Hi Everyone!
Since Wizards announced their new Grand Prix Promo for the upcoming year there's been some speculation that it may be unbanned in Modern. The price shot up from $2 to about $5 in a day or two last week.
Is this going to happen? Maybe. When we look at the infinite combos that happen on turn four Stoneforge Mystic isn't that powerful. Can Stoneforge get anything that will win the game on turn 4? Nope.
I think the banning was a show of fear, just like Bitterblossom and Wild Nacatl that they were overpowered in standard and they don't want Modern being ruined by these cards.
I think Stoneforge would be good and get played in any deck with white in Modern that's not a combo deck, but does that make it too good? No way considering that today there are only a few ways to stop the Twin combo if the opponent plays first.
I'd advocate for stoneforge to come back and I think it would make an impact enough that fair decks would see play and be competitive against a lot of the powerful combo decks.
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Modern Pro Tour
Hi Everyone!
Now that there have been confirmations of spoilers from Oath of the Gatewatch, it's time for us all to turn our attention to the new set....Oh wait, only a little?
The next Pro Tour is going to be Modern format. I do think that the format is in a place that's better than the past, but I have some concerns anyway.
My big concern is that Wizards quietly tried to do away with the Modern Pro Tour last year and only added it back in because players complained.
The complaint was "no support for the format". Well, Wizards has even said they don't want R & D to spend a lot of time on Modern because more attention needs to be paid if the format is played at the Pro Tour.
So what is to become of our beloved (I personally don't like the format because it's missing some of the key elements that make other eternal formats good but it does have many good features including no cards on the restricted list) Modern format?
I'm worried it will become a format that isn't supported with competitive play and will ultimately spiral out of control to where there is only one or two playable decks. This will cause players to lose interest in the format and cause it to die.
Let's hope Wizards keeps up the support and the format doesn't die. Maybe they could even do the first or second half of the current constructed portions of the Pro Tour in Modern so it won't be the centerpiece for the tournament but will be part of every pro tour.
Now that there have been confirmations of spoilers from Oath of the Gatewatch, it's time for us all to turn our attention to the new set....Oh wait, only a little?
The next Pro Tour is going to be Modern format. I do think that the format is in a place that's better than the past, but I have some concerns anyway.
My big concern is that Wizards quietly tried to do away with the Modern Pro Tour last year and only added it back in because players complained.
The complaint was "no support for the format". Well, Wizards has even said they don't want R & D to spend a lot of time on Modern because more attention needs to be paid if the format is played at the Pro Tour.
So what is to become of our beloved (I personally don't like the format because it's missing some of the key elements that make other eternal formats good but it does have many good features including no cards on the restricted list) Modern format?
I'm worried it will become a format that isn't supported with competitive play and will ultimately spiral out of control to where there is only one or two playable decks. This will cause players to lose interest in the format and cause it to die.
Let's hope Wizards keeps up the support and the format doesn't die. Maybe they could even do the first or second half of the current constructed portions of the Pro Tour in Modern so it won't be the centerpiece for the tournament but will be part of every pro tour.
Basic land Wastes - confirmed
Some of you might have read my article about sixth land type lately. It is oficially confirmed by Wizards now. So, few words what Wastes is:Wastes
Basic Land
T: Add
to your mana pool.The symbol
will be written as C, what states for colorless mana. There is significant difference between generic mana 
and colorless mana . To cast a spell with a cost you may spend any colored mana, including C. Wheras cost can only be paid by C, which is produced by Wastes basic lands. However, there is another way to obtain some mana. From now on, cards that previously generated generic mana will produce C. Cards will have their oracle text updated and for instance Grim Monolith produces .The Wastes lands will appear in boosters more frequently than commons, but they will not be available in land stations at drafts. So, you must draft it to be able to include these lands into your deck.
Week three of the Pauper Gauntlet S03
The first round of the third season of the Pauper Gauntlet is drawing to a close!
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 third week of round one
If you read further than this, you will get results spoiled. That is probably why you are here, though.
Catch the matches when they are published on Twitter: @MagicGathStrat
Watch the feature matches on youtube: youtube.com/magicgatheringstrat
Also make sure you subscribe to magicgatheringstrat2 on YouTube for more matches.
Ok, lets get into details.
Suicide is Painless ran into the mirror match curese and lost 0-2
What is up with these super unlikely mirror matches? Which other decks played against Suicide is Painless in round one? That's right. No other deck.
Shroudfang Ninja took on Snow Zombies and won 2-0
DelverFiend took on RG Madness. It is hard to race DelverFiend with an aggro deck. 2-1 win.
BorosKitty Initiated took on the Sliver horde and was ran over 1-2
Croca Jund took on Caw Blade (the dream never dies!) Loss 0-2
WW Soul Tokens took on Mono Blue Control. It is hard to control white weenies. Win 2-0
Stompy Tokens went up against Azorius Flicker. Your value does not matter if you are crushed to a pulp. Win 2-1
Illusory Tricks defeated Grixis Turbo Angler in the air 2-0
RG Landfall took on Grixis Angler and impressed everyone with an overwhelming 2-0 victory-
Goblin Storm was disappointed by MBC 1-2
Turbo Zoo fought Temur Freed Combo and won 2-1
Love Train spread the love to Simic Evolve 2-0
Project X comboed off against JeskaiKitty 2-0
Bant Sword and Shield defeated Angler Delver in a tight match 2-1
Turbo Angler defeated Izzet Freed Combo 2-1
Rhystic Tron was ready to fight JeskaiKitty but the opponent quit early.
Counter-Kitty showed Dimir Control what real card advantage is. 2-0
Spiteful Leeches defeated Simic Proliferate in the first duel and then he quit
Mono Green Ramp LD took away all the lands from a Dimir deck 2-0
1-land-Spy .... well, it only worked once. 1-2 vs MBC
Infect ran through Naya Thallid Walls and poisoned the opponent 2-0
Exhume Control reanimated the heavy hitters and took down RUG Tron 2-0
22 more matches played. Only 9 matches remain until round one is over!
The score this week was 17-5 meaning that we now stand at 51-20, which is about what was expected.
The 20 decks that so far are facing elimination in round 02 of the Pauper Gauntlet season three are: Familiars, MBC, Rebel Grind, Glass Cannon Red, Burn, Tortured Madness, Living End, Rakdos Vampires, Mono Red Land Destruction, Cheaty Morph, Eggs, UB Justice Control, Mono Black Land Destruction, Dragon Delve, Suicide is Painless, BorosKitty Initiated, Croca Jund, Goblin Storm Combo, 1-land-spy and Sultai Delve
Yes, that is three Top 10 decks from last season, a tier 1 deck (MBC) and the champion deck from the first season (BorosKitty) at risk of early elimination. Last year only three decks were eliminated in round 02.
The goal is to win with all these decks in round 02 and have all 78 decks see the first tournament practice round in round 03.
Round one will end right before we record the MagicGatheringStrat podcast on December 15th. Round two will end on December 22nd. As the winners do not play in round two, the second round will be significantly faster. Round three will go on over the holidays..
What happens to the decks that lost?
Round one and round two are double elimination so round two will have the losers play yet another match in the JFF room. If the decks win they move to round three (which will be tougher!) where they will join the winners of round one.
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
If you read further than this, you will get results spoiled. That is probably why you are here, though.
Catch the matches when they are published on Twitter: @MagicGathStrat
Watch the feature matches on youtube: youtube.com/magicgatheringstrat
Also make sure you subscribe to magicgatheringstrat2 on YouTube for more matches.
Ok, lets get into details.
Suicide is Painless ran into the mirror match curese and lost 0-2
What is up with these super unlikely mirror matches? Which other decks played against Suicide is Painless in round one? That's right. No other deck.
Shroudfang Ninja took on Snow Zombies and won 2-0
DelverFiend took on RG Madness. It is hard to race DelverFiend with an aggro deck. 2-1 win.
BorosKitty Initiated took on the Sliver horde and was ran over 1-2
Croca Jund took on Caw Blade (the dream never dies!) Loss 0-2
WW Soul Tokens took on Mono Blue Control. It is hard to control white weenies. Win 2-0
Stompy Tokens went up against Azorius Flicker. Your value does not matter if you are crushed to a pulp. Win 2-1
Illusory Tricks defeated Grixis Turbo Angler in the air 2-0
RG Landfall took on Grixis Angler and impressed everyone with an overwhelming 2-0 victory-
Goblin Storm was disappointed by MBC 1-2
Turbo Zoo fought Temur Freed Combo and won 2-1
Love Train spread the love to Simic Evolve 2-0
Project X comboed off against JeskaiKitty 2-0
Bant Sword and Shield defeated Angler Delver in a tight match 2-1
Turbo Angler defeated Izzet Freed Combo 2-1
Rhystic Tron was ready to fight JeskaiKitty but the opponent quit early.
Counter-Kitty showed Dimir Control what real card advantage is. 2-0
Spiteful Leeches defeated Simic Proliferate in the first duel and then he quit
Mono Green Ramp LD took away all the lands from a Dimir deck 2-0
1-land-Spy .... well, it only worked once. 1-2 vs MBC
Infect ran through Naya Thallid Walls and poisoned the opponent 2-0
Exhume Control reanimated the heavy hitters and took down RUG Tron 2-0
22 more matches played. Only 9 matches remain until round one is over!
The score this week was 17-5 meaning that we now stand at 51-20, which is about what was expected.
The 20 decks that so far are facing elimination in round 02 of the Pauper Gauntlet season three are: Familiars, MBC, Rebel Grind, Glass Cannon Red, Burn, Tortured Madness, Living End, Rakdos Vampires, Mono Red Land Destruction, Cheaty Morph, Eggs, UB Justice Control, Mono Black Land Destruction, Dragon Delve, Suicide is Painless, BorosKitty Initiated, Croca Jund, Goblin Storm Combo, 1-land-spy and Sultai Delve
Yes, that is three Top 10 decks from last season, a tier 1 deck (MBC) and the champion deck from the first season (BorosKitty) at risk of early elimination. Last year only three decks were eliminated in round 02.
The goal is to win with all these decks in round 02 and have all 78 decks see the first tournament practice round in round 03.
Round one will end right before we record the MagicGatheringStrat podcast on December 15th. Round two will end on December 22nd. As the winners do not play in round two, the second round will be significantly faster. Round three will go on over the holidays..
What happens to the decks that lost?
Round one and round two are double elimination so round two will have the losers play yet another match in the JFF room. If the decks win they move to round three (which will be tougher!) where they will join the winners of round one.
Please visit our sponsor Mtgotickets, new customers receive 10 tickets for $8. Click on this link to check out mtgotickets
Wednesday, December 9, 2015
4-ofs
Last week we discussed Hypergeometric Distrubtion and introduced this series. We also discovered that if you run four copies of a card in a 60-card deck you have a 40% chance of having at least one copy in your opening hand.
Here is the introduction: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/12/1-ofs-2-ofs-3-ofs-and-4-ofs-and.html
So when do you run 4 copies of a card in your deck?
You want as many copies of the card as possible
My first rule is that you should consider if you would like 5, 6 or 7 copies if you could. A good example of this is Lightning Bolt in a Modern Burn deck. You would probably play 40 Lightning Bolts if you could. This is the easy 4-of.
In fact this rule is a good reason to run 3-ofs, 2-ofs and 1-ofs to include extra copies of the card. We will return to that example in future chapters.
You want to have a copy of the card in your starting hand
Well, the chance of that is only 40% (see above) BUT it is the highest chance you can get. If the card is critical to your early strategy you probably want four copies of the card.
A good example of this is the RG Landfall deck in Standard. You want to start the game with a Scythe Leopard on turn 1 so you run four copies of the card.
Here is a sample deck list of RG Landfall in BFZ Standard: http://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/standard-r-g-landfall-22839#online
If having more than one copy of the card in your starting hand is a problem, DO NOT run four copies of the card
If a card is critical to your strategy but would be problematic in multiples in your opening hand, you should not run four copies of the card.
A good example of this is Spire Golem in Pauper Delver. This card is an excellent card for the deck but having two Spire Golems in your starting hand will make you very slow. Thus, do not run four of this card. This is a basic probability mistake made by players who do not care enough to do the math.
Here is the introduction: http://mtgolibrary.blogspot.se/2015/12/1-ofs-2-ofs-3-ofs-and-4-ofs-and.html
So when do you run 4 copies of a card in your deck?
You want as many copies of the card as possible
My first rule is that you should consider if you would like 5, 6 or 7 copies if you could. A good example of this is Lightning Bolt in a Modern Burn deck. You would probably play 40 Lightning Bolts if you could. This is the easy 4-of.
In fact this rule is a good reason to run 3-ofs, 2-ofs and 1-ofs to include extra copies of the card. We will return to that example in future chapters.
You want to have a copy of the card in your starting hand
Well, the chance of that is only 40% (see above) BUT it is the highest chance you can get. If the card is critical to your early strategy you probably want four copies of the card.
A good example of this is the RG Landfall deck in Standard. You want to start the game with a Scythe Leopard on turn 1 so you run four copies of the card.
Here is a sample deck list of RG Landfall in BFZ Standard: http://www.mtggoldfish.com/archetype/standard-r-g-landfall-22839#online
If having more than one copy of the card in your starting hand is a problem, DO NOT run four copies of the card
If a card is critical to your strategy but would be problematic in multiples in your opening hand, you should not run four copies of the card.
A good example of this is Spire Golem in Pauper Delver. This card is an excellent card for the deck but having two Spire Golems in your starting hand will make you very slow. Thus, do not run four of this card. This is a basic probability mistake made by players who do not care enough to do the math.
Monday, December 7, 2015
MTGO Library Bot 10.60
With ML Bot 10.60 we fixed a couple of mtgo crashes that the bot was unable to handle. When these crashes appear, older ML Bots stucked till a full mtgo restart, usually some hours later. This resulted in large inactivity periods.
We also fixed a problem with the version updater and with the Wednesday Mtgo update.
Sunday, December 6, 2015
Check out this Mythic li...I mean deck list
Hi Everyone,Is it just me or does the current standard environment look a lot like a list of the Mythics in the format rather than their initial "intent".
Wizards announced Mythics to be cards that felt huge, for lack of a better term, mythic. At the beginning they did ok but it seems that of late, they are just the best tournament cards.
You can argue with me but you'd be wrong.
I know what everyone's thinking, but what's the motivation for that?
Well, getting playsets of every Mythic from a set requires more packs than to open a playset of every rare in a set.
While Magic is a great game, It makes me really annoyed that Wizards constantly tries to sell their obvious business decisions as "better for the game because X" and it's getting really tired. I think it's pretty bad because if I go to Whole Foods, they'll tell me who is their target market and what they're doing to attract that market or sell more to that market. Wizards blatantly lies to us. I don't like that.
On another unrelated note, It really annoys me that many MTG fans (the fans don't annoy me, WOTC annoys me) think MaRo is just "a big nerd who loves Magic and loves talking about Magic". Now, maybe that's true, but he's not their "ambassador" to the players because HE loves it, it's because Wizards knows the players find him credible. What I'm saying is that MaRo is an advertising puppet for WOTC and I wouldn't assign y more credibility to him than any other paid endorsement.
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