Magic: The Gathering

[Joe Molotov]

I feel like I'm pulled to those colors a lot in Rav3, at least in sealed. What can I say, I love me some removal. If had a few Lava Coils instead of AssTrophy and S//S then I'd probably play Mardu but it seems like every pool wants to give me S//S.

[Joe Molotov]

tfw you don't rtfc



I attacked and my opponent scooped despite having blockers. Ah well, I know that feel bro.

[Joe Molotov]

Arena players continue to not know the difference between a triggered ability and an activated ability, this time playing Demotion on my Skyline Scout. This is what happens when you let normies have access to nerd shit, smh.

[naff]

Someone did that to my roc charger last night lmao. I love crushing casual draft in this.

[Joe Molotov]

I have yet to see someone use Demotion properly. otoh, I had someone use Maniacal Rage as a pseduo-Demotion to alpha strike me, which is a play I hadn't even considered until I heard it mentioned in a Channel Fireball video a few days ago. Good play, person whose Arena key is also their username because of a known glitch that Wizards didn't fix. Good play.

[Raist]

You think that's bad? I had someone try to counter carnage tyrant.

And another one cast syncopate with just one blue mana open.
"Sure, hold my beer, I'll pay 0"


Then again, cant expect much from blue nerds

[Kara]

iirc you can't target a spell that can't be countered in MODO. The fact that you can in Arena is pretty silly, even with the existence of cards in Standard that have a pseudo Storm effect.

Also, we laugh about the Demotion misplays but it's going to lead to no more cards like Demotion, cards that "improve" Demotion by including triggered abilities that cost significantly more mana, or a pulling back on answers to creature abilities because they're "confusing." Not excited about any of those possibilities tbh.

[Joe Molotov]

Just bring back Grizzly Bears and Counterspell, IMHO. Next set, Return to Unlimited.

[naff]

Yeah, Arena does a great job of getting casuals playing the game while doing a terrible job of introducing them to the nuance of the mechanics. Just auto tap your mana! Can be preeeeeetty dumb, eg it seems to want to tap my fucking Azcanta first every goddamn time. Would actually be really nice when I'm in garbage time permission grinding opponents out if I could just mindlessly smush out counters and removal with azcanta out. Often taps your mana in a way that stops you frm being able to cast the only other spell you possibly could've cart in your hand. Etc. Really terrible algorithm, not that I'm surprised because I mean look at anything wotc / has bro have built so far.

[Joe Molotov]

Played in the Dallas Open this weekend, went 3-3 and dropped. I played Burn instead of my usual Skred, but tbh I think I just don't really like Burn anymore. The rush of a T3 kill is still great (T1 Monastery Swiftspear, T2 Lava Spike 2x, T3 Lightning Bolt + Boros Charm), but I'd rather just durdle around and cast some janky crap. I've messed around with Amulet Titan, Storm, and Ponza but none of those are quite doing it for me either. I think I'm gonna take a look at G/W Company next. I'm not too worried about winning, in case that wasn't apparent.

[naff]

gw/bant company is my favourite toolbox deck in the format.

jeskai tempo feat. snap and mentor is a blast.

i've been messing around with more aggressive bug midrange lists (not deaths shadow) with grim flayer, goyf, snap and jtms as my core threats since Assassin's Trophy shores up the decks biggest weaknesses (Eldrazi, Tron Lands, Planeswalkers, Tasigur/Gangler etc). experimenting with lili TLH and tireless tracker at the 3 and a mix of bob and jvp. trying to avoid fully buying into the grind of lotv rn for a more counter heavy midrange. i think jvp might actually have a place to shine in this kind of list.

[Kara]

I'm relatively new to Modern still but I don't think it's a format where you can get married to a tier 1 / tier 1.5 deck the way you can in other nonrotating formats; between the way the banned list is managed and modern card design in general (to say nothing of the fact that it's the only true professional format in this group) the patterns of play narrow fast and you find yourself in the game of sideboards people often lament.

Burn is a bit of a terminal example in that it hasn't been shaken up in a long time and it's unlikely to change very much in the future unless it gets spectacularly bad because R&D still can't consistently make good but balanced red cards. I only play it because (1) it was cheap for me to build and (2) it's good when Storm is bad so I have a deck to hedge against the meta. (It's also kind of fun to be an actual cop instead of a mall cop [Jund].)

Speaking of being married to Modern decks, Nikachu got third place in the challenge last weekend and finished top 8 a few weeks before that. Get rekt, U/G/W Spirits, Mistcaller > Collected Company.

[naff]

 

mistcaller seems pretty fine against the nu hotness shriekhorn dredge/bridgevine lists too.

We have a very good merfolk pilot at our lgs, a poor math grad who's never been able to afford anything else, and I regularly get rekt by it.

[Joe Molotov]

Yeah, Burn has just gotten stale for me. I've been playing it for 3 years and the only change has been the printing of Inspiring Vantage and the removal of Atarka's Command and Wild Nacatl. The decklist is pretty much set in stone at this point. I even thought about playing some kind of Steam-Kin/Risk Factor variant this weekend just for variety, but there's really no room to fart around without just building a strictly worse version of Burn (or Storm, in some of the Steam-Kin decks I looked at).

I like the look of G/W Company, because it seems like in almost every set there's one broken 3cmc creature that at least has the potential to make the cut (Dominaria had Bugler, Guilds has Knight of Autumn). There's room to experiment and no strictly best decklist. It's almost like current Wizards is better at printing broken creatures than printing playable Red spells, I wonder if anyone has noticed this before?

[naff]

Burn was my first modern deck, and is now my hangover tournament deck. I haven't played it in quite a while, but I like to keep it updated. Got 4 full art Searing Blaze recently

Feel you on getting bored with it though. There's the game of sideboards and the filler slots to think about. E.g., do i run my Satyr Firedancers out the board today? Should I make room for a couple Flames of the Blood Hand or Exquisite Firecraft? Will my 40th spell for the md be a Shard Volley or a Lavaman? But the lists naturally are pretty damn stock. I don't see any big changes like Eidolon happening again for a very long time. Wouldn't be surprised if a cheap black drain spell gets printed that pushes people to start playing mardu more though, bump in the night is already very good and there are some solid black sb cards. It would also be cool to kill someone with Sign in Blood one day.

[naff]

I've never tried a Mardu list, but if I did I'd like to give Bloodchief Ascension a crack too.

Also, I've never gone straight Boros. Unless your meta is incredibly burn heavy, splashing for D Rev seems pretty important rn. I like an Ancient Grudge or two as well (I hate losing to Robots and KCI, i run a few Stony Silence too  ). I think of burn as a tempo control deck in modern where a lot of decks goldfish turn 3 or 4, while burn is more turn 4, 5 or 6 with a little disruption.

[Kara]

I agree on the green splash but it seems like lifers are really off it. Smash to Smithereens fills a similar niche, sure, but Scales Affinity isn't the deck du jour anymore. I suspect the aversion somewhat stems from the small percentage of games you lose due to playing a third color as lifers are more likely to encounter situations like that.

Another reason to switch to G/W Value Town: Todd Stevens probably won't be playing Magic for a long time. Exploit that underserved market, brehwalkers.

[Joe Molotov]

I've still been using the green splash for D.Revs, although Leyline of Sanctity hasn't been seeing as much play as it used to in the current meta, so it's probably cuttable.

Yeah, my friend was shocked about Todd Steven's getting #MeToo'd because he was convinced that he was gay.

[Joe Molotov]

https://twitter.com/maro254/status/1056346970741137408

Nerds rekt

[Joe Molotov]

Ultimate Masters is looking pretty packed. Karn, Lili, Emmy, Through the Breach, Goryo's Vengeance, Noble Hierarch, Goyf, Cavern of Souls, Bitterblossom, Snappy, all the greatest hits. They upped the MSRP to $14 a pack, but I'm just planning on buying singles anyway.

http://mythicspoiler.com/newspoilers.html

[Transhuman]

Was at a party past night and a guy was smoking a joint made from half an RTR Water Grave

 
Rich people... wth...

[Kara]

Ultimate Masters is looking pretty packed. Karn, Lili, Emmy, Through the Breach, Goryo's Vengeance, Noble Hierarch, Goyf, Cavern of Souls, Bitterblossom, Snappy, all the greatest hits. They upped the MSRP to $14 a pack, but I'm just planning on buying singles anyway.

http://mythicspoiler.com/newspoilers.html

I'm curious as to why Manamorphose isn't in here, perhaps it's on a watch list we're not privy to.

Also as soon as the full spoiler came out Manamorphose was bought out at all the big card sites. Never change, garbo MTGFinance.

e: As a bougie fuck who actually drafted a lot of Masters sets I'm going to miss Masters sets. Hopefully whatever replaces them isn't shitty even though it almost certainly will be shitty like a fucking EDG supplemental series or something.

[Joe Molotov]

Ultimate Masters is looking pretty packed. Karn, Lili, Emmy, Through the Breach, Goryo's Vengeance, Noble Hierarch, Goyf, Cavern of Souls, Bitterblossom, Snappy, all the greatest hits. They upped the MSRP to $14 a pack, but I'm just planning on buying singles anyway.

http://mythicspoiler.com/newspoilers.html

I'm curious as to why Manamorphose isn't in here, perhaps it's on a watch list we're not privy to.

Not like that's ever stopped them before.

[Joe Molotov]

 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Not the first textless promo Lightning Bolt, but I think this one is better, and the old one is like $100 a piece now.

[close]

[The Sceneman]

iirc you can't target a spell that can't be countered in MODO. The fact that you can in Arena is pretty silly, even with the existence of cards in Standard that have a pseudo Storm effect.

Also, we laugh about the Demotion misplays but it's going to lead to no more cards like Demotion, cards that "improve" Demotion by including triggered abilities that cost significantly more mana, or a pulling back on answers to creature abilities because they're "confusing." Not excited about any of those possibilities tbh.

I'm pretty sure thats a violation of the rules. Cant cast a spell if theres no legal target. So Arena lets you cast a counterspell on a Carnage Tyrant and then bins the counter card? Violation of game rules/state. Wouldn't fly in competitive REL

[Joe Molotov]

You can target an uncounterable spell with a counterspell in paper magic, the counterspell just resolves and does nothing. It's like casting a destroy spell on something with indestructible: it's still a valid target, it just doesn't have any effect.

[The Sceneman]

Ah ok then - I thought it was similar to hexproof/shroud. Good to know!

[archnemesis]

The code GAMEAWARDS will redeem 5 rares and 5 uncommon sets in Arena.

https://www.reddit.com/r/MagicArena/comments/a3w2os/the_cards_that_are_unlocked_from_code_gameawards/

[Joe Molotov]

https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/a43hk1/the_french_newspaper_from_the_mtg_arena_official/

https://twitter.com/blockwonkel/status/1070894339210002433

WOTC...

[thisismyusername]

That tweet brought me to this:

https://twitter.com/CDCubed/status/1071176100917604352

Worth it, Wizards.

[Joe Molotov]

 

[naff]

  pretty hype to slam this in burn, and to a lesser extent, zoo. will try dropping a land, a skull crack and the lavamen for a playset



for spectacle reference (also a nice standard card)

[chronovore]

http://twitter.com/RosewattaStone/status/1080463736408686592

[Joe Molotov]

Looks like a good card.....for me to HEXPOOP ON!

[Joe Molotov]

YASSSS QUEEN SLAY



Gimme some more Goblins, let's do this.

[Transhuman]

 

"nontoken"

[thisismyusername]

https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/adl3r9/alex_bertoncini_banned_for_life/

[Joe Molotov]

Time for him to explore new options.

[Transhuman]

https://www.reddit.com/r/magicTCG/comments/adl3r9/alex_bertoncini_banned_for_life/

STILL? STILL CHEATING?

Jesus Christ. I almost feel sorry for that douchebag. It's like he can't help himself.

[Joe Molotov]

Burn gets another Bolt.

[thisismyusername]

OH MY GOD!

[[Murder]] an opponents [[Poison-tip Archer]] gain control of it from the Graveyard (first of ones to die in the game), they bring another one out mid-game. We're trading life as I poke him and he kills one of my creatures/death-touch his tokens.

Go big with [[Yargle, Glutton of Urborg]], swing. They go for Leathal. I have two creatures left (and a token made) and just as I'm deciding to block...

Disconnect (as the timer appears)

FUCK FUCK FUCK! *try to reconnect, fail, finally do!*

"DEFEAT!"

Fuck you, we were trading life between those Poison-Tip Archers and if I blocked 3 of his creatures, I'm assuming my Poison-Tip Archer and HIS Poison-Tip Archer would've done lethal to him and to me thereby tie/drawing the game.

This is pissing me off. I really was enjoying that round and Wizard's disconnecting ruined it.

[Transhuman]

It's still only beta right?

[archnemesis]

It's still only beta right?

Arena? It's in open beta and there won't be any more account wipes. Now is a good time to jump in.

[Transhuman]

I already regret the account I have already, thank-you-very-much.

[thisismyusername]

Why wouldn't you swing for Lethal when you have like 10 Saporling Tokens? And I'm on 4 creatures (one of which can't be blocked and is poking you) AND I fucked up not tapping your creatures to go Lethal last turn?

Oh well... *taps them this turn, goes lethal, win*



Newbies can't handle my Island/Forest swag.

[Joe Molotov]

Did a couple of Arena drafts for the first time in forever. I can't draft anything but Boros in GRN, the Boros Challengers just flow to me. I got three of them in one draft and two in another.

[thisismyusername]

Momir Madness is such a shit RNG mode. Good lord.

Waste of 500-300=200 Gold. #ThanksWizards

[Raist]

Pro-tip: sign up for 500 gold, immediately resign, get 100 gold back and at least one rare. You can even get all the way up to two mythics.

That's 2.5x cheaper than buying a pack and you can often get the equivalent of 2 (i.e two rares or better).

[Transhuman]

Give your spot in the EMA draft to bad player because you feel sorry for him

Foil Mana Crypt

[Joe Molotov]

oof

[thisismyusername]

Is sealed supposed to be shit or something?

>Open packs
>Nothing synergizes

WTF.

[Joe Molotov]

If you have no bombs and no good synergies, that’s when you drop and then go home and get drunk.

[thisismyusername]

If you have no bombs and no good synergies, that’s when you drop and then go home and get drunk.

Oh, I'm talking Arena.

This time around, I went Gruul (since the other one that is +1/+1 counters, Plains/Forests? Guild??? was full) and built a Island, Mountain, Forest deck. 1 Island, 3 Mountains, 3 Forests, 1 Guild Gate that was Island/Plains, 2 of Mountain, Forests and did a bit better than last time. But I got completely ate alive by the last 2 opponents I faced when they had like 5/5 flyers out of Island and it's like "where the fuck did you get these, and why the fuck didn't I get something similar?" The best I got was like a 1/1 flyer I was trying to get +1/+1 counters onto with the Enchantment to block countering creature spells (get fucked, Islands) that gives all non-token creatures Riot.

Speaking of which: I think that keyword is pretty weak in limited, at least in my experience. Maybe it's better if the luck is on your side, but I was either using Haste most rounds, or trying to get the +1/+1's stacked only to have bolts or exiles eat my creatures before I could lay my flyer up.

But the most fun I had was the first opponent I played. We both treason'd our creatures to bash against each other to win one round each, and I won the last one via time-out. So... 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Doesn't hurt that I have a crush on that dude.

[close]

[Transhuman]

Is sealed supposed to be shit or something?

>Open packs
>Nothing synergizes

WTF.

Doing well in competitive sealed is more about knowing the environment than luck tbh. Learning exactly what decks pay off through rote experience is far more important, and anyone who says their deck is too weak probably hasn't splashed and is playing too conservatively.

Took me nearly the full hour to make my GRN deck at the Melbourne GP, and still nearly Day 2'd with a BUGW pile of crap.

[Joe Molotov]

Krark-Clan Ironworks is banned. And nothing of value was lost.

[thisismyusername]

Sealed Deck:

1x Deface
2x Spear Spewer
1x Bladebrand
3x Grave-Hide Goblin
1x Drill Bit
1x Grotesque Demise
1x Act of Treason
1x Burn Bright
1x Clamor Shamen
1x Rakdos Roustabout
2x Carrion Imp
3x Dead Revels
1x Vindictive Vampire
1x Dagger Caster
1x Rakdos Firewheeler
2x Rubblebelt Recluse
1x Get the Point
1x Rakdos, the Showstopper
1x Gate Colossus
7x Swamp
8x Mountain
2x Rakdos Guildgate
----

Sealed Pod:
1x Twilight Panther
1x Concordia Pegasus
2x Impassioned Orator
2x Justiciar's Portal
1x Sentinel's Mark
1x Summary Judgement
1x Expose to Daylight
1x Haazda Officer
1x Angelic  Exaltation
1x Rally to Battle
1x Watchful Giant
2x Shimmer of Possibility
1x Slimebind
1x Clear the Mind
1x Eyes Everywhere
1x Thought Collapse
1x Chillbringer
1x Prying Eyes
1x Bankrupt in Blood
1x Plague Wight
1x Priest of Forgotten Gods
1x Blade Juggler
2x Catacomb Crocodile
1x Clear the Stage
1x Light up the Stage
1x Spikewheel Acrobat
2x Saruli Caretaker
1x Gift of Strength
1x Root Snare
1x Titanic Brawl
1x Tower Defense
1x Gatebreaker Ram
1x Sagittars' Volley
1x Axebane Beast
2x Wrecking Beast
1x Azorius Locket
2x Lawmage's Binding
1x Senate Griffin
1x Final Payment
1x Impervious Olgiarch
1x Mortify
1x Vizkopa Vampire
1x Basilica Bell-haunt
1x Clan Guildmage
1x Savage Smash
1x Frenzied Arynx
1x Ravager Wurm
1x Applied Biomancy
1x Simic Ascendancy
1x Zegana, Utopian Speaker
1x Hallowed Fountain
2x Orzhov Guildgate
2x Simic Guildgate

---
Should I drop anything/replace anything or just quit the event without even bothering out of all these? I'm not too sure, and I've only played "Sealed" like 2 times from the past two pre-releases.

[Joe Molotov]

Off-hand, I would cut at least 2 of those Dead Revels and play Light up the Stage and Clear the Stage. I would also cut the Deface, and add the Plague Wight. Replace a Gravel-Hide Goblin with Priest of Forgotten Gods.

[thisismyusername]

I'm kinda partial to those 2 Dead Revels for the sake of bringing creatures back, since it's about the only 3-of in my card-pool for this.

I saw Light up the Stage and saw "exile" and went "pass," but does using the cards while they're exiled remove them from the exile? I saw someone use it at the pre-release to play a land that was exiled and that land stayed despite being "exiled" earlier?

Clear the Stage might be good if I dropped one of the Dead Revels.

[Joe Molotov]

It's functionally the same as playing a card out of your hand, it either goes onto the battlefield or into your graveyard after you play it. If you don't play it by the end of the turn though, then it stays in exile for the rest of the game. It's pseudo card draw, which is something you want in limited. Dead Revels are pseudo card draw too, but you run the risk of drawing multiples early on and not having anything to get back with them.

[naff]

Krark-Clan Ironworks is banned. And nothing of value was lost.

i mean, it does feel like slight pandering to the obtuse, but mostly agree it was a no good, dirty rotten scoundrel of a deck.

you gonna revamp your burn list? with this KCI banning and spectacle cards i'm dropping most 2 drops (eidolon to the SB), and flipping to rakdos bump burn feat luts and skewer. pretty hard to assess how good it is, seems v good, i just need to run it out now.