Magic: The Gathering C/D

looking at old stuff balance-zuran orb was def 'a thing'

http://oracle.wizards.com/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind9611b&L=mtg-l&D=1&P=19542

I loved reading that post even from a non-Magic angle. It reminded me that the 1990s was not so long ago and people were actually clever and articulate, not just pre-Internet savages who ate their own hair.

I guess an interesting question is how dominant could it have grown in a counterfactual world where it was unrestricted during the necro era

man that listserv is interesting

http://oracle.wizards.com/scripts/wa.exe?A2=ind9601B&L=MTG-L&P=R6178&D=1&I=-3

did u guys take the time to figure out why that deck would be unstoppable? i'm curious but not enough to look up all those cards

ok, looked up a few. looks like your library is all very low cost artifacts so u can shed your hand quickly, tutor balance, then you rack them + paupers' cage them to death (both do damage to players w/ small hands)

looks like you just blow your hand early, tutor for Balance (Mystical Tutor as a 4-of...whoa), use it to destroy their creatures and their hand, use Zur's Weirding to deny their draws, kill 'em with the Rack and Mishra's Factories?

at the time I don't think creature-based strategies were really quick enough to deal with something like this

yeah creature decks were pretty much unplayable in the early days, they took like 5 or 6 turns to kill undisrupted, when that number really has to be 4 to compete with combo. the decks during urza's saga era couldn't even play the most efficient creatures like savannah lions because they had to play entirely artifact/enchantment destroying creatures like elvish lyrist and goblin tinkerer in order to have enough outs to the turn 2/3 combo kills.

I think that's a little too broad a statement. control/combo decks were generally slower too and if you look at top decks during the early period there are plenty of creature-based decks. (to me urza's saga is no longer the early days).

http://www.wizards.com/sideboard/article.asp?x=sb20001005a

like that 1996 deck seems pretty unintimidating but it was tournament playable because the rest of the game was slower too

http://www.wizards.com/magic/magazine/article.aspx?x=mtg/daily/feature/210

new preview cards in this article all look great, i am even more excited for this set now

Yeah I really get the sense that RTR is going to be their best big set yet. That UR goblin seems super powerful, can't believe it's only common.

going to a draft in 40 mins :)

quick someone tell me the money cards

there is one with a marginally more efficient creature and then there are two that lock into a peculiar arbitrary pattern allowing you to win the game in three turns via rules lawyering

which set?

m13

draft tips asap!!! I have 30 mins

and am unfamiliar w/ the set outside of historic-cards and stuff on the ipad app

it looks like a lot of this is on the ipad app actually

ummm lets see, there's B/W exalted, W/x soldier deck with stuff like Crusader of Odric, a quick red Goblin deck, lots of good green fatties, blue has flyers, obviously

Core set draft is pretty easy in general. Find an uncommon or rare to build around, go to town

get some good creatures, pay attention to mana curve (heavily weighed towards 1 + 2 mana creatures) have fun!

what cards are worth $

it was fun! so many nerds. so many nerds.

i'd participate much more in nerd culture if not for the nerds

did you manage to grab a sublime archangel?

no, it woulda been nice tho, cause I had a black/white deck w/ a lot of exalted. still only did so-so cause I had a lot of bad draws. will def go back, the store is really close to my work + train home and everyone was really friendly.

yeah i started playinng at the local store last year and was surprised to find that most of the MTG regulars there are my age instead of highschool/college age like i had assumed, and there aren't any of the stereotypical tantrum-throwing antisocial nerds. its pretty chill

very brief tips for m13:
-the power uncommons that you're looking to first-pick, in no particular order: Serra Angel, Oblivion Ring, Talrand's Invocation, Vampire Nighthawk, Flames of the Firebrand
-the best commons, same deal as above: Searing Spear, Murder, Pacifism, Sentinel Spider (the green serra angel!)
-exalted plays very strong in limited and pretty much every creature with it is a good pick
-there are a ton of 3/3 creatures in the format, and therefore 2/2s get outclassed/brickwalled a lot. i avoid taking 2/2s or smaller unless they have a good ability.
-Chronomaton looks innocent but is actually one of the strongest cards in draft because it has no color commitment and because the games tend to go long enough to grow him real big. i'd pick it below the cards listed above and good rares, but above eveything else

I actually had serra angel, oblivion ring, 2 pacifisms and a murder

I had to pass a vampire nighthawk, I think for uh I forgot what it's called, but the 3/6 black rare that turns creatures into walls

xathrid gorgon!

your deck sounds insane then, that thing is arguably the best card in the entire set in limited

yeah I feel like my deck was 'good' in principle, had like 7 exalted creatures too, I just had really bad luck and maybe needed to play more than 13 creatures

here is the decklist

duress
dark favor
duty-bound dead
essence drain
liliana's shade
murder
public execution
2 servant of nefarox
tormented soul
xathrid
ring of thune
ring of xathrid
2 aven squire
griffin protecter
2 pacifism
obliv ring

then this stuff came in and out depnding on the opponent:
2 ajani's sunstriker
1 captain's call
another griffin protecter
battleflight eagle
ravenous rats

oh and serra angel

Liliana's shade was giving me fits on mtgo last night. Thinking of dropping a couple in my irl deck to try out in f next week.

In fnm next week, that is

that looks good, you definitely seem to know what you're doing - i wouldn't play dark favor maindeck, since exalted decks tend to be medium speed and that card works best in a really fast deck. would play the 2nd griffin protector instead probably, having flying guys is good when you're often turning your opponents stuff into walls rather than killing it

also duress tends to be a better sideboard card than maindeck card, since having a dead card vs like a green-based all-creatures deck is bad

though by all means bring dark favor in vs decks without a lot of removal, sometimes you can win just by slapping it on a tormented soul turn 2

cool they finally made a card that specifically destroys planeswalkers

bunch of RTR spoilers just came out

-shocklands are back (of course)
-new Jace is shockingly not overpowered
-BR: Destroy target creature or planeswalker, wowowow

this set is going to rule

i love the common dual-lands and associated cards

seriously considering buying into a modern deck now since this set's going to lower the barrier to entry by a fair amount and people might actually play the format outside of high-level events. not sure if i really want to drop $100 on a playset of thoughtseizes though..

i should probably be banned from drafting this format http://i.imgur.com/6Rqww.jpg

How long should I expect a local booster draft event to run for?

you should ask the store how many rounds they run - at the store i play at, it's 40 minutes to draft and deckbuild, followed by 3 50-minute rounds, so it works out to around 3 hours total, assuming you play all 3 rounds (people often drop before the last round if they're out of the money, or draw the last round to split prizes if they're in the money)

rounds in MTG events are always 50 minutes plus some overage time (if time runs out, you get 5 more turns to win before the match becomes a draw) so it'll probably be an hour per round plus another 30-60 minutes for the draft itself

most 8-man drafts I've done are around 2 hours in total

welp that's my 3rd M13 4-pack Sealed, went 2-1 every time, every single game I've lost was due to Jace/Sands of Delirium, god damn it

I drafted again

had a red/white burn/token deck that people seemed to think was pretty good but still only went 1-2 due to luck. but I drafted a thragtusk and foil talrand just to sell, which almost paid for the night.

haha, next time we meet up you'll have an edh deck

iatee msg me if you want to practice draft m13 ive drafted it a lot and think i have a reasonable handle on it