EDIT:
My apologies, it wasn't even Heezy who saw it at the GP, it was just some random player from Pandemonium.
That's correct - it was stated on one of the Youtube World's videos that someone saw it and refined it - in addition, there was discussion of this deck (at least in my local area) 3 weeks before Worlds among people who were testing for Worlds/World's Side Events so unless I am mistaken, I don't think it was a huge secret. Of course, I think everyone was sceptical on how well it could possibly work, and admitedly, I immediately dismissed it myself.
I think that was part of the charm of the deck - just like what was said about the Sonic Boom deck by Wafo Tapa early on in the Worlds tournament, the new Dragonstorm deck is a lot better when no one knows it's coming (there's a lot of very, very easy sideboard hate against this deck - some of which was already being used, like Thorn of Amythest). I'd be interested to see if this deck has a staying around power.
The spoiler (infact 99.99999% of the time all individual rumours) are reported on other sites ad nuseum .
So there is absolutely no chance that anyone who wanted to see the information and had an internet connection, couldn't obtain it.
Excellent point, Bel. There's very little true "rumors" anymore - the only exception being a few players who get their boxes earlier and then open those.
Actually, I think this is the exact reason they are handling this one through the DCI instead of just legal like Rancored Elf - it wouldn't be hard to prepare a defense when the Wizards board has very similar dates for their "unreleased" cards discussion.
I'm amazed (and happy at the same time, since this mirror match is horrid) that Mono Red Snow doesn't show up on more lists.
It has A LOT of very strong matchups, and it's got no horrid matchups (I think it's worst matchup is like 40/60).
Here's what I would say are the strongest in a very, very open field where any one of these decks could fall off the list (and in no particular order):
Mono Red Snow
Uw Pickles
UB Manniquen
Mana Ramp
Faeries
And there's about 10 decks immediately right behind these that could take the place at any time.
Obviously, as you can tell by my custom tag, I completely agree with you.
I used to agree with MikeyG about it just being something cute to do at the end of the year.
Then we had a certain user that won a few years back in the Standard forum. From that point forward, I think the line "I won the Best Standard Strategist award, that means that I am right" appeared in every thread.
Seriously, the only huge advantage I see you can have at a prerelease by knowing the spoiler, is that you're likely to have a picture of what's going to be chase rares. But you don't have to participate in the actual tournament to take advantage of the kids after the prerelease. And to do this, you really have to be a big loser.
By this definition, then those people who bought Tarmagoyf for $3 are "big losers"?
It doesn't make you a "big loser" to try to figure out what's going to be good and get it for as inexpensive as possible before the demand really starts to soar. Let's not forget that the pre-releases are basically casual events, and that means a lot of casual players look for different things then tournament players (may I point out that Coat of Arms and Sliver Queen still carry their value largely because of the casual market?). In addition, with major tournaments so close to major events (the major release of the year coming out right before States, and usually the 3rd set coming out right before Regionals), players have different priorities to try to get their deck completed.
Also, think back to all of the cards which carried a HUGE demand when a set first came out, only to not retain that value. I can think of a couple cards (most noteably for me, Promise of Power) that I actually paid money for and never ended up taking out of my binders. However, by the fact that I stayed ahead, I've also ended up with some pretty amazing investments.
Back to the point at hand, unfortunately, the DCI can do whatever they want when it comes to their membership. It's unfortunate they decided to go this route, especially given all of the other areas that they need to work on when it actually comes to organized play (the ol' boys club they have going in some "territories" which is causing one of their top areas for Magic to not even have a TO, the pure stupidity that is this season's City Champs, etc.).
However, I wonder what their definition of "indefinite" would be - just how many rumor seasons would prove it to them anyways. Luckily, from what you said, it won't matter.
The more that I think about it, the more that I think that Beacon of Destruction might be an all around better spell over Chandra possibly. While Chandra's ultimate ability is better, I haven't used it when it's relevant - and Beacon is a better spell then it's +1 and -X abilities because of it being an instant. This can improve many matchups for us because of the inability for people to tap out for fear of taking 5.
I hardly think that one fool on the internets is "proof" that any online stores are bad.
I deal a decent volume in online auctions, mainly because of the fact that if you keep ahead of trends, you can really save yourself a considerable amount of money - for example, just imagine that you could've gotten the previously mentioned Tarmagoyfs for $3 a piece at one time if you were smart. I've gotten myself some pretty insane deals because I realized early that things were going to be good, and gotten them when they were cheap. If you wait for your local retailer, in a lot of cases you are going to be paying top dollar for those cards (and I'm certainly glad that some people do, because it's what keeps the doors open).
You just have to be very smart when dealing with anyone, whether online or not.
I continue to be underwhelmed by Chandra - frequently, the only thing she results in is a 6 point Lava Axe to a creature. This isn't necessary a bad thing, it's just extremely underwhelming when I use her.
I added the Hellkites merely out of "well, let's try it", and I'll tell you, I love the addition so far. This version of the deck runs more like a mixture of the Skred Red and the Big Mana decks - I can build mana very quickly for very big spells (which of course includes Hellkite). While it does weaken my snow count, I found myself being shut down by dumb things like Wall of Roots entirely too much for my liking when you make those slots a snow creature.
Because of these changes, I am definitely considering changing the Mind Stones to Relics, however, I still like the ability to get that extra card off the top when necessary when it's late game and having multiple Scrying Sheets active, or even when searching for an answer. I still find myself sacrificing the Mind Stones enough that they are justified, in my opinion.
The Razormanes are as good as was advertised by Jhiora. I had previously considered them, however, they just didn't seem to have great synergy with the deck (not being snow, not being red, causing us to discard). He's a creature they cannot possibly block with any creature they have, even one that's bigger because they fear so many of our spells.
White/x Martyr Control = Unfavorable (White Akroma is death, coupled with O-rings, Martyr, and Ajani)
UWR Blink = Bad (I can't seem to outpace the bounce & blink without a really good draw)
UB/UBW Mannaquin = Bad (Again, bounce on my mana early coupled with blink or manaquin heavy draw is bad news)
Does anyone see any possible solutions to these matchups in the sideboard?
Well, there definitely is one card that I think would help at least partially, and that's because it's unable to be bounced (although, admitedly still vulnerable to Shriekmaw), and that would be Red Akroma. I think with the builds that I think are the best (the 7 artifact mana, heavy mana build), you are going to have no problem getting to the 8 mana, and then able to pump it significantly.
I'd REALLY like one for my computer desktop (1280 x 800 if that matters), and unfortunately Kev Walker is not exactly the most forthcoming with his site and everything...
I'd completely appreciate any help anyone can give...I also posted this in the request thread, but after reading this thread, I think I may have posted it in the wrong place.
I'd REALLY like one for my computer desktop (1280 x 800 if that matters), and unfortunately Kev Walker is not exactly the most forthcoming with his site and everything...
I'd completely appreciate any help anyone can give...
He will be missed.
That's correct - it was stated on one of the Youtube World's videos that someone saw it and refined it - in addition, there was discussion of this deck (at least in my local area) 3 weeks before Worlds among people who were testing for Worlds/World's Side Events so unless I am mistaken, I don't think it was a huge secret. Of course, I think everyone was sceptical on how well it could possibly work, and admitedly, I immediately dismissed it myself.
I think that was part of the charm of the deck - just like what was said about the Sonic Boom deck by Wafo Tapa early on in the Worlds tournament, the new Dragonstorm deck is a lot better when no one knows it's coming (there's a lot of very, very easy sideboard hate against this deck - some of which was already being used, like Thorn of Amythest). I'd be interested to see if this deck has a staying around power.
I've seen lists out of Japan that included it, but none of the lists looked to be any good.
Excellent point, Bel. There's very little true "rumors" anymore - the only exception being a few players who get their boxes earlier and then open those.
Actually, I think this is the exact reason they are handling this one through the DCI instead of just legal like Rancored Elf - it wouldn't be hard to prepare a defense when the Wizards board has very similar dates for their "unreleased" cards discussion.
It has A LOT of very strong matchups, and it's got no horrid matchups (I think it's worst matchup is like 40/60).
Here's what I would say are the strongest in a very, very open field where any one of these decks could fall off the list (and in no particular order):
Mono Red Snow
Uw Pickles
UB Manniquen
Mana Ramp
Faeries
And there's about 10 decks immediately right behind these that could take the place at any time.
I used to agree with MikeyG about it just being something cute to do at the end of the year.
Then we had a certain user that won a few years back in the Standard forum. From that point forward, I think the line "I won the Best Standard Strategist award, that means that I am right" appeared in every thread.
It got really old, needless to say.
By this definition, then those people who bought Tarmagoyf for $3 are "big losers"?
It doesn't make you a "big loser" to try to figure out what's going to be good and get it for as inexpensive as possible before the demand really starts to soar. Let's not forget that the pre-releases are basically casual events, and that means a lot of casual players look for different things then tournament players (may I point out that Coat of Arms and Sliver Queen still carry their value largely because of the casual market?). In addition, with major tournaments so close to major events (the major release of the year coming out right before States, and usually the 3rd set coming out right before Regionals), players have different priorities to try to get their deck completed.
Also, think back to all of the cards which carried a HUGE demand when a set first came out, only to not retain that value. I can think of a couple cards (most noteably for me, Promise of Power) that I actually paid money for and never ended up taking out of my binders. However, by the fact that I stayed ahead, I've also ended up with some pretty amazing investments.
Back to the point at hand, unfortunately, the DCI can do whatever they want when it comes to their membership. It's unfortunate they decided to go this route, especially given all of the other areas that they need to work on when it actually comes to organized play (the ol' boys club they have going in some "territories" which is causing one of their top areas for Magic to not even have a TO, the pure stupidity that is this season's City Champs, etc.).
However, I wonder what their definition of "indefinite" would be - just how many rumor seasons would prove it to them anyways. Luckily, from what you said, it won't matter.
The more that I think about it, the more that I think that Beacon of Destruction might be an all around better spell over Chandra possibly. While Chandra's ultimate ability is better, I haven't used it when it's relevant - and Beacon is a better spell then it's +1 and -X abilities because of it being an instant. This can improve many matchups for us because of the inability for people to tap out for fear of taking 5.
Anyone tested it over Chandra?
I deal a decent volume in online auctions, mainly because of the fact that if you keep ahead of trends, you can really save yourself a considerable amount of money - for example, just imagine that you could've gotten the previously mentioned Tarmagoyfs for $3 a piece at one time if you were smart. I've gotten myself some pretty insane deals because I realized early that things were going to be good, and gotten them when they were cheap. If you wait for your local retailer, in a lot of cases you are going to be paying top dollar for those cards (and I'm certainly glad that some people do, because it's what keeps the doors open).
You just have to be very smart when dealing with anyone, whether online or not.
4 Mouth of Ronom
4 Scrying Sheets
2 Fungal Reaches
4 Coldsteel Heart
3 Mind Stone
4 Incinerate
4 Molten Disaster
2 Disintegrate
4 Skred
3 Chandra Nalaar
4 Martyr of Ashes
4 Stuffy Doll
3 Razormane Masticore
2 Akroma, Angel of Fury
4 Sulfur Elemental
3 Pyroclasm
3 Detritvore
I continue to be underwhelmed by Chandra - frequently, the only thing she results in is a 6 point Lava Axe to a creature. This isn't necessary a bad thing, it's just extremely underwhelming when I use her.
I added the Hellkites merely out of "well, let's try it", and I'll tell you, I love the addition so far. This version of the deck runs more like a mixture of the Skred Red and the Big Mana decks - I can build mana very quickly for very big spells (which of course includes Hellkite). While it does weaken my snow count, I found myself being shut down by dumb things like Wall of Roots entirely too much for my liking when you make those slots a snow creature.
Because of these changes, I am definitely considering changing the Mind Stones to Relics, however, I still like the ability to get that extra card off the top when necessary when it's late game and having multiple Scrying Sheets active, or even when searching for an answer. I still find myself sacrificing the Mind Stones enough that they are justified, in my opinion.
The Razormanes are as good as was advertised by Jhiora. I had previously considered them, however, they just didn't seem to have great synergy with the deck (not being snow, not being red, causing us to discard). He's a creature they cannot possibly block with any creature they have, even one that's bigger because they fear so many of our spells.
Well, there definitely is one card that I think would help at least partially, and that's because it's unable to be bounced (although, admitedly still vulnerable to Shriekmaw), and that would be Red Akroma. I think with the builds that I think are the best (the 7 artifact mana, heavy mana build), you are going to have no problem getting to the 8 mana, and then able to pump it significantly.
I'm wondering if anyone has tested it?
I'd REALLY like one for my computer desktop (1280 x 800 if that matters), and unfortunately Kev Walker is not exactly the most forthcoming with his site and everything...
I'd completely appreciate any help anyone can give...I also posted this in the request thread, but after reading this thread, I think I may have posted it in the wrong place.
Again, thanks again.
I'd REALLY like one for my computer desktop (1280 x 800 if that matters), and unfortunately Kev Walker is not exactly the most forthcoming with his site and everything...
I'd completely appreciate any help anyone can give...
If he's unable to shuffle, due to say, a broken hand, what can he do?