On January 08 2013 00:54 Judicator wrote: I play whatever gets passed. Paying attention to what wheels and what doesn't is an important skill to have in multicolored draft formats. Not every deck is going to be splash Stab Wound and not every deck is going to take Hellhole Flailer despite those cards being perfectly reasonable first or second picks. Pay attention to what is in each pack and more importantly pay attention to when you are getting certain cards not just colors.
Removal is also overrated (using that term very lightly here) in RtR depending on what kind of a deck you are playing. Tempo seems to be a much bigger factor in RtR. For me personally, I just win most of my draft pools off of UW flyers with tempo cards and its usually not even close; nothing tilts a player harder when you point out that a Runewing did 20 points of damage.
You mentioned that before, I have never seen it happen personally. Drawing dead to a Runewing, is pretty pitiful.
You'd be surprised how well Runewing acts like a Stab Wound in terms of card economy for certain people. The two times I have done it is mostly against Rakdos decks that don't really interact with flyers.
It's mostly because they can't bring themselves to actually kill it.
I can, have, and will kill Runewings if the situation calls for it.
I love drafting Golgari in this set, but you really can't waste any picks on random filler; it's rarely as "open" as it looks since you will see a lot of random cards you technically CAN play, but you have to fight over several of the cards you actively need (Stab Wound, Giant Growth and other cheap pump, removal in general, Gatecreeper Vine, jailbreaker, etc.)- just taking random scavenge dudes isn't necessarily going to get you anywhere. On the bright side, most of the decent roleplayer cards are easy to pick up middle/late in the pack (Daggerdrome Imp, lifelink crocodile, grisly salvage, random 6+ drops, random reach dudes, cheap scavenge dudes, mind rot, etc.) I like Gatecreeper more than Axebane Guardian in Golgari, hitting land drops and being an easy choice to feed to Launch Party/Slum Reaper/guildmage/etc. (Gobbling Ooze???) is pretty important.
I think Brushstrider is fine in Golgari, it's a 2-drop that trades with a decent amount of 3/4 drops, and it's a cheap creature to drop midgame and scavenge onto. Just don't run it into obvious Hussar Patrols or whatever.
I have yet to draft anything other than UWr or WGu in RTR. I've sealed 2 times and drafted 3-4 and every time people cut rakdos and golgari super early and I benefit from pick three Skymark Rocs and shit like that. Yet I still have yet to win a draft or sealed event. It's super saddening.
I think Populate is the most powerful thing you can do in the format. R/B midrange, with high card quality, is probably second. That being said, you can win with any sort of combination: UW tempo, 5-color rampy, Izzet teleportal.
@Shotcoder, you've only drafted a couple of times so its not the end of the world, I know there's no way I win half of the drafts I play at my store.
My best draft was R/B aggro splash Teleportal. 2 games some guy dropped 3 Indriks and an Armory Guard and I won by alpha striking him from 8-12 life with Teleportal, all my other games ended by the 5th turn or so.
Yes, I've had similar games where I go, "what's your life total?" And the guy goes "uh...16..." I put my finger on my mouth and furrow my brow cause I like to look like I'm doing really complex math.
On January 08 2013 12:51 slyboogie wrote: I think Populate is the most powerful thing you can do in the format. R/B midrange, with high card quality, is probably second. That being said, you can win with any sort of combination: UW tempo, 5-color rampy, Izzet teleportal.
@Shotcoder, you've only drafted a couple of times so its not the end of the world, I know there's no way I win half of the drafts I play at my store.
Eh it's not too upsetting, I play because I like opening packs and I rare draft most of the time. Most fun drafting I've had was innistradt I think. I miss it a lot, everyone here never wants to go back, they want RtR or something crazy like Alara block.
A bit off topic but I remember reading about how Duel Masters (from Wizards of the Coast) was supposed to be about MTG universe but they ended up making it based off of them playing the game (I remember reading something about how Wizards wanted a show to promote the card game, but the people they gave the rights to ended up making a show about them playing the card game instead of the actual magic universe instead >.>). (That's what I remember reading somewhere though, not sure if exactly true.)
Sadly, it wasn't based off of the game exactly (Duel Masters is a much more simplified version of MTG).
Joshua Seth (if you're a fan of him, he voiced Tai from Digimon, chaos from Xenosaga, etc) explaining how to play Duel Masters (based off of MTG): (You can see Wizards of the Coast copyright at 13:32~): + Show Spoiler +
Interesting video. Uses most of the same terms and mechanics too (summoning sickness, tapping, mana, etc). A lot of things are simplified (no land cards, instead you can use any card as mana; cards with a specific element only requires 1 specific colored mana and any other color mana; blocking is done with specific cards only and there is no toughness, just power, etc).
Surprisingly, the actual card game is still going on (with new cards added regularly apparently). Though, I don't know why they branched it off like that instead of just using the official MTG game (unlike Yugioh, which is only vaguely based off of MTG, this really seems almost the same thing as MTG, in which case I'd rather just play MTG than this).
According to Wikipedia, Duel Masters really hit it off in Japan (though the article doesn't say why they made Duel Masters instead of just using MTG, apparently MTG was supposed to be used in the first place for the manga/anime series).
They should have just based the series off of MTG exactly. Would have been a more fun series to watch since we'd have something to compare to IRL.
You know this would have been more epic (even if really cheesy) if they were playing MTG (instead of an MTG-ish game) (Woot! An anime about people playing MTG... well almost):
Definitely intriguing. (As you may note from the video, they don't really go through or really explain the playing process unlike Yugioh. Not sure if it's because it's the English dub, the English version made the series into more of a parody rather than an actual serious show about playing the card game.)
On January 08 2013 14:44 slyboogie wrote: Yes, I've had similar games where I go, "what's your life total?" And the guy goes "uh...16..." I put my finger on my mouth and furrow my brow cause I like to look like I'm doing really complex math.
Teleportal is really easily telegraphed, one of the easier cards to play around. Note that does not mean you will get out of it, but it does mean you can take different lines to make the opponent take different lines other than sit back drop creatures and teleportal for the win.
Also, Populate is good but too polarizing in terms of power level. Really good when its good, really bad when its bad. The higher end populate cards are pretty much unplayable most of the time, Courser's Accord is whatever alright once you get 3 or more Centaurs out, but at 2 or less it is just plain awkward most of the time.
Hey guys i just got MTGO. I spent another like $14 to get a RTR event combo so I can do drafts. I jump into my first RTR 8-4 draft. Drafting was very fun and I was very excited to win my first match! The second match I won the first game, accidentally mulligan-ed a great hand on the second, and lost the third So close to making it in the top two! Was still very fun, but I don't wanna spent too much money on this game. On the plus side I did get a Hallowed Fountain and foil Rakdos's Return in the draft.
Anyway just wanted to say hi to the TL community here and share my first experience. My name on there is IboxI (capital i's) so hit me up if you want to play games. I'm a complete nub so still learning the basics of operating the program.
Just paid my $10 to get in tonight, and noticed that the starting card collection is rather...lacking. What's the best way to bolster that, beside just buying a ton of boosters, of course? Are there people online, like IRL, with thousands of extras lying around, or do I just have to buy boosters/play limited to get my count up?
So, another returner into the MTGO world here, bought a new account before new years and started drafting some, with mild success (read: not much). Recently net-decked the cheapest deck that's consistently in the RTR-daily 4-0/3-1's, the RB Aggro deck.
All I do now is to sit in the Tournament Practice room and play my hearts out to get familiar with my deck and how to play it, eventually I'll move on to play the RTR Block Constructed daily event or three every week!
So it curves out nice and quick and sometimes they scoop at turn 5, finding no answers Other times you play a Selesnya-deck that answers the drops early with Call of the Conclave, Loxodon Smiter's and eventually runs over you with a Trostani into Armadawurm into certain death. More often than not you run into the Azorius running Angel of Serenity, Jace and Lyev Skynight together with a bunch of counterspells/boardwipes/detention sphere's and here's my problem, I feel like I should be favored here, but yet I lose a whole bunch of games against this deck, hopefully due to me not being able to pilot my deck correctly. Here I am asking for advice
My own thoughts for you to correct before I let you answer: -Don't overcommit on the board after Turn 4 so you can have a follow-up on the inevitable Supreme Verdict -Keyrunes are good to get in for extra damage after boardwipes -Sideboard in 2 Underworld Connections to negate the card-advantage he'll be able to get -Sideboard in the Rakdos's Return, to minimize sphinx revelation (which can still be played in response, but yeah) and just to generate a card advantage -How about Slaughter Games in the sideboard?
Other thoughts about the sideboard: -Stab Wound - doubles as a removal and a way to seal the win late, coupled with a deathrite shaman 4 points of damage/turn should result in swift death if the board is stalled -Pack Rat - can steal a win both in the mirror and against golgari-decks if they don't present an answer fairly quick -Desecration Demon - Feels good against decks playing the Angel and pretty solid overall, maybe main-deck material?
To sum it up, Magic is hard and I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing! Please help a noob out!
I feel like you took one of the fastest deck around and added a lot of random stuff to slow it down. Things like equip items and keyrunes aren't needed, your goal is to win before turn 8 aiming for turn 4/5 wins most games. Also you're missing the whole point of R/B which is being able to run Aristocrats, without them you're better off going pure R. Drop all the dual and just run (20-22)mountains + (1-2)hellion crucible. Ditch shamans, chain-walkers and flailers for Pyreheart wolves, Stonewrights, Zealous Conscripts, Lightning Maulers, Stromkrik Nobles and Hellriders. Drop the spell list to something like 4searing spears, 3 brimstone volleys, 2 pillar of flames. Side Deck the Mortars and Traitorous, add flames of the firebrand, Thunderbolts, more pillars
I was under the impression that Rakdos is not really viable in RTR block. I didn't play it, but watched some people do, and they got crushed hard by what is essentially a bant control deck...
He is asking for a deck to play now and the current meta has been pretty stable now for a while.
1. Rakdos Charm is the worst of them all and not playable even in Block. 2. Slaughter Games is decent against UW but Bant usually runs more creatures and can stabilize without it so you might want to just keep your deck as fast as possible. In my Jund Deck I run 2 in the Sideboard but I don't see a lot of Rakdos Decks having this card in the Sideboard and probably the reason is if they spend their fourth turn playing Slaughter Games they are not going to win anyway. 3. Pack Rat is good against Jund, Golgari, Rakdos and Selesnya because they don't run Detention Sphere and Verdict which are the only 2 Cards being able to remove it consistently. 4. Desecration Demon is the best finisher for this Deck even if it's not a great card you are doomed to play some copys of it.
I can't give you valuable advice on how to play the different matchups since I haven't played the Deck myself but this kind of deck relies on nut draws and you being able to play around sweepers, removal and still applying as much pressure as possible. I think UW and Bant are the best Decks in this format and nobody is really favored against them but your deck should have a decent matchup against them.
On January 10 2013 08:24 Baum wrote: He is asking for a deck to play now and the current meta has been pretty stable now for a while.
1. Rakdos Charm is the worst of them all and not playable even in Block. 2. Slaughter Games is decent against UW but Bant usually runs more creatures and can stabilize without it so you might want to just keep your deck as fast as possible. In my Jund Deck I run 2 in the Sideboard but I don't see a lot of Rakdos Decks having this card in the Sideboard and probably the reason is if they spend their fourth turn playing Slaughter Games they are not going to win anyway. 3. Pack Rat is good against Jund, Golgari, Rakdos and Selesnya because they don't run Detention Sphere and Verdict which are the only 2 Cards being able to remove it consistently. 4. Desecration Demon is the best finisher for this Deck even if it's not a great card you are doomed to play some copys of it.
I can't give you valuable advice on how to play the different matchups since I haven't played the Deck myself but this kind of deck relies on nut draws and you being able to play around sweepers, removal and still applying as much pressure as possible. I think UW and Bant are the best Decks in this format and nobody is really favored against them but your deck should have a decent matchup against them.
Playing the deck just comes from experience, there isn't much we can say unless we watch him play either live or on replays, like hey you should have played around X card here or Y card there doesn't help much after he runs into it the first few times.
Demon is worse than Bloodfray Giant, really don't know what you are saying that you have to play the incredibly worthless Demon where the Demon is never a 6/6 flying beater when you want it to. Basically situations where the Demon is good, the Giant is good, however, Giant is never really bad as a 4 drop beater where that doesn't hold true always for Demon.
Also, anyone playing turn 4 Slaughter Games have no clue what they are doing in Block (or constructed for that matter) if they intend to name Sphinx's. Slaughter Games on 4 depends on the board state and what relevant card they have (card is miserable if you don't catch a relevant card out of their hand).
On January 08 2013 15:06 Goldfish wrote: Not sure if this is posted before:
A bit off topic but I remember reading about how Duel Masters (from Wizards of the Coast) was supposed to be about MTG universe but they ended up making it based off of them playing the game (I remember reading something about how Wizards wanted a show to promote the card game, but the people they gave the rights to ended up making a show about them playing the card game instead of the actual magic universe instead >.>). (That's what I remember reading somewhere though, not sure if exactly true.)
Sadly, it wasn't based off of the game exactly (Duel Masters is a much more simplified version of MTG).
If I remember correctly, they gave the rights to create a manga, which was then done Yu-Gi-Oh style with people playing the card game. WotC didn't like that, but it really took off in Japan. So, when it got popular enough to warrant an Anime, WotC stepped in, developed a simplified version of MTG (with some major differences) and created the Duel Masters TCG that was released alongside it.
On January 10 2013 08:24 Baum wrote: He is asking for a deck to play now and the current meta has been pretty stable now for a while.
1. Rakdos Charm is the worst of them all and not playable even in Block. 2. Slaughter Games is decent against UW but Bant usually runs more creatures and can stabilize without it so you might want to just keep your deck as fast as possible. In my Jund Deck I run 2 in the Sideboard but I don't see a lot of Rakdos Decks having this card in the Sideboard and probably the reason is if they spend their fourth turn playing Slaughter Games they are not going to win anyway. 3. Pack Rat is good against Jund, Golgari, Rakdos and Selesnya because they don't run Detention Sphere and Verdict which are the only 2 Cards being able to remove it consistently. 4. Desecration Demon is the best finisher for this Deck even if it's not a great card you are doomed to play some copys of it.
I can't give you valuable advice on how to play the different matchups since I haven't played the Deck myself but this kind of deck relies on nut draws and you being able to play around sweepers, removal and still applying as much pressure as possible. I think UW and Bant are the best Decks in this format and nobody is really favored against them but your deck should have a decent matchup against them.
Playing the deck just comes from experience, there isn't much we can say unless we watch him play either live or on replays, like hey you should have played around X card here or Y card there doesn't help much after he runs into it the first few times.
Demon is worse than Bloodfray Giant, really don't know what you are saying that you have to play the incredibly worthless Demon where the Demon is never a 6/6 flying beater when you want it to. Basically situations where the Demon is good, the Giant is good, however, Giant is never really bad as a 4 drop beater where that doesn't hold true always for Demon.
Also, anyone playing turn 4 Slaughter Games have no clue what they are doing in Block (or constructed for that matter) if they intend to name Sphinx's. Slaughter Games on 4 depends on the board state and what relevant card they have (card is miserable if you don't catch a relevant card out of their hand).
Are you trying to cherry pick my post because I disagreed with you? I never said you should play Slaughter Games on Turn 4 if you have something better to do.
If Giant is better why is everyone playing Demon? His only upside is being able to trample over 3 toughness and below which isn't really relevant in my opinion. His downside is he only has 4 toughness (which means he can't attack into Loxodon Smiter, Deadbridge Goliath, Desecration Demon, Angel Of Serenity, Armada Wurm). If they can answer your 4 drop with their 3 drop you are in big trouble.
EPT
So close to making it in the top two! Was still very fun, but I don't wanna spent too much money on this game. On the plus side I did get a Hallowed Fountain and foil Rakdos's Return in the draft.
