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Magic the Gathering: Arena |OT| Tapped Out of Witty Titles
- Thread starter Nirolak
- Start date
Red players just have way too many tools to help them burn an opponent down.
Shock
Lightning bolt
Wizards lightning
Skewer
That 2 cost 2 damage mage
And all those, at most, will cost 3 mana. Get in card draw with light up the stage or risk factor and they can just win at an unprecedented pace.
I am literally building every single deck with a counter measure against Nexus atm.
Went 7-2 in my first draft!
First pick was Patient Rebuilding, which I got simply because it looked super-cool and fun to build around, 2nd pick was Skyrider Patrol. I just picked all the green and blue cards and somehow got passed a 5th pick Tezzeret! So the plan became to stall the ground until those 3 cards could win the game for me.
2nd Pack gave me all sorts of good white cards like Leonin Warleader, Mentor of the Meek, Valiant Knight, which was nice but gave me a headache trying to figure out how to build my deck. I had bombs in UW, but green had solid cards like Giant Spiders
I settled on UW splashing Green for the Skyrider Patrol. Won 2 games with things going well, then lost the next 2 thanks to mana / colour screw. Decided that 3 bombs is more than enough with a Recollect and swapped to GU for more consistency and won the next 5 games, even managed to deck someone with Patient Rebuilding
First pick was Patient Rebuilding, which I got simply because it looked super-cool and fun to build around, 2nd pick was Skyrider Patrol. I just picked all the green and blue cards and somehow got passed a 5th pick Tezzeret! So the plan became to stall the ground until those 3 cards could win the game for me.
2nd Pack gave me all sorts of good white cards like Leonin Warleader, Mentor of the Meek, Valiant Knight, which was nice but gave me a headache trying to figure out how to build my deck. I had bombs in UW, but green had solid cards like Giant Spiders
I settled on UW splashing Green for the Skyrider Patrol. Won 2 games with things going well, then lost the next 2 thanks to mana / colour screw. Decided that 3 bombs is more than enough with a Recollect and swapped to GU for more consistency and won the next 5 games, even managed to deck someone with Patient Rebuilding
Starcity Games had their first tournament in the new format over the weekend. The decklists from those are always a good place to get ideas for various archetypes to look at, specifically for best of 3 which will be ranked so very soon!
Weekend Open Decks
Sunday Classic Decks
Weekend Open Decks
Sunday Classic Decks
Protip for people playing sealed mode: If you put more than 1 color in your deck, make sure you actually include more than 1 color of lands.
I might have forgotten to do that. ;_;
I might have forgotten to do that. ;_;
I'm not sure anything else I do today will be as satisfying as playing a super jank deck in casual, getting matched against pure petitioner mill, and pulling Rakdos, The Showstopper from my graveyard onto the battlefield to wipe their entire board and cause an immediate concede.
I almost got milled in the Core 2019 draft last night. We had a stalled ground board state and he put down the enchantment that mills 2 cards every time they draw a card. Luckily I was able to Tezzeret out a Skyrider patrol and slowly build up some fliers. They played 3 Dwarven priests throughout the game and probably gained 20-30 life. I won on my last turn. I would've been pissed if I lost, but I guess I gotta respect the wincon.
Had an idea on the weekend for merging some of the best qualities of Bo1 and Bo3. In competitive Bo1 modes, before the game even starts, you could be shown a flop of 5 random unique non-land cards in the opponent's maindeck. Then you get to sideboard for 1 minute before the game starts. Otherwise proceed as normal.
Could help reduce the incentives to play hyper-linear decks and make sure both sides are always playing the best version of their matchup.
Could help reduce the incentives to play hyper-linear decks and make sure both sides are always playing the best version of their matchup.
Yup. Or even see their colors. But I don't think anything is going to happen and I'll just move mostly to bo3 once it hits ranked.
Bo1 actually offers a pretty interesting deckbuilding challenge when you're supposed to be ready for anything and everything, but archetypes like mono red are just far too fast for it to meaningfully work out like that. It's too reliant on starting hand and first few draws when the match is over on turn 4 otherwise.
I think any game with a ladder and/or daily quests will always favor a quick Bo1 for any random unstructured play. A lot of the player base is just gonna be looking for quick games, win or lose. I just don't think they want to spend the time to sideboard. My armchair-psychologist take is that it's more satisfying for most to quickly get past the crushing defeats and enjoy the quick romps, rather then spending 1minute optimizing your deck and still lose.
Yep, I'd rather get crushed quickly than get crushed over 35 minutes, especially if I only have MAYBE 1 hour to devote to Magic per day. If I play a 20+ minute game deck, I'm probably not getting 5 wins a day in that time.
Best of one results in me conceding preposterously fast when things become even somewhat disadvantageous. Like, keep a 2 lander and don't have a 3rd land by turn 4 and the opponent is doing something? Smash that concede button! Slightly slow hand vs 1 drop - 2 drop from mono-red? OUT OF THERE. Nothing in hand/board and they have more than 2 cards? Bye! This is of course at least partly caused by having no aspirations towards a ladder rank.
At least in Best of 3 I have reason to stick it out in game I probably won't win, just to make sure I know what they're up to and how to sideboard and stuff. And the fact that I will play this person for at least one more game means I don't wanna go "well, annoyed by your deck BYE".
At least in Best of 3 I have reason to stick it out in game I probably won't win, just to make sure I know what they're up to and how to sideboard and stuff. And the fact that I will play this person for at least one more game means I don't wanna go "well, annoyed by your deck BYE".
Luckily the Magic player base is large enough to support multiple ways to play. The best Wizards can hope for is to steer people towards Bo3 by ensuring/showing people that it's not that scary. For example, each win of Bo3 counts towards the weekly/daily win count.
Yeah I won't touch BO3 while only having about an hour every second day to grind the dailies.
Your idea is actually great, I'd definitely be up for it if each individual win counted for the dailies.
Oh, I completely misread your post!
What about the 15 wins/week where you can get 3 booster packs ? Do you need to win a bo3 for 1 victory in there ?
I honestly haven't noticed myself, as I don't do a ton of Bo3 (only the Trad Draft this set), but https://www.toiletdrake.com/arena-guides/quests-rewards-and-the-vault-guide/
Christ, Hydroid Krasis fucking EXPLODED to 40+ bucks. I didn't even see it putting in that much over the weekend. It's good, but not 40+ good imo. But I guess this set needs some kind of chase mythic, and Vannifar ain't it, atleast not yet lol.
Also, I'm not sure how exactly bo3 differs from bo1 timewise other than being able to Nope out of a bo1 game much easier when it's not going your way. bo3 is just...playing 2-3 games of magic instead of one. Unless you were only going to play one game and log off, I don't know how bo1 is better timewise. You also get a sideboard!
Also, I'm not sure how exactly bo3 differs from bo1 timewise other than being able to Nope out of a bo1 game much easier when it's not going your way. bo3 is just...playing 2-3 games of magic instead of one. Unless you were only going to play one game and log off, I don't know how bo1 is better timewise. You also get a sideboard!
I think it's an insane card. The fact that the draw+heal can't even be countered is massive. Simic has just felt super underwhelming for me outside of Krasis, crab man and ooze. So many cards that are basically "Under-statted Minion - Adapt for a billion mana to become slightly over-statted". Maybe I'm still missing some obvious picks in my collection.
Been doing really well in sealed RNA pools. getting max wins in most. I don't know if that speaks to the level of play on Arena, I haven't played in a few years, so I doubt it's me.
M
I did not know this. Very cool
M
I did not know this. Very cool
Crab man has won me so many games off of him alone it's insane. swinging for 4 on turn 3 is some rdw level bullshit for standard, and you can grab his buddies from your deck giving you card advantage, he's insane. If he's in my opening hand against most control decks and I play first it's gonna be a pretty quick victory.
This happens to me so rarely I can barely remember it. What happens almost all the time is when someone has 0 or 1 card, there's maybe 2 minions on the board with no abilities, and no choice to be made.
And then I get roped or have to wait 45 seconds.
Damnnn, I didn't know it was that much. RIP, would've been great in my Simic Ascendency deck
I made a jank teferi deck
I feel dirty
2 Plains (RIX) 192
2 Seal Away (DAR) 31
1 Fountain of Renewal (M19) 235
2 Ethereal Absolution (RNA) 170
2 Swamp (RIX) 194
2 Spell Pierce (XLN) 81
2 Island (RIX) 193
2 Quench (RNA) 48
1 Negate (RIX) 44
2 Sinister Sabotage (GRN) 54
4 Discovery // Dispersal (GRN) 223
4 Thought Erasure (GRN) 206
3 Disinformation Campaign (GRN) 167
3 Whisper Agent (GRN) 220
3 Dream Eater (GRN) 38
1 Drowned Catacomb (XLN) 253
3 Isolated Chapel (DAR) 241
4 Godless Shrine (RNA) 248
2 Glacial Fortress (XLN) 255
4 Hallowed Fountain (RNA) 251
1 Memorial to Folly (DAR) 242
2 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria (DAR) 207
2 Mortify (RNA) 192
2 Kaya's Wrath (RNA) 187
4 Revitalize (M19) 35
I feel dirty
2 Plains (RIX) 192
2 Seal Away (DAR) 31
1 Fountain of Renewal (M19) 235
2 Ethereal Absolution (RNA) 170
2 Swamp (RIX) 194
2 Spell Pierce (XLN) 81
2 Island (RIX) 193
2 Quench (RNA) 48
1 Negate (RIX) 44
2 Sinister Sabotage (GRN) 54
4 Discovery // Dispersal (GRN) 223
4 Thought Erasure (GRN) 206
3 Disinformation Campaign (GRN) 167
3 Whisper Agent (GRN) 220
3 Dream Eater (GRN) 38
1 Drowned Catacomb (XLN) 253
3 Isolated Chapel (DAR) 241
4 Godless Shrine (RNA) 248
2 Glacial Fortress (XLN) 255
4 Hallowed Fountain (RNA) 251
1 Memorial to Folly (DAR) 242
2 Teferi, Hero of Dominaria (DAR) 207
2 Mortify (RNA) 192
2 Kaya's Wrath (RNA) 187
4 Revitalize (M19) 35
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Man, I can't get over how good growth chamber guardian is. He wasn't even on my rader during spoilers but now it's one of my favorite cards in the set.
I've played about 5 or 6 new decks and I think I've settled on Sultai midrange for my deck for bo3 next season. And not just golgari midrange with Krasis thrown in. It's been most consistent for me and has the most adaptive sideboard, and just lot's of fun cards in general.
I've played about 5 or 6 new decks and I think I've settled on Sultai midrange for my deck for bo3 next season. And not just golgari midrange with Krasis thrown in. It's been most consistent for me and has the most adaptive sideboard, and just lot's of fun cards in general.
When it comes to card games, I've always been scared off by the idea of desk building. Will I get over that or is deck building just not for some people?
you don't have to build them from scratch, you'll probably find some cards/archetypes to be enjoyable and you can netdeck something to build off of
Create a deck based one 2 or 3 main cards, then build the rest around it to support your win condition.
Play some games with it, learn what works and what doesn't, change and adapt, play some games with it, change and adapt according to the current meta, play some games, create a sideboard to counter your weak matchups.
I love MTG more than Pokemon or YGO since I think that MTG has way more possibilities in deckbuilding. Even jank decks can have good win rates, depending on how you play them.
I made a janky teferi deck that kinda works(?) so you can always experiment. Make something new! All my good decks are archetypes but with my own spins to them.
Thanks everyone. The more the I play and open packs the more I start to connect the dots I think. Some of the decks i've played against have the craziest combos though.
A good way to get started with deck building is to "upgrade" one of the preconstructed decks. Play with it and see which cards you think you need to get more consistently and then get a full set of them; see which ones aren't working all that well and remove them; look for cards that have strictly better versions, do the same effects cheaper or have more upside, and replace those.
Bit by bit you'll get a feeling for what works and what doesn't. Don't worry about crazy combos or insane synergy, those will make themselves clear to you once you get used to it.
EDIT: And oh, don't be ashamed of just copying shit. Lift stuff from netdecks. Saw someone running a cool card combo? Make a deck around it. Copy wide and fierce.
Bit by bit you'll get a feeling for what works and what doesn't. Don't worry about crazy combos or insane synergy, those will make themselves clear to you once you get used to it.
EDIT: And oh, don't be ashamed of just copying shit. Lift stuff from netdecks. Saw someone running a cool card combo? Make a deck around it. Copy wide and fierce.
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Deck building is why I play mtg. Everyones saving their gold for drafts, I blow my load right away on packs to start brewing up decks to play. Arena is great for scratching that itch.
Not seen: another 2 rows of decks....
Not seen: another 2 rows of decks....
My biggest advice for someone new to playing competitive-ish constructed is to start by netdecking before you get really deep into spending a lot of money/wildcards on brewing your own stuff. Just check a recent Top 8, grab a deck that seems fun, and build an approximation of it with what you available (maybe with guildgates replacing rare lands or etc.) Getting a sense of "this is what a competitive deck looks like and feels like to play" is super valuable.
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If you are interested in deckbuilding, I find its also interesting to read up on some of the strategy articles on DailyMTG, the old series can be pretty neat (now they focus more on design issues)
Here's an old link to even older articles: Interesting magic articles
Here's an old link to even older articles: Interesting magic articles
Strangely enough I think the previous mtg game series 'duals of the planeswalkers 201X' were really good at easing people into figuring out deck alterations and optimizations. In most of those games you generally only had a bunch of preconstructed decks themed around planeswalkers and every couple wins with that character you would unlock some new cards for their deck up to about 20 new cards but you got to decide which cards to sub out for the new cards if any. The cards you unlock were also curated to either enhance the base deck strategy or sometimes to transform the whole deck's plan over time, like turning a blue mill deck into a blue tempo deck. It would kind of teach you first hand as you grinded wins against the ai opponents like ok this vanilla 2/2 for 2 is really not doing enough in this green ramp deck, I should replace it with either a bigger creature or another mana accelerator.
I'm sure those first couple like 2012 or 2013 are dirt cheap now, but then it's also tough to recommend anyone go grind an old mtg game when you could be getting tangible rewards grinding the current one.
I'm sure those first couple like 2012 or 2013 are dirt cheap now, but then it's also tough to recommend anyone go grind an old mtg game when you could be getting tangible rewards grinding the current one.
Magic Arena Mythic Invitational tournament coming March 28-31 at PAX East.
Eight players will be invited from the top ranking Mythic players on Arena.
I'm glad a decent chunk of the invitees appear to be women. The Pro League being all men is still a bad look, but I assume they'll recruit more using this tournament.
Eight players will be invited from the top ranking Mythic players on Arena.
I'm glad a decent chunk of the invitees appear to be women. The Pro League being all men is still a bad look, but I assume they'll recruit more using this tournament.
Still waiting on any kind of hint that this will come to consoles (or ideally, consoles and Mac with one account for all platforms)...