Well seeing as all discussion has drifted to setting up the draft, I haven't had much to say. Although, I will make something special for the winner of the draft, if they want it of course.
I've got a paper draft tonight, I'll let everyone know how that goes.
Wait, Pseudofate, you know about the Valenzetti equation or whatever it was called the numbers were explained to be a part of right?
I'm not so sure, but I think what is clear is that it's a fight between Jacob and whoever the other one is to see who can recruit the people over to their side. What the talk about becoming the defender of the island, perhaps Jacobs replacement, I have no idea.
I'm not convinced it's so much a flat out fight it is an old grudge turned angry over time. We have no reason to believe that Un-Locke is truly malicious or evil, he just seems that way. And I haven't seen enough of Jacob to even begin to comment on him
I have a question to anyone who saw tonight's episode:
Did anyone else have a strange suspicion that the guy who delivered the package to Locke was Michael? It sounded like him for some reason to me.
I don't really like the idea of an essay contest either. It would be too hard to judge and the lack of expertise or knowledge of a certain concept or field would totally skew the judging. What I think we need to do first is just have more people involved with the SSC and a few changes to the way it is ran. Shorter deadlines, and instead of each judge grading each piece, the 3-5 judges should get together and discuss which they felt was the best, and if a consensus or majority cannot be reached then go for the point system. It would expedite the process, if only slightly, and make the results of the judging feel, and IMO in actuality, be based more on the quality of the writing and less on personal tastes. How does that sound?
What are those old lands, exactly? Library, Strip Mine, Wasteland, Mishra's Factory...and what? I'm thinking of old-bordered cards, to look for examples. I dare say Wasteland is only better then 'Vault when you have a way to recur it.
Your mid-late games never have a clear board? Your aggro decks can't use an extra attacker that can function as a mana source?
Except when you talk about creatures, in which almost every newer creature printed is better than older creatures printed. Kird Ape and Juggernaut were banned because they were deemed too good back in 'old school' days, and there are creatures just better now.
-AA
Our nonbasic list, off of the top of my head because I don't own the cube looks something like this:
Library of Alexandria
Mishra's Factory
Strip Mine
Bazaar of Baghdad
Wasteland
Ancient Tomb
Gaea's Cradle
Tolarian Academy
Rishidan Port
Stalking Stones
All original duals
All Rav Block duals
Blinkmoth Nexus
All Mirrodin Artifact Lands
Ghost Quarter
Urza's man lands (BoB Village etc.)
Gemstone Mine
Quicksand
Lotus Vale
Mutavault
And about a dozen or so more that I can't remember off the top of my head.
The point is that there are plenty of other lands that get played over that one, and even better man lands. (BoB Village beats the crap out of Mutavault). And I even prefer Blinkmoth Nexus to it as it flies and with an untap ability becomes a 2/2.
Aggro doesn't really work in our cube, like most, and the 2/2 tends to die before it can really have a big effect, gets in maybe 2-4 damage, but then it dies and you are -1 land.
Boards are almost never clear in our cube for the same reason they are almost never clear in a regular draft, things get played, and even if you wanted that 2 damage on turn 2 from the Vault, there is usually something better to play, especially with the prevalence of Chrome Mox to show up during damn near every draft. (This is a 650 card cube, and for it to show up now 14 out of 17 drafts of 8 we have done is downright scary.)
I don't want this to be confused with me hating on Mutavault, it's a great card. Standard staple and rightfully so. This is the best man-land since Blinkmoth Nexus and just as powerful and ubiquitous. I'm just saying that in my particular cube, with my play group, the Vault just lacks the power and value it has in regular formats, and I'm sure, other Cubes.
And of course newer creatures are more powerful, but I was speaking specifically on lands, which in the infancy of the game were often over-powered and near broken.
So what I'm trying to say, in far more words than I wanted to say it in, in my experience and my opinion, in Cube, Mutavault is still a good card, but not a bomb. It's placement as a last pick is unusual, but I can picture it happening on the rare occasion, I know I've seen 14th pick pack 1 in a draft before and passed it up in favor of a Red Elemental Blast.
First off, great episode. Locke-centric episodes tend to be some of the best of the series. We really didn't get much tonight aside from that cave though. But that cave and the names are obviously a big deal. As we know The Numbers are the core values of the Valenzetti Equation and by changing them, the result of the equation is supposed to change. Therefore I think that the people represented by The Numbers are being put through trials to see if they can fundamentally change, and by proxy, change their number and the result of the Equation. Locke was unable to overcome his fear and anger of life from his pre-island life off-island and therefore 4 is a number that will not change. The remaining people, Hurley (false belief?), Sawyer (self-destruction), Sayid (penance), Jack (stubbornness) and Kwon (secrecy or jealousy) are going to be put through their "final tests" over the course of the season, and some will have to change in order for the equation to change, thus saving the world and showing their true purpose for being on The Island.
A few things here: If it's been a non-factor, someone's playing it wrong. If it's forced color-screw, you're either very unlucky, or constructed your deck wrong. If it doesn't make the cut, it's because you've got more than one of the few better colorless nonbasics available to you (like both LoA and Strip Mine or something). It's not hard to "make work", you just activate it and attack with it... it nothing spectacular, it's just a solid, consistent performer. I won't ever understand a last-pick 'vault. Especially before P3. This is a card that'll make the cut in a multitude of decks... as in almost every deck that's drafted. I can't even imagine a situation where I'd not play this in my final 40 unless I have a bunch of other colorless nonbasics and no mana fixing. There's no way that all 8 players at the table are facing that exact scenario.
Well I know how to build decks, and play a man-land. I think what it is that our cube is very heavily skewed towards older cards, so there are a lot of fantastic non-basics, ones that do outshine the vault. What I mean by non-factor is that I'm using it for mana on turns 1-5, and after that a 2/2 is not going to do much of anything, other than die. Again, our cube has a very high power level and in terms of power, especially with the lands, old school beats new school.
I disagree. Mutavault and Mishra's Factory are both great lands in the cube. Unless I'm dipping into a 4th color, or have a really complicated mana curve, either one of those two lands makes my final 40.
I've never seen a Mutavault forced before. Not once in all the cube drafts I've done. It goes in pretty much every deck.
And every time I've drafted it in cube it's been a non-factor, forced a color-screw on me, or hasn't made the deck. I mean, I know that it's a great card, it's a really great card, but I haven't seen it work. Maybe it's just me, but I can see a Mutavault last pick and get why it's there.
I got my cube article finally done and posted, yay.
I saw that article, well written, but what was up with the formatting? Either way, well written, and as a cube lover, I thought it had a lot of good points.
In other news, I hope someone, or more than one of you can keep track of your picks and decklists of the draft so us non-drafters (me) can see what everyone was up to.
I've got a paper draft tonight, I'll let everyone know how that goes.
:rate5::rate1.5:
Not really. If it was, we would've seen his face.
:rate5::rate4:
Our nonbasic list, off of the top of my head because I don't own the cube looks something like this:
Mishra's Factory
Strip Mine
Bazaar of Baghdad
Wasteland
Ancient Tomb
Gaea's Cradle
Tolarian Academy
Rishidan Port
Stalking Stones
All original duals
All Rav Block duals
Blinkmoth Nexus
All Mirrodin Artifact Lands
Ghost Quarter
Urza's man lands (BoB Village etc.)
Gemstone Mine
Quicksand
Lotus Vale
Mutavault
And about a dozen or so more that I can't remember off the top of my head.
The point is that there are plenty of other lands that get played over that one, and even better man lands. (BoB Village beats the crap out of Mutavault). And I even prefer Blinkmoth Nexus to it as it flies and with an untap ability becomes a 2/2.
Aggro doesn't really work in our cube, like most, and the 2/2 tends to die before it can really have a big effect, gets in maybe 2-4 damage, but then it dies and you are -1 land.
Boards are almost never clear in our cube for the same reason they are almost never clear in a regular draft, things get played, and even if you wanted that 2 damage on turn 2 from the Vault, there is usually something better to play, especially with the prevalence of Chrome Mox to show up during damn near every draft. (This is a 650 card cube, and for it to show up now 14 out of 17 drafts of 8 we have done is downright scary.)
I don't want this to be confused with me hating on Mutavault, it's a great card. Standard staple and rightfully so. This is the best man-land since Blinkmoth Nexus and just as powerful and ubiquitous. I'm just saying that in my particular cube, with my play group, the Vault just lacks the power and value it has in regular formats, and I'm sure, other Cubes.
And of course newer creatures are more powerful, but I was speaking specifically on lands, which in the infancy of the game were often over-powered and near broken.
So what I'm trying to say, in far more words than I wanted to say it in, in my experience and my opinion, in Cube, Mutavault is still a good card, but not a bomb. It's placement as a last pick is unusual, but I can picture it happening on the rare occasion, I know I've seen 14th pick pack 1 in a draft before and passed it up in favor of a Red Elemental Blast.
Well I know how to build decks, and play a man-land. I think what it is that our cube is very heavily skewed towards older cards, so there are a lot of fantastic non-basics, ones that do outshine the vault. What I mean by non-factor is that I'm using it for mana on turns 1-5, and after that a 2/2 is not going to do much of anything, other than die. Again, our cube has a very high power level and in terms of power, especially with the lands, old school beats new school.
And every time I've drafted it in cube it's been a non-factor, forced a color-screw on me, or hasn't made the deck. I mean, I know that it's a great card, it's a really great card, but I haven't seen it work. Maybe it's just me, but I can see a Mutavault last pick and get why it's there.
Because it isn't the bomb in Cube that it is in Standard and Lorwyn Limited. There are better 2/2's and better ways to use your land here.
I saw that article, well written, but what was up with the formatting? Either way, well written, and as a cube lover, I thought it had a lot of good points.
In other news, I hope someone, or more than one of you can keep track of your picks and decklists of the draft so us non-drafters (me) can see what everyone was up to.
Quasi-hate draft the Terminate and pass the pack. This ain't that hard.After actually thinking about it. The Horror is playable, and in color. I think we should take it instead.