Quote from AzureShadow »Just because it's pyramid scheme doesn't mean it's bad, per say. It provides a service that nowhere else does, just like one could argue that Bitcoin does, albeit an illegal one in that case. It does, though, absolutely fit the textbook definition of what a pyramid scheme is. The initial referers or payees have the highest amount of value in the system, and that collectively decreases as it spreads to the bottom.
The biggest risk to pucatrade is that the owner can give himself an account with, say, a few million points and buy up a huge pile of cards, then shut the entire thing down. I don't think that's particularly likely, but it is possible.
EDIT: Actually, allow me to amend that. The biggest risk to pucatrade is that the owner(s) can give themselves any points at all, because if they exchange them for cards then that represents more loss when the system inevitably closes, period. That is the big payoff of the pyramid scheme, is that they can exchange a non-existent entity that will eventually lose all value and which they can generate in infinite quantity, which can then be traded to others for physical value. It is very easy to obscure that, and I'm sure it does happen. The question then becomes how long it's worth risking the use of the system before it shuts down and the value vanishes.
I've seen this pop up a few times--why would puca close down? I also believe enough people buy points to hurry some of the process along (thus keeping the site up). I could see everyone trying to cash out if they did announce closure, but its a hypothetical that seems to be getting more attention that it probably should (surprise surprise).
I've been meaning to take a gifts side to a tournament and still haven't gotten around to it.
Was this the one at the geekery yesterday?
I don't just jam an unlife turn 3 without knowing the opponent doesn't have the mana to go off--but I did know that I was safe a full turn unless he used multiple simians to fuel the ad nauseam.
I really think that unlife/lab man is the combo you've got to go for--everything else is just an inefficient way to win. You need 5 lands to swing with a tarpit once given that you need the white up too still, and simians just don't get there unless your opponent combos off with an unlife and somehow can't put together a win after you've already done the hard work of bringing yourself into the negatives.
My opponent brought in thoughtseizes and I did not--I think that given the number of cantrips we both run its not actually worth it because its so easy to keep multiple graces in hand or still have/find one unless the thoughtseizing player is seeing if the coast is clear AND has enough mana just in case I did have two graces. If you seize it should be on the turn you win or set up 'the lab man/stacked hand' lock.
I was also advantaged against him as I was on spoils--in our game 2 I spoils'd for my second pact when he tried to resolve a lab man earlier than after the full combo turn and he couldn't win afterwards.
I have no idea what you're talking about regarding the mirror--it doesn't make sense.
What you do is combo out with the required mana to win with lab man and a unlife--likely you play an unlife unmolested and then win on the fourth turn via lab man. Don't spoils for it and don't run it out. You don't spoils for lab man and you just leave your natural draw step to win with while using the extra cards in your hand to stop your opponent from getting his combo/lab man win--graces to pay for your pacts after the fact.
Simian spirit guide beatdown is a bad way to win and also cuts you off your better way to win...that the plan is simian speaks to the fact that the mirror is not that common and people don't know what to do.
I think the best way to beat the mirror is to play lab man, and 4 unlife. The best way to combo is to go unlife into lab man while holding a whole grip of pacts and angel's graces once you go to discard and stop them from comboing after you. Unlife also means that pre-combo you're getting your opponent to have to aim two storms/conflagrates at you to win and its a good little safety net against being beat. I don't think doing anything extra is worth while, as its not more effective than what I describe above.
That being said--are you ever attacking creeping tarpit into lilianas? That'd make me consider the land a little more.
To me, titan is the best anti-BGx win-con we've got--I've not liked dromoka in practice unless you're in a heavy delver type meta--and elspeth doesn't always do what you're gonna want her too in practice while also being a non-creature so she can't really come in against the DnT type lists where your spells are more expensive (which G-titan is actually decent in too, not just against BGx).
Though on the spoils list--I take out spoils in a bunch more match ups--I'll have to put together my own guide this weekend and compare notes back and forth--it doesn't differ too much, but might be really helpful for people to see.
@RADN: chill out. While I think there's a way to play this deck and way not to--there are variations on a theme, and a mood to be in that certainly work for some players and not others. I recommend being daring, smart, and tricky when you can be--but more so being aggressive and trying to actively win. I don't think Tom is doing anything much otherwise because his land base is smarter than the typical spoils list.
That all being said--the stock in dreadship reef in lists main is really going up IMO--I've hated it and cut it in the past, but I'm quite happy with a singleton main, thinking about another in the side. My jund opponents (heavy BGx in my meta...and stony silence never goes away), are getting wise to beating the deck and starting to side in fulminators. They tempo me out essentially by disrupting lands and mana rocks, which makes the grave titan plan hard to deploy as a back up BGx plan from the side. Dreadship has been pretty good at combating that.
As someone who spends a lot of time ******* up their own build in the name of science, I think if you run tech lands--you have a loss in match win % overall IF you don't include fetches. I don't think one is really better than the other smoother fastland/temple mana base.
If you run fetches--I think the opportunity cost is just so that it doesn't lend itself to being the optimal mana base for including spoils. Where you gain points against BGx and other midrange decks--you lose some explosiveness and mana efficiency of the spoils builds. If you want to up your game where the teachings/peer lists do better because of their land configurations...you've got to devote more sideboard space to BGx. Spoils lists mostly can--but winning game ones more often is still pretty huge. We've all mulled into a leyline hand that actually just sucks and doesn't get you there.
All of the lands have some upsides and downsides to them, a few general observations I've made from playing the deck myself in regards to the lands and what people like. Feel free to disagree...I'm not some alpha authority--but I will ***** on you if I think you're dead wrong.
In general, all lists are blue decks in the first turn or three, then we're a white deck on turn 3, and a black deck on the combo turn--the order of which color manas you need most typical determine what kind lands you pick and in what number. You want 1 mana on turn 1 (or none), none or two on turn 2 or a temple play and a serum visions play, on turn 3 you want three mana for an unlife or one for a potential spoils, turn four you're ideally aiming to have a white and two black or two black and somewhere between 3-4 mana of any color. These are things to keep in mind--too much blue, or too much white (a case against white fogs in the sideboard if I can think of one), and you can't combo.
I have specific thoughts on all the land options--but that's a write up for another day. Suffice it say, I've lost because temples come into play tapped, I've drawn one too many fast lands, I've tried to play a pentad off gemstone mine and had it remanded too many times, or used them in grind matches and lost them only to get fulminatored afterwards, I've been unable to pay life for boseiju where it mattered more that it added mana than making something uncounterable, city of brass has killed me, I've fetched before and not had enough lands in the deck to go for a kill, dreadship reef has killed me by throwing off an otherwise keepable hand or making me unable to cast a crucial pentad for two colors, the colorless lands have killed my ability to combo out or making it so a liliana card locked me out of a game. I've died to plains being the deck not casting black cards, the blue utility lands NOT being islands whilst locked under a blood moon. Tolaria west coming into play tapped AND not being needed for utility. I've even tried the ravnica bounce lands--actually I liked those, but only if the meta was slightly slower and grindier.
And yet...I can't bring myself to knock any of these choices--except to say that gemstone mines or COBs should be 4-ofs and not mixed, you should play between 4-7 temples, I like 8 fastlands, and some number of tech lands should be in the 75, and you should run between 2-3 basics--if you're heavy on non-black sources because you run non-darkness fogs or a lot of white sideboard cards you should probably consider urborg.
I gotta say...case closed.
It does more damage than lightning storm and can't get pithing needled--its instant speed over conflagrate (which does as much damage basically and isn't soft to surprise graveyard hate). \
It doesn't seem better game 1 than just a second lightning storm, it costs more, and it doesn't beat spellskite/kira at all like conflagrate can. Doesn't beat infinite life or leyline of sanctity--so it requires extra cards to do what you'd want it to over stuff that already gets played.
Lastly, might kill you with the wheel effect at the end. I just don't get it any which way--how many games are we really losing to pithing needle or not having enough lands in the deck that the card is worth playing?