No, I do not believe Wizards pushes limited formats to sell packs, at least not anymore than they push Standard to do so. I say this because, while these large events will certainly sell a lot of packs for those events, I do not believe limited events make up the majority or even a significant share of FNMs, smaller tournaments, etc.
In my experiences trying to find LGSs in various US towns, about half of LGSs have more Limited players at FNM than Constructed players. However, the stores that have lots of Limited players generally also have smaller numbers of Constructed players, whereas the stores with lots of Constructed players don't run Limited events at all.
There also seems to be a tendency for the stores that run Limited events to be the bigger stores.
Overall I'd guess that about 40% of players who enter a sanctioned tournament on a Friday night will be playing Limited.
Yeah, of course it is theoretically possible that you should first-pick a card over something as solid as Keepsake Gorgon despite it being correct to cut it from 25-30% of the decks that can cast it, but I don't think I've ever seen that actually happen outside of Cube.
Gorgon, and I really don't think it's that close. I mean, it's close enough that you could justify taking Whip if you really liked the card and wanted to play with it, but it's distant enough that I yelled at the screen when TomM screwed it up. Granted, the Whip was worse than average in his deck at that point, but "worse than average" meant that it didn't even make his main deck.
Does it really make sense to first-pick a card that, even if you can cast it, might not end up in your main deck?
If (as seems likely based on your location) you are talking about the Rutgers club, bear in mind that that club has about the highest average level of play I've ever seen at an FNM. There are a bunch of strong players, and you can only expect to top 8 every so often.
It doesn't really bother me to have rare lands in the cube, as it'll still play like a peasant cube. But if I didn't put a disclaimer, I know someone would complain.
EDIT: Whoops! I managed to delete the last character of the URL. No wonder you're confused.... It's fixed now.
So, I'm designing a cube, and before I go actually buy all the cards, I want to make sure it's at least somewhat balanced.
Monored is a good archetype even when there are rares in the cube. I feel like, when the rares disappear, it loses less than most other archetypes. So I'm a bit concerned it will run rampant, which I would not like. In building the cube, I've taken some steps to preemptively rein it in, but I'm not sure if I've done enough or even too much.
Is there a good way to estimate how strong this (or any other archetype) is before I actually go and shop for the cards?
If you're interested, the cube is here: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/4475 (It's not quite peasant -- there are rare dual lands and a Savannah Lions -- but it's close enough that I'm pretty sure this is the right section.)
That's right. You can't put any cards from your library into your graveyard, so that part of Thought Scour does nothing. Then Thought Scour instructs you to draw a card, but Lab Maniac causes you to win the game instead.
The Replicate trigger will go on the stack, followed by the Chalice trigger (assuming it's your turn, as it normally is when you cast Shattering Spree).
The Chalice's ability will resolve first, countering the spell. Then the Replicate trigger will resolve and make a copy of the spell based on the last known information of Shattering Spree. The copy isn't cast, so Chalice doesn't trigger.
Finally, the copy resolves, destroying whatever you choose to target with the copy.
Planeswalkers and players are not the same. Wayfaring Temple will not trigger when it damages a planeswalker, because it is not damaging a player.
Also, it is not true that you can target planeswalkers with things that target players. That's a common misconception.
Instead, there is a special rule about damage which says that you can redirect noncombat damage from your opponent to one of his or her planeswalkers. But if you're doing that damage with a targeted spell, it still targets the player, not a planeswalker.
I don't think you understand the meaning of the word "maximum".
Satisfying the maximum number of requirements does not mean "I looked at all the requirements that existed and made sure I satisfied them all." If that were true, the rules could not handle the case where you have two creatures that must attack and a Dueling Grounds, because you can't possibly satisfy all the requirements that exist.
EDIT: Sorry to do this, but here are some cases any interpretation has to get right:
There also seems to be a tendency for the stores that run Limited events to be the bigger stores.
Overall I'd guess that about 40% of players who enter a sanctioned tournament on a Friday night will be playing Limited.
Does it really make sense to first-pick a card that, even if you can cast it, might not end up in your main deck?
If (as seems likely based on your location) you are talking about the Rutgers club, bear in mind that that club has about the highest average level of play I've ever seen at an FNM. There are a bunch of strong players, and you can only expect to top 8 every so often.
Standings after each round are about a page down, on the right. You probably want the standings after round 16.
EDIT: Whoops! I managed to delete the last character of the URL. No wonder you're confused.... It's fixed now.
Monored is a good archetype even when there are rares in the cube. I feel like, when the rares disappear, it loses less than most other archetypes. So I'm a bit concerned it will run rampant, which I would not like. In building the cube, I've taken some steps to preemptively rein it in, but I'm not sure if I've done enough or even too much.
Is there a good way to estimate how strong this (or any other archetype) is before I actually go and shop for the cards?
If you're interested, the cube is here: http://cubetutor.com/viewcube/4475 (It's not quite peasant -- there are rare dual lands and a Savannah Lions -- but it's close enough that I'm pretty sure this is the right section.)
The Replicate trigger will go on the stack, followed by the Chalice trigger (assuming it's your turn, as it normally is when you cast Shattering Spree).
The Chalice's ability will resolve first, countering the spell. Then the Replicate trigger will resolve and make a copy of the spell based on the last known information of Shattering Spree. The copy isn't cast, so Chalice doesn't trigger.
Finally, the copy resolves, destroying whatever you choose to target with the copy.
Also, it is not true that you can target planeswalkers with things that target players. That's a common misconception.
Instead, there is a special rule about damage which says that you can redirect noncombat damage from your opponent to one of his or her planeswalkers. But if you're doing that damage with a targeted spell, it still targets the player, not a planeswalker.
Satisfying the maximum number of requirements does not mean "I looked at all the requirements that existed and made sure I satisfied them all." If that were true, the rules could not handle the case where you have two creatures that must attack and a Dueling Grounds, because you can't possibly satisfy all the requirements that exist.
EDIT: Sorry to do this, but here are some cases any interpretation has to get right:
1. Two Crazed Goblins (correct answer: both must attack)
2. Two Crazed Goblins and Dueling Grounds (correct answer: either can attack)
3. Two Crazed Goblins, one enchanted with Lust for War, and Dueling Grounds (correct answer: only the one enchanted with Lust for War can attack)
4. Crazed Goblin, Ekundu Cyclops, and Dueling Grounds (correct answer: ???)
Dueling Grounds says that an attack with more than 1 attacker is illegal.
Crawlspace says that an attack with more than 2 attackers is illegal.
Combining these (in any order) results in the following:
0-1 attackers: Legal
2 attackers: Illegal
3+ attackers: REALLY illegal