? How awesome will they be? Will anyone ever love these cards as much as I do?
I am sure that this effect is insane. I am not sure if the card is insane overall. It has the right cost at CMC 2. It has some good colors in Blue and Black. It has decent stats for its price. I feel like, if you can trigger this a few times, you are almost certainly going to win. This effect offers much more raw power than Merfolk Looter, a card that is crazy underrated by people in literally every format. I look forward to trying this in a couple different brews.
Deathtouch would have really made this a spicy card. I think certain decks want this, but there are already so many excellent graveyard enablers that this will be competing for some very tight spots. I don't think this is really going to cut it, but I welcome the chance to be proven wrong.
This is okay, as most all of the anthem effects in existence are playable, but I do think there already exists a wealth of superior options. The fact that this is colorless is going to cause it to show up in many more decks than it really should. People playing only one color will shoehorn this into a deck where it isn't appropriate. I say this at the risk of sounding elitist, but there is a nuanced sophistication that can, and will, be signaled by choosing NOT to play this card out of context. What does that all mean? Don't play this. It will make you look smart.
So Elspeth has her own museum exhibit? I am sure that is what she was hoping for when she graduated from planeswalker school.
City of Brass is rarely played as it is, despite the overpopulation of five-color nonsense decks. There are a half-dozen printings of City as well, so anyone who wanted to play it could certainly afford a copy. Based on that information, I can't say that this will be any different. People will play this in lieu of more expensive options like fetch lands or shocks, but that doesn't make it a good idea. There isn't really a place for this in a tight list.
Also: Flavor text RUINS cards. The water in a plane/planet/strawberry cheesecake cannot be older than the plane itself...IT IS THE PLANE! A place is just a collection of things that share a location. I dare say that the employees of Wizards may be lacking in their knowledge of how planets are formed. Or perhaps they are trying to make a 'story', with 'flavor'. Just...special.
It seems as though Wizards, and I for that matter, have saved the best for last. I love the temple cycle. It has power, presence, and is getting the notoriety that it deserves. U/R and G/B are two of the premier color combinations in Commander and we have been eagerly awaiting the completion of our temple collections.
And with that, our shared time draws to a close, friends. I know I enjoyed it and I hope that you did as well. As always, you can get at us in the comments. What do you think of the new cards? As for what is up next, we are back to our old tricks, with some new spice added in. The regular article schedule will resume next week and we will get our first treat from new co-author The Zachroling.
Mana is self-explanatory, this category includes anything that produces mana or puts extra lands into play. Utility cards are somewhat harder to classify. This includes things that expands the functionality of your deck. They let you do different things that threats and answers don't normally do like drawing cards or searching through your deck. Many different kinds of cards fall into this category, but as always, an explanation of why is important.
This is going to get some people, that is for sure. Flash makes a huge addition to any pump effect, particularly a team-wide boost. This has an appropriate cost for its effect as well and is likely to be a shoe-in for token decks like Rhys the Redeemed or Darien.I love the flavor behind these dictate cards as well. There is an established motif of divine intervention in Greek mythology. This is a perfect mechanical adaptation of the late-hour deus ex machina moment so often used to resolve seemingly un-winnable problems; a common element of classical literature. The nyx-infused image of the gods matches perfectly with Terese Nielsen's style. It is almost as if this visual theme was created just to leverage the stirring power of her art.
So this is an expensive equipment that is also expensive to equip, and doesn't really generate any value for you. Exiling blockers...why even block? Unless you are going to chump that is, but Godsend doesn't punish them at all for chumping. Also, in a format that restricts you to playing only a single copy of any card, the 'meddling' effect will have almost no value. Once again a home run flavor hit that falls flat in constructed.Speaking of that flavor, it is spicy. Normally, I try to keep flavor rants to a minimum, but this exceeds my threshold for awesomeness. If people know YOUR name, you must be pretty cool. If your weapon is so famous that it has its own name? You are a master badass. It reminds me of old school JRPGs. Everyone's final weapon always had a sweet name. If you are going to stab somebody, wouldn't you rather stab them a spear called the Venus Gospel?
This is a strange card to evaluate. On the one hand: Flash allows you to bypass the lamentable cost of symmetry that plagues cards like Howling Mine. Your opponent got to draw first and also had a chance to remove it before you could benefit from it at all. Dictate fixes that completely and that is an incredible benefit. On the other hand, the only decks that are playing this style of card right now actually want their opponents drawing the cards. Nekusar. I drill it so often because it just refuses to go away. These decks are popular right now, but are also getting better as more tools show up in each new set. If this has no place in a Nekusar deck, it has no place in Commander. Unfortunate, but at this point, very true.It's the riddle of cards! For all the people who played with Riddle of Lightning in Time Spiral, this set has a lot of nostalgia packed in between the reprinting of the aforementioned card and now this Blue iteration. CMCs can get pretty big in Commander, so you could conceivably net a bunch of cards from this, but even if you average 4-6, this probably isn't worth it. There are just better prospects for drawing cards, even at the same converted mana cost.Recursion. Card advantage. Blue. This is basically what wins in Commander right? How could it not be good? Compared to Call to Mind, you get one extra card for one extra Blue mana. Compared to Spelltwine you don't get to cast them for free, but this has a much more reasonable cost. Both of those are far out on the fringes of playability though. It is unclear what impact, if any, this is going to have, but I can think of some decks, like Talrand, that would want this.I dig the creative concept of: extreme close-up art + badass narration. As always, the flavor text could have been better. In this case, a more succinct form of this message would have delivered more punch, but the art and the flavor combine beautifully to give this card a very cinematic feel.
In the case of this and Dictate of Erebos, the mana costs are higher, but less color intensive than their historical comparables Furnace of Rath and Grave Pact, respectively. In general, I don't think that alters their playability much, but it certainly opens up the possibility of this card being played in more decks; decks with a wider variety of strategies at that. I can think of many decks that would want this, mostly R/W or mono Red, but my main question is whether or not those decks are even good enough to consider 'relevant'. Historically, those have been two of the worst color combinations in the format. Flash actually adds remarkably little to the effect of this card, since it is unlikely you would want to play this in a race situation anyway. You want this if you are beating down and they are trying to stabilize, so the opponent stands to gain very little from this effect being that they aren't attacking in that situation.This on the other hand, is greatly enhanced by Flash. Although for this price you can easily find a 'mana doubler' effect that doesn't grant any benefit to your opponent. Still, if you put this in your deck, you should be set up much better to take advantage of it than anyone else. EOT this bad boy, play an Eldrazi, clean up shop, and start a new game.Ugh...this is a very expensive, very fragile enchantress effect. People will play this, but it isn't good. Don't get any ideas of riding to value town on this broken down jalopy.Does it have a face? This thing reminds me of Pyramid Head in Silent Hill....except with flowers.
I play Rampant Growth. This is worse than Rampant Growth, but not by so much that I think it is unplayable. It is strange, the simplest effects are hard to ruin. You just need a way to get more lands in play. After the dust settles, it doesn't matter so much what you used to do it.Very few cards in the history of the game include the phrase "choose one or both". With the exception of Dawn to Dusk, I have played all of them in Commander. Modal spells are excellent within the game, choice is just always going to be better than no choice in the hands of a skilled player. In my heart, I like to think of this as part of a super-cycle with Grim Discovery and Remember the Fallen. In my fantasy I am looking forward to the hypothetical Red and Blue versions. What will they be like? How awesome will they be? Will anyone ever love these cards as much as I do?I am sure that this effect is insane. I am not sure if the card is insane overall. It has the right cost at CMC 2. It has some good colors in Blue and Black. It has decent stats for its price. I feel like, if you can trigger this a few times, you are almost certainly going to win. This effect offers much more raw power than Merfolk Looter, a card that is crazy underrated by people in literally every format. I look forward to trying this in a couple different brews.Deathtouch would have really made this a spicy card. I think certain decks want this, but there are already so many excellent graveyard enablers that this will be competing for some very tight spots. I don't think this is really going to cut it, but I welcome the chance to be proven wrong.This is okay, as most all of the anthem effects in existence are playable, but I do think there already exists a wealth of superior options. The fact that this is colorless is going to cause it to show up in many more decks than it really should. People playing only one color will shoehorn this into a deck where it isn't appropriate. I say this at the risk of sounding elitist, but there is a nuanced sophistication that can, and will, be signaled by choosing NOT to play this card out of context. What does that all mean? Don't play this. It will make you look smart.So Elspeth has her own museum exhibit? I am sure that is what she was hoping for when she graduated from planeswalker school.
City of Brass is rarely played as it is, despite the overpopulation of five-color nonsense decks. There are a half-dozen printings of City as well, so anyone who wanted to play it could certainly afford a copy. Based on that information, I can't say that this will be any different. People will play this in lieu of more expensive options like fetch lands or shocks, but that doesn't make it a good idea. There isn't really a place for this in a tight list.Also: Flavor text RUINS cards. The water in a plane/planet/strawberry cheesecake cannot be older than the plane itself...IT IS THE PLANE! A place is just a collection of things that share a location. I dare say that the employees of Wizards may be lacking in their knowledge of how planets are formed. Or perhaps they are trying to make a 'story', with 'flavor'. Just...special.
It seems as though Wizards, and I for that matter, have saved the best for last. I love the temple cycle. It has power, presence, and is getting the notoriety that it deserves. U/R and G/B are two of the premier color combinations in Commander and we have been eagerly awaiting the completion of our temple collections.And with that, our shared time draws to a close, friends. I know I enjoyed it and I hope that you did as well. As always, you can get at us in the comments. What do you think of the new cards? As for what is up next, we are back to our old tricks, with some new spice added in. The regular article schedule will resume next week and we will get our first treat from new co-author The Zachroling.
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