Alright, been awhile since I've posted and I'm working on new decks. Mostly working on new Bant ideas that work with Venser. I'm loving my Pod brews, but I'm having a hard time deciding if Venser's land control component works well with it or not. Control Pod seems interesting to me, but its hard to come up with a list that makes the best use of both the land control elements of the Band Land Control deck and the Venser Pod list that I've been tinkering with. Maybe the two deck ideas are best left separate, even though they do share more than half of the card choices.
The core concept of both decks is very similar. The Venser Pod deck just goes a different road to get there. Both decks use Stonehorn Dignitary to limit your opponent's early aggressive starts and buying you time to roll out Acidic Slime to get rid of his mana base or some of his threats. The pod version rolls up to Elesh Norn on the high end with Sun Titan shenanigans being possible with Phantasmal Image. On the other hand, the Bant Land Control method works the same way, but instead focuses more completely on the ETB effects of the creature base and ramps more. It runs more lands and adds even more mana dorks, as well as a playset of Rampant Growth.
Both accomplish the win by stalling the game long enough to achieve a soft lock or mana control, then end the game with big hitters and I really like that plan. I just have to decide which I think is more consistent and offers the best lines of play against the Metagame right now. By the metagame, I'm referring to UW Delver and Midrange, Wolfrun, RG Aggro, and Naya Pod. Solarflare is still a real deck, but I don't feel like it is as much of a problem as the faster starting decks for either of my lists.
I guess the good news is that I've got plenty of time for playtesting before the next big event I'll be playing in, which may not be till August. I'll get back in and update before then.
SD13
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Friday, June 8, 2012
The Trials of Testing
So, I've been trying to find a group of people that I can test with reliably for things like PTQs and SCG events. It's difficult. It is such a challenge because everyone has a different idea of testing. I know it sounds strange, but the problem comes when there's only one mind being put into a process and there's no central core to the testing.
My biggest problem comes with the fact that I have friends and acquaintances that are similarly minded to myself. They make for great friends and are fun people to play Magic with but that's not so good for testing. You see, because we're all like minded, we tend to want to play decks that are fringe competitive at best and are just bad at worst. So when I play my hit or miss homebrew against someone else's hit or miss homebrew... The end result is never exactly useful information about either deck's viability in the metagame. Sure, you learn some of the better lines of play in your deck, but you never learn how to make the key plays against the decks that are strongest (most popular) in the metagame.
With that in mind... There are some other thoughts to be put into testing and the methodology of the solo player. First of all, how and where you test makes the world of difference. For some reason, when I do solitaire runs of a deck, I learn the curve and plays of a deck better when I'm sitting at my desk with some light music on. However, when I'm actually playing and intent on learning from the games, I play better and learn more when I'm at the local shop. I don't know why, but playing against players in an environment that I already get competitive in makes me want to play that little bit better and helps me focus on the game at hand. There are also fewer distractions that aren't game related at the shop than at home. I don't find the need to watch TV, or get distracted by what a mess my house is. I just sit down, and play some Magic. Last, I want to address the idea of Magic: the Gathering Online... Don't. Don't waste your time testing on there unless it is with other players that play paper Magic. People online play in a different environment and with a different mindset to people that play at the table. This also doesn't bother to mention that they have a much different metagame for some reason. The formats online just don't transfer to the formats at the shops and at the competitive events.
So, I guess I need to get up to the shop for some more testing tonight. See you folks at 6:30.
SD13
My biggest problem comes with the fact that I have friends and acquaintances that are similarly minded to myself. They make for great friends and are fun people to play Magic with but that's not so good for testing. You see, because we're all like minded, we tend to want to play decks that are fringe competitive at best and are just bad at worst. So when I play my hit or miss homebrew against someone else's hit or miss homebrew... The end result is never exactly useful information about either deck's viability in the metagame. Sure, you learn some of the better lines of play in your deck, but you never learn how to make the key plays against the decks that are strongest (most popular) in the metagame.
With that in mind... There are some other thoughts to be put into testing and the methodology of the solo player. First of all, how and where you test makes the world of difference. For some reason, when I do solitaire runs of a deck, I learn the curve and plays of a deck better when I'm sitting at my desk with some light music on. However, when I'm actually playing and intent on learning from the games, I play better and learn more when I'm at the local shop. I don't know why, but playing against players in an environment that I already get competitive in makes me want to play that little bit better and helps me focus on the game at hand. There are also fewer distractions that aren't game related at the shop than at home. I don't find the need to watch TV, or get distracted by what a mess my house is. I just sit down, and play some Magic. Last, I want to address the idea of Magic: the Gathering Online... Don't. Don't waste your time testing on there unless it is with other players that play paper Magic. People online play in a different environment and with a different mindset to people that play at the table. This also doesn't bother to mention that they have a much different metagame for some reason. The formats online just don't transfer to the formats at the shops and at the competitive events.
So, I guess I need to get up to the shop for some more testing tonight. See you folks at 6:30.
SD13
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
I Had Venser Wrong All Along
So I was up at the local shop yesterday (Full Moon Games), and I played a match with the owner as he was giving me a few ideas to help tweak my deck. So far, everyone that I've talked to about it likes it, which is a plus. Me and one of the other more competitive guys that works at the shop have been sound boarding ideas back and forth and he's helped me make some valuable tweeks. My main point today is that I played against a deck that isn't seeing any attention in the metagame right now at all, which is strange. I don't have the exact deck list, but it is essentially Bant Pod with an emphasis on the UW side of things. There is of course the core of the Green in there for birds and the staples like Acidic Slime. What floored me is how much the deck played out like a Solar-Flare deck. There were so many great card interactions that I was left a little confused after a few of his plays and had to take the time to go through them step by step in my head before I let him finish. The deck was running Venser, Sun Titan, Phyrexian Metamorph, Phantasmal Image, Trinket Mage, Acid Slime and a ton of other great stuff. It was mind blowing how fast he got running, too. I think the best bit of tech in the deck were the Stonehorn Dignitaries paired up with the clones, the Pod, and the Sun Titans. After around turn 4 or 5 every game, I got Stonehorn locked within sight of victory. It was consistent, it was obvious and it was harsh.
My thinking is... In an Aggro dominated environment such as the one we're seeing in Standard right now, why is this deck not seeing more play? It's just too good against the other popular decks. It doesn't leave much room for escape over all. The way the Pod works in the deck is amazing. It gives a much more versatile package when paired with blue instead of Red. I'm going to go up there and ask Ray to give me another look at it later today.
SD13
My thinking is... In an Aggro dominated environment such as the one we're seeing in Standard right now, why is this deck not seeing more play? It's just too good against the other popular decks. It doesn't leave much room for escape over all. The way the Pod works in the deck is amazing. It gives a much more versatile package when paired with blue instead of Red. I'm going to go up there and ask Ray to give me another look at it later today.
SD13
Monday, May 21, 2012
PTQ Indianapolis (May 19)
Alrighty then... Where to start...
Well, I guess the first thing to do is to give a shout out and some thanks to my friend Snibble. Without him loaning me around a third of the deck I played with, I never would have been able to play as competitively as I did.
Next, how about a decklist.
3 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Champion of the Parish
2 Hero of Bladehold
2 Angel of Jubilation
4 Champion of Lambholt
3 Mayor of Avabruck
(18 Creatures)
4 Gather the Townsfolk
4 Midnight Haunting
4 Intangible Virtue
2 Entreat the Angels
1 Sword of War and Peace
2 Angelic Destiny
(17 Spells)
2 Sunpetal Grove
4 Razorverge Thicket
3 Cavern of Souls
2 Gavony Township
7 Forest
7 Plains
(25 Lands)
Sideboard
3 Grafdigger's Cage (good against Zombies, Pod, Frights, passable against RG Aggro)
2 Day f Judgment (Planed for Boros and Zombies)
2 Kessig Cagebreakers (Plan against control, never ended up using it)
2 Elspeth Tirel (plan against control)
3 Oblivion Ring (Generally awesome card to fix problems)
2 Sword of Feast and Famine (Zombies and RG Aggro)
1 Sword of Body and Mind (Expected to see a few tempo decks)
So lets get down to game play.
Round 1
Tyler on Venser Control.
I sat down across from my opponent Tyler and we went straight to business. We talked a little as we were waiting for the round to start, but mostly focused on the game. He played a bunch in different formats and sounded like a bit of a "grinder." Cool guy though and a great player. He was playing one of my decks absolutely worst matchups. After getting off to a good start in game one, he dropped a Stonehorn Dignitary and I knew I was in trouble. It took a few more turns and I was trying to get in for damage, but as soon as Venser came down, I knew there was no hope for me and I scooped straight to game 2. I brought in all 3 O-rings and dropped SoWP and both Entreats. The second game ended up with me waiting to topdeck the O-ring as he locked me down with Venser and a Dignitary. It never showed up, he got the emblem, and I scooped for a round loss. I was off to a rough start. Tyler was pretty cool though and ended up going 5-2 I think, so I didn't feel too bad about losing to him.
0-1 (0-2)
Round 2
David on RG Aggro.
So after round 1, I got called up to the judges table for a deck check. It seems that the first of many random mistakes made during the day was to start off by writing my list wrong and having it total up to 59 cards. I got it straightened out, but the clerical error cost me a game loss this round. We started on game 2, and I was recorded as losing the first game. Craptastic way to get the round started. David was all business and we got started as soon as the judge straightened us out. Starting off with game 2, I came out of the box hard. I took the game with little to no trouble and had a bit of a confidence boost. Game 3 took it away. We came out pretty much squared off toe to toe. Then he dropped a Sword of War and Peace and took it to the bank. Started really thinking about needed Beast Within and O-Rings main deck after these two rounds. I honestly think with a third game, I might have had a chance to win this round, since it seemed we were just racing each other and I was very capable of keeping pace with him.
0-2 (1-4)
Round 3
Cameron on Solar-Flare
I sat down at the table and started looking around as the round started. My opponent hadn't turned up yet so I sat and shuffled for a bit. He turned up a few minutes later and signed the slip with me as two wins and shook my hand, saying he was off to lunch. He didn't get to leave right away and we ended up doing a bunch of trading. Cool guy.
1-2 (3-4 [Kinda])
Round 4
David on Wolfrun Ramp
Game 1 was a blow out. He was firing on all cylinders and there wasn't much I could do but watch as he dropped a turn 4 titan and crushed me under its heels. Game 2, he flooded out and I took the easy win. Game 3 was a real fight. I came out strong and was worked him down to 5, then he gained a little life, then I had him back down to 1 with lethal damage on board. He top decked a Slagstorm and cleared most of my board, save one spirit token. In the process, he killed his own Solemn Simulacrum and drew an Inferno Titan off of it to kill my last spirit and hit me for two. The next turn, I botched up and made my first actual play mistake. I played a Champion of the Parish off of a Plains instead of a Cavern of Souls, meaning I didn't have the mana open to play the Angelic Destiny on it to keep it alive through the titan attack. He killed the champ on his attack and then finished me off. If I hadn't made that mistake, I may have been able to take the game honestly, but he scooped to me on his turn before killing me, citing the need for food and wanting to play in a cube as his reasons for not rubbing his good luck in my face. I thanked him, shook his hand and then went on wondering when my odd luck was going to stop.
2-2 (5-5)
Round 5
Feng (not his first name, but I don't have his first name written down) on UW Miricale Planswalkers.
Game 1 was a complete blow out for him. He hit 3 Temp Mastery with no deck fixing while having Gideon and Tamiyo on the field. Easy win for him. Second game, I boarded out SoWP, both Angelic Destiny, 1 Angel of Jubilation, 1 Champion of Lambholt for both copies of Elspeth and 3 O-rings. My board plan against control went off without a hitch. Elspeth ended up winning both games for me in the long haul. This was the first taste I got of something actually going according to plan.
3-2 (7-6)
Round 6
Sam on Naya Pod.
Sam made the mistake of fixing his deck face up when I came to the table and I had the opportunity to see what he was playing before we started. It wasn't my fault, I don't know why he was doing it that way, but he was. As it turns out, game 1 was an easy win. I dropped turn 1 Champ, turn 2 Mayor, Turn 3 SoWP and he scooped without ever playing more than basic lands. Game 2 ended up being just as easy. I brought in Grafdigger's cages against him and drew one in my starting hand after a mulligan (I had a really bad hand the first round). I played a Pilgrim on turn 1, a champ and the cage on turn 2, and then cruised past to an easy win after a few more tokens came in. I made a play mistake here of missing a Mayor's trigger for my token. That was the second of my actual play mistakes for the day, and probably the least important. He did some grumbling about the cage and how he was holding two pods in his hand. I half expected he'd have boarded them out expecting some kind of hate against them. Another perfect sideboard game.
4-2 (9-6)
Round 7
So perseverance had brought me to the 7th round with a good enough record to have a legitimate shot at landing myself in the prize pool. Obviously not the top 8, but I had a decent shot if I won of making some packs off the top 16.
Jacob on Grixis Zombies
I didn't expect to see this deck at all. I expected a few zombie decks, but nothing like this. Game 1 was a loss for me, and he played heavy control elements and just crushed me with small damage every turn while I couldn't stabilize long enough to mount a comeback. Game 2, I boarded in Day of Judgment and Sword of Feast and Famine, thinking the protection could be vital. I ended up out racing him and never hit a sideboard card. Game 3, I did hit a SoFF, but a missplay ended up costing me dearly. I used an Avacyn Pilgrim to play and equip the sword while I had plenty of land to do so. I had cards in hand that may have been able to save me, but after hitting with the sword, didn't have the mana to play them since I used the pilgrim instead of a land to play it. He ended up being able to win a slightly longer game after my mistake.
4-3 (10-8)
So, not really the way I needed the last round to go, but that's just the way it happens. The only reason I made it that far was because of opponents that were hungry and dropped anyway, so I shouldn't have been so surprised by the loss last round.
As far as things I learned from this PTQ, my deck is very strong against the stuff I expected to see in the metagame, and weak against the things I didn't. Also, making very small play mistakes with the deck's manabase really screwed me out of a few wins. Matchups I expect to see more that need work will be the Wolfrun Ramp and RG aggro matchups. The other seemed pretty solid and Zombies isn't really a deck worth worrying about. My match up against Vensor Control was an anomaly as well, and not something I expect to have repeated.
There are a few changes I think I'll end up making to the deck. I think Garruk Relentless has a solid place in the deck and I'd like to work him in somehow. I think Kessig Cagebreakers need to come out of the board. I never played them and I don't know that I ever would. Especially if I end up dropping more creatures to add Garruk, which seems likely. I also may drop the Entreat the Angels to add a few copies of Beast Within main deck. The card is just too good to be sitting on the sidelines and offers solutions that even Oblivion Ring doesn't. As far as the extra swords in my Board? I picked up a few more SoWP and may make them main deck, moving the Angelic Destiny to my board. I also feel like Timely Reinforcements has a place in the sideboard against decks like Zombies and Boros, but I'm not sure if I'll add it or not.
Anyway, that's about it for my PTQ Recap. Questions and comments are always welcome and feedback on the deck or sideboard plan is always great.
SD13
Well, I guess the first thing to do is to give a shout out and some thanks to my friend Snibble. Without him loaning me around a third of the deck I played with, I never would have been able to play as competitively as I did.
Next, how about a decklist.
3 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Champion of the Parish
2 Hero of Bladehold
2 Angel of Jubilation
4 Champion of Lambholt
3 Mayor of Avabruck
(18 Creatures)
4 Gather the Townsfolk
4 Midnight Haunting
4 Intangible Virtue
2 Entreat the Angels
1 Sword of War and Peace
2 Angelic Destiny
(17 Spells)
2 Sunpetal Grove
4 Razorverge Thicket
3 Cavern of Souls
2 Gavony Township
7 Forest
7 Plains
(25 Lands)
Sideboard
3 Grafdigger's Cage (good against Zombies, Pod, Frights, passable against RG Aggro)
2 Day f Judgment (Planed for Boros and Zombies)
2 Kessig Cagebreakers (Plan against control, never ended up using it)
2 Elspeth Tirel (plan against control)
3 Oblivion Ring (Generally awesome card to fix problems)
2 Sword of Feast and Famine (Zombies and RG Aggro)
1 Sword of Body and Mind (Expected to see a few tempo decks)
So lets get down to game play.
Round 1
Tyler on Venser Control.
I sat down across from my opponent Tyler and we went straight to business. We talked a little as we were waiting for the round to start, but mostly focused on the game. He played a bunch in different formats and sounded like a bit of a "grinder." Cool guy though and a great player. He was playing one of my decks absolutely worst matchups. After getting off to a good start in game one, he dropped a Stonehorn Dignitary and I knew I was in trouble. It took a few more turns and I was trying to get in for damage, but as soon as Venser came down, I knew there was no hope for me and I scooped straight to game 2. I brought in all 3 O-rings and dropped SoWP and both Entreats. The second game ended up with me waiting to topdeck the O-ring as he locked me down with Venser and a Dignitary. It never showed up, he got the emblem, and I scooped for a round loss. I was off to a rough start. Tyler was pretty cool though and ended up going 5-2 I think, so I didn't feel too bad about losing to him.
0-1 (0-2)
Round 2
David on RG Aggro.
So after round 1, I got called up to the judges table for a deck check. It seems that the first of many random mistakes made during the day was to start off by writing my list wrong and having it total up to 59 cards. I got it straightened out, but the clerical error cost me a game loss this round. We started on game 2, and I was recorded as losing the first game. Craptastic way to get the round started. David was all business and we got started as soon as the judge straightened us out. Starting off with game 2, I came out of the box hard. I took the game with little to no trouble and had a bit of a confidence boost. Game 3 took it away. We came out pretty much squared off toe to toe. Then he dropped a Sword of War and Peace and took it to the bank. Started really thinking about needed Beast Within and O-Rings main deck after these two rounds. I honestly think with a third game, I might have had a chance to win this round, since it seemed we were just racing each other and I was very capable of keeping pace with him.
0-2 (1-4)
Round 3
Cameron on Solar-Flare
I sat down at the table and started looking around as the round started. My opponent hadn't turned up yet so I sat and shuffled for a bit. He turned up a few minutes later and signed the slip with me as two wins and shook my hand, saying he was off to lunch. He didn't get to leave right away and we ended up doing a bunch of trading. Cool guy.
1-2 (3-4 [Kinda])
Round 4
David on Wolfrun Ramp
Game 1 was a blow out. He was firing on all cylinders and there wasn't much I could do but watch as he dropped a turn 4 titan and crushed me under its heels. Game 2, he flooded out and I took the easy win. Game 3 was a real fight. I came out strong and was worked him down to 5, then he gained a little life, then I had him back down to 1 with lethal damage on board. He top decked a Slagstorm and cleared most of my board, save one spirit token. In the process, he killed his own Solemn Simulacrum and drew an Inferno Titan off of it to kill my last spirit and hit me for two. The next turn, I botched up and made my first actual play mistake. I played a Champion of the Parish off of a Plains instead of a Cavern of Souls, meaning I didn't have the mana open to play the Angelic Destiny on it to keep it alive through the titan attack. He killed the champ on his attack and then finished me off. If I hadn't made that mistake, I may have been able to take the game honestly, but he scooped to me on his turn before killing me, citing the need for food and wanting to play in a cube as his reasons for not rubbing his good luck in my face. I thanked him, shook his hand and then went on wondering when my odd luck was going to stop.
2-2 (5-5)
Round 5
Feng (not his first name, but I don't have his first name written down) on UW Miricale Planswalkers.
Game 1 was a complete blow out for him. He hit 3 Temp Mastery with no deck fixing while having Gideon and Tamiyo on the field. Easy win for him. Second game, I boarded out SoWP, both Angelic Destiny, 1 Angel of Jubilation, 1 Champion of Lambholt for both copies of Elspeth and 3 O-rings. My board plan against control went off without a hitch. Elspeth ended up winning both games for me in the long haul. This was the first taste I got of something actually going according to plan.
3-2 (7-6)
Round 6
Sam on Naya Pod.
Sam made the mistake of fixing his deck face up when I came to the table and I had the opportunity to see what he was playing before we started. It wasn't my fault, I don't know why he was doing it that way, but he was. As it turns out, game 1 was an easy win. I dropped turn 1 Champ, turn 2 Mayor, Turn 3 SoWP and he scooped without ever playing more than basic lands. Game 2 ended up being just as easy. I brought in Grafdigger's cages against him and drew one in my starting hand after a mulligan (I had a really bad hand the first round). I played a Pilgrim on turn 1, a champ and the cage on turn 2, and then cruised past to an easy win after a few more tokens came in. I made a play mistake here of missing a Mayor's trigger for my token. That was the second of my actual play mistakes for the day, and probably the least important. He did some grumbling about the cage and how he was holding two pods in his hand. I half expected he'd have boarded them out expecting some kind of hate against them. Another perfect sideboard game.
4-2 (9-6)
Round 7
So perseverance had brought me to the 7th round with a good enough record to have a legitimate shot at landing myself in the prize pool. Obviously not the top 8, but I had a decent shot if I won of making some packs off the top 16.
Jacob on Grixis Zombies
I didn't expect to see this deck at all. I expected a few zombie decks, but nothing like this. Game 1 was a loss for me, and he played heavy control elements and just crushed me with small damage every turn while I couldn't stabilize long enough to mount a comeback. Game 2, I boarded in Day of Judgment and Sword of Feast and Famine, thinking the protection could be vital. I ended up out racing him and never hit a sideboard card. Game 3, I did hit a SoFF, but a missplay ended up costing me dearly. I used an Avacyn Pilgrim to play and equip the sword while I had plenty of land to do so. I had cards in hand that may have been able to save me, but after hitting with the sword, didn't have the mana to play them since I used the pilgrim instead of a land to play it. He ended up being able to win a slightly longer game after my mistake.
4-3 (10-8)
So, not really the way I needed the last round to go, but that's just the way it happens. The only reason I made it that far was because of opponents that were hungry and dropped anyway, so I shouldn't have been so surprised by the loss last round.
As far as things I learned from this PTQ, my deck is very strong against the stuff I expected to see in the metagame, and weak against the things I didn't. Also, making very small play mistakes with the deck's manabase really screwed me out of a few wins. Matchups I expect to see more that need work will be the Wolfrun Ramp and RG aggro matchups. The other seemed pretty solid and Zombies isn't really a deck worth worrying about. My match up against Vensor Control was an anomaly as well, and not something I expect to have repeated.
There are a few changes I think I'll end up making to the deck. I think Garruk Relentless has a solid place in the deck and I'd like to work him in somehow. I think Kessig Cagebreakers need to come out of the board. I never played them and I don't know that I ever would. Especially if I end up dropping more creatures to add Garruk, which seems likely. I also may drop the Entreat the Angels to add a few copies of Beast Within main deck. The card is just too good to be sitting on the sidelines and offers solutions that even Oblivion Ring doesn't. As far as the extra swords in my Board? I picked up a few more SoWP and may make them main deck, moving the Angelic Destiny to my board. I also feel like Timely Reinforcements has a place in the sideboard against decks like Zombies and Boros, but I'm not sure if I'll add it or not.
Anyway, that's about it for my PTQ Recap. Questions and comments are always welcome and feedback on the deck or sideboard plan is always great.
SD13
On Gaming, Planning, and the Lack Thereof
This is the first in a pair of posts about my weekend adventures in Magic. This one will be devoted to all things not directly tied in to the actual PTQ. There are a ton of things that I'd like to touch on that happened, but I figured putting both the PTQ recap and the side notes all in one post would make it exactly half the length of the book of Genesis.
So what is this post going to relate to... Well, there's travel plans and last minute changes. There's also trading to touch on. And lastly, I think card choices and sportsmanship need to be touched on.
So, let's start with travel plans. The original plan was to meet up with some guys from Legends and ride the majority of the trip with them. Due to some events in the personal life department, my girlfriend and I decided to drive up together. There were a few reasons for this. First, she has friends in Indy and wanted to get out of the house and see them again since we don't get up that way very often. The second is that my step-dad has been having health issues and I didn't want to be stranded if I needed to head home in a hurry. It all worked out for the best and we ended up having a great time both before and after the tourney. Sorry to the driver from Legends from changing plans so many times over the course of the week. I'm sure it had to be a headache!
Of course, at events such as PTQs, Grand Prix, and other large Magic related tournaments and gathering, there are always people looking to trade cards. It's a great way to meet new people and help the community by enriching card pools and wallets. This is a story about the two kinds of traders that I met this weekend. The first guy that tried to trade for me was a complete pain in the neck and I regret even trying to swap cards with him. I don't know where he was from and I didn't catch his name. The long and short of the story is that he wanted to trade for full value for his cards, and wanted an average of 25% of value off of mine. Needless to say, when I want to swap cards, I want equal values. If I want a 25-30 dollar card, I want to be able to trade my 25-30 dollar card for it. Not 40-45 dollars for the 30 dollar card. That is unfair and just being a jerk. Nice not trading with ya, pall. The second part of my trading story is actually very cool. The guy's name was Cameron and he was from here in Indiana. He was there with some friends and was s'possed to be my opponent on round 3 but conceded to me to go have lunch. He didn't end up getting to leave in a hurry because his ride was in the middle of a trade, so we started talking. He was trying to break into Legacy and was building up his card collection. We just BSed about the tournament so far and what our opponents were like and about some of the cards we were looking for. We started to hash out some small trades at first and they were all very easy going. I ended up trading off some of my dual lands to him for some Standard stuff that I really needed. I kinda regretted it, but was willing to make the sacrifice to get the cards I needed in a much more played format. Afterwards, we parted ways, he went and got lunch and I went on to round 4. Later that day, we got back to trading and I ended up getting my playset of duals back in tact. It only cost me a few prized collection pieces that I never played with. I do miss those cards, but at the same time, I helped him get his collection started, restored my playset of duals (with an artist signed copy after the trade), and picked up a ton of stuff I needed or could trade off a lot more easily than the Mox and Chaos Orb.
The moral of the story is... Don't be a jerk when you're trying to trade. It builds bad blood and makes people avoid you. Be cool. Be sociable and likable. Don't be standoffish and over value your cards while undervaluing your trade targets. The fact that Cameron and I were able to establish what values we were comfortable with using, and then sticking to them made things go much more smoothly and even made it fun and profitable for both of us.
Now, on to the sportsmanship portion of my rant.
I played a guy 5th or 6th round that was playing a deck that's very easy to hate against and has a few very solid hate cards to shut it down. My problem with this player's sportsmanship was his attitude about me sideboarding in the card against him in game two. When I played it, he just got a crummy attitude towards me and started being really salty through the rest of the game. I can't help it that he picked a strategy that 1, I knew would be present 2, that I knew how to play against, and 3, that has such easily playable hate. If you play a popular deck choice that has cards that oppose it like that, don't be shocked or angry when it happens to you. Be a better player and play around those cards.
That's all of my non-game related ranting for now. I'll be back in a bit with the PTQ follow up.
SD13
So what is this post going to relate to... Well, there's travel plans and last minute changes. There's also trading to touch on. And lastly, I think card choices and sportsmanship need to be touched on.
So, let's start with travel plans. The original plan was to meet up with some guys from Legends and ride the majority of the trip with them. Due to some events in the personal life department, my girlfriend and I decided to drive up together. There were a few reasons for this. First, she has friends in Indy and wanted to get out of the house and see them again since we don't get up that way very often. The second is that my step-dad has been having health issues and I didn't want to be stranded if I needed to head home in a hurry. It all worked out for the best and we ended up having a great time both before and after the tourney. Sorry to the driver from Legends from changing plans so many times over the course of the week. I'm sure it had to be a headache!
Of course, at events such as PTQs, Grand Prix, and other large Magic related tournaments and gathering, there are always people looking to trade cards. It's a great way to meet new people and help the community by enriching card pools and wallets. This is a story about the two kinds of traders that I met this weekend. The first guy that tried to trade for me was a complete pain in the neck and I regret even trying to swap cards with him. I don't know where he was from and I didn't catch his name. The long and short of the story is that he wanted to trade for full value for his cards, and wanted an average of 25% of value off of mine. Needless to say, when I want to swap cards, I want equal values. If I want a 25-30 dollar card, I want to be able to trade my 25-30 dollar card for it. Not 40-45 dollars for the 30 dollar card. That is unfair and just being a jerk. Nice not trading with ya, pall. The second part of my trading story is actually very cool. The guy's name was Cameron and he was from here in Indiana. He was there with some friends and was s'possed to be my opponent on round 3 but conceded to me to go have lunch. He didn't end up getting to leave in a hurry because his ride was in the middle of a trade, so we started talking. He was trying to break into Legacy and was building up his card collection. We just BSed about the tournament so far and what our opponents were like and about some of the cards we were looking for. We started to hash out some small trades at first and they were all very easy going. I ended up trading off some of my dual lands to him for some Standard stuff that I really needed. I kinda regretted it, but was willing to make the sacrifice to get the cards I needed in a much more played format. Afterwards, we parted ways, he went and got lunch and I went on to round 4. Later that day, we got back to trading and I ended up getting my playset of duals back in tact. It only cost me a few prized collection pieces that I never played with. I do miss those cards, but at the same time, I helped him get his collection started, restored my playset of duals (with an artist signed copy after the trade), and picked up a ton of stuff I needed or could trade off a lot more easily than the Mox and Chaos Orb.
The moral of the story is... Don't be a jerk when you're trying to trade. It builds bad blood and makes people avoid you. Be cool. Be sociable and likable. Don't be standoffish and over value your cards while undervaluing your trade targets. The fact that Cameron and I were able to establish what values we were comfortable with using, and then sticking to them made things go much more smoothly and even made it fun and profitable for both of us.
Now, on to the sportsmanship portion of my rant.
I played a guy 5th or 6th round that was playing a deck that's very easy to hate against and has a few very solid hate cards to shut it down. My problem with this player's sportsmanship was his attitude about me sideboarding in the card against him in game two. When I played it, he just got a crummy attitude towards me and started being really salty through the rest of the game. I can't help it that he picked a strategy that 1, I knew would be present 2, that I knew how to play against, and 3, that has such easily playable hate. If you play a popular deck choice that has cards that oppose it like that, don't be shocked or angry when it happens to you. Be a better player and play around those cards.
That's all of my non-game related ranting for now. I'll be back in a bit with the PTQ follow up.
SD13
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Pre-PTQ Nervers
Well, I'm getting the pre-event jitters. This time, it comes from not playtesting nearly enough. I only finalized my deck over the weekend and haven't had a chance to really play a single game with it. I have faith in the card choices, and in the deck's numbers for the most part. What I don't have faith in is the way it is going to curve out and my ability to make informed choices while playing it. When I sit down at my first game, I just have to remind myself that its just another game of Magic.
Other than the jitters, I'm also going to be making my first outing with Team Legends. Or at least most of the Linton branch of it. Guess that roots me in a team for the next round of Nerd Day tournaments in Robinson. heh. Always fun to picks sides, right?
And shortly after the dust settles from the PTQ, I'm off to help run a Midwest Warfare Warhammer 40K event on the following weekend!
SD13
Other than the jitters, I'm also going to be making my first outing with Team Legends. Or at least most of the Linton branch of it. Guess that roots me in a team for the next round of Nerd Day tournaments in Robinson. heh. Always fun to picks sides, right?
And shortly after the dust settles from the PTQ, I'm off to help run a Midwest Warfare Warhammer 40K event on the following weekend!
SD13
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Prepping for PTQ Indianapolis (May 19th)
Alright, so I've had almost no time to playtest and the one deck I was brewing was too inconsistent on three colors to work. I liked the principle, and it had some very explosive games, but I think I can make something almost as good with better mana in two colors. So, let's have a look at the evolution of my deck for this event.
I started off with my BW Tokens. I love this archetype, probably to my detriment. I was digging through red though and found some very interesting cards and wanted to test them. I tested a variation of my tokens deck with Rally the Peasants, Thatcher's Revolt, and Zealous Conscripts. Loved it when it worked. There were a few very satisfying surprised looks on the faces of opponents that didn't see what was coming when they get first turn Champion of the Parish, second turn Intangible Virtue, third turn Thatcher's Revolt for a total of 10 damage in the form of a hard to stop ball lightning effect. That's right, I just compared Thatcher's Revolt to a Ball Lightning. But in this deck it was better than Ball Lightning in some very dumbfounding ways. In addition to permanently buffing Champion, it made some hard to stop damage that came across after you dropped a few anthem effects. Adding more non-basic lands just unbalanced the manabase too much to be acceptable and made for some bad games where I was essentially time-walking for the other player after not having a relevant drop till turn 3 or 4.
So, I went back to the drawing board. I still love the Tokens archtypes. I think with the right twists, it can over run a lot of the bad matchups for aggro decks in the format. I think Hero of Bladehold has made new friends with what is possibly my favorite three drop critter in the format right now. Champion of Lambholt. I didn't realize just how good she was until a good friend of mine and I started doing some playtesting on a WG Humans deck I suggested to him. After thinking about it more, and goofing around with it some in my head and on paper, I decided that GW Human/Tokens can be really nasty and have some great plays. It immediately has some amazing perks. It has a better curve than BW because of having a mana dork to play as a 1 drop, bringing the first turn a long way from "land, go." Next, it offers a lord in the Mayor on the two spot, helping round out some great two drops with an anthem on a body. At the three position, green brings Champ of Lambholt, which is a house. And for some true end game success, Green offers us some solutions to bad match ups. Against control with a ton of board wipes, how about a few Kessig Cagebreakers to get the ball rolling back in my favor again? Or how about Sigarda as a solution to things like Killing Wave and other nastiness of that nature.
Of course, as a few end-game cards to really spice the deck up, how about Entreat the Angels? It's already a great card, but I think paying 5 mana for an Archangel is way better than paying 7. And if you miracle it into play, you can get 3 of those angels for the same price... So... If I draw this on accident on turn 5, with 1 Intangible Virtue on the field, you're telling me I get three 5/5 flyers with vigilance? Sounds like a game winner to me. Even on turn 3 for 1 of those, I'd be thrilled.
So, where does that leave me? With very little time to playtest this deck until the weekend and with a few more key cards to trade for or borrow. Fortunatly, I think I know where I can get a few of the ones that I really need to put the cap on the thing. I'm naming the deck, I just haven't figured out what yet.
So here's the list as I see it right now.
2 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Champion of the Parish
2 Hero of Bladehold
2 Angel of Jubilation
4 Champion of Lambholt
2 Mayor of Avabruck
2 Sigarda, Host of Herons
2 Angels of Jubilation
(18 Creatures)
4 Gather the Townsfolk
4 Midnight Haunting
4 Intangible Virtue
2 Entreat the Angels
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Angelic Destiny
(17 Spells)
2 Sunpetal Grove
4 Razorverge Thicket
3 Cavern of Souls
2 Gavony Township
7 Forest
7 Plains
(25 Lands)
That's about it for me. My sideboard is still in the air, but I've got some ideas. More to follow as I get in some testing and some trading in the next week or so.
SD13
I started off with my BW Tokens. I love this archetype, probably to my detriment. I was digging through red though and found some very interesting cards and wanted to test them. I tested a variation of my tokens deck with Rally the Peasants, Thatcher's Revolt, and Zealous Conscripts. Loved it when it worked. There were a few very satisfying surprised looks on the faces of opponents that didn't see what was coming when they get first turn Champion of the Parish, second turn Intangible Virtue, third turn Thatcher's Revolt for a total of 10 damage in the form of a hard to stop ball lightning effect. That's right, I just compared Thatcher's Revolt to a Ball Lightning. But in this deck it was better than Ball Lightning in some very dumbfounding ways. In addition to permanently buffing Champion, it made some hard to stop damage that came across after you dropped a few anthem effects. Adding more non-basic lands just unbalanced the manabase too much to be acceptable and made for some bad games where I was essentially time-walking for the other player after not having a relevant drop till turn 3 or 4.
So, I went back to the drawing board. I still love the Tokens archtypes. I think with the right twists, it can over run a lot of the bad matchups for aggro decks in the format. I think Hero of Bladehold has made new friends with what is possibly my favorite three drop critter in the format right now. Champion of Lambholt. I didn't realize just how good she was until a good friend of mine and I started doing some playtesting on a WG Humans deck I suggested to him. After thinking about it more, and goofing around with it some in my head and on paper, I decided that GW Human/Tokens can be really nasty and have some great plays. It immediately has some amazing perks. It has a better curve than BW because of having a mana dork to play as a 1 drop, bringing the first turn a long way from "land, go." Next, it offers a lord in the Mayor on the two spot, helping round out some great two drops with an anthem on a body. At the three position, green brings Champ of Lambholt, which is a house. And for some true end game success, Green offers us some solutions to bad match ups. Against control with a ton of board wipes, how about a few Kessig Cagebreakers to get the ball rolling back in my favor again? Or how about Sigarda as a solution to things like Killing Wave and other nastiness of that nature.
Of course, as a few end-game cards to really spice the deck up, how about Entreat the Angels? It's already a great card, but I think paying 5 mana for an Archangel is way better than paying 7. And if you miracle it into play, you can get 3 of those angels for the same price... So... If I draw this on accident on turn 5, with 1 Intangible Virtue on the field, you're telling me I get three 5/5 flyers with vigilance? Sounds like a game winner to me. Even on turn 3 for 1 of those, I'd be thrilled.
So, where does that leave me? With very little time to playtest this deck until the weekend and with a few more key cards to trade for or borrow. Fortunatly, I think I know where I can get a few of the ones that I really need to put the cap on the thing. I'm naming the deck, I just haven't figured out what yet.
So here's the list as I see it right now.
2 Avacyn's Pilgrim
4 Champion of the Parish
2 Hero of Bladehold
2 Angel of Jubilation
4 Champion of Lambholt
2 Mayor of Avabruck
2 Sigarda, Host of Herons
2 Angels of Jubilation
(18 Creatures)
4 Gather the Townsfolk
4 Midnight Haunting
4 Intangible Virtue
2 Entreat the Angels
1 Sword of War and Peace
1 Sword of Feast and Famine
1 Angelic Destiny
(17 Spells)
2 Sunpetal Grove
4 Razorverge Thicket
3 Cavern of Souls
2 Gavony Township
7 Forest
7 Plains
(25 Lands)
That's about it for me. My sideboard is still in the air, but I've got some ideas. More to follow as I get in some testing and some trading in the next week or so.
SD13
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