― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Wednesday, 22 January 2003 07:34 (10 years ago) Permalink
if you're going to play magic, you MUST play by tournament rules. you needn't bother playing if there are no limits placed on the composition of the deck. wizards of the coast probably still publishes its "restricted/banned" card list as well. check it out.
when i was about 15 to 16 i played in magic tournaments EVERY sunday, and played recreationally with friends most evenings. yes, you could say that it was a very signifigant part of that time in my very sad teenaged life. at one point in the remote northern alberta town of 35,000 i grew up in there were three comic shops that all pushed magic quite heavily and at least a couple more places where the cards were available. some people took it VERY seriously.
i won't argue that magic is a tremendous cash sucker, and ultimately it taught me nothing about anything (there is little about the game that transfers to other pursuits) but there is a tremendous beauty to the inner workings of the game. it's not just about how much money you spend on it. in tournament settings, i was able to consistently trounce educated adult men with high-paying jobs (engineers, systems analysts) simply by spending a lot of time evaluating how the cards in my deck worked together. quite often the answer is not an "expensive" card but four cheap, nasty ones.
― fields of salmon (fieldsofsalmon), Wednesday, 22 January 2003 18:20 (10 years ago) Permalink
― fields of salmon (fieldsofsalmon), Wednesday, 22 January 2003 18:21 (10 years ago) Permalink
if you're going to play magic, you MUST play by tournament rules.
Why? I mean, in a tournament of course you do, but what about those of us who are, err, "casual players" as it were and just want a nice game to waste some time with as opposed to a weapon to "consistently trounce educated adult men with high-paying jobs"?
― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Wednesday, 22 January 2003 23:52 (10 years ago) Permalink
― fletrejet, Thursday, 23 January 2003 00:28 (10 years ago) Permalink
dude i was like fifteen ...
― fields of salmon (fieldsofsalmon), Thursday, 23 January 2003 05:29 (10 years ago) Permalink
― A Nairn (moretap), Thursday, 23 January 2003 05:51 (10 years ago) Permalink
Haha, maybe that was a bit too nasty on my part, but still- why not play any way you bloody please (or was that "You MUST..." comment just the way you saw it when you were 15?)
― Daniel_Rf (Daniel_Rf), Thursday, 23 January 2003 11:32 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Thursday, 23 January 2003 18:24 (10 years ago) Permalink
I'm going to be branded a geek now.. aren't I?
― Christopher (Christopher), Monday, 3 February 2003 22:41 (10 years ago) Permalink
― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Monday, 3 February 2003 22:44 (10 years ago) Permalink
― webber (webber), Tuesday, 4 February 2003 00:07 (10 years ago) Permalink
Let's count the ways we could parse that sentence, hmm?
― Chris P (Chris P), Tuesday, 4 February 2003 01:41 (10 years ago) Permalink
A lot of Magic players are homophobic (in my experience) and in order to throw them off of their game, I would wear a shirt that symbolized gay pride.
What's really scary is that I'm thinking about playing in a sealed deck PTQ in a couple of weeks just to see if I can still compete after not playing for years.
― Christopher (Christopher), Tuesday, 4 February 2003 16:24 (10 years ago) Permalink
* (the one where you start with no cards in your card, draw one of your choice per turn, and no card can be played twice? It's kinda fun...)
― Gregory Henry (Gregory Henry), Sunday, 18 April 2004 14:34 (9 years ago) Permalink
― stephen morris (stephen morris), Sunday, 18 April 2004 16:35 (9 years ago) Permalink
― latebloomer (latebloomer), Sunday, 18 April 2004 17:24 (9 years ago) Permalink
The "90-95% super homophobe" players mentioned above = DUD. If I was rich (xpost it's expensive xpost) I'd probably play Magic Online, and not have to see the fat guys with "horribly nasal and stereotypically nerdy voices" that unfortunately define the game.
― Richard K (Richard K), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 03:55 (8 years ago) Permalink
― teeny (teeny), Tuesday, 3 August 2004 04:06 (8 years ago) Permalink
i've been having a lot of "fun" playing with the old cards I rescued from my mom's house. i refuse to spend another cent on the game, however.
― ian, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 20:09 (5 years ago) Permalink
a couple years ago i went to a card & comix shop and built a decent blue-white deck for like $4.00, but all the newer card editions just had all these new retarded esoteric abilities that i had no idea about
― elmo argonaut, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 20:16 (5 years ago) Permalink
also, the art was all these, like, cyber dragons and BULLSHIT
― elmo argonaut, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 20:21 (5 years ago) Permalink
We should start an ILG thread where we play against each other using SCANNERS.
― nickalicious, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 20:25 (5 years ago) Permalink
i only played magic for the first time a few weeks ago, how weird is that? i was intimidated by the kids who played it in high school, but it's not half as complicated as i thought.
― bell_labs, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 20:50 (5 years ago) Permalink
you should have been more intimidated by their allowances
― El Tomboto, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 20:56 (5 years ago) Permalink
and/or dedication to blowing every dollar earned at the drive-thru window sunday 5am-1:30pm on crazy junk instead of like cigarettes and cds
― El Tomboto, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 20:57 (5 years ago) Permalink
that is correct i am calling you bustas out
what are you talking about, i pinched a franklin from my dad's wallet to buy a mox jet
― elmo argonaut, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 21:01 (5 years ago) Permalink
haha, i think i was most intimidated by their cliquish aspie superiority complexes.
i think it's really fun now though.
― bell_labs, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 21:03 (5 years ago) Permalink
ok http://www.wunderland.com/WTS/Andy/ProjectEBAY/MagicCards.html these prices are so retarded omg
― El Tomboto, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 21:06 (5 years ago) Permalink
people should all be blown up
in my middle school the biggest fight i got into was between pog players and m:tg players
― max, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 21:09 (5 years ago) Permalink
i was obviously a magic player
green & white deck, in case anyone is wondering
― max, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 21:10 (5 years ago) Permalink
omg pog
― deeznuts, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 21:12 (5 years ago) Permalink
if i remember those years correctly i was more worried about the shame my seminoles starter jacket would bring me after danny wuerrfle's gators pounced on them in the orange bowl than anything having to do with those fucking things
― deeznuts, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 21:14 (5 years ago) Permalink
I used to play magic back in the mid-nineties, I still have a hundreds and hundreds of those cards in some box around here. I never paid much for them though, because I stole most of them from bookstores. I wonder if that stuff is worth something these days, the oldest cards I have are from Revised Edition or whatever it was called.
― Tuomas, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 21:24 (5 years ago) Permalink
god, my nerd days were spent playing Avalon Hill wargames. and banging chicks of course
― brownie, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 21:26 (5 years ago) Permalink
my best nerd days are ahead of me still.
― bell_labs, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 21:27 (5 years ago) Permalink
mine did not look quite as good as this one but I got pretty good
― El Tomboto, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 21:38 (5 years ago) Permalink
i had a revised shivan dragon worth $50
― max, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 21:38 (5 years ago) Permalink
and my color selections were more noise
haha shivan dragon. back in 1995 my friend's proudest accomplishment was owning 4 shivan dragons. I wonder if those cards are worth anything today.
― burt_stanton, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 22:04 (5 years ago) Permalink
blue + black deck, my sengir vampires and royal assassins were so so gangster.
― deej, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 22:10 (5 years ago) Permalink
i had two revised royal assassins
maybe more, hell if i remember
― deej, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 22:11 (5 years ago) Permalink
at my 10th bday party i beat the rich kid in magic even tho i had no allowance, i had birthday money and was a HUSTLER with trades
― deej, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 22:12 (5 years ago) Permalink
i think sometimes i threw in some green too, but only if u could throw all mana down first turn and i would use it solely for my force of nature
― deej, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 22:18 (5 years ago) Permalink
8/8
i have a shivan dragon signed by the lady what painted it ;_;
― Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved, Tuesday, 23 October 2007 22:25 (5 years ago) Permalink
drafted the deck i've like the best tonight at a local shop, had the supreme skill and foresight to open and not pass aetherling, but even outside that there's a bunch of really cool interactions:
faerie imposterbasilica screecherbasilica screechergrim roustaboutcorpse blockadeundercity informernotion thief ogre jailbreakerogre jailbreakerubul sar gatekeeperssaruli gatekeepersrunewingvoidwielder aetherlingdinrova horrormaze abomination
arrestdevour fleshcall of the nightwinglaunch party midnight recoverypsychic strike urban evolution
azorius guildgatedimir guildgatedimir guidgatesimic guildgate simic guildgatewatery grave
its not even that good a deck really i just got to do a bunch of fun stuff including casting notion thief in response to both izzet charm and blast of genius in different matches. i also got to mill someone by using undercity informer to sacrifice my board when we were both stalled out and i couldn't dry into aetherling. call of the nightwing also a fun interaction with maze abomination.
― Lamp, Friday, 24 May 2013 03:16 (Yesterday) Permalink
also worth noting that lamp lost to the nivix cyclops deck
― iatee, Friday, 24 May 2013 03:22 (Yesterday) Permalink
I am the johnny appleseed of that card
DGR 3-0 deck #3:
deputy is in the board because i was afraid i didn't have enough blue sources to play it but i ended up boarding it in for bane alley blackguard every time
― ciderpress, Friday, 24 May 2013 04:23 (Yesterday) Permalink
oops meant to link that not embed it
― ciderpress, Friday, 24 May 2013 04:24 (Yesterday) Permalink
thats a well and good but i dont see an aetherling
― Lamp, Friday, 24 May 2013 04:45 (Yesterday) Permalink
try harder next draft and you can be as good as me
have not opened one yet
i had pontiff of blight earlier though and that card is absurd too
― ciderpress, Friday, 24 May 2013 04:52 (Yesterday) Permalink
Pretty solid DGR draft strategy from Ben Stark.
― Moodles, Friday, 24 May 2013 14:48 (Yesterday) Permalink
I find that more confusing than helpful
everyone who seems to have a strategy for drafting dgm seems to be doing pretty well despite these strategies often contradicting each other so I think there is a multiple equilibria thing going on here. if you have a good knowledge of the format and have a plan for your draft there are a lot of successful approachs.
― iatee, Friday, 24 May 2013 15:01 (Yesterday) Permalink
i have yet to meet anyone with a better plan than mine: 'open aetherling'
you can thank with a cut off all the sweet gatecrash packs this simple advice is gonna win you
― Lamp, Friday, 24 May 2013 15:03 (Yesterday) Permalink
somebody out there has drafted the aetherling-pack rat draft already, I wonder if people beat him up outside the store afterwards
― iatee, Friday, 24 May 2013 15:05 (Yesterday) Permalink
ps what happened at the end of that lol dyzl draft last night
― iatee, Friday, 24 May 2013 15:07 (Yesterday) Permalink
i beat a pack rat deck last night with the one i posted up there
i think i have a winning record overall vs pack rat in limited, i've been very lucky
― ciderpress, Friday, 24 May 2013 15:08 (Yesterday) Permalink
also a losing record with pack rat in my deck
wait no that part isn't true nevermind
― ciderpress, Friday, 24 May 2013 15:09 (Yesterday) Permalink
yeah i beat a really bad pat rack deck this week in an 8-4 with a mediocre gruul beat down deck
i don't think i've lost yet with an aetherling in play though #skillgame
― Lamp, Friday, 24 May 2013 15:10 (Yesterday) Permalink
do you guys still disagree w/ me that aetherling is better than pack rat
― iatee, Friday, 24 May 2013 15:11 (Yesterday) Permalink
i would be willing to believe aetherling is a better card in limited, the rat does get significantly worse the later you draw it in the game
― ciderpress, Friday, 24 May 2013 15:13 (Yesterday) Permalink
well i have lost a few games with aetherling in my hand so it kinda balances out
i think the biggest advantage aetherling his in full block draft is that you get to open it pack one rather than pack three. like my opponent had a bad pack rat deck because he was probably some combination of bant colors before pack three and had a really hard time casting it on turn two, or developing a real board presence to try for the turn five play. also pack rat doesnt block that well at first
― Lamp, Friday, 24 May 2013 15:16 (Yesterday) Permalink
so lets say dgm packs were fucked up and instead of a shock there was an aetherling and a pack rat. how long does it take you to make a decision.
― iatee, Friday, 24 May 2013 15:17 (Yesterday) Permalink
yeah i have already passed pack rat at least once and i would do it again - i think it is actually a poor splash because it's often mediocre late and if you draw it late you want multiple black sources to double up and catch it up with the rest of the board
― ciderpress, Friday, 24 May 2013 15:21 (Yesterday) Permalink
i would take aetherling since it's worth a few bucks and i have the whole draft to pick up anti-pack-rat cards
― ciderpress, Friday, 24 May 2013 15:24 (Yesterday) Permalink
whereas there are no anti-aetherling cards except pithing needle, a rare
i guess debtor's pulpit is too, and new prahv guildmage, but none of these take it off the table still
― ciderpress, Friday, 24 May 2013 15:28 (Yesterday) Permalink
as someone who has consistently managed to draft aetherling the only thing it really loses to is 'dying before i have seven mana'
― Lamp, Friday, 24 May 2013 15:32 (Yesterday) Permalink
i think in a situation where card prices have no bearing, i would take the pack rat over it but i think they're about equally good
― ciderpress, Friday, 24 May 2013 15:33 (Yesterday) Permalink
I think 6 lands + Aetherling will usually lose the game. 6 lands + Pack Rat will usually win the game. Going with the Rat but it's close.
― Vinnie, Friday, 24 May 2013 16:22 (Yesterday) Permalink
Well Pack Rat is one of the three most broken Limited cards of all time while Aetherling requires seven mana to get going; for that you get Gruul Ragebeast which is almost always a win too
― frogbs, Friday, 24 May 2013 17:52 (Yesterday) Permalink
gruul ragebeast is not almost always a win. i have cast it followed by giant adephage and still lost to a removal-heavy deck
― ciderpress, Friday, 24 May 2013 17:54 (Yesterday) Permalink
also you're allowed to play aetherling on turn 6 which is a pretty big difference from 7 in terms of the probability of getting there in any given game
― ciderpress, Friday, 24 May 2013 17:56 (Yesterday) Permalink
err on 6 mana i mean, not turn 6
― ciderpress, Friday, 24 May 2013 17:57 (Yesterday) Permalink
It has been an auto-win for me! and yeah I guess you can chance it with Aetherling (not a whole lot of cards take out a 4/5 anyway) but I still feel like once you get into the 6-7 mana range there are a lot of real bomby rare/mythic creatures that are tough to lose with. Aetherling may be near the top of the list but it doesn't inspire the type of helplessness that Pack Rat does. You can still power through it or win with flyers. It's a card that wins on turn 9-10 most of the time.
― frogbs, Friday, 24 May 2013 18:08 (Yesterday) Permalink
also is that article above suggesting you need to stick with 2 colors in DGR drafts? I did that once (with Azorious) and actually swept the draft even though my deck was pretty awful (my first round opponent played 4 colors and could have easily won the match with that dude that lets you sac something to give all your creatures +1/+1 but I think he just didn't see it). I think 3-color decks can be excellent but you need fixing badly.
― frogbs, Friday, 24 May 2013 18:10 (Yesterday) Permalink
aetherling inspires just as much helplessness. it cannot be killed, cannot be blocked, attacks for 8.
― iatee, Friday, 24 May 2013 18:11 (Yesterday) Permalink
my best decks have all been 3 colors
just like any deep limited format, there's no 'right' way to construct decks, just make sure you have a plan and then execute on that plan
― ciderpress, Friday, 24 May 2013 18:14 (Yesterday) Permalink
xp yes but you get at least 5 turns before it lands and more often something like 6-8. whereas the Pack Rat is already a huge problem on turn five.
― frogbs, Friday, 24 May 2013 18:15 (Yesterday) Permalink
my stronger decks have been closer to two colors, although they usually splash a third for one or two bombs
I'm onboard for a strategy that sticks reasonably close to two colors. You may end up with a slightly dull deck, but casting spells on curve is a huge asset in this format when so many decks aren't able to do that.
― Moodles, Friday, 24 May 2013 18:39 (Yesterday) Permalink
someone i know whose opinion i trust says he's done well in this format just by playing a bunch of cluestones and 5-drops and just slamming 5-drops from turn 4 on until his opponent runs out of disruption. which is about the opposite of how i've been approaching things, so who knows, i think pretty much everything is viable if your deck is focused
― ciderpress, Friday, 24 May 2013 18:51 (Yesterday) Permalink
yeah my initial strategy was to try to stay two colors although unlike BenS i wanted to force an rtr guild although i can see the sense in setting yourself up for a good pack two by forcing gtc guilds early. in my last three or four drafts i've been experimenting with taking guildgates really high and looking to go 4-5 colors.
i definitely don't think i've got a great handle on this format though - i've only managed to 3-0 a small % of my mtgo drafts (i've also done way fewer than i had with rtr and gtc at the same point) and while my win % in paper has been really good i've also opened bombs p1p1 almost every paper draft i've done. i'm really interested to start working though some of the different approaches tho, i had thought about the cluestone + 5-drop plan simply because the cluestones are so open rn
― Lamp, Friday, 24 May 2013 19:30 (Yesterday) Permalink
the good thing about taking an RTR guild is that your deck is more defined by that point so if you go into the last pack looking to fill 8-9 slots you have a much clearer idea of what you need. it is risky though in that if the pack just doesn't work out then your deck could wind up weak. whereas if you go for a GTC guild and it doesn't work you can always try to luck into a decent 3-color splash.
― frogbs, Friday, 24 May 2013 19:34 (Yesterday) Permalink
have now managed to have two planeswalkers in play in a limited game
surely I get a badge of some sort
― iatee, Saturday, 25 May 2013 20:07 (1 hour ago) Permalink
still went 1-2 w/ the deck :(
― iatee, Saturday, 25 May 2013 20:40 (38 minutes ago) Permalink