Thats a tough one.
I'll start with a six player free for all game from a few years back.
I was using a red and black Grave Pact deck, and I was facing off against a standard white life gaining deck played by Rith, a couple other decks from a few irrelegulars. The most prominant of these was the guy playing the old school Merfolk deck (and by old school, I mean Sunken Cities, and unlimited Invisibilities).
Thanks to my violent rhetoric, we killed off Rith early. He was gaining too much life too fast. The combo of Ishocron Scepter and Life Burst attracted enough attention to get the job done.
But other then that, my deck started off very slow. It was all I could do to deflect attention and lay low. The old school Merfolk deck gained the upper hand next. Most fortunately for me a couple of the other plays jumped up to meet the challenge, which saved me from having to attempt any sort of diplomacy.
Merfolk guy, who's wife had shown up early into the game, and whom he seemed to be attempting to impress, quickly started picking players off. I had not drawn into any of my Grave Pacts, Earthquakes or any other sort of potential removal. Rith, who was still pissed at me for convincing everyone else to turn on him, made sure to direct Merfolk guy to me once the other threats had been removed. It was down to the two of us and an inexperienced player folks we had left relatively alone.
A beefy merfolk with Invisibility started to chisel away at me. I know there was no way I was going to be able to cheese this guy to death, so it was down to top deck love, and luck. And luck dictated, that Merfolk guy stopped listening to Rith once he felt I was too weak and started toying with the other guy. Top deck love gave me a Grave Pact. The rest is obvious. My single mana cost creatures with self sacrificing abilities wiped the board of creatures, and Shirei, Shizo's Caretaker brought them back at the end of each turn.
Grave Pact FTW.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Mirrodin Besieged Sortable Spoiler at Daily MTG
Mirrodin Besieged Sortable Spoiler
As is our tradition for the Monday after a new set's Prerelease events, today we post the full card list for the latest set right here on the front page of magicthegathering.com. Here is the sortable spoiler list for Mirrodin Besieged and the complete visual spoiler for the entire set, in each of the ten languages it was printed in...
See the rest at Daily MTG
As is our tradition for the Monday after a new set's Prerelease events, today we post the full card list for the latest set right here on the front page of magicthegathering.com. Here is the sortable spoiler list for Mirrodin Besieged and the complete visual spoiler for the entire set, in each of the ten languages it was printed in...
See the rest at Daily MTG
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Emperor Game of the Day
This one was back in my college days.
My team was myself, Rith and an irregular, against a team of 3 irregulars, I played one of the generals.
Within the first couple of rounds I had a Hypnotic Specter and Pernicious Deed in play and had begun to hammer away at the general next to me. I thought our chances were great, especially since our Emperor was using the deck I built specifically to use as Emperor.
Suddenly, the one player in the game I can't see announces that they're about to win, then he uses Stream of Life on his Emperor for 4 or 5 life. We're puzzled, but move on, trash talking like crazy at the ridiculous prediction. I draw into a Spiritmonger and play it, knowing the general next to me will be finished in a round or two.
The crazy predictors turn rolls around again, and get this: he uses Channel for 18 or so mana, and Hurricanes for 22 damage. His general lives by just a couple life, and everyone else dies (except for me of course, as he was the one player I could not interact with in the game). Obviously my survival doesn't matter.
Channel Hurricane FTW. I never would have believed it if it hadn't happened to me.
My team was myself, Rith and an irregular, against a team of 3 irregulars, I played one of the generals.
Within the first couple of rounds I had a Hypnotic Specter and Pernicious Deed in play and had begun to hammer away at the general next to me. I thought our chances were great, especially since our Emperor was using the deck I built specifically to use as Emperor.
Suddenly, the one player in the game I can't see announces that they're about to win, then he uses Stream of Life on his Emperor for 4 or 5 life. We're puzzled, but move on, trash talking like crazy at the ridiculous prediction. I draw into a Spiritmonger and play it, knowing the general next to me will be finished in a round or two.
The crazy predictors turn rolls around again, and get this: he uses Channel for 18 or so mana, and Hurricanes for 22 damage. His general lives by just a couple life, and everyone else dies (except for me of course, as he was the one player I could not interact with in the game). Obviously my survival doesn't matter.
Channel Hurricane FTW. I never would have believed it if it hadn't happened to me.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Mythic Rares are Ruining Magic
Mythic rares will be the ultimate downfall of Magic the Gathering.
Mythic rares gave Wizards of the Coast a reason to print even more ridiculous cards then ever. Remember the Invasion block? How gold cards became outragiously powerful? Gold cards went from almost useless, to almost necessary. Granted, gold cards would ultimately be scaled back, what most people don't know is that the Invasion block drove a lot of loyal Magic players from the game. The gold invasion changed the game, and when the game evolved, many players were left behind.
The Mythic rares, and the ridiculous Eldrazi, have changed the game. I would also toss Trap cards into this catagory, but if we're lucky, those are gone. What I call these cards are equalizers. Suddenly, even a lousy player can keep pace with a good one. Trap cards literally penalized good players for doing the kinds of things good decks did. Mythic rares, in addition to shifting the value of cards for collectors, it also gives newbs a weapon. In my eyes, Magic will always be a game of skill. The way a deck is built should be more important then what is in it. Thats what Mythic rares do, they devalue deck building.
In any event, my theory is that Magic created Mythic rares to stay relevent. Granted, its the most popular CCG of all time, but it may not be forever. When I was young, people played Magic. Kids, young adults and adults alike. Now, kids and even young adults are playing Yu-gi-oh, or Pokemon or video games. I think Mythic rares was a desperate attempt by Magic to compete. I think it will go down as a good move, because Wizards is doing it what it takes to remain on top, even while they are still on top. If Magic had started to go down the drain, Mythic rares probably wouldn't save the game. But now, while Magic is still king, Mythic rares were probably inevitable.
Cheers
Hayden
Mythic rares gave Wizards of the Coast a reason to print even more ridiculous cards then ever. Remember the Invasion block? How gold cards became outragiously powerful? Gold cards went from almost useless, to almost necessary. Granted, gold cards would ultimately be scaled back, what most people don't know is that the Invasion block drove a lot of loyal Magic players from the game. The gold invasion changed the game, and when the game evolved, many players were left behind.
The Mythic rares, and the ridiculous Eldrazi, have changed the game. I would also toss Trap cards into this catagory, but if we're lucky, those are gone. What I call these cards are equalizers. Suddenly, even a lousy player can keep pace with a good one. Trap cards literally penalized good players for doing the kinds of things good decks did. Mythic rares, in addition to shifting the value of cards for collectors, it also gives newbs a weapon. In my eyes, Magic will always be a game of skill. The way a deck is built should be more important then what is in it. Thats what Mythic rares do, they devalue deck building.
In any event, my theory is that Magic created Mythic rares to stay relevent. Granted, its the most popular CCG of all time, but it may not be forever. When I was young, people played Magic. Kids, young adults and adults alike. Now, kids and even young adults are playing Yu-gi-oh, or Pokemon or video games. I think Mythic rares was a desperate attempt by Magic to compete. I think it will go down as a good move, because Wizards is doing it what it takes to remain on top, even while they are still on top. If Magic had started to go down the drain, Mythic rares probably wouldn't save the game. But now, while Magic is still king, Mythic rares were probably inevitable.
Cheers
Hayden
Great Article at ManaNation
The Five Beliefs New Players Cling To
Great piece, I remember thinking all of these things myself. Personally, I think this article should have part 2, 3, 4 and on and on. In fact, I may right one of my own...
Great piece, I remember thinking all of these things myself. Personally, I think this article should have part 2, 3, 4 and on and on. In fact, I may right one of my own...
The new Power 9 at Recoculous Magic the Gathering blog
The Other Power 9
The power 9 is still the nine most expensive Magic cards, but they aren’t necessarily the most powerful. There are affordable cards worth $15 or less and just as good as other cards in the power 9. I will discuss the 9 most powerful cards that I believe meet this criteria best. If you want powerful cards for your cube or just to see what it’s like to play with powerful cards, these are the cards you need.
See the rest at http://www.recoculous.com/
The power 9 is still the nine most expensive Magic cards, but they aren’t necessarily the most powerful. There are affordable cards worth $15 or less and just as good as other cards in the power 9. I will discuss the 9 most powerful cards that I believe meet this criteria best. If you want powerful cards for your cube or just to see what it’s like to play with powerful cards, these are the cards you need.
See the rest at http://www.recoculous.com/
The Great Commons Tournament of '04
While in Florida visiting some friends, we had the idea to do a five player round robin style common only deck tournament.
To accomplish this, we bought a 5000 card box of commons from a local hobby shop. There were roughly 1000 commons of each color. Each of us was randomly assigned a color, given 20 minutes to build a deck, then have at it.
Now when I say commons only, I mean no rares. the box had plenty of uncommons in it.
My color was blue, and my strategy revolved around Ninjutsu creatures and bounce cards. The main combo was to use a High Tide or two, cast as many other blues spells as possible, then use Temporal Fissure to bounce all my opponents permanents back to their hand.
It worked pretty well actually, eventhough I only finished 6-5. I beat every opponent 2-1 except for Jace, who's Black deck beat me 2-0. The tournament was pretty even across the board, except of course for poor Gabriel Angelfire, who was new to Magic. Sorin would be the eventual inner, eventhough I beat him 2-1, he did beat every other player. Jace was second, I finished third, Seht (who had been playing Red) was fourth, and poor Gabriel, who was Green, didn't win a single game.
The tournament was a roaring success, everyone had a blast and wa spermitted to keep their decks. Ironically, once my was updated with a few better creatures and spells (though the strategy and High Tide/Spells/Temporal Fissure combo remained in place) the deck was actually really good, and really tough to beat.
Thats all for now.
Cheers.
To accomplish this, we bought a 5000 card box of commons from a local hobby shop. There were roughly 1000 commons of each color. Each of us was randomly assigned a color, given 20 minutes to build a deck, then have at it.
Now when I say commons only, I mean no rares. the box had plenty of uncommons in it.
My color was blue, and my strategy revolved around Ninjutsu creatures and bounce cards. The main combo was to use a High Tide or two, cast as many other blues spells as possible, then use Temporal Fissure to bounce all my opponents permanents back to their hand.
It worked pretty well actually, eventhough I only finished 6-5. I beat every opponent 2-1 except for Jace, who's Black deck beat me 2-0. The tournament was pretty even across the board, except of course for poor Gabriel Angelfire, who was new to Magic. Sorin would be the eventual inner, eventhough I beat him 2-1, he did beat every other player. Jace was second, I finished third, Seht (who had been playing Red) was fourth, and poor Gabriel, who was Green, didn't win a single game.
The tournament was a roaring success, everyone had a blast and wa spermitted to keep their decks. Ironically, once my was updated with a few better creatures and spells (though the strategy and High Tide/Spells/Temporal Fissure combo remained in place) the deck was actually really good, and really tough to beat.
Thats all for now.
Cheers.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Infinite Combos are overrated
Have I been raped by infinite combos? Oh yes....
Have I foiled infinite combos? Of course.
The secret to beating an infinite combo is early recognition. Once everyone else realizes whats going to happen, its easy to get them to turn on the would be infinite comboer.
Example numero uno. Jace busts out Squirrel Nest and Earthcraft.
Cheap and easy. Fast too. There's really very little one can do to stop it.
Example number two, Time Vault and Voltaic (or Galvanic) Key.
Barron has been known to use this from time to time (pun intended). Infinite turns. Painfully slow in a multiplayer game, and ridiculously annoying. This would lead to the development of yet another house rule, but I digress.
Example three, Rith and his two attempts at infinite life.
Here's how it started, a four player game in which I am playing my green and black Token Deck. Rith is first play and I am last. Rith uses Wellwisher and Wirewood Channeller, both of which have Pennemin's Auras on them, to gain infinite life. This was back in the day before we added the house rule that a player must assign a number to "infinite," whether that be 20,000 or 5 million, there had to be a number.
Anyway, Rith has infinite life, meaning the rest of us are going to deck ourselves after thirty or so pointless turns. The guy before me goes, and at the end of his turn I hit Rith with a Diabolic Edict. Suddenly, things get interesting. Rith losses the Wellwisher. I start using my tokens with Phyrexian Plaguelord to eliminate the Channeller (it takes several as he exhausts his mana to the shroud effect on the aura). Then comes my turn. And wouldn't you know it, I draw the only card in my deck that can finish off Rian and possibly win me the game: Biorhythms.
And that my friends is one way to beat a player with infinite life. I would go on to win that game thanks to a well constructed deck (and a little top deck love).
Example four, Rith again. Using two Myr Retrievers, Ashnod's Alter, Scrapheap and Genesis Chamber, Rith gains infinite life and infinite 1/1 Myr tokens.
Again, I am the player before Rith. Everyone groans and gripes about Rith's cheapass infinite combos, realizing we are all done on Rith's next turn.
I'm holding an Earthquake (again using my Gravepact deck), so I figure I can buy everyone another turn, but my deck has no way to deal with the infinite life. In what may be my luckiest Magic the Gathering moment of all time, the player before me plays Repercussion. Rith scoffs at him. My turn rolls around, and I Earthquake for 1. Rith's tokens all take 1 damage, and each of them deal 1 damage to him, infinite times (again this was before we made the choose a number for infinity rule). Rith doesn't take this lying down, arguing with me about how the Repercussion/Earthquake combo would resolve and trying in vain to figure out a way to get around it. Everyone laughs heartily and Rith dies.
I would go on to lose that game, but it was worth it.
Have I foiled infinite combos? Of course.
The secret to beating an infinite combo is early recognition. Once everyone else realizes whats going to happen, its easy to get them to turn on the would be infinite comboer.
Example numero uno. Jace busts out Squirrel Nest and Earthcraft.
Cheap and easy. Fast too. There's really very little one can do to stop it.
Example number two, Time Vault and Voltaic (or Galvanic) Key.
Barron has been known to use this from time to time (pun intended). Infinite turns. Painfully slow in a multiplayer game, and ridiculously annoying. This would lead to the development of yet another house rule, but I digress.
Example three, Rith and his two attempts at infinite life.
Here's how it started, a four player game in which I am playing my green and black Token Deck. Rith is first play and I am last. Rith uses Wellwisher and Wirewood Channeller, both of which have Pennemin's Auras on them, to gain infinite life. This was back in the day before we added the house rule that a player must assign a number to "infinite," whether that be 20,000 or 5 million, there had to be a number.
Anyway, Rith has infinite life, meaning the rest of us are going to deck ourselves after thirty or so pointless turns. The guy before me goes, and at the end of his turn I hit Rith with a Diabolic Edict. Suddenly, things get interesting. Rith losses the Wellwisher. I start using my tokens with Phyrexian Plaguelord to eliminate the Channeller (it takes several as he exhausts his mana to the shroud effect on the aura). Then comes my turn. And wouldn't you know it, I draw the only card in my deck that can finish off Rian and possibly win me the game: Biorhythms.
And that my friends is one way to beat a player with infinite life. I would go on to win that game thanks to a well constructed deck (and a little top deck love).
Example four, Rith again. Using two Myr Retrievers, Ashnod's Alter, Scrapheap and Genesis Chamber, Rith gains infinite life and infinite 1/1 Myr tokens.
Again, I am the player before Rith. Everyone groans and gripes about Rith's cheapass infinite combos, realizing we are all done on Rith's next turn.
I'm holding an Earthquake (again using my Gravepact deck), so I figure I can buy everyone another turn, but my deck has no way to deal with the infinite life. In what may be my luckiest Magic the Gathering moment of all time, the player before me plays Repercussion. Rith scoffs at him. My turn rolls around, and I Earthquake for 1. Rith's tokens all take 1 damage, and each of them deal 1 damage to him, infinite times (again this was before we made the choose a number for infinity rule). Rith doesn't take this lying down, arguing with me about how the Repercussion/Earthquake combo would resolve and trying in vain to figure out a way to get around it. Everyone laughs heartily and Rith dies.
I would go on to lose that game, but it was worth it.
The Art of War and Magic: The Sequel! (2/13)
Looks like a pretty good series at mtgsalvation.com
Find it here http://mtgsalvation.com/1234-the-art-of-war-and-magic-the-sequel.html
The Art of War and Magic: The Sequel! (2/13)
Find it here http://mtgsalvation.com/1234-the-art-of-war-and-magic-the-sequel.html
Phyrexia: The Strong and the Scattered
Good post at the Wizards website
Preview--
"If the Mirrans had known of the evil that was incubating inside their planar core, they may have had a chance to thwart it before it took even a single Mirran life. They might have been able to send teams of specialists down into the core, protected by a halo of summoned creatures and shielding spells, on the path to hunt the source of the corruption and wipe it out once and for all..."
Find the rest here: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/stf/127
Preview--
"If the Mirrans had known of the evil that was incubating inside their planar core, they may have had a chance to thwart it before it took even a single Mirran life. They might have been able to send teams of specialists down into the core, protected by a halo of summoned creatures and shielding spells, on the path to hunt the source of the corruption and wipe it out once and for all..."
Find the rest here: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/stf/127
How to Defeat Valakut and Other Linear Strategies
Type II and Extended players rejoice!
"In retrospect, I suppose it makes sense that Valakut, and pure RG Valakut specifically, supplanted Jund at GP: Atlanta as the “second” deck to sit aside Faries at the top of the Extended metagame. It has a similar game plan against Faeries (postboard only), using uncounterable spells like Volcanic Fallout and Great Sable Stag, while absolutely crushing Jund with a combo kill that Jund can't interact with. Also, whereas Jund is the prototypical “fair” deck, Valakut decks have the added bonus of getting free wins against the variety of decks people will play on the fringes of Extended..."
Find the rest here http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=9419
"In retrospect, I suppose it makes sense that Valakut, and pure RG Valakut specifically, supplanted Jund at GP: Atlanta as the “second” deck to sit aside Faries at the top of the Extended metagame. It has a similar game plan against Faeries (postboard only), using uncounterable spells like Volcanic Fallout and Great Sable Stag, while absolutely crushing Jund with a combo kill that Jund can't interact with. Also, whereas Jund is the prototypical “fair” deck, Valakut decks have the added bonus of getting free wins against the variety of decks people will play on the fringes of Extended..."
Find the rest here http://magic.tcgplayer.com/db/article.asp?ID=9419
Knowledge Pool: The Mailbag
Daily Magic on the Wizards website
Find it here http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/ftl/127
Find it here http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/ftl/127
Off Topic: Deck Engines
Found this one at mtgsalvation.com
I like the way this guy thinks about decks and deckbuilding.
Hello, my name is Meyou and I like to punch children in the face. Okay, not really, but usually I talk about some odd stuff. Sometimes I don't even talk about Magic. Not today. That's right. No philosophical mumbo jumbo. Instead, I will be laying down my foundations for how to be a better deck builder.
Engines
Since a lot of Magic terminology always feels very generic to me, I try to develop my own lingo. I find the approach to be a great way to develop a deeper understanding of Magic and deck design. I think of it as homework or trying to develop a thesis. First, I have to create a definition and then try to defend it. One of the terms I have developed is what I call engines. The term encompasses cards or combinations with repeatable abilities. I originally developed the term to subdivide combos. What I call "pure combo" are decks that play cards in a series of steps. Pure combo decks to me are decks built around such cards like Tendrils of Agony/Brain Freeze and Mind's Desire. In order to complete a Tendrils of Agony kill, a sequence of cards need to be played before casting for lethal. In contrast, engine combos have repeatable abilities and tend to be permanents. Classic combos I call engines are things like Counterbalance with Sensei's Divining Top or Sword of the Meek with Thopter Foundry. The difference between pure combos, engine combos and engines is individual cards can be engines. Cards I consider to be engines include planeswalkers such as Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Titans such as Grave Titan, Argentum Armor, and Dark Confidant.
The reason engines are important is because the large majority of any successful tier-one decks have had engines. Faeries had Bitterblossom, Boss Naya had Basilisk Collar with Cunning Sparkmage, and Necropotence powered the fabled Illusions of Grandeur decks. Go back through Magic history and just about every successful deck has an engine component with only a few exceptions. Seriously, look back. Psychatog had Psychatog, Tooth and Nail had the lovely Mephidross Vampire and Triskelion, and Rebels had Rebels. Engines need to be a crucial part of the deck building process. Without an engine, a deck can be condemned to tier-two status. I may be splitting hairs, but the concept of engines I believe can help move deck builders up to a higher level of construction. Here are a few more engine cards: Astral Slide, Glare of Subdual, Goblin Lackey, Life of the Loam, Eternal Dragon, Survival of the Fittest, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, and Smokestack.
The dangerous trap of building a deck around an engine is that too many decks become heavily reliant on them for success. The Faeries deck is a great point. Without a Bitterblossom, the deck just flops around like a fish out of water. I always thought the same about Legacy decks sporting Counterbalance. With the blue enchantment in play, it can be very difficult to beat. Without it, the deck isn't quite so scary. I discovered this when testing Thopter Foundry for Legacy. When I hit a Counterbalance, I hardly ever lost and games without the enchantment in play resulted in a game loss. I'm not saying those decks or cards are bad. I simply think a situation were one has to cross his/her fingers every game hoping for the nut draw is a bad idea. Back during Morningtide, sometimes I felt like the lucky winner of the tournament was merely the one who drew the most Bitterblossoms that day. Whenever a player misses their Bitterblossom, I have affectionately termed it as a misfire to stay within the engine theme. A misfire doesn't mean getting mana screwed. It explicitly means not drawing or getting a decks engine online.
As such, decks running engines can be fragile. As much as I like the Standard Affinity with Quest for the Holy Relic to zip out an Argentum Armor onto a creature, I don't like how it can easily misfire. In order to be a better deck builder, I am now trying to build in as many engines as possible into my decks. I call a deck with multiple engines as a deck with a V6. Sure, the name is a little corny, but the name doesn't matter. It is the thought process here that is important. It is why I now tend to gravitate towards decks with a built-in V6. Decks I consider to have multiple engines are decks like blue/black control with its Jaces and Grave Titans, Valakut Ramp with Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and Primeval Titans, or Legacy decks with Dark Confidant and Counterbalance. In my current belief system, decks with V6 engines are more powerful. Decks with two engines are a lot more resilient and consistent against misfiring.
Serial Dilutions
Take a White Weenie deck getting tweaked. When a player starts throwing in Disenchants, Path to Exiles, and Day of Judgments, the decks core theme becomes more and more diluted. Eventually, the deck loses its entire theme. A control deck that does nothing. I'm not here to completely ban Path to Exiles or say control decks are bad. I think it is a concept a designer should be conscious of when constructing a deck. It one of those things designers can easily fall prey to in order to combat problems. Let's take a White Weenie deck trying to find a solution for something like Vengevine. The easy thing to do for a white based deck would be to start filling it with cards like Journey to Nowhere. Adding the white enchantment dilutes the deck. A better solution would be to find a way to stay within the theme of a deck while dealing with Vengevine. The white weenie deck might be better off adding Baneslayer Angels than creature removal. Another example would be for a Fairies deck to adopt Sower of Temptation to deal with Vengevine than, say, Leyline of the Void.
Take 15 graveyard hate cards, switch out 15 cards from the main of a Legacy Goblins deck. The power level of the Goblins deck has been severely reduced. Every time a card is removed from the deck and replaced with a card not within the decks theme, it causes a serial dilution. The terms come from chemistry. It refers to taking something and diluting it in a series. The mixture can be diluted in half each time. Mixtures go from 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, etc. At 128, there is one part of the original solution with 127 parts diluent. The numbers are probably not as drastic for Magic decks, but the problem still exists. Here is what I am trying to say: every subsequent card removed from a deck has a larger and larger impact on the power level of the deck. The argument may be hyperbolic in nature. Nonetheless, every card not within the theme severely dilutes the power level of the deck. Diluent cards are the ones people throw in their decks just in case. People do it all the time with cards like Disenchants just in case they need to hit an artifact or enchantment. Pretty soon the deck is filled with Swords to Plowshares, Counterspells, and what not. Diluent cards are there just in case. That line of thinking is dangerous because pretty soon the deck does nothing.
Interactivity
Control decks sidestep a lot of my engine theory. It is a simple matter because there are multiple levels to deck building. One of the other concepts I have developed is what I call interactivity. In my opinion, decks should either have very high interactivity or very low interactivity. Dredge is a deck I consider to have low interactivity. Besides some graveyard hate, dredge really doesn't care what the opponent is playing. Classic control decks with Counterspells are what I think of as having a high level of interactivity. It can interact with just about anything. When I begin deck building, I think about a pendulum. Good deck building in my opinion swings to the extremes. Decks shouldn't try to swing in the middle. Adding control cards into an aggro deck is a mistake... unless it fits the theme.
Decks should say one of two things: "Deal with me" or "I will stop you." Control decks can be included in the showstoppers category, but there are other decks that fall into this category. Decks that played Enduring Ideal fall into the this slot. The decks sporting the white epic card fetched up cards like Form of the Dragon, Dovescape, and Solitary Confinement. The whole point of the deck is to Disrupt the opponent's normal plan of attack. I would toss land destruction into this category. An example of this would be the old Wildfire decks around the Champions era. I have to say I hated that deck. Nothing worse than having to sit there and Twiddle my thumbs since I have no lands on the battlefield. Anyway, the decks were very potent because of their ability to mess with the opponent. To summarize: build decks to either be on the offense or defense, not both.
Legacy Goblins or Affinity are a few decks that say "deal with me." Aggressive decks fall into this category because the main strategy is to bash face with decks like Zoo. Again, I'd toss Dredge into this category along with combo decks. For the most part, these decks don't care what the opponent is playing. I suppose I can't completely place these decks in a void. Zoo runs cards like Grim Lavamancer and Qasali Pridemage giving it the capability of interacting with the opponent. My point is when decks such as Zoo starts to fill their decks with cards like Wrath of God, Zoo loses its edge and becomes something else. Kind a like Walgreens. The pharmaceutical chain began with soda fountains in their shops and one of the originators of selling milkshakes with malt in them. Where was I? What I worry about is deck dilution. When a player starts taking an aggressive deck and implementing control cards in the main, the deck begins to lose the power of its linear strategy.
In my humble opinion, Jund was successful for the many ways it could interact with its opponent. I don't consider Bloodbraid Elf to be an engine, by the way. Yes, the card was powerful, but it only gets to do its trick once. Maelstrom Pulse worked overtime taking out permanents and planeswalkers, Blightning ripped apart hands, Lightning Bolt hit face or torched creatures, Goblin Ruinblaster messed with the trilands, and etc. I don't think Magic has seen such a deck since Vindicates and Gerrard's Verdicts. I know a lot of people bemoaned the deck when it was in Standard. I thought it was a great deck because I actually felt like I was playing Magic regardless of the outcome. I wasn't being burnt in four turns by Red Decks Wins, combo killed by Dragonstorm, or having everything countered by some blue deck. I was actually playing Magic. I really hope Wizards makes more decks like Jund viable in the future. Magic no longer needs countermagic exclusively to keep a format in check. Magic can lean on decks like Jund to keep things fair.
Start Your Engines
Let's tie all this together with the new Extended season in mind. Public enemy number one is Fairies at the moment. Beginning the deck building process immediately with Fairies in mind is a mistake. Before a deck builder even begins, he/she is already diluting the deck. Starting with Volcanic Fallout and Great Stable Staag in a deck is metagaming. It isn't deck building. The deck building process should start out pure with the objective of refining/metagaming a deck being stage three of the process. Yes, I am asking the deck building process start in a vacuum without any thought to the current tier-one decks. Let me put it in another way. We have all heard of the creativity box. By building with something like Fairies in mind, the deck builder has already isolated himself/herself into the box of restriction. Avoid the creative handicap.
Stage one of the building process is identifying the engines of the format to build a deck around. Since this is the extended season, here is a short list I devised.
I made the list since I was trolling through cards looking for inspiration anyway. I did not include life gain, loss of life effects, mana abilities, and creature abilities like flying and pump effects. I do not consider those effects to be engines. Creature abilities or pumping effects like Quillspike got the axe due to the Spiritmonger mantra. Engines should give an advantage. Life gain or loss of life isn't necessarily irrelevant. A change in life totals just isn't an engine. The two are about tempo, possibly a combo, but they are not engines. Let me try this a different. I hit my opponent in the face with a Lightning Bolt. The play did not change the game state. My opponent still has the same lands, creatures, enchantments in play, cards in hand, number of cards in the library, and cards in the graveyard. Nothing has changed in my opponent losing life. It is the reason life gain is a horrible strategy. Mana falls in the same category in a different way. The production of mana is about tempo. More mana simply means a quicker or faster deck.
My alpha version of an extended deck would something like the following.
Yup, it's a throwback to old Boss Naya. I didn't include things like Oblivion Ring because it dilutes the decks theme. Ideally, I want to hit a creature with Bloodbraid Elf to bring back my Vengevines. Stage two is about alpha testing. It is the stage where I can figure those nuances out. I may want to switch out Noble Hierarch for Quest of the Holy Relic. I will never know until I test. One thing I really like about the deck is I have multiple creatures with haste that can spring in out of nowhere and attach Argentum Armor.
As an aside, I think a monoblack control deck would be great in the Extended metagame. I thought of this when I was building the engine list and stumbled on the old classic Scepter of Fugue. Discard on a stick would be great at ripping apart the Four Color Control decks and even give Fairies problems. Throw in a couple of Thoughtseizes and rip apart the hands. Toss in some fatties like Abyssal Persecutor and bash face as the opponent sits there with an empty hand.
Stage Three entails metagaming or refining the deck after extensively testing the alpha deck. Now is the time for the question: how interactive do I need to be with my opponents? The dilemma is that the more interactive I make the deck equates into a more diluted theme. For example, some deck is utterly smoking me because I don't have anything to deal with a certain permanent. Going down history lane, Ghazi Glare decks running Glare of Subdual could sideboard in Fortune Thief and quietly build an army since the opponent had nothing to deal with the permanent. A card like Oblivion Ring is a great card to deal with such problems. Including Oblivion Ring makes the decks theme weaker. As a note, I didn't say I made the deck weaker. I made the theme of the deck weaker.
I think that is enough theoretical nonsense for today. Hopefully, some of the theory has merit.
Glimmers of Truth
I believe every Magic writer has good intentions when they write an article. Besides articles for entertainment, the writer hopes to convey a piece of knowledge. A glimpse into his/her psyche and lessons learned. As reader myself, I believe it is my responsibility to pick apart the article and look for those seeds of truth. Even if I disagree with the author, I have to admit when certain aspects of those articles hold merit. As with my article, I don't write to be completely correct in my assumptions. The articles are to contain bits of truth that my readers can pick out for their merit. My last article had some people in an uproar because I called men dogs. I found the overreaction interesting. I do believe as a male that men are less complex than people try to make us out to be. People seem to gravitate to more complex reasons when the solution is much simpler in nature. In truth, I was making pseudo joke while making a pseudo point. The literal interpretation of the writing confounded me a little. Was that my only intent? If anybody has caught on, I like to write my articles with for room for interpretation. I want my readers to think. Part of the folly could be due to the serious nature of the subject. Maybe it is analogous to telling jokes at a funeral. It may be considered tacky.
Good writing to me makes a point and sticks with it. I could have gone back and forth on certain points. To me, that results in bad piece of literature. I can't write an article against drilling for oil in the Gulf then talk about the multiple merits behind the drilling. It is wish washy. I took a stand and stuck with it, for better or worse. I took the stance from the angle that needed saying. I don't think an article on “your partner better damn well be respectful” to be as helpful to the community. I could have, but I didn't. I also tried saying it in the way I thought would have the most impact. Let me put it in another way. Most people are aware of their faults. The straightforward approach doesn't always work on helping people. I could go up to somebody who smokes and say “stop smoking.” If that worked, I highly doubt so many people would be smoking nowadays. Sometimes a different approach is needed to get those people to quit. Then again, maybe smokers aren't very smart. I can say that and you can't. (Family Guy reference anyone?)
I can argue this all day. I won't because people tend to take everything at face value. Being a mischievous youth, my brother and I would sit in some place like a mall and have odd exchanges. We would toy with people. Why? We found it hilarious how many people would take our conversation literally. The talk would always be ludicrous. Mostly Family Guy kind of stuff. I eat poop, steal candy from babies, spit on children, and tear the tags off of couches. My brother and I got quite a few lectures from bystanders snooping in on our conversation. It is one of the reasons I could argue against the points of Mark Rosewater's article Playing with Memories. Everybody believing the article was a reprint for the fact people often believe information for its face value. It wasn't because of memory issues. I suppose I could write Maro and tell him how wrong he was in the article. I won't because it is wrong for me to do so. Mark was making a point. Interjecting my point wasn't the point of his article. Instead of trying to prove him wrong, I will try to find the glimmers of truth in his article that has merit to me. However, I can definitely see why people took it at face value.
URL for article http://mtgsalvation.com/1264-off-topic-deck-engines.html
I like the way this guy thinks about decks and deckbuilding.
Hello, my name is Meyou and I like to punch children in the face. Okay, not really, but usually I talk about some odd stuff. Sometimes I don't even talk about Magic. Not today. That's right. No philosophical mumbo jumbo. Instead, I will be laying down my foundations for how to be a better deck builder.
Engines
Since a lot of Magic terminology always feels very generic to me, I try to develop my own lingo. I find the approach to be a great way to develop a deeper understanding of Magic and deck design. I think of it as homework or trying to develop a thesis. First, I have to create a definition and then try to defend it. One of the terms I have developed is what I call engines. The term encompasses cards or combinations with repeatable abilities. I originally developed the term to subdivide combos. What I call "pure combo" are decks that play cards in a series of steps. Pure combo decks to me are decks built around such cards like Tendrils of Agony/Brain Freeze and Mind's Desire. In order to complete a Tendrils of Agony kill, a sequence of cards need to be played before casting for lethal. In contrast, engine combos have repeatable abilities and tend to be permanents. Classic combos I call engines are things like Counterbalance with Sensei's Divining Top or Sword of the Meek with Thopter Foundry. The difference between pure combos, engine combos and engines is individual cards can be engines. Cards I consider to be engines include planeswalkers such as Jace, the Mind Sculptor, Titans such as Grave Titan, Argentum Armor, and Dark Confidant.
The reason engines are important is because the large majority of any successful tier-one decks have had engines. Faeries had Bitterblossom, Boss Naya had Basilisk Collar with Cunning Sparkmage, and Necropotence powered the fabled Illusions of Grandeur decks. Go back through Magic history and just about every successful deck has an engine component with only a few exceptions. Seriously, look back. Psychatog had Psychatog, Tooth and Nail had the lovely Mephidross Vampire and Triskelion, and Rebels had Rebels. Engines need to be a crucial part of the deck building process. Without an engine, a deck can be condemned to tier-two status. I may be splitting hairs, but the concept of engines I believe can help move deck builders up to a higher level of construction. Here are a few more engine cards: Astral Slide, Glare of Subdual, Goblin Lackey, Life of the Loam, Eternal Dragon, Survival of the Fittest, Emrakul, the Aeons Torn, and Smokestack.
The dangerous trap of building a deck around an engine is that too many decks become heavily reliant on them for success. The Faeries deck is a great point. Without a Bitterblossom, the deck just flops around like a fish out of water. I always thought the same about Legacy decks sporting Counterbalance. With the blue enchantment in play, it can be very difficult to beat. Without it, the deck isn't quite so scary. I discovered this when testing Thopter Foundry for Legacy. When I hit a Counterbalance, I hardly ever lost and games without the enchantment in play resulted in a game loss. I'm not saying those decks or cards are bad. I simply think a situation were one has to cross his/her fingers every game hoping for the nut draw is a bad idea. Back during Morningtide, sometimes I felt like the lucky winner of the tournament was merely the one who drew the most Bitterblossoms that day. Whenever a player misses their Bitterblossom, I have affectionately termed it as a misfire to stay within the engine theme. A misfire doesn't mean getting mana screwed. It explicitly means not drawing or getting a decks engine online.
As such, decks running engines can be fragile. As much as I like the Standard Affinity with Quest for the Holy Relic to zip out an Argentum Armor onto a creature, I don't like how it can easily misfire. In order to be a better deck builder, I am now trying to build in as many engines as possible into my decks. I call a deck with multiple engines as a deck with a V6. Sure, the name is a little corny, but the name doesn't matter. It is the thought process here that is important. It is why I now tend to gravitate towards decks with a built-in V6. Decks I consider to have multiple engines are decks like blue/black control with its Jaces and Grave Titans, Valakut Ramp with Valakut, the Molten Pinnacle and Primeval Titans, or Legacy decks with Dark Confidant and Counterbalance. In my current belief system, decks with V6 engines are more powerful. Decks with two engines are a lot more resilient and consistent against misfiring.
Serial Dilutions
Take a White Weenie deck getting tweaked. When a player starts throwing in Disenchants, Path to Exiles, and Day of Judgments, the decks core theme becomes more and more diluted. Eventually, the deck loses its entire theme. A control deck that does nothing. I'm not here to completely ban Path to Exiles or say control decks are bad. I think it is a concept a designer should be conscious of when constructing a deck. It one of those things designers can easily fall prey to in order to combat problems. Let's take a White Weenie deck trying to find a solution for something like Vengevine. The easy thing to do for a white based deck would be to start filling it with cards like Journey to Nowhere. Adding the white enchantment dilutes the deck. A better solution would be to find a way to stay within the theme of a deck while dealing with Vengevine. The white weenie deck might be better off adding Baneslayer Angels than creature removal. Another example would be for a Fairies deck to adopt Sower of Temptation to deal with Vengevine than, say, Leyline of the Void.
Take 15 graveyard hate cards, switch out 15 cards from the main of a Legacy Goblins deck. The power level of the Goblins deck has been severely reduced. Every time a card is removed from the deck and replaced with a card not within the decks theme, it causes a serial dilution. The terms come from chemistry. It refers to taking something and diluting it in a series. The mixture can be diluted in half each time. Mixtures go from 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, etc. At 128, there is one part of the original solution with 127 parts diluent. The numbers are probably not as drastic for Magic decks, but the problem still exists. Here is what I am trying to say: every subsequent card removed from a deck has a larger and larger impact on the power level of the deck. The argument may be hyperbolic in nature. Nonetheless, every card not within the theme severely dilutes the power level of the deck. Diluent cards are the ones people throw in their decks just in case. People do it all the time with cards like Disenchants just in case they need to hit an artifact or enchantment. Pretty soon the deck is filled with Swords to Plowshares, Counterspells, and what not. Diluent cards are there just in case. That line of thinking is dangerous because pretty soon the deck does nothing.
   | ||
|---|---|---|
| 4 Disenchant 4 Counterspell 4 Relic of Progenitus 4 Swords to Plowshares 4 Wrath of God 4 Crucible of Worlds 4 Eternal Witness 4 Leyline of Sanctity 4 Serra Angel | 4 Serra's Terra Firma 4 Tropical Island 4 Savannah 4 Misty Rainforest 4 Flooded Strand 4 Flagstones of Trokair | |
Interactivity
Control decks sidestep a lot of my engine theory. It is a simple matter because there are multiple levels to deck building. One of the other concepts I have developed is what I call interactivity. In my opinion, decks should either have very high interactivity or very low interactivity. Dredge is a deck I consider to have low interactivity. Besides some graveyard hate, dredge really doesn't care what the opponent is playing. Classic control decks with Counterspells are what I think of as having a high level of interactivity. It can interact with just about anything. When I begin deck building, I think about a pendulum. Good deck building in my opinion swings to the extremes. Decks shouldn't try to swing in the middle. Adding control cards into an aggro deck is a mistake... unless it fits the theme.
Decks should say one of two things: "Deal with me" or "I will stop you." Control decks can be included in the showstoppers category, but there are other decks that fall into this category. Decks that played Enduring Ideal fall into the this slot. The decks sporting the white epic card fetched up cards like Form of the Dragon, Dovescape, and Solitary Confinement. The whole point of the deck is to Disrupt the opponent's normal plan of attack. I would toss land destruction into this category. An example of this would be the old Wildfire decks around the Champions era. I have to say I hated that deck. Nothing worse than having to sit there and Twiddle my thumbs since I have no lands on the battlefield. Anyway, the decks were very potent because of their ability to mess with the opponent. To summarize: build decks to either be on the offense or defense, not both.
Legacy Goblins or Affinity are a few decks that say "deal with me." Aggressive decks fall into this category because the main strategy is to bash face with decks like Zoo. Again, I'd toss Dredge into this category along with combo decks. For the most part, these decks don't care what the opponent is playing. I suppose I can't completely place these decks in a void. Zoo runs cards like Grim Lavamancer and Qasali Pridemage giving it the capability of interacting with the opponent. My point is when decks such as Zoo starts to fill their decks with cards like Wrath of God, Zoo loses its edge and becomes something else. Kind a like Walgreens. The pharmaceutical chain began with soda fountains in their shops and one of the originators of selling milkshakes with malt in them. Where was I? What I worry about is deck dilution. When a player starts taking an aggressive deck and implementing control cards in the main, the deck begins to lose the power of its linear strategy.
In my humble opinion, Jund was successful for the many ways it could interact with its opponent. I don't consider Bloodbraid Elf to be an engine, by the way. Yes, the card was powerful, but it only gets to do its trick once. Maelstrom Pulse worked overtime taking out permanents and planeswalkers, Blightning ripped apart hands, Lightning Bolt hit face or torched creatures, Goblin Ruinblaster messed with the trilands, and etc. I don't think Magic has seen such a deck since Vindicates and Gerrard's Verdicts. I know a lot of people bemoaned the deck when it was in Standard. I thought it was a great deck because I actually felt like I was playing Magic regardless of the outcome. I wasn't being burnt in four turns by Red Decks Wins, combo killed by Dragonstorm, or having everything countered by some blue deck. I was actually playing Magic. I really hope Wizards makes more decks like Jund viable in the future. Magic no longer needs countermagic exclusively to keep a format in check. Magic can lean on decks like Jund to keep things fair.
Start Your Engines
Let's tie all this together with the new Extended season in mind. Public enemy number one is Fairies at the moment. Beginning the deck building process immediately with Fairies in mind is a mistake. Before a deck builder even begins, he/she is already diluting the deck. Starting with Volcanic Fallout and Great Stable Staag in a deck is metagaming. It isn't deck building. The deck building process should start out pure with the objective of refining/metagaming a deck being stage three of the process. Yes, I am asking the deck building process start in a vacuum without any thought to the current tier-one decks. Let me put it in another way. We have all heard of the creativity box. By building with something like Fairies in mind, the deck builder has already isolated himself/herself into the box of restriction. Avoid the creative handicap.
Stage one of the building process is identifying the engines of the format to build a deck around. Since this is the extended season, here is a short list I devised.
Spoiler:
I made the list since I was trolling through cards looking for inspiration anyway. I did not include life gain, loss of life effects, mana abilities, and creature abilities like flying and pump effects. I do not consider those effects to be engines. Creature abilities or pumping effects like Quillspike got the axe due to the Spiritmonger mantra. Engines should give an advantage. Life gain or loss of life isn't necessarily irrelevant. A change in life totals just isn't an engine. The two are about tempo, possibly a combo, but they are not engines. Let me try this a different. I hit my opponent in the face with a Lightning Bolt. The play did not change the game state. My opponent still has the same lands, creatures, enchantments in play, cards in hand, number of cards in the library, and cards in the graveyard. Nothing has changed in my opponent losing life. It is the reason life gain is a horrible strategy. Mana falls in the same category in a different way. The production of mana is about tempo. More mana simply means a quicker or faster deck.
My alpha version of an extended deck would something like the following.
| | ||
|---|---|---|
| 4 Sun Titan - engine 4 Fauna Shaman - engine 4 Vengevine - engine 2 Argentum Armor - engine 3 Cunning Sparkmage - engine 1 Basilisk Collar 4 Stoneforge Mystic 2 Kor Outfitter 4 Bloodbraid Elf 4 Kitchen Finks 4 Noble Hierarch | (Lands = Semantics) | |
Yup, it's a throwback to old Boss Naya. I didn't include things like Oblivion Ring because it dilutes the decks theme. Ideally, I want to hit a creature with Bloodbraid Elf to bring back my Vengevines. Stage two is about alpha testing. It is the stage where I can figure those nuances out. I may want to switch out Noble Hierarch for Quest of the Holy Relic. I will never know until I test. One thing I really like about the deck is I have multiple creatures with haste that can spring in out of nowhere and attach Argentum Armor.
As an aside, I think a monoblack control deck would be great in the Extended metagame. I thought of this when I was building the engine list and stumbled on the old classic Scepter of Fugue. Discard on a stick would be great at ripping apart the Four Color Control decks and even give Fairies problems. Throw in a couple of Thoughtseizes and rip apart the hands. Toss in some fatties like Abyssal Persecutor and bash face as the opponent sits there with an empty hand.
Stage Three entails metagaming or refining the deck after extensively testing the alpha deck. Now is the time for the question: how interactive do I need to be with my opponents? The dilemma is that the more interactive I make the deck equates into a more diluted theme. For example, some deck is utterly smoking me because I don't have anything to deal with a certain permanent. Going down history lane, Ghazi Glare decks running Glare of Subdual could sideboard in Fortune Thief and quietly build an army since the opponent had nothing to deal with the permanent. A card like Oblivion Ring is a great card to deal with such problems. Including Oblivion Ring makes the decks theme weaker. As a note, I didn't say I made the deck weaker. I made the theme of the deck weaker.
I think that is enough theoretical nonsense for today. Hopefully, some of the theory has merit.
Glimmers of Truth
I believe every Magic writer has good intentions when they write an article. Besides articles for entertainment, the writer hopes to convey a piece of knowledge. A glimpse into his/her psyche and lessons learned. As reader myself, I believe it is my responsibility to pick apart the article and look for those seeds of truth. Even if I disagree with the author, I have to admit when certain aspects of those articles hold merit. As with my article, I don't write to be completely correct in my assumptions. The articles are to contain bits of truth that my readers can pick out for their merit. My last article had some people in an uproar because I called men dogs. I found the overreaction interesting. I do believe as a male that men are less complex than people try to make us out to be. People seem to gravitate to more complex reasons when the solution is much simpler in nature. In truth, I was making pseudo joke while making a pseudo point. The literal interpretation of the writing confounded me a little. Was that my only intent? If anybody has caught on, I like to write my articles with for room for interpretation. I want my readers to think. Part of the folly could be due to the serious nature of the subject. Maybe it is analogous to telling jokes at a funeral. It may be considered tacky.
Good writing to me makes a point and sticks with it. I could have gone back and forth on certain points. To me, that results in bad piece of literature. I can't write an article against drilling for oil in the Gulf then talk about the multiple merits behind the drilling. It is wish washy. I took a stand and stuck with it, for better or worse. I took the stance from the angle that needed saying. I don't think an article on “your partner better damn well be respectful” to be as helpful to the community. I could have, but I didn't. I also tried saying it in the way I thought would have the most impact. Let me put it in another way. Most people are aware of their faults. The straightforward approach doesn't always work on helping people. I could go up to somebody who smokes and say “stop smoking.” If that worked, I highly doubt so many people would be smoking nowadays. Sometimes a different approach is needed to get those people to quit. Then again, maybe smokers aren't very smart. I can say that and you can't. (Family Guy reference anyone?)
I can argue this all day. I won't because people tend to take everything at face value. Being a mischievous youth, my brother and I would sit in some place like a mall and have odd exchanges. We would toy with people. Why? We found it hilarious how many people would take our conversation literally. The talk would always be ludicrous. Mostly Family Guy kind of stuff. I eat poop, steal candy from babies, spit on children, and tear the tags off of couches. My brother and I got quite a few lectures from bystanders snooping in on our conversation. It is one of the reasons I could argue against the points of Mark Rosewater's article Playing with Memories. Everybody believing the article was a reprint for the fact people often believe information for its face value. It wasn't because of memory issues. I suppose I could write Maro and tell him how wrong he was in the article. I won't because it is wrong for me to do so. Mark was making a point. Interjecting my point wasn't the point of his article. Instead of trying to prove him wrong, I will try to find the glimmers of truth in his article that has merit to me. However, I can definitely see why people took it at face value.
URL for article http://mtgsalvation.com/1264-off-topic-deck-engines.html
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