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

[Miniature Kaiju]

Yeah, the deck definitely needs some getting used to it, you need to time some of your drops around what the other player is doing to keep options open, etc. Also, Bo1 is not the best environment for it, because you'll want the sideboard against some of the fatty matchups.

 

[Orb]

Possibly the most satisfying thing I have ever done in Magic: Expansion on an Esper player's turn 3 Unmoored Ego, exiling all his Teferis while whatever he named came up with 0 cards from me.

 

[BigJeffery]

Expansioning someone elses Unmoored Ego is about the only time it is acceptable to resolve the spell Unmoored Ego lol

 

[fuzzyset]

Man, Etheral Absolution is annoying as hell to play against in Limited. The stat change alone is nuts, but nigh unlimited 2/2 fliers is redonk.

 

[bunbun777]

Well I decided to take that new Boros aggro exalted deck from Tangrams for a spin, 7-1 on it's first run.

 

[Ashodin]

Well I decided to take that new Boros aggro exalted deck from Tangrams for a spin, 7-1 on it's first run.

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OH my god it's so good. I'm taking it to FNM tomorrow.

 

[AzVal]

having some fun with a Electrodominance deck I built with the 3 copies I have opened, the kill conditions are either Dinos, the electrodominance and Fight Fire with Fire kicked, I would put here the 3 Amplifires but have over 10 dorks besides the dinos.

 

[Orb]

I think tons of variants of Gates are about to go nuts in Arena meta. Seems people are realizing you can basically just throw whatever shit you want in a deck with a Guildgate mana base and the ramp cards.

 

[BigJeffery]

I think tons of variants of Gates are about to go nuts in Arena meta. Seems people are realizing you can basically just throw whatever shit you want in a deck with a Guildgate mana base and the ramp cards.

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I agree, good time to invest in Mono Blue or Esper Control.

 

[Volimar]

Already seeing a good amount of mono blue.

 

[Xequalsy]

Had an amazing draft just now (7-2). P1P1 Ethereal Absolution is hard to top hehe. Only really got to cast it twice in my run though, Orzhov is just ridiculously open on Arena right now. Grasping Thrulls are wheeling way too much at the moment by the bots.

 

[GLHFGodbless]

Maaan Captain Lannery Storm is hilarious in this Mardu midrange I put together. It's all fun and games until you gotta deal with turn 5 Captive Audience. No one expects the Mardu ramp! Sucks I can't think of a decent 6 drop to put in, for some turn 4 shenanigans.

 

[SonicXtreme]

Tearing people apart, limb by limb, with the new Pteramander and Essence Capture enhanced Mono-Blue. So good. Pteramander, as I imagined, has been a bomb, saved my skin on a top deck more times than I care to admit :D

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post ur list plz
I tried essence but I think I ditched it except in my merfolk build , i'll give yours a whirl

 

[jon bones]

Tearing people apart, limb by limb, with the new Pteramander and Essence Capture enhanced Mono-Blue. So good. Pteramander, as I imagined, has been a bomb, saved my skin on a top deck more times than I care to admit :D

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gimmie dis list

 

[SonicXtreme]

is there a website with good discussion/rating on whether or not cards are good or bad? like, with hearthstone, you can go to a card's page on hearthpwn, and it will have ratings, and probably dozens of comments saying whether a card is decent or not, along with deck lists, and whatnot. but with magic sometimes if it's an iffy card that I can't evaluate on my own, it seems the most reliable place to find a consensus on a card is the reddit page for the prerelease of the card? is there a better way to just simply find out a quick general consensus on cards I don't personally know yet?

 

[Draggyrider]

is there a website with good discussion/rating on whether or not cards are good or bad? like, with hearthstone, you can go to a card's page on hearthpwn, and it will have ratings, and probably dozens of comments saying whether a card is decent or not, along with deck lists, and whatnot. but with magic sometimes if it's an iffy card that I can't evaluate on my own, it seems the most reliable place to find a consensus on a card is the reddit page for the prerelease of the card? is there a better way to just simply find out a quick general consensus on cards I don't personally know yet?

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Set reviews on sites like starcitygames and channel fireball are probably your best bet. Thing is, with sideboards & Bo3, there is a lot more room for narrow cards that would otherwise be deemed too 'niche' in HS, since you can swap those in only when you are fighting against a certain matchup.

Nice thing about Magic is that there are a lot more 'build around me' iffy cards like Amplifire, that may turn out good once someone tinkers with them

 

[SigmasonicX]

The funny thing is, the official Magic card database, Gatherer, used to have just that, but that feature was disabled in an update and never restored.

 

[Deleted member 9100]

Any good sites for best of 1 decks instead of best of 3 decks?

 

[Orb]

Any good sites for best of 1 decks instead of best of 3 decks?

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MTGArena.pro is entirely based on Arena so most of the decks you find there are Bo1 focused. A lot dont even have sideboards

 

[jon bones]

how does sealed drafts work? how much time do i have to make a deck after draft? any tips for someone who hasn't played sealed in decades?

 

[SubvertedTrope]

how does sealed drafts work? how much time do i have to make a deck after draft? any tips for someone who hasn't played sealed in decades?

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You buy 6 packs and make a deck with whatever you got. There's no time limit so you can take a screen and ask around for help building it if you're not sure. Idk what set sealed is now but it's usually a pretty fun format I think.

If you get a good rare that's somewhere you can start.

 

[Angry Grimace]

how does sealed drafts work? how much time do i have to make a deck after draft? any tips for someone who hasn't played sealed in decades?

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Drafts on Arena have no time limit either to make picks or to build decks, but Sealed isn't a draft format, it's just 6 packs.

 

[jon bones]

thanks, won 2. was about to win 3 and totally made a misplay at the end. i had it in my hands and blew it. that felt terrible.

 

[Miniature Kaiju]

post ur list plz
I tried essence but I think I ditched it except in my merfolk build , i'll give yours a whirl

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gimmie dis list

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Critters
3 Mist-Cloaked Herald
4 Pteramander
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Merfolk Trickster
4 Tempest Djinn

Spells
3 Dive Down
4 Opt
2 Spell Pierce
2 Chart a Course
3 Essence Capture
4 Wizard's Retort

Chants
4 Curious Obsession

Lands
19 Island

Sideboard
2 Entrancing Melody
1 Dive Down
2 Faerie Duelist
2 Negate
1 Sleep
1 Search for Azcanta
2 Surge Mare
2 Deep Freeze
2 Exclusion Mage

That's the build I'm running right now. It's a bit in flux, with things in and out. Dunno about the Duelists, they've worked before, but eh...

 

[Wamb0wneD]

Sooo... I tried to make a deck with Cavalcade of Calamity work and decided to go Grixis, because of Tetsuko.

Creatures:
4x Siren Stormtamer (great to protect Tetsuko)
4x Vicious Conquistador (a 1/2 that if it comes through once while Calamity is out, you get 3 damage off it.)
4x Fanatical Firebrand (no explanation needed, I think)
3x Nightveil Sprite (not sure about this one, but it comes trhough sometimes even without Tetsuko and fixes my draws)
3x Kitesail Freebooter (pretty good)
4x Goblin Instigator (2 mana 2 1/1s, meaning two Calamity triggers)

Sorc/Insta:
4x Chart a Course (one of the best draw engines, imo)
4x Light Up The Stage (another great draw engine. But maybe I should go Frenzy instead?)


That's basically it. I feel like I'm missing some removal in case I don't draw Tetsuko or it gets destroyed (maybe some cast downs instead of the Sprites?)
But once you have a board the enemy can be dead in turn 4 or 5.

As soon Testuko is on the board, your entire deck becomes unblockable, and Calamity deals an insane amount of damage.

 

[fuzzyset]

Jesus, I just got wrecked in Bo3 playing against an Izzet deck running Adeliz. TIL counter spells don't stop "when you cast" procs I guess. They were also running Beamsplitter Mage.

 

[divisionbyzorro]

That's correct. "When you cast..." effects are triggers. There is a card in Allegiance that counters triggers but I don't remember what it's called (it's a Simic split card).

 

[GLHFGodbless]

Man, thought erasure has go to be the most played card in standard at the moment. That shit is in every deck imaginable.

 

[Deleted member 733]

Why does Sphinx of Foresight (https://6d4be195623157e28848-7697ece4918e0a73861de0eb37d08968.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/182820_200w.jpg) not give you TWO scrys if you reveal it? It seems to me you should scry 3 and then scry 1, but unless I'm really confused, I only got the scry 3.

 

[Yeef]

Why does Sphinx of Foresight (https://6d4be195623157e28848-7697ece4918e0a73861de0eb37d08968.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/182820_200w.jpg) not give you TWO scrys if you reveal it? It seems to me you should scry 3 and then scry 1, but unless I'm really confused, I only got the scry 3.

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There's 2 different abilities. The first is if you reveal it from your opening hand you get a triggered ability on your first upkeep.

The second is a normal triggered ability. Abilities on permanents only function when they're on the battlefield unless they say otherwise. So, while the Sphinx is on the field, you'll Scry 1 during each of your upkeeps.

 

[Deleted member 733]

There's 2 different abilities. The first is if you reveal it from your opening hand you get a triggered ability on your first upkeep.

The second is a normal triggered ability. Abilities on permanents only function when they're on the battlefield unless they say otherwise. So, while the Sphinx is on the field, you'll Scry 1 during each of your upkeeps.

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Thanks, I had a momentary lapse of reason.

 

[GLHFGodbless]

Wait, what, the vault still exists? I thought it was removed with the update. pleasant surprise, I needed that mythic card!

 

[Xequalsy]

Kinda all drafted out for Ravnica Allegiance. Gonna wait on the rest of my gems for the Guilds ranked draft I guess, I'm coming up on ~100% rares for Allegiance, not really worth drafting just to receive 20 gems for rares imo.

For fun, I built singleton decks for each mono colour to play in the unranked queue. I win surprisingly often haha even with mostly terrible cards.

 

[Volimar]

Wait, what, the vault still exists? I thought it was removed with the update. pleasant surprise, I needed that mythic card!

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Yeah, mine opened the other day. An unexpected surprise, but a welcome one.

 

[fuzzyset]

Yeah, it's where all the common/uncommon dupes go.

 

[Volimar]

It's a bit bothersome that all my carefully theorycrafted decks are meeting hard counters and making laddering tough, but I can play that easy mode mono red aggo deck and win 3-4 games in a row. Harumph.

 

[GLHFGodbless]

I've been having surprising success with the Mardu Midrange I threw together in platinum. The sideboard needs some work but seems to be getting the job done for the most part. Like 80% of the decks I face seem to be Dimir with another color thrown in. So much discarding on both sides...

Spoiler

2 Plains (RIX) 192
4 Duress (M19) 94
4 Swamp (RIX) 194
2 Arguel's Blood Fast (XLN) 90
2 Cast Down (DAR) 81
2 Vraska's Contempt (XLN) 129
2 Doom Whisperer (GRN) 69
2 The Eldest Reborn (DAR) 90
2 Mountain (RIX) 195
3 Lava Coil (GRN) 108
2 Captain Lannery Storm (XLN) 136
1 Banefire (M19) 130
4 Mortify (RNA) 192
4 Basilica Bell-Haunt (RNA) 156
2 Seraph of the Scales (RNA) 205
2 Captive Audience (RNA) 160
4 Isolated Chapel (DAR) 241
3 Godless Shrine (RNA) 248
2 Blood Crypt (RNA) 245
2 Dragonskull Summit (XLN) 252
3 Clifftop Retreat (DAR) 239
2 Sacred Foundry (GRN) 254
2 Moment of Craving (RIX) 79
2 Angrath, the Flame-Chained (RIX) 152

2 Banefire (M19) 130
2 Cast Down (DAR) 81
3 Fiery Cannonade (XLN) 143
3 Dire Fleet Daredevil (RIX) 99
3 Ixalan's Binding (XLN) 17
2 Dawn of Hope (GRN) 8

 

[divisionbyzorro]

I just Replicate'd a Biogenic Ooze in a ranked Allegiance draft. Pretty sure I've peaked.

 

[fuzzyset]

People have been complaining that Bo1 in Arena is forcing a bunch of aggro decks, but it seems like the format is just aggro-centric right now, based on the results from the latest paper tourny in Dallas. I have to say though, the more I do it, the more I love sideboarding and Bo3, and I hope Arena keeps some sort of sideboard in the future.

 

[SonicXtreme]

Critters
3 Mist-Cloaked Herald
4 Pteramander
4 Siren Stormtamer
4 Merfolk Trickster
4 Tempest Djinn

Spells
3 Dive Down
4 Opt
2 Spell Pierce
2 Chart a Course
3 Essence Capture
4 Wizard's Retort

Chants
4 Curious Obsession

Lands
19 Island

Sideboard
2 Entrancing Melody
1 Dive Down
2 Faerie Duelist
2 Negate
1 Sleep
1 Search for Azcanta
2 Surge Mare
2 Deep Freeze
2 Exclusion Mage

That's the build I'm running right now. It's a bit in flux, with things in and out. Dunno about the Duelists, they've worked before, but eh...

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nice. i use a couple sinister sabotages since i'm short a couple of the counterspell cards till i draw them. so with the sideboard, how do you decide when to use search for azcanta? just against longer control deck games? how is surge mare and the duelists? and deep freeze?

 

[Deleted member 2652]

played my first draft ever, won 0 games but it's good to know how it works. i don't know what the rank symbols mean, but every opponent was not the same rank which is kind of annoying.

 

[Miniature Kaiju]

nice. i use a couple sinister sabotages since i'm short a couple of the counterspell cards till i draw them. so with the sideboard, how do you decide when to use search for azcanta? just against longer control deck games? how is surge mare and the duelists? and deep freeze?

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Yup, Search is subbed in mostly against long control, to give the deck some extra juice from the mid to late game. Surge Mare does an awful lot, actually: it can deadlock fatties in Sultai/Golgari matchups while being an offensive threat, it will eat a hell of a lot of burn against Red Aggro and lock their whirlers and kins. Deep Freeze is mostly tech against Jeskai Control, to deal with Niv, but I've used it to deal with Drakes and Vanguards before.

The Duelists are mostly an experiment. They're kind of a tempo alternative to the Tricksters, but against smaller aggro decks. It kinda works, with the added advantage of a flying body to clock your opponent and as a vehicle for Obsession, but I don't know. Jury's still out on this inclusion.

 

[filkry]

played my first draft ever, won 0 games but it's good to know how it works. i don't know what the rank symbols mean, but every opponent was not the same rank which is kind of annoying.

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Matchmaking in draft is based first on win/loss record for that specific event, then on rank. Since that change I feel like rank is basically meaningless in ranked draft, I've seen mythic players matched against bronze on stream. Just not enough players in draft at any given time due to the cost I think. Sorry to hear about your bad experience.

 

[Deleted member 16849]

New patch for the 14th sounds awesome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n848sztfDXQ

Just pulling this off Reddit

Discord integration where you can send friends direct challenge via discord
Best of 3 direct challenges
Japanese and Korean language localization
Improved filtering and seeing more cards at the same time in the deck builder
Also mentioned Bo3 ranked and the Mythic invitational (which we already knew about)
At the end he also hinted at something with your "favorite roommates" (presumably Day9 and Danny Trejo), possibly an ad or event.

QUALITY-OF-LIFE IMPROVEMENTS
We're continuing to add polish and other quality-of-life improvements to all aspects of MTG Arena. With this update, notables include improvements to our timer system, a "Resolve All" option for repeating triggers on the stack, and the ability tomass-select attackers and blockers. Full patch notes will be available once the update is live next week.

The Deck Builder now supports multiple views and zooming options, an improved deck details page, changes to adding lands, and you can now sort your decks by format (Standard, Singleton, Pauper, etc.).

https://magic.wizards.com/en/articles/archive/magic-digital/mtg-arena-state-beta-february-2019-02-11

 

[Koz]

Yup, Search is subbed in mostly against long control, to give the deck some extra juice from the mid to late game. Surge Mare does an awful lot, actually: it can deadlock fatties in Sultai/Golgari matchups while being an offensive threat, it will eat a hell of a lot of burn against Red Aggro and lock their whirlers and kins. Deep Freeze is mostly tech against Jeskai Control, to deal with Niv, but I've used it to deal with Drakes and Vanguards before.

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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.

 

[The Adder]

White
4 Ajani's Welcome
4 Healer's Hawk
4 Leonin Vanguard
4 Adanto Vanguard
4 Ajani's Pridemate
2 Dawn of Hope

Black
2 Font of Agonies
3 Nightmare's Thirst
2 Arguel's Blood Fast

Orzhov
2 Consecrate // Consume
2 Revival // Revenge
4 Mortify Artifact
3 Fountain of Renewal

Land
7 Plains
6 Swamp
3 Godless Shrine
4 Isolated Chapel

 

[divisionbyzorro]

Had my first real "beta" moment today. Arena randomly DCd, then crashed - right in the middle of a ranked draft game. Obviously by the time I got back in I had lost.

Is there a way to submit bug reports or an equivalent to "file for compensation" like you could on MTGO?

And of course the next game my opponent mills 7 of my 10 forests with two Walls on the first three turns and it's a non game. I swear this game sometimes...

 

[fuzzyset]

I've had some issues with the interactions between counters in my Simic Climb deck. Sometimes if I put a counter from Climb on a Krasis it'll temporarily only have the 1 counter for combat, do 1 damage, then revert to X+1 after I pass the turn. Let me know if you find a page for compensation. It's definitely happened during constructed events.

 

[Deleted member 733]

Are you ready for ultimate jank? I'm finally posting one of the only Arena decks I've made from scratch. This is probably horrible in anything other than casual ladder. However, if I'm getting daily wins from the casual ladder and I have enough time to play it, I feel like it usually gets 40-50% wins. I've only ever gotten the contract to work once (I would have won through lethal damage but the person was nice enough to just play their turns out so I could use the contract), since the two other times I WOULD have won via the contract, the person surrendered a turn or two short even with 37+ HP.

I don't know if it's the self-made aspect, the reasonable amount of casual wins, or the "stop hitting yourself" feeling of pulling a carnage tyrant from the opponent's discard, but I have a lot of fun playing it. Maybe it's a combination. Rakdos will sometimes disappoint you, but other times pull an amazing wipe to win. What more can you ask from a jank deck full of random expensive cards?

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[Izzy]

I swear this game can tilt me like few other experiences can. I had a match today where a dude managed to Cleansing Nova the board clean, and then we spend the next 20 minutes or so trying to grind the other out while he manages to land four (4!) Luminous Bonds, and blow up all lands with a Fall of Thran. I can't count how many turns we were just grinding each other out in topdeck mode trading cards one for one. Like, I'm just trying to get a 5th to get that uncommon. I'm not even happy with that win, just exhausted from surviving it.

God help me when I finally run into an actual turbo fog.