Make sure you don't miss this article by Luca Ashok. It focus on mid and long term speculation
http://www.quietspeculation.com/2016/01/insider-the-mechanics-of-mtgo-trading/
Friday, January 8, 2016
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
The year of flashback drafts!
I just wanted to let everyone know that this year Wizards is doing a flashback draft for virtually every draft format starting from 8th edition on (only scheduled to 10th edition in May as of now but will continue all year).
This week is Mirrodin, Mirrodin, Mirrodin.
I am all excited because this set was my first step into playing competitive Magic.
I'm excited to replay all the old draft decks I made from way back and I recommend everyone check it out.
Not to mention there's a chance to pick up some money cards in pretty much every set.
Happy Drafting
Modern is becoming Legacy for real?
There's been a significant amount of speculation that Stoneforge Mystic may get unbanned in Modern. People speculate and discuss what is good and what is too good in Modern.
Everyone knows Legacy is a dying format due to the reserve list. Many staples can't be reprinted and it makes it hard to revitalize a format when they can't even print cards for the format. There are progressively less tournaments and coverage. It's all about Standard and Modern.
There have been numerous discussions about "non reserve list legacy" but that's too impractical to actually have a format like that. You know what is practical? Having a format from a certain time period forward with minimal bannings. Wizards can reprint the type of cards that made the Legacy format great that aren't on the reserved list.
What if Stoneforge unbanning despite it being crazy good is just a step to making Modern into no reserve list Legacy?
Will Splinter Twin be banned in Modern?
With the discussion of unbanning Stoneforge Mystic all over the place...Even i wrote about it....it got me thinking. Is Stoneforge better than Splinter Twin?
It's a very strong strategy starting as early as turn two and starts attacking with a 4/4 vigilance lifelinker on turn 4. What's Twin up to on turn 4? Winning the game that's what.
I'm sure Stoneforge would be a powerhouse but I don't think it would have an impact against Twin.
I've always been critical of Twin, I think it's the most unfun deck to play because sometimes they topdeck an auto-win, that's not what Magic should be. I also don't know a single banning that hurt Twin or at least was mentioned because it made twin too good. All the Modern cantrips made Storm (barely playable now) too good and WOTC had to do something about it.
What would happen to the format without twin? I think a lot of decks would not have to have solid answers to the turn 3 exarch and turn 4 twin, this could allow for diversity in sideboards.
I dislike twin as a deck, not that it's not good, it just isn't fun to worry about an instant win card...it just isn't fun. Just my opinion, I think it would be fine to ban and shake up the format.
How many copies of a card do I run? A sample deck: 1-land-spy
After our five week discussion about how many copies of a card to include in a 60-card deck we now look at an example deck.
Check out the original article here: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/12/1-ofs-2-ofs-3-ofs-and-4-ofs-and.html
This is the dreaded 1-land-spy combo deck from Pauper. The idea is to mill your entire deck into the graveyard by playing your single land, then playing a Balustrade Spy to mill yourself while generating a ton of mana, get your Haunting Misery back from the graveyard with an Anarchist and kill your opponent by casting the Misery. You can also put Haunting Misery back on top of your deck with Conjurer's Bauble.
Deck list: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/1-land-combo/
1-ofs: Anarchist, Forest, Haunting Misery.
These are all part of the combo and you know that you will have your entire deck available to you when you combo out. Thus you only need single copies of these cards.
2-of:Morgue Theft
I am not sure why this is a 2-of. It seems that it could be a 1-of.
3-of: Conjurer's Bauble. This puts Haunting Misery at the bottom of your empty library which means it is the next card you draw. This is your usual way of winning which means that you need to find this card and play it (not put it in your graveyard). However, multiples in your starting hand do you no good. Thus a 3-of.
4-ofs: Everything else
You just want as many copies of possible of all these cards to get enough fuel for your combo and cycle through your deck as quickly as possible. Thus: 4-ofs.
Generally, having four of a card is the natural state of a card worth playing. You need a reason to go down from there.
Check out the original article here: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/12/1-ofs-2-ofs-3-ofs-and-4-ofs-and.html
This is the dreaded 1-land-spy combo deck from Pauper. The idea is to mill your entire deck into the graveyard by playing your single land, then playing a Balustrade Spy to mill yourself while generating a ton of mana, get your Haunting Misery back from the graveyard with an Anarchist and kill your opponent by casting the Misery. You can also put Haunting Misery back on top of your deck with Conjurer's Bauble.
Deck list: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/1-land-combo/
1x Anarchist 4x Balustrade Spy 4x Cabal Ritual 3x Conjurer's Bauble 4x Dark Ritual 4x Destroy the Evidence 4x Elves of Deep Shadow 1x Forest 4x Gitaxian Probe 1x Haunting Misery 4x Land Grant 4x Lotus Petal 2x Morgue Theft 4x Simian Spirit Guide 4x Songs of the Damned 4x Street Wraith 4x Tinder Wall 4x Wild Cantor Sideboard 2x Basking Rootwalla 1x Crypt Rats 4x Duress 1x Flaring Pain 4x Fog 3x Ingot Chewer
1-ofs: Anarchist, Forest, Haunting Misery.
These are all part of the combo and you know that you will have your entire deck available to you when you combo out. Thus you only need single copies of these cards.
2-of:Morgue Theft
I am not sure why this is a 2-of. It seems that it could be a 1-of.
3-of: Conjurer's Bauble. This puts Haunting Misery at the bottom of your empty library which means it is the next card you draw. This is your usual way of winning which means that you need to find this card and play it (not put it in your graveyard). However, multiples in your starting hand do you no good. Thus a 3-of.
4-ofs: Everything else
You just want as many copies of possible of all these cards to get enough fuel for your combo and cycle through your deck as quickly as possible. Thus: 4-ofs.
Generally, having four of a card is the natural state of a card worth playing. You need a reason to go down from there.
Sunday, January 3, 2016
What else may be unbanned in Modern?
- Ancestral Vision - lately Dan explained what 4-ofs is. You want definately to have this card in your opening hand. If you consider playing Ancestral Vision you are forced to use a playset or none. It enables you to draw 3 cards on turn four, but on the flip side you do not want to draw Ancestral Vision in late game, usually it will be a useless card then. We do not have a true control deck in Modern, so unbanning it may be incentive for new archetypes.
- Sword of the Meek - a combo with Thopter Foundry, which enables you to gain 1 life and 1/1 creature for 1 mana. Is this two-card combo too powerful, wheras Splinter Twin is around? I'm afraid not. It is just too slow. Additionally, there are too many maindeck answers to stop it, such as Abrupt Decay or Kolaghan's Command.
- Dread Return - in a format where there is no Bazaar of Baghdad, Breakthrough or even Grand Coliseum a Dredge deck will not become a tier1 and Dread Return would not fit to any other deck. We have reanimating spells in Modern right now, for instance Unburial Rites and we may cheat Elesh Norn into play if we want to. In my opinion, Living End deck is just more efficient equivalent strategy.
On ther other hand, I will not ban anything. The metagame is diversified and none deck is dominating or totally unfair. What are your thought about (un)bans in Modern?
In the middle of round three of the Pauper Gauntlet
We are now in round three of the Pauper Gauntlet. Play has moved to the Tournament Practice room and decks are now eliminated immediatly if they lose.
What is the Pauper Gauntlet?
All about the Pauper Gauntlet Season 03: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/11/the-pauper-gauntlet.html
All the deck lists: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/11/the-decks-of-pauper-gauntlet-s03.html
Round three
Round three is played in the Tournament Practice room and if a deck loses it is elmiinated from the Pauper Gauntlet (unless voted back after round 4). Here are all the results of round three so far (including results from last week)
67 decks entered round three.
RUG Tron defeats Angler Delver 2-0
Green Ramp LD takes down Ninjutsu Reality Acid (!) 2-1
Infect gets a two turn kill (see above) and wins 2-1
Mono Red Heroic crushes Jund Dredge 2-0
Green One takes on Simic Explore and wins 2-0
Goblins run over Rakdos Reanimator 2-0
Exhume Control got outresourced by Pig Trinket piloted by a Gauntlet fan 0-2
5-color Green is murdered by Angler Delver 0-2
Death Control wins against Eye Candy Control 2-0
BUGS & Pigs plays double lifestaff against RDW and wins 2-0
Affinity lost to Dimir Teachings 1-2 and is eliminated.
Burn defeats AzoriusKitty 2-0
Encroaching Blight is defeated by White Metalcraft 1-2
Black Auramancer, the Pauper Rogue Cup champion, defeats MBC 2-1
Kuldotha Mardu defeats RUG Tron 2-1.
MBC defeats BorosKitty 2-1
12-4 so far, which is decent.
63 decks remain in the third season of the Pauper Gauntlet (+3 from the voteback)!
What happens now?
Round 3 will end on Jan 19 (it was a long round due to the holidays). Round 4 will be shorter and will end on Sunday Feb 7 and then we will have the voteback. The preliminary format for the Voteback is that every viewer gets three votes and three decks are brought back into the Gauntlet. A deck that is voted back can be from any round - i.e. even the decks that lost during double elimination can come back after the Voteback.
Please visit our sponsor Mtgotickets, new customers receive 10 tickets for $8. Click on this link to check out mtgotickets
What is the Pauper Gauntlet?
All about the Pauper Gauntlet Season 03: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/11/the-pauper-gauntlet.html
All the deck lists: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/11/the-decks-of-pauper-gauntlet-s03.html
Round three
Round three is played in the Tournament Practice room and if a deck loses it is elmiinated from the Pauper Gauntlet (unless voted back after round 4). Here are all the results of round three so far (including results from last week)
67 decks entered round three.
RUG Tron defeats Angler Delver 2-0
Green Ramp LD takes down Ninjutsu Reality Acid (!) 2-1
Infect gets a two turn kill (see above) and wins 2-1
Mono Red Heroic crushes Jund Dredge 2-0
Green One takes on Simic Explore and wins 2-0
Goblins run over Rakdos Reanimator 2-0
Exhume Control got outresourced by Pig Trinket piloted by a Gauntlet fan 0-2
5-color Green is murdered by Angler Delver 0-2
Death Control wins against Eye Candy Control 2-0
BUGS & Pigs plays double lifestaff against RDW and wins 2-0
Affinity lost to Dimir Teachings 1-2 and is eliminated.
Burn defeats AzoriusKitty 2-0
Encroaching Blight is defeated by White Metalcraft 1-2
Black Auramancer, the Pauper Rogue Cup champion, defeats MBC 2-1
Kuldotha Mardu defeats RUG Tron 2-1.
MBC defeats BorosKitty 2-1
12-4 so far, which is decent.
63 decks remain in the third season of the Pauper Gauntlet (+3 from the voteback)!
What happens now?
Round 3 will end on Jan 19 (it was a long round due to the holidays). Round 4 will be shorter and will end on Sunday Feb 7 and then we will have the voteback. The preliminary format for the Voteback is that every viewer gets three votes and three decks are brought back into the Gauntlet. A deck that is voted back can be from any round - i.e. even the decks that lost during double elimination can come back after the Voteback.
Please visit our sponsor Mtgotickets, new customers receive 10 tickets for $8. Click on this link to check out mtgotickets
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