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[Arthrus]

Tomorrow, I'm taking part in an mtg draft with some friends, but I haven't played the game in 15 years. I have forgotten most of the rules and all of the strategies.

Can anyone recommend me a straightforward strategy that I can try, given that we're drafting? I only have about two hours to prepare.

I'm reading these articles to get a general idea:
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/05/magic-for-the-masses-drafting-for-dummies.html
https://www.pastemagazine.com/artic...the-masses-so-you-want-to-play-magic-the.html

 

[Justin]

Tomorrow, I'm taking part in an mtg draft with some friends, but I haven't played the game in 15 years. I have forgotten most of the rules and all of the strategies.

Can anyone recommend me a straightforward strategy that I can try, given that we're drafting? I only have about two hours to prepare.

I'm reading these articles to get a general idea:
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/05/magic-for-the-masses-drafting-for-dummies.html
https://www.pastemagazine.com/artic...the-masses-so-you-want-to-play-magic-the.html

Which set(s)?

 

[Arthrus]

Which set(s)?

I have no idea. I would assume the most recent. Wiki says Hour of Devastation?

 

[Justin]

I have no idea. I would assume the most recent. Wiki says Hour of Devastation?

The format is slow so don't shy away from the big bombs. Green is the best base due to the fixing and big creatures. Oasis Ritualist is the green fixing with Ambuscade being the target removal and of course Hippos. After that you can pretty much pick the best cards in each pack. Most people end up playing atleast three color in this format.

Maybe check our some draft videos
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kZIAa9yMzUc

 

[Tunoku]

Went 10-5 at GP Turin! Really happy with my result since it’s only my second GP and I went into the tournament without a bye. I played 4-Color Energy. A friend of mine even went 12-3!

 

[BlewHedgehog]

Tomorrow, I'm taking part in an mtg draft with some friends, but I haven't played the game in 15 years. I have forgotten most of the rules and all of the strategies.

Can anyone recommend me a straightforward strategy that I can try, given that we're drafting? I only have about two hours to prepare.

I'm reading these articles to get a general idea:
https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/05/magic-for-the-masses-drafting-for-dummies.html
https://www.pastemagazine.com/artic...the-masses-so-you-want-to-play-magic-the.html

The normal draft strategies still apply (bombs first, removal next, efficient and evasive creatures after that). My favorite commons in each color are:

G: Ambuscade
R: Open Fire
B: Torment of Venom? I don't love black in this set
U: Unquenchable Thirst
W: Oketra's Avenger

so be on the lookout for them. The common deserts that cycle are very high picks behind these. Being able to cycle a late game land draw is a huge advantage and they turn on many of the sets most powerful effects like Sand Strangler, Ifnir Deadlands, Unquenchable Thirst, and so on.

Late in a pack, give a closer look to some cards with cycling. Destroy target artifact is narrow, but playable with cycling. I love having one copy of Unburden (1BB: target player discards 2) in my deck because, if the time is right, it can devastate your opponent. Ifnot, trade it in for a new draw. I usually run 16 lands in these drafts because cyclers artificially inflate your land count.

 

[Santiako]

GP TURIN TOP 8 DECKLISTS

2 Temur Energy
1 UB Control
1 Jeskai God-Pharaoh's Gift
1 Monoblack Zombies
1 Mardu Vehicles
1 Boros Vehicles
1 UW Approach

Nice variety of decks

Went 10-5 at GP Turin! Really happy with my result since it's only my second GP and I went into the tournament without a bye. I played 4-Color Energy. A friend of mine even went 12-3!

Nicely done!

 

[SigmasonicX]

Oh shit, the Zombies deck has Triskaidekaphobia in the sideboard.

 

[Justin]

Standard has been fantastic since the marvel banning. Every week the decks are changing to beat the decks that did well the previous week.

 

[Farside]

Went 10-5 at GP Turin! Really happy with my result since it's only my second GP and I went into the tournament without a bye. I played 4-Color Energy. A friend of mine even went 12-3!

Congrats! Do you mind posting your deck list?

 

[SigmasonicX]

Finals are Mardu Vehicles vs. Blue-Black Control

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Standard has been fantastic since the marvel banning. Every week the decks are changing to beat the decks that did well the previous week.

It's been better but far from fantastic.

 

[pelicansurf]

Finals are Mardu Vehicles vs. Blue-Black Control

That comeback from the Blue Black control deck after mulling to 5 cards. Even though the zombies deck definitely punted there.

 

[Justin]

It's been better but far from fantastic.

I'm not sure what more you could ask for than a wide open format with a meta that shifts from week to week with no overly dominant or unfair decks.

 

[Santiako]

Robin Dolar on UB Control takes GP Turin. The Scarab God takes its first GP, and I suspect it won't be the last.

 

[Repgnar]

Robin Dolar found himself with a few slow starts through the weekend but managed to swing it back around the majority of the time. Deck only loses Grasp, Tendrils, and one dual land from the MB so should be seeing that deck stick around too. What usually happens when the standard card pool drops back down to only 5 sets? Obviously without seeing Ixalan yet you can't predict what's going to happen but does this allow cards that weren't played often to get some spotlight or does it just create a stale meta with the decks that don't lose much just getting stronger in relation to what's left over?

 

[kirblar]

Solmething pointed out on Reddit: the reduced time period for redemptions may have been an attempt to uncrash singles prices. It may be working

 

[FreedomFrisbee]

Solmething pointed out on Reddit: the reduced time period for redemptions may have been an attempt to uncrash singles prices. It may be working

It also may be a slow phasing out of the entire program.

 

[charlequin]

It's been better but far from fantastic.

Outside of people who get pouty when their pet deck isn't good I don't know who could really be unhappy with a format with an actively shifting meta and 6+ reasonably distinct decks that have been viable at some point in the window.

Solmething pointed out on Reddit: the reduced time period for redemptions may have been an attempt to uncrash singles prices. It may be working

I think this was assuredly part of the reasoning, though like a lot of economic policy decisions WotC makes it had knock-on effects (in this case, fucking up the MTGO economy even worse.)

It also may be a slow phasing out of the entire program.

I mean MTGO probably only has three years of life left in it but they can't effectively get rid of redemption entirely until they're folding the whole thing.

 

[ClayKavalier]

I'm not sure I'll actually attend an event, and I'm sure it varies from place to place, but how tolerant of new players are regulars at things like FNM? I'm kind of curious to try a draft (I'm guessing I'd get my ass handed to me in Constructed and I've never been into playing netdecks), but I'm worried I'd hold up games constantly having to read cards and ask about my opponents. I remember when I was a kid we'd play cards and just say the name of them. "I play Fog," and everyone would know that there was no combat damage. I don't want to be a nuisance constantly slowing down games by asking for clarification, and I also don't want to spend hours memorizing a set before I head out.

And this is going to date me, but I'm a little hazy on the "new" combat rules, I found out last night that damage no longer goes on the stack, haha.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

Outside of people who get pouty when their pet deck isn't good I don't know who could really be unhappy with a format with an actively shifting meta and 6+ reasonably distinct decks that have been viable at some point in the window.

I didn't say it was bad just not that it 9s fantastic. What it is now is what it should be in general at this point in time with the pool of cards being maxed.

We're losing 900 or so cards with Ixalan and only gaining 300.

 

[Justin]

I'm not sure I'll actually attend an event, and I'm sure it varies from place to place, but how tolerant of new players are regulars at things like FNM? I'm kind of curious to try a draft (I'm guessing I'd get my ass handed to me in Constructed and I've never been into playing netdecks), but I'm worried I'd hold up games constantly having to read cards and ask about my opponents. I remember when I was a kid we'd play cards and just say the name of them. "I play Fog," and everyone would know that there was no combat damage. I don't want to be a nuisance constantly slowing down games by asking for clarification, and I also don't want to spend hours memorizing a set before I head out.

And this is going to date me, but I'm a little hazy on the "new" combat rules, I found out last night that damage no longer goes on the stack, haha.

Ixalan Pre release is in three weeks. It will be the first time anyone plays with the new set. If you are available that weekend try to hit up an event or two. Everyone will be playing slow and reading the cards so it is a great place to start. If you like it then your LGS should be drafting that set for the next few weeks and you would have already have seen a bunch of the cards at the pre release. Also a podcast like limited resources is really good before the set releases. They run down every single new card so if you have a job or drive where you have time to listen to long podcasts then you should have a good idea what the new cards do.

Also just tell people you are new and they will be very welcoming.

There is also a Open House event for new players the week before pre release where you get a free deck and there will be people to teach you how to play.
http://magic.wizards.com/en/event-types/magic-open-house

Pre release info
http://magic.wizards.com/en/event-types/prerelease

 

[Repgnar]

Also just tell people you are new and they will be very welcoming.

I started 2 sets ago with Amonkhet and I still have questions I ask people during the game. From my experience players don't enjoy it when the opponent's attitude/personality is piss poor or their own deck isn't performing. The first one is pretty broad and can relate to either something magic related or the opponent's social skills. I've never seen someone upset at me or another new person for asking questions or misunderstanding/forgetting a rule. People at my LGS were super helpful and that's one of the biggest reasons I enjoyed going back after pre-release.

The 2nd one is just some people express their frustration vocally despite MTG being a card game. Played draft on Friday and my 2nd opponent kept asking me if I was having fun because he wasn't drawing anything against my Red/Green beatdown deck. Was awkward during the game due to the way he was acting but afterwards he did end up apologizing for acting that way.

 

[HK-47]

I didn't say it was bad just not that it 9s fantastic. What it is now is what it should be in general at this point in time with the pool of cards being maxed.

We're losing 900 or so cards with Ixalan and only gaining 300.

But it was pretty fantastic. Especially in tournament play

 

[FreedomFrisbee]

I mean MTGO probably only has three years of life left in it but they can't effectively get rid of redemption entirely until they're folding the whole thing.

There's nothing really preventing them from just stopping the program cold. Not that they're gonna. Redemption phases out at the speed that Arena phases in. One could assume.

 

[charlequin]

There's nothing really preventing them from just stopping the program cold.

Well, I mean, in an extremely technical sense yes, but doing this takes so much out of the already depressed MTGO economy as to probably make many formats unplayable. They can't really reform the basis of the Magic Online economy completely just in place and they can't support the game's current model without something like redemption.

 

[FreedomFrisbee]

They can't really reform the basis of the Magic Online economy completely

If they dropped redemption, wouldn't they just have to cut prices of things across the (MTGO) board to prevent things from grinding to a halt? There are plenty of solutions they could pursue, it's just a matter of how much of a hit their bottom line stands to take.

 

[ClayKavalier]

Ixalan Pre release is in three weeks. It will be the first time anyone plays with the new set. If you are available that weekend try to hit up an event or two. Everyone will be playing slow and reading the cards so it is a great place to start. If you like it then your LGS should be drafting that set for the next few weeks and you would have already have seen a bunch of the cards at the pre release. Also a podcast like limited resources is really good before the set releases. They run down every single new card so if you have a job or drive where you have time to listen to long podcasts then you should have a good idea what the new cards do.

Also just tell people you are new and they will be very welcoming.

There is also a Open House event for new players the week before pre release where you get a free deck and there will be people to teach you how to play.
http://magic.wizards.com/en/event-types/magic-open-house

Pre release info
http://magic.wizards.com/en/event-types/prerelease

Cool, thanks. I was trying to make an effort not to dive in too deeply, but this upcoming set looks really fun. I decide to check out Magic for the first time in years and there's a set with pirates and dinosaurs, feels like providence.

Could be a nice way to meet people too, I just moved across my state. Do GAFers ever meet up for Magic stuff? I'm in the Bay Area in California, seems like there's probably enough of us to coordinate something. If anyone has reccomendations for game shops in the East Bay I'm on the lookout.

 

[charlequin]

If they dropped redemption, wouldn't they just have to cut prices of things across the (MTGO) board to prevent things from grinding to a halt?

That instantly tanks the inventory of everyone on the platform and burns everyone who's spent money recently especially badly. I think you'd just see a huge group of people quit instantly.

Like, you could probably do all this stuff gradually and carefully if the platform itself was solid enough and you could plausibly have a long-term plan for maintaining and supporting it. But MTGO as-is has so many fundamental issues and so many people are just waiting for any one thing going wrong to quit that I don't think they can do it here. It just makes more sense to toss MTGO into a skeleton-crew state and invest in getting the business model right on Arena right at the start.

 

[FreedomFrisbee]

do all this stuff gradually and carefully

That's generally what I think they're doing. MTGO was kind of on a skeleton crew already, they've had to staff it up in order to sunset it properly over a number of years. How quickly they sunset it depends entirely on the reaction to Arena.

Value of MTGO collections feels like an oxymoron to me at this point. I can understand WotC feeling an obligation to their consumers for spending money, trying to give them proper support for the stuff they payed for, but trying to maintain value against outside market forces is basically impossible. At this point the writing has been on the wall for so long that I don't particularly have sympathy for MTGO collectors who fret about losing value.

 

[charlequin]

That's generally what I think they're doing. MTGO was kind of on a skeleton crew already, they've had to staff it up in order to sunset it properly over a number of years. How quickly they sunset it depends entirely on the reaction to Arena.

Sure, I just don't think there's a route that involves ending redemption but not sunsetting MTGO completely.

At this point the writing has been on the wall for so long that I don't particularly have sympathy for MTGO collectors who fret about losing value.

Neither do I particularly, but it does make the platform less useful for people who actually want to play so trying to keep it on life support isn't really great for anyone.

 

[Santiako]

GP DC TOP8 DECKLISTS

1 mono white Eldrazi
2 Mardu Vehicles
2 Temur Energy
1 mono black Zombies
1 GW Ramp
1 GB energy

And Matt Severa on Mardu Vehicles wins it all.

 

[Farside]

Enter the Battlefield was a decent documentary. No real cringe-worthy moments, besides Chapin's rapping.

Is Shahar Shenhar still considered the best player in the world?

 

[Tunoku]

Congrats! Do you mind posting your deck list?

Sitting in the train back home and can’t sleep:

4 Longtusk Cub
4 Servant of the Conduit
4 Rogue Refiner
3 Whirler Virtuoso
3 Bristling Hydra
2 Glorybringer
2 Scarab God
1 Rhonas, the Indomitable

2 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship

4 Attune with Aether
4 Harnessed Lightning
2 Magma Spray
2 Abrade

4 Aether Hub
4 Botanical Sanctum
2 Sheltered Thicket
2 Spirebluff Canal
1 Blooming Marsh
1 Game Trail
1 Lumbering Falls
3 Forest
2 Mountain
1 Island
1 Swamp

//Sideboard
1 Tireless Tracker
4 Negate
1 Abrade
1 Dispossess
2 Radiant Flames
2 Confiscation Coup
1 Chandra, Torch of Defiance
1 Chandra, Flamecaller
1 Aethersphere Harvester
1 Skysovereign, Consul Flagship

I’d definitely add a Struggle/Survive or two to the sideboard, but otherwise I was happy with my list.

 

[MoxManiac]

So no more extras in pre-release packs? Like the double-sided token in Eldritch moon, thopter thingie from kaladesh, etc.

 

[blindrocket]

When you see a seller on eBay with 20 FNM Promo Fatal Push, that's gotta be a shady game store.
I guess it was worse yesterday. Lots of listings with sellers having several copies, according to a video MTGLION made. No FNM winner should have that many...

 

[Farside]

Sitting in the train back home and can't sleep:

Thanks!


So I have been using precon decks for the first few weeks while I am learning the game. I'm doing some minor modifications to the Vampire Commander deck and had what I guess I could call a "Magic moment," as an initial card I thought was inconsequential has an interesting synergy with another card.

When you see a seller on eBay with 20 FNM Promo Fatal Push, that's gotta be a shady game store.
I guess it was worse yesterday. Lots of listings with sellers having several copies, according to a video MTGLION made. No FNM winner should have that many...

Can't you just wait until Open House as stores will have plenty of promo cards?

 

[Justin]

Can't you just wait until Open House as stores will have plenty of promo cards?

Each event has their own promos. The fatal push promos are only supposed to be given out at FNM events. Because it is a valuable card it appears there are a bunch of stores just selling playsets for 80-100 instead of giving them out to their customers.

 

[kirblar]

Fatal Push situation is a blatant example of why we're not getting non-token FNM promos anymore. It's not a bad thing.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

because it leads to incredible attendance?

 

[kirblar]

because it leads to incredible attendance?

FNM hasn't been intended for players like me (the hypercompetitive crowd) and that's been clear for eons. Keeping the sharks away is deliberate.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

yet it's generally much more popular than Saturday showdown anyway among that crowd.

 

[kirblar]

yet it's generally much more popular than Saturday showdown anyway among that crowd.

Because Showdown Saturday doesn't make any goddamn sense to go to when you have IQs and PPTQs to attend.

I don't really understand who the Showdown event was supposed to be for - I DO get why the packs exist though (because of them screwing up singles pricing via masterpieces really badly.)

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

and there's only casual FNM and grinders nothing inbetween?

It's weird for wizards to basically say you're not wanted at a rather traditional event to a big part of the playerbase.

 

[kirblar]

and there's only casual FNM and grinders nothing inbetween?

It's weird for wizards to basically say you're not wanted at a rather traditional event to a big part of the playerbase.

It's not weird for them to want to brand FNM as casual play and not accidentally a toss a bunch of chum in and attract a lot of sharks into the pool.

 

[noquarter]

I'm going to miss having SCG Grand Prixs, really like the infinite challenges they have. Was able to make back my entry fees in store credit for the three days in just one day, got 12 booster, a playmat, a GP Promo, new deck box and sleeves. Let me mess around some more during the other days and play decks to get better, not caring about losing nearly as much since I was already "up."

Channel Fireballs double up events do help make it possible, but they aren't as "friendly," since there is more on the line.

Really don't know why WotC went with the GP monopoly, hope CF tries to keep prices down, but don't really see why the would. Guess it won't matter too much anyways since I'll probably only be able to attend one a year anyways starting next year.

Also, seems some asshole stole a bunch of shit from my house. One of my wife's acquaintances took probably $8,000 in cards, if not more. Fuck them and hope they karma gets them. Don't think my insurance is going to cover more than a couple grand, so just sucks. Really just pissed off that years of collecting has gone down the drain, seeing as I won't be able to replace a lot of the cards easy.

 

[Farside]

Each event has their own promos. The fatal push promos are only supposed to be given out at FNM events. Because it is a valuable card it appears there are a bunch of stores just selling playsets for 80-100 instead of giving them out to their customers.

That's pretty shitty.

Also, seems some asshole stole a bunch of shit from my house. One of my wife's acquaintances took probably $8,000 in cards, if not more. Fuck them and hope they karma gets them. Don't think my insurance is going to cover more than a couple grand, so just sucks. Really just pissed off that years of collecting has gone down the drain, seeing as I won't be able to replace a lot of the cards easy.

Call the police?

 

[kirblar]

I'm going to miss having SCG Grand Prixs, really like the infinite challenges they have. Was able to make back my entry fees in store credit for the three days in just one day, got 12 booster, a playmat, a GP Promo, new deck box and sleeves. Let me mess around some more during the other days and play decks to get better, not caring about losing nearly as much since I was already "up."

Channel Fireballs double up events do help make it possible, but they aren't as "friendly," since there is more on the line.

Really don't know why WotC went with the GP monopoly, hope CF tries to keep prices down, but don't really see why the would. Guess it won't matter too much anyways since I'll probably only be able to attend one a year anyways starting next year.

Also, seems some asshole stole a bunch of shit from my house. One of my wife's acquaintances took probably $8,000 in cards, if not more. Fuck them and hope they karma gets them. Don't think my insurance is going to cover more than a couple grand, so just sucks. Really just pissed off that years of collecting has gone down the drain, seeing as I won't be able to replace a lot of the cards easy.

I think a big part of the GP monopoly is to reign in prices. I'm very curious what they look like next year.

 

[noquarter]

That's pretty shitty.



Call the police?

Yeah, will be filing a police report, but it wasn't a break in, had to be someone that was allowed in and had time to go through my shit and take what they wanted (they left a bunch of stuff that might have looked better to take if you were on a time limit, and some of the cards were "stashed and they would have had to look through boxes looking for good stuff). It's really going to be what my insurance company wants to do, and as they are in the business of making money I expect as much pushback as possible. 25% value I would look at as a win, and I am probably undervaluing it.

I think a big part of the GP monopoly is to reign in prices. I'm very curious what they look like next year.

Will be interesting to see.

 

[charlequin]

It's weird for wizards to basically say you're not wanted at a rather traditional event to a big part of the playerbase.

It only says you're "not wanted" if you consider not having a big-time promo prize on the line to mean you're not wanted. WotC just wants to shift it more along the lines of prerelease where competitive people play when they're feeling like chilling out.

Really don't know why WotC went with the GP monopoly, hope CF tries to keep prices down, but don't really see why the would.

Because when you sign a big exclusive deal for anything you don't just get to do whatever you want, you get carefully scrutinized against some upfront set of criteria and if you fuck it up you don't just lose exclusivity, you get shut out altogether.

One company running all the GPs does trivially bring down a lot of the costs (it makes the coverage setup a lot more efficient for one thing) so WotC is gonna expect a portion of savings to go back into event pricing.

Yeah, will be filing a police report, but it wasn't a break in, had to be someone that was allowed in and had time to go through my shit and take what they wanted (they left a bunch of stuff that might have looked better to take if you were on a time limit, and some of the cards were "stashed and they would have had to look through boxes looking for good stuff).

If this is someone your wife actually knows and not just some reprobate in off the street there should be a lot of better options to deal with this than the police anyway. Does he have a job or a family?

Also, this is a good note for everyone else: if you have a multi-thousand-dollar collection, get a collectibles policy as a rider on your main homeowners/renters insurance or as a separate policy. Also: whether or not you have a special policy, take photos of the collection regularly. It shouldn't generally be difficult to get a policy written to cover these kinds of items to pay out on mid-four-figures worth of stuff with some decent documentation.