Magic: The Gathering C/D

i used to think limited resources was good but then i watched loucks stream and realized hes actually p terrible

Mark Rosewater's tumblr is a good read; even if you disagree with some of his philosophies, he's pretty clearly an expert in game design

haha yeah mark rosewater seems to have been constructing near religious beliefs about the game over the last decade

i think Sam Black and Ari Lax are the most insightful current pro players but sadly their articles are behind the paywall on starcity

Rosewater's also very prompt about answering questions. I sent one in and he answered later the same day.

i like the gamestate guys - although they deal almost exclusively with constructed formats i think theyre generally really good at dissecting why certain things work and metagame stuff

agree that sam black is a good writer/thinker - his draft streams are p good too although he hasnt really been streaming much since rtr started

sam black's article on m13 limited changed the way i approach drafting in general and i've done much better ever since, lemme see if i can find it

i used to think limited resources was good but then i watched loucks stream and realized hes actually p terrible

yeah I def disagree w/ the things they say all the time but I still like it as entertainment

ok here's the article, shouldnt be behind paywall anymore
http://www.starcitygames.com/magic/generallimited/24692-Draft-The-Cards-You-Want-To-Play.html

weirdly, all the commas have vanished from old SCG articles when they migrated to the new site layout

that's a great article!

it feels like an inspirational speech, he should be giving it to a huge crowd of players who then break out in a standing ovation

lol!

that period where loucks, owen, sam and a few others were regularly drafting and streaming M13 and watching each others streams probably did more to help my limited game than anything else

Yeah that one is incredible, I'd say it's a must read. I hate the articles that people like Conley Woods put out whenever a set is spoiled where he goes through each common and writes stuff like "2.5, I guess this is okay, kind of expensive but it blocks well", and then "welp, there's your pick order". It's been a while since draft has been so simple! I have a similar "weakness" with 5cc counterspells like Fall of the Gavel or Lost in the Mist. I realize they are bad but I love them as 23rd cards and I have won plenty of games with them. In RTR if I'm going well with Selesnya I'll start picking up stuff like Sundering Growth over Towering Indrik because the Growth is incredible against the guy with Stab Wounds and Deviant Glees.

pretty interesting stuff spoiled today, including a 4cc 4/4 flying Dark Confidant for both players, really like that and think it'll be a 4-of in something

also a Ball Lightning with Lifelink

duskmantle seer is incredible

kinda ridiculous

i wanna play that in a Skies-type deck so badly

i never preorder cards but if this one is like $10 or less to start, i will be very tempted

4 delver 4 snapcaster 4 duskmantle seer 4 ??? creature
22 lands 22 spells

i want to try this but that one threat slot really needs a good candidate, preferably at 1U or UB. not sure invis stalker is aggressive enough, since you really want to have them low on life by the time you drop the seer or they can rip their way out of it

You guys think Seer is that good? Bloodgift Demon is really similar, except only you get the card advantage, and it sees almost no play. I guess if there's an aggro deck where the idea is to refill your hand while punishing your opponent for their expensive cards, it might find a home, but I can't remember a UB aggro deck... ever.

I'd expect a good 2-drop with evasion in this set. Maybe even a reprint of the hybrid 2/1 unblockable from Ravnica. Dunno if that's good enough but it does have synergy with Cipher at least.

I realize that it's similar to Bloodgift but I will say this - one, the extra mana matters a LOT, and two, I think Bloodgift is definitely very playable but there hasn't been a deck to fit it in. I do see how this one may run into the same problem but it also seems like it may work in Modern. I dunno, cards like this tend to find good homes somewhere.

i don't think seer is 'that good' i just like it a lot. i do think it's more likely to see play than bloodgift demon though, 5 is a lot more mana than 4 and the extra reach when they flip a 4 or 5 drop will win some games

is 5 really 'a lot more' in this meta?

i guess its less of a jump when there aren't good counterspells, but the type of deck that wants this effect is going to have to be very compact

final UG mythic is spoiled but its not very exciting

2UG for a 2/4 that makes all your creatures ETB with extra +1/+1 counters equal to its power (usually 2)

the only card that i really want to open is a thespian's stage. i guess the r/w mythic although i don't know how useful itll be

i hope r/w aggro is good but i have a feeling it won't be

that ball lightning w/ lifelink is pretty good...

its obv way too good at 3 but i really, really wanted it to cost 3

it's way too good at 4!

naw its fine

you don't think that's too swingy for limited games?

is 5 really 'a lot more' in this meta?

its essentially one activation

you don't think that's too swingy for limited games?

there the difference between 3 and 4 isn't much...ball lightning effects usually aren't great in limited. it's tough to get a great balls-out start in limited because the really good aggro stuff is usually at uncommon or rare.

I just feel like that 12 point life swing pretty much defines the game if it's in your opening hand

it depends on the format though

definitely playable in Limited and probably a high pick but I actually think those types of cards tend to play better in Constructed

if that's not a first pick for most packs I don't want to see the rest of the set

playing that w/ boros charm...

12 point life swing is a lot but you need to capitalize on it, if you being down a card means you end up surrendering the board then it doesn't matter how far ahead you are on life totals. you can certainly first pick it but i can imagine being in R/W and opening it pack 3 and not wanting it if your deck isn't streamlined aggro already

well i'm sure it'll fit well into the Boros strategy. playing Batallion dudes turn 2 and 3 and then this on turn 4 would be incredible. but I mean sacrificing cards for life swings is not something every deck wants to do. look at how often Essence Harvest tabled in AVR.

yeah it seems like the sort of thing in limited you're really going to want to use as a finisher rather than a turn four play most of the time? maybe not most because the temp swing could be pivotal in setting up for the late game but its not a game winning rare the way the best ones are

I think it becomes one in context, w/ a surprise battalion trigger

also, the later you play it the easier it will be for your opponent to throw out blockers. a card like Loxodon Warhammer, on the other hand...

i dunno, this thing seems like it will steal wins sometimes but generally play fair, as opposed to something like Firemane Avenger which is actually just unbeatable when you start attacking with it

ok this is the last time i talk about firemane avenger i promise

haaa

i will say that i will buy any and all of the firemane top 8 promos any of you pick up

gonna play boros promos at the gp

i think my favorite cards in the set so far are ghor-clan rampager and skarrg guildmage. pretty sure the rampager will be standard-playable, not so sure about the guildmage but i'll certainly test it

welp the B/W guildmage just got spoiled and its 2nd ability appears to form an instakill with Exquisite Blood from AVR provided you can either deal 1 point of damage or gain 1 life while they're both active