- the_cardfather
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Member for 16 years, 9 months, and 20 days
Last active Sun, Jun, 25 2017 15:47:28
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Feb 3, 2014the_cardfather posted a message on Launch Giveaway!Wall of Roots - From when green was really good for things other than fatties.Posted in: Announcements
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Nov 19, 2012the_cardfather posted a message on Lantern's MTG Salvation IQ Tournaments, 6 Months InYea, I could see that application. "He runs PRE's"Posted in: Lantern Blog
"Oh really? Like Bippy?"
Um no, they're on another platform
" ..."
BTW my name only has one _ in it. - To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
I think non singles are a big question on everyone's mind. If they fix the price of a ticket at $1 then it does little to handle inflation since people will have to put riders to get tickets. If they let it float then it will become very obvious what the true value of a pucapoint is.
This deck appeared with the re-introduction of the Delve Mechanic in Khans of Tarkir. The deck uses cheep card advantage engines to dump cards into the graveyard allowing the pilot to quickly cast oversized Delve creatures such as Gurmag Angler and protect them with countermagic.
As of this writing the deck generally comprises about 5-8% of the 5-0 Pauper League decklists on MTGO. While it may not be the most popular archetype I've found it fun to play and at 30-40 tix one of the cheaper lists capable of a 5-0 finish.
Representative Decklist
4 Delver of Secrets
4 Gurmag Angler
1 Stormbound Geist
1 Sultai Scavenger
Spells
4 Brainstorm
4 Mental Note
4 Thought Scour
4 Counterspell
3 Deprive
3 Disfigure
1 Ghastly Demise
1 Doom Blade
1 Agony Warp
3 Ponder
2 Preordain
1 Gush
1 Grim Harvest
4 Dismal Backwater
1 Dimir Guildgate
4 Evolving Wilds
1 Mortuary Mire
1 Swamp
7 Island
3 Dispel
2 Shrivel
2 Annul
2 Stormbound Geist
2 Nihil Spellbomb
2 Hydroblast
1 Crypt Incursion
1 Agony Warp
Card Choices
Many of the card choices are fixed. The creature base will normally always consist of
4 Delver of Secrets and 4 Gurmag Angler. Delver of Secrets provides an early clock and protection from other Delver decks while Gurmag Angler is one of the hardest creatures to kill in the format.
Typically the deck will have 1 Sultai Scavenger for additional flying pressure and as room for sideboard options.
Stormbound Geist was the traditional choice for protection against edict effects, but many players are opting for Eldrazi Skyspawner instead due to a less restrictive color requirement. The geist has the added bonus of not dying to ping effects, but it does require double blue and it is vulnerable to graveyard hate since it returns from the grave.
Matchup Analysis and Sideboard Plan
vs UB Teachings - UB Teachings focuses on gaining board control at all costs and will often take its time to set up. Often there are no creatures and the deck depends on Curse of the Bloody Tome to win via decking. Casting a creature early with protection from a counterspell will often be very hard to answer. Continue to add creatures as they become available protecting Gurmag Angler. Cycle worthless creature removal away with Brainstorm and Mental Note. Eventually they will cast Curse of the Bloody Tome which fills your graveyard and allows for an endless supply of creatures they cannot answer.
SB Out
-3 Disfigure
-1 Ghastly Demise
-1 Doom Blade
-1 Agony Warp
SB In
+ 3 Dispel
+ 2 Nihil Spellbomb
+ 1 Stormbound Geist
Even if they are not playing Accumulated Knowledge, the Spellbombs raid their graveyard for Mystical Teachings and Chainer's Edicts. Try to leave up B so you can net a card. Dispel is abusive in this matchup and will often allow you to plunk down an early threat and still protect it. A third turn Angler with Dispel backup that untaps into UUU can end the game.
Final Thoughts
Is the point inflation truly due to new user signups? I always thought that the number of points in the system was pretty balanced by the number of points on "dry" non trading accounts? Is there just a glut of points in the system because of people wanting to trade up IE people know their crap isn't really worth TCG Mid or whatever they are using now?
Personally as long as they make tix an option I think it will dry up the points pretty quick. Guys like me who trade chaff away ($1-3 rares) can now skip the middle man and just get tix for more redemptions. We'll see if people are willing to 100pp for 1 tix or if the value is much higher/lower. Puca may set that rate or make tix not an option which doesn't solve the inflation problem.
I think using it as a dig spell is fine because if he sees his bomb he picks it and if not he takes the face down cards.
I think viewing it as "scry 2 then draw 2" is perfectly acceptable. (Technically it's look at the top 2 cards. you may put them into your GY, then Draw 2 cards).
So my thoughts are the more "equal" the cards in your deck are the worse this card is, but when there are very unequal options where throwing away 2 decent cards on top is the obvious choice its very solid.
It comes with time. I know when I'm playing a new deck I don't know that I play a lot slower than I do when I play a deck I know well. You don't get a lot of time to think. One thing might be your stops. Be willing to add and remove stops during the game so that you don't have too many during the opponent's end step or upkeep unless it's really necessary. Also pay attention to what types of decks you play. I tend to avoid drafting white decks with tappers on MTGO since having to go through the motions to tap down an attacker every turn takes a lot of clock even though in paper people just shortcut and get over it.
The payout looks really weak but that's because I'm not used to looking at Play points as value when they really are probably better than straight packs if you are trying to change events.
I played in my first MTGO event in over a year last night. I can't comment on the price structure but the unlimited time to make my deck, the ability to change my deck, and ability to play 1-2 games and take a break without worrying when the round is over was really nice.
The payout looks really weak but that's because I'm not used to looking at Play points as value when they really are probably better than straight packs if you are trying to change events.
I played in my first MTGO event in over a year last night. I can't comment on the price structure but the unlimited time to make my deck, the ability to change my deck, and ability to play 1-2 games and take a break without worrying when the round is over was really nice.
Yes people do it, but since it's more labor intensive than forking over a box of cards and people are more aware of the values most collection buying is done by chains.
If the redemption is available in the store they should have it in stock.
I'm not sure what you mean by shortened version. MTGO is a complete play environment that contains a collection interface, casual and tournament play space and market. It simulates the paper card game but you can't proxy. Are you coming from paper Magic or some other magic themed game?
The big challenge with MTGO is capturing the seamless feel of something like duels without losing the complexity of Magic The Gathering. Duels does it by omitting steps and phases.
I think wizards is brainstorming a new digital product. Considering how weak the market was to paying for upgrades in the last set of duels it has to capture the spending demand of players who play MTGO right now which is much higher on a $/player basis than duels patrons. The new digital game has to have ladder/tournament prize support from somewhere to capture more than a casual market.