Holy crap, I'm excited about Theros.
I was able to attend my local Friday Night Magic last week after missing both the Theros prerelease and release events, so it was my first opportunity to play with Magic's new Greek-themed set. And I have to say - Theros made one hell of a first impression.
The Set
Sure, a lot of my excitement comes from the fact that I ended up winning the FNM draft (my first such win), but the set brings pretty sweet mechanics and feels incredibly well-balanced. Although the Theros metagame certainly hasn't stablized, no single deck archetype appeared dominant. Aggressive decks were a bit stronger than slower controlling decks, but I think that's just because the set is new and people don't quite know what they're doing. In the coming weeks, I expect several dramatically different styles to emerge victorious as players get more comfortable with the set's powerful keywords.
In addition to being a surprisingly flavorful set (see Underworld Cerberus and Rescue from the Underworld) with some fabulous art, Theros is incredibly fun to play. Each color has powerful common or uncommon removal capabilities (directly, like black's Sip of Hemlock, by fighting, like the green Time to Feed, or through combat tricks, like the uncharacteristically blue Triton Tactics), and there are a few big nasty creatures in each color, too. As a result, it seems possible to build strong control decks and strong aggro decks in virtually any color combination; I think the metagame for Theros will be pretty exciting.
The real high points, however, are the awesome set mechanics. Each is strong, and they all affect gameplay in significantly different ways, giving the Theros a very robust feel.
Scry is a returning mechanic that allows the player to look at the top N cards of his or her library. After considering the options, the player is then able to put any number of those cards back on top of his or her library and the rest on the bottom. Scry is a powerful tool for controlling the flow of the game, as it allows you to filter lands when you're looking for answers or a game-winning blow, or you can use it to guarantee land draws if you need to hit your next land drop. It serves as pseudo card advantage, and it's a great weapon in any sort of deck.
The Mechanics
My favorite of Theros' mechanics is probably Bestow, which gives a number of creatures an interesting alternate ability. Similar to Gatecrash's Bloodrush, Bestow lets you cast a creature as an Aura enchanting another creature. It then grants that creature's abilities to the enchanted one, buffing the existing creature. The biggest threat, however, is the fact that a creature cast using its Bestow cost will revert to a normal creature if its target disappears - destroying the enchanted creature leaves the Bestowed creature on the battlefield.
Following with the Greek theme of heroes, monsters, and gods, Monstrosity lets your big baddies get even bigger. Paying the Monstrosity cost on a creature (which can be done at instant speed) will add some number of +1/+1 counters to that creature, providing some fearsome combat tricks or just a way to dump unused mana in the late game. When many of these creatures become Monstrous, they also trigger further effects, like destroying a creature or preventing creatures from blocking for a turn. Monstrosity turns some of your beefiest creatures into long-term investment plans, paying dividends well into the game.
To combat the set's monsters, the Heroic mechanic allows smaller creatures to engage in David and Goliath style combat. Heroic triggers any time you cast a spell that targets one of these fearless creatures you control, and the ability provides some additional benefit, like +1/+1 counters or drawing a card. These effects occur after any type of spell you cast, including a Bestowed creature, allowing you to draw ridiculous value from auras and battle tricks.
Finally, the gods of Theros are empowered by your Devotion to their color. As a measure of your fidelity to a color, your Devotion is simply the number of times a mana symbol of that color appears in permanents you control. Devotion has a number of powerful uses, from turning your otherwise passive but omnipresent gods (like Nylea) into imposing creatures to gaining life (like Nylea's Disciple) or draining your opponent's life (as the Gray Merchant does).
Those five elements give Theros incredible depth and make it a fantastic set to play.
The Draft Deck
To give an idea of how Theros plays out, here's the deck that I ended up using at FNM:
Creatures:
1 Akroan Crusader
1 Blood-Toll Harpy
1 Cavern Lampad
1 Ember Swallower
1 Flamespeaker Adept
1 Fleshmad Steed
1 Gray Merchant of Asphodel
1 Minotaur Skullcleaver
2 Returned Centaur
1 Tymaret, the Murder King
Instants:
1 Hero's Downfall
2 Pharika's Cure
2 Spark Jolt
1 Titan's Strength
Sorceries:
2 Portent of Betrayal
1 Rage of Purphoros
1 Read the Bones
Enchantments:
1 Ordeal of Purphoros
1 Scourgemark
Lands:
7 Mountain
10 Swamp
It was a moderately aggressive deck, with many cheap creatures doing most of the work, but the bigger things like Ember Swallower give something to look forward to in the late game. I used a little bit of everything in this deck, mostly allowing the various Scry spells to help me find the particular pieces I needed at any point in a game. Read the Bones is unbelievably powerful, particularly while Flamespeaker Adept is on the board to take full advantage of the Scry. Cavern Lampad did a lot of work, both while an aura and while a dude, and the Gray Merchant got me out of a couple tight spots.
All-in-all, I was able to dabble with all of the set's mechanics a bit and, with the exception of Monstrosity, I put them to good use. I found that Scry is just an awesomely powerful mechanic, especially when attached to some basic removal spells. I expect to see much more coherent decks as people get used to the set, though. I'm looking forward to building decks that feature each of the other mechanics a bit more prominently in the coming weeks; it should be a great time.
The End
It seems like this set is all about getting tons of value out of your cards, and it's incredibly fun to play. I highly recommend that everybody with the slightest interest in Magic give it a shot.
Showing posts with label draft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label draft. Show all posts
Monday, October 7, 2013
Monday, June 10, 2013
Monday Magic - Modern Masters and You
Last week saw the release of the highly anticipated Modern Masters set, which reprints a couple hundred classic cards from the last several years of Magic. Priced more aggressively than a normal set, Modern Masters reintroduces some of Magic's most powerful and sought-after cards, which contributed to the hype of its release.
I met Friday's release with mixed feelings. On one hand, since I had taken a long break from Magic, including the entire span of these cards' original printings, Modern Masters gives me a great chance to add some of these cards to my collection. On the other hand, the increased cost and limited release (Wizards is strongly restricting the number of packs floating around the world) make it more difficult to get my hands on the cards that I'd like to include in some casual decks.
The Reasoning
To get the full picture, it's worth looking briefly at the official philosophy behind this set:
Wizards decided to reprint these cards precisely because many of them have become staples of the Modern competitive format. New players will find it difficult to compete in Modern events simply because they don't have access to cards that can compete with some of the powerhouses of the past (a similar problem exists with the Legacy format, although it's much less extreme here). Modern Masters puts more of these cards in circulation, opening the Modern format to a wider audience.
However, Wizards also feels a lot of pressure from collectors, as introducing new copies of older cards will naturally devalue those already in existence. This pressure led to the modest release that we're seeing with Modern Masters.
Furthermore, the powers-that-be don't want these cards to become Standard legal, so the Modern Masters set isn't considered part of a normal Magic release cycle. The restricted release and increased cost help in that sense, too - new players are less likely to pick up a few random packs and think they can use their newly-acquired cards in a Standard tournament.
The Frustration
I can certainly see that Wizards needs to worry about each of these concerns: They want to grow their relatively new competitive format (Modern), they need to keep the old guard happy (the collectors), and they need to keep things relatively simple for new players (Magic is already a relatively complex game for newbies to learn). But this limited release seems like a half-assed approach to all three of these concerns.
Let's start with the devalued collections. Yes, a limited release will have a smaller effect than a normal set would, but they're also appealing to a smaller audience. If these cards aren't legal in Standard play, only collectors and Modern and casual players will care to buy them. Casual players aren't likely to spend tens of dollars on single cards, so you're left with collectors and Modern players who determine the price of these cards, a group significantly smaller than the pool of all Magic players. When dealing with a smaller audience, even adding a small fraction of the total copies already out there could have a noticeable effect on the secondary market. Of course, we'll have to wait and see how prices stabilize a few months from now, but it seems like it has the potential to do more damage than they'd like.
As for growing the Modern format, I can't see this limited release doing a whole lot. I imagine that there are two types of players approaching the Modern format - those who have been playing for the last decade and picked up several copies of these powerful cards in their heyday, and those who are willing to pay hundreds of dollars to construct some competitive decks with older cards. I find it unlikely that a limited release at a higher MSRP will bump many more players into one of those categories; I imagine that the only changes we'll see are more powerful decks among casual groups, not a considerable change in Modern competitors.
I think that the deterrent for new players will prove to be the most effective of these strategies, as higher admission costs will likely keep new players away, but the hype around the set ("some of Magic's best cards!") may present new players with an odd dilemma. New players tend to be drawn to particularly powerful cards with crazy effects, so the overall strength of this set may overcome the increased cost for new players.
And caught in the middle of it all - the casual player. People who like making fun decks with interesting cards, but not for competitive purposes, might miss out on these reprints due to the limited release.
To be fair, these concerns are primarily interested with constructed Magic formats. One of the stated goals of the Modern Masters set is limited design - it was apparently put together with drafting in mind. If the drafting is good, then all the constructed concerns can be reasonably dismissed as it's a set that supplements the usual release schedule, which by itself can maintain good casual Magic and draw new players.
The Draft
Having participated in a Friday Night Magic draft last week, I had the pleasure of seeing Modern Masters in action, and I am disappointed. The biggest complaint that I listed above (that the set appeals to a smaller set of players) bears its teeth in drafts.
Yes, the set has much more powerful synergy than in most other sets, with much more tightly designed archetypes appearing here than in any other set in recent memory, so you could build a very powerful and coherent limited deck that might even rival some constructed decks. Unfortunately, doing so requires that you draft very well.
Here's the problem: strong synergy also means weak flexibility. If you're not careful with your picks throughout a draft, or if you get hit by a particularly barren third pack, you'll end up with a jumbled mess of effects. Each card you include that doesn't fit with a specific theme brings an exponential loss of power, and trying to include two deck archetypes will undoubtedly hurt your performance.
So, the Modern Masters set seems great for high-level drafters, but it's awkward, confusing, and ultimately disappointing for less experienced planeswalkers.
I'll happily admit that my complaints may be skewed by the unusually flexible Return to Ravnica block, and maybe this increased difficulty is part of the plan (the set does have "Master" in the name). Putting all these features together, though, makes Modern Masters a very frustrating release.
The Verdict
Modern Masters presents a drafting format that is tricky for anybody but the best drafters, but it is also the only way that many casual players will ever have access to some of Magic's biggest bombs for less than $20 apiece. This setup encourages casual players to join drafts for a chance at opening a Tarmogoyf (which is currently going for over $100) or even something more modest like Doubling Season ($20), but their experience won't be nearly as good as if they'd drafted Dragon's Maze. At the same time, those casual players are diluting the player pool, making the draft less competitive for the best players, which cheapens their experience, too. Combine that with collector concerns and a potentially minimal impact on the Modern population, and I find Modern Masters to be a generally disappointing set. I hope that Wizards hones their execution for any future "best of" sets.
I met Friday's release with mixed feelings. On one hand, since I had taken a long break from Magic, including the entire span of these cards' original printings, Modern Masters gives me a great chance to add some of these cards to my collection. On the other hand, the increased cost and limited release (Wizards is strongly restricting the number of packs floating around the world) make it more difficult to get my hands on the cards that I'd like to include in some casual decks.
The Reasoning
To get the full picture, it's worth looking briefly at the official philosophy behind this set:
Wizards decided to reprint these cards precisely because many of them have become staples of the Modern competitive format. New players will find it difficult to compete in Modern events simply because they don't have access to cards that can compete with some of the powerhouses of the past (a similar problem exists with the Legacy format, although it's much less extreme here). Modern Masters puts more of these cards in circulation, opening the Modern format to a wider audience.
However, Wizards also feels a lot of pressure from collectors, as introducing new copies of older cards will naturally devalue those already in existence. This pressure led to the modest release that we're seeing with Modern Masters.
Furthermore, the powers-that-be don't want these cards to become Standard legal, so the Modern Masters set isn't considered part of a normal Magic release cycle. The restricted release and increased cost help in that sense, too - new players are less likely to pick up a few random packs and think they can use their newly-acquired cards in a Standard tournament.
The Frustration
I can certainly see that Wizards needs to worry about each of these concerns: They want to grow their relatively new competitive format (Modern), they need to keep the old guard happy (the collectors), and they need to keep things relatively simple for new players (Magic is already a relatively complex game for newbies to learn). But this limited release seems like a half-assed approach to all three of these concerns.
Let's start with the devalued collections. Yes, a limited release will have a smaller effect than a normal set would, but they're also appealing to a smaller audience. If these cards aren't legal in Standard play, only collectors and Modern and casual players will care to buy them. Casual players aren't likely to spend tens of dollars on single cards, so you're left with collectors and Modern players who determine the price of these cards, a group significantly smaller than the pool of all Magic players. When dealing with a smaller audience, even adding a small fraction of the total copies already out there could have a noticeable effect on the secondary market. Of course, we'll have to wait and see how prices stabilize a few months from now, but it seems like it has the potential to do more damage than they'd like.
As for growing the Modern format, I can't see this limited release doing a whole lot. I imagine that there are two types of players approaching the Modern format - those who have been playing for the last decade and picked up several copies of these powerful cards in their heyday, and those who are willing to pay hundreds of dollars to construct some competitive decks with older cards. I find it unlikely that a limited release at a higher MSRP will bump many more players into one of those categories; I imagine that the only changes we'll see are more powerful decks among casual groups, not a considerable change in Modern competitors.
I think that the deterrent for new players will prove to be the most effective of these strategies, as higher admission costs will likely keep new players away, but the hype around the set ("some of Magic's best cards!") may present new players with an odd dilemma. New players tend to be drawn to particularly powerful cards with crazy effects, so the overall strength of this set may overcome the increased cost for new players.
And caught in the middle of it all - the casual player. People who like making fun decks with interesting cards, but not for competitive purposes, might miss out on these reprints due to the limited release.
To be fair, these concerns are primarily interested with constructed Magic formats. One of the stated goals of the Modern Masters set is limited design - it was apparently put together with drafting in mind. If the drafting is good, then all the constructed concerns can be reasonably dismissed as it's a set that supplements the usual release schedule, which by itself can maintain good casual Magic and draw new players.
The Draft
Having participated in a Friday Night Magic draft last week, I had the pleasure of seeing Modern Masters in action, and I am disappointed. The biggest complaint that I listed above (that the set appeals to a smaller set of players) bears its teeth in drafts.
Yes, the set has much more powerful synergy than in most other sets, with much more tightly designed archetypes appearing here than in any other set in recent memory, so you could build a very powerful and coherent limited deck that might even rival some constructed decks. Unfortunately, doing so requires that you draft very well.
Here's the problem: strong synergy also means weak flexibility. If you're not careful with your picks throughout a draft, or if you get hit by a particularly barren third pack, you'll end up with a jumbled mess of effects. Each card you include that doesn't fit with a specific theme brings an exponential loss of power, and trying to include two deck archetypes will undoubtedly hurt your performance.
So, the Modern Masters set seems great for high-level drafters, but it's awkward, confusing, and ultimately disappointing for less experienced planeswalkers.
I'll happily admit that my complaints may be skewed by the unusually flexible Return to Ravnica block, and maybe this increased difficulty is part of the plan (the set does have "Master" in the name). Putting all these features together, though, makes Modern Masters a very frustrating release.
The Verdict
Modern Masters presents a drafting format that is tricky for anybody but the best drafters, but it is also the only way that many casual players will ever have access to some of Magic's biggest bombs for less than $20 apiece. This setup encourages casual players to join drafts for a chance at opening a Tarmogoyf (which is currently going for over $100) or even something more modest like Doubling Season ($20), but their experience won't be nearly as good as if they'd drafted Dragon's Maze. At the same time, those casual players are diluting the player pool, making the draft less competitive for the best players, which cheapens their experience, too. Combine that with collector concerns and a potentially minimal impact on the Modern population, and I find Modern Masters to be a generally disappointing set. I hope that Wizards hones their execution for any future "best of" sets.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Dragon's Maze Release - A Magic Bender of Epic Proportions
Last week brought the release of the newest Magic set, Dragon's Maze. As has become tradition, our group of casual players had a 12-hour Magic release marathon this weekend. It featured a bunch of events (several drafts, a couple sealed, and a number of pack wars), but I'll focus on the drafting as (a) that's different from the sealed event that I did last week and (b) the drafts were the highlights of the night anyway.
I was initially a little worried about the official drafting order of Dragon's Maze/Gatecrash/Return to Ravnica, thinking that the more general set (Dragon's Maze) would be more useful once you've already settled in a few colors. My opinion shifted rapidly during the first draft, as I realized opening with the more general set allowed you to take the best card in each pack without committing to a color strategy, which ultimately gives even more flexibility in the other packs.
In the end, I really like drafting in that order.
At some point I'd still like to draft three packs of Dragon's Maze (I think that would be nuts), but that'll require a number of other players to be on board. Maybe I'll get a chance sometime before the next block starts up...
Anyway, here's what happened:
First Draft
My drafting strategy tends to revolve around just accepting my rares and building around them as much as possible. It's effectively rare drafting, but in our casual formats, that's not much of a problem. In the first draft, this strategy was tested pretty severely; my first pack contained two rares: Sire of Insanity, a potentially brutal game-ender for a super aggressive Rakdos deck, and Stomping Ground, the incredibly useful (and valuable) Gruul shock land. Because I like the idea of Gruul in a draft (not because of Gruul itself, although the Bloodrush mechanic has been growing on me, but because it can easily combo with Boros, Simic, Rakdos, and Golgari, all of which I love), I went with Stomping Ground to try to force some Red-Green action.
The guy to my right handed me a pack containing Blood Scrivener, which immediately made me regret my opening pack decision. The Scrivener's effect combined with the Sire's would grant awesome card advantage, which could easily have dominated limited matches. I took the Scrivener anyway, as I was excited about the possibilities of a Gruul/Rakdos/Golgari deck (and black removal would be very useful).
The remainder of the drafting portion went in my favor, allowing me to grab a nice number of Rakdos and Golgari cards, plus some other aggressive creatures (like Legion Loyalist). The Return to Ravnica pack really sealed the deal, with both Desecration Demon and Jarad's Orders coming my way. The only real disappointment was that I didn't have any really good Scavenge targets for Jarad's Orders, but using it as a tutor for the Demon was pretty solid.
Here was my first draft deck in all its glory:
Creatures:
1 Basilica Screecher
1 Blood Scrivener
1 Bomber Corps
1 Desecration Demon
1 Grim Roustabout
1 Legion Loyalist
1 Rakdos Shred-Freak
1 Riot Piker
1 Rix Maadi Guildmage
1 Ruination Wurm
1 Slaughterhorn
1 Slitherhead
2 Spire Tracer
1 Zhur-Taa Druid
1 Zhur-Taa Swine
Instants:
1 Fatal Fumes
1 Punish the Enemy
1 Weapon Surge
Sorceries:
1 Act of Treason
1 Jarad's Orders
1 Traitorous Instinct
Enchantments:
1 Stab Wound
Lands:
5 Forest
4 Mountain
1 Stomping Ground
7 Swamp
The main focus was obviously aggression - get a bunch of creatures out quickly and attack as often as possible. Act of Treason and Traitorous Instinct support that cause, removing a blocker and giving me another attacker, and things like Weapon Surge and Rix Maadi Guildmage (whose first ability is bonkers) make my constant attacks that much more effective. This incredibly aggressive draft was really effective, dropping only one game in four total matches played.
Second Draft
The second draft was even worse for my rare drafting approach. My first rare was the very awkward-in-limited Possibility Storm. Although I think the card has the potential to be really sexy (combined with something like Curse of Exhaustion you can shut your opponent down completely), and it definitely makes for some crazy games, I just couldn't justify taking it off the bat. Instead, I tried to draft into another aggressive deck, grabbing Gruul War Chant and Rot Farm Skeleton.
When Possibility Storm made its way around the table, though, I took it anyway, openly vowing to play it if I ever got the opportunity (a totally crazy game now and then is good).
The next couple packs also fit with my plan pretty well. I had established a Golgari direction, as I'd grabbed a couple copies of Drown in Filth, and I managed to get several nice Scavengers when Return to Ravnica rolled around. I had a couple Battalion and Bloodrush dudes, too, so I was set to play another aggressive deck.
My second draft deck:
Creatures:
1 Bomber Corps
1 Drainpipe Vermin
1 Golgari Decoy
1 Maze Behemoth
1 Maze Rusher
1 Nivmagus Elemental
1 Rot Farm Skeleton
1 Rubblebelt Maaka
1 Scab-Clan Giant
1 Scorchwalker
2 Sluiceway Scorpion
1 Terrus Wurm
2 Zhur-Taa Druid
Instants:
1 Annihilating Fire
1 Furious Resistance
1 Pit Fight
1 Showstopper
Sorceries:
2 Drown in Filth
1 Mugging
Enchantments:
1 Gruul War Chant
1 Possibility Storm
Lands:
5 Forest
6 Mountain
5 Swamp
Gruul War Chant can't be underestimated - even with only a couple small creatures on the board, that enchantment can start dealing decent damage in the early game, and it can make it impossible for your opponent to respond in the late game. Combine that with a little bit of removal and you have a pretty strong deck.
This deck won all the games where Possibility Storm didn't get played (winning two matches in the process). I had promised myself that I'd play Possibility Storm whenever possible (heh), and each time I did I got slaughtered. Those were some crazy fun games, though, and I'm absolutely planning to build a deck around Possibility Storm at some point.
Third Draft
Our third and final (serious) draft was a bit different; instead of playing with at least six people, we only had four for this draft, so it was a little goofy. The Dragon's Maze pack gave me some serious Dimir options, though, which made it exciting despite the small size.
My opening rare was Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker, which set me on the milling path immediately. I was then able to take all the Dimir cards that were floating around (Haunter of Nightveil and Pilfered Plans being the big ones). I continued that strategy into the other two packs, coming away with a solidly mill-oriented control deck.
My mill deck:
Creatures:
1 Balustrade Spy
1 Crosstown Courier
1 Dinrova Horror
1 Haunter of Nightveil
1 Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker
1 Nivix Guildmage
1 Rakdos Drake
Instants:
1 Essence Backlash
1 Mindstatic
1 Psychic Strike
1 Totally Lost
1 Ultimate Price
Sorceries:
1 Blast of Genius
2 Mind Rot
2 Paranoid Delusions
2 Pilfered Plans
1 Toil // Trouble
1 Voidwalk
Enchantments:
1 Way of the Thief
Artifacts:
2 Prophetic Prism
Lands:
1 Dimir Guildgate
6 Island
1 Izzet Guildgate
2 Mountain
6 Swamp
This deck also performed very well. The combination of efficient milling and supreme card advantage (Mind Rot can be brutal when paired with card draw) allowed me to eke out a win in my first match. I was then able to dominate my second opponent (although to be fair, we were all really tired at this point, so it's hard to say how much of that was due to mutual exhaustion), making me think that limited mill decks in Dragon's Maze are viable.
All-in-all, I'm really excited to see where the Maze takes me. There are a bunch of awesome cards in the set, both to bolster existing decks (I'm definitely going to try to find a place for Mirko Vosk and Pilfered Plans in my mill deck), and there are some fun new cards that could be the basis for some silly decks (Possibility Storm).
I'll be doing lots of deck revisions in the next few weeks, always trying to find a good way to incorporate some nasty Dragon's Maze cards. I can't wait to find out where I end up!
I was initially a little worried about the official drafting order of Dragon's Maze/Gatecrash/Return to Ravnica, thinking that the more general set (Dragon's Maze) would be more useful once you've already settled in a few colors. My opinion shifted rapidly during the first draft, as I realized opening with the more general set allowed you to take the best card in each pack without committing to a color strategy, which ultimately gives even more flexibility in the other packs.
In the end, I really like drafting in that order.
At some point I'd still like to draft three packs of Dragon's Maze (I think that would be nuts), but that'll require a number of other players to be on board. Maybe I'll get a chance sometime before the next block starts up...
Anyway, here's what happened:
First Draft
My drafting strategy tends to revolve around just accepting my rares and building around them as much as possible. It's effectively rare drafting, but in our casual formats, that's not much of a problem. In the first draft, this strategy was tested pretty severely; my first pack contained two rares: Sire of Insanity, a potentially brutal game-ender for a super aggressive Rakdos deck, and Stomping Ground, the incredibly useful (and valuable) Gruul shock land. Because I like the idea of Gruul in a draft (not because of Gruul itself, although the Bloodrush mechanic has been growing on me, but because it can easily combo with Boros, Simic, Rakdos, and Golgari, all of which I love), I went with Stomping Ground to try to force some Red-Green action.
The guy to my right handed me a pack containing Blood Scrivener, which immediately made me regret my opening pack decision. The Scrivener's effect combined with the Sire's would grant awesome card advantage, which could easily have dominated limited matches. I took the Scrivener anyway, as I was excited about the possibilities of a Gruul/Rakdos/Golgari deck (and black removal would be very useful).
The remainder of the drafting portion went in my favor, allowing me to grab a nice number of Rakdos and Golgari cards, plus some other aggressive creatures (like Legion Loyalist). The Return to Ravnica pack really sealed the deal, with both Desecration Demon and Jarad's Orders coming my way. The only real disappointment was that I didn't have any really good Scavenge targets for Jarad's Orders, but using it as a tutor for the Demon was pretty solid.
Here was my first draft deck in all its glory:
Creatures:
1 Basilica Screecher
1 Blood Scrivener
1 Bomber Corps
1 Desecration Demon
1 Grim Roustabout
1 Legion Loyalist
1 Rakdos Shred-Freak
1 Riot Piker
1 Rix Maadi Guildmage
1 Ruination Wurm
1 Slaughterhorn
1 Slitherhead
2 Spire Tracer
1 Zhur-Taa Druid
1 Zhur-Taa Swine
Instants:
1 Fatal Fumes
1 Punish the Enemy
1 Weapon Surge
Sorceries:
1 Act of Treason
1 Jarad's Orders
1 Traitorous Instinct
Enchantments:
1 Stab Wound
Lands:
5 Forest
4 Mountain
1 Stomping Ground
7 Swamp
The main focus was obviously aggression - get a bunch of creatures out quickly and attack as often as possible. Act of Treason and Traitorous Instinct support that cause, removing a blocker and giving me another attacker, and things like Weapon Surge and Rix Maadi Guildmage (whose first ability is bonkers) make my constant attacks that much more effective. This incredibly aggressive draft was really effective, dropping only one game in four total matches played.
Second Draft
The second draft was even worse for my rare drafting approach. My first rare was the very awkward-in-limited Possibility Storm. Although I think the card has the potential to be really sexy (combined with something like Curse of Exhaustion you can shut your opponent down completely), and it definitely makes for some crazy games, I just couldn't justify taking it off the bat. Instead, I tried to draft into another aggressive deck, grabbing Gruul War Chant and Rot Farm Skeleton.
When Possibility Storm made its way around the table, though, I took it anyway, openly vowing to play it if I ever got the opportunity (a totally crazy game now and then is good).
The next couple packs also fit with my plan pretty well. I had established a Golgari direction, as I'd grabbed a couple copies of Drown in Filth, and I managed to get several nice Scavengers when Return to Ravnica rolled around. I had a couple Battalion and Bloodrush dudes, too, so I was set to play another aggressive deck.
My second draft deck:
Creatures:
1 Bomber Corps
1 Drainpipe Vermin
1 Golgari Decoy
1 Maze Behemoth
1 Maze Rusher
1 Nivmagus Elemental
1 Rot Farm Skeleton
1 Rubblebelt Maaka
1 Scab-Clan Giant
1 Scorchwalker
2 Sluiceway Scorpion
1 Terrus Wurm
2 Zhur-Taa Druid
Instants:
1 Annihilating Fire
1 Furious Resistance
1 Pit Fight
1 Showstopper
Sorceries:
2 Drown in Filth
1 Mugging
Enchantments:
1 Gruul War Chant
1 Possibility Storm
Lands:
5 Forest
6 Mountain
5 Swamp
Gruul War Chant can't be underestimated - even with only a couple small creatures on the board, that enchantment can start dealing decent damage in the early game, and it can make it impossible for your opponent to respond in the late game. Combine that with a little bit of removal and you have a pretty strong deck.
This deck won all the games where Possibility Storm didn't get played (winning two matches in the process). I had promised myself that I'd play Possibility Storm whenever possible (heh), and each time I did I got slaughtered. Those were some crazy fun games, though, and I'm absolutely planning to build a deck around Possibility Storm at some point.
Third Draft
Our third and final (serious) draft was a bit different; instead of playing with at least six people, we only had four for this draft, so it was a little goofy. The Dragon's Maze pack gave me some serious Dimir options, though, which made it exciting despite the small size.
My opening rare was Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker, which set me on the milling path immediately. I was then able to take all the Dimir cards that were floating around (Haunter of Nightveil and Pilfered Plans being the big ones). I continued that strategy into the other two packs, coming away with a solidly mill-oriented control deck.
My mill deck:
Creatures:
1 Balustrade Spy
1 Crosstown Courier
1 Dinrova Horror
1 Haunter of Nightveil
1 Mirko Vosk, Mind Drinker
1 Nivix Guildmage
1 Rakdos Drake
Instants:
1 Essence Backlash
1 Mindstatic
1 Psychic Strike
1 Totally Lost
1 Ultimate Price
Sorceries:
1 Blast of Genius
2 Mind Rot
2 Paranoid Delusions
2 Pilfered Plans
1 Toil // Trouble
1 Voidwalk
Enchantments:
1 Way of the Thief
Artifacts:
2 Prophetic Prism
Lands:
1 Dimir Guildgate
6 Island
1 Izzet Guildgate
2 Mountain
6 Swamp
This deck also performed very well. The combination of efficient milling and supreme card advantage (Mind Rot can be brutal when paired with card draw) allowed me to eke out a win in my first match. I was then able to dominate my second opponent (although to be fair, we were all really tired at this point, so it's hard to say how much of that was due to mutual exhaustion), making me think that limited mill decks in Dragon's Maze are viable.
All-in-all, I'm really excited to see where the Maze takes me. There are a bunch of awesome cards in the set, both to bolster existing decks (I'm definitely going to try to find a place for Mirko Vosk and Pilfered Plans in my mill deck), and there are some fun new cards that could be the basis for some silly decks (Possibility Storm).
I'll be doing lots of deck revisions in the next few weeks, always trying to find a good way to incorporate some nasty Dragon's Maze cards. I can't wait to find out where I end up!
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Monday Magic - A Little Boros Draft
We had another casual Gatecrash draft over the weekend, and I ended up going the Boros route this time. There were 11 people in this draft, so it was huge, which gave it a totally different feel. You basically never saw the same pack twice, which was exciting in itself. I don't know that I'd really want to do such a big draft again anytime soon, but the novelty of it was quite fun.
The rare in my first pack was Legion Loyalist, which has the potential for some nasty aggro. Raging Goblin's steroid-addicted older brother can get in some early damage, but he can also make an attack into a brutal stomping for one mana. His crazy Battalion effect is almost like Bloodrush for the team, given his haste. It was a natural pick for me.
As the packs came around, I was able to grab a bunch of pure red cards - Massive Raid, Skinbrand Goblin, Firefist Striker. None of the people to my right were drafting red, so I felt pretty confident in my starting pick. By the end of pack one, I had several Boros cards on top of the pure red stuff (Martial Glory and Wojek Halberdiers), so I had definitely made up my mind.
Pack two settled the issue completely, as my rare was Angelic Skirmisher. I kept grabbing red cards, trying my best to balance removal with a bunch of cheap creatures. The guy to my left even passed another Legion Loyalist, so I felt like I was in pretty good position.
The third pack was initially a downer, as the rare was Biovisionary, a card that had absolutely no place anywhere near my deck. I was kind of disappointed as that meant that my only real bomb was the Skirmisher, and I didn't have much aside from a bunch of 1- and 2-drops. Then the guy to the right passed me a Hellkite Tyrant. The Hellkite's artifact-related ability isn't much use, but as a 6/5 flier, he was an awesome addition to my deck.
In the end, I think I came away with a surprisingly focused Boros deck. I was fortunate to be surrounded by people passing the red stuff, so there were many times that I was able to choose from 3 or 4 red cards. It was a fantastic position to be in.
Anyway, here's the deck I came away with:
Creatures:
2 Legion Loyalist
2 Skinbrand Goblin
2 Firefist Striker
1 Wojek Halberdiers
1 Ember Beast
1 Assault Griffin
1 Cinder Elemental
1 Scorchwalker
1 Viashino Shanktail
1 Nav Squad Commandos
1 Towering Thunderfist
1 Angelic Skirmisher
1 Hellkite Tyrant
Instants:
2 Martial Glory
1 Pit Fight
2 Massive Raid
Sorceries:
1 Mugging
1 Act of Treason
Enchantments:
1 Madcap Skills
Lands:
1 Boros Guildgate
10 Mountain
5 Plains
A couple of notes: I was only running 16 lands, which was a little risky, but I justified it by seeing that the majority of my spells required only 1 or 2 mana, so I was mostly interested in getting lots of little dudes into play. I think my biggest problem was the removal - Massive Raid is really circumstantial (it only works if you have enough creatures), Pit Fight is similarly limited, and Mugging is just sorcery speed, so I couldn't use it for any tricks.
This deck didn't perform as well as I had hoped. I went 2-2 in best-of-threes, readily defeating other aggressive decks, but losing the long game to stalling decks. In those matches that progressed to the late game, I didn't have anything to build up. If I could get the Hellkite or the Skirmisher into play, they'd just be removed with something like Angelic Edict, and I'd be back where I started.
Still, it was a lot of fun, and it gave me some ideas for a Boros constructed deck. We'll see when I get that put together...
The rare in my first pack was Legion Loyalist, which has the potential for some nasty aggro. Raging Goblin's steroid-addicted older brother can get in some early damage, but he can also make an attack into a brutal stomping for one mana. His crazy Battalion effect is almost like Bloodrush for the team, given his haste. It was a natural pick for me.
As the packs came around, I was able to grab a bunch of pure red cards - Massive Raid, Skinbrand Goblin, Firefist Striker. None of the people to my right were drafting red, so I felt pretty confident in my starting pick. By the end of pack one, I had several Boros cards on top of the pure red stuff (Martial Glory and Wojek Halberdiers), so I had definitely made up my mind.
Pack two settled the issue completely, as my rare was Angelic Skirmisher. I kept grabbing red cards, trying my best to balance removal with a bunch of cheap creatures. The guy to my left even passed another Legion Loyalist, so I felt like I was in pretty good position.
The third pack was initially a downer, as the rare was Biovisionary, a card that had absolutely no place anywhere near my deck. I was kind of disappointed as that meant that my only real bomb was the Skirmisher, and I didn't have much aside from a bunch of 1- and 2-drops. Then the guy to the right passed me a Hellkite Tyrant. The Hellkite's artifact-related ability isn't much use, but as a 6/5 flier, he was an awesome addition to my deck.
In the end, I think I came away with a surprisingly focused Boros deck. I was fortunate to be surrounded by people passing the red stuff, so there were many times that I was able to choose from 3 or 4 red cards. It was a fantastic position to be in.
Anyway, here's the deck I came away with:
Creatures:
2 Legion Loyalist
2 Skinbrand Goblin
2 Firefist Striker
1 Wojek Halberdiers
1 Ember Beast
1 Assault Griffin
1 Cinder Elemental
1 Scorchwalker
1 Viashino Shanktail
1 Nav Squad Commandos
1 Towering Thunderfist
1 Angelic Skirmisher
1 Hellkite Tyrant
Instants:
2 Martial Glory
1 Pit Fight
2 Massive Raid
Sorceries:
1 Mugging
1 Act of Treason
Enchantments:
1 Madcap Skills
Lands:
1 Boros Guildgate
10 Mountain
5 Plains
A couple of notes: I was only running 16 lands, which was a little risky, but I justified it by seeing that the majority of my spells required only 1 or 2 mana, so I was mostly interested in getting lots of little dudes into play. I think my biggest problem was the removal - Massive Raid is really circumstantial (it only works if you have enough creatures), Pit Fight is similarly limited, and Mugging is just sorcery speed, so I couldn't use it for any tricks.
This deck didn't perform as well as I had hoped. I went 2-2 in best-of-threes, readily defeating other aggressive decks, but losing the long game to stalling decks. In those matches that progressed to the late game, I didn't have anything to build up. If I could get the Hellkite or the Skirmisher into play, they'd just be removed with something like Angelic Edict, and I'd be back where I started.
Still, it was a lot of fun, and it gave me some ideas for a Boros constructed deck. We'll see when I get that put together...
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Casual Gatecrash Draft - Orzhov 'Till the Sun Comes Up!
In the spirit of continued casual Magicking, the crew from the recent Gatecrash bender got together last night to draft the set again. There were only 7 people this time around, so there was a good chance that the guild of your choice wouldn't get nabbed by somebody else. Unsurprisingly, nobody really went for Dimir, but whatever.
The rare in my first pack was Immortal Servitude. Not exactly the bomb I was hoping to set the tone of my draft, but it gave me something worth using. I was then passed a copy of Ooze Flux, which I grabbed in the hopes of shifting into a Simic deck (because I'd been so successful with Simic during our last draft). I've been hoping to use Ooze Flux as a sort of perpetual-oozing machine, so I wanted to try to make that work. Throughout the rest of that first pack, though, it became clear that both green and blue were being sucked up, so I pulled as many Extort creatures as I could.
In my second pack, the rare was Fathom Mage. At this point, I was still hoping for Simic, so I got a couple more Evolvers, but it just wasn't sustainable. I reluctantly shifted my focus to black and white... again. This time it stuck, though, as I was able to get a fair number of Extort creatures and a decent amount of removal. Whenever possible, I tried to get low-costing spells so I would have more Extort options, always prioritizing permanents with Extort over everything else.
Pack three brought a Watery Grave, which I would have rare drafted (for better or worse) even if it hadn't shared colors with some of what I'd accumulated to that point. Fortunately, it gave me a nice option to splash blue for some of the Simic cards I'd hastily drafted, so it wasn't a terrible pick anyway.
In the end, I constructed a deck with just about everything I took that were black and/or white. Despite not having anything particularly sexy, my deck did pretty well (confirming in my mind that Extort can be brutal). Here's what it was:
2 Thrull Parasite
1 Death's Approach
1 Basilica Screecher
2 Gutter Skulk
2 Devour Flesh
1 Slate Street Ruffian
1 Deathcult Rogue
1 Dutiful Thrull
2 Shielded Passage
2 Syndic of Tithes
1 Court Street Denizen
1 Righteous Charge
1 Beckon Apparition
1 Vizkopa Guildmage
2 Kingpin's Pet
1 Immortal Servitude
2 Purge the Profane
8 Plains
8 Swamp
Since my basic strategy was to stall until I could Extort my opponent to death, I would always mulligan if my starting hand didn't have both an Extorter and the appropriate mana to play it. I started most of my games with 6 cards in hand, but I was always able to start extorting by turn 3. From that point on, the goal was just to stay alive; block with my non-Extort creatures and burn as much mana on Extort as I could.
With this modest little deck, I was able to win three best-of-threes, with a game record of 6-1 for the night. My performance confirmed that Orzhov has a powerful limited presence, but I'm still not sure how it'll work in constructed matches. I imagine that the slower, stalling play style will get obliterated by aggressive decks or decent removal, but I'm going to build a deck and what happens.
As a side bonus, we played a couple best-of-three Two-Headed Giant matches. My team won both matches (we switched partners for the second), and it's pretty clear that Extort is God Mode for multiplayer- draining life from each opponent hits twice in Two-Headed Giant, and coupling that with the Vizkopa Guildmage's second ability (any time you gain life this turn, each opponent loses that much life), a single Extort suddenly becomes an 8 life swing. That's a pretty big deal.
Although Simic is still my favorite of the Gatecrash guilds, I think Orzhov just became a close second.
The rare in my first pack was Immortal Servitude. Not exactly the bomb I was hoping to set the tone of my draft, but it gave me something worth using. I was then passed a copy of Ooze Flux, which I grabbed in the hopes of shifting into a Simic deck (because I'd been so successful with Simic during our last draft). I've been hoping to use Ooze Flux as a sort of perpetual-oozing machine, so I wanted to try to make that work. Throughout the rest of that first pack, though, it became clear that both green and blue were being sucked up, so I pulled as many Extort creatures as I could.
In my second pack, the rare was Fathom Mage. At this point, I was still hoping for Simic, so I got a couple more Evolvers, but it just wasn't sustainable. I reluctantly shifted my focus to black and white... again. This time it stuck, though, as I was able to get a fair number of Extort creatures and a decent amount of removal. Whenever possible, I tried to get low-costing spells so I would have more Extort options, always prioritizing permanents with Extort over everything else.
Pack three brought a Watery Grave, which I would have rare drafted (for better or worse) even if it hadn't shared colors with some of what I'd accumulated to that point. Fortunately, it gave me a nice option to splash blue for some of the Simic cards I'd hastily drafted, so it wasn't a terrible pick anyway.
In the end, I constructed a deck with just about everything I took that were black and/or white. Despite not having anything particularly sexy, my deck did pretty well (confirming in my mind that Extort can be brutal). Here's what it was:
2 Thrull Parasite
1 Death's Approach
1 Basilica Screecher
2 Gutter Skulk
2 Devour Flesh
1 Slate Street Ruffian
1 Deathcult Rogue
1 Dutiful Thrull
2 Shielded Passage
2 Syndic of Tithes
1 Court Street Denizen
1 Righteous Charge
1 Beckon Apparition
1 Vizkopa Guildmage
2 Kingpin's Pet
1 Immortal Servitude
2 Purge the Profane
8 Plains
8 Swamp
Since my basic strategy was to stall until I could Extort my opponent to death, I would always mulligan if my starting hand didn't have both an Extorter and the appropriate mana to play it. I started most of my games with 6 cards in hand, but I was always able to start extorting by turn 3. From that point on, the goal was just to stay alive; block with my non-Extort creatures and burn as much mana on Extort as I could.
With this modest little deck, I was able to win three best-of-threes, with a game record of 6-1 for the night. My performance confirmed that Orzhov has a powerful limited presence, but I'm still not sure how it'll work in constructed matches. I imagine that the slower, stalling play style will get obliterated by aggressive decks or decent removal, but I'm going to build a deck and what happens.
As a side bonus, we played a couple best-of-three Two-Headed Giant matches. My team won both matches (we switched partners for the second), and it's pretty clear that Extort is God Mode for multiplayer- draining life from each opponent hits twice in Two-Headed Giant, and coupling that with the Vizkopa Guildmage's second ability (any time you gain life this turn, each opponent loses that much life), a single Extort suddenly becomes an 8 life swing. That's a pretty big deal.
Although Simic is still my favorite of the Gatecrash guilds, I think Orzhov just became a close second.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Glorious Gatecrash Bender
On the weekend of a new Magic: The Gathering set release, my
friends generally have a big release party.
Between us, we spend several hundred dollars buying boxes of booster
packs, and then play all night with various draft, sealed, and mini-masters
matches. Although we’re not terribly
competitive, these casual Magic benders give a great opportunity to experience
a set and think about awesome possibilities in constructed play.
Going into the new set (Gatecrash), I was pretty intrigued
by a couple new mechanics, evolve and cipher, although I was also quite
disappointed by the effects that were attached to cipher cards. It seems like the dual effects of milling and
encouraging dealing damage to a player were fundamentally at odds, and my
experiences in the drafts didn’t prompt me to change my opinion.
Bloodrush sounds like a neat idea, but it feels a bit like a
desperation move; I would usually prefer having a creature than a one-time,
attacker-only Giant Growth, so it only seems relevant if you’re able to win on
the turn you use it or if it buys you an extra turn or two from an opponent’s
onslaught. Extort has a lot of power and
is a great way to burn extra mana when you don’t have extra spells to sling,
but it’s not really my thing. Battalion is
nice, but the fact that it only triggers when you have three creatures
attacking is tricky; you must have good board positioning to get it off, and
your opponent will likely know that you’re building up to it, giving them
plenty of time to apply some removal.
Anyway, my goal going into the first draft was to try to
pull of a Simic (blue-green, that’s where the evolve mechanic lives) deck. My first rare was Unexpected Results, which
is in the right colors and has some interesting implications (getting to play a
big creature for free and trigger evolve seemed really sexy to me), so I was
off to a good start. Here's the deck that I ended up constructing:
7 Forest
6 Island
1 Mountain
The basic strategy was to start the game with either Cloudfin Raptor or Experiment One on turn one, start pummelling my opponent as soon as possible, and evolve my creatures in the most intelligent way I can. Hands of Binding and Last Thoughts get ciphered onto a creature with evasion (Elusive Krasis ideally, but Cloudfin Raptor was another good choice). Pit Fight and Simic Charm are used as removal if absolutely necessary. Rubblehulk is there as a great beneficiary of Unexpected Results, and Verdant Haven and Prophetic Prism are for mana-fixing to play or bloodrush him if desired.
All-in-all, this deck did pretty well. I won all four of the best-of-threes that I played, dropping only two games in the process. I found that evolve can be pretty nasty, as I expected. Being able to extend the effectiveness of a one-drop creature well into the midgame is brutal; trading an Experiment One for a Guardian of the Gateless was one of my biggest triumphs. In nearly every game I played, I was able to deal a few points of damage before my opponent got a creature on the board, and then I could effectively stall them with my continually growing creatures until I could outmaneuver them with the cipher spells or smash them with the big creatures. Unexpected Results unexpectedly served as an awesome deck-thinner and mana ramper, making sure that I could use my Nimbus Swimmer to trigger evolve and have a beefy dude with evasion. The game where I stole a couple of lands with Nightveil Specter wasn't too bad, either.
This first draft confirmed that Simic and evolve are beastly. I'm excited to put together a constructed Simic deck, hoping to use the Ooze Fluxes I grabbed to great effect (have that with a few small evolve guys, and it basically becomes "1G: get a 4/4 creature").
The second draft didn't go quite as well for me. There were murmurs from my friends about trying to build Simic decks after seeing how well mine was performing, so I though I'd have to change strategies to survive the drafting process. In this one, my opening rare was Clan Defiance, which is a pretty rockin' removal/burn spell, so I thought I'd go the Gruul (red-green, home of bloodrush) route. Here's my deck:
8 Forest
7 Mountain
There were a few big problems with this draft: first, I was a little bit schizophrenic. While trying to stay in color, I ended up pulling a bunch of evolve creatures and not much removal. That hurt, particularly against an extort-heavy deck.
Second, my win conditions weren't nearly as robust as in my earlier deck. I could hope for evolve to keep me going, but I didn't have any low-costing evolvers to start growing early (a single Experiment One may have changed this deck quite a bit). Aside from that, I was basically ramping into the Ruination Wurm or Clan Defiance, but I never got either of them off.
Third, the most superficial of the problems was a general lack of rares. I only had two in this deck, as opposed to the five I had in the Simic one, so I didn't have as many bombs to drop. I also sacrificed a first pick during the draft; on the second pack, I rare-drafted a Duskmantle Seer, which did absolutely nothing for me when the games started.
The few games where I did find myself in a decent position, I made some bad (or unlucky) decisions: pressuring my opponent when he had tricks to crush me, holding back when he didn't.
Amid the drafts, we did a few games of mini-masters, which meant that I came away with a few other great cards (Angelic Skirmisher is a monster in limited, Blind Obedience is a good way to get yourself slaughtered in a team game, and I think Ooze Flux has a lot of constructed potential).
I really like Gatecrash. Evolve is definitely my favorite new mechanic of the last few years, and I'm excited to see how the Simic cards in the next set play off it. In the end, Gatecrash is a lot more interesting and fun than Return to Ravnica is, at least in limited. I'm excited to see how they all tie together when we start drafting the whole block, but that's a bit down the road.
Amid the drafts, we did a few games of mini-masters, which meant that I came away with a few other great cards (Angelic Skirmisher is a monster in limited, Blind Obedience is a good way to get yourself slaughtered in a team game, and I think Ooze Flux has a lot of constructed potential).
I really like Gatecrash. Evolve is definitely my favorite new mechanic of the last few years, and I'm excited to see how the Simic cards in the next set play off it. In the end, Gatecrash is a lot more interesting and fun than Return to Ravnica is, at least in limited. I'm excited to see how they all tie together when we start drafting the whole block, but that's a bit down the road.
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