I spent the Easter weekend on a gaming convention for the first time in a long good while. It was GothCon in Gothenburg.
My main task was to do an episode of my Isfolket podcast (in Swedish) in front of a live audience. You can find the podcast here: https://itunes.apple.com/se/podcast/sagan-om-isfolket-podden/id1049002630?mt=2
However, when not doing that, I hung out with Isis Nördfeminism. Isis as in the Egyptian godess Isis, nothing else. This is me showing off my new MagicGatheringStrat swag in the Isis room at GothCon:
My main task among the feminists was to teach MTG to new players. While doing so I accidentally played my first game of Commander (it was my first paper magic game at a convention since I was at Pro Tour LA in 2000). I have played some Commander online but did not catch the bug. Note! I have now caught said bug!
My main problem with Commander was that I am a spike and I want to build decks that try to win. I found the format broken on MTGO but that was not at all the case when playing live in a casual setting.
Now I realized you play Commander because it is an excellent way to have some fun! I played Niv-Mizzet, Prossh, the Mimeoplasm and Trostani. Did I win? That is not the point (OK, I won with Niv-Mizzet) - the point was that I had a ton of fun.
For the first time in fifteen years I got home and looekd at my bookshelf full of Magic cards (all very old). I did sell off the most valuable cards when I quit paper magic for $20,000 in cash but I still have a lot of non-expensive cards left. I figured I could use them for fun some day and now I can.
So how do I build my first Commander deck? I think the best way is to buy one of the premade ones (from 2013 onwards they seem to be available for about $30-40) and then pimp it with some old cards.
So which one should I buy? I naturally looked at Mind Seize, being a Grixis player at heart ... but then I stopped. Am I still trying to win? I do like to be able to interact with threats. I do like to sweep the board. Is it the deck for me? I also looked at the red deck from Commander 2014 (Built from Scratch). Maybe I am looking at the wrong deck?
What Commander deck do you feel I should buy and what cards should I replace with the old stuff I have (Tempest and earlier, I think I have almost any non-expensive card, say below $2).
Give me your opinions below on how to pimp the deck you recommend or how to pimp Built from Scratch or Mind Seize.
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Monday, March 28, 2016
Commonly made mistakes
1. Under no circumstances unveil what deck you are playing. I mean not only literally saying 'Hey, I'm playing monored', but for instance a bad shuffling skill may unmask you. Don't give any chance for your opponent to see what cards you have in your deck. Don't leave your sideboard faceup. Don't show life total from previous rounds or any other information that your opponent may find beneficial, which at first sight might seem not important on the course of the following game. Do you really think a life total is a trival thing? Let me show you that it is not. Thanks to this information you may conclude that someone is playing a combo deck or a Siege Rhino card. Do you still want to keep used life total sheets from previous rounds?
2. Body language. Simply put, poker face.
3. Watch a clock. You cannot end up in situation where you ran out of time. In general, in a tournament play a draw is the same as a loss. There are a numerous ways to speed up a game, e.g if it is possible shuffle your library in your opponent turn.
The nine decks that are still alive in the Pauper Gauntlet
Round seven was truly a round of death.The round ended 9-9 and left nine decks fighting for 10th place in a gigantic top 10 qualification playoff. That is happening right now on MagicGatheringStrat2 on youtube.
That is a sideshow and I will give you the result next week. Now we are going to focus on the nine decks that are still alive in the competition.
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
The nine decks that are still in the competition
Aristocrats by Paul Jones: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/gb-suicide-is-painless/
Bant Sword and Shield by Paul Jones: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/bant-sword-and-shield/
Bugs & Pigs: By Galactic President. http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/bugs-pigs-20/
Cyborgs by jphsnake: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/cyborgs-1/
Green One: By Deluxeicoff. http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/09/pauper-gauntlet-competitor-1-green-one.html
Mono Black Control by Mario.
Pig Trinket by Power_T: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/11/the-decks-powert-submitted-to-pauper.html
Spiteful Leeches by Bava: http://magicgatheringstrat.com/2015/11/spiteful-leeches-a-combo-list-for-pauper-gauntlet-s3/
WW Soul Tokens by Bava: http://magicgatheringstrat.com/2015/12/ww-soul-tokens-in-the-pauper-gauntlet/
If you had asked me in November which nine decks I thought would be alive the longest in the Gauntlet this would not have been my answer :)
Who do you think will win at this point? Post your answer in the comments below (getting it right here is not part of the competition though).
What happens now?
The top 10 qualification playoff ends on Sunday April 3rd. Round eight begins on Monday April 4th .
Top ten decks still alive
BUGs & Pigs and Green One remains alive as the only two Top Ten decks from last season.
The Eliminations to this point
Round seven eliminations - the decks in the Top 10 Playoff: BorosKitty Initiated, Slivers, Mono Red Heroic, Stompy, UG Madness, RUG Tron and Izzet Cooldotha. These decks are still fighting for the 10th spot in the Pauper Gauntlet this week.
19th place (round six): Infect, Blue Bichinho, Death Control, Burn (runner-up from last season) and Pauper Nightmare.
24th place (round five) Illusory Tricks, White Heroes, Goblins, Suicide Black, Turbo Angler, Simic Oracle, Kuldotha Mardu, Elves, Rhystic Tron, MUC, Black Auramancer, Love Train,
36th place (round four) Counter-Kitty,UB Trinket Control, Rakdos Vampires, Flying Ninjas, Turbo Zoo, Shroudfang Ninja. Delver, Green Ramp LD, Snow-Go, Turbo Exhume
45th place: Shared by the 26 decks eliminated in round three: Affinity, Exhume Control, Familiars, Rebel Grind, Pestilence Control, Encroaching Blight, Green Grifters, The Pauper Gauntlet, Project X, Tortured Toolbox, RG Land Crusher, RG Landfall, DelverFiend, Eggs, Gary Busey LD, Selesnya Flash, Abzan Grindhouse, Bant Fog, Crocajund, BUG Proliferators, Evil Allies, Land-o-derm, Pig Trinket, Sultai Delve, 5-color Green
70th place: Shared by nine decks that died during double Elimination, (round one and two): Red Land Destruction, Mono Black Land Destruction, Glass Cannon Red, Tortured Madness, Cheaty Morph, Living End, 1-land Spy, UB Justice Control and Dragon Delve.
Round 1 ended 56-22 (72% match win rate)
Round 2 ended 13-9 (59% win)
Round 3 ended 43-26 (62% win)
Round 4 ended 32-11 (74% win - best win rate so far in Pauper Gauntlet history!)
Round 5 ended 23-12 (66% win)
Round 6 ended 18-5 (78% win) - a new record!
Round 7 ended 9-9 (50% win!)
That is a sideshow and I will give you the result next week. Now we are going to focus on the nine decks that are still alive in the competition.
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
The nine decks that are still in the competition
Aristocrats by Paul Jones: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/gb-suicide-is-painless/
Bant Sword and Shield by Paul Jones: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/bant-sword-and-shield/
Bugs & Pigs: By Galactic President. http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/bugs-pigs-20/
Cyborgs by jphsnake: http://tappedout.net/mtg-decks/cyborgs-1/
Green One: By Deluxeicoff. http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/09/pauper-gauntlet-competitor-1-green-one.html
Mono Black Control by Mario.
Pig Trinket by Power_T: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/11/the-decks-powert-submitted-to-pauper.html
Spiteful Leeches by Bava: http://magicgatheringstrat.com/2015/11/spiteful-leeches-a-combo-list-for-pauper-gauntlet-s3/
WW Soul Tokens by Bava: http://magicgatheringstrat.com/2015/12/ww-soul-tokens-in-the-pauper-gauntlet/
If you had asked me in November which nine decks I thought would be alive the longest in the Gauntlet this would not have been my answer :)
Who do you think will win at this point? Post your answer in the comments below (getting it right here is not part of the competition though).
What happens now?
The top 10 qualification playoff ends on Sunday April 3rd. Round eight begins on Monday April 4th .
Top ten decks still alive
BUGs & Pigs and Green One remains alive as the only two Top Ten decks from last season.
The Eliminations to this point
Round seven eliminations - the decks in the Top 10 Playoff: BorosKitty Initiated, Slivers, Mono Red Heroic, Stompy, UG Madness, RUG Tron and Izzet Cooldotha. These decks are still fighting for the 10th spot in the Pauper Gauntlet this week.
19th place (round six): Infect, Blue Bichinho, Death Control, Burn (runner-up from last season) and Pauper Nightmare.
24th place (round five) Illusory Tricks, White Heroes, Goblins, Suicide Black, Turbo Angler, Simic Oracle, Kuldotha Mardu, Elves, Rhystic Tron, MUC, Black Auramancer, Love Train,
36th place (round four) Counter-Kitty,UB Trinket Control, Rakdos Vampires, Flying Ninjas, Turbo Zoo, Shroudfang Ninja. Delver, Green Ramp LD, Snow-Go, Turbo Exhume
45th place: Shared by the 26 decks eliminated in round three: Affinity, Exhume Control, Familiars, Rebel Grind, Pestilence Control, Encroaching Blight, Green Grifters, The Pauper Gauntlet, Project X, Tortured Toolbox, RG Land Crusher, RG Landfall, DelverFiend, Eggs, Gary Busey LD, Selesnya Flash, Abzan Grindhouse, Bant Fog, Crocajund, BUG Proliferators, Evil Allies, Land-o-derm, Pig Trinket, Sultai Delve, 5-color Green
70th place: Shared by nine decks that died during double Elimination, (round one and two): Red Land Destruction, Mono Black Land Destruction, Glass Cannon Red, Tortured Madness, Cheaty Morph, Living End, 1-land Spy, UB Justice Control and Dragon Delve.
Round 1 ended 56-22 (72% match win rate)
Round 2 ended 13-9 (59% win)
Round 3 ended 43-26 (62% win)
Round 4 ended 32-11 (74% win - best win rate so far in Pauper Gauntlet history!)
Round 5 ended 23-12 (66% win)
Round 6 ended 18-5 (78% win) - a new record!
Round 7 ended 9-9 (50% win!)
Please visit our sponsor Mtgotickets, new customers receive 10 tickets for $8. Click on this link to check out mtgotickets
Wednesday, March 23, 2016
Converting Pauper to Modern part 4: DelverFiend
Part 1 (Stompy and Delver) here: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2016/03/converting-pauper-to-modern-part-1.html
Part 2 (Angler Delver) here: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2016/03/converting-pauper-to-modern-part-2.html
Part 3 (MBC) here: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2016/03/converting-pauper-to-modern-part-3-mono.html
In this series we are trying to convert Pauper decks to Modern. This week we will look at DelverFiend, also known as Izzet Blitz, also known as Eye Candy, also known as UR Fiend, also known as Nivix Blitz etc.
Here someone else had already done a lot of the work for me. It was my good friend Bava who wrote the following article: http://magicgatheringstrat.com/2015/03/paupers-and-kings-ep-7-izzet-blitz/
This is the list I played at the end of the two weeks I tested the deck:
Deck list
4 Steam Vents
8 Mountain
4 Island
4 Kiln Fiend
4 Monastery Swiftspear
2 Ground Rift
4 Apostle's Blessing
3 Gut Shot
3 Lightning Bolt
4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Gitaxian Probe
3 Hidden Strings
4 Manamorphose
2 Temur Battle Rage
4 Nivmagus Elemental
3 Slip Through Space
Sideboard
2 Pyroclasm
4 Dispel
1 Lightning Bolt
4 Smelt
4 Young Pyromancer
A sample match with the deck. Nivmagus Elemental seems like a very underrated cards. It is fast!
The idea is to build a budget Modern deck that resembles the Pauper deck. What changes would you make? What would you take out? What would you bring in instead? When suggesting changes, keep in mind that we are under heavy budget restrictions here.
This was the last of my experiments for the time being. Do you have a suggestion for another deck I should try to convert from Pauper to Modern? Let me know in the comments
Part 2 (Angler Delver) here: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2016/03/converting-pauper-to-modern-part-2.html
Part 3 (MBC) here: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2016/03/converting-pauper-to-modern-part-3-mono.html
In this series we are trying to convert Pauper decks to Modern. This week we will look at DelverFiend, also known as Izzet Blitz, also known as Eye Candy, also known as UR Fiend, also known as Nivix Blitz etc.
Here someone else had already done a lot of the work for me. It was my good friend Bava who wrote the following article: http://magicgatheringstrat.com/2015/03/paupers-and-kings-ep-7-izzet-blitz/
This is the list I played at the end of the two weeks I tested the deck:
Deck list
4 Steam Vents
8 Mountain
4 Island
4 Kiln Fiend
4 Monastery Swiftspear
2 Ground Rift
4 Apostle's Blessing
3 Gut Shot
3 Lightning Bolt
4 Mutagenic Growth
4 Gitaxian Probe
3 Hidden Strings
4 Manamorphose
2 Temur Battle Rage
4 Nivmagus Elemental
3 Slip Through Space
Sideboard
2 Pyroclasm
4 Dispel
1 Lightning Bolt
4 Smelt
4 Young Pyromancer
The idea is to build a budget Modern deck that resembles the Pauper deck. What changes would you make? What would you take out? What would you bring in instead? When suggesting changes, keep in mind that we are under heavy budget restrictions here.
This was the last of my experiments for the time being. Do you have a suggestion for another deck I should try to convert from Pauper to Modern? Let me know in the comments
Monday, March 21, 2016
MTGO Library Bot 10.83
We have just released ML Bot 10.83. The new version improves many aspects of the bot, including:
- card transfer mode is more now reliable. The bot had some problems in opening a trade, especially on slow machines, and this resulted in many failed attempts to open trade
- we fixed a problem with the trade final confirm window, where the bot was unable to click the confirm button again if the "first click" on the button was not received by MTGO
- we fixed a problem with the launch of MTGO, when the bot receives trade requests within the first seconds, when MTGO is not fully loaded
Please note that the last bot release was 10.80. This is version 10.83, version 10.81 and 10.82 have not being released to the public, we just kept them in our internal development.
Sunday, March 20, 2016
How Eldrazi mana symbol could have looked like?
Fortunately, Wizards abandoned this idea. It was a bit misleading. Some people, especially beginners may have thought that Augmentor of Kozilek cost fifty one mana. Current mana symbol looks much better.
Round Seven of the Pauper Gauntlet - the Round of Death
Round seven has turned into a round of death. After an amazing 18-5 record in round six top decks have been dropping dead like flies in round seven. If a deck loses a single match now it is eliminated for good.
The big question now is which ten decks will be the top ten decks of the Pauper Gauntlet S03. Being a top ten deck automatically qualifies you for season four and is a pretty big deal as the deck also goes on the Pauper Gauntlet Wall of Fame for all eternity.
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 seven
Round seven is played in the Tournament Practice room.Here are all the results of round seven so far.
BorosKitty Initiated fails to repeat its season one win and falls to MBC 0-2
Slivers dies to Burn 0-2
Mono Red Heroic loses to Zoo Hexproof
Green One defeats Selesnya Tokens 2-0
Stompy fails to repeat its season two win and dies to Izzet Control 0-2
Death! Death everywhere! 1-4!
RUG Tron is defeated by Delver 0-2
Aristocrats defeats RUG Tron 2-0
Spiteful Leeches somehow defeats Delver 2-0. The loss of Cloud of Fairies surely hurts Delver.
BUGs & Pigs wins against DelverFiend 2-0
Izzet Cooldotha gets crushed by Slivers Support Flyers (?) 0-2
4-6! That is SIX (6!) eliminations so far!!! 60% losses!
Cyborgs defeats Dimir Control 2-1
WW Soul Tokens wins against Tortured MBC 2-1
MBC defeats BorosKitty because of a quit
Ok, three more wins! So 7-6 so far. Five matches to go!
Moving on to round eight: Green One, Aristocrats, Spiteful Leeches, BUGs & Pigs, Cyborgs, MBC, WW Soul Tokens.
Two White Weenie decks in the very top! And surely some other decks that are still alive are quite suprising!
Five decks left to play: Pig Trinket, Stompy Tokens, Bant Sword and Shield, UG Madness and Goblin Storm.
What happens now?
Round seven ends on Monday March 21st. If less than ten decks remain there will be a qualification playoff for the last spots in the top ten between the decks that were eliminated in round seven before we proceed with round eight.
Top ten decks still alive
BUGs & Pigs and Green One remains alive as the only two Top Ten decks from last season.
The Eliminations to this point
Round seven eliminations so far: BorosKitty Initiated, Slivers, Mono Red Heroic, Stompy (the defending champion), RUG Tron and Izzet Cooldotha. These decks still have a chance to get to play the top ten qualification playoff for a spot in the top ten of S03.
19th place (round six): Infect, Blue Bichinho, Death Control, Burn (runner-up from last season) and Pauper Nightmare.
24th place (round five) Illusory Tricks, White Heroes, Goblins, Suicide Black, Turbo Angler, Simic Oracle, Kuldotha Mardu, Elves, Rhystic Tron, MUC, Black Auramancer, Love Train,
36th place (round four) Counter-Kitty,UB Trinket Control, Rakdos Vampires, Flying Ninjas, Turbo Zoo, Shroudfang Ninja. Delver, Green Ramp LD, Snow-Go, Turbo Exhume
45th place: Shared by the 26 decks eliminated in round three: Affinity, Exhume Control, Familiars, Rebel Grind, Pestilence Control, Encroaching Blight, Green Grifters, The Pauper Gauntlet, Project X, Tortured Toolbox, RG Land Crusher, RG Landfall, DelverFiend, Eggs, Gary Busey LD, Selesnya Flash, Abzan Grindhouse, Bant Fog, Crocajund, BUG Proliferators, Evil Allies, Land-o-derm, Pig Trinket, Sultai Delve, 5-color Green
70th place: Shared by nine decks that died during double Elimination, (round one and two): Red Land Destruction, Mono Black Land Destruction, Glass Cannon Red, Tortured Madness, Cheaty Morph, Living End, 1-land Spy, UB Justice Control and Dragon Delve.
Round 1 ended 56-22 (72% match win rate)
Round 2 ended 13-9 (59% win)
Round 3 ended 43-26 (62% win)
Round 4 ended 32-11 (74% win - best win rate so far in Pauper Gauntlet history!)
Round 5 ended 23-12 (66% win)
Round 6 ended 18-5 (78% win) - a new record!
The big question now is which ten decks will be the top ten decks of the Pauper Gauntlet S03. Being a top ten deck automatically qualifies you for season four and is a pretty big deal as the deck also goes on the Pauper Gauntlet Wall of Fame for all eternity.
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 seven
Round seven is played in the Tournament Practice room.Here are all the results of round seven so far.
BorosKitty Initiated fails to repeat its season one win and falls to MBC 0-2
Slivers dies to Burn 0-2
Mono Red Heroic loses to Zoo Hexproof
Green One defeats Selesnya Tokens 2-0
Stompy fails to repeat its season two win and dies to Izzet Control 0-2
Death! Death everywhere! 1-4!
RUG Tron is defeated by Delver 0-2
Aristocrats defeats RUG Tron 2-0
Spiteful Leeches somehow defeats Delver 2-0. The loss of Cloud of Fairies surely hurts Delver.
BUGs & Pigs wins against DelverFiend 2-0
Izzet Cooldotha gets crushed by Slivers Support Flyers (?) 0-2
4-6! That is SIX (6!) eliminations so far!!! 60% losses!
Cyborgs defeats Dimir Control 2-1
WW Soul Tokens wins against Tortured MBC 2-1
MBC defeats BorosKitty because of a quit
Ok, three more wins! So 7-6 so far. Five matches to go!
Moving on to round eight: Green One, Aristocrats, Spiteful Leeches, BUGs & Pigs, Cyborgs, MBC, WW Soul Tokens.
Two White Weenie decks in the very top! And surely some other decks that are still alive are quite suprising!
Five decks left to play: Pig Trinket, Stompy Tokens, Bant Sword and Shield, UG Madness and Goblin Storm.
What happens now?
Round seven ends on Monday March 21st. If less than ten decks remain there will be a qualification playoff for the last spots in the top ten between the decks that were eliminated in round seven before we proceed with round eight.
Top ten decks still alive
BUGs & Pigs and Green One remains alive as the only two Top Ten decks from last season.
The Eliminations to this point
Round seven eliminations so far: BorosKitty Initiated, Slivers, Mono Red Heroic, Stompy (the defending champion), RUG Tron and Izzet Cooldotha. These decks still have a chance to get to play the top ten qualification playoff for a spot in the top ten of S03.
19th place (round six): Infect, Blue Bichinho, Death Control, Burn (runner-up from last season) and Pauper Nightmare.
24th place (round five) Illusory Tricks, White Heroes, Goblins, Suicide Black, Turbo Angler, Simic Oracle, Kuldotha Mardu, Elves, Rhystic Tron, MUC, Black Auramancer, Love Train,
36th place (round four) Counter-Kitty,UB Trinket Control, Rakdos Vampires, Flying Ninjas, Turbo Zoo, Shroudfang Ninja. Delver, Green Ramp LD, Snow-Go, Turbo Exhume
45th place: Shared by the 26 decks eliminated in round three: Affinity, Exhume Control, Familiars, Rebel Grind, Pestilence Control, Encroaching Blight, Green Grifters, The Pauper Gauntlet, Project X, Tortured Toolbox, RG Land Crusher, RG Landfall, DelverFiend, Eggs, Gary Busey LD, Selesnya Flash, Abzan Grindhouse, Bant Fog, Crocajund, BUG Proliferators, Evil Allies, Land-o-derm, Pig Trinket, Sultai Delve, 5-color Green
70th place: Shared by nine decks that died during double Elimination, (round one and two): Red Land Destruction, Mono Black Land Destruction, Glass Cannon Red, Tortured Madness, Cheaty Morph, Living End, 1-land Spy, UB Justice Control and Dragon Delve.
Round 1 ended 56-22 (72% match win rate)
Round 2 ended 13-9 (59% win)
Round 3 ended 43-26 (62% win)
Round 4 ended 32-11 (74% win - best win rate so far in Pauper Gauntlet history!)
Round 5 ended 23-12 (66% win)
Round 6 ended 18-5 (78% win) - a new record!
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Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Converting Pauper to Modern part 3: Mono Black Control
Part 1 (Stompy and Delver) here: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2016/03/converting-pauper-to-modern-part-1.html
Part 2 (Angler Delver) here: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2016/03/converting-pauper-to-modern-part-2.html
In this series we are trying to convert Pauper decks to Modern. This week we will look at Mono Black Control, also known as MBC. I worked on this for two weeks before coming way too close to Mono Black Devotion. This is the list I ended up with:
Deck list
18 Swamp
1 Dakmor Salvage
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
2 Whip of Erebos
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
1 Slaughter Pact
4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
4 Thoughtseize
3 Phyrexian Arena
1 Victim of Night
1 Murderous Cut
4 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Profane Command
2 Mutavault
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Disfigure
2 Go for the Throat
2 Gurmag Angler
2 Dark Confidant
2 Pack Rat
Sideboard
4 Geth's Verdict
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Nihil Spellbomb
4 Duress
4 Fulminator Mage
A sample match with MBC:
The idea is to build a budget Modern deck that resembles the Pauper deck. What changes would you make? What would you take out? What would you bring in instead? When suggesting changes, keep in mind that we are under heavy budget restrictions here.
Next week: Another one of my recent experiments - DelverFiend!
Stay tuned for more Pauper to Modern deck conversions.
Part 2 (Angler Delver) here: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2016/03/converting-pauper-to-modern-part-2.html
In this series we are trying to convert Pauper decks to Modern. This week we will look at Mono Black Control, also known as MBC. I worked on this for two weeks before coming way too close to Mono Black Devotion. This is the list I ended up with:
Deck list
18 Swamp
1 Dakmor Salvage
2 Nykthos, Shrine to Nyx
2 Whip of Erebos
4 Gatekeeper of Malakir
1 Slaughter Pact
4 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
4 Thoughtseize
3 Phyrexian Arena
1 Victim of Night
1 Murderous Cut
4 Vampire Nighthawk
2 Profane Command
2 Mutavault
1 Bojuka Bog
2 Disfigure
2 Go for the Throat
2 Gurmag Angler
2 Dark Confidant
2 Pack Rat
Sideboard
4 Geth's Verdict
1 Ghost Quarter
2 Nihil Spellbomb
4 Duress
4 Fulminator Mage
The idea is to build a budget Modern deck that resembles the Pauper deck. What changes would you make? What would you take out? What would you bring in instead? When suggesting changes, keep in mind that we are under heavy budget restrictions here.
Next week: Another one of my recent experiments - DelverFiend!
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Pauper Gauntlet round six
We are now in round six. If a deck loses a single match now it is eliminated for good.
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 six
Round six is played in the Tournament Practice room.Here are all the results of round six so far
23 decks entered round six.
Aristocrats defeats Burn 2-1
Pauper Nightmare is bested by RUG Tron 0-2
BorosKitty Initiated defeats Affinity 2-0
MBC wins over JeskaiKitty
BUGs & Pigs defeat Infect
Pig Trinket crushes the Goblins
Goblin Storm defeats Dimir Teachings somehow
Bant Sword and Shield defeats Grixis Affinity
Slivers defeats Bant Tokens
RUG Tron wins the mirror against RUG Tron
Spitful Leeches takes out DelverFiend
UG Madness defeats Grixis Teachings
WW Soul Tokens defeats Grixis Control
These were the matches played last week in round six:
Mono Red Heroic defeats Kuldotha Jeskai 2-0
Infect is crushed by Dimir Teachings 0-2
Green One defeats Affinity 2-1
Izzet Cooldotha defeats Midnight Presence 2-0
Blue Bichinho loses to MBC 0-2
Death Control dies to Izzet Tron 0-2
Stompy defeats a quitter 2-0
Burn loses to Teachings 1-2
Stompy Tokens races Burn 2-0
17-5 so far. Only one deck remains to be played in round six; Cyborgs
What happens now?
Round six will end on March 14th. Round seven will then begin and last only one week.
Top 10 decks still alive
BUGs & Pigs, Green One, Mono Red Heroic, Stompy (5)
The Eliminations to this point
Round six eliminations so far: Infect, Blue Bichinho, Death Control, Burn (runner-up from last season) and Pauper Nightmare.
24th place (round five) Illusory Tricks, White Heroes, Goblins, Suicide Black, Turbo Angler, Simic Oracle, Kuldotha Mardu, Elves, Rhystic Tron, MUC, Black Auramancer, Love Train,
36th place (round four) Counter-Kitty,UB Trinket Control, Rakdos Vampires, Flying Ninjas, Turbo Zoo, Shroudfang Ninja. Delver, Green Ramp LD, Snow-Go, Turbo Exhume
45th place: Shared by the 26 decks eliminated in round three: Affinity, Exhume Control, Familiars, Rebel Grind, Pestilence Control, Encroaching Blight, Green Grifters, The Pauper Gauntlet, Project X, Tortured Toolbox, RG Land Crusher, RG Landfall, DelverFiend, Eggs, Gary Busey LD, Selesnya Flash, Abzan Grindhouse, Bant Fog, Crocajund, BUG Proliferators, Evil Allies, Land-o-derm, Pig Trinket, Sultai Delve, 5-color Green
70th place: Shared by nine decks that died during double Elimination, (round one and two): Red Land Destruction, Mono Black Land Destruction, Glass Cannon Red, Tortured Madness, Cheaty Morph, Living End, 1-land Spy, UB Justice Control and Dragon Delve.
Round 1 ended 56-22 (72% match win rate)
Round 2 ended 13-9 (59% win)
Round 3 ended 43-26 (62% win)
Round 4 ended 32-11 (74% win - best win rate so far in Pauper Gauntlet history!)
Round 5 ended 23-12 (66% win)
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 six
Round six is played in the Tournament Practice room.Here are all the results of round six so far
23 decks entered round six.
Aristocrats defeats Burn 2-1
Pauper Nightmare is bested by RUG Tron 0-2
BorosKitty Initiated defeats Affinity 2-0
MBC wins over JeskaiKitty
BUGs & Pigs defeat Infect
Pig Trinket crushes the Goblins
Goblin Storm defeats Dimir Teachings somehow
Bant Sword and Shield defeats Grixis Affinity
Slivers defeats Bant Tokens
RUG Tron wins the mirror against RUG Tron
Spitful Leeches takes out DelverFiend
UG Madness defeats Grixis Teachings
WW Soul Tokens defeats Grixis Control
These were the matches played last week in round six:
Mono Red Heroic defeats Kuldotha Jeskai 2-0
Infect is crushed by Dimir Teachings 0-2
Green One defeats Affinity 2-1
Izzet Cooldotha defeats Midnight Presence 2-0
Blue Bichinho loses to MBC 0-2
Death Control dies to Izzet Tron 0-2
Stompy defeats a quitter 2-0
Burn loses to Teachings 1-2
Stompy Tokens races Burn 2-0
17-5 so far. Only one deck remains to be played in round six; Cyborgs
What happens now?
Round six will end on March 14th. Round seven will then begin and last only one week.
Top 10 decks still alive
BUGs & Pigs, Green One, Mono Red Heroic, Stompy (5)
The Eliminations to this point
Round six eliminations so far: Infect, Blue Bichinho, Death Control, Burn (runner-up from last season) and Pauper Nightmare.
24th place (round five) Illusory Tricks, White Heroes, Goblins, Suicide Black, Turbo Angler, Simic Oracle, Kuldotha Mardu, Elves, Rhystic Tron, MUC, Black Auramancer, Love Train,
36th place (round four) Counter-Kitty,UB Trinket Control, Rakdos Vampires, Flying Ninjas, Turbo Zoo, Shroudfang Ninja. Delver, Green Ramp LD, Snow-Go, Turbo Exhume
45th place: Shared by the 26 decks eliminated in round three: Affinity, Exhume Control, Familiars, Rebel Grind, Pestilence Control, Encroaching Blight, Green Grifters, The Pauper Gauntlet, Project X, Tortured Toolbox, RG Land Crusher, RG Landfall, DelverFiend, Eggs, Gary Busey LD, Selesnya Flash, Abzan Grindhouse, Bant Fog, Crocajund, BUG Proliferators, Evil Allies, Land-o-derm, Pig Trinket, Sultai Delve, 5-color Green
70th place: Shared by nine decks that died during double Elimination, (round one and two): Red Land Destruction, Mono Black Land Destruction, Glass Cannon Red, Tortured Madness, Cheaty Morph, Living End, 1-land Spy, UB Justice Control and Dragon Delve.
Round 1 ended 56-22 (72% match win rate)
Round 2 ended 13-9 (59% win)
Round 3 ended 43-26 (62% win)
Round 4 ended 32-11 (74% win - best win rate so far in Pauper Gauntlet history!)
Round 5 ended 23-12 (66% win)
Please visit our sponsor Mtgotickets, new customers receive 10 tickets for $8. Click on this link to check out mtgotickets
Shadows over Innistrad: mechanics
Shadows over Innistrad set is on the way, hence it is high time to introduce new mechanics:
- double-faced cards. It is well known mechanic, however some rules changes take place with SOI prerelease. Since then, the converted mana cost of a flipped card is equal to the cost of the unflipped side. Well, it's relevant change and keep it in mind.
- Investigate: put a colorless Clue artifact token onto the battlefield with {2}, Sacrifice this artifact: Draw a card.
- Madness comes back from Torment / Time Spiral. It allows you to pay an alternate cost to cast a spell if it is discarded. It doesn't matter what its card type is, so for example you may cast creature with madness cost during yours opponent turn. The spell's mana cost and converted mana cost don't change. You're just paying the madness cost instead.
- Delirium: an ability word that gives an advantageous effect whenever there are four or more card types among cards in your graveyard. The card types that could show up in your graveyard are artifact, creature, enchantment, instant, land, planeswalker, sorcery and tribal.
- Skulk: a creature with skulk ability can't be blocked by creatures with greater power
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Converting Pauper to Modern part 2 - Angler Delver
Part 1 (Stompy and Delver) here: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2016/03/converting-pauper-to-modern-part-1.html
In this series we are trying to convert Pauper decks to Modern. This week we will look at Angler Delver, also known as Turbo Angler. This is the blue black tempo deck featuring Delver of Secrets and Gurmag Angler along with self-mill and counterspells.
Deck list
2 Deprive
6 Island
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Flooded Strand
1 Gitaxian Probe
3 Gurmag Angler
2 Murderous Cut
3 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4 Watery Grave
1 Mortuary Mire
3 Thoughtseize
1 Snapcaster Mage
4 Thought Scour
2 Victim of Night
1 Swamp
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Polluted Delta
4 Think Twice
4 Serum Visions
2 Cryptic Command
1 Dispel
Sideboard
2 Duress
3 Negate
2 Nihil Spellbomb
3 Spellskite
4 Fulminator Mage
1 Thoughtseize
A sample match with Angler Delver:
I was a bit discouraged when I discovered the more recent Grixis Delver decks (right before the Modern format was overtaken by Eldrazi). Grixis Delver just seems like a much better version of this deck.
The idea is to build a budget Modern deck that resembles the Pauper deck. What changes would you make? What would you take out? What would you bring in instead? When suggesting changes, keep in mind that we are under heavy budget restrictions here.
Next week: Another one of my recent experiments - Mono Black Control!
Stay tuned for more Pauper to Modern deck conversions.
In this series we are trying to convert Pauper decks to Modern. This week we will look at Angler Delver, also known as Turbo Angler. This is the blue black tempo deck featuring Delver of Secrets and Gurmag Angler along with self-mill and counterspells.
Deck list
2 Deprive
6 Island
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Flooded Strand
1 Gitaxian Probe
3 Gurmag Angler
2 Murderous Cut
3 Tasigur, the Golden Fang
4 Watery Grave
1 Mortuary Mire
3 Thoughtseize
1 Snapcaster Mage
4 Thought Scour
2 Victim of Night
1 Swamp
4 Sleight of Hand
4 Polluted Delta
4 Think Twice
4 Serum Visions
2 Cryptic Command
1 Dispel
Sideboard
2 Duress
3 Negate
2 Nihil Spellbomb
3 Spellskite
4 Fulminator Mage
1 Thoughtseize
I was a bit discouraged when I discovered the more recent Grixis Delver decks (right before the Modern format was overtaken by Eldrazi). Grixis Delver just seems like a much better version of this deck.
The idea is to build a budget Modern deck that resembles the Pauper deck. What changes would you make? What would you take out? What would you bring in instead? When suggesting changes, keep in mind that we are under heavy budget restrictions here.
Next week: Another one of my recent experiments - Mono Black Control!
Monday, March 7, 2016
Best of 5
In my opinion, it is a possitive change. Imagine, you are in the finals. Five digits prize for being a winner. You lost game one, just because. Some deck are really difficult to stop pre-sideboard if they have a decent starting hand, for instance Affinity in Modern. In second game you got a screw and you are out of tournament. You may say life or shit happens, but Magic the Gathering is not a lottery and the luck factor should be minimalized if it is possible. Best of 5 is one of the ways the to do it. It favors better players. However, the fact is that some deck will benefit more on this change than others. I'm speaking of decks which have higher percentage winning rate pre-sideboard. But still, there is no deck which wins every game pre-sideboard. Assume, it is 80% of games. So, winning two games in a row pre-sideboard is only 64%. Competition will be more balanced.
Pauper Gauntlet round six first half
We are now in round six. If a deck loses a single match now it is eliminated for good.
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 six
Round six is played in the Tournament Practice room.Here are all the results of round six so far
23 decks entered round six.
Mono Red Heroic defeats Kuldotha Jeskai 2-0
Infect is crushed by Dimir Teachings 0-2
Green One defeats Affinity 2-1
Izzet Cooldotha defeats Midnight Presence 2-0
Blue Bichinho loses to MBC 0-2
Death Control dies to Izzet Tron 0-2
Stompy defeats a quitter 2-0
Burn loses to Teachings 1-2
Stompy Tokens races Burn 2-0
5-4 so far. 14 decks are left to play in round six.
Top 10 decks still alive
BUGs & Pigs, Green One, Mono Red Heroic, Stompy (5)
The Eliminations to this point
Round six eliminations so far: Infect, Blue Bichinho, Death Control, Burn (runner-up from last season)
24th place (round five) Illusory Tricks, White Heroes, Goblins, Suicide Black, Turbo Angler, Simic Oracle, Kuldotha Mardu, Elves, Rhystic Tron, MUC, Black Auramancer, Love Train,
36th place (round four) Counter-Kitty,UB Trinket Control, Rakdos Vampires, Flying Ninjas, Turbo Zoo, Shroudfang Ninja. Delver, Green Ramp LD, Snow-Go, Turbo Exhume
45th place: Shared by the 26 decks eliminated in round three: Affinity, Exhume Control, Familiars, Rebel Grind, Pestilence Control, Encroaching Blight, Green Grifters, The Pauper Gauntlet, Project X, Tortured Toolbox, RG Land Crusher, RG Landfall, DelverFiend, Eggs, Gary Busey LD, Selesnya Flash, Abzan Grindhouse, Bant Fog, Crocajund, BUG Proliferators, Evil Allies, Land-o-derm, Pig Trinket, Sultai Delve, 5-color Green
70th place: Shared by nine decks that died during double Elimination, (round one and two): Red Land Destruction, Mono Black Land Destruction, Glass Cannon Red, Tortured Madness, Cheaty Morph, Living End, 1-land Spy, UB Justice Control and Dragon Delve.
Round 1 ended 56-22 (72% match win rate)
Round 2 ended 13-9 (59% win)
Round 3 ended 43-26 (62% win)
Round 4 ended 32-11 (74% win - best win rate so far in Pauper Gauntlet history!)
Round 5 ended 23-12 (66% win)
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 six
Round six is played in the Tournament Practice room.Here are all the results of round six so far
23 decks entered round six.
Mono Red Heroic defeats Kuldotha Jeskai 2-0
Infect is crushed by Dimir Teachings 0-2
Green One defeats Affinity 2-1
Izzet Cooldotha defeats Midnight Presence 2-0
Blue Bichinho loses to MBC 0-2
Death Control dies to Izzet Tron 0-2
Stompy defeats a quitter 2-0
Burn loses to Teachings 1-2
Stompy Tokens races Burn 2-0
5-4 so far. 14 decks are left to play in round six.
Top 10 decks still alive
BUGs & Pigs, Green One, Mono Red Heroic, Stompy (5)
The Eliminations to this point
Round six eliminations so far: Infect, Blue Bichinho, Death Control, Burn (runner-up from last season)
24th place (round five) Illusory Tricks, White Heroes, Goblins, Suicide Black, Turbo Angler, Simic Oracle, Kuldotha Mardu, Elves, Rhystic Tron, MUC, Black Auramancer, Love Train,
36th place (round four) Counter-Kitty,UB Trinket Control, Rakdos Vampires, Flying Ninjas, Turbo Zoo, Shroudfang Ninja. Delver, Green Ramp LD, Snow-Go, Turbo Exhume
45th place: Shared by the 26 decks eliminated in round three: Affinity, Exhume Control, Familiars, Rebel Grind, Pestilence Control, Encroaching Blight, Green Grifters, The Pauper Gauntlet, Project X, Tortured Toolbox, RG Land Crusher, RG Landfall, DelverFiend, Eggs, Gary Busey LD, Selesnya Flash, Abzan Grindhouse, Bant Fog, Crocajund, BUG Proliferators, Evil Allies, Land-o-derm, Pig Trinket, Sultai Delve, 5-color Green
70th place: Shared by nine decks that died during double Elimination, (round one and two): Red Land Destruction, Mono Black Land Destruction, Glass Cannon Red, Tortured Madness, Cheaty Morph, Living End, 1-land Spy, UB Justice Control and Dragon Delve.
Round 1 ended 56-22 (72% match win rate)
Round 2 ended 13-9 (59% win)
Round 3 ended 43-26 (62% win)
Round 4 ended 32-11 (74% win - best win rate so far in Pauper Gauntlet history!)
Round 5 ended 23-12 (66% win)
Please visit our sponsor Mtgotickets, new customers receive 10 tickets for $8. Click on this link to check out mtgotickets
Wednesday, March 2, 2016
ML Bot 10.80, tide protected
We released ML Bot 10.80, implementing "tide protection".
As many of you probably remember, Jan 16th WotC updated the banned card list. The list included valuable cards like Splinter Twin. The banning affected the value of several other cards. The value of some decks decreased and the cards in these decks followed the same sort. Splinter Twin and Keranos, God of Storms are two notable examples.
The banning had a bad impact on the bots - in few hours they bought a large quantity of these cards. The prices dropped in the following 2 days and so the bots had a neat loss. Basically the players used the bots to drop off all their copies before the price went down.
We worked very hard to implement a protection system which has now been tested and deployed tested successfully. The protection system is automatically active on all the bots, monitors the market and stops buying certain card when conditions are met. The trigger is very reactive, meaning that 1-2 hours after the banning the protection already "senses" the problem and automatically stops the bots from buying the card.
The system, which we internally named "flood protection system", is similar to the one implemented on mtgotraders and cardbot. On Jan 16h, if you tried to sell Splinter Twin and Keranos, they did not buy them even if they website said the opposite. Mtgotraders and cardbot had already a protection system to prevent the flood and we are guess it worked pretty well - we were unable to sell them any banned card nor any other card whose price was going down.
Don't expect the protection to apply in normal market conditions. The system is tuned to almost never trigger, except in exceptional cases like the ones of Jan 16th.
As many of you probably remember, Jan 16th WotC updated the banned card list. The list included valuable cards like Splinter Twin. The banning affected the value of several other cards. The value of some decks decreased and the cards in these decks followed the same sort. Splinter Twin and Keranos, God of Storms are two notable examples.
We worked very hard to implement a protection system which has now been tested and deployed tested successfully. The protection system is automatically active on all the bots, monitors the market and stops buying certain card when conditions are met. The trigger is very reactive, meaning that 1-2 hours after the banning the protection already "senses" the problem and automatically stops the bots from buying the card.
The system, which we internally named "flood protection system", is similar to the one implemented on mtgotraders and cardbot. On Jan 16h, if you tried to sell Splinter Twin and Keranos, they did not buy them even if they website said the opposite. Mtgotraders and cardbot had already a protection system to prevent the flood and we are guess it worked pretty well - we were unable to sell them any banned card nor any other card whose price was going down.
Don't expect the protection to apply in normal market conditions. The system is tuned to almost never trigger, except in exceptional cases like the ones of Jan 16th.
Converting Pauper to Modern part 1 - Stompy and Delver
Back in the day (2013 that is) I started a video series about converting Pauper decks to (budget) Modern.
Recently I decided to resume this project, partly because of the current state of Modern. Playing RG Tron competetively felt pointless given that the April banning of something will change the format entirely after the Eldrazi stunt by Wizards.
Next week I will start showing you my recent experiments (including Angler Delver, MBC and DelverFiend) but here, as a start, are my two old attempts at this format jumping thing.
STOMPY¨
DELVER
Stay tuned for more Pauper to Modern deck conversions.
Recently I decided to resume this project, partly because of the current state of Modern. Playing RG Tron competetively felt pointless given that the April banning of something will change the format entirely after the Eldrazi stunt by Wizards.
Next week I will start showing you my recent experiments (including Angler Delver, MBC and DelverFiend) but here, as a start, are my two old attempts at this format jumping thing.
STOMPY¨
DELVER
Stay tuned for more Pauper to Modern deck conversions.
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