Magic the Gathering: Arena |OT| Tapped Out of Witty Titles

Miniature Kaiju · Feb 12, 2019

Koz said:
I'm seeing Surge Mares in the core deck now, especially in Bo1. Really good against mono red and the other meta decks you mentioned.

If you're doing Bo1, maindecking Surge Mares makes total sense, IMO. It's far too useful against way too many of the decks of the meta, and even when it's not particularly useful, it's not all that detrimental, either.

Izzy said:
I swear this game can tilt me like few other experiences can.

The most tilted I've seen someone at a Magic table was against an UB Psychatog. Tog was the pinnacle of the permission control archetype. It was ridiculously oppressive.

Dude was running this RG deck that had Kavus and Mongrels in it. Second game, after he had his second or third Kavu countered in a row, dude just got up, threw his cards into his backpack and left without saying a single word.

jon bones · Feb 12, 2019

Miniature Kaiju said:
The most tilted I've seen someone at a Magic table was against an UB Psychatog. Tog was the pinnacle of the permission control archetype. It was ridiculously oppressive.

I played that deck - Undermine was the most demoralizing card ever. Loved it so much, but always felt bad crushing people with it.

Izzy · Feb 12, 2019

jon bones said:
I played that deck - Undermine was the most demoralizing card ever. Loved it so much, but always felt bad crushing people with it.

Good gravy, counter with a bolt slapped on it? That's just cruel.

jon bones · Feb 12, 2019

Izzy said:
Good gravy, counter with a bolt slapped on it? That's just cruel.

after two of them in a row you can physically feel the opponents composure drop

divisionbyzorro · Feb 12, 2019

I mean, we have Ionize in Standard now. If you want cruel, imagine playing against a control deck that had literally no win conditions other than four copies of Nephalia Drownyard.

Of course, even that was less miserable than Nexus loops.

Miniature Kaiju · Feb 12, 2019

Upheaval -> float mana -> Psychatog. Sequence that never failed to get a sigh from opponents.

GLHFGodbless · Feb 12, 2019

After playing it again for the past week, I think I actually have finished the final version of aristocrats, and it's not awful!

2 Plains (RIX) 192
2 Ajani, Adversary of Tyrants (M19) 3
2 Swamp (RIX) 194
1 Gruesome Menagerie (GRN) 71
4 Mortify (RNA) 192
2 Seraph of the Scales (RNA) 205
3 Footlight Fiend (RNA) 216
3 Hunted Witness (GRN) 15
4 Judith, the Scourge Diva (RNA) 185
4 Clifftop Retreat (DAR) 239
3 Blood Crypt (RNA) 245
4 Godless Shrine (RNA) 248
4 Isolated Chapel (DAR) 241
4 Priest of Forgotten Gods (RNA) 83
4 Goblin Instigator (M19) 142
2 Dragonskull Summit (XLN) 252
4 Tithe Taker (RNA) 27
3 Legion Warboss (GRN) 109
1 Mountain (RIX) 195
1 Arch of Orazca (RIX) 185
3 Gutterbones (RNA) 76

2 Ixalan's Binding (XLN) 17
4 Duress (M19) 94
3 Arguel's Blood Fast (XLN) 90
2 Kaya's Wrath (RNA) 187
2 Drill Bit (RNA) 73
2 Makeshift Munitions (XLN) 151

Have been doing great with it in ranked and even won a bo3 constructed event. PoFG is truly disgusting, the mvp if the deck.

filkry · Feb 12, 2019

I'll have to try that list, GLHFGodbless

Deleted member 733 · Feb 12, 2019

It's so disappointing no one tried my Ultimate Jank Demons deck! It's like you all don't have a ton of rares and mythics just lying around.

GLHFGodbless · Feb 12, 2019

filkry said:
I'll have to try that list, GLHFGodbless

Def give it a try if you've got the cards lying around. I just beat a diamond 2 Bant Nexus deck 2-1. Scumbag never saw it coming. No one ever expects Makeshift Munitions....fog away asshole.

Orb · Feb 13, 2019

Is there anything more than rumors to the idea that you get matched based on your deck? Because it's uncanny how when I started testing my singleton deck, pretty much all I get matched with is random jank decks.

Deleted member 733 · Feb 13, 2019

Orb said:
Is there anything more than rumors to the idea that you get matched based on your deck? Because it's uncanny how when I started testing my singleton deck, pretty much all I get matched with is random jank decks.

In casual best-of-1 they've said from the start the deck plays a factor, I believe. It's incredibly obvious if you're a new player playing an as-is starter deck, since you mostly only see starter decks. If you throw in a couple of mythics, you'll start seeing decks with mythics or whatever.

If I recall correctly, any ranked mode ignores deck content, and any best-of-3 mode ignores the mana balancer.

Orb · Feb 13, 2019

Blizzard said:
In casual best-of-1 they've said from the start the deck plays a factor, I believe. It's incredibly obvious if you're a new player playing an as-is starter deck, since you mostly only see starter decks. If you throw in a couple of mythics, you'll start seeing decks with mythics or whatever.

If I recall correctly, any ranked mode ignores deck content, and any best-of-3 mode ignores the mana balancer.

got it, that makes sense considering I am doing my testing in casual and not ranked

But I wonder what the factors are in terms of how exactly it evaluates your deck for matching

bunbun777 · Feb 13, 2019

It's funny that my first official deck in arena was mono U and here we are with mono U being my new go to deck for grinding constructed events.

dadjumper · Feb 13, 2019

Irate Bandit said:
Japanese and Korean language localization

Yusss, this is the big one for me. Now I can practice in Japanese for playing against Japanese decks

Sejanoz · Feb 13, 2019

Jesus, I just suck at drafting. I thought I had a pretty sweet Rakdos deck and went 0-3 (although I got mana screwed in one game)

Can you help me make something out of this?

What I'm thinking to cut: Junktroller, Justiciar's Portal, Expose to Daylight, Watchful Giant, Knight of Sorrows, Knight of Last Breath, maybe the Angel? What else?

Xequalsy · Feb 13, 2019

Sejanoz said:
Jesus, I just suck at drafting. I thought I had a pretty sweet Rakdos deck and went 0-3 (although I got mana screwed in one game)

Can you help me make something out of this?

What I'm thinking to cut: Junktroller, Justiciar's Portal, Expose to Daylight, Watchful Giant, Knight of Sorrows, Knight of Last Breath, maybe the Angel? What else?

Bankrupt in Blood is not playable in your current deck.

Angel is just too slow for your deck - not enough gates to play.

Easy cuts - Rally to Battle, Plague Wright.

Then you can start to trim some of worse creatures (you name some of them!) and modulate your curve.

Yeef · Feb 13, 2019

Sejanoz said:
Jesus, I just suck at drafting. I thought I had a pretty sweet Rakdos deck and went 0-3 (although I got mana screwed in one game)

Can you help me make something out of this?

What I'm thinking to cut: Junktroller, Justiciar's Portal, Expose to Daylight, Watchful Giant, Knight of Sorrows, Knight of Last Breath, maybe the Angel? What else?

Get rid of:

Plague Wight
Justiciar's Portal
Bakrupt in Blood
Haazda Officer
Expose to Daylight
Junktroller
Rally to Battle
Knight of Sorrows
Archway Angel
Watchful Giant
Knight of the Last Breath

Deleted member 29682 · Feb 13, 2019

I've finally decided to overcome my phobia of blue and/or white decks and am messing about with some janky Flyers/Walls deck built around High Alert. It's pretty slow and I'm still trying to figure out which draws/counterspells are going to work out best for me but it can be a lot of fun. It's a loser more often than a winner but I can at least try to grind out some packs to get the wildcards needed to refine it.

On the other hand I kind of want to save up for drafting now that I'm starting to get the hang of it.

Toma · Feb 13, 2019

I just noticed that drafting is a bit shit for the purpose of filling out the missing Rares. Directly buying packs with gold has the duplicate protection (drafting doesn't), gives more progress to wild cards AND gives more extra wild cards by virtue of them being in packs.

divisionbyzorro · Feb 13, 2019

Yeah I've noticed that too. The trouble is that drafting is super fun!

filkry · Feb 13, 2019

Toma said:
I just noticed that drafting is a bit shit for the purpose of filling out the missing Rares. Directly buying packs with gold has the duplicate protection (drafting doesn't), gives more progress to wild cards AND gives more extra wild cards by virtue of them being in packs.

I think it's only good at <50% collection. Once your odds of hitting duplicates are high you shouldn't draft for collection building.

QFNS · Feb 13, 2019

Anyone got any interesting ideas for the upcoming free Singleton weekend? I don't think rats or petitioners will actually do well enough to get those Ghaltas, also those decks are hella boring.

fuzzyset · Feb 13, 2019

QFNS said:
Anyone got any interesting ideas for the upcoming free Singleton weekend? I don't think rats or petitioners will actually do well enough to get those Ghaltas, also those decks are hella boring.

Singleton isn't Pauper. It's just a deck where only 1 copy of a card is allowed, outside of basic lands. A Petitioner deck definitely won't work with only 1 copy in a 60 card deck.

Euler · Feb 13, 2019

fuzzyset said:
Singleton isn't Pauper. It's just a deck where only 1 copy of a card is allowed, outside of basic lands. A Petitioner deck definitely won't work with only 1 copy in a 60 card deck.

You can have more than one petitioner in a singleton deck. You can have any number of them.

Izzy · Feb 13, 2019

Brian Damage said:
I've finally decided to overcome my phobia of blue and/or white decks and am messing about with some janky Flyers/Walls deck built around High Alert. It's pretty slow and I'm still trying to figure out which draws/counterspells are going to work out best for me but it can be a lot of fun. It's a loser more often than a winner but I can at least try to grind out some packs to get the wildcards needed to refine it.

On the other hand I kind of want to save up for drafting now that I'm starting to get the hang of it.

I was juuuuust looking at a deck like that on goldfish. High alert is my kind of meme card. The article I found is here.

https://www.mtggoldfish.com/articles/instant-deck-tech-azorius-high-alert-standard

I still haven't put a deck together yet but I like their list going for a lot of scry/draw. I was looking at Senate Courier/ Spirit of the Spires /pegasus since that's the kind of cards I own but their list is pretty cheap on rares.

Deleted member 29682 · Feb 13, 2019

Izzy said:
I still haven't put a deck together yet but I like their list going for a lot of scry/draw. I was looking at Senate Courier/ Spirit of the Spires /pegasus since that's the kind of cards I own but their list is pretty cheap on rares.

Yeah, Senate Courier and Spirit of the Spires are what I've been using, along with Wall of Mist for cheap 5/5s. Syndicate Messenger is something I've been playing about with (since the whole ensemble seems to play quite well with Afterlife), but I'm not 100% sold yet. The rest is draw and counterspells, along with Rally to Battle for an extra 3 damage per creature plus untap. I've also been using Sky Tether, since a 1 mana spell that makes a creature practically irrelevant against a flying deck is ok by me, though creature abilities are still a problem.

All I'm really lacking is an alternative win condition, since I'm otherwise heavily dependent on drawing a lot of flyers plus High Alert and getting them to stick, which is never guaranteed.

EDIT: Here's my deck so far. Please excuse the lack of dual lands, I'm a stingy bastard and I keep using all my rare wildcards on an obscenely janky Rakdos control deck. The Selective Snare is mostly because I keep getting matched up against Biogenic Ooze decks, and resetting all their progress on their ooze legions is the main reason I get up every morning.

fuzzyset · Feb 13, 2019

Euler said:
You can have more than one petitioner in a singleton deck. You can have any number of them.

Ah right. Forgot the Golden rule of card games!!! Card text always beats rules text.

Deleted member 2652 · Feb 14, 2019

does anyone have any youtube or article recommendations for starting draft? just something to get me going. I've done it twice now and I'm so bad. i know there's a thing called mana curve and I think im fucking up there.

Yeef · Feb 14, 2019

Quote said:
does anyone have any youtube or article recommendations for starting draft? just something to get me going. I've done it twice now and I'm so bad. i know there's a thing called mana curve and I think im fucking up there.

https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/level-one/level-one-full-course-2015-10-05

http://lrcast.com/

Qvoth · Feb 14, 2019

https://magic.wizards.com/en/articl...banned-and-restricted-announcement-2019-02-14
nexus of fate banned in mtga bo1 format

Bigkrev · Feb 14, 2019

Thank christ
Also, you are getting Mythic Wildcard for each copy you owned

Euler · Feb 14, 2019

Qvoth said:
https://magic.wizards.com/en/articl...banned-and-restricted-announcement-2019-02-14
nexus of fate banned in mtga bo1 format

fantastic news

BigJeffery · Feb 14, 2019

I'd rather they didn't ban it at all, but just in Bo1 seems like a good compromise. Just further removes any reason to play that mode though lol

Deleted member 733 · Feb 14, 2019

Great news, and more reason to play best of 1. I love that you get mythic wildcards as well.

Dogmeat · Feb 14, 2019

so happy they banned that card. Games were getting ridiculously long.

Boogiepop · Feb 14, 2019

Yessssss! Will probably stick with best of 1 for the time being then, haha.

BigJeffery · Feb 14, 2019

I'm not sure if their willingness to have a separate banlist for both modes is a good or bad thing.

One the one hand, maybe it means they're going to continue to print interesting powerful cards because in the worst case scenario they can just ban anything egregious from Bo1, but maybe they'll endeavor to just never print anything like NoF again to try to preempt having to ban anything and keep the two modes as similar as possible. The fact that Bo1 is impacting design (the errata to Pridemate, now this potentially) is kind of troubling.

jon bones · Feb 14, 2019

damn i should have crafted 4 lol

Yeef · Feb 14, 2019

BigJeffery said:
I'm not sure if their willingness to have a separate banlist for both modes is a good or bad thing.

One the one hand, maybe it means they're going to continue to print interesting powerful cards because in the worst case scenario they can just ban anything egregious from Bo1, but maybe they'll endeavor to just never print anything like NoF again to try to preempt having to ban anything and keep the two modes as similar as possible. The fact that Bo1 is impacting design (the errata to Pridemate, now this potentially) is kind of troubling.

There were already the Arena-exclusive tutorial cards that are legal in best of 1 and not legal in best-of-3.

BigJeffery · Feb 14, 2019

Yeef said:
There were already the Arena-exclusive tutorial cards that are legal in best of 1 and not legal in best-of-3.

Oh, I had no idea these existed. That's kind of strange, why not make them legal in both modes? It's not like anyone would play these.

Yeef · Feb 14, 2019

BigJeffery said:
Oh, I had no idea these existed. That's kind of strange, why not make them legal in both modes? It's not like anyone would play these.

The idea is that bo3 is identical to paper Magic, so having cards that you literally can't play in paper doesn't work.

Boogiepop · Feb 14, 2019

Maaaaan, caught under this update issue, hope they don't take too long to fix this as I've been wanting to play for a few hours now.

fuzzyset · Feb 14, 2019

BigJeffery said:
I'm not sure if their willingness to have a separate banlist for both modes is a good or bad thing.

One the one hand, maybe it means they're going to continue to print interesting powerful cards because in the worst case scenario they can just ban anything egregious from Bo1, but maybe they'll endeavor to just never print anything like NoF again to try to preempt having to ban anything and keep the two modes as similar as possible. The fact that Bo1 is impacting design (the errata to Pridemate, now this potentially) is kind of troubling.

I think you argued against that pretty well earlier in the paragraph. Reading between the lines of the announcement was that Bo3 players know interactions like NOF exist, to just scoop the cards in game 1, and sideboard against it in games 2 and 3.

Deleted member 29293 · Feb 14, 2019

Wow, they are testing a "smooth shuffler" (currently only in Play mode) that removes tail end scenarios for land draws, i.e. extreme scenarios of mana screw/flood. Not sure what to think about this. I guess it's fine if it's really only extreme scenarios but this sure creates precedents.

Deleted member 733 · Feb 14, 2019

Copenap said:
Wow, they are testing a "smooth shuffler" (currently only in Play mode) that removes tail end scenarios for land draws, i.e. extreme scenarios of mana screw/flood. Not sure what to think about this. I guess it's fine if it's really only extreme scenarios but this sure creates precedents.

Is there a link / patch notes that talks about it? I can't seem to find the patch notes for today.

Kirblar · Feb 14, 2019

jon bones said:
damn i should have crafted 4 lol

Yeah, I wasn't expecting an off-cycle ban like this, but such is digital. A lesson learned.

Euler · Feb 14, 2019

Blizzard said:
Is there a link / patch notes that talks about it? I can't seem to find the patch notes for today.

https://mtgarena.community.gl/forums/threads/46580

Deleted member 733 · Feb 14, 2019

Euler said:
https://mtgarena.community.gl/forums/threads/46580

Thanks. Those changes sound great overall. The shuffler thing is a pretty big step so I'm curious how it will go.

It does reinforce the impression I had already that taking a mulligan was a really big risk, and very often the first mulligan hand would have 0 or 5 lands. I didn't realize their balancer previously only worked on the first hand.

Kirblar · Feb 14, 2019

Blizzard said:
Thanks. Those changes sound great overall. The shuffler thing is a pretty big step so I'm curious how it will go.

It does reinforce the impression I had already that taking a mulligan was a really big risk, and very often the first mulligan hand would have 0 or 5 lands. I didn't realize their balancer previously only worked on the first hand.

Related to this: In limited play taking a mulligan hurts pretty badly, far moreso than constructed. I'll keep iffy hands in limited that in constructed I would easily pitch because of that.

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