Magic: the Gathering |OT4| Izzet Me; Izzet You? A Love Story
- Thread starter The Technomancer
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"God's Beard!"
Member
Too easy to cheat.
I passed a Narset at a sealed pptq the week after DTK came out when it was 30 bucks. If I show up to a tournament, it's because I want to play. If you just want to open packs, going to a GP and spending 70 bucks isn't the way to do it.
That many Gofys opened huh?
There's no way you could police something like that though so........
Harder for people to sneak shit into their decks and cheat
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";165811631]I passed a Narset at a sealed pptq the week after DTK came out when it was 30 bucks. If I show up to a tournament, it's because I want to play. If you just want to open packs, going to a GP and spending 70 bucks isn't the way to do it.[/QUOTE]
My trips to sealed GPs are way more about the trip than the format. When I went out to GP AC, if I opened something like a foil Ugin then I would have dropped and been perfectly happy with my playmat, promo, and pulls and just playing in side events and casual games for the rest of the weekend.
My trips to sealed GPs are way more about the trip than the format. When I went out to GP AC, if I opened something like a foil Ugin then I would have dropped and been perfectly happy with my playmat, promo, and pulls and just playing in side events and casual games for the rest of the weekend.
Nice, I went 3-0 0-3. I thought I had a good 4 colour ramp deck but I got beat by 2 consistent 2 colour curve decks and a 5 colour deck with better high cost rares.
Probably going to play I the modern event tomorrow.
"God's Beard!"
Member
"I traveled hundreds of miles to participate in a tournament but there was a foil clique in my pool so I had to drop, you know?"
Yep, the chance of winning a prize at a GP this large with zero byes is incredibly low for the average player. Why not enjoy the weekend?
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";165812351]"I traveled hundreds of miles to participate in a tournament but there was a foil clique in my pool so I had to drop, you know?"[/QUOTE]
Other tournaments exist at these things. Typically they have "second chance" events that start only a couple hours after the main event.
Other tournaments exist at these things. Typically they have "second chance" events that start only a couple hours after the main event.
"God's Beard!"
Member
But then you're paying for those events, too. So assuming you paid 370 bucks for a round trip ticket, four days three nights in vegas and entry in the gp just to drop out because you got a goyf, you're paying again to play sealed in a lower-stakes tournament where you won't get a chance to beat top players in the swiss. Even if you live in Vegas, trading 70 bucks and a great tournament for some nice foils is rough.
I get it, I guess, but I personally don't think it's great value.
darkside31337
Tomodachi wa Mahou
I don't think the two really are the same though. Draws are part of the game, players can reach a draw state without intentionally drawing in some really shameful methods, so you might as well allow it.
Taking a pool you don't actually own at a GP and claiming it as your own should be considered theft. Its drastically altering the contents of the pools available to the folks who actually want to play too.
They can make it perfectly clear that you only own your final card pool. Not theft on a legal level, but I don't see why the DCI has to treat it as if its legal. The amount of folks who drop during registration would plummet if it wasn't legal.
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
It doesn't matter all that often because very few GP are in a format like MM2015.
"God's Beard!"
Member
That's another one I don't get. I still use my Gameday M15 playmat because it's white and it's easy to see the cards. I'm using one of my GP San Jose playmats as a mouse pad, and the other is in a bag somewhere. The rest I gave away to my girlfriend or roommates to use as mousepads as well.
If you really want a specific picture, couldn't people just get a custom one printed out for a third of the cost of a GP entry? I guess there's novelty value...
darkside31337
Tomodachi wa Mahou
Well I mean if they're going to do MM sets on a regular basis and GPs with MM sets then this is going to happen at every single MM GP.
Agree though easier solution would simply be to stop doing MM GPs.
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";165813227]But then you're paying for those events, too. So assuming you paid 370 bucks for a round trip ticket, four days three nights in vegas and entry in the gp just to drop out because you got a goyf, you're paying again to play sealed in a lower-stakes tournament where you won't get a chance to beat top players in the swiss. Even if you live in Vegas, trading 70 bucks and a great tournament for some nice foils is rough.
I get it, I guess, but I personally don't think it's great value.[/QUOTE]
You get more packs in that 2nd sealed tournament plus likely a more realistic chance of prizes. Some side events at GPs are insanely high EV. All you're really missing out on is saying you played in the main event.
Going to events or playing magic in general is horrible value. Some people like to leave these things feeling like they got something to show for it. Pulling and passing a goyf, getting an unplayable pool, and dropping after a few rounds sounds real shitty.
I get it, I guess, but I personally don't think it's great value.[/QUOTE]
You get more packs in that 2nd sealed tournament plus likely a more realistic chance of prizes. Some side events at GPs are insanely high EV. All you're really missing out on is saying you played in the main event.
Going to events or playing magic in general is horrible value. Some people like to leave these things feeling like they got something to show for it. Pulling and passing a goyf, getting an unplayable pool, and dropping after a few rounds sounds real shitty.
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
"God's Beard!"
Member
I keep losing to metalcraft decks and going 2-1 because I'm building low-interaction ramp decks with no fliers lol
I think LSV's opponent Eric is one of the guys from my lgs, not sure.
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";165815120]I keep losing to metalcraft decks and going 2-1 because I'm building low-interaction ramp decks with no fliers lol
I think LSV's opponent Eric is one of the guys from my lgs, not sure.[/QUOTE]
In the RW archetype, I win a lot off of Kitesail and the Flying Double Strike duder.
I think LSV's opponent Eric is one of the guys from my lgs, not sure.[/QUOTE]
In the RW archetype, I win a lot off of Kitesail and the Flying Double Strike duder.
He's already made more money than most of the players in the event and now has 2 days free to do side events. It's a win. I'd totally do it.
And now, for something completely different- possibly the greatest tournament report ever. Trigger Warnings: Gawker, CML
I'm totally not spoiling the title
blindrocket
Member
Bought two packs of MM2 today.
I pulled pretty much jank.
Ghost Council and some white angel I've never heard of were my rares.
I knew the risk.
I pulled pretty much jank.
Ghost Council and some white angel I've never heard of were my rares.
I knew the risk.
...Iona?
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";165810356]
Important cards for my two favorite archetypes in my experience:
Tokens: Scavenger Drake and Algae Gharial are the cards that make the deck tick. Without them you're just a bad ramp deck. Play as many Nest Invaders as you can pick up. They'll trade with low drops while ramping you into your engine cards.
Ramp: Vengeful Rebirth and Sylvan Bounty are both key cards. Sylvan Bounty is huge because the ramp deck tends to play 3+ colors and double or triple splash bombs, and it will save your life against aggro in the late game. Vengeful Rebirth combos with the landcycling for an efficient 6-point burn spell, but more often it lets you witness back a savage twister or Pelakka Wurm. Cards like Nest Invader are good in this deck, but colorless ramp is better because you're going to play a ton of colors and won't have the right sources early on. It means the difference between great hands and hands where the majority of your cards are uncastable. Have a way to kill fliers in your deck. Once you hit a certain density of artifact-based mana fixing, the colorless domain cards can become nutty. Don't rely on basic lands for splashing in a 16-land deck, though. It will mess up your hands.[/QUOTE]
Thanks bro.
If I can't get goodstuff.dec, I'll try to force tempo like bloodthirst, equipment or even affinity. Not too comfortable with ramp or tokens because sometimes you just draw too many blanks. All Sun's Regrowth is awesome tho. Are counterspells good in draft? Because Stoic Rebuttal saved my ass a couple of times.
- Take high-quality colorless cards and hard removal first like Dismember. Arrest and Narcolepsy are not mega-premium because many players will maindeck naturalize effects or have sac outlets.
- Bounce lands aren't as high a priority as you think unless you're a grindy deck, don't worry about them in the first couple packs. They can be a liability on the draw, forcing you to discard with awkward hands.
- It's fine to maindeck naturalize in this format, try to make sure you have one in the board either way.
- Colorless manafixing and ramp is huge, wayfarer's bauble is a better early pick than rampant growth.
- Take the highest raw quality cards you can early, many build around me cards are useless if you're fighting over an archetype and bombs are easily splashable.
- Overall card quality is high, so getting card advantage spells like Vengeful Rebirth or Tezzeret's Gambit can help you pull ahead in grindier games. It's easy to run out of gas and get run over by Ulamog's Crusher.
- Save your removal as long as possible. Your opponent's deck will have one or two crazy cards. Every deck has Ulamog's Crusher as flood insurance, so watch out.
- There are a surprising number of low toughness creatures, so don't be afraid to take mortarpod or an off-color gutshot for the board. Similarly, Skyreach manta can be a fine sideboard card against spirits or metalcraft even as a 2/2 or 3/3.
- Again, don't get too greedy with engine cards like Bloodthrone Vampire or Metalcraft stuff until you know it's open. And no, Tukatongue Thalid is not a good card in any deck.
- Try to prioritize the high quality stuff at lower mana costs, the set is full of 6+ mana bombs but not so many Nest Invaders and Sunspear Shikaris.
- Use your removal on your own turn if possible. The set is full of protection spells and Apostle's Blessing is a colorless card so a RB Bloodthirst deck can still blow you out and lose you the game.
Important cards for my two favorite archetypes in my experience:
Tokens: Scavenger Drake and Algae Gharial are the cards that make the deck tick. Without them you're just a bad ramp deck. Play as many Nest Invaders as you can pick up. They'll trade with low drops while ramping you into your engine cards.
Ramp: Vengeful Rebirth and Sylvan Bounty are both key cards. Sylvan Bounty is huge because the ramp deck tends to play 3+ colors and double or triple splash bombs, and it will save your life against aggro in the late game. Vengeful Rebirth combos with the landcycling for an efficient 6-point burn spell, but more often it lets you witness back a savage twister or Pelakka Wurm. Cards like Nest Invader are good in this deck, but colorless ramp is better because you're going to play a ton of colors and won't have the right sources early on. It means the difference between great hands and hands where the majority of your cards are uncastable. Have a way to kill fliers in your deck. Once you hit a certain density of artifact-based mana fixing, the colorless domain cards can become nutty. Don't rely on basic lands for splashing in a 16-land deck, though. It will mess up your hands.[/QUOTE]
Thanks bro.
If I can't get goodstuff.dec, I'll try to force tempo like bloodthirst, equipment or even affinity. Not too comfortable with ramp or tokens because sometimes you just draw too many blanks. All Sun's Regrowth is awesome tho. Are counterspells good in draft? Because Stoic Rebuttal saved my ass a couple of times.
charlequin
Banned
That's not really the core of why intentional draws are legal, though. You aren't allowed to offer anything in exchange for a draw or concession, or use non-Magic randomization to pick a winner, even though those also produce outcomes that are nominally possible through normal play.
The real reason intentional draws and concessions are legal is that disallowing them creates perverse incentives. If you have two players who would both benefit from a draw and you make them play it out, now each player's most effective strategy is going to be to drag on the game as long as possible without getting dinged for slow play. Instead of an awkward but entirely clear and visible modification of the standings, you get people playing matches that always have to be scrutinized extra-closely for the possibility of illegal behavior. It's a much worse situation to have.
Because when you allow drops, people take their pools and go; when you don't, people steal cards by swapping them for garbage during registration and then still go on to play.
(Not to mention, there actually isn't really anyone who benefits from discouraging this. The TOs got paid over list price for a set of packs by a person they no longer have to support during the event; the other competitors get access to a full prize pool but fewer competitors standing in the way of winning it; the GP itself is still ludicrously huge with far more players than any other event ever so it's not like anyone loses out on the spectacle. The only real reason to object is just on principle.)
"God's Beard!"
Member
good old pot monsters
"God's Beard!"
Member
The trick to ramp and tokens is to play 16 lands and play a lot of cards that pull lands out of your deck. You have so many chump blockers that you're always drawing more live than your opponent, and your cards can be insane bombs no other deck can use so they get passed to you pretty late. Generally your spells are a third ramp, a third bombs and a third filler creatures/engine pieces and removal.
Counterspells are ok, not great. Draft is all about the board, and you're going to fight a bunch of super-synergistic decks that curve out well so more often than not counters are slightly worse than apostle's blessing or an edict effect because you won't be able to constantly hold up mana and choose your spots. I've seen some UR decks that function mostly at instant speed run well with counters, but I wouldn't go into a draft expecting it to work out. Blue is also my least favorite color in the format, but you can build some metalcraft or blue-based domain decks that make you feel unbeatable if they're open. But most MM2 archetypes are like that.
blindrocket
Member
blindrocket
Member
Is there a buyout happening on Kolaghan's Command?
There are very few copies on TCGplayer and practically zero single cards on eBay (I just see a few play set auctions).
There are very few copies on TCGplayer and practically zero single cards on eBay (I just see a few play set auctions).
After it started seeing play outside of Standard there was a mad rush on them. Luckily I got in on a few playsets at under a dollar a card before it was the new hotness.
blindrocket
Member
PM'd
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Yeah but it's a little silly. It's a decent 2 of in Grixis Delver and Jund.
blindrocket
Member
Sometimes MtG speculation and hoarding just upsets me...
I just bought most of the Khans fetches that I still needed. However I still lack a play set of Windswept Heath and Wooded Foothills.
I do have a FOIL Wooded Foothills and a non-foil Flooded Strand that I would love to trade for fetches.
And with the Cryptic Command and Polluted Deltas I just bought off of eBay, I will now have all of the cards necessary to build Grixis Twin.
I just bought most of the Khans fetches that I still needed. However I still lack a play set of Windswept Heath and Wooded Foothills.
I do have a FOIL Wooded Foothills and a non-foil Flooded Strand that I would love to trade for fetches.
And with the Cryptic Command and Polluted Deltas I just bought off of eBay, I will now have all of the cards necessary to build Grixis Twin.
Agreed, demand isn't there for this.
Joe Molotov
Member
Bleh, went 3-3 at a Super IQ this afternoon. Dropped Round 1 to an Esper Control deck that I should have beaten, then I ripped off 3 wins in a row, only to lose the next two rounds in some really close matches. At least my friend managed to find some trading partners to finish his Goyf playset.
Not really. Phantom Events are used with Phantom Points, which you can't buy in the store for $.99 like Event Tickets. Plus you don't keep the cards you draft like you do in a normal draft.
The major problem I have is that the price for the drafts doesn't factor in that it's digital. I feel like entry for events is marked up way higher than retail. Though I haven't checked retails event prices in a while to know. But it seems odd that for a client to play a game "in your underwear" they don't necessarily have "in your under wear" prices. I guess to protect the "card economy." But really...
I wouldn't be overly opposed to a "phantom draft" that you can pay $1-2 to enter with event tickets. Then like Phantom Events already you keep your prizes. At least the barrier for entry on Magic: tG: Online events would be WAYYYY lower for new players and casuals that use the client instead of the paper version.
"God's Beard!"
Member
I love Rich Hagon but I really hope someone helps him with the self-harm stuff. I kinda forgot about it until I saw him walking around the filler content for GP Chiba with short sleeves.
GoutPatrol
Forgotten in his cell
Yeah, but magic prices, even Standard ones, are pretty sticky. It may never go back down to less than a dollar until it rotates.
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";165790025]Actually it answers more if you include all the collected company decks popping up. That's why a lot of players are swapping from Junk to Jund. Modern is in a slight shift at the moment, so it's hard to say how important cards like Lightning Bolt and Dark Confidant are until the next couple months have sorted it out.
I kinda want to turn my Twin deck into straight Grixis midrange with Dark Confidants and Snapcasters and Cliques alongside Terminates and Inquisitions.[/QUOTE]
You mean people are switching from Abzan to Jund?
I kinda want to turn my Twin deck into straight Grixis midrange with Dark Confidants and Snapcasters and Cliques alongside Terminates and Inquisitions.[/QUOTE]
You mean people are switching from Abzan to Jund?
"God's Beard!"
Member
Some people, yeah. It's basically Bolt, Terminate and Kolaghan's Command vs Path, Lingering Souls and Rhino.
divisionbyzorro
Member
This is why Deathrite Shaman is banned. If that card was still legal, there wouldn't be a question - everyone would just be playing all four colors.
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
I get a little laugh whenever people suggest unbanning both BBE and DRS.
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